Email Rate Benchmark Guide

Open Rate, CTR and CTOR Are Different Metrics

Open rate is recorded opens divided by delivered emails. Click-through rate (CTR) is unique clicks divided by delivered emails. Click-to-open rate (CTOR) is unique clicks divided by unique opens. The checker standardizes on open rate and CTOR, so the second number you enter must come from clicks ÷ opens, not clicks ÷ sends.

CTOR is useful for judging whether people who opened the message found its content and call to action engaging. CTR answers a different question about the whole delivered audience, so substituting one for the other produces a misleading comparison.

Shared Open Rate and CTOR Dataset

Dataset v2025.12.1 · Source published 2025-12-03
MailerLite: Email marketing benchmarks by industry and region for 2026. Data period: December 2024 to November 2025. Median results from more than 3.6 million campaigns sent by 181,000 approved accounts.

E-commerce / Online Store: 32.67% open rate · 4.01% CTOR MailerLite source category: e-commerce
Consulting / Professional Services: 45.96% open rate · 7.67% CTOR MailerLite source category: Consulting
Software / Web App (including SaaS): 39.31% open rate · 5.40% CTOR MailerLite source category: Software and web app
Blogger / Content Creator: 43.03% open rate · 8.56% CTOR MailerLite source category: Blogger
All Industries / Not Sure: 43.46% open rate · 6.81% CTOR MailerLite source category: All industries

Open-rate caveat: Apple Mail Privacy Protection and similar automated opens can inflate reported open rates. Because CTOR divides clicks by recorded opens, the reported CTOR can also appear lower than the underlying human click-to-open rate.

How to Use the Benchmarks

Select the closest available source category, or use the all-industry median when none is a reasonable fit. The checker treats a result within two percentage points of the median as in line. This is a planning comparison, not a pass/fail score: list source, campaign type, geography and sending frequency can all affect performance, so your own consistent historical trend remains the most useful baseline.

Because CTOR depends on recorded opens, Apple Mail Privacy Protection and similar automated opens affect both metrics. Use the benchmark caveat when interpreting the absolute values, and examine click volume, conversions and revenue alongside open rate and CTOR.

How to Improve Below-Benchmark Performance

If your open rate is below benchmark, test clearer subject lines and preheaders, use a recognizable sender name, segment by subscriber interest and remove persistently inactive addresses. If CTOR is below benchmark, make the main call to action easier to find, align the body with the subject-line promise, reduce competing actions and tailor the content to the selected segment. Recheck the same campaign type over time rather than reacting to one send.