email marketing

Substack

Publishing platform for newsletters, podcasts and video. Free to start and publish with no fees until you choose to charge readers; Substack takes 10% of paid subscriptions if you do.

From the site: The app for independent voices

Why I recommend it: Free tier covers everything you need to publish and grow; you only share revenue if you turn on paid subscriptions.

16 Things People Really Hate About Your Email Marketing

A HubSpot guide to the email habits that make people unsubscribe, with practical fixes for frequency, subject lines, personalization and list hygiene. Useful for anyone sending a newsletter for a business or a job search.

Why I recommend it: Read this before you send your first newsletter; most of the mistakes are easy to avoid up front.

beehiiv

A newsletter publishing platform with a free tier covering website, subscriber management, and growth and monetization tools.

Why I recommend it: A newsletter is the one audience nobody can take from you. Start it before you need it.

HubSpot AI

HubSpot's suite of free AI-powered tools for content creation, email, and CRM tasks.

Why I recommend it: HubSpot gives away some surprisingly good free AI tools—worth exploring before paying for anything.

Klaviyo

Email and SMS marketing automation platform popular with e-commerce brands for personalized campaigns.

Brevo

Email and SMS marketing platform (formerly Sendinblue) with automation and CRM tools for small businesses.