Day-of-week send-time guide

Best time to send email on Thursday (2026 data)

Across the ten industry profiles in this study, the strongest Thursday band is 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM in the recipient local time, followed by 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM. 24 published send windows name Thursday directly, and 1 industry profiles flag it as a weak day. Every band below prints the datasets and sample sizes it rests on.

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Thursday hour bands, ranked across every industry

The day is split into twelve two-hour bands. Each band is scored by averaging the modelled hourly engagement profile of all ten industries for Thursday, on a 0 to 100 index. Under every band you get the published windows that name Thursday, the audiences the band belongs to, and the source datasets with their sample sizes.

  1. 1

    4:00 PM to 6:00 PM

    Index 72 / 100

    Published windows in this band

    • B2B services conversions, 3:00 PM to 5:00 PMThursday gives enough time to confirm next-week discovery calls.
    • Fintech conversions, 3:00 PM to 5:00 PMCompliance-heavy confirmation flows complete before Friday drop-off.
    • Healthcare conversions, 3:00 PM to 5:00 PMLate-week scheduling windows help fill next-week appointment gaps.
    • Media and publishing conversions, 4:00 PM to 6:00 PMLate-afternoon windows lift trial starts for paid newsletters.
    • Edtech clicks, 5:00 PM to 7:00 PMLate afternoon reaches both staff and self-paced learners.
    • Non-profit clicks, 5:00 PM to 7:00 PMEvening windows help supporters act after work commitments.

    Also strong here: B2B SaaS, Ecommerce (B2C), Real estate, Recruiting and staffing

    Datasets behind this band

  2. 2

    6:00 PM to 8:00 PM

    Index 67 / 100

    Published windows in this band

    • Edtech clicks, 5:00 PM to 7:00 PMLate afternoon reaches both staff and self-paced learners.
    • Non-profit clicks, 5:00 PM to 7:00 PMEvening windows help supporters act after work commitments.
    • Real estate conversions, 6:00 PM to 8:00 PMLate-week urgency drives open-house RSVP and valuation requests.
    • Edtech conversions, 6:00 PM to 8:00 PMEvening demo bookings work for working professionals and parents.
    • Non-profit conversions, 6:00 PM to 8:00 PMRecurring gift prompts perform well in evening decision windows.
    • Recruiting and staffing conversions, 6:00 PM to 8:00 PMEvening reminders help employed candidates complete pending applications.
    • Ecommerce (B2C) conversions, 7:00 PM to 9:00 PMPre-weekend urgency and payday timing can lift checkout completion.

    Also strong here: Healthcare, Media and publishing

    Datasets behind this band

  3. 3

    10:00 AM to 12:00 PM

    Index 66 / 100

    Published windows in this band

    • B2B SaaS opens, 10:00 AM to 12:00 PMLate morning on Thursday still gets strong executive inbox placement.
    • Ecommerce (B2C) opens, 10:00 AM to 12:00 PMThursday morning keeps momentum ahead of weekend purchase intent.
    • B2B services opens, 10:00 AM to 12:00 PMThursday late morning still gives room for same-week replies.
    • Real estate opens, 10:00 AM to 12:00 PMThursday morning keeps listing alerts visible before weekend tours.
    • Fintech opens, 10:00 AM to 12:00 PMLate-morning sends stay visible before afternoon meeting-heavy blocks.
    • Healthcare opens, 10:00 AM to 12:00 PMLate-morning windows support preventive-care and benefits messaging.
    • Non-profit opens, 10:00 AM to 12:00 PMThursday mornings keep volunteer and donor audiences engaged mid-week.
    • Recruiting and staffing opens, 10:00 AM to 12:00 PMLate-morning sends stay visible for active job-search behavior.

    Datasets behind this band

  4. 4

    8:00 PM to 10:00 PM

    Index 63 / 100

    Published windows in this band

    • Ecommerce (B2C) conversions, 7:00 PM to 9:00 PMPre-weekend urgency and payday timing can lift checkout completion.
    • B2B SaaS clicks, 8:00 PM to 9:00 PMA smaller evening spike appears after business-hours meeting blocks.
    • B2B services clicks, 8:00 PM to 9:00 PMA smaller evening peak appears for owner-led businesses after client work.
    • Fintech clicks, 8:00 PM to 9:00 PMA short evening window works for personal finance app engagement.
    • Healthcare clicks, 8:00 PM to 9:00 PMA short night window can improve reminder click-through.

    Also strong here: Real estate, Edtech, Media and publishing, Non-profit

    Datasets behind this band

  5. 5

    2:00 PM to 4:00 PM

    Index 59 / 100

    Published windows in this band

    • B2B SaaS conversions, 2:00 PM to 4:00 PMProcurement and manager approvals usually move before Friday slowdown.
    • B2B services conversions, 3:00 PM to 5:00 PMThursday gives enough time to confirm next-week discovery calls.
    • Fintech conversions, 3:00 PM to 5:00 PMCompliance-heavy confirmation flows complete before Friday drop-off.
    • Healthcare conversions, 3:00 PM to 5:00 PMLate-week scheduling windows help fill next-week appointment gaps.

    Also strong here: Recruiting and staffing

    Datasets behind this band

  6. 6

    8:00 AM to 10:00 AM

    Index 54 / 100

    Published windows in this band

    No industry in this study publishes a named window in this band on Thursday. The score is modelled from the hourly engagement profiles only, so the audiences listed here are the ones whose profile is strongest in the band.

    Also strong here: Recruiting and staffing, B2B SaaS, Fintech

    Datasets behind this band

  7. 7

    12:00 PM to 2:00 PM

    Index 54 / 100

    Published windows in this band

    No industry in this study publishes a named window in this band on Thursday. The score is modelled from the hourly engagement profiles only, so the audiences listed here are the ones whose profile is strongest in the band.

    Also strong here: Recruiting and staffing, B2B SaaS, Fintech

    Datasets behind this band

  8. 8

    10:00 PM to 11:00 PM

    Index 41 / 100

    Published windows in this band

    No industry in this study publishes a named window in this band on Thursday. The score is modelled from the hourly engagement profiles only, so the audiences listed here are the ones whose profile is strongest in the band.

    Also strong here: Ecommerce (B2C), Edtech, Media and publishing

    Datasets behind this band

  9. 9

    6:00 AM to 8:00 AM

    Index 27 / 100

    Published windows in this band

    No industry in this study publishes a named window in this band on Thursday. The score is modelled from the hourly engagement profiles only, so the audiences listed here are the ones whose profile is strongest in the band.

    Also strong here: Media and publishing, Ecommerce (B2C), Edtech

    Datasets behind this band

  10. 10

    12:00 AM to 2:00 AM

    Index 18 / 100

    Published windows in this band

    No industry in this study publishes a named window in this band on Thursday. The score is modelled from the hourly engagement profiles only, so the audiences listed here are the ones whose profile is strongest in the band.

    Also strong here: Ecommerce (B2C), Media and publishing, Real estate

    Datasets behind this band

  11. 11

    2:00 AM to 4:00 AM

    Index 13 / 100

    Published windows in this band

    No industry in this study publishes a named window in this band on Thursday. The score is modelled from the hourly engagement profiles only, so the audiences listed here are the ones whose profile is strongest in the band.

    Also strong here: Ecommerce (B2C), Media and publishing, Non-profit

    Datasets behind this band

  12. 12

    4:00 AM to 6:00 AM

    Index 12 / 100

    Published windows in this band

    No industry in this study publishes a named window in this band on Thursday. The score is modelled from the hourly engagement profiles only, so the audiences listed here are the ones whose profile is strongest in the band.

    Also strong here: Ecommerce (B2C), Media and publishing, Non-profit

    Datasets behind this band

Thursday hour by hour, industry by industry

Each row is one industry profile on Thursday, hour 0 through hour 23 in recipient local time. The bottom row is the cross-industry mean used to rank the bands above. Darker means higher modelled engagement.

0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
Real estate
21
18
15
13
12
14
21
29
39
49
56
54
50
48
52
58
65
70
74
78
81
77
60
43
Non-profit
20
18
16
14
12
15
22
31
44
55
60
58
51
48
50
56
65
70
73
74
78
76
59
43
Recruiting and staffing
17
15
13
12
11
13
20
34
53
69
77
72
62
57
59
66
75
77
65
54
48
44
34
25
B2B SaaS
15
13
11
9
8
11
19
32
50
69
78
74
61
57
60
67
76
79
65
51
48
45
32
23
Healthcare
18
15
13
12
11
13
21
32
48
62
68
66
58
54
56
62
68
70
63
56
51
46
35
28
Fintech
16
12
10
9
8
10
17
28
47
66
74
71
60
56
58
66
78
80
66
49
44
40
30
23
B2B services
16
13
11
9
8
10
18
29
47
65
72
69
59
54
56
63
74
76
63
46
41
38
29
22
Media and publishing
23
20
17
15
14
17
28
40
53
61
65
63
56
52
55
62
68
71
73
76
80
78
63
45
Edtech
19
16
14
13
12
14
22
31
42
54
60
58
52
48
52
58
64
68
72
76
80
78
62
45
Ecommerce (B2C)
25
22
19
17
15
17
25
34
45
53
58
55
49
47
50
57
66
73
79
85
89
86
67
48
All industries (mean)
19
16
14
12
11
13
21
32
47
60
67
64
56
52
55
62
70
73
69
65
64
61
47
35
IndustryThursday rank for this audienceDay indexBest band on Thursday
Real estateRank 3 of 746 / 1008:00 PM to 10:00 PM
Non-profitRank 3 of 746 / 1008:00 PM to 10:00 PM
Recruiting and staffingRank 3 of 745 / 1004:00 PM to 6:00 PM
B2B SaaSRank 3 of 744 / 1004:00 PM to 6:00 PM
HealthcareRank 3 of 743 / 1004:00 PM to 6:00 PM
FintechRank 3 of 742 / 1004:00 PM to 6:00 PM
B2B servicesRank 3 of 741 / 1004:00 PM to 6:00 PM
Media and publishingRank 4 of 750 / 1008:00 PM to 10:00 PM
EdtechRank 4 of 746 / 1008:00 PM to 10:00 PM
Ecommerce (B2C)Rank 5 of 749 / 1008:00 PM to 10:00 PM

Which industries peak on Thursday

No industry profile in this study peaks on Thursday. That is a real result rather than missing data: every audience here has a stronger day elsewhere in the week. Thursday still works as a challenger slot, and the table above shows exactly where it ranks for each audience.

Thursday lands in the top three days for these audiences

Worst-window notes that name Thursday

1 of the ten industry profiles list Thursdayin their worst-window notes. Read the reason before you act: "weak" means different things for a weekday backlog than it does for a weekend audience gap.

Media and publishing

Thursday lunchtime often underperforms for long-read editorial emails.

Every published Thursday window in the dataset

WindowIndustryGoalWhy
10:00 AM to 12:00 PMB2B SaaSopensLate morning on Thursday still gets strong executive inbox placement.
10:00 AM to 12:00 PMEcommerce (B2C)opensThursday morning keeps momentum ahead of weekend purchase intent.
10:00 AM to 12:00 PMB2B servicesopensThursday late morning still gives room for same-week replies.
10:00 AM to 12:00 PMReal estateopensThursday morning keeps listing alerts visible before weekend tours.
10:00 AM to 12:00 PMFintechopensLate-morning sends stay visible before afternoon meeting-heavy blocks.
10:00 AM to 12:00 PMHealthcareopensLate-morning windows support preventive-care and benefits messaging.
10:00 AM to 12:00 PMNon-profitopensThursday mornings keep volunteer and donor audiences engaged mid-week.
10:00 AM to 12:00 PMRecruiting and staffingopensLate-morning sends stay visible for active job-search behavior.
2:00 PM to 4:00 PMB2B SaaSconversionsProcurement and manager approvals usually move before Friday slowdown.
3:00 PM to 5:00 PMB2B servicesconversionsThursday gives enough time to confirm next-week discovery calls.
3:00 PM to 5:00 PMFintechconversionsCompliance-heavy confirmation flows complete before Friday drop-off.
3:00 PM to 5:00 PMHealthcareconversionsLate-week scheduling windows help fill next-week appointment gaps.
4:00 PM to 6:00 PMMedia and publishingconversionsLate-afternoon windows lift trial starts for paid newsletters.
5:00 PM to 7:00 PMEdtechclicksLate afternoon reaches both staff and self-paced learners.
5:00 PM to 7:00 PMNon-profitclicksEvening windows help supporters act after work commitments.
6:00 PM to 8:00 PMReal estateconversionsLate-week urgency drives open-house RSVP and valuation requests.
6:00 PM to 8:00 PMEdtechconversionsEvening demo bookings work for working professionals and parents.
6:00 PM to 8:00 PMNon-profitconversionsRecurring gift prompts perform well in evening decision windows.
6:00 PM to 8:00 PMRecruiting and staffingconversionsEvening reminders help employed candidates complete pending applications.
7:00 PM to 9:00 PMEcommerce (B2C)conversionsPre-weekend urgency and payday timing can lift checkout completion.
8:00 PM to 9:00 PMB2B SaaSclicksA smaller evening spike appears after business-hours meeting blocks.
8:00 PM to 9:00 PMB2B servicesclicksA smaller evening peak appears for owner-led businesses after client work.
8:00 PM to 9:00 PMFintechclicksA short evening window works for personal finance app engagement.
8:00 PM to 9:00 PMHealthcareclicksA short night window can improve reminder click-through.

How to test Thursday on your own list

  1. Take the top-ranked Thursday band, 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM, as your control slot and the second band, 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM, as the challenger.
  2. Keep subject line, offer, audience, and creative constant so the only moving variable is send hour.
  3. Send in recipient local time where you have it, and tag unknown time zones into a separate bucket rather than folding them into the result.
  4. Run at least two full cycles before you call a winner. One campaign is a story, two matching cycles is a signal.
  5. Score the test on the downstream metric that matters for the campaign family, not on opens alone.
  6. Feed the winning slot back into the send-time optimizer so the next challenger is picked from your own data.

Sources behind this page

Every industry profile in this study carries its own citation list. These are the source datasets those profiles draw on, with the sample size each publisher reports. Where a publisher does not state a sample size, this page says so rather than inventing one.

ActiveCampaign send-time benchmark guide

Published 2024 · Sample size: not published

HubSpot best time to send email report

Published 2024 · Sample size: not published

Salesforce State of Marketing

Published 2025 · Sample size: not published

Omnisend ecommerce timing benchmarks

Published 2025 · Sample size: billions of ecommerce emails

Klaviyo timing and revenue benchmarks

Published 2025 · Sample size: commerce benchmark sample

Attentive messaging trends report

Published 2024 · Sample size: 25B messages

Campaign Monitor best-time guide

Published 2024 · Sample size: not published

MailerLite 2.1M-campaign study

Published 2024 · Sample size: 2.1M campaigns

GetResponse email marketing benchmarks

Published 2025 · Sample size: not published

Litmus State of Email

Published 2024 · Sample size: not published

Thursday send-time FAQ

What time should I send email on Thursday?

Ranked across all ten industry profiles in this study, the strongest two-hour bands on Thursday are 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM, 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM, 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM, measured in each recipient's local time. 24 published send windows in the dataset name Thursday explicitly, so treat the top band as your control slot and the second band as your first challenger.

Is Thursday a good day to send email?

No industry in this study peaks on Thursday, but it still ranks inside the top three days for B2B SaaS, B2B services, Real estate, Fintech, Healthcare, Non-profit, Recruiting and staffing. Use it as a secondary slot rather than the anchor of your weekly schedule.

Which audiences should avoid Thursday?

1 industry profiles list Thursday as a weak day: Media and publishing. The reasons differ by audience, so read the specific rationale before you drop the day entirely.

How do I confirm Thursday works for my own list?

Hold your creative, offer, and audience constant, then run the top-ranked Thursday band against your current control slot for at least two full send cycles. Judge the result on the downstream metric you actually care about, not opens alone. The send-time optimizer will shortlist the candidate slots for you.