Marketing today moves fast—really fast. Juggling emails, social media, lead nurturing, and analytics can feel like a tiring full-time job. That’s definitely a sign that you need marketing automation tools. Your team can say goodbye to the repetitive tasks and finally focus on what matters the most: strategy.
Think about platforms like Mailchimp, which can automate personalized email sequences, or HootSuite, which monitors streams of several social media accounts in one tool. The right tools can turn hours of manual work into a few clicks—boosting productivity, improving consistency, and even increasing ROI.
We’ll walk you through everything you need to know about marketing automation tools, from what they are and how they work to why they matter. You’ll also find tips on how to choose the right solution based on your business needs, plus a detailed comparison of the 10 best marketing automation platforms available today.
Let’s get started!
What are marketing automation solutions?
Marketing automation tools are like your behind-the-scenes team—they handle the repetitive stuff so you don’t have to.
To put it simply, these tools help you automate tasks. And what are those? Sending emails, posting on social media, following up with leads, and even scoring potential customers based on their behavior—you name it.
Instead of doing everything manually, which takes most of your working time, marketing automation keeps things running on autopilot—without creating a mess.
For example, imagine someone downloading your eBook. A tool like Mailchimp automatically sends a welcome email, adds them to a mailing list, and schedules a follow-up—all while you’re busy doing something else. It saves time, reduces errors, and makes your work less of a nightmare.
How do you choose the right marketing automation software?
Every tool says they are the best. But which one actually fits your needs? Here are key features you need to consider when choosing the right marketing automation software:
- Automation capabilities. Of course, it should be the first thing you pay attention to. Can it trigger actions based on user behavior? Can you set up multi-step workflows? The more flexible the automation, the better it’ll serve your goals.
- Supported channels. You know what people need the most nowadays. Does the tool support email, SMS, social media, or even WhatsApp? The more channels it covers, the more powerful your campaign can be.
- CRM and third-party integrations. The best tools blend well with others. Whatever you’re using: Shopify, Salesforce, or WordPress, make sure your automation platform connects smoothly to your existing systems. This should have no room for negotiation.
- Reporting & analytics. You need to know what’s working and what’s not. A good platform gives you clear insights into open rates, conversions, customer journeys—you know them better—so you can tweak and improve as you go.
Now, let’s get into the list of the software, shall we?
The 10 best marketing automation apps
Best all-in-one marketing automation software
1. Boltic
If your marketing team spends half the day switching between spreadsheets, dashboards, and random folders of campaign data, Boltic might just become your new best friend.
Boltic is especially helpful if you’re working across multiple tools and want to keep everything in sync in the background and that’s what makes it awesome. It gives you one clean workspace where you can pull in data, build automations, and send the results to tools like Slack, Google Sheets, or your CRM.
It has a visual drag-and-drop interface for building workflows. Although beginners might find it a bit complex at first, the pre-built templates can help reduce the learning curve. Now, what do you need? Automatically sync new leads from a Google Form to HubSpot? Easy. Clean up your campaign data before sending it to a dashboard? Done.
One thing to note—Boltic leans slightly more toward data and operations teams, so if you’re looking for a tool focused only on email or social media automation, there might be simpler options out there. But if you love building smart, custom workflows that connect everything from analytics to outreach, Boltic really shines.
Pricing: Free for 30 days; paid plans cost $39/month – $199/month depending on the scale of your business
Integrations: Works with 100+ tools from many categories, starting from marketing like Mailchimp to communication like Slack and Telegram, and even Mysql. You can also connect other apps through API.
Key features:
- Drag-and-drop workflow builder.
- Real-time task tracking.
- Data enrichment and transformation.
- Prebuilt automation templates.
- Multi-app workflows.
Drawbacks:
- No free plan.
- Has a bit of a steep learning curve for beginners.
Best marketing automation tool for beginners
2. Klaviyo
If email marketing plays a big role in your business and honestly, it probably should, Klaviyo is one of those tools you’ll want by your side. It’s made with eCommerce brands in mind, and you can really tell. From setting up automations to making sense of customer data, it’s built to help you sell more while doing less of the busywork.
Try connecting it to platforms such as Shopify, WooCommerce, or BigCommerce. And you’ll see how it pulls in useful data automatically. You’ll know who bought what, who left products on the cart, and what products they’ve been eyeing for a while. With this data on hand, you can then send super-targeted emails and texts that feel personal.
Let’s say someone places their first order from your shop. You can have Klaviyo instantly send them a friendly thank-you email, suggest other items they might love, and even nudge them a few days later to leave a review. And the best part? You don’t have to do a thing once it’s set up.
The platform also comes with a clean, drag-and-drop email builder that makes designing beautiful campaigns way less intimidating. Plus, the segmentation tools are great; you can slice and dice your audience based on behavior, spending habits, and more. If you're doing SMS marketing too, Klaviyo handles that in the same dashboard, so your messages stay consistent across email and text.
The platform is clearly designed with growth in mind, though it's worth noting that it can get pricey as your list grows. But for eCommerce teams who want personalization, automation, and real results? It’s easily one of the best tools out there.
Pricing: Free for up to 250 contacts, 500 emails, and 150 SMS per month; paid plans start at $20/month for 5,000 emails per month.
Integrations: 350+ integrations, including Shopify, Canva, Shopify, Wix, Meta, and more.
Key Features:
- Prebuilt automation flows.
- Advanced customer segmentation.
- Drag-and-drop campaign builder.
- Built-in SMS marketing.
- Real-time performance tracking.
Drawbacks:
- Pricing scales as your audience grows.
- Designed mainly for an eCommerce.
- Some features are not beginner-friendly.
Best tool to automate email marketing
3. Mailchimp
When most people think of email marketing, Mailchimp is probably the first name that comes to mind, for a good reason. It’s been around for years, and it’s helped millions of businesses (big and small) get their emails out to the right people, at the right time, without needing to be marketing experts.
Don’t be afraid of a high learning curve. You will not find Mailchimp’s interface difficult to navigate since it’s really clean and there are helpful prompts everywhere. That’s why it will only take you some minutes to set up your first campaign, not hours, or even worse, days. Starting from picking a template to scheduling to send your campaign, they’ll guide you.
Does it mean they lack life-changing features? No, definitely not. In fact, Mailchimp takes their service to the next level. You can build smart automations, like welcome sequences for new subscribers or follow-ups after a purchase. And with features like customer journey mapping, you can create more complex flows that adapt to your audience’s behavior. All in simple steps, a piece of cake!
Mailchimp also provides you detailed reports that show how your emails are doing: opens, clicks, purchases, all of it. And if you’re into A/B testing or experimenting with subject lines, it’s got built-in tools for that too. It even supports basic SMS marketing, landing pages, and social media posts, all in one place.
For most businesses, especially if you have small to mid-sized ones, Mailchimp offers the perfect mix of ease, automation, and value.
Pricing: Free for up to 500 contacts; paid plans start at $20/month.
Integrations: Mailchimp plays nicely with your existing setup. You’ll find integrations with tools like Shopify, WooCommerce, Canva, Zapier, Square, Wix, WordPress, and even LinkedIn.
Key features:
- Easy-to-use email builder with modern templates.
- Prebuilt automation flows.
- Customer journey builder for personalised campaigns.
- Detailed campaign reports with open, click, and purchase tracking.
- A/B testing for subject lines and content.
- Basic CRM tools and audience segmentation.
- Social media scheduling and landing page creation.
Drawbacks:
- Pricing can climb quickly if your list gets bigger.
- Some advanced automation features are only available on pricier plans.
- Not ideal for super complex workflows.
Best tool for eCommerce automation
1. Fynd
Running an eCommerce business is a constant headache. Inventory, marketing, sales, logistics, you have too much on your head already. That’s a cue that you need Fynd. Built specifically for online retailers, Fynd brings everything together into one platform so you can spend less time managing tools and more time growing your store.
And what's so great about Fynd? Fynd is all about automation. You don't need anything else, as it connects your product catalog, order management, and marketing workflows so they all run smoothly. You get all of these without jumping between different systems.
For instance, you need to update the price of your product. If you change it with Fynd, that change reflects everywhere at once: your online store, your Google Shopping listings, and even your inventory management system. It takes manual work and room for human error out of the equation.
Fynd also gives you built-in marketing tools like automated campaigns, discount engines, and even customer loyalty programs. You can say you have a digital operations assistant that never sleeps.
Pricing: Fynd doesn’t have a pricing model like some other platforms. You should contact them to get a personalized quote based on your business needs and the features you want to get.
Integrations: Fynd integrates smoothly with marketplaces such as Amazon, Flipkart, and Tata CLiQ. It also connects with web platforms like Shopify and Magento. Don’t worry, they don’t forget to connect with POS, ERP, and WMS platforms as well.
Key Features:
- Keep the product and inventory management in one place.
- Real-time syncing of pricing, stock, and orders.
- Discounts, promotions, and loyalty programs automation.
- Omnichannel retail support (online, offline, and marketplace).
- Targeted and personalised campaign tools.
Drawbacks:
- No public pricing, which can be a bit difficult for smaller business to explore options.
- There’s a bit of a learning curve in the beginning.
Best tool to automate SMS marketing
2. Trumpia
If you want to reach your customers where they’re actually paying attention—on their phones—SMS marketing should definitely be part of your strategy. And when it comes to automating those text campaigns, Trumpia is a tool that knows what it’s doing.
Trumpia is more than just a tool for boring SMS blasts that people don't bother to read. It gives you the power to build personalized, automated text journeys based on certain keywords.
Let’s say someone texts in a keyword to join your VIP list. Trumpia can instantly send a welcome message, collect extra info (like name or location), and then add that contact to a segmented list—all automatically. You can then send follow-ups based on behavior, like sending a promo to customers who haven’t purchased in a while or a thank-you message after a sale.
Want to connect with your customers via email, voice messages, or even social media? You can do that as well. Trumpia makes it easy to build meaningful relationships with your subscribers and followers in their preferred channels.
Pricing: $65/month – $139/month
Integrations: It integrates natively with Salesforce, HubSpot, Zapier, Mailchimp, Google Sheets, and more. Or use its API to integrate with even more tools not available in its app store.
Key Features:
- Smart targeting and contact segmentation.
- Automated SMS workflows based on triggers and responses.
- Two-way texting and data capture (like surveys and forms).
- Cross-channel automation (email, voice, social).
- Detailed reports and campaign analytics.
Drawbacks:
- No free version, and entry pricing may be steep for small businesses.
- Interface feels a bit dated compared to newer tools.
- Best suited for organisations with a clear SMS strategy in place.
Best tool to automate social media scheduling
3. Hootsuite
Alright, let's talk about social media scheduling, because if you're trying to grow your brand online, it's pretty much non-negotiable. And when it comes to keeping your social feeds active and engaging without actually being glued to your phone 24/7, Hootsuite is one of those veterans that still stands strong.
Think of it this way: instead of bouncing between Facebook, Instagram, Twitter (or X, whatever you call it these days), LinkedIn, and TikTok, Hootsuite brings them all into one neat little hub. It's built for busy people, whether you're a small business owner juggling everything or part of a bigger marketing team.
The main idea? Get your content out there consistently so your audience always hears from you, even when you're off doing other important things. Connecting your accounts is also easy peasy. Once you've got them hooked up, Hootsuite really shines with its scheduling capabilities.
You can plan out the contents in advance, days or even weeks prior to the schedule. HootSuite will do their job, publishing the content to all social media platforms as you wish. They also have an “optimal time to post” feature, which is super helpful if you want to boost up your content based on the time you post.
And that’s not all. You can also monitor all the mentions, replies, or comments not only from your content but also from specific hashtags. Which means you can easily jump in to reply when your brand is mentioned.
Have several team members? Don’t worry. HootSuite knows collaboration is a big thing. You can smoothly assign tasks, set up approval workflows, and make sure all the team members are on the same boat before publishing the content.
Pricing: $149/user/month – $399/user/month
Integrations: It supports all well-known social media channels, including Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, X, YouTube, and LinkedIn. You can also connect with Google My Business, Asana, Vidyard, Airtable, Salesforce, and 100+ other apps.
Key features:
- Cross-platform scheduling.
- AI-powered content creation.
- Brand listening and monitoring.
- Advanced analytics and reporting.
- Team collaboration.
Drawbacks:
- Lacks a free version.
Best tool to automate DM & comment replies
4. ManyChat
You know that feeling when your phone buzzes with another comment or a direct message, and you want to reply to everyone personally, but there just aren't enough hours in the day? ManyChat is designed to fix exactly that.
It's essentially your personal, always-on assistant for conversations across platforms like Instagram, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and even SMS.
The coolest thing about ManyChat is that it lets you build automated chat flows without needing to write a single line of code. Seriously, it's all visual and drag-and-drop, which means you can set up pretty sophisticated interactions even if you're not a tech wizard.
If your business interacts with customers a lot on Instagram, ManyChat is the one for you. They will do most of the tasks there but still let you hop in just in case human touch is needed. Automated comment replies? Done. Automated DM replies that go beyond simple answers? Possible!
Still not enough? You can manage all the campaigns running from different platforms in one dashboard to save you from more troubles and mess.
Pricing: Free for up to 1,000 contacts; paid plans start at $15/month
App integrations: Besides popular social media, ManyChat also integrates with Google Sheets, Zapier, HubSpot, PayPal, and MailChimp.
Key features:
- Automated Instagram DM and comment replies.
- WhatsApp Business API integration.
- Supports SMS and email marketing.
- Drag-and-drop visual flow builder.
- A/B testing for flows.
Drawbacks:
- A bit of a learning curve in the beginning.
- Requires separate flow creation per channel.
Best tool for product demo automation
5. Storylane
Storylane is a game-changer for sales, marketing, and even product teams. Imagine being able to whip up a perfectly customized, interactive product demo in minutes, without bugging a developer or spending hours recording screens. That's the promise, and Storylane largely delivers.
Here’s how it typically works its magic: You grab their browser extension, click through your product, and boom—it captures a front-end copy of your screens. The cool part is, it intelligently stitches together your product flows. So, instead of a static screenshot, you get something that feels alive and interactive.
But the real power lies in the editing. You know how sometimes you need to change a name, blur out sensitive data, or even tweak some content on a screen to make it relevant for a specific prospect? Storylane’s AI-assisted HTML editor lets you do just that. No actual coding needed, which is huge for non-technical folks.
Now, if you want to take it up a notch and make your demos truly stand out, Storylane's AI comes into play. It's apparently "trained by top SaaS experts," and what it does is pretty slick: it can auto-generate demo content and even voiceovers.
Storylane isn't just about making pretty demos; it's about making them effective. It tracks demo performance, which is critical. You can see who viewed your demo, how long they engaged, and what specific features they clicked on. Even better, it can "deanonymize" high-intent accounts, giving you actual company names and insights.
Pricing: Free for 1 published demo; paid plans start at $40/month.
Integrations: Google Analytics, Zapier, Miro, Gmail, G2, and more.
Key features:
- AI-generated demo content and voice-overs.
- Browser extension for one-click product screen capture.
- Seamless flow stitching for interactive demos.
- AI-assisted HTML editor for content, image, and file changes.
- Safe and personalized demo link sharing.
- In-depth demo performance tracking.
- CRM integration for engagement data pass-back.
Drawbacks:
- The free plan offers very limited features.
- Complicated flows might require a deep learning curve.
Best marketing automation tool for B2B enterprises
6. Marketo
Marketo is basically built for the intricate dance of B2B marketing. It lets you create incredibly sophisticated lead nurturing programs that respond dynamically to prospect behavior. Think beyond simple email sequences. Imagine workflows that branch based on website visits, content downloads, webinar attendance, or even specific interactions on your social channels.
You know how some people are just kind of browsing, while others are looking for something to buy? Marketo can tell the difference. It does this by "scoring" your leads. Marketo gives them points based on user actions, like which pages they looked at on your site, which emails they clicked on, or even what their job title is.
Instead of guessing who’s interested, you actually know who’s worth following up with. Your sales team won't be wasting time chasing cold leads; they're only talking to the ones who are genuinely interested and ready to chat.
Pricing: Marketo doesn’t offer regular pricing like other tools. You should contact them to get the quote based on your company needs.
Integrations: You can integrate Marketo with other big marketing tools like Salesforce and Zapier.
Key Features:
- Smart lead nurturing and scoring.
- Account-Based Marketing (ABM) capabilities.
- Run campaigns across multiple channels.
- In-depth analytics and attribution.
- CRM integration.
Drawbacks:
- Built for large companies.
- Much more complicated than other tools.
- Has a bit of an “old” vibe on their user interface.
Best marketing automation tool for lead generation
7. LeadSquared
If your business lives and breathes leads—whether it’s booking demos, handling enquiries, or chasing sign-ups—LeadSquared is definitely worth a look. It’s built specifically for teams that care about turning interested people into paying customers, and it does a great job of helping you manage that process from start to finish.
Once you try out LeadSquared services, you’ll know how obsessed they are with lead generation and follow-up. It’s designed to capture leads from pretty much anywhere. Your website, landing pages, chatbots, phone calls, social ads, even missed calls! Then they’ll automatically nurture them with smart, personalized campaigns.
Don’t worry too much about the interface. The workflows are super visual yet easy to understand. You can build drip campaigns, track engagement, and set up automations that make sure no lead falls through the cracks.
Pricing: Sales CRM plans cost $40/user/month – $60/user/month; marketing automation plans cost $1,200/account – $2,000/account
Integrations: 100+ platforms you can work with LeadSquared including Shopify, Google Analytics, Facebook, and more.
Key Features:
- Real-time tracking and reports to improve your campaign.
- Lead scoring and automatic assignment.
- Easy drag-and-drop workflows tool to set up email and SMS.
- Built-in CRM to track your sales performance.
Drawbacks:
- It mostly focuses on lead generation and sales.
- Offers relatively high prices, not suitable for smaller business.
The role of AI in marketing automation
Keeping up with every customer across every channel is a full-time job and probably terrible for your eyes and back. AI doesn’t swoop in as a superhero; it quietly helps you tackle the busy bits so you can focus on the creative and strategic stuff.
Here’s what AI really does for marketers:
- Personalizes content at scale. Ever wish you could send tailored emails to hundreds or thousands? AI helps you do audience segmentation much better. Proven by data from Campaign Monitor, which says 80% of email marketers use AI for audience segmentation.
- Raises open rates. Who says nobody reads email or SMS marketing? Dynamic email marketing driven by AI has proven it wrong. Data says AI increases open rates by 26%.
- Improves efficiency. What happens when AI handles repetitive tasks and optimizes workflows? 80% of marketing leaders mention AI is great for crafting effective campaigns and improving efficiency.
- Increase ROI. A study by McKinsey reported that revenue goes up by 20-30% when AI is used for personalization and ad targeting.
So no, AI isn’t replacing marketers. It’s helping marketers be more successful. Embrace this new era: working smarter, not harder.
Choose the best solution to your needs
I believe you already know about this, but here is the thing: there’s no one-size-fits-all. Marketing automation tools are all about business needs, scale, and industry. Some tools are great at email marketing, while others are the lead generation experts.
Good thing: most of the tools we’ve discussed in this article offer a free trial or a free plan with limited features. Take time to try them out before actually committing. See which one suits your business the best.
Remember, a good marketing automation tool will make you work smarter, not harder. Also, ensure the interface won’t stress you out.
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