Benchmark Email offers drag-and-drop email campaigns, automation, and contact management. Free plan for up to 500 contacts; paid plans from $19/month.
Category
Email Marketing
Pricing
Freemium, from Free (paid plans from $19/month)
Verified
Not yet
Last updated
July 18, 2026
Founded
2004
Headquarters
St. Louis, Missouri, USA
Free PlanWeb AppFreemiumTemplates
Overview
Benchmark Email is an email marketing platform founded in 2004 by Curt and Denise Keller and headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. It positions itself around simplicity — helping users upload contacts, design campaigns, and send emails without needing design or technical skills.
The company has grown from a bootstrapped startup into an internationally used email service, and in 2019 merged with marketing automation company Hatchbuck.
Key Features
Benchmark Email provides a drag-and-drop email builder with pre-built templates, contact list management and segmentation, subscriber sign-up forms, an image library, personalization tools, and real-time campaign reporting and activity feeds.
Pricing
Benchmark Email offers a free plan for up to 500 contacts and 2,500 monthly sends. The Pro plan starts at $19/month for 1,000+ contacts, with additional users priced separately, and an Enterprise tier offers custom pricing for organizations with 100,000+ contacts.
Key Features
Drag-and-drop email builder — Design campaigns visually without coding, using a drag-and-drop editor.
Pre-built templates — Choose from a library of ready-made email templates.
Contact management & segmentation — Organize and segment subscriber lists for targeted sends.
Sign-up forms — Create forms to capture new subscribers directly on websites.
Image library — Access a built-in library of images for use in campaigns.
Real-time reporting — Track campaign performance through activity feeds and reports.
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
Pricing
Free $0/month monthly
Pro From $19/month monthly
Enterprise Custom custom
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Benchmark Email free?
Yes, Benchmark Email offers a free plan for up to 500 contacts and 2,500 monthly email sends. Paid plans start at $19/month.
Who owns Benchmark Email?
Benchmark Email was founded in 2004 by Curt and Denise Keller and is operated by parent company Polaris Software, LLC.
Does Benchmark Email support automation?
The platform's homepage highlights core campaign creation, contact management, and reporting; detailed automation capabilities are described further on its feature pages.
What happened with Hatchbuck?
Benchmark Email merged with marketing automation company Hatchbuck in 2019, after which Hatchbuck's former CEO Jonathan Herrick took over day-to-day leadership.