There are lots of autoresponders available online. If you've looked at the prices, you may have decided to search for a free autoresponder for your marketing needs. Using a free autoresponder is acceptable in certain situations, and ofcourse, any autoresponder is better than no autoresponder at all!
If you have a webhosting account, your first option for a free autoresponder should be the one that comes with that account. Usually, these autoresponders can be set up pretty easy through the control panel of your website, and, most important, they do not contain any advertisements, not from the autoresponder company nor from the webhosting service. If you do not have a hosting account, or if your hosting account does not include an autoresponder, there are other options that you can pursue.
There are many free autoresponder services you can choose from. Most of these services are free because the company makes money by placing an advertisement in each message that your autoresponder sends out.
By many paid autoresponder services, a free version is offered as well. These free versions may or may not include advertisements in the outgoing messages, and may not many of the powerful features of the paid versions. But if you're in no need of the more advanced features, this is a good choice.
Mostly, free autoresponder services limit the number of subscribers you can have. It's not unusual to start out with the (limited) free version, and to upgrade to the paid version once your list is large enough to exceed those limits. Many users don't feel that the expense of the autoresponder is warranted until the list that they are building is turning a profit.
From a business standpoint, this makes sense.
Ofcourse, you are the only one who can decide whether you need a paid autoresponder service, or if a free one will do the job. When you have a small(er) list, a free autoresponder should do the trick, but as your list grows bigger, you could consider upgrading. But, again, that's totally up to you!
