By Nina De la Cruz

The email marketing app market has changed more in the past 12 months than in the several years before it. Mailchimp removed automations from its free tier and cut the contact limit to 250 subscribers. MailerLite halved its free plan from 1,000 to 500 subscribers. Flodesk discontinued its unlimited plan. Yotpo exited email and SMS entirely, leaving merchants mid-contract looking for alternatives. For many, these changes reopened a decision they thought was settled.

But free plan cuts are just the most visible sign of a broader shift. Platforms that were once easy defaults now come with real tradeoffs for smaller brands, while some Shopify-native tools have improved to the point where they can cover most ecommerce needs at a lower cost and with less complexity.

This guide breaks down the key decisions first, then walks through a shortlist of apps that hold up as your store scales.

How deeply does it integrate with Shopify?

“Integrates with Shopify” covers an enormous range. At the shallow end, it means a basic contact sync, email addresses pulled from your customer list. At the deep end, it means real-time behavioral triggers: a customer abandons checkout, completes a purchase, and goes quiet for 60 days. Each of those events can fire an automated sequence without anyone pressing send.

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For its first CTV campaign, Jennifer Aniston’s DTC haircare brand LolaVie had a few non-negotiables. The campaign had to be simple. It had to demonstrate measurable impact. And it had to be full-funnel.

LolaVie used Roku Ads Manager to test and optimize creatives — reaching millions of potential customers at all stages of their purchase journeys. Roku Ads Manager helped the brand convey LolaVie’s playful voice while helping drive omnichannel sales across both ecommerce and retail touchpoints.

The campaign included an Action Ad overlay that let viewers shop directly from their TVs by clicking OK on their Roku remote. This guided them to the website to buy LolaVie products.

Discover how Roku Ads Manager helped LolaVie drive big sales and customer growth with self-serve TV ads.

The DTC beauty category is crowded. To break through, Jennifer Aniston’s brand LolaVie, worked with Roku Ads Manager to easily set up, test, and optimize CTV ad creatives. The campaign helped drive a big lift in sales and customer growth, helping LolaVie break through in the crowded beauty category.

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