Is email a promising channel that you’re underutilizing in your marketing strategy? It may not be your lack of email marketing knowledge. You could just be using the wrong tool, and Robly promises to fix that.
Robly was created to make email marketing easier as a channel to grow new leads and customers and help you improve your bottom line. Today, we examine Robly email marketing to see if it delivers on its promise and suggest some alternatives to consider.
What is Robly and who is it for?
Robly is an email marketing platform that promises 50% higher open rates than other email software.
The idea behind Robly is to have all the features for creating, segmenting, sending and tracking email campaigns in one place. It’s best for businesses with experience with email marketing tools so they can fully explore all the detailed Robly features. Speaking of which…
Top Robly features
Robly has a number of AI-backed features that help you automate every aspect of email marketing. For example:
- OpenGen automated email follow-ups
- RoblyAI for perfect outbound email timing
- RoblyEngage to win back unengaged recipients
- RoblyJetstreams for IP management
- Automated drip campaigns
- Automations with triggers
- List segmentation
- A/B testing
- Email templates
- Forms and landing pages
Robly helps your brand go from no visibility to making email the next growth lever.
Robly pricing
Pricing depends on the number of contacts in your list and there are a total of four available plans.
For up to 500 contacts, you’ll pay $15 per month. This gets you unlimited emails, responsive templates, Robly AI, Engage and OpenGen, split testing, detailed reports, contact segmentation and much more.
From 501 to 2,500 contacts, you’ll pay $29 per month, while 2,500 to 5,000 contacts will cost you $49/month.
For 25,000 contacts, you pay $79 monthly. All the plans give you the same features, with the main difference being the list size.
Reviews from Robly users
One of the most common complaints about Robly is the lack of a free plan. For small businesses, Robly can be expensive compared to some more established email marketing tools. One glance at the pricing page will tell you that the starting plan is only good enough for very small mailing lists and you’ll be forced to upgrade very quickly.
“For small business owners, it could be a little bit on the pricier side. And it does not offer any free plans at all. Another downside of using Robly is that the learning process is a bit difficult if you are new to email marketing.” – Source
Speaking of competitors, when you stack Robly against tools such as MailChimp, it seems to have a relatively small feature set.
“Options may be limited for an email marketing tool, competitors offer many more options to take advantage of, some features are likely to require several clicks to use, we would like it to be more convenient, limited form generation capability with external software, could improve in the future.” – Source
The last complaint comes from one user about the forms in Robly. They’re just not that attractive and the submissions don’t come through in real-time, which can be a hurdle for businesses with large traffic volumes.
“The system to generate forms is very poorly optimized, it does not have eye-catching designs for the forms, and you cannot see the responses of our clients in the forms in real-time, you must wait a certain amount of time for the responses to be processed.” – Source
Top Robly alternatives
If Robly is too expensive for your needs or you simply need something with a better feature set, there are plenty of options to consider. Here are some of the best Robly alternatives to consider for your email marketing needs.
Woodpecker
While Robly focuses on bulk email marketing and newsletter-style campaigns, Woodpecker is built for one-on-one sales conversations through cold outreach.
It’s a better fit for businesses that want to generate leads and start real conversations, rather than send flashy email blasts. With deliverability tools, personalized follow-ups, and automation, Woodpecker puts outbound email on autopilot, without sacrificing authenticity.
Key features:
- Automated follow-ups that stop when a recipient replies
- Deliverability tools like warm-up, inbox rotation, and bounce detection
- Conditional logic to personalize sequences based on recipient behavior
- Timezone detection for sending at the right time
- A/B testing to optimize subject lines and copy
- Unlimited team members and email warmups included
- CRM integrations and native connections to tools like HubSpot, Pipedrive, and Salesforce
- AI video personalization to increase engagement (optional add-on)
Pricing:
Starts at $20/month per seat with unlimited warmup, full automation features, and no extra charge for adding more inboxes. A free trial is available.
Downsides:
- No in-built LinkedIn or SMS automation (though possible with integrations)
- Not suitable for newsletter-style or promotional email blasts
- Doesn’t include landing pages or design templates like traditional ESPs
User reviews:
“We tested other cold email tools and came back to Woodpecker for one reason: deliverability.”
“I wish there were more native integrations with CRMs, but Zapier covers most of what we need.”
“Simple to use after setup, and support is responsive.”
Bottom line:
If your goal is generating leads and starting conversations, Woodpecker is a far better choice than Robly. Where Robly sends bulk emails to lists, Woodpecker helps you reach real people with messages that feel personal and relevant. Plus, it keeps you out of the spam folder.
Give Woodpecker a try for free!
Flodesk
Flodesk makes it easy to send stunning emails without needing design skills. Compared to Robly, which focuses heavily on traditional list-based email marketing, Flodesk stands out with a flexible editor, beautiful templates, and simple automation tools. It’s geared toward people who want their emails to feel on-brand and visually compelling.
Key features:
- Drag-and-drop email builder with modern templates and full design control
- Brand kit tools with custom fonts, colors, and layouts
- Simple automation for onboarding, sales funnels, and follow-ups
- Website forms and landing pages to collect emails and convert visitors
- Analytics dashboard for tracking engagement and growth
- Zapier and native integrations with platforms like Shopify and Instagram
Pricing:
Flodesk offers three clear plans:
- Free – Includes forms, email templates, and basic analytics (limited to 1 audience)
- Professional – $35/month, includes unlimited subscribers, advanced segmentation, automation workflows, and AI-powered send-time optimization
- Advanced – $59/month, adds ecommerce features, checkouts, sales funnels, and delivery pages
Downsides:
- Analytics are limited compared to more advanced platforms
- You can’t embed video directly into emails
- Some users report that the abundance of features makes it harder to get started
- Customization options are somewhat restricted despite the strong visuals
User reviews:
“The reporting and analytics side of Flodesk could be a little more in-depth.” – G2
“It has so many choices that, at first, it’s a bit overwhelming. Their customer service people were hugely important early on.” – G2
“You cannot embed videos into the emails, which feels limiting.” – G2
Acumbamail
Acumbamail offers a full suite of tools for businesses that need to run email and SMS campaigns under one roof. If you’re considering Robly but want more control over design, automation, and multi-channel reach, Acumbamail might be a better match—especially for users who want built-in landing pages and extensive email customization.
Key features:
- Visual email editor with hundreds of ready-made templates
- Automated email workflows for follow-ups, onboarding, and promotions
- Bulk SMS sending for time-sensitive or local campaigns
- A/B testing and performance reports to improve engagement
- Audience segmentation based on custom rules
- Facebook audience sync, survey tools, and form builder
- Drag-and-drop landing page builder
- SMTP relay support for transactional emails
Pricing:
Pricing depends on both your subscriber count and monthly email volume.
- Free plan: Up to 2,000 emails/month and 250 subscribers
- Basic: From $26/month for up to 20,000 emails
- Pro: From $75/month with added features like list cleaning, resend automation, and priority queuing
- Enterprise: $237/month for hands-on support, a dedicated IP, and consulting
Downsides:
- Support quality is inconsistent, with some reports of unresolved issues
- The interface is dense and not very beginner-friendly
- Deliverability issues have been noted, especially with large lists
- CSV imports can be rigid and prone to formatting errors
User reviews:
“The support is terrible and rude. I asked to cancel and they kept charging me for months.” – G2
“Email deliverability wasn’t great and the interface is clunky. Couldn’t figure out how to properly clean lists.” – G2
“Too many features in one place, which makes it harder to use unless you’re experienced.” – G2
Automizy
Automizy is built for users who want a simple yet effective email marketing tool. Unlike Robly, which focuses mostly on sending newsletters, Automizy gives you a centralized place to build email automations, create high-converting campaigns, and test subject lines—all without needing a big learning curve. Its promise? Help you get more opens and engagement from every send.
Key features:
- Visual automation builder for creating campaigns step by step
- Drag-and-drop email editor with built-in templates
- AI-powered subject line tester to help improve open rates
- A/B testing for entire emails and automation paths
- Landing page and opt-in form creator
- Integrates with tools like Zapier, Shopify, and Salesforce
Pricing:
Automizy uses a single feature-rich plan and pricing depends only on how many contacts you have.
- Starts at $29/month for 1,000 contacts
- $69/month if your list has 5,000 contacts
- All plans include unlimited emails, automation features, and A/B testing
Downsides:
- Development on the tool appears to have slowed down significantly
- Some features feel dated and haven’t been updated in a while
- Customers who bought early lifetime deals report feeling abandoned
- The interface is usable but lacks polish in some areas
User reviews:
“There has been no recent development in the tool as promised by the founder. The product has been abandoned completely.” – G2
“The owner was a scammer… they blamed the early adopters and disappeared. A big letdown.” – G2
Conclusion
Robly has an attractive feature set, but there are too many things holding it back from becoming the next ActiveCampaign. The high pricing and the lack of polish on most features can be enough to put most users off. In a crowded market, Robly looks like a liability rather than help.
Why not consider Woodpecker instead? It has all the features you need to take cold email from something that is nice to have to a strategy that drives real business results.