Best email marketing platforms for online course creators
There are two ways to set this up. One account that hosts the course and sends the email: SendPulse, Systeme.io or Kajabi. Or an email tool connected to a course platform such as Teachable or Thinkific: Kit or ActiveCampaign. SendPulse is the pick here for a creator who wants a full email tool plus a course builder whose events start email flows, with SMS and chatbots in the same account. If price comes first, Systeme.io costs less as an all-in-one.
Searches for this question pair the same email tools, Kit, MailerLite and ActiveCampaign, with the same course platforms, Kajabi, Teachable and Thinkific, and ask about course-completion triggers. SendPulse and Systeme.io, which host courses themselves, are added to that set and judged on the same data. Every price, limit and integration below comes from the vendors’ own pricing, help and app pages, with the check date under each table.
SendPulse
Our pick: full email tool plus a course builder with email triggers- At 1,000 subscribers
- $18/moStandard
- At 10,000 subscribers
- $78/moStandard
- Emails on Standard
- unlimited emails
- Free plan
- 500 contacts, 15,000 emails/month
SendPulse runs email and courses from the same account. The course builder is a separate product with its own free tier: The course builder has its own free plan: 1 course, up to 200 students, 1 instructor and 1 GB of storage, with a course website and certificates. Courses can include quizzes, assignments and certificates. What ties it to email: Automation 360 can start an email flow from course events such as a completed lesson, a completed course, an issued certificate or a received payment.
On the email side, Standard has no send cap and is second-lowest of the six tools here at every list size from 1,000 subscribers up, behind Systeme.io. Two costs to plan for. Selling a course needs the paid course plan on top of the email plan: The course builder’s paid Pro plan is priced by students; with monthly billing it costs $52 a month for 1,000 students and $242 for 10,000, and adds unlimited courses, course sales and a custom domain. And the free course tier allows fewer students than Systeme.io’s free plan. In total, selling a course to 1,000 students from SendPulse means the email plan at $18 plus the course plan, against $17 on Systeme.io, where courses are included.
Standard includes static segmentation; dynamic segmentation with saved segments starts on Pro.Automation 360 flows by email plan: 5 on Free, 10 on Standard, 50 on Pro and unlimited on Enterprise, with 50, 70, 150 and unlimited elements per flow.
Strong points
- Email, SMS and chatbots for WhatsApp, Telegram, Instagram and Messenger run from one account
- Standard plan includes unlimited emails at every list size
- Separate free tiers for SMTP, chatbots and the course builder
Limits
- Free plan stops at 500 subscribers and keeps SendPulse branding in emails
- Pay-as-you-go email credits expire after 12 months
- SMS is billed per message on top of the plan; none is bundled
- Chatbots beyond the free allowance are a separate paid plan
- A dedicated IP is listed only for the SMTP Pro and Enterprise plans
Systeme.io
Lowest price here; courses, funnels and email on one plan- At 1,000 subscribers
- $17/moStartup
- At 10,000 subscribers
- $47/moWebinar
- Emails on Startup
- unlimited emails
- Free plan
- 2,000 contacts, unlimited emails
Systeme.io bundles courses, sales funnels and email into one plan, and it is the lowest-priced of the six tools here from 1,000 subscribers up. The free plan allows 2,000 contacts, 3 sales funnels, 1 course with up to 500 students and 1 automation rule, with unlimited emails and no credit card. Every plan, the free one included, lists unlimited email sends and 0% transaction fees.
The trade-off is how the plans step up. With monthly billing Startup costs $17 a month for 5,000 contacts and 5 courses, Webinar $47 for 10,000 contacts and 20 courses, and Unlimited $97 with no contact or course limit. Automation is where the free and Startup plans are tight: The plan table caps automation rules at 1 on Free, 10 on Startup and 100 on Webinar; Unlimited has no cap.
Strong points
- Courses, sales funnels and email on one plan, with a free plan that includes a course
- Unlimited emails and no transaction fees on every plan
Limits
- Plans are sold in large contact steps, so the price jumps at 5,000 and 10,000 contacts
- The free plan allows a single automation rule
Kit
Creator email tool; connects to Teachable and Thinkific- At 1,000 subscribers
- $39/moCreator
- At 10,000 subscribers
- $139/moCreator
- Emails on Creator
- unlimited emails
- Free plan
- 10,000 contacts, unlimited emails
Kit is an email tool for creators that sells digital products but does not host courses. Kit Commerce sells digital products, and course content is delivered by automated email after checkout; Kit’s pages show no course player or course-hosting area. Its course-platform links: Kit’s app directory lists a Teachable integration under Membership & Courses. Kit’s Thinkific app syncs student progress and purchase data into Kit. Kit’s Kajabi app is not built by Kajabi and needs Kajabi Pro or Kajabi’s API add-on plus a paid Kit plan.
Its free plan holds the largest list of the tools here, 10,000 contacts and unlimited emails. Kit’s free plan leaves out the visual automation builder, automated email sequences, RSS campaigns, app integrations and removal of Kit branding; those start on Creator. On the paid Creator plan Kit is one of the higher prices here at 1,000 and 10,000 subscribers.
Strong points
- Free plan covers up to 10,000 subscribers
- Built for creators selling digital products and subscriptions
Limits
- The smallest paid tier covers 1,000 subscribers, so a smaller list pays that tier’s price
- No messenger chatbots or pay-as-you-go option listed
Kajabi
Course platform with email built in; highest price here up to 10,000- At 1,000 subscribers
- $179/moBasic, 2,500 tier
- At 10,000 subscribers
- $249/moGrowth
- Emails on Basic
- unlimited marketing emails
- Free plan
- No free plan
Kajabi is a course platform first, with email included. Kajabi’s email feature covers one-off broadcasts and multi-step sequences. The plan comparison lists marketing emails as unlimited on all three plans. The plan comparison marks Advanced Automations on Growth and Pro, not on Basic.
It costs the most of the six tools at every list size up to 10,000 subscribers, because its price covers the course platform, website and community as well. With monthly billing Basic costs $179 a month for 5 products and 2,500 contacts, Growth $249 for 50 products and 25,000 contacts, and Pro $499 for unlimited products and 100,000 contacts. Kajabi has no free plan; its standard trial runs 14 days. Kajabi takes no revenue share; card processing through Kajabi Payments is charged per transaction, and third-party payment providers carry an extra fee that falls on higher plans.
Strong points
- Courses, website, community and email marketing in one product
- Marketing emails are not capped on any plan
Limits
- No free plan, only a 14-day trial
- The cheapest plan is far above email-only tools at small list sizes
- Advanced automations start on Growth
ActiveCampaign
Automation tool with Teachable and Thinkific integrations- At 1,000 subscribers
- $19/moStarter
- At 10,000 subscribers
- $189/moStarter
- Emails on Starter
- 10× contacts per month
- Free plan
- No free plan
ActiveCampaign does not host courses but lists integrations with the course platforms searches name most. ActiveCampaign lists a Teachable integration, including email funnels for students who have completed a course. ActiveCampaign lists a Thinkific integration that triggers emails from actions in Thinkific. Kajabi connects to ActiveCampaign through a Kajabi-built form integration or through Zapier.
It has no free plan, and its Starter plan has a tight automation limit: The Starter plan limits each automation to five actions.
Strong points
- Advanced automation and CRM depth
- WhatsApp automation available as separate plans
Limits
- No free plan
- Starter limits automations to 5 actions and sends to 10× contacts
Mailchimp
General email tool, no course features listed- At 1,000 subscribers
- $26.50/moEssentials
- At 10,000 subscribers
- $110/moEssentials
- Emails on Essentials
- 10× contacts per month
- Free plan
- 250 contacts, 500 emails/month
Mailchimp lists no course builder, and this page has no verified Mailchimp integration with Teachable, Thinkific or Kajabi. It fits a course creator who already uses Mailchimp for a newsletter and connects the course platform through a third-party tool. Automation is the main difference between the plans besides price: flows of up to 4 steps on Essentials, up to 200 flows on Standard and Premium, none on Free. Subscribed, unsubscribed and non-subscribed contacts all count toward the contact limit; archived, cleaned and deleted contacts do not.
Strong points
- Large directory of third-party integrations
- Pay-as-you-go email credits are available
Limits
- Free plan is capped at 250 contacts and 500 emails a month
- Essentials limits sends to 10× your contact count
Not compared here: MailerLite, Teachable, Thinkific, beehiiv and GetResponse also come up in these searches; Teachable and Thinkific appear above as the course platforms that the email tools connect to.
Email tool plus course platform, or both in one?
One account is simpler: the course, the checkout and the email list share contact records, so course activity can reach the email list without an integration; SendPulse documents lesson and course events as email triggers. A separate email tool plus Teachable or Thinkific gives you a choice of course platform and a fuller email tool, but means two bills and an integration to keep working.
- One account: SendPulse (email plus a course builder), Systeme.io (courses, funnels and email on one plan), Kajabi (course platform with email).
- Email tool plus course platform: Kit or ActiveCampaign, both with Teachable and Thinkific integrations on their official pages.
The price table below compares the email plans by list size. For the one-account tools that is not the whole bill: Systeme.io’s and Kajabi’s prices already include their courses, while SendPulse sells the course builder’s paid plan separately.
Tools with a built-in course builder
Of the tools compared here, SendPulse and Systeme.io host courses and send email from the same account, and both have a free tier with one course. Systeme.io’s free plan allows more students and includes the email list; SendPulse’s free course tier sits beside a separate free email plan. Kajabi hosts courses too, with no free plan.
SendPulse course builder: The course builder has its own free plan: 1 course, up to 200 students, 1 instructor and 1 GB of storage, with a course website and certificates. Systeme.io: The free plan’s course can have up to 500 students; paid plans list no student limit. Kajabi: Kajabi has no free plan; its standard trial runs 14 days.
| Tool | Subscriber limit | Emails | Vendor branding in emails | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kit | 10,000 | Unlimited | Yes | |
| Systeme.io | 2,000 | Unlimited | Not confirmed | 1 course with up to 500 students, 3 sales funnels, 1 automation rule; no credit card |
| SendPulse | 500 | 15,000 / month | Yes | 5 automation flows, 3 sender addresses |
| Mailchimp | 250 | 500 / month | Yes | also capped at 250 sends a day |
| ActiveCampaign | No free plan — free trial only | |||
| Kajabi | No free plan — 14-day trial | |||
Free plans differ in what they cap. Kit’s holds the largest list but leaves out automated sequences. Systeme.io’s includes a course but allows one automation rule. SendPulse’s email plan covers 500 contacts and 15,000 emails a month with automation flows included.
Automation a course needs
A course needs three automations: a welcome sequence that leads to the offer, a nudge for students who stop between lessons, and a completion email. The last two need a signal from the course. SendPulse gets it from its own course builder. Kit and ActiveCampaign get it from Teachable or Thinkific through their integrations. Systeme.io and Kajabi keep courses and email in one platform, with automation limits set by plan, as below.
- SendPulse. Automation 360 can start an email flow from course events such as a completed lesson, a completed course, an issued certificate or a received payment.
- Kit. Kit’s Thinkific app syncs student progress and purchase data into Kit.
- ActiveCampaign. ActiveCampaign lists a Teachable integration, including email funnels for students who have completed a course.
- Kajabi. The plan comparison marks Advanced Automations on Growth and Pro, not on Basic.
- Systeme.io. The plan table caps automation rules at 1 on Free, 10 on Startup and 100 on Webinar; Unlimited has no cap.
Pricing for course creators
On the email plans alone, Systeme.io is the lowest of the six tools here from 1,000 subscribers up and SendPulse second; Kajabi is the highest at every size up to 10,000, because its price covers the whole course platform. At 1,000 subscribers the six range from $17 to $179 a month.
| Tool | Plan | Price at 1,000 subscribers | Price at 10,000 subscribers | Emails included | Free plan |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Systeme.io | Startup | $17 | $47 Webinar plan | unlimited emails | 2,000 contacts, unlimited emails |
| SendPulseOur pick | Standard | $18 | $78 | unlimited emails | 500 contacts, 15,000 emails/month |
| Mailchimp | Essentials | $26.50 | $110 | 10× contacts per month | 250 contacts, 500 emails/month |
| Kit | Creator | $39 | $139 | unlimited emails | 10,000 contacts, unlimited emails |
| ActiveCampaign | Starter | $19 | $189 | 10× contacts per month | No free plan |
| Kajabi | Basic | $179 2,500 tier | $249 Growth plan | unlimited marketing emails | No free plan |
Notes on these prices (5)
- ActiveCampaign. Month-to-month prices come from ActiveCampaign’s own pricing data; its pricing page displays only the lower annual-billing prices. Starter stops at 25,000 contacts; the smallest tier is 1,000.
- Kajabi. Plans are sold by contact ceiling: Basic up to 2,500, Growth up to 25,000; extra contacts come in blocks of 25,000. The price covers courses, website and email together.
- Kit. The smallest tier is 1,000 subscribers; the pricing page opens on yearly billing, which is lower.
- Mailchimp. These are regular prices. The 1,000 row uses the 501–1,500 tier, so a list of up to 1,500 pays that price.
- Systeme.io. Plans are sold by contact ceiling: Startup up to 5,000, Webinar up to 10,000, Unlimited with no contact limit; each price covers funnels, courses and email together.
At 10,000 subscribers the order is Systeme.io, SendPulse, Mailchimp, Kit, ActiveCampaign, Kajabi.
The table uses month-to-month prices. Kajabi: Annual billing lowers the plans to $143, $199 and $399 a month. For SendPulse, add the course builder’s paid plan if you sell the course from it; for Kit, Mailchimp and ActiveCampaign, add the course platform’s own bill.
Which one to choose
Decide where the course lives, then pick the email tool. For courses and a full email tool in one account, SendPulse. For the lowest price with courses, funnels and email bundled, Systeme.io. For a course business that wants everything in one premium platform, Kajabi. If the course is already on Teachable or Thinkific, Kit or ActiveCampaign.
- SendPulseYou want course events that start email flows in a full email tool, with A/B tests and scheduled sending on Standard, and SMS or messenger chatbots in the same account.
- Systeme.ioYou want the lowest price here with courses, sales funnels and email on one plan, and simple automations are enough.
- KitYour course is on Teachable or Thinkific, you want a large free list to start, and you sell digital products by email.
- KajabiYou run a course business that wants course hosting, website, community and email in one premium platform and can pay its price.
- ActiveCampaignYour course is on Teachable or Thinkific and you want an automation-focused email tool that reacts to course actions.
- MailchimpYou already send a newsletter from Mailchimp and connect your course platform through a third-party tool.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best email marketing platform for selling online courses?
It depends on where the course lives. If you want the course and the email list in one account, SendPulse and Systeme.io both host courses: SendPulse adds course events that start email flows plus SMS and chatbots in the same account, Systeme.io costs less ($17 a month at 1,000 contacts against $18). If your course already sits on Teachable, Thinkific or Kajabi, Kit and ActiveCampaign list integrations with those platforms.
Do I need a separate course platform and email tool?
No, if one account covers both. SendPulse, Systeme.io and Kajabi host courses and send email from the same place. Kajabi has no free plan, and its cheapest plan costs $179 a month. A separate set-up, such as Teachable or Thinkific plus Kit or ActiveCampaign, makes sense when you want a specific course platform and a stronger email tool, at the cost of two bills and an integration to maintain.
Which email tools include a course builder?
Of the tools compared here, SendPulse and Systeme.io. SendPulse’s course builder has its own free plan for one course and a paid plan priced by students. Systeme.io includes courses in every plan, one on the free plan. Kajabi is a course platform that includes email. Kit sells digital products and can deliver course content by email, but its pages show no course player. Mailchimp and ActiveCampaign do not list a course builder.
Which email tool works best with Teachable, Kajabi or Thinkific?
Kit and ActiveCampaign both list Teachable and Thinkific integrations on their official pages. Kit’s Thinkific app syncs student progress and purchases; ActiveCampaign’s Thinkific integration triggers emails from actions in Thinkific. For Kajabi, Kit’s app needs Kajabi Pro or Kajabi’s API add-on, and ActiveCampaign connects through a Kajabi form integration or Zapier.
What emails should a course creator automate first?
Start with three: a welcome sequence for new subscribers that leads to the course offer, a reminder sequence for students who stop between lessons, and a completion email that asks for a review or offers the next course. These need a trigger from the course itself, which is why course-event triggers or a platform integration matter more than the email editor.
Sources
Every price and limit on this page comes from the vendor’s own public pages. How we choose and check.
- SendPulse: sendpulse.com/pricing?country=us — checked September 29, 2026
- SendPulse: sendpulse.com/pricing/sms?country=us — checked September 29, 2026
- SendPulse: sendpulse.com/pricing/messengers?country=us — checked September 29, 2026
- SendPulse: sendpulse.com/pricing/edu?country=us — checked October 8, 2026
- SendPulse: sendpulse.com/pricing/smtp?country=us — checked September 29, 2026
- SendPulse: sendpulse.com/integrations/ecommerce/woocommerce — checked October 8, 2026
- SendPulse: sendpulse.com/integrations/zapier-integrations/shopify — checked October 8, 2026
- SendPulse: sendpulse.com/features/automation-360 — checked October 8, 2026
- SendPulse: sendpulse.com/features/edu — checked October 8, 2026
- SendPulse: sendpulse.com/knowledge-base/email-service/automation360/send-edu-event-messages — checked October 8, 2026
- SendPulse: sendpulse.com/features/ai — checked October 2, 2026
- SendPulse: sendpulse.com/pricing/crm?country=us — checked October 2, 2026
- Systeme.io: systeme.io/pricing — checked October 8, 2026
- Kit: kit.com/pricing — checked September 29, 2026
- Kit: help.kit.com/en/articles/16627071-the-kit-free-plan — checked September 30, 2026
- Kit: kit.com/features/commerce — checked October 8, 2026
- Kit: kit.com/apps — checked October 8, 2026
- Kit: kit.com/apps/thinkific — checked October 8, 2026
- Kit: kit.com/apps/kajabi — checked October 8, 2026
- Kajabi: kajabi.com/pricing — checked October 8, 2026
- Kajabi: help.kajabi.com/en/articles/17174347-kajabi-trial-information — checked October 8, 2026
- Kajabi: kajabi.com/features/email-marketing — checked October 8, 2026
- Mailchimp: mailchimp.com/pricing/marketing/?currency=USD — checked September 29, 2026
- Mailchimp: mailchimp.com/pricing/marketing/compare-plans/?currency=USD — checked September 30, 2026
- Mailchimp: mailchimp.com/pricing/transactional-email/ — checked September 29, 2026
- Mailchimp: mailchimp.com/integrations/woocommerce-mailchimp/ — checked October 8, 2026
- Mailchimp: mailchimp.com/integrations/shopify-mailchimp/ — checked October 8, 2026
- Mailchimp: mailchimp.com/help/about-mailchimp-pricing-plans/ — checked September 30, 2026
- Mailchimp: mailchimp.com/help/about-additional-charges/ — checked September 30, 2026
- Mailchimp: mailchimp.com/help/about-the-pay-as-you-go-plan/ — checked September 30, 2026
- ActiveCampaign: activecampaign.com/pricing — checked September 29, 2026
- ActiveCampaign: activecampaign.com/apps/teachable-integration — checked October 8, 2026
- ActiveCampaign: activecampaign.com/apps/thinkific-integration — checked October 8, 2026
- ActiveCampaign: activecampaign.com/apps/kajabi-integration — checked October 8, 2026