Best Email Marketing Software for Restaurants: 9 Tools Compared

The best email marketing software for restaurants is the one that fits the system you already use to take orders, the size of your list and the person who will write the emails. This guide compares nine tools using prices, plan limits and integrations we read on each vendor's own pages on 2026-10-24. It is one part of our wider guide to email marketing for restaurants.

How to choose the best email marketing software for restaurants

Four questions decide which email marketing software for restaurants fits you, and they cut nine tools down to two or three.

Do you already run Square or Toast? Your point-of-sale system already collects guest emails. Square sells its own email and text marketing inside its paid plans, Toast sells email as part of a marketing suite, and several general tools connect to one or the other. Start with the tool closest to your guest data, so you avoid moving lists by hand.

How big is your list, and how often do you send? Count sends, not just contacts: 1,000 guests emailed four times a month is 4,000 sends. Free plans cap contacts or sends, and paid plans usually price on contacts, sends or both.

Do you need SMS? Texting has its own rules and prices. Square and Toast sell it inside their marketing plans, Popmenu includes it from its Essentials tier, Owner.com lists text campaigns in its platform, Constant Contact, Mailchimp and Brevo sell it as an add-on or credits, Klaviyo charges per message, and MailerLite's marketing plans do not list it.

Who writes the emails? If the owner writes between services, templates and an AI helper matter more than extra features. Our free email template generator has an AI writer and outputs HTML you can paste into the tools that accept it, and the restaurant email templates page has ready-made starting points.

Best email marketing software for restaurants: comparison table

Prices are US dollars, were read on 2026-10-24, exclude tax and change often, so use the link in each row. "Starting" means the cheapest paid tier we could read, usually for the smallest list.

Tool	Best for	Free plan	Starting price (checked 2026-10-24)	SMS	Restaurant / POS integrations	Custom HTML
Mailchimp	Square users who want a familiar all-round tool	Yes: 250 contacts, 500 emails a month, no automation flows	Essentials $13/mo (up to 500 contacts); Standard $20/mo. Check current pricing	Add-on on paid plans	Square; OpenTable (listing dated 2021)	Standard plan or higher
Klaviyo	Online ordering and POS data	Yes: 250 profiles, 500 emails a month	Email $20/mo at 500 profiles. Check current pricing	Yes, pay per message	Toast, Square, OpenTable	Import HTML templates
Brevo	Largest free sending allowance	Yes: 300 emails a day, up to 100,000 contacts	Starter $9/mo (5,000 emails); Standard $18/mo. Check current pricing	Credits sold separately	Square through Zapier, Make or n8n	Yes, including Free
Constant Contact	Phone and chat support	No: free trial, no card	Lite from $12/mo ($10.20 billed annually). Check current pricing	Add-on from $10/mo (US only); Premium includes 500 texts	Square	Custom code editor
MailerLite	Simple newsletters on a small budget	Yes: 250 subscribers, 2,500 emails a month	Comfort $12/mo (500 subscribers). Check current pricing	None	None listed; Zapier	Yes, including Free
Square Marketing	Restaurants already on Square	No: Square Free has no marketing	Square Plus $49/mo per location. Check current pricing	500 texts a month, then 3¢ each	Square POS	Not documented
Toast Marketing	Restaurants already on Toast	No	Pricing on request. Ask Toast	Yes, in the same suite	Toast POS	Not documented
Popmenu	A new website, menu and marketing together	No	Starter $159/mo, prepaid annually. Check current pricing	500 texts on Essentials; add-on on Starter	OpenTable; Square and Toast for ordering	Not documented
Owner.com	Website, ordering and marketing in one	No	$249/mo plus 5% per order, or $499/mo flat. Check current pricing	Text campaigns included	Own ordering platform; POS links not verified	Not documented

"Not documented" means we found no HTML option in the vendor's help pages, not proof that none exists. "None listed" means the vendor's integrations page showed no Square, Toast or OpenTable connector.

The tools, one by one

Mailchimp

Good for restaurants: Mailchimp's Square integration is free, syncs name, email, location and order details, and lists "Square for restaurants" among the products it works with.

Drawbacks: The free plan stops at 250 contacts and 500 emails a month, and Mailchimp's pricing page lists automation flows as not included. The Square integration needs a paid plan. Pasting your own HTML needs the Standard plan, from $20 a month. Prices rise by contact tier.

Pick it if you use Square and want a mainstream tool with many templates.

Klaviyo

Good for restaurants: Klaviyo documents integrations with Toast (online orders and eligible offline orders, with up to three years of history), Square (POS orders sync every 30 minutes) and OpenTable (reservations sync every 30 minutes). You can build a segment such as guests who ordered in the last 30 days.

Drawbacks: Klaviyo says Toast does not sync email and SMS consent, so you import consent yourself by CSV. Free emails carry Klaviyo branding, and paid prices follow active profiles. Connecting Toast takes steps in both systems: authorize Klaviyo in Toast, then enter each Restaurant ID in Klaviyo.

Pick it if you run Toast or online ordering and want flows triggered by orders.

Brevo

Good for restaurants: Brevo's free plan allows up to 100,000 contacts and includes the HTML editor. Its automation page offers welcome and birthday templates, with automation free for up to 2,000 contacts.

Drawbacks: Free sending is capped at 300 emails a day. Square connects only through Zapier, Make or n8n, and we found no Toast connector. SMS credits are sold separately, and removing the Brevo logo is a $12 monthly add-on on Starter.

Pick it if you have a large list, a small budget and no need for a direct POS link.

Constant Contact

Good for restaurants: Every plan includes live phone and chat support, and a Square integration syncs customer details. A custom code editor can build HTML emails inside automation paths.

Drawbacks: There is no free plan, only a free trial. Lite includes one automation template, and "auto-send welcome emails" is listed under Premium. SMS is an add-on for US customers. Its live pricing page blocks automated page loads, so confirm figures on the live page.

Pick it if you want a person to call; it also lists a Square integration.

MailerLite

Good for restaurants: The free plan includes the custom HTML editor, three active automations and signup forms. Automation offers date-based triggers for birthdays and anniversaries.

Drawbacks: No SMS in its marketing plans, no POS connector on its integrations page, and the free plan stops at 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails a month.

Pick it if you want to paste HTML into a simple newsletter tool and keep costs low.

Square Marketing

Good for restaurants: Guests who opt in at the POS, on a hosted sign-up page or through an embedded form land in the Customer Directory. Plus and Premium include unlimited email sends and coupon tracking.

Drawbacks: Marketing needs Square Plus or Premium, billed per location. The editor is block based, and the lists live inside Square. Square says the data can be exported for a third-party service.

Pick it if you are on Square and want one bill and one system.

Toast Marketing

Good for restaurants: Guest emails are collected across Online Ordering, Loyalty, gift cards, digital receipts and Toast Tables. Automated campaigns include Welcome and Miss You (guests who have not bought in 30 days), and SMS sits in the same suite.

Drawbacks: No public price. Products in a suite are added or removed together. Automations trigger on orders, so a list you upload does not receive Welcome or Miss You emails. Birthday messages run through Toast Loyalty.

Pick it if you run Toast and want guest data, loyalty and email in one place.

Popmenu

Good for restaurants: Starter includes the website, interactive menu, guest contact collection and automated email. Popmenu describes automated emails and texts for birthdays, anniversaries and lapsed guests.

Drawbacks: It is a website and marketing platform, not a standalone email tool. Mass email campaigns start at Essentials ($269 a month, prepaid annually). Multi-location pricing goes through sales.

Pick it if you also need a new restaurant website and menu.

Owner.com

Owner.com is a full platform: website, online ordering, branded app, loyalty and "AI-powered marketing" with email and text campaigns. It starts at $249 a month plus a 5% restaurant fee per order, or $499 a month flat. We did not verify its POS integrations. Pick it if you want to replace several tools, not add an email tool.

Welcome and birthday automations: who offers what

The two automations restaurants use most are a welcome email and a birthday or anniversary offer. What each vendor's own pages say:

• Mailchimp: birthday automations need a paid plan and a Birthday field (month and day).
• Klaviyo: flows triggered by events such as a placed order; the free plan can build automations within its 500-send limit.
• Brevo: welcome and birthday templates; free automation for up to 2,000 contacts.
• Constant Contact: Lite has one automation template, Standard three, and Premium adds custom automations and auto-send welcome emails. We did not verify a birthday automation.
• MailerLite: date-based triggers for birthdays and anniversaries; the free plan allows three active automations of up to five steps.
• Square: welcome, birthday and lapsed-customer campaigns, included in Plus and Premium.
• Toast: Welcome, Miss You and Frequent Guest campaigns; birthday rewards run through Toast Loyalty.
• Popmenu: automated emails and texts for birthdays, anniversaries and guests who have not visited in a while.

If you use Square or Toast already

Square. Square Plus costs $49 per location per month and adds marketing, loyalty, staff management and a lower in-person card rate (2.5% + 15¢, against 2.6% + 15¢ on Free). If you only want email, Mailchimp and Constant Contact both connect to Square, and Brevo connects through Zapier, Make or n8n. Whichever you choose, Square's list can be exported for another service.

Toast. Toast Email Marketing and SMS are sold inside the Marketing Essentials suite, not the core POS suite, and you subscribe through Toast Shop. The only third-party tool with a documented Toast sync that we found is Klaviyo. We found no Toast integration on the Mailchimp, Brevo or MailerLite pages, so ask a vendor before you assume one exists.

Free options to start

• MailerLite Free: 250 subscribers, 2,500 emails a month, three automations, HTML editor.
• Brevo Free: up to 100,000 contacts, 300 emails a day, HTML editor.
• Mailchimp Free: 250 contacts, 500 emails a month or 250 a day, no automation flows.
• Klaviyo Free: 250 active profiles, 500 emails a month, $5 of mobile messaging.

The restaurant platforms (Square, Toast, Popmenu and Owner.com) have no free marketing tier. Free tiers of email marketing software for restaurants are a good place to learn, but a 250-contact cap fills quickly. Most email marketing for restaurants starts with a few hundred regulars, so build the list first with our guide to how to build a restaurant email list.

How to switch platforms without losing consent

Moving a list does not create permission, and it does not erase opt-outs.

1. Export two files. Mailchimp's importer takes one status at a time, so keep subscribed and unsubscribed contacts apart.
2. Import only people who agreed. Mailchimp states that imported subscribers skip its signup process and that you must have permission to email them. An address collected for a receipt or reservation may not qualify, and Klaviyo says Toast does not pass consent along.
3. Load unsubscribes first. Keep every opted-out address suppressed in the new tool. The FTC's CAN-SPAM guide says opt-outs must be honored within 10 business days.
4. Rebuild automations by hand. Lists move; workflows do not. Toast's FAQ notes that uploaded contacts do not trigger Welcome or Miss You emails until they place an order.
5. Keep a record. Save where and when each person signed up.

Quick pick list: the best email marketing software for restaurants by situation

• Pick Square Marketing if you are on Square and want email, texts and loyalty under one bill.
• Pick Toast Marketing if you run Toast and can get a quote you accept.
• Pick Mailchimp if you use Square and want a large template library.
• Pick Klaviyo if you use Toast or online ordering and want order-based flows.
• Pick Brevo if your list is large and your budget is small.
• Pick MailerLite if you want simple newsletters with HTML pasting.
• Pick Constant Contact if you want phone support.
• Pick Popmenu if you need a new website and menu along with marketing.
• Pick Owner.com if you want one platform for website, ordering and marketing.

Whichever you choose, the restaurant email templates give you copy to type into any editor.

How we researched this

We read each vendor's official pricing, product and help pages on 2026-10-24; every page used is in the sources list. We did not open accounts or run trials, so we make no claims about deliverability, ease of use or support quality, and we show no star ratings. This page is part of our guide to email marketing for restaurants. There are no affiliate links on it and no vendor sponsored it. Some sites block automated page loads or localize currency, so for Constant Contact and Popmenu we read archived copies of their official pages (dated 2026-10-13 and 2026-10-02), and for Mailchimp we used the US prices on its Essentials and Standard plan pages. Toast does not publish pricing, so we used its public support pages. Prices for email marketing software for restaurants change often; confirm on the vendor's page before you buy.