Just like the animal it takes the name from, Emailoctopus does many things at once. Slick designs with a drag and drop editor, a form builder for capturing emails, and powerful tools for sending out thousands of emails at once. But like an octopus, if you do too many things at once, you’re bound to let something slip through.
Today, we review Emailoctopus to show you the real pros, cons, pricing, user reviews and some of the best alternatives for email marketing to try out instead.
What is Emailoctopus and who is it for?
Emailoctopus is an email marketing tool that focuses on simplicity. Instead of packing too many advanced features in one platform, they give you the basics for building email lists, sending out email sequences to subscribers, and using email as a growth channel.
With its attractive price point (more on that in a second) and ease of use, it’s a great choice for companies and agencies just beginning to explore email marketing.
Emailoctopus top features
Emailoctopus has all the basics covered for setting up your email marketing program.
You have two options for growing your email list:
- Importing existing subscribers from some other platform
- Create landing pages and forms with Emailoctopus and get new contacts from your website
When it comes to designs, you don’t have to be a brilliant designer to create stunning emails for your business. There is a decent number of email templates you can edit or you can use the HTML builder to create your own unique designs.
It offers some email marketing automation features, but they’re fairly basic.
Segmentation and tagging are available so you can create smaller lists with more personalized messaging and content, too.
Email reporting is also pretty basic, but incredibly easy to use and understand. If you want to stay on top of new subscribers, open rates, click-through rates and more, the information is available at a glance.
Integrations are available with platforms such as Shopify, Gravity Forms, and Cardd.
Emailoctopus pricing plans
Emailoctopus has only two pricing plans: Free and Pro.
The Free plan is available for up to 2,500 subscribers, and you can use it to send 10,000 emails per month. Given that you’re using this email marketing tool for free, there are some caveats. The Emailoctopus branding is there, and your reports will only go back as far as 30 days. You also get up to three landing pages and forms and access for one user.
The Pro plan pricing depends on how many subscribers you have and how many emails you send per month. The cheapest you’ll pay is $9 for 500 subscribers and 10,000 monthly emails. You may be wondering why this is a good idea if you can get these features for free.
However, the paid plans give you a drag and drop editor and full control of your email design. Your reports remain yours forever. There is a form builder with unlimited forms and landing pages. You can add unlimited users at this affordable price and cancel any time.
As you add more subscribers and emails, your subscription goes up. For example, for 2,000 subscribers and 25,000 emails, the price of this email marketing tool is $18/month.
Some downsides of using Emailoctopus for email marketing
Emailoctopus generally has favorable reviews but there are a few things you should be aware of before signing up for an Emailoctopus account.
Some users complain that the support team is not very friendly and that you could get your account cancelled at any point in time for no apparent reason. If you get to talk to a customer success manager, you may have an unpleasant experience.
“Their brainless right of deactivating your account an not giving any reason for it. Also their staff is pretty rude and impolite and lack basic communication etiquettes They don’t even tell you anything let alone let you clarify anything that might have been miscommunicated.” – Source
Another common complaint is that the automation features in Emailoctopus are pretty basic. If you want the regular, manual email campaigns that you send out a few times per month, this tool will be just fine. However, if you want advanced automation, e.g., sending new subscribers to a specific list based on their behavior… Then it might not fit the bill.
“Although EmailOcotpus is simple (which is excellent), it can sometimes be too simple. Lack of advanced features means it’s difficult to use the service for everything beyond just a manual and automated mailing list.” – Source
For example, one user complains about the lack of an eCommerce integration for their email campaigns:
“I especially miss functionality for e-commerce. I wrote a plugin for WooCommerce that allows people to sign up via the checkout, but it is not possible to send product or order data.” – Source
The best alternatives to Emailoctopus for your email marketing game
Emailoctopus is a capable tool that comes at an affordable price, but it forces you to make quite a few compromises. If you’re looking for something equally affordable, but with a more powerful feature set to handle your day to day workload, here are some excellent email marketing tools you can look at instead.
Woodpecker
Woodpecker is an outreach platform built for B2B sales, agencies, and recruiters who need more than just email templates and broadcasts. It focuses on sending highly personalized cold emails at scale, while offering powerful features to protect your sender reputation and maximize inbox placement.
Top features
- Cold email automation: Build multi-step sequences with reply detection, conditional logic, and scheduling based on time zones.
- Email warmup and verification: Automatically warms up your sender reputation and verifies email addresses before sending to reduce bounces.
- Deliverability protection: Includes spam phrase detection, inbox rotation, bounce shielding, and SPF/DKIM domain checks.
- A/B testing and analytics: Test subject lines or email content variations and track opens, replies, bounces, and campaign health in one dashboard.
- Team collaboration and CRM integrations: Add unlimited teammates and mailboxes without extra seat fees; integrate with CRMs via API or native sync.
Pricing
Woodpecker’s pricing is based on the number of prospects contacted per month:
- Starter – $20/month for up to 500 prospects
- Growth – $126/month for up to 10,000 prospects, with advanced automation and analytics
- Scale – $903/month for up to 100,000 prospects
- Max – $6,666/month for unlimited prospects and emails
- Add-ons are available for LinkedIn outreach, API access, lead sourcing, and white-label reporting
Considerations
- ❌ Not designed for newsletters or one-off marketing blasts
- ❌ Can be overkill for users just looking to send bulk emails cheaply
User reviews
✅ “The warmup and bounce protection features saved our domain from hitting spam folders.”
✅ “Campaign automation is flexible and powerful, and we like that you can add unlimited users.”
❌ “There’s a learning curve when setting up custom workflows and sequences.”
Why Woodpecker works as an EmailOctopus alternative
EmailOctopus is great for sending newsletters and promotional campaigns on a budget. But if your priority is cold outreach with deliverability safeguards and personalization at scale, Woodpecker is a better fit.
It replaces multiple tools (like email warmers, inbox monitors, and cold email automation) under one roof, making it ideal for results-driven outreach teams.
Get started with Woodpecker for free.
Mailmodo
Mailmodo is an email marketing platform built around interactive AMP emails that allow recipients to take actions (like filling out forms or booking meetings) without leaving their inbox. It’s well suited for marketers who want to boost engagement and build more dynamic email experiences beyond basic HTML templates.
Top features
- AMP email builder: Lets you create interactive emails with polls, forms, and calendars embedded directly in the message.
- Drag-and-drop editor: Build both AMP and HTML emails without needing to code.
- Smart segmentation and automation: Create personalized journeys and behavior-based campaigns.
- AI-powered content creation: Generate subject lines, copy, and email blocks with built-in writing tools.
- Email API and deliverability tools: Send emails through an API, monitor inbox placement, and access real-time performance data.
Pricing
Pricing is based on contact count. For 500 contacts:
- Lite – $39/month: 4,000 sends, 5 active journeys, 1 custom domain, 1 user
- Pro – $79/month: 5,000 sends, 10 journeys, 2 custom domains, 3 users
- Max – $159/month: 7,500 sends, unlimited journeys, 4 custom domains, 5 users
All plans include access to API, AMP features, and a set number of custom events.
Considerations
- ❌ AMP email rendering may fail occasionally
- ❌ Some reports and dashboards can show inconsistent or incomplete data
- ❌ Email delivery isn’t always reliable, especially for AMP messages
- ❌ Platform navigation can feel clunky, and template options are limited
User reviews
✅ “Failed deliveries or render issues do happen occasionally, but support is responsive and quick to resolve.”
✅ “I’d love better template migration options… SMS support is still missing.”
❌ “Campaign data is hard to access in list view. Some API emails have formatting limitations.”
Why Mailmodo works as an EmailOctopus alternative
While EmailOctopus focuses on affordable bulk sending and simplicity, Mailmodo leans into innovation with AMP-powered interactivity and smart automation.
If your goal is to drive higher conversions directly from the inbox and you’re willing to invest a bit more for next-level engagement tools, Mailmodo is a compelling step up—though it may require more technical oversight to get the most out of it.
Mailbluster
MailBluster is a cost-efficient email marketing platform designed for businesses that want to take advantage of Amazon SES for sending high volumes of emails. It’s particularly appealing for users with technical know-how who want to scale without paying traditional per-subscriber fees.
Top features
- Amazon SES integration: Lets you send emails through Amazon’s infrastructure at a fraction of the usual cost.
- Segmentation and personalization: Target users with list segmentation and dynamic custom fields.
- Drag-and-drop email builder: Build responsive emails using templates or design from scratch.
- A/B testing and reporting: Optimize performance with split testing and real-time campaign analytics.
- Lead and subscriber management: Includes double opt-in, exportable lists, and support for unlimited contacts.
Pricing
MailBluster uses a flat, highly affordable model:
- Free: Unlimited leads, up to 3,000 emails/month with MailBluster branding
- Pro: $60/year + $0.60 per 1,000 emails, includes automation, no branding, pro templates, and exports
Considerations
- ❌ Setup can be complex for non-technical users, especially getting out of Amazon’s SES sandbox
- ❌ No real-time collaboration. Changes can be lost if multiple users edit a campaign at the same time
- ❌ Requires you to maintain and connect your own SES account
User reviews
✅ “You have to be careful saving changes… and avoid having multiple editors at once.”
✅ “The setup process is a bit complicated. The Amazon SES sandbox was the main obstacle.”
Why MailBluster works as an EmailOctopus alternative
Both platforms focus on affordability and Amazon SES, but MailBluster takes low-cost sending even further. It gives you full control over email infrastructure and subscriber limits, making it ideal for developers and teams who want minimal overhead.
If you’re comfortable with Amazon SES and want unlimited contacts at rock-bottom prices, MailBluster offers more flexibility than EmailOctopus. Just be prepared for a steeper learning curve.
Conclusion
Emailoctopus is a good option if you’re just entering the world of email marketing. It does not offer everything but the features that are available are good enough to get the job done. But why settle for good enough?
If you want a reliable tool for cold email campaigns, deep personalization, account warmup, detailed analytics, advanced automation and more, you can just get the best tool for the job instead.
Try Woodpecker for free today.