# Welcome email examples for SaaS: what to send the moment someone signs up

> Welcome email examples for SaaS: what the first email after signup should do, eight examples for different ways people sign up, subject lines and timing.

Source: https://behavly.io/guides/welcome-email-examples · Updated November 10, 2026

A welcome email is the first email a new user gets after signing up. In a SaaS product its job is narrow: get the person to the first step that shows the product working for them, and make it obvious that a real person is on the other end. It arrives at the moment someone is paying the most attention to you, so it is the email most worth getting right. GetResponse’s [2024 benchmarks](https://www.getresponse.com/resources/reports/email-marketing-benchmarks), from more than 4.4 billion messages sent in 2023, put the average welcome email at an 83.63% open rate and a 16.60% click-through rate, far above newsletters. Opens are inflated by mail apps that load images on their own, but the clicks show how much attention the first email gets.

The welcome is the first of your [onboarding emails](https://behavly.io/guides/saas-onboarding-email-sequence). This page is about that one email: what it should say, how it changes with the way someone signed up, and when to send it.

#### What should a welcome email do?

- **Point to one next step.** The single action that gets them closest to the product working, not a tour of every feature.
- **Link to the exact screen.** The place where that step happens, already open, not the dashboard or a help article.
- **Fit how they signed up.** Someone invited by a teammate, someone who came from your pricing page and someone who already created something need different first emails.
- **Come from a person.** A name, a normal sign-off and an address that reads replies. “Reply and tell me what you’re hoping to use it for” starts more useful conversations than any survey.
- **Stay short.** If it needs headings, a hero image and five buttons, it has stopped being a welcome and become a brochure.

#### Welcome email examples

These are for Fernbrook, a made-up project planning tool for small agencies. Its first real result is the first project an agency shares with a client. Each example is for one way people arrive.

1. Signed up, nothing else yet

> Subject: Your first Fernbrook project takes about five minutes
>
> Hi Clara,
> 
> Thanks for signing up. The fastest way to see whether Fernbrook fits how you work is one real project: add a client, three tasks and a due date, and you’ll see the timeline your client would see.
> 
> Start your first project: [link]
> 
> If you’re moving over from a spreadsheet, reply and I’ll show you the quickest way in.
> 
> Daniel

2. Already created a project during signup

> Subject: Your Spring Campaign project is set up
>
> Hi Ravi,
> 
> Your Spring Campaign project is set up with its four tasks. The step that makes Fernbrook useful for an agency is the next one: sharing it with your client, so they see progress without asking you for updates.
> 
> Share Spring Campaign with your client: [link]
> 
> Daniel

3. Invited by a teammate

> Subject: Ines added you to the Northbank Rebrand project
>
> Hi Tom,
> 
> Ines added you to Northbank Rebrand, and two tasks are already assigned to you, both due next week. You don’t need to set anything up: open the project and everything is there.
> 
> Open Northbank Rebrand: [link]
> 
> Daniel

4. Signed up straight from the pricing page

> Subject: Welcome to Fernbrook, and a note on the plan you looked at
>
> Hi Ana,
> 
> You signed up after looking at the Studio plan. Before you decide on anything, try the part that plan is for: a client view you can share. You can set one up on the free plan in a few minutes.
> 
> Create a shared client view: [link]
> 
> If you have questions about the plan itself, just reply.
> 
> Daniel

5. Came from the client portal page

> Subject: Sharing a project with your first client
>
> Hi Leo,
> 
> You found us through the client portal page, so here’s the shortest way to try exactly that: create a project, then choose Share with client. Your client gets a link, no account needed.
> 
> Set up your first client portal: [link]
> 
> Daniel

6. Imported their projects at signup

> Subject: Your 14 projects are in Fernbrook
>
> Hi Maya,
> 
> All 14 projects from your spreadsheet came across, with their tasks and dates. Two of them have tasks with no one assigned, which is usually the first thing worth fixing.
> 
> See the unassigned tasks: [link]
> 
> Daniel

7. Signed up on a phone

> Subject: Fernbrook on your laptop, when you’re back at your desk
>
> Hi Sam,
> 
> You signed up from your phone, which is fine for checking on projects, but setting one up is much easier on a bigger screen. This link opens your account straight on the new project screen.
> 
> Set up a project on your laptop: [link]
> 
> Daniel

8. A plain founder note, one question

> Subject: Hi from Fernbrook
>
> Hi Priya,
> 
> I’m Daniel, I built Fernbrook. I read every reply to this email, so one question: what made you sign up today? A sentence is plenty, and it helps me point you to the right place.
> 
> Daniel

#### When to send a welcome email

Right after signup, but only if the email does a job: one next step and the link to it. A welcome that only says hello wastes the moment. If someone is still in their first session, a few minutes’ delay is fine; what matters is that the email reflects what they did in that session, so a person who already created a project isn’t told to create one.

After the welcome, the next emails should depend on what each person does. Someone who reaches the first real result on day one doesn’t need reminders; someone who stops halfway does. See [onboarding incomplete emails](https://behavly.io/guides/onboarding-incomplete-email) for people who stop mid-setup, and [activation emails](https://behavly.io/guides/users-who-never-activated) for people who never start.

#### Welcome email subject lines

The best subject names what is waiting for them, or the first thing to do. It reads as information, not marketing.

| How they signed up | A subject that works | A subject to avoid |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Nothing done yet | Your first Fernbrook project takes about five minutes | Welcome to the family! |
| Already created something | Your Spring Campaign project is set up | Let’s get started 🚀 |
| Invited by a teammate | Ines added you to the Northbank Rebrand project | You’ve been invited |
| Imported their data | Your 14 projects are in Fernbrook | Welcome aboard |

#### Welcome email mistakes to avoid

- **The feature tour.** Ten features in the first email means none of them gets tried. Pick the one that leads to the first result.
- **Telling them to do what they already did.** If someone created a project during signup, “Create your first project” shows nobody is paying attention.
- **A no-reply address.** The first email is when people are most willing to tell you why they came. Make sure that answer reaches someone.
- **A welcome series on fixed days.** Email three on day three, whatever happened, ignores everyone who is already ahead or stuck. Let the next email depend on what they did.
- **Images and layout that hide the link.** If the one button is below a banner and three columns, many people never reach it on a phone.

#### How to send welcome emails in Behavly

In Behavly, [welcome emails](https://behavly.io/solutions/welcome-emails) are an always-on campaign that takes in each person as they sign up, with a welcome that is your own template or one Behavly writes from what they did on your site.

1. **Add the snippet to your app.** Paste one async script tag into your site, on your signed-in pages too. It detects a signed-in session on its own, so each new user’s activity is theirs, with no identify call.
2. **Choose how people enter.** Start a **Pattern Campaign** on **All users**, **Always on**, with **Also the people in it now** off, so only people who sign up from now on enter. Or start a **Trigger Campaign** on a signup event your backend sends, **Once per person**.
3. **Describe the path, or build it.** Say who it is for and what each email should do, choose **Build the path**, and check what Behavly lays out. Or add an email Behavly writes, one of your templates, a wait, a branch or a stop yourself.
4. **Pick how the welcome is written.** A step Behavly writes is written for each person from what they did. An **Email** step with your template **Send as designed** sends it exactly as you built it; **Edited by Behavly** keeps your design and edits the wording for each person.
5. **Check it before it goes.** **Preview** any email for a real person, with nothing sent, or choose **Send the path to me** to get every email in your own inbox, marked [Test].
6. **Let them leave when it’s done.** A reply ends the path by default. Name the **Goal** as the first step you want them to take, like `project_created`.

An always-on campaign re-checks the group every 10 minutes and each person enters once, the moment they join; a Trigger Campaign takes them in the moment your event arrives. Either way, the email waits for the sending window, Monday to Friday, 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM in each person’s timezone by default. Form leads are not in **All users**: a lead is not yet a user.

## Questions

### What should a welcome email include?

One next step, a link straight to the screen where it happens, and a name and reply address from a real person. Leave out the feature tour: the first email’s job is to get the person to the first result.

### When should you send a welcome email?

Right after signup, as long as it reflects what the person already did in their first session. A short delay is fine; a welcome that tells someone to do what they just did is not.

### How long should a welcome email be?

A few short paragraphs. If it needs headings or several buttons, it is trying to do too much; save the rest for later emails that depend on what the person does.

### Should a welcome email come from a person or the company?

From a person, with a reply address someone reads. The first email is when people are most willing to say why they signed up, and that answer is worth more than any open rate.

## Related

- [Onboarding emails for SaaS: examples and a sequence based on what users actually do](https://behavly.io/guides/saas-onboarding-email-sequence)
- [Onboarding incomplete email: templates for SaaS users who stopped mid-setup](https://behavly.io/guides/onboarding-incomplete-email)
- [Activation emails: how to follow up with users who never activated](https://behavly.io/guides/users-who-never-activated)
- [Follow-up email examples for SaaS: 10 templates based on what each user did](https://behavly.io/guides/follow-up-email-examples)