How much does email marketing cost for a business
The packages we run start at 2200 RON per month, with eight hours of work included, plus a one-time 1250 RON setup. For larger lists and new flows every month, Growth is 3850 RON per month, with fourteen hours included and a 2500 RON setup. The version you run yourself on ClevMail is 249 RON per month. Where exactly it lands depends on list size, how many flows we configure and how many campaigns we write, and we set the final figure after the free audit.
Updated: July 2026
How much does email marketing cost for a business?
The packages we run start at 2200 RON per month plus a one-time 1250 RON setup, and Growth is 3850 RON per month plus a 2500 RON setup; the self-service version on ClevMail is 249 RON per month. Start includes up to eight hours of work per month, Growth up to fourteen, and anything beyond the included hours is worked only with your approval, at the hourly rate set in the contract. Prices do not include VAT, as DeviDevs is not VAT-registered under art. 310 of the Romanian Fiscal Code. No hidden costs.
What drives the price of email marketing
The price moves with four things: how big your contact list is, how many automated flows we set up, how many campaigns you send per month, and how much we write versus how much you do. A small list with two flows and one campaign a month costs little. A large list with many automations and weekly campaigns written entirely by us costs more.
List size sets the floor. Most platforms bill by the number of contacts, so a base of a few thousand subscribers costs more to run than one of a few hundred. The real difference is not size itself, but how warm the list is: a thousand customers who already bought are worth more than ten thousand cold addresses.
Automated flows are built once and run on their own: abandoned cart, welcome, win-back. The more you want, the larger the initial setup work, but after that they run without you touching them. Campaigns are different, they get written every time. Two campaigns a month means less recurring effort than four a week.
The last factor, and the biggest, is how much you do and how much we do. If you already have someone writing the emails and you only want the platform, the cost drops. If you want us to handle everything, from copy to sending and reporting, you pay for that time. When you ask for a quote, tell us which of the four is large for you, so you get a real number, not a generic one.
Self-service vs done for you: the real cost
A cheap self-service tool looks better on paper, but the real cost is not the subscription, it is your time. You have to learn the platform, write the emails, set up the flows and keep to the calendar. A managed service costs more per month, but you do not run it and the campaigns actually go out.
A cheap subscription to a self-service platform looks fine in the budget. The problem shows up when you count the hours: someone has to learn the tool, write the copy, do the segmentation and hit send every week. If that someone is you or an employee paid to do something else, that hour has a price, even if it never appears on an invoice.
There is another cost you do not see: the campaigns that never go out. Most self-service accounts end up sending a few rushed emails and then go quiet, because nobody has the time. An abandoned cart flow you plan to set up next month recovers nothing while it sits unconfigured.
A managed service costs more per month because it includes the work, not just the access. We write, configure and send, you approve and get the report. The right choice depends on how expensive your time is: if you have someone dedicated, self-service can be enough; if you do not, a cheap tool becomes an empty account that costs every month without producing anything.
What the price includes and what you pay separately
With us the platform is included in the monthly price, because it is ours. In the usual Romanian model the agency works inside your own Mailchimp or Klaviyo account, and you pay that platform subscription separately, straight to the vendor. Two quotes with the same headline figure can mean very different monthly bills.
You ask for three quotes and get three figures that do not compare, because each one includes something different. The biggest difference is the platform: in the usual Romanian model the agency works in your Mailchimp or Klaviyo account, and you pay the subscription yourself, straight to the vendor. With us the platform is ours, so you get a single invoice.
| What you pay for | Agency working in your platform | DeviDevs |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly work | in the quote | in the price |
| Platform subscription (Mailchimp, Klaviyo, theMarketer or another) | separate, you pay it, straight to the vendor | included, the platform is ours |
| When your list grows | the platform subscription grows | nothing, up to the package ceiling |
| Declared hours of work | usually not written down | eight per month on Start, fourteen on Growth, written in the contract |
| Beyond the included hours | renegotiated every time | only with your approval, at the hourly rate set in the contract |
| Who answers when something breaks | the agency asks the platform vendor | we do, because the platform is ours |
The figure worth asking anyone who quotes you: what the platform subscription costs for your list, on top of the monthly fee. That invoice climbs with your contact count. Without it, two quotes cannot be compared.
Hidden costs to avoid
The first trap is the unannounced setup. An offer that gives you a low monthly price but sends a large configuration invoice after you sign is not cheap, it is just presented in pieces. Setup is paid once and it is fair to know it upfront, even if the exact figure comes after we look at your list.
The second is billing by number of contacts. On large lists, some platforms get more expensive as the base grows, and the invoice climbs without you changing anything. It is worth asking from the start how the price behaves when the list doubles, not after it has doubled.
Then come the add-ons and the migration. Extra reports, integrations, A/B tests, all can arrive as extras that add up. And moving a list from one platform to another takes time and attention to deliverability. Ask whether migration is included or charged separately, so you do not discover the cost after you have said yes.
How to work out what you can afford
To know what you can afford, do not look at the subscription first, look at what you already lose. Count the abandoned carts in a month and the customers who do not come back, put a conservative price on them and compare it to the monthly cost. If the list is warm and large enough, the number tells you on its own. If it is small and cold, wait.
The most common way to get the sum wrong is to look at the subscription price and ask whether you can afford it. The right question is different: how much are you losing now because you do not have the flows? A shop with many abandoned carts and a list of customers who bought once is losing money every day, whether or not it pays for a subscription.
Use your own numbers, not percentages pulled off a blog. How many orders start and never finish in a month? How many customers bought once and never returned? Even if you recover only a small part of them, add the sum up and see how it compares to the monthly cost. If the recoverable amount is clearly above the subscription, the decision is simple.
A practical rule: the warmer and larger the list, the more a bigger subscription is justified, because there is more to recover from. A small, cold list does not support a full plan, and it is honest to start small. That is why we do a free audit first: we give you the numbers from your own account, so you do not decide on guesses.
What to look for in an offer
First question on any offer: what exactly does the price include? A monthly figure means nothing until you know whether it covers only the platform or also writing the emails, setting up the flows and reporting. Two offers with the same number can be completely different in the work delivered.
Second: how setup is handled. It is fair for the one-time configuration fee to be stated upfront and explained, even if the final figure comes after someone looks at your list. Be wary of offers that hide the setup until after the signature, or that will not give you a figure at all.
Third: how easily you can leave. A good service does not need to lock you in for a year to keep you. Ask whether you can stop monthly and whether the list and content stay yours when you go. If the answer is evasive, you have already learned enough about how they will work.
What the price depends on
Number of flows
Abandoned cart, welcome, win-back, reactivation. The more automations configured, the more revenue recovered.
List size
Cost grows with the number of contacts. On a warm list of existing customers, the return is highest.
How much we configure
An empty account is cheap, but real value comes from flows configured correctly and sent at the right time.
What you lose without email vs. what you recover
| Leak | Without email | With automated email |
|---|---|---|
| Abandoned carts | ~70% lost (Baymard) | Recover part via 3 emails |
| Existing customers | Forget to return | Bring back 5-25x cheaper (HBR) |
| Manual campaigns | Effort + low revenue | Automated = ~22x revenue/email (Omnisend) |
How to think about the investment
Email ROI is mainly recovered revenue and cost avoided, not guaranteed new revenue. On a warm list, the monthly cost usually pays for itself from a single campaign.
When we are not the right choice
A pricing page that only tells you where you win does not help you decide. Here are the cases where we tell you upfront to look elsewhere.
Your list is small and still cold, or you have no customers yet
Email recovers existing revenue and avoids cost, it does not invent demand. If you do not yet have a list and people who bought from you, your money works better elsewhere until they show up. We tell you that at the free audit, not after you sign.
You want SMS and push notifications in the same account
We do email. We do it well, but it is one channel. If you need three, a multichannel platform is the right choice.
You want us to send to a bought list, or one collected without consent
We will not, under any circumstances. Bought, rented or scraped lists are forbidden in our acceptable use policy, and the consequence is not only legal: it burns your domain reputation and lands the emails to your real customers in Spam.
You are hunting for the lowest price on the market
That is not us. Below the point where the work is covered, either quality drops or the supplier disappears, and you start over with someone else.
Frequently asked questions
How much per month?+
The entry package we run, Start, is 2200 RON per month and includes eight hours of work and four campaigns. Growth is 3850 RON per month, with fourteen hours included, two new flows every month and a list of up to 25,000 contacts. For lists beyond that, complex flows or custom integrations, the Enterprise package is set after the audit. If you want to run it yourself, AI Co-pilot on ClevMail is 249 RON per month. Where exactly you land we set at the free audit, once we see the list and the flows.
Is there a separate setup cost?+
Yes, the packages we run have a one-time setup fee: 1250 RON on Start and 2500 RON on Growth, where the list is larger and the configuration heavier. It covers configuring the flows, authenticating the sending domain and calibrating the AI on your brand voice. It is paid once, at the start. The self-service version has no setup fee.
Is it expensive for a small business?+
No, if you already have customers. At 2200 RON per month you get eight hours of work and four campaigns, and the cost is usually recovered from one or two campaigns on a warm list, while abandoned carts plus customers who never return cost you more than that every month. If the list is still small, you start at 249 RON per month and move to the package we run when there is something to produce.
Can I start cheap and grow?+
Yes. You can start on your own with the ClevMail platform, and move to a package run by us when you want us to take over the execution.
Do I pay for the platform subscription separately?+
No. The platform is included in the monthly price, because it is ours. In the usual Romanian model the agency works inside your own Mailchimp, Klaviyo or other account, and you pay that subscription straight to the vendor, on top of the fee. When you compare two quotes, ask for that figure too.
What happens if I need more hours in a month?+
We tell you beforehand, not on the invoice. Start includes eight hours per month, Growth fourteen. Anything beyond that is worked only with your approval, at the hourly rate set in the contract, and billed at the end of the month. If the overrun becomes routine, moving to the next package costs you less than extra hours, and we say so.
Does the price go up as my contact list grows?+
Up to the package ceiling, no. On platforms where you pay the subscription separately, the invoice climbs as your base grows, sometimes considerably. With us the ceiling is written in the contract, and when you pass it we discuss moving up a tier, you do not get a quietly larger invoice.
When are you not the right choice?+
If your list is still small and cold, or you have no customers yet, email has nothing to recover and we tell you to wait. If you want SMS and push in the same account, we only do email. We do not send to bought lists or lists collected without consent. And if you are hunting the lowest price on the market, that is not us.
Sources: Baymard Institute, Harvard Business Review (2014), Omnisend (2025)