How Much Does Email Marketing Cost? A 2025 Breakdown for DTC Brands

In a time of skyrocketing ad costs, email marketing seems like the last safe bet for DTC brands.

But here’s the big question: Is email still the highest-ROI marketing channel in 2025, or is it getting too expensive to justify?

• ESP pricing keeps going up.
• Inbox placement is harder than ever thanks to Gmail & Yahoo’s spam updates.
• SMS is 6X more expensive per send, but is email engagement strong enough to compete?
• How are push notifications disrupting the retention marketing game?

We’re breaking down the real costs of email marketing in 2025, covering:

• What brands actually pay for ESPs, design, deliverability & list management.
• How email compares to SMS & push notifications in cost and ROI.
• Whether DTC brands should double down on email or shift to other retention levers.

If you’re scaling an ecommerce brand, this is the deep dive you need before deciding if email still belongs in your marketing mix.

For more high-level insights to help your brand scale profitably, check out The Retention Edge, our podcast and newsletter where ecom and retail leaders share their hot takes on the future of CX and retention.

Why This Question Matters in 2025

Email has been the highest-ROI marketing channel for decades, but in 2025, the landscape is shifting.

• Rising ad costs, privacy changes, and mobile adoption have brands rethinking where to invest.
• Email costs are creeping up due to more sophisticated segmentation, automation, and compliance needs, plus the reduced effectiveness on a sub-by-sub basis.
• Retention is the new growth, and while email is a key driver of LTV, how much should brands spend to keep it effective?

There’s a certain crowd touting the idea that email is dead. But is that the truth, or just alarmist clickbait?

This guide will break down the actual costs, ROI, and comparisons with other direct communication channels (SMS, Push), so you can get a real idea of whether the juice from email marketing is still worth the squeeze today.

The Core Costs of Email Marketing

A few things go into the cost of email marketing, from software, to creation costs, to maintenance.

Let’s break these areas down.

ESP (Email Service Provider) Costs

The biggest cost variable is your ESP pricing model, which depends on list size, sending volume, and automation needs.

There are three common pricing models for ESPs:

1. Per-subscriber pricing (Klaviyo, Omnisend, Mailchimp)
   
   • Klaviyo: $720/month for 50K contacts (total 500K emails/month)
   • Omnisend: $413/month for 50K contacts (600K emails/month)
   • MailChimp: $450/month for 50K contacts (600K emails/month)
2. Per-send pricing (Postmark, Amazon SES)
   
   • Amazon SES: $0.10 per 1,000 emails—cheaper but lacks automation.
3. Feature-based pricing (Iterable, Braze)
   
   • Costs $1,500+ per month but includes advanced segmentation.

The vast majority of brands will use the first model, or a variation – such as Yotpo’s email marketing feature, which charges based on # of emails rather than subscribers ($135/month for 100K emails, $535/month for 500K emails).

So on a per-email basis, you’re looking at a cost roughly in the range of $1-$2 per 1000 emails sent ($0.001-0.002 per email).

💡 Cost-saving tip: Brands with high list churn should prune inactive subscribers to reduce costs.

Creative & Production Costs

Email marketing isn’t just sending – it’s design, copy, testing, and automation.

• In-house team (marketer + designer + copywriter): $5K–$15K/month
• Freelancers (per email):
  
  • Copywriting: $150–$500
  • Design: $100–$300
  • Full creative package (copy + design): $300–$1,000 per email
• AI-powered email tools (e.g., Claude, Jasper, ChatGPT for copy): $50–$150/month

This cost can vary a lot by how much effort you put into your email campaigns, and how much importance you place on copy and creative.

You could hire a crack team of retention experts, or spin it up with Chat GPT copy and stock design from Canva.

The key thing to note is that this cost doesn’t really scale as you send more emails/have more contacts. 

Unless you’re creating whole new campaigns for a large number of segments, creation costs will be more or less the same for an email reaching 100 people or 100,000 people.

💡 Cost-saving tip: Many brands are shifting to UGC-driven email content, reducing creative costs while increasing authenticity.

Deliverability & Compliance Costs

ESP pricing doesn’t include deliverability optimization, which is becoming a bigger issue today.

• Dedicated IP address: $30–$200/month (essential for high-volume senders).
• Inbox placement monitoring (e.g., Validity, GlockApps): $50–$500/month.
• List cleaning tools (e.g., ZeroBounce, NeverBounce): $15 per 10K emails.

Gmail & Yahoo’s 2024 spam rule changes mean cleaning your list regularly is now more or less mandatory to avoid inbox penalties.

This has to be factored into your email marketing ROI calculation.

Other Hidden Costs

Some other email marketing-related costs may include:

• Discounts & incentives (emails with promo codes cost margin, not just send fees).
• Transactional email costs (e.g., Shopify: $10/month for basic, $1,000+ for high-volume).
• Integrations with Shopify, ReCharge, Attentive (some ESPs charge extra).

Ultimately, the cost of email marketing has risen in recent years, with some ESPs raising prices, and new costs arising related to list optimization (though creative costs may be lower due to AI).

But still, the cost of email marketing on a per-email or per-subscriber basis remains extremely low.

Email Marketing ROI: Is It Still Worth It?

So with what we know about the cost of email, how does the ROI shake out?

The cost of email is more or less the same as it was 10 years ago, but the return can vary greatly.

Let’s see if email’s performance is still enough to justify the cost.

Industry Benchmarks for Email Performance

Email still provides solid results in terms of visibility, reach and engagement.

• The global average ROI for email is $36–$42 per $1 spent.
• Open rates: 21.5% (avg), 30–40% (best-in-class DTC brands).
• Click-through rates: ~2.6% (avg), 4–8% (top performers).
• Conversion rates: ~4.2% (avg), up to 10%+ for high-intent campaigns.

Sources: Dotdigital, Omnisend

Cost per Acquisition (CPA) vs Retention Value

Let’s compare email marketing CPA to paid acquisition (Meta, Google) and see how they match up in terms of CPA and long-term value.

Email

• Avg. CPA (DTC): $1–$3 per customer
• Retention Impact: High (more likely to be repeat buyers)
• Cost Scaling: Scales affordably

Meta Ads

• Avg. CPA (DTC): $30–$50 per customer
• Retention Impact: Low (many one-time buyers)
• Cost Scaling: Scaling = more expensive

Google Ads

• Avg. CPA (DTC): $40–$80 per customer
• Retention Impact: Medium (brand intent)
• Cost Scaling: Costly scaling

Source: First Page Sage

💡 Key Insight: Retargeting existing subscribers is 10X cheaper than acquiring new customers via paid ads. 

Email’s Role in Retention & LTV Growth

Many retention-focused brands rely on email flows to boost LTV.

Many of these flows are automated – and these automated campaigns are a great ROI play, not only because of the low effort required to maintain, but because these emails actually perform better.

Best-performing automated emails (2025 benchmarks):

• Welcome flows: 30–50% open rate, 5–12% conversion rate.
• Abandoned cart: 45%+ open rate, 8–15% conversion rate.
• Post-purchase upsells: 25–35% open rate, 6–10% conversion rate.
• Win-back campaigns: 20–30% open rate, 4–8% conversion rate.

Source: Omnisend

These automated campaigns are key in generating repeat engagement and driving higher LTV from your existing customers.

💡 For cost-effective retention, scaling email automations keeps CAC lower while increasing LTV.

Email vs SMS vs Push: Where Does Email Fit In?

10 years ago, email was the #1 tool brands had to work with in terms of direct customer communication.

Is that still true today? With smartphone usage rising, mobile-first channels like SMS and push notifications are rising in popularity.

Let’s see how the ROI of these channels compares to email.

SMS: Higher Costs, Higher Engagement

Engagement rates for SMS are particularly high, with fantastic click and open rates.

But the cost is also a lot higher, which makes SMS costly to scale.

SMS also runs the risk of feeling more intrusive. And, interestingly, data shows that clicks from email have a much higher chance of converting than clicks from an SMS.

The average conversion rate for email campaigns is only a little behind SMS (even factoring in lesser reach), while automated emails have a significantly higher conversion rate than automated SMS messages.

SMS benchmarks vs email:

• 6X higher CTR than email (15–20%), but 6X higher cost per send​.
• $0.01–$0.05 per SMS sent vs $0.001 per email sent.
• Conversion rate (campaigns) is 0.11% (SMS) to 0.07% (email).
• Conversion rate (automated flows) is 0.24% (SMS) to 1.76% (email).
• Best use cases: Time-sensitive offers, VIP customer engagement.

Source: Omnisend

Push Notifications: The Rising Challenger?

The newest kid on the block is push.

Push notifications, like SMS, are mobile-first. They offer the same immediacy as SMS, and are much cheaper at scale (no per-message pricing).

Push has lower overall reach, as they require an app download (significantly easier to get an email or SMS signup), but for app users, they typically outperform other channels, for a lower investment.

• Push open rates = 2X higher than email, but reach is lower (sent only to app users, with average 67.5% opt-in rate).
• Cost is lower – both lower service provider costs, plus fewer creative costs.
• Highly visible, without feeling as intrusive as SMS.
• Average 28% click rate, 4.4% conversion rate.
• Transactional push notifications have an average open rate of 69%.
• Best use cases: Flash sales, app-based engagement, real-time updates, abandoned cart notifications.

Source: MobiLoud

Omnichannel Synergy: The Smart Play

A winning strategy? Email, SMS and push working together.

There’s no need to stick stubbornly to one channel. Smart brands use multiple touchpoints.

Email for broad reach. SMS for immediacy, high visibility. Push for app users.

If you're not using push notifications yet, you're missing out. Over 80% open rates, with 10-20X the click rates vs email, and minimal cost, even at scale. Convert your site into an app with MobiLoud to unlock this amazing channel for your brand.
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Learn more here, or get a free consultation to learn how easy it is to go live and start engaging your audience with push notifications.

Key Takeaways: Is Email Marketing Still Worth It?

With what we know about the cost and return of email marketing, is it still worth investing in?

Undoubtedly, yes.

✅ Email remains the highest-ROI retention channel. No other platform offers a $36+ ROI per $1 spent.

✅ Costs vary based on ESP, list size, and automation depth, but email is still a low-cost, high-margin channel.

✅ SMS is more expensive but converts better. Best for high-AOV or urgency-driven campaigns.

✅ Push is a must for brands with a mobile app – the effectiveness and low cost of push is reason enough for many brands to build an app.

✅ Omnichannel is the future. Winning brands use email, SMS, and push together to maximize retention & LTV.

Every brand should be doing email marketing. Even if your email campaigns are average or somewhat below average in terms of performance, it's difficult to lose money with email marketing.

Make sure your brand continues to evolve, though. Email alone is unlikely to be enough to sustain growth. You'll still need ads for acquisition, and direct, mobile-first channels like push to round out your retention strategy.