7 Free Email Template Builders (drag and drop) for Gmail
When was the last time you received a memorable and well-designed email? Chances are, you’d be hard-pressed to remember. A well-designed email template can help you stand out from other emails. And even increase brand recognition and recall.
Creating a beautiful email doesn’t have to be difficult with the right email template builder. We’ve rounded up some user-friendly and free email template builders. You can even send HTML emails with Gmail. These email template editors are drag-and-drop and include the option of adding HTML code to personalize your newsletters further.
Let’s get started.
1. Beefree
Beefree is a drag-and-drop email template builder that helps you design mobile-friendly emails and landing pages. We’ve also covered the best drag-and-drop landing page builders in this guide.
Beefree templates are a good option for even beginners. You can easily make edits to its pre-built templates, and you’ll end up with beautiful emails.
Build your email from scratch, or browse its extensive catalog of over 1350+ HTML email templates.
All edits are saved, so you don’t have to worry about losing your changes. We like that all content is mobile-optimized. Templates automatically rearrange the layout to suit different display sizes. As part of the free plan, Beefree also includes a co-editing feature that lets others tweak the template.
While the above features are free, upgrade to the Professional plan (from $30/month) to unlock reusable content blocks, unlimited emails, and integration with Gmail. In the latter case, your email designs can be directly pushed to Gmail and saved as a draft.
Beefree also includes Gmail email templates (free and paid), which are also customizable. Learn how to send HTML templates with Gmail using our step-by-step guide.
Get started with Beefree for free here
2. Stripo
Stripo is a drag-and-drop email template editor that doesn’t require coding skills. You’ll find over 1500+ HTML email templates in Stripo. Premium templates are available to purchase too.
Build a customizable email newsletter in ten minutes or less. We recommend narrowing the choices with the built-in template filters. Choose from email template types (abandoned cart, discount, events, holidays, etc.), industries, seasons, and more.
Once you’ve settled on a template, customize it using the content blocks on the left side. It’s intuitive, so you’ll have it figured out in minutes.
Stripo also works well with Gmail and has a free-for-use Gmail Promotion Annotations Builder. This allows you to provide email recipients with information like a promo code, preview image, and promotion details. It’s ideal if you’re looking to slip a promotion into a prospect’s inbox.
You can also import email templates into Gmail. Simply export your finalized email template, link up your Stripo and Gmail accounts, then head over to your Gmail Drafts folder to access your template.
Beyond the free plan, a paid version of Stripo starts from $12.50/month (annual plan) for a single user. If you’re a regular user, this might be worth looking into since the free version only allows you to store 10 email templates simultaneously.
3. Chamaileon
Chamaileon is an email creation platform to help businesses design responsive and high-quality emails without coding.
We like that you can import your email HTML or simply build your email design system from the ground up with its user-friendly interface.
You can only choose from 9 email templates in the free trial. But there are very different options among the few templates, from business outreach to ecommerce and seasonal email templates.
Make your selection, then click on “Use this template now” to begin editing. There is also an HTML code block if you wish to further customize your pre-built template.
The drag-and-drop editor makes customizing your templates a breeze and includes box/multicolumn options. So you can easily change the structure of your email template.
If you’re looking to test out its paid features, Chamaileon offers a 15-day free trial that allows up to five users to use the software, plus email and live chat support.
The trial also includes some nifty features, including real-time collaboration and editing, the ability to manage roles, plus integrations with up to five apps (Gmail included). Plans start from $125/month (annual plan), which is much pricier than the other template builders listed here.
To get started, simply fill out some basic details—your name, work email address, and company name—then verify your email, and you’re all set.
Sign up to Chamaileon for free here
4. MailerLite
MailerLite lets you create email newsletters, automations, websites, and landing pages. Apart from its drag-and-drop editor, MailerLite also includes a rich text editor and HTML email editor functionalities.
Check out its email template gallery. There are over 90 pre-made email templates arranged into 15 categories.
Some unique content blocks include email surveys, ecommerce blocks, and interactive email blocks. Interactive blocks let you add carousel image galleries, event RSVPs, and more.
You can add embedded videos, quotes, countdowns, and save templates for easy editing. It’s not just an email editor but a full email marketing platform, so you can set up automations, create landing pages, and monitor performance. The AI writing assistant works well to generate headlines, product descriptions, or full email copy.
The free version of MailerLite includes up to 12,000 monthly emails. Unlock additional features from $9/month (annual plan), including unlimited monthly emails and templates, 24/7 email support, and up to 3 users per account.
One added perk: MailerLite promises round-the-clock customer support, allowing you to sort out any issues in a quick time.
Mailerlite is running a Fall Season Sale with 30% off for the first 3 months to get you started on your favorite plan. The offer is valid until October 1st, don’t miss out.5. Moosend
Moosend is a full email marketing platform for small businesses with great email templates and a landing page builder. Browse from over 75 email newsletter templates across 9 categories: ecommerce, bloggers, events, SaaS, announcements, and more.
We like that its drag-and-drop email editor is extremely customizable. There are pre-designed containers that you can drag into the newsletter to build the layout.
You can also adjust colors, fonts, and borders to keep your emails on-brand.
Sign up for Moosend’s 30-day free trial to test the whole platform. After 30 days, you’ll have to choose a paid plan. Pricing starts from just $7/month (annual plan), including unlimited emails and landing pages, plus Gmail integration.
Sign up to Moosend for free here
6. Unlayer
Unlayer is a drag-and-drop editing tool for small and medium businesses that helps you to build stunning, mobile responsive emails. All templates and emails created in Unlayer look good on different screen sizes.
Features in Unlayer’s free plan include the drag-and-drop editor, custom file storage, customizable tools and blocks, and handy features, including undo and redo.
There are over 1,000 free stock templates for your every need. These can be sorted by free or premium, season, popularity, and more.
The template builder is intuitive. Simply select your template, and make edits using the content blocks and settings. There are 10 content blocks to add buttons, rearrange columns, or add headings, images, and videos. Each block has many settings, and you can also personalize the newsletter using HTML code.
Check out our review of the 12 best free HTML email template builders and editors.
Get started with Unlayer for free here
Before signing up for Unlayer’s paid plan (from $15/month), we recommend starting with its free 14-day trial to gain access to all paid features—no credit card required.
Features include being able to save custom blocks, edit campaigns, and personalize emails with merge tags and custom HTML code. You can also assign and define user roles.
Unsure of how to edit HTML? Check out this guide to the 10 best free and cheap HTML editors (for beginners to pros).
Integrating directly with Gmail is only possible on a paid plan—so if you choose otherwise, you’ll have to export your template (click “Export”) to download a zip file that includes HTML and images. From there, you can then upload it to Gmail.
7. TOPOL
TOPOL is another drag-and-drop email editor worth considering. Its free-forever tier has limited features, but we like that you can access all email templates. You can also export or download these templates for free.
In Editor mode, you are limited by pre-defined font sizes and only a small selection of content blocks, including text, image, button, and spacer blocks. Still, you can create some pretty good-looking emails, especially if you don’t need a complex-looking email.
But note that transferring your email template into Gmail might require more manual effort than with other email template builders featured in this list. You first need to download the raw HTML file for your template (via a zip file), then pull up Gmail and add it to your email draft.
If you intend to use TOPOL for the longer term, consider upgrading to TOPOL Pro. The latter allows you to invite collaborators, save custom blocks for future use, and gain unlimited access to predefined templates and a library of free images.
The paid plan includes a free 14-day trial, after which you’ll be charged $10/month for an annual plan or $15/month for a monthly plan (up to three team members per month).
Wrap-up: Best email template builders
Using the right email template can give you a boost in any prospect’s crowded inbox—and increase brand awareness too.
These are some of the best email template builders on the market. We recommend trying out the free version of these email template builders to identify what works best for you.
After experimenting, you will eventually build a go-to library of pre-built templates to create beautiful emails. Regardless of what you settle on, the software featured in this list is very much Gmail-compatible—and made better if you enhance each template with HTML code. Looking for good templates? We collected the best free email templates for eCommerce, SaaS, real estate, transactional, and Gmail emails.