Campaign Monitor Review
Beautiful email campaigns with 99%+ deliverability — built for agencies and brand-conscious businesses
Last reviewed: 2026-05-25 · By GBBR Editorial Team
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Our Top Pick · Silver Tier
Campaign Monitor
From $11/mo
The Bottom Line
Campaign Monitor earns Silver for delivering best-in-class email design, rock-solid 99%+ deliverability, and the strongest multi-client account management in the industry. Agencies swear by it. It misses Gold because there's no free plan and its automation depth doesn't match ActiveCampaign. If polished emails that actually reach the inbox are your top priority, Campaign Monitor is one of the best choices at this price.
What is Campaign Monitor?
Founded in 2004 in Sydney, Australia, Campaign Monitor built its reputation on one thing: emails that look beautiful and land in the inbox. Now part of Marigold (the email group behind Emma, Sailthru, and Selligent), it serves 250,000+ businesses across 180 countries. It's particularly popular with creative agencies — its multi-client account structure lets a single login manage unlimited separate client accounts with individual branding, which almost no competitor matches.
What does Campaign Monitor offer?
The Lite plan starts at $11/month for up to 500 contacts (2,500 sends). Essentials at $19/month removes send limits and adds inbox preview and time-zone sending. Premier at $149/month adds advanced link tracking, priority support, and a dedicated account manager. Campaign Monitor also offers pay-per-campaign pricing at $5 flat + $0.01/recipient — a rare option useful for businesses that send occasional one-offs. The Journey Builder handles visual automation workflows for welcome sequences, drip series, and conditional branching.
Lite
$11
/month
Essentials
$19
/month
Premier
$149
/month
Is Campaign Monitor worth the price?
From $11/mo (500 contacts) — no free plan, but pay-per-campaign available for occasional senders
Priced similarly to Kit and Brevo at entry level, but without a free tier — the trade-off is stronger deliverability and a better template library than either
Fair valueHow we scored it
Overall score: 75/100
99%+ average deliverability — dedicated IP infrastructure and strict list hygiene enforcement make this one of the most reliable inboxes in the industry
100+ professionally designed templates — the best visual library in the email marketing category at this price point
Journey Builder handles standard sequences and conditional branching — solid for most use cases but lacks ActiveCampaign's advanced logic
Clean, modern interface with an intuitive drag-and-drop builder — most users send their first campaign within an hour
Best-in-class multi-client account management — one login, unlimited client accounts, separate branding per client
No free plan limits accessibility — starting at $11/month is reasonable, but Brevo and Mailchimp offer free tiers at comparable quality
Why Campaign Monitor is Silver Tier
Campaign Monitor earns Silver for its consistently excellent 99%+ deliverability, the best template library in its price tier, and agency-grade multi-client account management. It loses points for no free plan (a real barrier versus Mailchimp, Brevo, and GetResponse), automation that doesn't match ActiveCampaign's conditional logic depth, and fewer native integrations than category leaders. G2 at 4.1 and Capterra at 4.5 confirm solid satisfaction without breakout scores.
How We Test Email Marketing Software
We test each platform by building an actual campaign from scratch in a fresh account — not by reading documentation or inspecting marketing copy. Deliverability is measured by sending test campaigns to a seed list covering Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook, and Apple Mail inboxes and recording inbox vs. spam placement rate. We build a 5-step automated welcome sequence on each platform and time configuration from start to first test execution. List import is tested with a 1,000-contact CSV, documenting error handling and field mapping quality. Automation accuracy is verified by triggering every branch condition and logging failures. Support is tested by submitting a technical question and measuring first response time and resolution quality. Pricing is captured at checkout — including list size limits and feature restrictions that apply at the stated plan price.
Last tested: 2026-05-25 · Reviewed by GBBR Editorial Team
Pros & Cons
Pros
- ✓99%+ deliverability — one of the highest rates in the industry
- ✓Best-in-class template library (100+ professional designs)
- ✓Multi-client account management built for agencies
- ✓Pay-per-campaign option for infrequent senders
- ✓Clean, modern interface with short learning curve
Cons
- ✗No free plan — trial limited to 5 sends to 5 subscribers
- ✗Automation less advanced than ActiveCampaign
- ✗Fewer native integrations than HubSpot or Klaviyo
- ✗Pricing scales up noticeably with larger list sizes
Ready to try Campaign Monitor? Plans start at $11/mo.
Get Campaign Monitor — from $11/mo →Frequently Asked Questions
Is Campaign Monitor worth it in 2026?
From $11/mo (500 contacts) — no free plan, but pay-per-campaign available for occasional senders Overall verdict: Fair value.
What is Campaign Monitor best for?
Campaign Monitor is best for: Creative agencies managing email for multiple clients, Brand-conscious SMBs who need polished email design, Teams where deliverability is the #1 priority.
Does Campaign Monitor have a free trial?
Campaign Monitor does not offer a permanently free plan. Paid plans start at $11/month.
Who should NOT use Campaign Monitor?
Campaign Monitor is not the right fit for: Startups or bootstrappers who need a free plan; E-commerce brands needing deep Shopify automation (use Klaviyo).
What are the best Campaign Monitor alternatives?
Top alternatives to Campaign Monitor include mailchimp, activecampaign, brevo.
Campaign Monitor earns Silver for its consistently excellent 99%+ deliverability, the best template library in its price tier, and agency-grade multi-client account management. It loses points for no free plan (a real barrier versus Mailchimp, Brevo, and GetResponse), automation that doesn't match ActiveCampaign's conditional logic depth, and fewer native integrations than category leaders. G2 at 4.1 and Capterra at 4.5 confirm solid satisfaction without breakout scores.
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