WordPress Autoresponder: How to Set Up Automated Emails and Choose the Best Plugin

A WordPress autoresponder sends an email automatically when someone takes an action on your website.

For example, when a visitor submits a form, they should receive a confirmation email right away instead of waiting for a manual reply.

This becomes more important as your website grows.

If you receive 100 form submissions a week and spend just two minutes following up with each person, that's over three hours of manual work every week. And that's only for the first email.

Of course, not every situation calls for the same type of email.

Someone who fills out a contact form needs a simple confirmation. A new subscriber might need a welcome email followed by a few more messages.

A WooCommerce customer, by contrast, may need emails based on their purchase, order status, or abandoned checkout.

You can handle basic replies with your form plugin's built-in notifications.

But once you need to send multiple emails, target different customers, or trigger follow-ups based on their actions, those notifications aren't enough.

On the other hand, installing a full email automation platform just to send one confirmation email is overkill.

So, which setup should you use?

We'll start with the easiest way to set up a WordPress autoresponder, then show you how to create a complete email sequence.

You'll also learn which plugins are worth considering, how to use autoresponders in WooCommerce, and what to check when an automation runs but the email doesn't reach the recipient.

Which Autoresponder Setup Fits the Job?

Before choosing a plugin, think about what should trigger the email and what you want to happen next.

This way, you can find the right setup without installing tools you don't need.

The main thing is to match the tool to the job. Sending one confirmation email after a form submission doesn't require a complicated workflow.

But recovering abandoned carts, sending post-purchase follow-ups, or nurturing leads over several days needs more than a basic email notification.

Choosing the right setup from the start saves you from adding unnecessary plugins or rebuilding your email workflows later.

What is an Autoresponder in WordPress?

A WordPress autoresponder sends an email automatically when someone does something on your website.

You write the email once, set the trigger, and WordPress sends it whenever that event happens.

Common autoresponder triggers include:

• Common autoresponder triggers include:
• Someone submits a contact form
• A new user registers on your website
• A visitor subscribes to your newsletter
• A WooCommerce customer places an order
• A shopper abandons their cart
• A customer purchases a specific product
• A tag or list gets added to a contact
• A student enrolls in an online course
• A scheduled delay or date in an existing workflow is reached

The simplest setup is straightforward: someone takes an action, and they receive an email.

For example, the trigger is someone submitting a contact form, and the action is sending a confirmation email.

But you can do much more than send a single reply.

For example, say someone downloads a guide from your website. You can set up an autoresponder to send the guide immediately, follow up with useful tips two days later, and send another email three days after that.

You can even add a condition to check whether the contact purchased a related product.

• Email 1: Send the guide immediately.
• Wait: 2 days.
• Email 2: Share a practical tip related to the guide.
• Wait: 3 days.
• Condition: Check whether the contact purchased the related product.
• Email 3A: Send onboarding content if they made a purchase.
• Email 3B: Send a product-focused follow-up if they haven't purchased.

This is where WordPress autoresponders become more useful. Instead of sending the same email to everyone, you can use delays, conditions, purchase history, and contact tags to decide what happens next.

At this point, you're building an email automation workflow, not setting up a basic form notification.

How to Set Up a WordPress Autoresponder (Step by Step)

To set up a WordPress autoresponder without writing any code, we will use FunnelKit Automations.

FunnelKit Automations is a marketing automation plugin built entirely inside WordPress. It gives you a visual workflow builder, pre-built automations, email and SMS campaigns, rich contact profiles, and detailed analytics, all from your WordPress dashboard.

It offers a free version with core automation features. The Pro plan adds advanced triggers, conditional logic, visual email builder, and more.

Before we start, install and activate FunnelKit Automations on your WordPress website.

Follow the step-by-step instructions below to create your first WordPress autoresponder:

Step 1: Make sure WordPress can send emails reliably

Before creating your email sequence, make sure WordPress can actually send emails. There's no point building an automation if your website can't deliver the messages.

WordPress needs a reliable email-sending service to deliver messages consistently.

You can connect it to a provider such as Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Brevo, or another SMTP/API service supported by your mail plugin.

Here are a few things to check before moving ahead:

1. Use a sender email address associated with your own domain.
2. Authenticate your domain with your email provider.
3. Configure SPF and DKIM records.
4. Add a DMARC record.
5. Send a test email to check whether everything works.
6. Check your email provider's delivery logs instead of relying only on WordPress's success message.

One important thing to remember: when WordPress shows that an email was sent, it doesn't necessarily mean the recipient received it.

It may only mean that WordPress successfully handed the message over to the sending service.

If you haven't configured email delivery yet, follow our SMTP and email delivery setup guide before sending important campaigns.

Step 2: Create a new automation

Let's create a simple lead-nurturing sequence that captures leads from a lead-gen form and sends follow-up emails. 

For that, navigate to FunnelKit Automations ⇨ Automations and then click on 'Create Automation'.

Import “Optin follow-up”. For that, click on the recipe, then click on the Import button. After that, provide a name and click on Create.

This imports a recipe that triggers when someone submits a form as an opt-in. Then, it will follow the defined sequence: 

• Send an email with the freebie attached, thanking users for signing up.
• Wait for 24 hours. After 24 hours, it will send an email asking how they liked the freebie and requesting feedback. 
• And after another 48 hours, it will send an email pitching a paid program. 
• Lastly, after 72 hours of pitching the paid course, it will send them a final reminder about the product. 

So, basically, this autoresponder is designed to turn your subscribers into paying customers. 

Step 3: Configure the automation event trigger

Now select the form whose submission will activate this WordPress autoresponder.

To do so, click on the 'Form Submits' trigger.

Now select the form from the existing subscription forms on your WordPress site, choose the form's email address field, and embed the other form fields.

You can also mark this user as subscribed.

Once done, click on Save to update the information. 

Step 4: Customize the welcome email 

Now, customize the first email in the automation workflow. This will be the welcome email.

To do that, click the 'Email' step.

Here, you can customize the email body and preview text. Personalizing the email subject is always a good idea, as it can improve your email open rate. 

Using FunnelKit's Merge Tag feature, you can add customer information, such as the Customer's first name, to personalize the messaging. 

By default, the template includes a text-based email. You can go with that or use the Visual Builder to create stunning emails like those shown above: 

If you want to go deep into email customization, we have a separate guide on designing your emails like a pro.

Once you are happy with the email, click on Save.

Step 5: Adjust the delay (optional)

After the first email, there is a 24-hour delay. If you want, you can adjust the delay period according to your strategy. 

To adjust the delay, click on the “Delay” action.

Now update the delay period, then click 'Save'.

You can set the delay in minutes, Hours, Days, Weeks, or months.

Repeat the process to customize all email content and delays to match your strategy. 

You can even delete some steps if you don’t want them in your automation.

Here is a preview of the second email we designed using Visual Builder. 

Here is the third email.

This is the last email.

After customizing all the emails and delays, move to the next step.

Step 6: Activate and watch the first real contacts

Once you are happy with your campaign, it’s time to activate it. To do so, click on the Activate Toggle button in the top right corner. 

And that’s it. Your WordPress autoresponder is ready to send a series of emails to your new subscribers, turning them into paying customers. 

Setting Up Useful Autoresponders

WooCommerce gives you more email automation options than a regular WordPress website because it already tracks customer activity, orders, and shopping carts.

You can use this data to automate emails for different situations, including:

• Abandoned-cart reminders
• Post-purchase follow-ups
• Product usage tips
• Customer review requests
• Cross-sell recommendations
• Win-back emails for inactive customers
• Subscription reminders
• Repeat-customer and VIP email sequences

The key is to send emails based on what customers actually do. Sending more emails doesn't automatically lead to more sales. The message needs to make sense for the customer's situation.

Post-purchase email sequence

A post-purchase autoresponder helps you stay in touch with customers after they place an order.

Here's a simple example:

Trigger: A customer places or completes an order.

Immediately: Send an order confirmation and explain what happens next.

After the expected delivery date: Check whether the customer has received their order.

A few days later: Share product-specific tips to help them get more value from their purchase.

Later: Ask for a product review or recommend a related product if it's relevant.

Pay attention to the timing of each email. It should depend on what the customer purchased.

For example, you can follow up the same day with someone who purchased a digital download.

But if a physical product takes five days to arrive, sending a "How are you enjoying your purchase?" email on Day 2 doesn't make much sense.

Abandoned-cart email sequence

An abandoned-cart autoresponder helps bring shoppers back when they add products to their cart but leave without completing the purchase.

FunnelKit Automations can track recoverable WooCommerce carts and start an automation after the configured abandonment period.

A simple recovery sequence could look like this:

1. Send a reminder showing the products left in the cart.
2. Follow up with helpful information about the product, shipping, or common purchase questions.
3. Send a final reminder if there's a good reason.
4. Stop sending recovery emails as soon as the customer places an order.

You don't need to send four reminders just because a template includes four emails. Two well-timed, relevant messages can be more useful than repeatedly reminding someone about the same abandoned cart.

For the complete setup, see our abandoned-cart recovery automation guide.

5 Autoresponder Plugins Worth Comparing for WordPress

Here is a quick overview of the best autoresponder plugins for WooCommerce.

You can find more details about each plugin later in this post.

Key criteria we used to pick the best WordPress autoresponder plugins

We tested over 20 WordPress autoresponder plugins to find those that are not only feature-rich but also easy to use and extensible.

Here's what we focused on while narrowing down our list:

• User-friendly interface

The plugin should be intuitive with a clean dashboard, making it simple to create, manage, and monitor your campaigns without a steep learning curve.

• Flexible automation

We prioritized plugins that support a wide range of automation triggers like sign-ups, purchases, form submissions, and more, so you can build workflows that match your business needs.

• Smart Segmentation

Segmenting your audience by behavior, preferences, or user attributes is a must. We looked for tools that make this process seamless and help you deliver personalized content at scale.

• Seamless Integration

The best plugins integrate seamlessly with your CRM, eCommerce platform, lead-generation tools, and other plugins, ensuring your marketing stack works as one.

• Insightful Reporting

You need data to improve. We picked only plugins with built-in analytics for open rates, click-throughs, conversions, and more, so you can fine-tune your email strategy.

1. FunnelKit Automations

FunnelKit Automations is one of the best autoresponder plugins out there. We chose it as our first pick because it has all the qualities and features an ideal email autoresponder should have. 

Along with triggered emails, you can also send custom transactional emails, broadcast emails and SMS with this free WordPress autoresponder plugin.

The best part is that it lets you create and handle your email autoresponders directly from the WordPress dashboard.

Here are some of the key features of this all-in-one email marketing platform:

• Action triggers: FunnelKit offers a wide range of action triggers you can use to set up autoresponders based on user activity. Some triggers include users signing up, logging in, placing an order, submitting a form, or abandoning a cart. 
• Custom transactional emails: In addition to multiple action triggers for various events, you can replace the default transactional emails with custom ones to enable clearer, more personalized communication.
• Prebuilt recipes: You get a wide range of prebuilt email autoresponder recipes that you can import and use in a few clicks. Some of the prebuilt recipes include abandoned cart campaigns, win-back campaigns, post-purchase sequences, etc. 
• Visual email builder: Funnelkit has a built-in drag-and-drop email builder that lets you create beautiful, customized emails by dragging and dropping elements. 
• In-depth Analytics: You get in-depth analytics from active contacts, completed contacts, orders, revenue, AOV, etc. 
• 3rd-party integrations: FunnelKit integrates with popular CRMs, including ActiveCampaign, Drip, and Kit. 

Price: You can get started with FunnelKit Automations for free. The Pro version starts at $99.50 per year.

2. OptinMonster

If lead generation is your main aim for your email autoresponder WordPress plugin, then OptinMonster is a good choice.

With its powerful pop-ups and conversion tracking, it has become highly popular among WordPress users.

With Mailchimp, Constant Contact, FunnelKit Automations, or any other popular email service, you can easily connect it to OptinMonster to set up your autoresponder.

Here are some of the key features of OptinMonster:

• Drag-and-drop builder: OptinMonster's drag-and-drop form builder lets you create beautiful lightboxes, floating bars, and slide-in popups. You also get many pre-built templates that help you capture leads for your business.
• Advanced targeting features: You can do advanced targeting with OptinMonster by showing different pop-ups on different pages. This helps you collect leads more effectively.
• Many email service integrations: This WordPress autoresponder plugin integrates with third-party email services, including Drip, MailChimp, HubSpot, and ActiveCampaign. 

Price: A free version is available. The pro version starts at $126/year. 

3. HubSpot 

HubSpot makes email automation and marketing super easy for small businesses. You can easily set up your entire marketing dashboard, monitor campaigns, and handle email marketing automation. 

Here are some of the key features: 

• Advanced automation workflows: Create advanced email automation workflows in HubSpot to save time and effort.
• Easy-to-use drag-and-drop form builder: Create custom forms by dragging and dropping with this useful tool.
• Lead generation tracking: Nurture your leads by sending newsletters & automating email marketing campaigns. You can also easily track email performance. 
• A/B test emails: A/B test your email newsletters with HubSpot and easily see what resonates with your audience. 
• Seamless Integrations: HubSpot integrates with various email marketing automation tools, including ActiveCampaign, Campaign Monitor, Constant Contact, Drip, and Mailchimp. 

Price: The HubSpot WordPress plugin is free. The paid version starts at $50/month.

4. ConvertKit 

ConvertKit is an excellent choice for a WordPress email autoresponder because of its advanced automation features, detailed analytics, and email builder.

Here are some of the key features:

• Email designer: ConvertKit offers a flexible email designer that lets you create beautiful emails without any coding knowledge. You can also create your email template library. 
• Design email newsletter: Create a modern-looking email newsletter and send content, such as a PDF, via email using this tool.
• Segmentation: Add tags to users when they sign up to segment your audience in a meaningful way. 
• Automation builder: ConvertKit includes an intuitive visual builder that lets you create automation without complications. The visual automation builder gives you an eagle-eye view of how a user enters and exits an automation. 
• Integrations: ConvertKit integrates with more than 70 marketing and e-commerce platforms.

Price: You can use the ConvertKit WordPress plugin for free. The premium tool starts at $390/year, but the pricing varies as your email list grows.

5. MailChimp

With the MailChimp plugin for WordPress, you can easily grow your email list and connect to your MailChimp account in a few seconds.

With over 2 million active installations, this is one of the most popular WordPress autoresponder plugins.

Here are some of the key features: 

• Email Templates: Mailchimp provides a user-friendly interface for creating and sending email campaigns. Users can choose from a variety of professionally designed templates and use them without coding skills.
• Audience Segmentation: Mailchimp lets users manage email lists, segment audiences by demographics, preferences, purchase history, and more, and send targeted emails to specific segments. 
• Marketing Automation: Set up automated email sequences based on user behavior, triggers, or specific dates. This includes welcome emails, abandoned-cart reminders, birthday greetings, and more. 
• Analytics and Reporting: This WordPress email autoresponder provides in-depth analytics and reporting, allowing users to track email campaign performance. 
• Seamless Integrations: MailChimp integrates with Contact Form 7, Gravity Forms, Ninja Forms, WPForms, BuddyPress, MemberPress, and more.

Price: The MailChimp WordPress plugin is free. The pro version starts at $14/month. 

Self-Hosted vs SaaS Autoresponders: Which Is Right for You?

Both self-hosted and SaaS autoresponders can handle email automation. The main difference is where you manage your contacts, workflows, and email-sending infrastructure.

• Self-hosted autoresponders

Tools such as FunnelKit Automations and FluentCRM let you manage contacts and email automation directly from your WordPress dashboard.

You can connect an external email service to handle message delivery.

Advantages:

• WooCommerce and WordPress data are readily available for your automations.
• You can manage contacts without leaving your WordPress dashboard.
• Pricing may not increase directly with the number of contacts.
• WordPress-specific triggers make it easier to automate user and store activities.

Things to consider:

• You're responsible for maintaining your WordPress website.
• You need to configure an email delivery service.
• Large contact databases require adequate hosting resources.
• Scheduled tasks must run reliably for emails to go out on time.
• Email deliverability still depends on domain authentication, list quality, sender reputation, and your email provider.

One thing to clarify: self-hosted doesn't mean you can send unlimited emails without restrictions.

If you use Amazon SES, SendGrid, Postmark, Mailgun, Brevo, or another external service, you still need to follow that provider's sending policies.

• SaaS autoresponders

Platforms such as Brevo and other hosted email marketing services handle most of the email marketing infrastructure outside WordPress.

You connect your website to the platform and manage your contacts and campaigns through its dashboard.

Advantages:

• Less email marketing infrastructure to maintain inside WordPress.
• Managed email-sending infrastructure.
• Many platforms support additional channels beyond email.
• You can scale your marketing operations without putting the entire CRM workload on your WordPress hosting.

Things to consider:

• Pricing may increase with your contact list, email volume, or required features.
• WooCommerce customer and order data may need to be synced.
• Your automations depend on an external platform and its WordPress integration.
• Moving to another platform can take time once you've built several platform-specific workflows.

For WooCommerce stores, the most important question is how much customer and order data your emails need.

If your automations depend heavily on products, shopping carts, and order details, deeper WooCommerce integration can make things much easier.

6 Autoresponder Sequences Every WordPress Site Needs

You don't need dozens of email automations to get started. A few well-planned workflows that you actually maintain are more useful than a long list of automations nobody checks.

Here are six WordPress autoresponder sequences worth setting up. Each one starts with a specific action a visitor or customer takes on your website.

1. Form confirmation email

Trigger: Someone submits a contact form.

Send: A confirmation email that acknowledges the submission and explains what happens next.

When someone fills out a form, let them know you received their message.

If they requested a quote, asked a question, or submitted an application, tell them when they can expect a response.

2. Welcome email sequence

Trigger: Someone subscribes to your email list.

A welcome sequence introduces new subscribers to your website, content, or products. Here's a simple four-email sequence:

• Email 1: Deliver the resource or offer you promised when they subscribed.
• Email 2: Share a useful starting point, such as your best guide or tutorial.
• Email 3: Help them solve a common problem.
• Email 4: Introduce a relevant product or suggest the next step.

You don't have to send four emails just because you can. Add another message only when you have something useful to share.

3. WordPress user registration and onboarding

Trigger: Someone creates a new WordPress account.

Instead of sending only a generic account confirmation, use an onboarding sequence to help new users get started.

You can use these emails to explain:

• Where to log in
• What they should do first
• Where to find members-only resources
• How to contact support if they need help

This is particularly useful for membership websites and online course platforms, where new users often need a little guidance after registration.

4. Abandoned cart email sequence

Trigger: A shopper leaves a recoverable WooCommerce cart without completing the purchase.

Send a short series of reminders to encourage the shopper to return and finish checkout. More importantly, make sure the automation stops as soon as they place an order.

For example, if someone completes their purchase at 9:15 AM but still receives an abandoned-cart reminder at lunchtime, there's something wrong with the workflow.

5. Post-purchase email sequence

Trigger: A customer purchases a product from your WooCommerce store.

Use this sequence to help customers get more value from what they bought. Depending on the product, you can send:

• Product setup instructions
• Tips on how to use the product
• Links to support documentation
• A product review request
• Recommendations for complementary products

Pay attention to timing, especially when sending review requests. Give customers enough time to receive and use the product before asking for feedback.

For a practical WooCommerce example, see our post-purchase engagement guide.

6. Customer re-engagement sequence

Trigger: A contact becomes inactive based on your chosen engagement criteria.

Not every subscriber stays interested forever. Some stop opening emails, while others haven't interacted with your website or purchased anything in months.

A re-engagement sequence gives you a chance to reconnect with these contacts. You can share useful content, highlight something new, or simply ask whether they still want to hear from you.

Make sure the workflow has a clear exit condition. If someone doesn't respond after the re-engagement emails, consider removing them from regular marketing campaigns or suppressing their address.

Keeping inactive contacts on your list just to maintain a higher subscriber count doesn't help your email marketing.

WordPress Autoresponder Not Sending Emails? Check These Things First

When an autoresponder stops sending emails, don't start changing random settings.

Work through the process step by step, starting with the trigger and moving toward email delivery.

Here's what to check:

If the Automation Never Started

Start by checking whether the trigger event happened and whether the contact was eligible to enter the workflow.

If you're using a form-based automation in FunnelKit Automations, check the following:

• Make sure the correct form integration is active.
• Confirm that you've selected the right form.
• Check whether the email field is mapped correctly.
• Make sure the contact meets the automation's entry conditions.
• Check whether Automation runs is configured as intended.
• Allow re-entry if you want to test the same contact again.

One common testing mistake is submitting the same form repeatedly with the same email address. If the automation doesn't allow contacts to re-enter, the workflow won't run again. This can make it look like the trigger is broken when it's actually working as configured.

If the Automation Ran but the Email Never Arrived

Now check what happened after the email action was triggered.

Start with your SMTP or email delivery provider's logs.

If the provider never received the message, check your WordPress mail plugin, email queue, and provider connection.

If the provider accepted the message, look into what happened during delivery. Check:

• Whether the email bounced
• Whether spam filters blocked it
• Whether SPF, DKIM, and DMARC are configured correctly
• Whether your sending domain is properly aligned
• Whether the recipient address is suppressed
• Whether your sender reputation has been affected
• Whether the email content triggered spam filters

There's an important distinction here: if the email already appears in your provider's logs, the automation trigger has done its job. Changing the trigger settings won't fix a delivery problem further down the process.

If you're having trouble with WooCommerce order emails specifically, see our guide on how to fix WooCommerce emails that are not sending.

Frequently Asked Questions

Start Automating Your Emails With the Perfect WordPress Autoresponder!

We covered what a WordPress autoresponder is, how it works under the hood, and how to set up an automated email sequence step by step.

Autoresponders help you to convert customers on autopilot with minimal effort and resources.

For WordPress and WooCommerce users who want full control over their email automation and contact data, we recommend FunnelKit Automations.

It gives you a visual workflow builder, deep WooCommerce integration, rich contact profiles, pre-built automation recipes, and complete data ownership, all inside your WordPress dashboard.

Start with one trigger and one useful email. Test it with a new contact, make sure the email reaches the inbox, and then add the next step.

A few well-tested automations are much easier to manage than twenty workflows that nobody checks.

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