Mailchimp

Mailchimp is one of the oldest and most widely adopted email marketing platforms, with a free tier supporting up to 500 contacts. Beyond email, the platform includes a CRM to track interactions, SMS and social media campaign tools, and landing pages. The free version is genuinely useful for getting started, and paid plans are competitively priced for coaches scaling their subscriber base.

This works for coaches at any stage, especially those starting out or unwilling to commit to a monthly subscription before testing. The free tier removes the financial barrier to entry, which appeals to new coaches exploring email marketing for the first time. Mailchimp's CRM features and multi-channel capabilities mean you can grow into it without switching platforms later. Its main trade-off is that it's more general-purpose than platforms built specifically for course creators, so some coaching workflows might require extra setup or workarounds.