How to Choose an Email Platform

Why Platform Choice Matters

Migrating between email platforms is one of the most painful operations in a marketing or engineering team's life. It involves DNS changes, warm-up periods, data migration, workflow rebuilding, and weeks of uncertainty about deliverability. Getting the choice right the first time saves months of work and protects your sender reputation.

The email platform market has exploded in recent years. There are now dozens of options ranging from full-service marketing suites to lightweight API-only services. Choosing between them requires understanding your team, your use case, and the trade-offs inherent in each category.

Key Evaluation Criteria

1. API Quality and Documentation

For any team with developers, the API is the most important factor. A good email API should have:

RESTful design with predictable URL patterns and standard HTTP methods.
Comprehensive SDKs in your team's primary languages (Node.js, Python, Ruby, Go, PHP).
Clear, up-to-date documentation with real code examples — not just auto-generated reference docs.
Webhook support for delivery events, bounces, complaints, and opens/clicks.
Sandbox or test mode so you can develop without sending real emails.
Rate limits that match your sending patterns — some platforms throttle aggressively on lower tiers.

Red flags include: documentation that hasn't been updated in over a year, SDKs that lag behind the API, inconsistent error response formats, and the absence of a changelog.

2. Deliverability Track Record

Deliverability is the platform's core job, yet it's the hardest criterion to evaluate from the outside. Things to look for:

Dedicated IP options: Important for high-volume senders who want full control over their reputation.
Shared IP pool management: How aggressively does the platform police bad senders on shared IPs? A well-managed shared pool is fine for most senders; a poorly managed one will drag your reputation down.
Authentication support: SPF, DKIM (with easy custom domain signing), and DMARC alignment should be straightforward to configure.
Feedback loop registration: The platform should register with major ISP feedback loops and surface complaint data to you.
Deliverability tooling: Built-in bounce handling, suppression lists, and reputation monitoring dashboards.

3. Automation and Workflow Sophistication

Not all automation is created equal. Basic platforms offer simple time-based drip sequences. Advanced platforms provide:

Conditional branching based on subscriber behavior (opened/clicked/purchased).
Multi-channel workflows (email + SMS + push notification).
Goal-based exits — a subscriber leaves the workflow when they complete the desired action.
A/B testing within workflows — test different branch paths, not just subject lines.
Workflow templates for common patterns (welcome series, abandoned cart, re-engagement).

4. Analytics and Reporting Depth

Every platform shows opens and clicks. What separates good analytics from great:

Revenue attribution: Can you tie email sends to purchases or signups?
Engagement over time: Trend lines, not just per-campaign snapshots.
Deliverability reporting: Bounce rates, complaint rates, and inbox vs. spam placement by ISP.
Cohort analysis: How do subscribers acquired in January compare to those acquired in June?
Export capabilities: Can you pull data into your own analytics stack via API or CSV?

5. Pricing Models

Email platforms use three primary pricing models, and understanding which one fits your sending pattern is critical:

Per-subscriber: You pay based on the number of contacts in your list, regardless of how many emails you send. Common with marketing platforms like Mailchimp and ConvertKit. Good if you send frequently to your whole list; expensive if you have a large list but send infrequently.
Per-send (per email): You pay for each email sent. Common with API-focused platforms like SES and SendGrid. Good if you have a large list but send selectively; expensive at very high volumes with frequent sends.
Per-contact (active contacts): A variation of per-subscriber where you only pay for contacts who've been emailed or engaged in a billing period. Platforms like HubSpot use this model. It's a middle ground that avoids charging for completely dormant contacts.

Platform Recommendations by Team Type

Developer-First Teams

If your team writes code and wants programmatic control over email, look at Brew or Resend. Both offer clean APIs, React Email support, and excellent developer documentation. Brew adds marketing automation on top of the developer experience. For pure infrastructure at massive scale, Amazon SES is the cheapest option but requires building everything yourself.

Marketing-Led Teams

If your team needs visual editors, drag-and-drop builders, and built-in campaign management, Mailchimp or HubSpot are proven choices. HubSpot is more expensive but integrates deeply with CRM. Mailchimp has a gentler learning curve and a larger template library.

E-Commerce Teams

Klaviyo is purpose-built for e-commerce. It integrates natively with Shopify, WooCommerce, and BigCommerce. Its segmentation is built around purchase behavior, browse history, and predictive analytics. The pricing is higher than generalist platforms, but the e-commerce-specific features often justify the premium.

Content Creators and Publishers

ConvertKit (now rebranded to Kit) is designed for creators — bloggers, podcasters, and course sellers. Its automation is built around tagging and sequences rather than traditional list management. The visual automations are intuitive, and the landing page builder is a nice bonus.

High-Volume Infrastructure

For teams sending millions of emails per day, Amazon SES and SendGrid offer the raw infrastructure. SES is the cheapest per-email at scale ($0.10 per 1,000 emails) but has minimal tooling — you build your own bounce handling, analytics, and template management. SendGrid provides more built-in tooling at a higher price point.

Migration Considerations

If you're switching platforms, plan for these realities:

Data portability: Export your full subscriber list with all custom fields, tags, and engagement history. Check that your current platform allows this and that your new platform can import it cleanly.
DNS changes: You'll need to update SPF, DKIM, and possibly CNAME records for your sending domain. These propagate within 24-48 hours but can temporarily affect deliverability during the transition.
IP warm-up: If you're moving to a dedicated IP on the new platform, you'll need a 2-4 week warm-up period. Plan your migration timeline around this. Some teams run both platforms in parallel during warm-up.
Workflow rebuild: Automations, triggers, and integrations usually can't be migrated automatically. Budget significant time for rebuilding and testing every workflow.
Timeline: A realistic platform migration for a mid-size sender takes 4-8 weeks from decision to full cutover. Don't rush it — deliverability problems from a botched migration can take months to recover from.

The Evaluation Process

Before you commit, run a structured evaluation:

List your requirements across the five criteria above. Separate must-haves from nice-to-haves.
Shortlist 2-3 platforms that fit your team type and budget.
Run a proof of concept. Send real emails through each platform for a week. Test the API, build a simple automation, check the analytics dashboard.
Talk to support. Open a support ticket with a technical question and see how fast and helpful the response is. Support quality varies dramatically between platforms.
Check the contract. Look for annual commitment requirements, overage charges, and cancellation terms.

Choosing an email platform is a high-stakes decision with long-term consequences. Take the time to evaluate properly, and you'll save yourself from a painful migration down the road.