Benchmark Email vs Omnisend
Benchmark Email and Omnisend are both popular choices in the email marketing platform space. Benchmark Email has been around since 2004, giving it a 10-year head start over Omnisend (founded 2014). Omnisend is the more affordable option at $16/mo — that's $21 less per month than Benchmark Email's $37/mo entry point. Both offer free plans to get started. Omnisend has the edge with SMS marketing, ecommerce integrations. Both tools work well for small businesses.
Quick Verdict
Benchmark Email wins on integrations.
Omnisend wins on price, deliverability, rating.
Best for most users: Omnisend (ecommerce).
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.
Omnisend
Ecommerce email and SMS made easy
Omnisend is an ecommerce-focused marketing platform that combines email, SMS, and web push notifications. It offers pre-built automation workflows for common ecommerce scenarios like cart abandonment, order confirmation, and product recommendations.
Feature Comparison
| Feature | Benchmark Email | Omnisend |
|---|---|---|
| Rating | 4.3/5 | 4.6/5 |
| Starting Price | $37/mo | $16/mo |
| Free Plan | 500 contacts, 2,500 emails/month, 1 user | 250 subscribers |
| Founded | 2004 | 2014 |
| Email Templates | 200 | 130 |
| Integrations | 1,500 | 130 |
| Deliverability Rate | 47.1% | 98.5% |
| 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
Omnisend: Pros & Cons
Pros
- +Purpose-built for ecommerce
- +Pre-built automation workflows for common ecommerce flows
- +SMS, email, and web push in one platform
- +Easy Shopify and WooCommerce integration
- +Good free plan for small stores
Cons
- −Not suitable for non-ecommerce use cases
- −Free plan very limited (250 contacts)
- −Gets pricey at higher subscriber counts
- −Fewer general integrations than Mailchimp
- −Limited blog/content marketing features
The Verdict
Omnisend edges ahead with a 4.6/5 rating compared to Benchmark Email's 4.3/5. The gap comes mainly from deliverability (4.5 vs 3.2). On deliverability, Omnisend reports 98.5% compared to 47.1% for Benchmark Email — a meaningful difference if inbox placement is critical for your campaigns.
| Criterion | Weight | Benchmark Email | Omnisend |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starting Price | 30% | $37/mo | $16/mo |
| Deliverability | 25% | 47.1% | 98.5% |
| Rating | 25% | 4.3/5 | 4.6/5 |
| Integrations | 10% | 1500 | 130 |
| Free Tier | 10% | Yes | Yes |
Weights determine how much each criterion counts toward the final score. See full methodology
Choose Benchmark Email if…
- + You're a beginners
- + You're a nonprofits
- + All features included on every plan including free -- no feature gating between tiers
Choose Omnisend if…
- + You want lower starting costs ($16/mo)
- + You need SMS marketing
- + You need ecommerce integrations
- + You're a ecommerce