If you are reading this, you have likely hit the “Squarespace Ceiling,” and you are looking for Email tools for Squarespace that can handle your heavyweight email campaigns.
You started with Squarespace Email Campaigns because it was easy. It lived right inside your dashboard, used your existing logo, and the templates looked beautiful with zero effort.
But then you tried to do something smart.
Maybe you wanted to send a specific follow-up email only to the people who clicked a link in your last newsletter. Or maybe you wanted to automatically deliver a PDF lead magnet when someone signed up, and then wait 3 days before sending a sales pitch.
And you realized you couldn’t.
The problem with Squarespace Email Campaigns isn’t the price (though it’s not cheap)—it’s the data hygiene. It treats your audience like a “dumb list.” You are either blasting everyone or blasting no one.
If you are ready to stop “broadcasting” and start “marketing,” you need to move your email off Squarespace.
Below, I’m breaking down the three best email tools for Squarespace to replace it, based on where your business is actually going.
Quick Verdict (TL;DR)
The Breaking Point: Why You Are Leaving
Most people leave Squarespace Email Campaigns for the same reason: The “Dumb List” Problem.
In modern marketing, “The Money is in the List” is a lie. The money is in the segmentation.
- Scenario: You send a newsletter about “SEO Services.”
- Smart Tool: If Subscriber A clicks the link to your pricing page, the tool tags them as “Warm Lead” and automatically sends a case study 24 hours later.
- Squarespace: You can see they clicked, but you can’t do anything with that data automatically. You have to manually filter and send a blast.
Squarespace is excellent for “Updates” (Holiday hours, new menu items). It is terrible for “Funnels” (Lead magnet delivery, sales sequences, nurture campaigns).
1. Kit (ConvertKit): The Creator’s Weapon
Best For: Coaches, Course Creators, and Bloggers who write text-heavy emails.
Kit (formerly ConvertKit) is the tool I recommend to 90% of Squarespace users who aren’t running a massive e-commerce store. It was built specifically for people who sell knowledge, not just widgets.
The “Killer App”: Tagging Logic
Kit doesn’t use “Lists.” It uses a central database of subscribers who are tagged with attributes. This sounds technical, but it’s actually simpler.
If someone buys your e-book on Squarespace, you can use the Squarespace Commerce integration to tag them as “Customer” in Kit. Then, you can exclude them from all future marketing emails for that book. This saves you from the embarrassment of trying to sell a product to someone who already bought it—something Squarespace Email Campaigns struggles to prevent.
The Trade-off
The Editor is Ugly (On Purpose).
Squarespace users love design. You are used to drag-and-drop image blocks and beautiful grids. Kit prioritizes “plain text” emails that look like they came from a friend.
- The Benefit: Plain text emails get higher open rates and land in the Primary tab of Gmail more often.
- The Drawback: If you refuse to send an email without a beautifully designed header image and three-column layout, you will hate Kit’s editor.
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Top Reasons to Buy (Pros) |
Reasons to Walk Away (Cons) |
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1. Tag-Based Hygiene: No “dumb lists.” You tag users based on behavior (e.g., “Clicked SEO Link”), keeping data perfectly clean. |
1. The “Ugly” Editor: It lacks a drag-and-drop builder. If you want image-heavy, magazine-style layouts (like Squarespace), you will hate this. |
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2. The “Creator Network”: The only tool that actively helps you grow. You can cross-promote with other newsletters to gain free subs. |
2. Embedded Forms: Their native forms look terrible on Squarespace without custom CSS. You must use the Landing Page hack. |
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3. Commerce Integration: Connects seamlessly with Squarespace Commerce to tag buyers automatically (stopping you from pitching products they already own). |
3. Price Hikes: It gets expensive fast once you cross 10k subscribers. |
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4. Deliverability: Their “plain text” philosophy means emails land in the Primary Inbox, not the Promo tab. | |
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5. Monetization: Native ability to sell sponsorships and digital products directly in the email. |
Pro Tip: Kit has a “Creator Network.” This feature allows you to recommend other newsletters and get recommended in return. It’s the only tool on this list that actively helps you grow your list, not just manage it.
2. ActiveCampaign: The “Heavy Artillery”
Best For: Agencies, B2B Service Providers, and High-Ticket Sales.
If you are selling a $5,000 consulting retainer, you don’t need a newsletter; you need a sales pipeline. This is where ActiveCampaign destroys the competition.
Why It Wins
ActiveCampaign isn’t just email; it’s a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system.
[INSERT: Screenshot of ActiveCampaign Automation Builder showing a “If/Then” logic split]
I use ActiveCampaign when I need to track behavior.
- Did they visit the “Pricing” page on my Squarespace site 3 times in one week?
- Action: Trigger an email from the sales rep asking if they have questions.
This “Site Tracking” feature requires installing a small snippet of code on your Squarespace site (Settings > Advanced > Code Injection), but once it’s there, you have X-Ray vision on your leads.
Who Should AVOID This
Do not buy this if you just want to send a weekly blog update. It is expensive ($29+/mo to start, but scales up fast), and the features will overwhelm you. You will end up paying for a Ferrari to drive to the grocery store.
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Top Reasons to Buy (Pros) |
Reasons to Walk Away (Cons) |
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1. CRM Capabilities: It’s not just email; it’s a sales pipeline. You can see exactly where a lead is in your sales cycle. |
1. The Learning Curve: It is overwhelming. If you aren’t tech-savvy, you will spend weeks just learning how to set up a welcome sequence. |
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2. Site Tracking: The “God Mode” feature. You can trigger emails based on which specific web pages a user visited on your Squarespace site. |
2. “Bloat”: It can feel slow. There are so many features that the dashboard sometimes lags. |
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3. Visual Automation: The most powerful builder in the industry. Complex “If/Else” logic splits are easy to build. |
3. No Free Tier: Unlike the others, there is no indefinite free plan. You pay from day one (after the trial). |
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4. Predictive Sending: AI analyzes when each specific contact opens emails and sends yours at that exact time. | |
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5. 900+ Integrations: It connects with literally everything (Zapier, Salesforce, Calendly) better than any other tool. |
3. MailerLite: The “Value” King
Best For: Small business owners who are cost-conscious but need better features.
If you are looking at the $24/mo Squarespace charges for their “Core” email plan and thinking, “That seems high for what I get,” you are right.
MailerLite is the perfect middle ground. It has a drag-and-drop editor that feels very similar to Squarespace (unlike Kit), so the transition is less jarring visually.
The “Free” Advantage
MailerLite has one of the most generous free tiers in the industry. You can build automations (like a Welcome Sequence) on the free plan. Mailchimp doesn’t let you do this anymore.
If you are migrating from Squarespace and have fewer than 1,000 subscribers, you can likely switch to MailerLite and pay $0 while gaining more features than you had on the paid Squarespace plan.
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Top Reasons to Buy (Pros) |
Reasons to Walk Away (Cons) |
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1. The Price: It is significantly cheaper than Squarespace Email Campaigns and the other two options on this list. |
1. Strict Approval: They are paranoid about spammers. They might reject your account approval if your website isn’t 100% finished. |
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2. Drag-and-Drop Editor: The interface feels very similar to Squarespace. You will feel at home immediately. |
2. Limited Logic: The automation is fine for basic sequences, but it breaks down if you try to do complex multi-path funnels. |
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3. Generous Free Plan: You can use automation features on the free plan (up to 1,000 subs), which is rare. |
3. Support: Free tier support is slow. You get what you pay for. |
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4. Digital Products: Like Kit, they have added features to sell digital downloads, though it’s less robust. | |
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5. Clean UI: It is the most user-friendly interface for beginners. |
Comparison: The “Feature vs. Cost” Breakdown
| Feature | Squarespace Email | Kit (ConvertKit) | ActiveCampaign | MailerLite |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Primary Use | Brand Updates | Newsletters / Courses | Sales Automation | General Marketing |
| Automation | Basic (Linear) | Advanced (Visual) | Complex (Logic-based) | Moderate (Visual) |
| Tagging | Non-existent | Excellent | Best-in-Class | Good |
| Design Control | High (Visual) | Low (Text-focused) | High | High |
| Starting Price | ~$24/mo* | Free (up to 10k subs) | ~$29/mo | Free (up to 1k subs) |
*Squarespace has cheaper plans, but they are severely limited in send volume.
The Integration Reality: A Warning
This is the part most reviews skip, but I need to be radically honest with you. Connecting third-party tools to Squarespace can be annoying.
The Horror Story: Embedded Forms
If you try to take a “Sign Up Form” code from ActiveCampaign or Kit and embed it directly into a Squarespace “Code Block,” it will often look terrible.
- The fonts won’t match your site.
- The button will be the wrong color.
- It might look great on desktop but break completely on mobile.
You end up spending hours fighting with CSS just to make a simple input field look decent.
The “Surprisingly Easy” Hack
Stop trying to embed forms.
Instead, use a Redirect Strategy:
- Create a beautiful button on your Squarespace site using the native Squarespace button block.
- Label it “Join the Newsletter” or “Get the Free Guide.”
- Link that button to a Landing Page hosted by your email tool (Kit and MailerLite both build great landing pages).
Why this works:
- You don’t break your site’s design.
- The landing page is optimized solely for conversion (no navigation menu distractions).
- It takes 30 seconds to set up.
The “Convenience Tax”
I know why you are hesitating. Keeping everything in Squarespace is convenient. You log in to one place, pay one bill, and manage one dashboard.
But you are paying a “Convenience Tax.”
You are paying for the privilege of a tool that stunts your growth. If your email list isn’t making you enough money to cover the $29/mo cost of a tool like ActiveCampaign or the time investment required to learn Kit, the problem isn’t the tool—it’s your offer.
My advice? Rip the band-aid off.
What to do next
- If you are a Creator: Start a free trial of Kit. Import your CSV list from Squarespace and set up one “Tag” for your next newsletter.
- If you are a Service Business: Demo ActiveCampaign. Install the site tracking code and see which leads are actually visiting your pricing page.
- If you are on a Budget: Move to MailerLite. You will instantly save money and gain automation.