Are you keep dropping the ball on your to-do list because you're swamped with emails, tasks, and meetings? Do you often feel like there are just not enough hours in the day to get everything done?

Well, here's a quick solution to all your problems; Automation!

As we all know, automation has its hands everywhere in today's technology-driven world, and the software category is no exception.

In fact, business organizations utilize automation software to overcome ongoing challenges resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic and remote working.

According to Zapier’s state of business automation report, 65% of knowledge workers say they are less stressed at work because they automate manual tasks. In addition, two-thirds of employees would recommend automation to other businesses.

How automation helps knowledge workers graph made by Zapier which is the workflow automation tool.

In the past few years, software automation has grown in scale, making workers more efficient and giving them more time for things that are unique to humans.

However, having so many options on the market can make it tricky to decide which automation software is truly the best for your team and business.

Therefore, to help you in your research, we have compiled a list of the 12 best automation software tools with various features and use cases in 4 different categories below.

However, before we get to the list, let's talk more about automation software and how it can help your business grow.

What is Automation Software

In its simplest form, automation software is a service or tool that automates — to some degree — a task or series of actions that humans would typically carry out.

This could be anything from sending emails to carrying out specific actions in customer support teams, sending important information to staff members, etc.

These automation tools can either be an all-in-one platform that helps you automate different business operations from one place or a standalone automation solution dedicated to automating a specific business operation.

It might be email automation to support marketing activities, chatbot software for customer onboarding, or automating workflow with your favorite task management tool.

Why Should You Use Automation Software Tools?

If you want to scale your business operations, improve employee productivity, or deliver better buying experiences, you’ll need to think of using automation.

Automation software tools can help your team with the most tedious tasks, which in return lets them get more work done.

They do more with less and are essential for businesses that want to scale up operations. The best part is that these automation software tools use artificial intelligence to make decisions and carry out tasks, so your employees don’t have to waste time on menial jobs.

Here are a few more reasons why you should use automation in your team:

It Saves Staff’s Time: Saving time is one of the main benefits of automating your business. According to a study, office workers spend 2,12 hours every day on routine tasks such as searching for information and processing paperwork.

It’s Cost-Effective: Automaton software can perform the work of three to five people, depending on the task, and save that time for your team. Aside from labor cost savings, their energy savings features can also be significant.

It Increases Productivity: By delegating cumbersome tasks to automation tools, multiple processes can be handled simultaneously, resulting in higher productivity.

It Minimizes Errors: Mistakes, inefficiencies, and delays are inevitable when dealing with manual processes.
However, automation tools make the process more efficient and reduce redundant actions.

How To Choose The Right Automation Software Tools For Your Business

The best marketing automation software will provide you with a wide variety of features that can be used to meet your specific business needs.

From drip campaigns and email marketing to customer service management and marketing analytics, these features can be found in automation tools.

Some platforms only offer email actions, drip sequences, and CRM updates, while others may help with lead generation, sales lead rotation, SMS, etc.

To make this easier for you, we've put together a list of critical areas to consider as you evaluate tools to choose the one that's tailored to your needs:

User-Friendly Interface

Using automation software isn't easy at all, so make sure its interface helps you, not hinders you. Look for screenshots of the user interface so you can see if it looks simple and easy to navigate.

Reporting and Analytics Features

It is essential that any marketing campaign or customer service effort you implement can be measured, so you search for an automation software that can offer extensive reporting and analytical features to keep track of the metrics that matter the most.

Software Limitations

Depending on the automation software platform you choose, you may have to execute a certain number of actions per month or keep a certain size database.

Before beginning any evaluation, know how many contacts you have, how many emails you send on average, and what you want the software to accomplish. This will help you avoid underestimating the cost of your automation software.

Pricing and Scalability

Make sure you choose a provider that is both reasonably priced and can grow with you as your needs change. Remember that scaling your business appropriately begins with reducing bloated operations.

Integration Features

Make sure the software you choose offers seamless integration with other tools in your teams. Having easy integrations allows you to manage data and make the most of your tools.

12 Best Automation Software By Category

To make your journey easier, we've created a list of automation software tools and services to help you sort through all your options and make the right decision for you and your team.

Best Task Management Automation Software

The comparison table of Hubspot Marketing Hub, Mautic and Drip which aremarketing automation softwares.

Marketing automation is a cutting-edge technology that helps professionals automate marketing campaigns and improve results.

It helps marketers capture new customers, increase efficiency, and analyze lead behavior and campaign performance.

The software provides a number of helpful platform features, including:

  • Email Marketing
  • Social Media Marketing
  • Search Engine Marketing (SEM)
  • Multi-Channel Marketing (MaaS)
  • Web Analytics and Reporting

With the help of marketing automation tools, B2C and B2B marketers and sales teams can assemble customer data from multiple sources, create tactics spanning various channels, and analyze customer insights for improved conversions.

HubSpot Marketing Hub

The screenshot of the web page of HubSpot's marketing hub which is a marketing automation software.

HubSpot's marketing hub is the first marketing automation software on our list, and it is one of the most powerful tools in terms of features and functionality.

The HubSpot marketing automation functionality gives you the features to create simple or highly sophisticated conditional workflows.

You can easily set up simple email list autoresponders or create a complex network of rules to attract specific users with the right emails, live chat, website experiences, and more.

Workflows provide you with automation beyond email to scale your growth while spending less time on repetitive tasks.

Furthermore, marketers can integrate HubSpot CRM with Marketing Hub to keep data at the core of everything they do. When using the entire CRM platform, marketers will be able to align with sales in a more strategic way to prove ROI and validate investments.

Looking at some of HubSpot users’ reviews on G2 can give you a comprehensive view of this marketing automation software.

Rating: ⭐4.4 / 5

Pros

  • Easy to use interface
  • Campaign Analytics
  • Campaign Management
  • Marketing Lead Database
  • Data Quality Management
  • Seamless integration
  • Lead Nurturing
  • Transactional Emails

Cons

  • Billing annually
  • No A/B testing in Starter or  PRO plan
  • Paid technical support
  • Slightly confusing features

Pricing:

  • Starter plan: $45/mo (billed at $540/yr).
  • Professional plan: $800/mo (billed at $9,600/yr).
  • Enterprise plan: $3200/mo (billed at $38,400/yr).

Mautic

The screenshot of Mautic's website which is one of the largest open-cource marketing automation tools.

Mautic is one of the largest open-source marketing automation tools on our list with over 200,000 users that makes it simple for businesses to manage their marketing across multiple channels.

This marketing automation software enables brands to integrate and personalize all their digital properties and channels into a seamless customer experience.

Through its modern marketing automation approach, Mautic's set of tools allows marketers to produce more effective campaigns and content and achieve better results.

According to Capterra reviews of Mautic, the software lets you automate many marketing tasks, as well as target potential customers based on traffic from your website.

Rating: ⭐4.3 / 5

Pros

  • AB Testing
  • Activity Dashboard
  • Email Marketing
  • Landing Pages/Web Forms
  • Workflow Management

Cons

  • Not So Easy-To-Use
  • Too Many Confusing Features
  • Complexed Email Configuration

Pricing:

Mautic pricing is not provided by the vendor. To get an update on pricing, contact the sales team.

Drip

The screenshot of Drip's website which is the e-commerce marketing automation tool.

Drip is one of the few marketing automation tools in this list that is primarily focused on e-commerce marketing automation.

Using drip features, brands can close the gap between what consumers want and what eCommerce delivers. You can learn more about your customers, personalize deeper, grow faster, and make every experience more human.

Using drip marketing automation, you can create revenue-boosting email and SMS workflows that run automatically.

This is how one user described his experience with Drip on G2 reviews:

“It was very easy to set up and understand. The barrier to entry was less cumbersome than many of the other solutions we trialed, and I imagine it would be even easier if you were looking for a drop in e-commerce solution.”

Rating: ⭐4.4 / 5

Pros

  • Pre Built Workflow
  • Alerts/Notifications
  • Campaign Management
  • Contact Management
  • Email Marketing
  • Lead Management
  • Referral Tracking
  • Segmentation

Cons

  • Possible Inaccurate Reporting
  • More Integration Needed
  • Tricky Configuration
  • Workflows and Automation Learning Curve Steep

Pricing:

  • Basic plan: $19 with 14 days trial.
  • Higher volume pricing information for Drip is supplied by the software provider or retrieved from publicly accessible pricing materials.

Best Customer Service Automation Software

The comparison table of Zoho, Freshdesk and Jira whic hare customer service automation software.

Automation in customer service is a type of support that utilizes tools to automate processes and tasks, which in turn reduces the need for human intervention in the process of serving customers.

Among its benefits are protecting businesses from high call volumes, speeding up customer service processes, and reducing support agent errors.

By using top help desk software and automating your workflow, you can monitor your team's performance, resolve customer queries, and improve your services.
Below are some examples of automated customer service key features you should look for when choosing one for your business:

  • Chatbots
  • Email Automation
  • Automated Workflows
  • Self-Service Help Desk
  • Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Zoho Desk

The screenshot of Zoho which is customer service automation software.

Zoho Desk automates the process of sorting tickets according to their due dates, status, and urgency.

Using Zoho’s automation features helps your agents be more productive, managers more effective, and customers more empowered. Reps can solve inquiries faster and waste less time looking for information about a customer by having access to previous customer conversations.

It's fully customizable, convenient to use, and most importantly, it doesn't cost a fortune.

According to Zoho users’ reviews on Capterra, using this tool allows you to handle the communication and follow-up of any technical issue with clients, replacing email and even WhatsApp in many cases.

Rating: ⭐4.4 / 5

Pros

  • Knowledge Management
  • Queue Management
  • Reporting/Analytics
  • Self Service Portal
  • Customized Ticket Management
  • Automated Response
  • Ticket Collaboration
  • Automate Email Notifications
  • AI Chatbots

Cons

  • Learning Curve Steep
  • Long Log in Process
  • Poor Integration with WordPress

Pricing:

  • Free plan: 0$ up to 3 users, forever!
  • Standard plan: $14/agent/month
  • Professional plan: $23/agent/month
  • Enterprise plan: $40/agent/month
  • Free Trial: A 15-day free trial is also available for all the paid plans.

Freshdesk

The screenshot of Freshdesk which is easy-to-use customer service software.

Using Freshdesk's easy-to-use customer service software,  automatically you can manage tickets and events, automate repetitive tasks, and organize help desks.
Freshdesk provides seamless automated workflows and convenient self-service management, making it easy for your team to collaborate and speed up support.

With Freshdesk's comprehensive tutorials and DIY guides, you can build a knowledge base and even create user communities to encourage customer collaboration.

This is how a user who switched from Zendesk to Freshdesk describes their experience on Capterra:

“Freshdesk is an amazing tool for customer service and following up with clients' needs. It allows the team to efficiently take care of the issues that our clients encounter.”

Rating: ⭐4.5 / 5

Pros

  • Customer Complaint Tracking
  • Customer Segmentation
  • Automated Routing
  • Multiple Channel Integration
  • Automated Response
  • SLA Management
  • Ticket Collaboration

Cons

  • Poor Integration with Social Media
  • Limited Features in Free Plan
  • Slow Bug Fix

Pricing:

  • Free plan: $0 (unlimited free agents)
  • Growth plan: $18/agent/month billed monthly or $15/agent/month billed annually.
  • Pro plan: $47/agent/month billed monthly or $39/agent/month billed annually.
  • Enterprise plan: $83/agent/month billed monthly or $69/agent/month billed annually.

JIRA Service Management

The secreenshot of Jira which is one of customer service automation tools.

Jira Service Management is one of the best automation software development solutions chosen by thousands of agile teams to collaborate at high velocity, respond to changes, and efficiently deliver great customer and employee service experiences.

Using this automation tool, you can track work across your enterprise through an open, collaborative platform.

You can easily link issues from Jira with data from other software development tools, so your IT support and operations teams have richer contextual information to respond to requests, incidents, and changes in a timely manner.

This service automation tool also allows you to accelerate critical development work, eliminate toil, and deploy changes with ease, with a complete audit trail for every change.

By reviewing users' comments about Jira Service Management on G2 we found that using this solution makes it really easy to leverage other Jira tools to monitor, track, and follow up on tickets created by clients.

Rating: ⭐4.4 / 5

Pros

  • Automate Ticket
  • Routing
  • Ticket Prioritization
  • Ticket Notifications
  • Knowledge Base
  • Ticket Integration
  • MobileSelf Service
  • Active Directory
  • Help Desk

Cons

  • Reports Section Needs Improvements
  • Slow Performance
  • Complex UI
  • Needs More Documentation

Pricing:

  • Free plan: Free $0 per agent always free for 3 agents
  • Standard plan: $20 per agent (average) $60 a month
  • Premium plan: $45 per agent (average) $135 a month
  • Enterprise plan: Provided by vendor

Best Email Marketing and List Building Automation Software

The comparison table of Popupsmart, Sendinblue and Moosend which are email marketing softwares.

Small business owners, entrepreneurs, and agencies benefit greatly from email marketing and list-building automation tools because they can save time and effort on repetitive tasks.

The software on this list also helps you plan the best time to send emails, or you could use triggers (reasons) like when the recipient opens your email or clicks a link included in it.

Popupsmart

The screenshot of Popupsmart's website which is an email marketing automation software.

Popupsmart is a no-code popup builder tool that helps you build automated email popups with lead capture forms and collect subscribers' data to boost conversion rates.

Using Popupsmart lead capture popups, you can automatically send email notifications or email autoresponders to users who submit their emails through popups.

With its smart mode feature, the platform can help you deliver the right message at the right time based on collected data without any manual targeting.
In addition to the ready-made templates, PopupSmart offers many design options and different types of popups, such as:

  • Lightbox popups
  • Floating bars
  • Full-screen popups
  • Slide-ins
  • Gamification popups
  • Video popups

You can read more honest and detailed reviews about Popupsmart on G2.

Moreover, a user described his experience with Popupsmart in the Capterra review section as follows:

“Overall, I've had a great experience with Popupsmart. Great enough to take time to convince my marketing department that we should use this service among the others we've tested.”

Rating on G2: ⭐4.4 / 5

Pros:

  • Webinar signup popups
  • Product demo requests
  • Super User-Friendly
  • No Coding Knowledge is Required
  • Great Collection of Prebuilt Popup Templates
  • Targetting Users Based on Device, Geolocation and etc.

Cons:

  • Limited 5000 Views on Free Plan
  • More Creative Options Would Be Great

Pricing

  • Free plan: $0 with 5000 pageviews
  • Basic plan: $24  per month with 100.000 Pageviews
  • Pro plan: $66 per month with 500.000 Pageviews
  • Expert plan: $108  per month with 1.000.000 Pageviews

Sendinblue

The screenshot of Sendinblue's website which is all-in-one automation solution.

Sendinblue is an all-in-one automation solution on our list that provides both email and SMS marketing services.

The automation solution allows you to build custom workflows with automated emails based on your users' actions on your website or in your app.

You can also automate processes like welcome messages, lead nurturing, and customer reactivation with this tool.

Additionally, you can read more about this great marketing email automation tool at G2 reviews on SendinBlue.

Rating: ⭐4.5 / 5

Pros:

  • Lead Scoring
  • Automation Workflow Designer
  • Visitor Tracking
  • Lead Management
  • Reporting and Analytics
  • A/B Testing

Cons:

  • Editing/Expanding the template areas
  • Slow Speed

Pricing

  • Free plan: Up to 300 emails per day
  • Lite plan: $25 per month for 10,000 Email volume
  • Premium plan: $65 per month for 20,000 Email volume
  • Enterprise plan: Custom pricing

Moosend

The screenshot of Moosend's website which is email marketing automation software.

Moosend is another automation solution that allows you to create automated email marketing campaigns and send targeted messages to your contacts.

You can create campaigns with recommendations for the products or services users’ have viewed, send out targeted emails after an on-site event, or poll respondents about their shopping experience.

Moosend features advanced website tracking tools that allow you to set triggers for when users view specific products or pages on your site.

These triggers can then be used in various automation recipes and integrations, allowing you to craft personalized messages based on their activity on your site.

The following review is one of the many user reviews that appear on the G2 website about Moosend:

“What is best about Moosend is that the pricing structure is very reasonable and affordable for small businesses and nonprofits. This is done without sacrificing features that can help you grow.”

Rating: ⭐4.7 / 5

Pros:

  • AB Testing
  • Auto-Responders
  • Campaign Management
  • CAN-SPAM Compliance
  • Customizable CTAs
  • Drip Campaigns
  • Dynamic Content
  • Email Marketing

Cons:

  • Poor Integration
  • No Mobile App
  • Landing Page and Form Builder UI Need More Improvement

Pricing

  • Free plan: 0$ you can try all of the features for free for 30 days
  • Pro plan: 9$ per month for 500K subscribers
  • Enterprise plan: Custom price

Best Task Management Automation Software

the comparison table of Monday.com, Trello and Basecamp which are task management softwares.

Centralizing your work activity reduces the risk of data loss and offers better collaboration tools among your team members. It also facilitates uninterrupted communication and, as a result, increases productivity.

With task management tools, tasks can be prioritized according to your business needs, and reminders can be set to ensure they are completed on time.

All you need is a reliable internet connection to manage tasks and events remotely anywhere, at any time.

Monday.com

The screenshot of Monday.com which is a task management automation software.

Monday.com is one of the best tools on our list if you want to optimize your entire workflow and task management system.

This task management software lets you customize boards and create custom templates to suit your business processes.

Monday.com has a highly customizable interface that is similar to a spreadsheet and some additional features that make it more interactive and visually appealing.
With Monday, you can create unlimited tasks and high-level project roadmaps in minutes, manage your resources, and handle other aspects of your business.

A user who recently switched from Asana task management software describes his experience with Monday.com on Capterra reviews as follows:

“It is extremely easy to use and does all the project planning and management grunt work for you. It can also integrate with quite a few systems to automate processes like creating a ticket system for your IT that makes IT more engaging with the end-user.”

Rating: ⭐4.7 / 5

Pros:

  • Attractive Interface
  • Encourages Transparency and Accountability
  • Handy Project Visualization Tools
  • Advanced Reporting and Analytics
  • Activity Planning
  • Multiple Assignment Tracking

Cons:

  • Expensive For Large-Sized Teams
  • Lack of Time-Tracking Functionality
  • Limited Reporting Features

Pricing

  • Individual plan: $0 Free Forever (Up to 2 seats)
  • Basic plan: $6 per seat / per month (Total $18 /month billed annually)
  • Standard plan: $10 per seat / per month (Total $30 / month billed annually)
  • Pro plan: $22 per seat / per month (Total $66 / month billed annually)
  • Enterprise plan: Custom price

Trello

The screenshot of Trello's website which is one of the task management automation software.

Trello is the most popular Kanban task management tool, and its free version offers a lot of automation features for small businesses.

In addition, the interface is very intuitive and easy to use and can be used to gather information about your projects very quickly.

With Trello's minimalist design, you can exploit features right away without much experience using a task management application.

Using Trello's famous kanban cards and boards, you can organize your work and manage projects in real-time.

Each card can have labels, checklists, deadlines, specialist assignments, comments, links, and files to maximize productivity.

You can also read user reviews on G2 about Trello and see how this task management software can help you automate your processes.

Rating: ⭐4.4 / 5

Pros:

  • User-Friendly
  • Easy Team Collaboration
  • Real-Time Sync
  • Board View
  • Trello Cards
  • No-Code Automation

Cons:

  • Overcrowded UI
  • Low Storage
  • Fewer In-Built Features
  • Not Suitable for Larger Teams
  • No Gantt Chart

Pricing

  • Free plan: With unlimited cards and up to 10 boards per Workspace
  • Standard plan: $5 USD (per user per month billed annually)
  • Premium plan:$10 USD (per user per month billed annually)
  • Enterprise plan: $17.50 USD starting cost for 25 users (per user per month billed annually)

Basecamp

The screenshot of Basecamp's website which is a task management automation software.

Last but not least on our best automation software list is Basecamp, a project management software that helps you collaborate as a team and get work done faster.

You can assign tasks, schedule meetings, and share files in a central location. Any team member can provide feedback, which makes the process more efficient.

As with many of the other services on this list, Basecamp can also be integrated with products like Google Drive and Google Calendar to report on activities, perform analyses, and track time.

No matter how many people, tasks, files, or documents you have, Basecamp can effortlessly manage them all.

This is how Paul described his experience with Basecamp on G2 reviews:

“Basecamp includes simple automation features, as well as a collection of templates from which to choose and modify to fit your needs. I enjoy how simple it is to add information to column characteristics, such as dropdown choices. It's simple to add collaborators and check who else is on the sheet at the same time.”

Rating: ⭐4.1 / 5

Pros:

  • User-Friendly Interface
  • Simple Task Management
  • Auto Check-in Questions
  • Integrations & Cross-Device
  • Built-in Communication Tools

Cons:

  • Limited Customization Options
  • No Time-Tracking Feature
  • No Advanced Analytical Tools

Pricing

  • Basecamp Personal: $0 limited free plan
  • Basecamp Business: $99 per month or $999 annually, a flat rate fee with unlimited projects.

Choose the Best Automation Tool For Your Team

The future of technology promises to uncover more efficient and productive ways for us to get things done, however challenging they might be.

As our world of work becomes more streamlined, this list of tools can help you maximize your productivity and efficiency.

The kind of tool you'll want to use really depends on what you want to accomplish. Whether it's organizing tasks for a team collaboration project or automating Email marketing or customer support for a small business, each of the items above offers something different.

The better you understand why it is you need each feature, the easier it will be to choose an automation software tool that supports that process.

Our recommendation is to take your time and examine the tools you found most interesting. For instance, you can start with Popupsmart, our favorite email list building automation tool, and make an engaging and eye-catching Popup in just five minutes!

See how easy it is to create a bootstrap popup without coding; let us know how you liked it.

FAQs

What is the Best Email Marketing Automation Software?
Here are the best and the easiest tools for your Email marketing automation:

1- Popupsmart

2- Sendinblue

3- Moosend

4- Mailchimp

5- Amazon SES

How should I automate my business?

You can begin by automating different departments in your business with automation software such as:

  • Marketing Automation Software
  • Customer Service Automation Software
  • Email Marketing and List Building Automation Software
  • Task Management Automation Software
  • Lead Generation Automation Software

What are the benefits of using automation?

  • It Saves Staff’s Time
  • It is Cost-Effective
  • It Increases Productivity
  • It Minimizes Human Errors
  • Gives Accurate Reporting.
  • Helps with Customization