Best CRM With Email Marketing Built In UK 2026

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The Problem With “CRM + Email Marketing” Claims

If you’ve spent any time researching CRMs, you’ve noticed that almost every provider claims to “include email marketing”. Dig deeper and you’ll find some genuinely bundle campaigns into your subscription, while others quietly pair their CRM with a separate product — meaning two invoices, two logins, and two learning curves.

This article cuts through that. We’ll look at which CRMs truly have email marketing built in, versus those that bolt on a separate product and call it native. Where we’ve verified pricing directly we give the figure; where we haven’t, we say so rather than repeat a number we can’t stand behind.

What “Built In” Actually Means

For the purposes of this article, built in means:

• Email campaign creation and sending is available within your CRM subscription
• You don’t need a separate account with a different product
• Contacts, campaigns and deal data live in a single interface

This matters because paying for two tools — even ones that integrate well — adds cost, complexity and the headache of keeping lists synchronised. For sole traders and small teams already stretched thin, that friction is real.

A note on how we’ve priced this. Most of these platforms scale with contact volume, so we’ve used 1,000 contacts as the benchmark and quoted annual billing where available. Get a quote at your own expected list size before committing, because the curve above 1,000 varies enormously between providers.

Truly All-In-One: Email Marketing Built Into the CRM

1. ActiveCampaign — Cheapest Confirmed All-in-One, With One Big Caveat

ActiveCampaign pitches itself as a customer experience automation platform. Email marketing has always been its core product; the CRM came later, built around the automation engine rather than the other way round. For businesses where sequences, tagging and behavioural triggers drive sales, that architecture works in their favour.

All paid plans include CRM and email marketing together. There’s no free tier, though there is a free trial.

Confirmed pricing at 1,000 contacts, billed annually: Starter £13 · Plus £42 · Pro £67 · Enterprise £123.

At £13, Starter is the cheapest genuinely all-in-one option here — and it includes standard CRM and e-commerce features rather than stripping them out.

But read this before you buy it. Starter caps automations at five actions each. For a newsletter with a simple welcome sequence, that’s fine. For the behavioural, multi-branch sequences ActiveCampaign is famous for, five actions is restrictive enough to defeat the purpose of choosing ActiveCampaign at all. If automation depth is why you’re here, your real entry price is Plus at £42, not Starter at £13.

That’s a three-fold difference, and it’s the single most important thing to establish before comparing ActiveCampaign against anything else on this list.

Best for: Service businesses and online sellers where automated email sequences drive revenue and the CRM is a supporting tool. Budget Plus if your automations are genuinely complex.

2. Zoho — Strong CRM Pricing, With Campaigns to Confirm

Zoho CRM and Zoho Campaigns are technically separate products, but both are included in Zoho One, a single subscription covering a large suite of apps. If you’re already planning to use Zoho for accounting or project management, that bundle is worth pricing properly.

Confirmed Zoho CRM pricing: Standard £12 per user per month billed annually, or £16 monthly · Professional £18 / £28 · Enterprise £35 / £45 · Ultimate £42 / £55.

At £12, Zoho CRM Standard undercuts every other CRM in this article. Zoho Campaigns and Zoho One pricing need confirming separately on Zoho’s own site — the combined figures circulating in comparison articles vary widely.

The key structural point worth knowing: Zoho One is priced per user rather than per contact, so the cost doesn’t climb as your list grows. That’s a genuine differentiator against every contact-scaled platform here, and it’s why Zoho tends to win on cost once lists get large.

The interface isn’t the slickest and there’s a learning curve, but the functionality is comprehensive.

Best for: Cost-conscious small businesses expecting their contact list to grow significantly.

3. HubSpot — Best Free Starting Point, With a Cap Worth Knowing

HubSpot is the platform most people picture when they hear “CRM with email marketing”, and its free tier genuinely includes both, with no credit card required.

The cap most articles omit: HubSpot’s free plan covers up to two users. Fine for a sole trader or a two-person partnership. The moment you add a third person, you’re paying. There are also send limits and HubSpot branding on free emails.

Confirmed pricing for Sales Hub: Starter is currently £7 per seat per month billed annually, or £9 monthly — discounted against a £18 list price shown on the same page. Professional is £77 annually and Enterprise £135.

Note that Sales Hub is not the same product as Marketing Hub or the Starter Customer Platform bundle, which are priced separately and scale with marketing contacts rather than seats. If email campaigns are your priority, get a quote for the specific HubSpot product that covers them.

Everything lives in one interface, automation is solid even at entry level, and onboarding is among the best in the market. The thing to plan for is the cost curve: HubSpot’s marketing tiers scale with the contacts you actively email, and at higher volumes it becomes significantly more expensive than the alternatives here.

Best for: Early-stage businesses wanting to start free, and anyone who values user experience above all else. Watch the two-user cap and the scaling costs.

4. Freshsales — Per-User Pricing, Details to Confirm

Freshsales, part of Freshworks, includes email campaign sending, templates and basic automation within its Growth plan and above. It’s a genuinely unified platform rather than two products stitched together, and there’s a free plan covering a small team.

Freshsales is priced per user, not per contact, which can be very cost-effective for a business with a large list and a small team — the same structural advantage Zoho One offers.

Confirm current Growth pricing and the free plan’s user limit directly with Freshworks. Figures quoted across comparison sites for Freshsales vary by enough to suggest they’re estimates rather than read from the pricing page.

The email marketing isn’t as advanced as ActiveCampaign or HubSpot, but for a team that primarily needs a sales CRM with campaign sending included, it’s practical.

Best for: Small sales teams wanting CRM-first functionality with email included, without a contact-volume premium.

The Bolt-On Reality: CRMs That Don’t Quite Do Both

Capsule CRM + Transpond

Capsule is frequently recommended alongside phrases like “includes email marketing”, and that needs unpacking.

Capsule does not include email marketing. What it offers is a tight integration with Transpond, a separate product from the same company, with its own subscription and its own interface. You manage your pipeline in Capsule and send campaigns in Transpond.

That isn’t a dealbreaker — Transpond is capable and the integration is genuinely good, with real-time two-way contact sync that most third-party integrations can’t match. But it isn’t one subscription.

Confirmed pricing, both in pounds:

• Capsule — Free for 2 users and 250 contacts · Starter £14 per user per month annually (£17 monthly), 30,000 contacts · Growth £27 (£32), 60,000 contacts
• Transpond — Starter £7.20 per month annually (£8 monthly) at 250 contacts, three users included · Growth £14.40 (£16) at 250 contacts, five users, adding A/B testing and social scheduling

Note that Transpond scales with contact count, so the figures above are its entry band. At 1,000 contacts you’ll be paying more — check the slider on Transpond’s pricing page for your list size.

A correction worth making: Transpond is often quoted at around $11 a month. It bills in pounds, with a GBP toggle on its pricing page, and starts at £7.20. There’s no currency conversion to absorb.

Realistic combined cost: a solo user on Capsule Starter plus Transpond Starter is around £21 a month on annual billing, or roughly £25 paying monthly on both. That’s competitive — but it’s two subscriptions and two logins.

Pipedrive + Campaigns Add-On

Pipedrive is an excellent sales CRM. Its email marketing feature, Campaigns, is a paid add-on rather than part of standard plans.

Confirmed Pipedrive pricing: Lite £14 per seat per month billed annually, or £24 monthly · Growth £39 / £49 · Premium £59 / £79 · Ultimate £79 / £99. There’s no free plan, only a 14-day trial.

Two things to note. The annual-to-monthly gap on Lite is unusually wide — £24 against £14 is a 71% premium for the flexibility. And the Campaigns add-on sits on top of whichever tier you’re on; confirm its current cost directly, as it’s quoted inconsistently elsewhere.

Best for: Businesses where the pipeline is the priority and email campaigns are occasional rather than central.

Quick Comparison Summary

CRM	Email marketing	Single subscription	Confirmed entry price
ActiveCampaign	Built in	Yes	£13/month at 1,000 contacts, annual — but 5-action automation cap; £42 for Plus
Zoho CRM	Campaigns is a separate Zoho product, bundled in Zoho One	Via Zoho One	£12/user/month annual for CRM Standard; Campaigns and Zoho One to confirm
HubSpot	Built in, free tier included	Yes	£0 free, up to 2 users; Sales Hub Starter £7/seat promotional against £18 list
Freshsales	Built in from Growth	Yes	Confirm current
Capsule + Transpond	Add-on — two products	No	Capsule £14/user plus Transpond from £7.20
Pipedrive + Campaigns	Add-on	No	Pipedrive Lite £14/seat annual, £24 monthly, plus add-on

FAQ

Which is the cheapest CRM with email marketing genuinely built in?

On confirmed figures, ActiveCampaign Starter at £13 per month at 1,000 contacts, billed annually — it includes CRM, email and e-commerce features in one subscription. The caveat is a five-action cap on automations, so if you need real automation depth your entry price is Plus at £42.

Is there a free CRM with email marketing built in for UK businesses?

HubSpot’s free tier is the most generous, genuinely including CRM and basic email marketing at no cost — but it’s capped at two users, with send limits and HubSpot branding on emails. Freshsales also has a free plan. For a sole trader starting out, HubSpot Free is an excellent starting point; for a three-person team it isn’t free at all.

Does Capsule CRM include email marketing?

No. Capsule pairs with Transpond, a separate subscription from the same company. Capsule Starter is £14 per user per month annually; Transpond starts at £7.20 at 250 contacts. Around £21 a month combined for a solo user, across two products and two logins. The integration is genuinely good, but it isn’t built in.

Why does contact volume matter so much in these comparisons?

Because most of these platforms price by contact count, and the curves differ wildly. Zoho One and Freshsales price per user instead, so their cost doesn’t move as your list grows — which is why they tend to win once you’re past a few thousand contacts, even if they look more expensive at 1,000.

Does a CRM with email marketing built in help with GDPR compliance?

Most reputable platforms include consent tracking, unsubscribe management and data processing agreements. Using them doesn’t make you compliant automatically — you still need proper opt-ins and privacy policies. Review each provider’s data processing terms, and take professional advice if your obligations are complex.

Will these CRMs work with Making Tax Digital or UK accounting software?

None are accounting tools, so MTD is handled separately through Xero, QuickBooks or FreeAgent. Most CRMs integrate with the major accounting platforms natively or via Zapier — check the specific integration for your accounting tool before committing.

Our Recommendation

Cheapest genuinely all-in-one: ActiveCampaign Starter at £13 at 1,000 contacts. Just be honest with yourself about the five-action automation cap — if your sequences are more than a welcome email and two follow-ups, budget £42 for Plus.

Best free starting point: HubSpot, with the two-user cap firmly in mind. Start free, upgrade when you outgrow it, and plan for the cost curve at higher contact volumes.

Best value as your list grows: Zoho. CRM Standard at £12 a user is the cheapest CRM here, and Zoho One’s per-user rather than per-contact model means costs don’t spiral. Confirm the Campaigns and Zoho One figures before committing.

Best for sales teams with large lists: Freshsales, for the same per-user reason — confirm current pricing.

And if you’re considering Capsule or Pipedrive — both good tools — go in knowing email marketing is an add-on. For Capsule that’s around £21 a month all in for a solo user, which is competitive; just count it as two subscriptions rather than one when you compare against the built-in options above.

Pricing and features correct at time of writing. Plans and capabilities are subject to change — always confirm current details on the provider’s website before purchasing.