Hotel guide · Updated October 7, 2026
Email software for hotels, priced by the guest list you already have.
For most independent hotels, inns and B&Bs, Brevo is the best starting pick. Its free plan holds up to 100,000 contacts, and its paid plans are priced by monthly email volume rather than by how many past guests you keep, so a long guest archive does not raise the bill on its own. Automation for pre-arrival and post-stay messages starts on its Standard plan at $18 a month for 5,000 emails.
Prices read from each vendor's pricing page, checked 7 October 2026.
Why hotel email is a different job
Hotel email is not retail email. The people on the list have already stayed with you, so they are a warmer audience but also a smaller one. The timing is set by check-in and check-out dates, not by a promotional calendar. The messages that tend to matter most are a note before arrival, an offer for an upgrade or a meal, a request for a review after departure, and a message to past guests who have not come back in a long time.
This guide covers the tools a hotel is most likely to shortlist: independent properties, small groups, inns and B&Bs, and the occasional resort or retreat. It is not a guide for large chains that run their own customer data platforms. Each section explains where a tool fits, where it falls short, and what it costs at a list size that a hotel of this kind would realistically reach.
Pricing on this page is taken from each vendor's public pricing page. Where a vendor does not publish a price for a given list size, the tables say so rather than estimating one. Plans and limits change, so confirm the figure on the vendor's page before you budget.
What a hotel email tool has to do
Before comparing vendors, it helps to write down the jobs. Most hotels that buy an email tool end up needing five things, and they matter in roughly this order.
- Hold the guest archive without penalising size. A property with ten years of stays may have a database several times larger than its current season. The pricing model decides whether that history is a cost or an asset.
- Send on a timeline driven by stays. A pre-arrival message a few days before check-in, a post-stay note with a review request, and a lapsed-guest message after a period you define yourself. These need a tool that can trigger on a date or on a contact field.
- Segment by property, room type, stay date and booking channel. A guest who booked direct and a guest who came through an online travel agency should not always receive the same message, and a group with several properties needs per-property lists.
- Respect consent. A guest who has opted out of marketing must stop receiving marketing, even if they still receive operational messages from the booking engine.
- Fit a small team. A front-desk manager or owner should be able to send a seasonal offer without a consultant or a data analyst.
Confirmations and receipts usually come from the booking engine or property management system, not from the email marketing tool. The marketing tool handles the messages that follow the stay. Keeping that split clear avoids paying for features you already have elsewhere.
Comparison at a glance
| Tool | Best for hotels | Starting price (plan, billing) | Main limitation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brevo | Independent hotels and small groups that want automation on a large guest list | Free: 300 emails a day, up to 100,000 contacts. Standard: $18 a month, from 5,000 emails a month | Free plan has a daily send cap; automation needs a paid plan |
| ActiveCampaign | Properties with weddings, groups and corporate bookings that need a sales pipeline | Starter: $15 a month, monthly billing, priced at 1,000 contacts | Price rises with contact count and with each segmentation tier; more than a room-only inn needs |
| Mailchimp | Boutique properties that want a first newsletter out quickly | Free: up to 250 contacts and 500 sends a month. Standard: $20 a month at 500 contacts | Price steps up by contact band; 2,501 to 5,000 contacts is $100 a month |
| Constant Contact | Inns and B&Bs running seasonal promotions and local event tie-ins | Lite: $12 a month, or $10.20 billed annually. No free plan; free trial offered | Price set by contact count; hospitality flows must be built by hand |
| MailerLite | Small inns mailing a regular letter to past guests | Free: up to 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails a month. Comfort: $12 a month, or $10.80 billed annually | Upsell and loyalty logic is lighter; larger subscriber bands are quoted on the pricing page |
| GetResponse | Retreats, workshops and program-led stays that sell sessions alongside rooms | Starter: $19 a month, or $15.58 billed annually, unlimited sends and one automation workflow | Starter allows one workflow, so pre-arrival and post-stay flows need a higher plan |
| Klaviyo | Hotels that also sell gift items, packages or experiences through an online shop | Email plan: $20 a month at 500 profiles. Free: up to 250 profiles and 500 sends a month | Built around online store data, so stay records need custom setup |
| Campaign Monitor | Design-led resorts sending seasonal brochures | Lite: $13 a month, or $11.70 billed annually, at 500 contacts. 30-day free trial | Fewer booking-linked triggers; pricing is set by contact band |
What hotels pay as the list grows
The starting price is the figure most vendors lead with, and it is the least useful one for a hotel. A property with 500 past guests and a property with 10,000 are buying different products, and the difference shows up in the monthly bill. The table below uses three list sizes that are typical for an independent hotel, a mid-sized inn with a loyal following, and a small group.
Each cell is the monthly price the vendor's pricing page shows for that list size on the plan named. Where the pricing page does not publish a figure for that size, the cell says pricing on request. Brevo is the exception: its paid plans are set by monthly email volume, so the Free plan is shown for small sending levels and the paid starting price applies beyond that.
| Tool and plan | 500 contacts | 5,000 contacts | 10,000 contacts |
|---|---|---|---|
| Klaviyo, Email plan | $20/mo (500 profiles) | $100/mo (5,000 profiles) | $150/mo (10,000 profiles) |
| Mailchimp, Standard by contact band | $20/mo (500 contacts, up to 6,000 emails) | $100/mo (2,501 to 5,000 contacts, up to 60,000 emails) | $135/mo (5,001 to 10,000 contacts, up to 120,000 emails) |
| Drip, usage band | $39/mo (1 to 2,500 people, unlimited sends) | $89/mo (4,501 to 5,000 people, unlimited sends) | $154/mo (9,001 to 10,000 people, unlimited sends) |
| MailerLite, Comfort or Power | $12/mo Comfort; $25/mo Power (500 subscriber tier) | Pricing on request | Pricing on request |
| Campaign Monitor, Lite | $13/mo (500 contacts band) | Pricing on request | Pricing on request |
| ActiveCampaign, Starter | Pricing on request | Pricing on request | Pricing on request (from $15/mo at 1,000 contacts) |
| Brevo, Free or Standard | $0 on Free (300 sends a day); Standard from $18/mo | Pricing on request (set by monthly sends) | Pricing on request (set by monthly sends) |
| Constant Contact, Lite | Pricing on request (from $12/mo; contact count sets price) | Pricing on request | Pricing on request |
| GetResponse, Starter or Marketer | Pricing on request (Starter from $19/mo) | Pricing on request (Marketer from $59/mo) | Pricing on request |
Annual billing discounts are shown where the vendor lists them, in the plan descriptions above. Prices are in US dollars and exclude taxes and any SMS or add-on charges.
Reading the numbers for a hotel
Take a property with 5,000 contacts. On Mailchimp's Standard tier in that band, the bill is $100 a month for up to 60,000 emails. On Klaviyo's email plan, the same 5,000 profiles also come to $100 a month, but the plan is built around online store data. On Drip, the band is $89 a month with unlimited sends. The monthly figure is only part of the decision: the send allowance, the automation depth and the data model decide whether the plan fits the hotel's actual work.
The arithmetic matters most for a hotel with a long guest history. A property that grows from 5,000 to 10,000 contacts over several seasons will see its bill rise on any per-contact tool, while Brevo's paid plans follow the monthly sends instead. Calculate the monthly price at the list size you expect in two years, not only the one you have today.
The tools, one by one
1. Brevo: the best starting pick for hotels
Brevo is the first choice here for a simple reason that comes straight from its pricing structure. The free plan allows up to 100,000 contacts, and the paid plans are sized by monthly email volume. A hotel that keeps every past guest on the list does not pay more for holding them, only for sending to them. That matters for a property where the guest archive is the main asset.
For hotel work, the Standard plan is the one that matters. It is listed at $18 a month for an allowance of 5,000 emails, and it is the tier that includes automation, A/B testing and advanced reports. Pre-arrival and post-stay sequences, and a lapsed-guest flow, all need automation, so budget for Standard rather than the free plan once you go beyond manual campaigns.
Where it falls short: the free plan caps sending at 300 emails a day, which is enough for a pilot but not for a large seasonal send. Hospitality templates are not built in, so the pre-arrival and post-stay sequences are yours to write. Check that your booking engine or property management system has a connector or an API route before you commit, because the value of automated stay messages depends on that link.
Pricing: Brevo pricing page.
2. ActiveCampaign: for groups, weddings and corporate stays
ActiveCampaign suits a hotel whose revenue includes functions alongside rooms. Weddings, conferences and corporate accounts involve quotes, site visits and a sales pipeline, and a CRM sits naturally next to the email journeys that follow each enquiry. The Starter plan at $15 a month includes email marketing, marketing automation and standard CRM and ecommerce integrations, priced at 1,000 contacts. Plus at $49 adds standard segmentation and landing pages. Pro at $79 adds advanced segmentation, and Enterprise at $145 adds premium segmentation and a dedicated account team.
Where it falls short: the price rises with contact count, and each step up in segmentation depth costs more. A room-only inn with a simple guest list will be paying for a sales pipeline it does not use. The starting price is quoted at 1,000 contacts, so a larger archive needs the pricing page to find its real number. A free trial is offered, which is a sensible way to test the workflow before buying.
Pricing: ActiveCampaign pricing page.
3. Mailchimp: the fastest first newsletter
Mailchimp is the easiest tool on this list to start with. The free plan covers up to 250 contacts and 500 sends a month, which is enough for a boutique property to send its first seasonal letter this week. Its templates are familiar to most staff, and the interface needs little training. For an owner who wants a first newsletter out before the next season, that speed is the real advantage.
The Standard plan starts at $20 a month for 500 contacts and up to 6,000 emails at that level. The price then steps by contact band: $100 a month for 2,501 to 5,000 contacts and up to 60,000 emails, and $135 a month for 5,001 to 10,000 contacts and up to 120,000 emails.
Where it falls short: the price follows the size of the guest list, which is the wrong direction for a hotel that wants to keep its history. The automation available to a small property is shallower than what ActiveCampaign or Brevo offers, so pre-arrival and post-stay flows will be simpler. It works best as a first tool that a property later outgrows, rather than as a long-term guest-history platform.
Pricing: Mailchimp pricing page.
4. Constant Contact: seasonal promotions for inns and B&Bs
Constant Contact fits an inn or a B&B that runs a steady calendar of seasonal offers: foliage weekends, ski packages, holiday markets and local events. The Lite plan at $12 a month, or $10.20 billed annually, includes email and social media tools, with monthly sends up to ten times the contact count. Standard at $35 a month, or $29.75 billed annually, adds automation, scheduling, A/B testing and sends up to twelve times the contacts. Premium at $80 a month, or $68 billed annually, adds advanced automation, segmentation and reporting, and 500 SMS a month.
Where it falls short: there is no free plan, and the exact price depends on contact count, so the pricing page is the place to check the figure for your list. Pre-arrival and post-stay flows are not supplied as ready-made hospitality journeys, so you build them yourself. For a property that wants seasonal campaigns rather than automated stay sequences, this is a sound and simple choice.
Pricing: Constant Contact pricing page.
5. MailerLite: a monthly letter for a small inn
MailerLite suits a small inn that mails past guests a regular letter about availability, seasons and local news. The free plan covers up to 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails a month. The Comfort plan at $12 a month, or $10.80 billed annually, starts at the 500-subscriber tier and allows monthly email volume at ten times the subscriber ceiling. Power at $25 a month, or $22.50 billed annually, offers unlimited monthly emails at the same starting tier.
Where it falls short: upsell logic and loyalty features are lighter than those of the specialist tools, and larger subscriber bands are not shown on this page, so check the pricing page for your list size before budgeting. A property that wants branching flows keyed to check-in dates will need more than a monthly letter can offer.
Pricing: MailerLite pricing page.
6. GetResponse: retreats, workshops and program-led stays
GetResponse suits a property whose revenue comes from programs as much as from rooms. Yoga retreats, cooking weekends and workshops involve paid sessions, and the Creator plan adds webinars to the email and funnel tools. Starter at $19 a month, or $15.58 billed annually, includes unlimited monthly email sends, a welcome series, signup forms and landing pages. Marketer at $59 a month, or $48.38 billed annually, adds unlimited workflows, advanced segmentation and abandoned-cart recovery. Creator at $69 a month, or $56.58 billed annually, adds webinars, a website builder and course tools.
Where it falls short: there is no free plan, and the Starter plan allows just one automation workflow. A hotel that wants a pre-arrival flow and a post-stay flow running at once needs Marketer or higher. Room-only operations gain little from the program features, so this is a choice for properties that genuinely sell workshops.
Pricing: GetResponse pricing page.
7. Klaviyo: when the hotel also sells online
Klaviyo is built for online stores, and it is a reasonable choice for a hotel that sells gift items, packages, spa vouchers or experiences through its own website. Its email plan is priced per profile: $20 a month for 500 profiles, $30 for 1,000, $60 for 2,500, $100 for 5,000, $150 for 10,000 and $400 for 25,000. A free plan covers up to 250 profiles and 500 sends a month. The SMS plans are listed separately, and their prices are not shown on the email plan table.
Where it falls short: the data model is designed around shopping behaviour, so stay records, room types and check-in dates need custom setup. The per-profile price rises quickly as the archive grows, which is the same concern raised for Mailchimp. For a hotel with no online shop, the store-first design adds work without adding value.
Pricing: Klaviyo pricing page.
8. Campaign Monitor: seasonal brochures for design-led resorts
Campaign Monitor suits a resort that invests in photography and layout and wants its seasonal emails to look like a printed brochure. The Lite plan at $13 a month, or $11.70 billed annually, is set at a 500-contact band and includes five times the subscriber count in monthly emails. Essentials at $31 a month, or $27.90 billed annually, includes unlimited email sends at the same band. Premier at $171 a month, or $153.90 billed annually, adds premier support, including phone support. A 30-day free trial is offered, limited to 500 contacts and 500 emails.
Where it falls short: it has fewer booking-linked triggers than the automation-focused tools, and pricing moves with the contact band. For a resort whose main job is beautiful seasonal campaigns, that trade-off is acceptable. For a property that needs automated stay messages, it is not the first choice.
Pricing: Campaign Monitor pricing page.
Other tools worth knowing
Kit suits a host-led property, where the owner's voice is the main draw. The free plan covers up to 10,000 subscribers with unlimited email broadcasts, landing pages and forms, and automated sequences start on the Creator plan at $33 a month, billed annually. AWeber offers a Lite plan at $15 a month for 500 subscribers and 5,000 sends a month, and a Plus plan at $30 a month for 500 subscribers and 6,000 sends, with a 14-day trial. Drip is covered in the cost table above; it suits experience sellers more than room-based hotels. Check the Kit pricing page, AWeber pricing page and Drip pricing page for current figures.
Which tool for which hotel job
Start with the job you need done this season. The table below maps the common cases to a starting tool and the reason it fits.
| If you need | Start with | Because |
|---|---|---|
| A large guest archive on a small budget | Brevo | Free plan holds up to 100,000 contacts; paid plans follow monthly sends |
| Pre-arrival, post-stay and winback flows with branching | Brevo Standard, or ActiveCampaign Plus or Pro | Standard includes automation at $18 a month; ActiveCampaign adds segmentation depth as you need it |
| A first newsletter with no budget | Mailchimp free plan | Covers up to 250 contacts and 500 sends a month |
| A monthly letter for a small inn | MailerLite Comfort | $12 a month at the 500-subscriber tier |
| Paid retreats and workshops alongside rooms | GetResponse Marketer, or Creator for webinars | Marketer allows unlimited workflows; Creator adds webinars |
| An online shop beside the rooms | Klaviyo | Built around online store data; email plan from $20 a month at 500 profiles |
| Designed seasonal brochures | Campaign Monitor Essentials | Unlimited email sends at the chosen contact band |
| Group and wedding enquiries with a sales pipeline | ActiveCampaign Plus | Standard CRM and segmentation for quote follow-up |
| A host-led newsletter with paid sequences | Kit Creator | Automated sequences start on Creator at $33 a month, billed annually |
How to choose
Work through these questions in order. Most hotels can answer them in an afternoon.
- How large is the list you will keep? Count every past guest who opted in to marketing, not every booking. Then look up the price at that size and at the size you expect in two years.
- Which flows must run automatically? If pre-arrival and post-stay messages must fire from stay dates, shortlist tools that include automation on a plan you can afford. If seasonal campaigns are enough, a simpler tool is fine.
- Does your booking engine or property management system connect? Check the vendor's integrations page for your system. If there is no connector, a CSV import on a schedule still works for seasonal campaigns.
- Do you sell anything other than rooms online? Packages, vouchers and experiences add a store-style use case, which points toward Klaviyo or Drip.
- How many people will use the tool? A single owner can run a simple tool. A team with front-desk, sales and marketing roles will need clear permissions and shared segments.
- Can you test it before paying? Several vendors offer free trials or free plans. Set up one real flow during the trial, not a demo.
Setup and migration checklist
Moving from a spreadsheet, an old newsletter tool or a booking engine export is the step most hotels underestimate. This checklist covers the work in order.
| Step | What to do | Done when |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Export guest records | Pull name, email, stay dates, property, room type and booking channel from the booking engine or PMS | One file exists with a row per guest and a stay date for each |
| 2. Check consent | Keep only guests with a marketing opt-in. Record the date and where the opt-in was given | Every row you import has a consent flag and a source |
| 3. Handle OTA addresses | Read the OTA's partner terms. Remove relay or masked addresses unless the terms allow their use | Only addresses you may lawfully market to remain |
| 4. Clean duplicates | Merge records that share an email address, keeping the latest stay date | Each email address appears once in the import |
| 5. Build segments | Create lists for each property, last stay within twelve months, older stays, and direct versus OTA bookers | Each segment shows a count you can explain |
| 6. Connect the stay data | Use the vendor's integration for your PMS, or schedule a CSV import before each campaign | A test contact moves from booking to a segment automatically or on schedule |
| 7. Write the four flows | Pre-arrival, post-stay with review request, lapsed-guest winback, and one seasonal message per month | Each flow has a trigger, a delay and an unsubscribe link |
| 8. Test with staff addresses | Send every flow to internal addresses and check dates, names and links | Staff review the test sends and sign off each one |
| 9. Track direct bookings | Tag booking links in each email with campaign names, and report direct bookings monthly | Each campaign has a booking count you can compare against the previous month |
Four flows to build first
A hotel does not need a dozen automations to start. Four flows cover most of the value, and each one is tied to something that already happens in the stay.
Pre-arrival
Send a short note a few days before check-in with arrival logistics, the parking or transfer details, and any upgrade, dining or spa offer that suits the room type. Keep the logistics separate from the offer, so the guest sees the practical information first. If the offer is for a fixed period, say so in the subject line.
Post-stay
Send a thank-you on the day after departure, with a link to leave a review and a line about the next stay. Route guests who had a poor experience to a private feedback form first, and invite the others to public review sites. Do not offer incentives for reviews, because most review platforms forbid it.
Lapsed-guest winback
Choose a quiet period that suits your business, such as twelve months without a stay, and send a message that refers to the room or season the guest enjoyed. Keep the offer honest and direct guests to book on your own site. Stop the flow when the guest books again.
Seasonal message
Send one message a month that has a real reason to exist: a festival, a weather window, a closed-season reopening. Use the same segments as the other flows, so that a guest who recently stayed does not receive a generic promotion that does not apply to them.
Consent, data and the OTA problem
Consent is the part of hotel email that goes wrong most often, and it is worth getting right before the first send. Collect marketing consent as a separate choice from the booking terms, and record when and where it was given. Every marketing email must include a working unsubscribe link, and an unsubscribe must stop marketing messages in every flow, including the ones triggered by stays.
Guests who booked through an online travel agency are a special case. Those bookings often give you a relay address or limited details, and the agency's terms may restrict how you can contact the guest. Read those terms before importing the records. The most reliable way to build a direct list is to ask for marketing consent at check-in or in your own confirmation, and then keep the record of that choice in the email tool.
Depending on where your guests and your property are located, data protection rules such as the GDPR or the CAN-SPAM Act in the United States will apply. Ask a qualified adviser about your obligations, and store the records in a tool whose data terms you have read.
How this page was put together
The plans, prices and limits on this page come from each vendor's public pricing page, checked on 7 October 2026. The features described come from the vendor pages linked in each section. Where a feature is not stated on a vendor's public page, this guide does not claim it. Prices can differ by region, currency and billing period, and vendors change their plans, so confirm the current figure before buying.
Picks are made by fit to a hotel's jobs, not by a single score. A tool that is cheap but cannot run a timed flow is not a good pick for a hotel that needs one. To report a correction, use the contact form on this site.
The short verdict
For most independent hotels and B&Bs with a growing guest archive, Brevo is the best place to start, because its free plan covers up to 100,000 contacts and its paid plans follow monthly sends, with automation from $18 a month on Standard. Mailchimp is the quickest first newsletter. Constant Contact suits seasonal promotions, MailerLite suits a monthly letter, GetResponse suits programs, Klaviyo suits hotels that sell online, Campaign Monitor suits brochure-style resorts, and ActiveCampaign suits properties with groups and a sales pipeline.
Whatever you choose, build the four flows first, keep the consent records clean and check the price at the list size you expect in two years.
Hotel email questions, answered
Which email tool should a small hotel start with?
Brevo is the most practical starting point for an independent hotel or B&B with a growing guest archive. Its free plan allows up to 100,000 contacts with a cap of 300 emails a day, and its paid plans are priced by monthly email volume, so keeping old guests on the list does not raise the bill by itself. Automation for pre-arrival and post-stay flows sits on the Standard plan, listed at $18 a month for 5,000 emails.
Can I email guests who booked through an online travel agency?
Only within the rules of that channel. Many OTA bookings include a relay or masked address rather than the guest's real email, and OTA terms often limit how that contact information can be used. Read the OTA's partner terms before importing those addresses. The cleaner route is a marketing opt-in collected at check-in or in your own booking confirmation, recorded with its date and source.
Do I need a property management system integration?
Not for a first seasonal campaign. A CSV export of opted-in guests with stay dates and property names is enough to start. You need a live integration only when pre-arrival and post-stay messages must fire automatically from check-in and check-out dates. Each vendor lists its connectors on its own integrations page, so confirm that your PMS or booking engine is supported on the plan you plan to buy before you commit.
Is per-contact pricing a problem for hotels?
It can be. Several tools, including Mailchimp, Drip and Klaviyo, set the price by the number of contacts or profiles, and the price steps up as the list grows. A hotel with fifteen years of past guests will pay for every one of them on those plans. Brevo and Campaign Monitor price by sending volume or contact band in different ways, so compare the monthly figure at your real list size, not the starting price.
How often should a hotel email its guests?
Let the stay set the cadence. A booking-linked pre-arrival note, a post-stay thank-you with a review request, and a lapsed-guest message after a long quiet period cover most hotels. Add one seasonal or event message per month only when you have a real offer. Frequent promotional blasts to people who stayed once tend to raise unsubscribes without helping direct bookings.
Do I need SMS as well as email?
Not necessarily. Email handles most marketing messages for a hotel. Constant Contact's Premium plan includes 500 SMS a month, while several other tools list SMS as a separate add-on or price it on request. Keep SMS for short operational messages such as arrival logistics that guests have agreed to receive, and check the current SMS price on each vendor's pricing page before you add it.