Benchmark Email vs Customer.io
Benchmark Email and Customer.io are both popular choices in the email marketing platform space. Benchmark Email has been around since 2004, giving it a 8-year head start over Customer.io (founded 2012). Benchmark Email is the more affordable option at $27/mo — that's $73 less than Customer.io's $100/mo entry point. Benchmark Email offers a free plan (500 contacts, 2,500 emails/month, 1 user), while Customer.io does not. Benchmark Email stands out with landing pages, while Customer.io offers SMS marketing.
Quick Verdict
Benchmark Email wins on price, integrations, free tier.
Customer.io wins on deliverability, rating.
It's a close call — your choice depends on your specific needs.
Benchmark Email
Straightforward email marketing with all features on every plan
Benchmark Email is a multilingual email marketing platform founded in 2004 that takes an all-features-included approach, giving every user access to automation, A/B testing, and analytics regardless of plan tier. Available in 9 languages with global support, it appeals to international teams and nonprofits, though its significantly below-average deliverability rate (47.1% in third-party testing) is a serious concern that undermines its otherwise user-friendly design.
Customer.io
Behavioral messaging platform for product-led SaaS and tech companies
Customer.io is a behavioral messaging platform built for product-led SaaS companies that need to trigger automated emails, SMS, push notifications, and in-app messages based on real-time user events. Its visual workflow builder and Liquid templating provide deep personalization, while the built-in Data Pipelines act as a lightweight CDP. Trusted by 8,000+ companies including Notion and Segment, it starts at $100/month for 5,000 profiles.
Feature Comparison
| Feature | Benchmark Email | Customer.io |
|---|---|---|
| Rating | 4.3/5 | 4.4/5 |
| Starting Price | $27/mo | $100/mo |
| Free Plan | 500 contacts, 2,500 emails/month, 1 user | No free plan |
| Founded | 2004 | 2012 |
| Email Templates | 200 | 30 |
| Integrations | 1,500 | 150 |
| Deliverability Rate | 47.1% | 96% |
| Marketing Automation | ✓ | ✓ |
| A/B Testing | ✓ | ✓ |
| Landing Pages | ✓ | ✕ |
| Segmentation | ✓ | ✓ |
| Drag & Drop Editor | ✓ | ✓ |
| SMS Marketing | ✕ | ✓ |
| Ecommerce Features | ✕ | ✕ |
| API Access | ✓ | ✓ |
| Multi-Language | ✓ | ✓ |
| Web Push Notifications | ✕ | ✓ |
| Live Chat | ✓ | ✕ |
| Advanced Analytics | ✓ | ✓ |
Benchmark Email: Pros & Cons
Pros
- +All features included on every plan including free -- no feature gating between tiers
- +Available in 9 languages with live customer support in each, making it ideal for international teams
- +Intuitive drag-and-drop editor with mobile-optimized templates and device previews
- +Generous free plan with 500 contacts and 2,500 emails per month including AI content generation
- +Simple contact-based pricing that scales predictably without hidden charges for features
Cons
- −Extremely poor deliverability rate of 47.1% in EmailToolTester's January 2024 independent test, consistently ranking near the bottom
- −Segmentation is limited to within individual lists only -- cannot create cross-list segments for flexible targeting
- −Fewer than 30 pre-designed email templates despite marketing claims of 200+, limiting design variety
- −Slow product development cycle with features lagging behind competitors in automation and ecommerce capabilities
- −No migration support for non-enterprise customers when switching from another email platform
Customer.io: Pros & Cons
Pros
- +Powerful visual workflow builder with real-time event-based triggers for behavioral automation
- +Omnichannel messaging across email, SMS, push notifications, in-app, and webhooks in one platform
- +Built-in Data Pipelines that serve as a lightweight CDP, unifying web, mobile, and backend data
- +Segment builder is intuitive enough for marketers without requiring dedicated engineering support
- +Startup Program offers up to 12 months free for qualifying early-stage companies
Cons
- −Essentials plan starts at $100/month for only 5,000 profiles — expensive for small teams
- −Steep learning curve for non-technical users, especially with Liquid templating syntax
- −Pricing scales aggressively past 10K profiles with significant jumps between plan tiers
- −Template editor feels restrictive for highly custom-coded email layouts
- −Searching for past messages and editing templates can be unintuitive and slow
The Verdict
Benchmark Email and Customer.io are closely matched — both score within 0.1 points of each other in our overall rating. Your decision should come down to specific needs rather than overall quality. On deliverability, Customer.io reports 96% compared to 47.1% for Benchmark Email — a meaningful difference if inbox placement is critical for your campaigns.
| Criterion | Weight | Benchmark Email | Customer.io |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starting Price | 30% | $27/mo | $100/mo |
| Deliverability | 25% | 47.1% | 96% |
| Rating | 25% | 4.3/5 | 4.4/5 |
| Integrations | 10% | 1500 | 150 |
| Free Tier | 10% | Yes | No |
Weights determine how much each criterion counts toward the final score. See full methodology
Choose Benchmark Email if…
- + You want lower starting costs ($27/mo)
- + You need a free plan to get started
- + You need built-in landing pages
- + You're a beginners
Choose Customer.io if…
- + You need SMS marketing
- + You're a product led saas companies with event driven messaging needs
- + You're a technical marketing teams that want advanced automation with liquid logic