Building an email template for future use can make or break many campaigns. Customers nowadays are used to perfect emails.
Even a tiny mistake here or uneven alignment there can reduce the overall open or reply rates. However, only some have the knowledge, skill, or resources to create email templates from scratch.
Many businesses now turn to service providers with a drag-and-drop editor for building email templates. These editors greatly ease the process and allow everyone, regardless of tech savvy, to create beautiful emails.
In this article, we have outlined several email builder tools with free or paid (or both!) versions of template builders with all of the essential features.
What is an Email Template Builder?
An email template builder is a software tool that simplifies the process of creating and designing emails, especially for marketing campaigns.
Instead of writing HTML code from scratch, you can use an email campaign builder to create visually appealing emails with pre-designed email templates or custom layouts. They offer a range of email design tools to suit different skill levels and preferences.
Here are common types of email builders:
- Drag-and-drop builders. These are the most user-friendly, allowing you to build an email by dragging and dropping elements like text boxes, images, and buttons onto a canvas. No coding required!
- WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editors. Similar to drag-and-drop, WYSIWYG editors provide a visual interface where the final email looks exactly like what you’re editing in real-time;
- HTML code editors. Ideal for experienced users, these builders provide direct access to the HTML email layout, allowing for maximum customization and flexibility;
- Modular template systems. These offer a library of pre-designed content blocks or sections that you can mix and match to build an email quickly, combining the ease of drag-and-drop with more design control;
- Responsive email builders. With the majority of emails being opened on mobile devices, responsive email builders ensure your emails automatically adapt to different screen sizes for optimal viewing.
What Defines a Good Email Template Builder?
First and foremost, a good email service provider helps you design a beautiful email template without coding. Also, modern email builder software offers a range of templates to get started quickly without looking at a blank page.
Then, you can customize an email design quickly using the drag-and-drop email editor that supports predesigned templates and blocks (image, text, timer, review block, etc.).
Here are some characteristics that define a good email template maker:
- Ease of use. Your template builder should have an intuitive user interface. You should be able to quickly drag and drop blocks to create an engaging email template;
- Customization options. The email template creator should enable you to easily add your branding. Usually, it involves adding your brand logo, color palette, and text written in your brand voice;
- Responsive design. Email template design software makes creating responsive designs that look great on any device a breeze. Plus, your design is easily visualized through the in-built preview for desktops, smartphones, and tablets;
- Advanced features. Go beyond the basics with features like dynamic content personalization, interactive elements, and conditional logic for tailored journeys;
- Template library. The email builder should have an email template library divided into various categories so you can find an email template that fits your occasion;
- Integration capabilities. You should be able to connect your email template builder to your CRM, email platform, stock photo libraries, and analytics tools for a seamless workflow and data-driven decisions.
Now, let’s take a look at the best email template builders in the market.
12 Best Email Template Builders by Use-Case
You will find several options while searching for an HTML email template builder. It’s good to try different solutions and see how they fit your plans and simplify your template-building process. Here are the top email template builders that you can use for free:
Let’s look at each of the above in detail.
1. Sender — Best Free Email Template Builder
Stop struggling with email marketing. Sender makes it easy and effective. With its intuitive drag-and-drop builder and library of pre-designed templates, you can create stunning emails in minutes, even if you’re not a designer.
Rating score: Capterra: 4.6/5 | G2: 4.4/5
Easily add images, text, products, countdown timers, and reviews to your emails with just a few clicks. Find the perfect design for any occasion, from abandoned cart emails and holiday campaigns to newsletters and more.
Plus, thanks to Sender’s mobile-responsive designs, your emails will always look amazing on any device.
But Sender is more than just a pretty face. Sender is an all-in-one email marketing solution for businesses of all sizes.
With its powerful automation features, you can automatically send targeted messages at the right time, while detailed analytics help you track your results and improve your campaigns over time.
Features
Sender has a long list of user-friendly features that make creating stunning email campaigns easy. Here are some amazing features:
- Drag-and-drop email builder: User-friendly email editor with powerful design blocks like a countdown timer, product blocks, and reviews to engage your subscribers;
- Free email templates. Choose one of many professionally designed templates and customize them into stunning emails;
- HTML support. Import existing HTML email templates or code using the same dashboard;
- Test and visualize. Check how your campaigns appear with test sends and preview options;
- Reporting and analytics. Capture critical metrics in real-time, like open rates, click rates, etc., to measure your marketing effectiveness;
- Integrations: Seamless email clients integration capabilities and integrations with platforms like WordPress, Shopify, Magento, WooCommerce, etc.
Pros & Cons
| Pros | Cons |
| Countdown timers | Sender logo in free plan |
| Review blocks | |
| HTML blocks |
Pricing
Sender is genuinely a free platform that allows you to test all email builder features, even as a free user. Here are the Sender’s pricing options:
- Free for up to 2,500 subscribers and 15,000 monthly emails;
- Paid plan starts at $15 per month for up to 30,000 monthly emails.
2. Unlayer — WYSIWYG Email Editor with Responsive Templates
Unlayer is a powerful WYSIWYG responsive email template maker with several advanced features for ecommerce store owners and small businesses.
Rating score: Capterra: NA | G2: 4.1/5
The WYSIWYG + HTML email builder offers several templates for emails and landing pages that you can use without paying a penny. However, advanced features like reusable custom blocks, dynamic exports to email providers, and essential functions like saving your work are only available on a paid plan.
Features
Unlayer is amazing when it comes to drag-and-drop functionality. But there’s even more. Here’s a list of the most useful features of Unlayer:
- Custom file storage, unique design blocks, and undo-redo functionality within the drag-and-drop editor;
- Collaboration and sharing of templates among teammates;
- Merge tag features to capture/pull dynamic info for personalizing emails;
- Place your online store products within your emails.
Pros & Cons
Unlayer comes with many useful features for a decent pricing plan. But every good thing comes with its own share of problems too. Here are the pros and cons:
| Pros | Cons |
| Easy to use | Lack of analytics and tracking features |
| Great team collaboration features | No A/B testing feature |
| Responsive email templates |
Pricing
Here’s a brief overview of Unlayer’s pricing plans:
- Free plan available with limited functionality and feature restrictions;
- Paid plan starts at $15 per month for unlimited email template generations.
3. Postcards — Email Builder for Highly Customizable Content
Postcards is built by Designmodo to help business owners create emails with ease and efficiency. The online email template software offers an extensive library of templates and is compatible with all major email marketing tools.
Rating score: Capterra: NA | G2: 4.7/5
The great thing about using Postcards is its support for all major email tools. So, you can directly export your email template to Sender or other tools in the market.
Unfortunately, the vast block libraries used in this WYSIWYG editor are behind a paywall. The free plan has a limited number of basic templates. That will severely limit the email creation possibilities. However, you do get unlimited exports in the free version.
Features
Postcards is a powerful email builder with many useful features like one-click export, a large library, and more. Here’s a glimpse of the features:
- Drag-and-drop email builder that allows you to customize emails quickly without coding;
- One-click export system to email tools using plain HTML generation for each email template;
- Version history feature to ensure quick collaboration and faster tracking;
- Cloud image hosting and retina-ready support for adding high-quality images to your emails.
Pros & Cons
Postcards is pretty responsive as an email builder but has some limitations and shortcomings. Here’s a brief list of the pros and cons of picking Postcards:
| Pros | Cons |
| Modular design system; unique design blocks and layouts for templates | Costly when you want to use it for unlimited templates |
| Project backup and management among large teams | Design and template library is restrictive to only higher paid plans (or behind a paywall) |
| Supports Retina’s ready images & 900+ Google Fonts | Dependent on other ESPs for full marketing functionality |
Pricing
The pricing plans allow you to test out everything, as there’s a free trial plan. But the paid plan is recommended if you want full functionality:
- Free trial plan with limited features and projects;
- Paid plans start at $16 monthly and include full access for one brand/business.
4. Stripo — Best Free HTML Email Builder
Stripo is a popular AMP email builder that supports dynamic and interactive email designs. The HTML newsletter builder has a powerful WYSIWYG email editor and offers hundreds of email templates.
Rating score: Capterra: 4.9/5 | G2: 4.8/5
Stripo’s free email template maker has most of the useful features you need as a small business. However, some features, like testing on email clients and premium templates, are locked for paid users. You can even request a custom email template from professionals on the platform.
Features
Stripo has several useful features, like AMP support, that can help you improve your email marketing effectiveness. Here’s a brief glimpse of the features:
- Use drag-and-drop and HTML email creator simultaneously;
- Extensive template library with 1500+ free email templates;
- Interactive emails powered by AMP technology to engage subscribers;
- Powerful brand kit generator to standardize your email template designs.
Pros & Cons
Stripo is an amazing solution for building email templates, but it comes with cons, too. Here are the pros and cons of picking Stripo:
| Pros | Cons |
| Two-in-one Builder (Custom HTML + Visual), which can be switched easily. | Lack of project management and collaboration features like comment, chat, etc. |
| Quick and responsive customer support. | Some level of learning is required to speed up your template creation process. |
| Amazing UI with a unique constructor mode to replicate design elements and templates. | Lack of advanced design customization features. |
Pricing
If you’re considering Stripo for creating templates, here’s what you need to know about their pricing plans:
- Free plan that supports 4 email exports and 5 test emails per day;
- $15 monthly for up to 50 email exports, sharing email previews, and all other premium features.
5. Moosend — Email Newsletter Builder with Advanced Blocks
Moosend is an affordable email marketing and automation service with a robust email template designer. The intuitive drag-and-drop editor allows even beginners to build stunning templates without technical or design knowledge.
Rating score: Capterra: 4.6/5 | G2: 4.6/5
Apart from basic blocks, you get more advanced ones like countdown timers, product recommendations, and videos. The platform comes with an AI Writer that generates email copy and subject lines or proofreads for errors.
There is also a library of 100+ pre-made designs that can be fully customized to match your brand. You can also save the custom templates you create and use them in future campaigns.
With Moosend, you can experiment with your designs through A/B testing. You can create variations of your templates changing elements like the visuals, CTAs, and email copy to figure out what works better for your audience. And with the 24/7 customer support, you can feel at ease even if problems come your way.
Features
Moosend has an email designer with a range of handy features including a save function to reuse templates, custom fonts for consistency, and A/B testing. Here’s a glimpse of the key features:
- Intuitive template builder with a minimal learning curve;
- Advanced email automation to target subscribers automatically;
- Transactional emails;
- A/B testing functionality;
- AI Writer to assist in email content generation;
- Spam & design testing tools;
- Wide range of integrations with popular apps.
Pros & Cons
Moosend has a powerful email template builder but it also comes with a few drawbacks. Here are the most notable pros and cons of the service:
| Pros | Cons |
| Advanced elements and layouts to build your campaigns | Form builder has limited customization options |
| Robust automation options | |
| Landing page builder |
Pricing
Moosend offers both a free version and three paid plans to choose from depending on your needs. Here are the pricing details:
- 30-day free trial for unlimited emails to 1,000 contacts;
- Paid plans start at $9/month for unlimited emails to 500 contacts. Moosend+ gives you the flexibility to choose (and pay for) the add-ons you want.
6. Tabular — Best Email Builder for Responsive Emails
Tabular is a versatile email template creator that helps users create responsive emails without any coding knowledge. Its email builder offers readymade design blocks to help users quickly create visually appealing emails.
Rating score: Capterra: NA | G2: 4.9/5
Tabular’s extensive template library provides a wide range of high-quality templates to get you started quickly. These templates are designed for various purposes, ensuring you have the right design for every campaign.
Tabular also has a smart design converter that converts your email designs to HTML code. With dynamic content personalization, you can tailor emails to individual recipients.
Features
Tabular comes with several features you can use to design stunning email campaigns quickly. Here are the most useful features:
- Intuitive email builder with ready-to-use design blocks;
- Extensive template library with customizable templates for different occasions;
- Built-in HTML email editor for full control over design and responsiveness;
- Dynamic content personalization based on different elements;
- Seamless integrations with leading email marketing platforms.
Pros and Cons
Tabular is a comprehensive email template design solution but has its own set of shortcomings. Let’s quickly look at its pros and cons:
| Pros | Cons |
| Easy to use, no coding skills required | Limited customizable blocks; |
| Wide range of templates and customization | Only email support, even on paid plans |
| Seamless integration with major email platforms | Alignment of designs could be improved |
Pricing
Tabular offers both free and paid plans that you can use to design creative emails. Here are the pricing details:
- Forever free plan for up to 3 stored emails and 3 exports/month;
- Paid plans start at $29 per month for unlimited stored emails and up to 100 exports/month.
7. Beefree (formerly BEE) — Most Refined HTML Email Builder
Beefree (formerly BEE) is often hailed as the top-notch HTML email builder on popular forums. The platform offers a powerful HTML email editor online and offers different tools to simplify your email template-building process.
Rating score: Capterra: 4.8/5 | G2: 4.7/5
Creating emails with Beefree requires no coding experience. Plus, it offers a wide selection of pre-built templates that can be tailored to your preferences. Like most email template creators, Beefree has a user-friendly drag-and-drop system for expeditious design.
Features
Beefree offers everything you need to create your email templates with ease and efficiency. Here are the top features that will help you speed up the process:
- Extensive template library;
- Smart integrations with all major email marketing solutions;
- Responsive landing page designer with complete design flexibility;
- Reusable email design assets across different templates.
Pros & Cons
Beefree has many interesting features but has some disadvantages when compared to others on this list. Here are the pros and cons of using Beefree email builder:
| Pros | Cons |
| Separate folders (Projects) to organize templates better. | Confusing navigation in and out of the email builder for checking preview text. |
| One-click integrations with other email marketing suites and solutions. | Steep pricing plan, considering the functionality available. |
| In-built landing page builder. | Slow customer support (international) |
Pricing
Beefree has a generous free plan, but if you want to use it regularly, you might have to sign up for a pro plan. Here are the details:
- Free plan available with limits on the number of email templates created and feature restrictions;
- Pro plan available for $25 per month that offers unlimited email designs and all features.
8. Topol.io — User-Friendly & Simple Newsletter Creator
Topol is yet another free newsletter builder tool designed to help you save time as an email newsletter templates creator, marketer, or design professional.
Rating score: Capterra: 4.4/5 | G2: 4.7/5
The drag-and-drop email generator can be used as a standalone system or be integrated into your existing tool/SaaS platform as a plugin.
You get all the features and functionalities you’d find in any other visual email builder on this list. Its interface is as intuitive as any other and supports different design blocks, making it suitable for beginners and newsletter creators.
Features
Topol is a full-fledged email builder with many useful features that can make your life easier as a marketer or business owner. Some features include:
- Drag and drop builder with pre-made blocks and design template library;
- Custom HTML code builder for full flexibility and control over design;
- Add product information directly to email with XML imports/exports;
- Personalize design blocks and emails using merge tags.
Pros & Cons
Topol is a good tool, especially considering the price point, but its rudimentary layout sometimes can feel a bit ‘basic’. Here are some other pros and cons of choosing Topol:
| Pros | Cons |
| Easy and intuitive to use, even for beginners | Limited design customization capabilities. |
| Great library of readymade templates and design elements | Limited design library. |
| Amazing developer panel and integrations | No email clients integration. |
Pricing
Knowing details about the pricing plans is an important step when choosing a tool for your growth. Here’s what it will cost you if you choose Topol for creating email templates:
- Free plan with limited features, exports, and access;
- Paid plan starts at $10 per month for generating unlimited templates.
9. Litmus — Robust HTML & Visual Email Editor
Litmus is professional email template software that offers the convenience of a drag-and-drop editor along with other email marketing features. It has powerful features for designing, testing, optimizing, personalizing, and improving all your email templates.
Rating score: Capterra: 4.6/5 | G2: 4.6/5
Litmus supports an HTML code editor and a visual drag-and-drop editor, so you can create it any way you like. The template library helps you get started quickly, and you can use the built-in design library to add brand guidelines and create reusable blocks and templates quickly.
The email preview feature, which supports 100+ email clients, is also an excellent add-on for marketers and entrepreneurs who love perfection.
Features
Litmus has a standard feature list, but its personalization features are an amazing add-on. Here’s everything you should test out if you want to make the most of Litmus:
- Email designer + HTML email template builder with modular design blocks;
- Compatibility testing and preview feature across multiple email clients and devices;
- Email personalization at scale using in-built blocks, live email content, AI capabilities, and custom targeting.
Pros & Cons
Litmus has its own share of benefits and disadvantages. If you want to glance over those quickly, here’s a small list of pros and cons:
| Pros | Cons |
| Spam check feature while designing emails | Costly pricing plans |
| Simple and intuitive UI | Lack of preview header/subject line testing features |
| Test responsiveness across platforms/email clients on a single screen | Lack of adequate collaboration features |
Pricing
Litmus has a steep pricing model and just has a 7-day trial if you want to test out its capabilities. Here’s the pricing model of Litmus:
- Free 7-day trial plan available for new users;
- Paid plans start at $99 monthly for one user and 1,000 email previews monthly.
10. HubSpot — All-in-One CRM with Email Builder
HubSpot offers an easy drag-and-drop newsletter builder for creating email templates. You can customize every aspect of your email, from the layout and color scheme to the font and images, using HubSpot’s email builder.
Rating score: Capterra: 4.5/5 | G2: 4.4/5
Instead of struggling with code or relying on pre-made templates, use its drag-and-drop email editor. Add and rearrange elements, drag different parts of your email, and align it with your brand identity quickly.
It doesn’t have a very large template library, but the emails you design are responsive, so they will look great on any device.
The best part is that HubSpot’s email tools are integrated with their all-in-one solution, letting you connect your emails with your website, customer service, sales, and operation features.
Features
- Drag-and-drop interface that doesn’t require coding;
- Personalization tokens for relevant and contextual email content;
- Built-in email analytics dashboard;
- Template library with custom landing pages;
- Integration with HubSpot’s all-in-one platform.
Pros & Cons
HubSpot has a ton of benefits when it comes to its email builder and all-in-one platform; however, it’s important to note some of these disadvantages:
| Pros | Cons |
| Free suite of tools for small businesses and start-ups | Premium plans become a bit pricey |
| Easy to scale as your business needs to grow | Integrated tools require a bit of training and practice to fully leverage the tools |
| No CSS or HTML needed |
Pricing
- Free plan is limited to sending 1,000 emails only;
- Paid plans start at $18/month for up to 1,000 marketing contacts.
11. WIX — Easy-to-Use Email Design Software
WIX is a website builder that also offers an email editor to build email templates for its customers. It primarily helps its existing users to create visually stunning emails without complicating anything.
Rating score: Capterra: 4.4/5 | G2: 4.2/5
With Wix, you can create stunning, mobile-friendly emails in just minutes. Start from scratch or use its email template library to get going. You can use its drag-and-drop builder to customize fonts, colors, and backgrounds and even add videos to your emails.
Wix offers a wide array of templates for various occasions, so you can create emails quickly for different kinds of email marketing campaigns.
Features
WIX’s strength lies in its captivating email templates that are easy to customize and get a stunning result each time. But its email template builder’s feature list doesn’t end here:
- Mobile-optimized templates;
- Easy-to-use email editor;
- Dynamic values for email personalization;
- Basic design features (fonts, colors, background, and videos);
- A/B testing.
Pros & Cons
With WIX’s email template builder, you can be sure you’ll have an eye-catching result each time. But that’s not the only advantage it has:
| Pros | Cons |
| Professionally-designed templates | Available only with website builder |
| Vast image library | Only basic features |
| Very easy to use | More expensive plans don’t equal more features |
Pricing
Being primarily a website builder, WIX doesn’t offer separate plans for email template builder only:
- There is no free trial, but there’s a 14-day money-back guarantee;
- Paid plans start at $10 per month.
12. YayMail — Email Creation Software for WooCommerce
YayMail is a no-code email template creator for WooCommerce that you can use for customizing transactional and marketing email templates.
Rating score: Capterra: 4.9/5 | G2: 4.5/5
The WooCommerce email customizer plugin enables you to easily customize the default WooCommerce templates and turn them into appealing, eye-catching emails with its user-friendly drag-and-drop interface.
You can use a variety of tactics to make tailored content within a WooCommerce email stand out, as well as apply colors to text and banners to backgrounds. You will be able to embed YouTube video links and thumbnails within an email for your readers to click on or change the font style and font size to appeal to your readership.
Email Builder’s Features
- Drag-and-drop WooCommerce email builder with HTML email support;
- Fully customize 11+ WooCommerce order email templates.
- Dynamic placeholders for email personalization;
- 50+ add-ons to customize email templates and campaigns;
- Predesigned blocks for faster email creation;
Pros & Cons
YayMail has what helps it stand out from other email builders. However, it’s a few disadvantages away from being perfect:
| Pros | Cons |
| User-friendly interface | Limited customization and integration options |
| Drag-and-drop email builder | Learning curve for advanced features |
| Good customer support | Occasional bugs and glitches |
Pricing
- Free plan with 11 standard WooCommerce emails & full customizability.
- Paid plan starts from $59 for a single site with unlimited email templates and 1-1 Live Chat VIP Support.
Start Using the Best Email Template Builder in the Market
- Take advantage of custom templates and design blocks to create responsive HTML email templates;
- Pick an email marketing platform that offers both — design + marketing automation capabilities in a single package;
- Always test and try email design tools by signing up for a free plan before committing to a paid plan;
- If you need something more advanced than premade email templates, try experimenting with HTML email template builders.
There are many more free tools that could ease your business routine. Take a look at these articles to find what fits your needs best:
- 14 Best Email Marketing Platforms in 2024 (Software Review)
- 10 Best Newsletter Platforms for 2024
- 12 Best Free Newsletter Websites in 2024
