many hosts place restrictions on the number of emails that can be sent per minute/hour/day/month.
with email marketing still having a place in the overall mix, these restrictions can severely hobble attempts to use subscriber lists etc.
Other than using a vps, what other alternatives are there?

I think at a certain point you have to accept those limits and work within them. If you're patient and persistent, your subscriber base will grow and you will be able to cultivate a large number of customers without spamming.

Also the biggest disadvantage of email marketing is that your emails will sometimes be deemed as spam. Email service providers have taken action to enforce more powerful spam filters. Although spam filters are good at blocking spam mails, sometimes they also block legitimate emails too.

Be a part of the DaniWeb community

We're a friendly, industry-focused community of developers, IT pros, digital marketers, and technology enthusiasts meeting, networking, learning, and sharing knowledge.