Benchmark Email vs EmailOctopus

Benchmark Email and EmailOctopus are both freemium email marketing tools with drag-and-drop builders, but EmailOctopus offers a larger free-tier ceiling, a…

Best for Benchmark Email: Teams that value being in the same customer base as large brands (FedEx, Panasonic, Samsung) and don't mind paying per additional user beyond the 1 included on Pro.
Best for EmailOctopus: Budget-conscious small teams or nonprofits that want a bigger free tier, a cheaper $9/month entry paid plan, unlimited users, and broad third-party integrations.

At a Glance

 Benchmark EmailEmailOctopus
Primary categoryEmail MarketingEmail Marketing
RatingNot documentedNot documented
Pricing modelFreemiumFreemium
Starting priceFree (paid plans from $19/month)Free (Pro from $9/month)
Free planYesYes
Free trialNot documentedNot documented
PlatformsWebWeb
Team collaborationNot documentedNot documented
AI featuresNot documentedNot documented
Public APINot documentedYes

Key Differences

Free Plan Subscriber Ceiling

Benchmark Email: Benchmark Email's free plan covers up to 500 contacts and 2,500 sends per month.

EmailOctopus: EmailOctopus's free plan covers up to 2,500 subscribers and 10,000 emails per month.

EmailOctopus's free tier goes roughly 5x further before requiring an upgrade.

Entry Paid Price

Benchmark Email: Benchmark Email's Pro plan starts at $27/month.

EmailOctopus: EmailOctopus's Pro plan starts at $9/month.

A roughly 3x difference in entry paid pricing affects which is more budget-friendly for small senders moving off a free plan.

Integration Breadth

Benchmark Email: Benchmark Email's facts don't list a specific integration count or catalog.

EmailOctopus: EmailOctopus documents 1,000+ third-party integrations.

Broader integration support reduces custom development work to connect other tools.

Team Seats on Entry Paid Plan

Benchmark Email: Benchmark Email's Pro plan includes 1 user, with additional users at $15/month each (up to 10 total).

EmailOctopus: EmailOctopus's Pro plan includes unlimited users.

Teams with multiple people sending campaigns face materially different per-seat costs.

Nonprofit Discount

Benchmark Email: Benchmark Email's facts don't mention a nonprofit discount program.

EmailOctopus: EmailOctopus offers a documented 20% lifetime discount for nonprofits.

Relevant for nonprofit organizations comparing long-term cost.

Feature-by-Feature

Core Features

FeatureBenchmark EmailEmailOctopus
Drag-and-drop editorAvailableAvailable
AutomationNot documentedAvailable
SegmentationAvailableAvailable
Personalization (dynamic content)Not documentedAvailable
Signup forms / landing pagesAvailableAvailable

Pricing & Plans

FeatureBenchmark EmailEmailOctopus
Permanent free planAvailableAvailable
No branding on free planNot documentedUnavailable
Full report retention on free planNot documentedLimited
Entry paid plan priceAvailableAvailable
Unlimited users on entry paid planUnavailableAvailable

Integrations & Scale

FeatureBenchmark EmailEmailOctopus
Documented integration countNot documentedAvailable
Nonprofit discountNot documentedAvailable
Enterprise tier for very large listsAvailableAvailable

Pricing Compared

Starting price reflects the lowest paid tier, not the full cost for every team size or usage level.

Benchmark Email

Free — $0/month monthly
Pro — From $19/month monthly
Enterprise — Custom custom

EmailOctopus

Free — $0 N/A
Pro — From $9/month (billed annually) for 500 subscribers Monthly or annual, scales with list size
Enterprise — Custom quote Custom

Pros & Cons

Benchmark Email

Pros

  • Free plan available for smaller contact lists
  • Simple drag-and-drop interface requires minimal design skill
  • Long-established company (founded 2004) with enterprise customers
  • Real-time campaign reporting included

Cons

  • Higher contact volumes and additional users add to monthly cost
  • Feature set is more basic than some marketing-automation-focused competitors
  • Legacy 'Classic' version alongside newer platform can create some fragmentation

EmailOctopus

Pros

  • Significantly cheaper than mainstream competitors like Mailchimp at comparable subscriber counts
  • Genuine free plan covering 2,500 subscribers and 10,000 monthly emails with no time limit
  • 20% lifetime discount available for verified non-profit organizations
  • Simple, focused feature set that avoids the complexity of larger all-in-one marketing suites

Cons

  • Free plan statistics are only retained for 30 days and include EmailOctopus branding
  • Fewer advanced CRM, e-commerce, and multichannel features than larger platforms like Brevo or HubSpot
  • Small internal team may mean slower feature development compared to venture-backed competitors
  • Landing pages and forms are limited to one each on the free plan

Use Cases

Choose Benchmark Email: Teams that value being in the same customer base as large brands (FedEx, Panasonic, Samsung) and don't mind paying per additional user beyond the 1 included on Pro.
Choose EmailOctopus: Budget-conscious small teams or nonprofits that want a bigger free tier, a cheaper $9/month entry paid plan, unlimited users, and broad third-party integrations.
Need both: The facts don't describe a complementary use case — these are largely substitutable, general-purpose email marketing tools serving the same core job, so most teams would pick one rather than run both.

Benchmark Email

  • Small business email campaigns — Small businesses sending newsletters and promotions without design or technical expertise.
  • Nonprofit outreach — Nonprofits managing donor and supporter communications on a budget.

EmailOctopus

  • Budget-friendly newsletter sending — Small businesses and bloggers use EmailOctopus to send regular newsletters at a fraction of the cost of larger email marketing platforms.
  • List growth with landing pages — Solo creators and startups use EmailOctopus's built-in landing pages and signup forms to grow an email list without a separate website.
  • Automated welcome and drip sequences — Marketing teams set up automated welcome series and drip campaigns to nurture new subscribers without manual sending.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do both have permanent free plans?

Yes — Benchmark Email's free plan covers up to 500 contacts and 2,500 sends per month; EmailOctopus's free plan covers up to 2,500 subscribers and 10,000 emails per month.

What does each entry-level paid plan cost?

Benchmark Email's Pro plan starts at $27/month; EmailOctopus's Pro plan starts at $9/month, billed annually.

How many integrations does each offer?

EmailOctopus documents over 1,000 third-party integrations; Benchmark Email's facts don't state a specific integration count.

Are there extra costs for additional team members?

Benchmark Email charges $15/month per additional user beyond the 1 included on Pro (up to 10 total); EmailOctopus's Pro plan includes unlimited users.

Is there a nonprofit discount?

EmailOctopus offers a 20% lifetime discount for nonprofits; Benchmark Email's facts don't mention a nonprofit program.

Read the full Benchmark Email review · Read the full EmailOctopus review