Newsletters and promotional emails are a quick and efficient way to get the latest news and deals out to your customers.

If you’ve been managing a digital marketing campaign and want to increase productivity, an email marketing platform can help streamline the process.

But, how do you know which platform to choose with a seemingly endless array of options?

Fortunately, we can help.

Keep reading to learn all about the best email marketing platforms.  

An Overview of Email Marketing Platforms

Email marketing platforms allow you to send emails en masse to all of your customers.

These emails can include newsletters, promotions, or other communications that you need to get out in one shot.

What Is an Email Marketing Platform?

An email marketing platform is a service that provides a collection of tools that help you create and send emails to large groups.

They’re the easiest way to arrange newsletter campaigns, send out surveys, share news, or offer personalized discounts.

Why Are Email Marketing Platforms Important?

Email marketing platforms take the stress out of collecting email addresses, managing subscriber lists, and sending mass emails.

Instead of manually entering each email address, you can provide an email signup form on your website or send users a link. What’s best is that they allow you to automate emails or schedule campaigns ahead of time.

Do I Need an Email Marketing Platform?

While an email marketing platform isn’t strictly necessary for a successful email marketing campaign, having one will certainly make it easier.

Your platform will help you create and send emails using templates and other integrations and will automatically manage your user list.

The Best Email Marketing Platforms at a Glance

The best email marketing platform we reviewed overall is AWeber.

However, if you’re looking to get started with email marketing for free, we highly recommend Mailjet.

Here’s a quick breakdown of each.

Features To Look For in Email Marketing Platforms

Most email marketing platforms have a broad selection of features and resources.

Here are a few criteria you should always have in mind when choosing the platform that best suits your skills and business needs.

1. Templates

Uniformity is a critical aspect of your branding.

That includes the appearance of your promotions and communications.

So, when you start examining email marketing platforms, find one that provides a large selection of templates and branding options.

This will ensure your emails are on-brand and precisely what your customers expect.

2. Automation and Scheduling

Most email marketing platforms offer ways to automate or schedule email campaigns in advance.

This is particularly useful if you send a “Welcome” email to new subscribers or a reward for signups.

In addition, being able to schedule emails ahead of time allows you to plan your drip campaigns far in advance.

3. Analytics

An email marketing campaign is only successful if your readers absorb or interact with your content.

Fortunately, email marketing platforms often include metrics and analytics that provide insight into user behavior.

These metrics include open rate, click rate, bounce rate, and link activity, which can be invaluable in determining how to segment or group your lists.

4. Mobile Responsiveness

Did you know that mobile emails are 65 percent more likely to draw traffic to your site?

That being the case, you need to choose an email marketing platform that offers smoothly responsive interfaces.

Each email should be just as easy to read on a mobile device as on a desktop.

Skipping responsiveness is a surefire way to cause users to click “Unsubscribe.”  

5. Customer Support

With all their moving parts, email marketing platforms can be tricky for new users.

So when you start researching platforms, be sure to pick one with a good reputation for customer support.

You’ll also want 24/7 customer care to ensure your email campaigns are running smoothly, especially if you plan to use automation or special features frequently.

Best Email Marketing Platforms: Our Top 3 Options [Ranked & Reviewed]

Email marketing platforms seem to be everywhere, which can make it challenging for a fledgling business to find the right one.

On top of all your other marketing decisions, picking a platform is one more hassle.

So, we decided to take a bit of that frustration away by researching for you.

After sifting through all the available options, we’ve come up with three that hit the mark.

1. AWeber: Our Pick 

AWeber is a feature-rich email marketing platform that makes crafting a well-rounded digital marketing campaign effortless.

It’s perfect for small and large businesses, personal websites, and bloggers who want to boost their platform and follower count.

Key Features of AWeber

AWeber has a long list of excellent features that’ll make email marketing a breeze.

Here are a few reasons we feel AWeber should be your first choice.

• Extensive library of email templates and branding options
• Access to Canva tools and resources within your account
• Drag-and-drop builder for easy designs
• Broad selection of automation tools
• Intuitive analytic tools to study customer behavior
• Dynamic pricing options so you only pay for what you need

Why Is AWeber a Great Solution?

One of the reasons we think AWeber is a great choice is because it offers dynamic pricing.

Instead of multiple plans, everyone who chooses a paid plan with AWeber gets the same tools.

However, a business with 1,000 subscribers won’t have to pay the same as a business with ten times that.

Paid plans start at around $16.

In addition to pricing, AWeber provides a decent selection of integrations, automation tools, and other resources that allow you to create a cohesive online experience for users.

It’ll also let you incorporate your online store, ensuring your products are easy to access when you include them in your emails.

Pros of AWeber

AWeber has plenty of great features, but here are a few of the top reasons you should give it a shot.

• In-account access to Canva stock photos and elements provides a wide range of professional elements and design features.
• Extensive automation tools make various email automation accessible on all plans.
• Dynamic content to tailor emails for subscribers and segments to ensure your customers only get the content they want.

Cons of AWeber

Although AWeber is a solid choice for email marketing, it has its limitations.

Here are the drawbacks that stood out to us.

• Low subscriber threshold on free plan limits what you can do for free.
• Landing page builder doesn’t allow testing or analytics cookies.
• No free trial of the paid plan.

AWeber vs Other Top Recommendations: How They Compare

AWeber stood out above ActiveCampaign and Sendinblue, our other two top picks, for a few reasons.

Mainly, its free plan is far more extensive than SendinBlue.

Also, its dynamic pricing allows your monthly price to reflect your business’ size, making it easier to stay on budget.

However, there were also a few things AWeber didn’t have.

Unlike ActiveCampaign, AWeber doesn’t offer quote-based pricing like SendinBlue.

It also doesn’t provide messaging features like ActiveCampaign, which allow you to reach your customers more easily.

If you’re looking for a budget option, Sendinblue might be more up your alley.

AWeber Pricing

Here’s a quick look at AWeber’s pricing.

You can see complete plan details on their pricing page.

• Start Pro: $16.15 to $146.15 per month, depending on subscriber count.
• Custom: bespoke plans for lists with more than 25,000 subscribers.

The pricing listed reflects a 19 percent discount off the cost of paying per month if you pay annually.

Can You Try AWeber for Free?

Unfortunately, AWeber doesn’t offer a free trial of its paid services.

However, its free plan is quite comprehensive.

If you sign up for it, you should be able to get a solid feel for whether or not it’ll work for you.

Conclusion: Should You Choose AWeber?

AWeber is the perfect choice for a business that doesn’t want to pay for services it doesn’t need.

You get the full suite of tools with any paid plan, so you can rest easy knowing your pricing is fair.

In addition, the monthly cost is lower than its competitors for similar tools.

2. ActiveCampaign: Runner-Up 

ActiveCampaign is a digital marketing platform that provides a customer-centric approach to email marketing.

It offers tools to help you reach new customers, grow your relationship, encourage conversions, and grow your audience.

Key Features of ActiveCampaign

The best thing about ActiveCampaign is its extensive list of features.

The creators included everything businesses need to get the word out with a successful, streamlined email marketing campaign.

When you choose ActiveCampaign as your email marketing platform, you’ll get the following features:

• Unlimited email sends with all paid plans, including Lite.
• Social media integrations allow you to segment subscribers based on behavior.
• Extensive customization options on the Pro plan.
• Advanced analytics and event tracking.
• Mobile campaign optimization to entice readers on mobile devices.
• Transactional email features via Postmark.
• Nearly 900 app integrations.

Why Is ActiveCampaign a Great Solution?

ActiveCampaign is a great solution because it provides web-based businesses the tools to draw in new customers.

With an array of customization and personalization options, you’ll be able to reach customers based on their preferences and behaviors.

ActiveCampaign offers four paid plans, each of which has a lengthy list of features.

All plans include its intuitive email builder, subscription forms, detailed reporting tools, and subscriber segmentation.

It also has a long list of app integrations to help better personalize your user’s experience.

Pros of ActiveCampaign

When you sign up for ActiveCampaign, you’ll find heaps of excellent features for building campaigns.

• No restrictions on emails: Unlimited email sends means there’s no restriction on how many newsletters or promotions you can send each month.
• Intuitive interface: Drag-and-drop builder lets you create emails quickly, efficiently, and professionally
• Data and analytics: Detailed analytics let you target campaigns based on user behavior and activity

Cons of ActiveCampaign

Despite its good qualities, ActiveCampaign has a few cons.

Take a look at what we found.

• Minimal customer support: tech support is not available 24/7
• No free version: All ActiveCampaign plans require payment 
• Learning curve: ActiveCampaign is a bit more difficult for newcomers to navigate at first 

ActiveCampaign vs Other Top Recommendations: How They Compare

The primary way in which ActiveCampaign stands out from the other top competitors is due to its plans.

It offers far more features in each plan than Sendinblue or AWeber and is much more popular than both.

However, ActiveCampaign’s downside is that it doesn’t offer a free plan.

Whereas AWeber and Sendinblue each provide free plans, ActiveCampaign doesn’t.

In addition, ActiveCampaign limits subscribers on the Plus Plan, while SendinBlue doesn’t.

ActiveCampaign Pricing

ActiveCampaign offers four paid plans, including an Enterprise plan for larger businesses.

Its pricing is as follows:

• Lite: $29 per month
• Plus: $39 per month
• Professional: $149 per month
• Enterprise: Custom pricing

Can You Try ActiveCampaign for Free?

Unfortunately, ActiveCampaign doesn’t offer a free plan.

However, you can take advantage of a 14-day free trial to test drive the tools.

You won’t need a credit card to sign up, but remember to save your content once the 14-day period is up if you choose not to use the service.

Conclusion: Should You Choose ActiveCampaign?

ActiveCampaign is an excellent second choice if AWeber isn’t for you.

It has a vast library of tools, many app integrations, and everything else you need to grow your business.

You’ll be able to learn how to build an email list and craft perfectly branded emails and newsletters to boost your subscriber list and attract new clients.

3. Sendinblue: Budget Pick

During our research, we focused on finding a great budget pick for businesses that need to keep costs low or won’t have a huge list.

Sendinblue was the clear winner based on others in its class.

Not only does it offer a marketing platform, but Sendinblue also provides chat, sales, and transactional email tools, making it a one-stop shop for a lot of your digital marketing.

Key Features of Sendinblue

Sendinblue has a wealth of excellent features.

The free plan is comprehensive, while the paid options provide everything you need at a great price.

Here are just a few of the best features Sendinblue offers.

• Messaging features: All plans include SMS and WhatsApp marketing tools to expand your reach to other online areas.
• Send time optimized: Email send optimization ensures you reach your customers at the right time of day.
• Landing page builder: You’ll have access to a high-quality landing page builder on the Business and Enterprise plans. 
• Unlimited sends: All paid plans include unlimited daily emails, so you won’t ever feel restricted. 
• Shared inbox: All paid plans include a shared inbox you can use to help better organize yourself.

Why Is Sendinblue a Great Solution?

Sendinblue is a great solution for email marketing needs because it allows you more flexibility than other plans.

With unlimited daily emails and messaging integrations, you’ll be able to reach your customers in all areas of the internet.

Pros of Sendinblue

Here are some of the top reasons we think Sendinblue is a great pick for building an email marketing campaign.

• Simple drag-and-drop editor for quick email builds lets you streamline your campaign process.
• Extensive email template library gives you plenty of ways to stand out from competitors.
• Supplement email messaging with SMS or WhatsApp for your customer’s convenience.

Cons of Sendinblue

As with other email marketing platforms, Sendinblue has a few cons.

• 300 message limit per day with the free plan.
• Added cost to remove branding on Starter plan.
• Send time optimization only available on Business and Enterprise plans.

Sendinblue vs Other Top Recommendations: How They Compare

Sendinblue stands out from our other top picks because of its comprehensive free plan.

You won’t feel bereft when using Sendinblue because it offers everything you need for a quality campaign.

SendinBlue’s main drawback is that all paid plans don’t have certain features.

For example, where ActiveCampaign and AWeber remove branding on all paid plans, brand removal is only included in Sendinblue’s Business and Enterprise plans.

If you want to remove ActiveCampaign branding from the Starter paid plan, you’ll have to pay an additional $10 per month.

Sendinblue Pricing

Sendinblue offers three paid plans.

Each plan has a base price and will fluctuate based on your subscriber count and needs.

• Starter: $25+ per month
• Business: $65+ per month
• Enterprise: $1,000+ per month

Annual subscribers receive the prices above, which reflect a 10 percent discount from the month-to-month prices.

You can read more about their plans on the website’s pricing page.

Can You Try Sendinblue for Free?

Sendinblue’s best feature is that it offers a well-stocked free plan.

You can try many of the service’s tools and amenities using the free plan, then upgrade as your business needs grow.

Conclusion: Should You Choose Sendinblue?

You should try out Sendinblue if you need a well-designed email marketing campaign with a low price tag to increase your email open rates.

You’ll have plenty of flexibility in pricing, so you’ll only pay for what you need, and the free plan will make it easy for you to keep those monthly costs down.

The Best Free Email Marketing Platforms Options

Although the email marketing platforms we’ve already discussed are pretty robust, a free option might be better if you’re working on a tight budget.

During our search, we felt two platforms stood out from the rest because of their free plans.

Mailjet and MailerLite are two excellent choices if you want to minimize costs.

4. Mailjet

Of all the free email marketing platforms we looked at, Mailjet provided the most comprehensive list of resources.

Some of its key features include a drag-and-drop editor, a high subscriber threshold, and basic analytics to help fine-tune your campaigns. In addition, you can have an unlimited contact list.

The only limit is on how many emails you can send per month.

While many platforms have low thresholds for free plans, Mailjet allows users to have up to 6,000 emails per month at no cost, which is quite high compared to others.

Its paid plans start at $15, but many businesses will get all they need with the free option based.

The main downside to Mailjet’s free plan is its low daily email limit. You can only send 200 emails each day.

In other words, if you have a subscriber list of 6,000 people, you’ll have to stagger your sends.

However, the extra steps might be a worthwhile tradeoff if you want to stretch your marketing dollars as far as possible.

5. MailerLite

MailerLite is a simple, comprehensive email marketing platform with plans for all business sizes.

You’ll get sleek branding options, a simple drag-and-drop editor, and total flexibility when designing your emails.

Although it has a slight learning curve, MailerLite has all the tools you need to create successful email marketing campaigns.

MailerLite has a free plan for users with up to 1,000 followers.

It offers MailerLite’s basic features for email creation and automation.

In addition, MailerLite offers two paid plans for $9 and $18.

Each provides tools for e-commerce, social media integration, and more tools for creating effective targeted campaigns.

The main drawback to MailerLite is that the free plan only applies if you have fewer than 1,000 subscribers.

You also won’t get many of the automation features that can help expand your reach.

It also has a bit of a learning curve regarding integrations and analytics.

However, it’s a great product once you get the hang of it.

Notable Mentions: Notable Mentions: Other Email Marketing Platforms To Check Out

Although we consider the options we listed above to be the best of the best regarding email marketing platforms, they’re by no means the only ones worth considering.

Here’s some information on a few more notable mentions we think are worth a look at.

6. SendGrid

SendGrid by Twilio is an email marketing platform that offers an array of tools for creating high-quality marketing campaigns.

Why Is SendGrid a Great Option?

SendGrid is an excellent choice because it’s aimed at users who want to put their customers first.

It heavily focuses on customer engagement and subscriber growth, making it perfect if you’re still growing your business.

You’ll find a variety of tools that’ll let you create responsive, professional, and engaging emails that always hit the mark.

You can also count on SendGrid to be reliable.

Its extensive toolkit takes the hard work out of reaching your customers across the internet.

With WhatsApp, voice messaging, and Twilio Conversations, you’re all but guaranteed to reach your customers where they’re most comfortable.

Drawbacks To SendGrid

SendGrid’s Main drawback is that it doesn’t have a free trial.

If you want to test the features, you’ll need to get the minimum with the free plan or pony up for a paid option.

If that’s a deal-breaker for you, you might consider using a service that offers more.

SendGrid Pricing

SendGrid offers two paid email marketing plans.

Both are scalable based on subscriber count and how many emails you’ll need to send per month.

• Basic: $15 to $200 per month
• Advanced: $60 to $900 per month

SendGrid also offers custom pricing for customers with more than 200,000 contacts.

Can You Try SendGrid for Free?

SendGrid offers a free plan you can use to test out the basic features.

You can send a monthly limit of 6,000 emails per month to 2,000 contacts.

7. Moosend

Another email marketing platform you can check out is Moosend.

It’s a well-rounded service that will give you high-quality email marketing and automation software designed for robust marketing campaigns.

Why Is Moosend a Great Option?

Moosend is a solid option because it provides multiple services you can combine to curate a marketing plan perfect for your business.

With Moosend, you’ll be able to create landing pages, automate workflows, and design emails around your brand’s image.

Some of Moosend’s best features include custom-coded templates, detailed real-time reporting, and extensive tech support.

All the tools are easy to learn, and if you need help, you’re never left waiting.

Drawbacks To Moosend

Although Moosend is an excellent resource for businesses looking to build a digital marketing campaign, it has some drawbacks.

Specifically, its analytics are a bit limited, and the interface can be a bit slow.

In addition, transactional emails are only available on the Pro and Enterprise plans. It’s also a bit pricier than many of its competitors.

Moosend Pricing

Moosend offers two paid plans that provide a wealth of features.

• Pro: $9 to $5,840 per month
• Enterprise: Custom pricing

Can You Try Moosend for Free?

Moosend offers a free plan you can sign up for to get a feel for the service.

Although it doesn’t have all the bells and whistles you get with the Pro plan, it has enough of Moosend’s features that you’ll be able to decide if the platform is right for you.

8. Campaigner

Campaigner is an email marketing platform perfect for small and mid-sized businesses looking to expand their online footprint.

This platform focuses on e-commerce email marketing, along with SMS marketing and automation.

Why Is Campaigner a Great Option?

One of Campaigner’s best features is its integration options.

Some of the third-party services and apps Campaigner offers include Google Sheets, Typeform, and Facebook Ads that will facilitate audience growth as you’ve never seen.

Another reason Campaigner is worth a look is its analytics tools.

Using this platform, you can monitor all user lifecycle stages.

These stages include online behavior, message engagement, and purchases, allowing you to better target each customer’s needs.

Drawbacks To Campaigner

Campaigner’s biggest drawback is its price.

Plans start at $59, which is a much higher price point than other email marketing platforms.

It also doesn’t offer a free plan, which can be a deterrent for smaller businesses or bloggers.

Campaigner Pricing

When you sign up for Campaigner, you’ll have four paid email plans to choose from.

• Starter: $59 per month
• Essential: $179 per month
• Advanced: $649 per month
• eCommerce: $79.95 per month

In addition to the email plans, you can choose from email and SMS plans, too.

• Starter: $104 per month
• Essential: $224 per month
• Advanced: $694 per month
• eCommerce: $79.95 per month

The main thing Campaigner’s plans have going is the high subscriber threshold on the Starter plan.

Users aren’t restricted to fewer than 2,000 followers, which is quite common.

Instead, you can have up to 5,000 contacts.

Can You Try Campaigner for Free?

Campaigner offers a 30-day free trial that lets users explore all its features.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t have a free plan for smaller organizations to use.

9. Constant Contact

If you want an email marketing platform that offers a complete marketing suite, Constant Contact is worth checking out.

It’s a platform designed with your customers in mind, so it’s perfect for boosting sales and expanding your base.

Why Is Constant Contact a Great Option?

Constant Contact offers digital marketing and marketing automation plans, making it ideal if you want to combine your digital marketing tools in one place.

You can choose the Core or Plus plans to make crafting your campaign more manageable, and growth tools will let you increase revenue with ease.

In addition to growth and marketing tools, Constant Contact will make it easy to market via SMS, social media, and mobile apps.

However, one of its greatest highlights is its library of hundreds of templates that’ll give you the branding options you need to stand out.

Drawbacks To Constant Contact

Constant Contact is ideal for business, but it has a few drawbacks.

You’ll want to ensure your business needs Constant Contact’s array of business-targeted tools before choosing this service.

Many options might be a bit too robust for new companies and bloggers.  

Constant Contact Pricing

Constant Contact has two paid digital marketing plans and one marketing automation plan.

• Core: $9.99 per month
• Plus: $45 per month
• Marketing Automation+: $449+ per month

Each plan includes various marketing and analytics tools and sufficient design tools to take the hard work out of creating your messages.

Can You Try Constant Contact for Free?

Unlike other platforms, Constant Contact doesn’t offer a free plan.

Still, you can sign up for a free trial to start exploring its features.

You won’t need to submit any payment information, making the trial completely risk-free.

10. Drip

Drip is a streamlined email marketing platform that works seamlessly with e-commerce operations.

You can use its tools to build a high-quality newsletter or ad campaign to draw in new customers and give your existing ones solid reasons to stay.

Why Is Drip a Great Option?

When you want a platform that provides valuable business insights, Drip is the ideal choice.

Not only does it have extensive analytics tools, but it’ll give you simple marketing and segmentation tools too.

In addition, it integrates with Shopify, WooCommerce, and social media platforms, further enhancing your customer’s digital experience with your brand.

It’s genuinely one of the best all-around email marketing platforms you’ll find.

Drawbacks To Drip

Drip has two specific drawbacks.

First, it only offers one plan each user scales to their taste.

This can be frustrating because a small business or blogger won’t have the same needs as a larger, more established business.

Another downside is that tech support is only available from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.

Drip Pricing

Drip only has one plan. It starts at $39, and users’ costs depend on how many subscribers they have.

$39 will cover up to 2,500 contacts.

Plans with more than 5,000 contacts will have access to chat support, and users with more than 110,000 contacts will have a dedicated customer service success manager.

Can You Try Drip for Free?

Drip offers a 14-day free trial of its plan that gives access to all its tools and services.

No credit card necessary to sign up.

11. ConvertKit

Looking for a platform that provides a complete marketing hub all in one place?

Then you should check out ConvertKit.

Its comprehensive plans and growth tools make it easy for businesses to reach customers and share all the latest news.

Why Is ConvertKit a Great Option?

When you sign up for ConvertKit, you’ll notice its featured use cases feature musicians, authors, coaches, and podcasters.

If you fall into any of the creative fields, you’ll find all the tools you need to showcase your talent and services.

ConvertKit aims to help draw and maintain interest in your brand.

As a creative, you know how tricky this can be.

Fortunately, ConvertKit offers integrations, design features, and engagement tools to catch your customers’ eyes.

As a result, you’ll never have to worry about whether your content is landing as it should.

Drawbacks To ConvertKit

ConvertKit provides an excellent array of business tools, but it has a few downsides, too.

In particular, Free and Creator plans don’t have access to subscriber engagement scoring.

In addition, only the Creator Pro plan has the option to edit links in previously sent emails.

ConvertKit Pricing

ConvertKit offers two paid plans that will scale based on subscriber or contact count.

• Creator: $9 per month
• Creator Pro: $25 per month

Can You Try ConvertKit for Free?

ConvertKit has a free plan that rivals some of the best free options we’ve already discussed.

Its feature list is extensive, so when you sign up, you’ll get a good idea of what to expect with its paid plans.

Even More Options To Check Out

Here are a few more email marketing platforms we think you’ll enjoy.

12. Omnisend

Omnisend is a great option because it strongly focuses on e-commerce marketing.

Businesses that want to increase revenue will find a lot of benefits in Omnisend.

Specifically, you’ll be able to create perfectly branded emails quickly using templates and a simple drag-and-drop builder.

The main drawback to Omnisend is that it’s not quite as universal as other platforms.

Since it’s geared toward businesses with an e-commerce operation, it might not be the best choice for personal websites or bloggers who aren’t monetizing any content or selling products.

13. Mailchimp

Mailchimp is an excellent email marketing platform because it helps get your business online while growing your marketing platform.

You’ll find features, including audience management and automation, which will help you target emails with little effort.

In addition, you won’t have to worry about a complex learning curve because Mailchimp’s tools are pretty easy to master.

Although Mailchimp is an excellent resource, there are a few things to consider.

First, although the tools aren’t complex, site navigation can take some getting used to.

Also, the free plan is quite limited, so if that’s something you need, you might want to check out one of the other options listed above.

14. HubSpot

One of the main things that make HubSpot so great is its focus on being powerful but simple.

With easy-to-use features and multiple “hubs” to choose from, you’ll get a solid email marketing platform that facilitates business growth and boosts subscriber counts.

However, HubSpot has its issues.

For example, there’s a significant jump in cost between the Starter and Professional plans, which can make it hard to get what you need at a low price.

In addition, only users on the Professional and Enterprise plans have access to campaign optimization and reporting tools.

15. Cakemail

Cakemail is a lesser-known email marketing platform perfect for businesses, personal sites, and blogs of all sizes.

It provides tools for generating revenue streams and managing your audience, along with reliable email design tools that’ll give your customers the features they’d expect from your digital communications.

Cakemail’s main drawbacks are its segmentation function and language limits.

For example, you’ll have to manually segment your lists to group your subscribers.

In addition, there’s a limit on language options, making it difficult for businesses with global readers to reach everyone.

16. Sendy

Another worthwhile tool to look into is Sendy.

This Amazon-run email marketing platform isn’t as popular as MailerLite or AWeber, but it packs a punch with its selection of features.

For example, some of its best features include multiple account management, third-party integrations, and branding tools.

Despite Sendy’s toolkit, the main issue is that it uses a license, not a company plan.

In other words, whereas a company hosts and manages the other options we discussed, Sendy is self-hosted.

That means you download the tool and handle everything yourself.

17. Zoho Campaigns

The last email marketing platform we felt worth mentioning is Zoho Campaigns.

This service does remarkable things for small business marketing by focusing on sales and engagement.

With plans starting at just $3, you’ll be able to find the perfect tools, no matter what your needs.

Zoho Campaigns’ drawbacks include its limited free plan, lack of integrations, and clunky editor.

However, its low-cost robust paid plans might make it a worthwhile service for small businesses to check out.

Other Products Relevant to Email Marketing Platforms

Email marketing platforms are invaluable, but they function best when combined with other tools.

Specifically, you’ll want to include a website builder, affiliate marketing tools, and SERP checkers in your marketing toolkit.

• Best Website Builders: A website builder is a platform that helps businesses easily create sleek, professional websites. The best website builders include themes, templates, and comprehensive plans that let you create a site without any prior coding knowledge.
• Best Affiliate Marketing Tools: Affiliate marketing is one of the most common ways bloggers and content creators monetize content. The best affiliate marketing tools include SEO features, chat marketing, and ad tracking.
• Best SERP Checkers: Search engine results page, or SERP, checkers will give you feedback on where your site lands on SERPs. The best SERP checkers will provide insight into where your site falls and why. Most importantly, you’ll be able to make informed decisions about how to improve your ranking.

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are the answers to a couple of common questions about email marketing campaigns.

Wrapping Up

Email marketing platforms eliminate the pain and frustration of creating newsletters and email promotions.

Based on our research, AWeber is the best option for any digital marketing needs.

ActiveCampaign and Sendinblue are the runners-up, so you can feel confident with any of those choices.

Now that you’ve read over all your email marketing platform options, you shouldn’t have any trouble getting your next campaign up and running.

If you’re looking for a Mailchimp alternative, there are a few things to consider.

An Overview of Mailchimp

Mailchimp is a web-based email marketing service founded in 2001.

The platform has over 17 million customers in more than 200 countries and is used by small businesses and large enterprises.

Mailchimp handles the behind-the-scenes of your email marketing (e.g., managing your mailing list, creating templates, segmenting groups, etc.) and lets you see how successful your campaigns have been.

What Is Mailchimp?

Mailchimp is a tool that lets users create and send promotional emails and targeted campaigns.

It’s one of the most popular email marketing platforms and has many components, making it suitable for businesses of all sizes.

Not only can you manage your mailing lists and create custom email templates with this tool, but you can also automate your entire marketing campaign.

Where Does Mailchimp Excel?

Mailchimp excels with the following:

• Custom email template
• Great template editor
• Ease of use
• AI-powered recommendations
• Advanced reporting
• Endless integration options
• Customizable design
• Advanced testing options

Mailchimp offers many features, including automation, segmentation, and personalization.

Mailchimp is also one of the most affordable email marketing platforms.

Where Does Mailchimp Fall Short?

• Low-level automation
• Difficulty managing lists
• Doesn’t support affiliate marketing
• High-cost subscription plans
• No email scheduling on the free plan
• Difficult campaign tracking.

Mailchimp doesn’t offer some of the more advanced features that other platforms do, such as A/B testing and lead scoring.

Mailchimp’s customer support is not as responsive as some of its competitors.

Read more in this Mailchimp review.

Best Mailchimp Alternatives: Our Top 3 Options [Ranked & Reviewed]

There are several things to think about when choosing a Mailchimp alternative.

Some of the factors you may want to consider include:

• What features does the platform offer?
• How much does the platform cost?
• How easy is the platform to use?
• Does the platform integrate with other software?

Here are nine fantastic Mailchimp alternatives:

1. Sendinblue: Our Pick

Sendinblue is a comprehensive email marketing service that helps businesses increase leads through marketing automation, email campaigns, and SMS.

Its customer service team and pricing plans are well regarded by users.

The platform combines a robust suite of services within a single, user-friendly package.

Key Features of Sendinblue

Email Marketing:

• Choose a template from the library and drag and drop blocks to create a custom email design.
• Use personalization options to add contact information to emails dynamically.
• Group contacts by any criteria you can think of and target customers effectively.
• Send time optimization makes sure emails are sent at the right time.

SMS Marketing:

• Promote time-sensitive deals by sending SMS content to your contact list.
• Use transactional SMS for order and shipping updates.
• Add individual contact details like name and company.
• Measure results with analytics and reporting.

Chat:

Build a custom chat environment and begin answering questions in real-time.

Proactive chatbots make it easy to answer common questions without lifting a finger.

You can always see which page a user is on.

Marketing Automation:

Develop rules and conditions that automatically perform tasks you want to automate.

These activities include sending emails and SMS messages, arranging contacts, welcoming new users, and updating contact information in your database.

Send automated emails based on customer behavior and automate repetitive tasks like welcome emails and abandoned cart reminders.

Use data from emails to create targeted lists and social media marketing.

Segmentation:

Split your contacts into targeted groups based on interests, purchase history, and location.

Users can be dynamically sorted into lists when they perform specific actions on your emails or website.

Best For:

Companies looking for advanced automation features.

Mailchimp vs. Sendinblue: How They Compare

Mailchimp and Sendinblue are both all-in-one email marketing platforms.

Sendinblue is smaller than Mailchimp but has a loyal following.

This product features a customizable dashboard, list segmentation, intuitive automation flows, and SMS and chat campaigns.

Mailchimp is a dominant company in the email marketing industry.

This product features intuitive drag & drop templates, many third-party integration options, and detailed reporting and analytics.

Why is Sendinblue a Great Alternative to Mailchimp?

Sendinblue offers excellent functionality at a lower price point than Mailchimp.

Sendinblue also excels with automation flows, segmentation, and personalization options.

Pros of Sendinblue

• Low cost
• Price is based on emails, not subscribers
• SMS campaign
• Custom chatbot
• CRM integration
• API integration
• A/B test automation
• Customizable interface

Cons of Sendinblue

• Restrictions on the free plan
• Limited drag & drop creation options
• Only 65 predesigned email templates
• No live chat support
• Metrics are lacking

Sendinblue Pricing:

Lite and Premium plan prices scale with the number of emails.

For example, 60,000 emails cost $45 and $94 per month, respectively.

• Free: $0 per month.
  • Unlimited contacts.
  • Up to 300 emails per day.
  • One chat user.
• Lite: $25 per month.
  • Everything in Free plan.
  • Up to 20,000 emails per month.
  • No daily sending limit.
  • Email Support.
  • A/B testing.
  • Advanced statistics.
• Premium: $65 per month.
  • Everything in Lite plan.
  • Up to 20,000 emails per month.
  • Marketing automation.
  • Facebook ads.
  • Landing pages, Multi-user access.
  • Telephone support.
• Enterprise: Custom quote.
  • Everything in the Premium plan.
  • Custom volume of emails.
  • Priority sending.
  • Over twenty landing pages.
  • Access for over ten users.
  • Customer success manager.
  • Priority support.

Conclusion: Should You Choose Sendinblue Over Mailchimp?

Yes, you should only choose Mailchimp if you need an advanced landing page builder, detailed eCommerce functionality, or integration with advanced marketing tools.

Sendinblue is reliable, lower cost, transactional, and offers SMS.

Sendinblue also has great segmentation and personalization options.

2. Convertkit: Runner-Up

Convertkit is an email service provider, landing page builder, cloud-based marketing software, and visual automation builder.

It is designed for bloggers and online entrepreneurs.

Founded in 2013 by Nathan Barry, Convertkit was one of the first companies to offer visual marketing automation.

Over 15,000 customers now use it in 140 countries.

Key Features of Convertkit

• Subscribers are only counted once, regardless of how many lists they are on.
• Tags can be converted into new segments. For example, you can tag everyone who opened an email and add those people to a new segment.
• Basic automation is easy to implement.
• The original opt-in form is saved in a user’s profile. This information can be used for tagging and segment creation.
• Simple email import and migration.

Best For:

Content creators, authors, bloggers, individual sellers, those looking for custom automation, and anyone who wants to turn their blog into a business.

Companies that need more than email marketing automation but don’t want an all-in-one solution will appreciate Convertkit.

If you’re using another tool for your website or eCommerce platform, Convertkit is a great complement.

Mailchimp vs. Convertkit: How They Compare

Convertkit provides more automation options than Mailchimp, but its reporting features lack options.

Mailchimp offers many customizable templates, and reporting is detailed and robust.

Convertkit’s segments are based on actions and behavior, while Mailchimp’s segments can be created using a variety of criteria.

Convertkit also allows you to create “sequences” which are automated emails that go out over time, while Mailchimp calls these “automation workflows.”

Convertkit provides a basic email editor, while Mailchimp has a more complex drag & drop and template-building system.

Analytics & reporting provide detailed insights into your marketing campaigns.

See how many contacts were reached, how many opened your email, and how many clicked through to your website.

Both platforms offer tagging to create new segments, but Mailchimp provides more options based on user activity.

Why is Convertkit a Great Alternative to Mailchimp?

Convertkit’s tag-based contact management is powerful and easy to use.

The automation system can be set to trigger based on many detailed actions.

Paid users can access “if/then” automation logic.

Convertkit has a simple interface that allows users to easily create and manage their email list, landing pages, and marketing.

Pros of Convertkit:

• Excellent deliverability
• Easy to create landing pages
• User-friendly
• Easy to track stats
• Sales funnels are easy to implement
• Subscription-based business model support

Cons of Convertkit:

• Relatively expensive
• Doesn’t integrate with eCommerce platforms
• Not the best for multiple clients

Convertkit Pricing:

Creator and Creator Pro plan pricing scales based on the number of subscribers.

Creator Pro can cost from $29 to over $2,500 per month.

Creator can cost from $15 to over $2300 per month.

Conclusion: Should You Choose Convertkit Over Mailchimp?

Most users should not choose Convertkit over Mailchimp.

Convertkit is more expensive, and the user interface is not as intuitive.

Mailchimp offers a more robust feature set, better deliverability, and integrations.

3. Mailerlite: Budget Pick

MailerLite is an email marketing provider that makes it simple to plan email marketing campaigns.

It can help you grow your mailing list and send emails to leads automatically.

What makes it perfect for beginners is its email templates.

No coding experience is needed since you can pick from different newsletter designs.

And if you need to make changes, the email editor is drag & drop — meaning you can make changes in a matter of minutes.

Key Features of Mailerlite:

• Advanced campaigns: You can utilize regular campaigns, A/B split campaigns, Automatic resend, and RSS campaigns.
• Segmentation functionality: Create groups and segment users based on your chosen conditions.
• Create forms: Design popups and lead magnets that help you with building an email list.
• Automation: Build triggered actions based on user behavior.
• Extended support: 24/7 chat and email support options.

Best For:

Beginners, small businesses, and anyone looking for an affordable email marketing option.

Mailchimp vs. Mailerlite: How They Compare

Mailerlite does not have as many integrations as Mailchimp.

However, it still integrates with the most popular platforms.

Mailchimp is more expensive, and its free plan does not provide as many contacts and emails.

Mailchimp’s reporting options offer more features, including conversion tracking.

Mailchimp has more design options, but Mailerlite’s are more user-friendly.

Why is Mailerlite a Great Alternative to Mailchimp?

Mailerlite integrates with the most popular platforms, has a user-friendly interface, and is more affordable than Mailchimp.

It also offers A/B testing for automated campaigns, which Mailchimp does not.

This valuable tool allows you to quickly and easily convert your followers from social media, YouTube, and other platforms into email subscribers.

With landing pages and opt-in templates, it has never been easier.

Determine which marketing strategies work best by trial and error, then use the ones that succeed.

Pros of Mailerlite

• Low-cost option
• Excellent customer support with 24/7 live chat
• Generous free plan
• Beginner friendly
• Approval process filters out spam accounts

Cons of Mailerlite

• Limited templates
• Complicated landing page editor
• Lacks expert automation options
• Could use more landing page templates

Mailerlite Pricing

Free (12,000 emails per month, up to 1,000 subscribers with one user); Growing Business ($10 per month, up to 1,000 subscribers with three users); Advanced ($21 per month, up to 1,000 subscribers with unlimited users); Enterprise (Custom, over 100k subscribers).

All prices scale with the number of subscribers.

The Growing Business plan is $239 per month with 500k subscribers, and the Advanced plan is $1,881.

Conclusion: Should You Choose Mailerlite Over Mailchimp?

You should choose Mailerlite over Mailchimp if you are on a tight budget and do not need all of the features that Mailchimp offers.

Mailerlite is more affordable and has a generous free plan.

It is also beginner-friendly with its user-friendly interface and great support.

However, Mailchimp is better if you need more components and integrations.

Notable Mentions: Other Alternatives to Mailchimp

Let’s take a look at some notable alternatives to Mailchimp:

4. Hubspot

Hubspot is a comprehensive platform that offers tools to help businesses grow.

It has sales, marketing, and customer service features all in one place.

Hubspot also offers a free CRM that gives you access to limited features.

Why Is Hubspot a Great Option?

Hubspot offers email scheduling, A/B testing, granular control over contacts, delays, and conditional logic automation.

A drag & drop email editor provides custom templates, and emails can be personalized with information gathered in the CRM.

Drawbacks to Hubspot

The price scales with added features, and it is difficult to only use some of the them as opposed to all functionality.

Ongoing tech support incurs an extra charge.

The email builder is less intuitive than some other tools.

The free CRM is lacks some features, and the paid plans are expensive.

You also need to have a fairly large team to get the most out of Hubspot.

5. ActiveCampaign

ActiveCampaign is an email marketing platform offering automation, sales software, and CRM.

This cloud-based system has what you need to execute email marketing campaigns, web analytics, and customer resource management.

Why Is ActiveCampaign a Great Option?

ActiveCampaign provides access to behavior tracking and marketing segmentation features to create the most customized campaigns for every audience.

With the drag & drop email designer, you can create responsive email templates in minutes.

If you already have email templates that represent your brand, you can simply import them into the  system and they will be integrate into ActiveCampaign.

Components include:

• An advanced automation system.
• Guaranteed email delivery.
• Integrated sales tools.
• Free migration from your current software.

Drawbacks to ActiveCampaign

ActiveCampaign may be challenging for beginners, as many advanced features can be overwhelming.

Price increases with the number of contacts and components.

There is no convenient way to filter subscribers as active or inactive.

The live chat feature can be buggy and needs to be streamlined.

6. Omnisend

Omnisend is a marketing automation solution for eCommerce retailers focused on growth.

Omnisend allows you to integrate various communication channels into a single automation process, such as email, SMS, web push notifications, and more.

Omnisend allows you to construct your customer base with a drag-and-drop visual composer for emails and email capture tools (popups, landing pages).

Automation tools assist in the creation of sophisticated workflows and the customization of your message based on client information, campaign involvement, and purchasing patterns.

Omnisend integrates with the majority of eCommerce platforms and other marketing tools.

Live chat, online knowledgebase assistance, and email are services provided monthly.

Why Is Omnisend a Great Option?

The Product Picker feature makes it easy to insert product information, and the layout is user-friendly.

You can send 500 free messages monthly, and customer service is knowledgeable and responsive.

It is simple to collect post-transaction customer feedback.

Drawbacks to Omnisend

Limited design options and lack of social media automation.

Unlimited emails are only available with the Enterprise plan.

You cannot add previous customers to automation flows; only users added with the automation system already in place.

Even More Options To Check Out

Let’s take a look at three more options:

7. Klaviyo

Klaviyo is a marketing automation platform used primarily for email and SMS marketing.

Features include lead grading, custom reports, list management, and abandoned cart flows.

Klaviyo provides easy-to-use templates, drip sequences, and automated sales alerts.

Some downsides to using Klaviyo include out-of-date design and navigation, minimal Shopify integration, and lack of SMS functionality.

8. Moosend

Moosend is an email marketing platform for those who want to manage multiple campaigns, mailing lists, newsletters, and more.

With this system, companies of any size can work on email marketing campaigns with automation tools, real-time analytics, and a drag-and-drop editor.

Moosend includes personalization, lead generation, tracking & analytics, and automation workflows.

Some issues with this platform include no mobile app, lack of predesigned email templates, subpar customer support, and lack of third-party integrations.

9. GetResponse

GetResponse is an email marketing platform that develops your mailing list, e-newsletters, automated email marketing, and statistical analysis.

Webinar hosting, landing page customization, and automated sales funnels are all included in the package.

You can use the free version forever, GetResponse is cheaper than most similar companies, and you get a discount for paying up front.

The drag & drop feature for landing pages and forms is a bit unstable, and you can’t speak to customer support unless you have a higher-level plan.

Split testing with this website builder is only possible for subject lines and content, and the builder itself is pretty outdated.

Other Alternative Roundups (Similar to Mailchimp)

Let’s look at a few more alternatives:

ActiveCampaign Alternatives

Check out these ActiveCampaign alternatives:

• SendX: SendX is fairly new to the email marketing software market. The software uses simple blocks that you can move around with ease.
• EngageBay: EngageBay is a more all-round piece of software. It utilizes email marketing software. However, they have multiple marketing, service, and sales tools.

Drip Alternatives

Now, let’s look at some Drip alternatives:

• Aweber: As far as email marketing software options go, Aweber is among the more complex. The more experienced email marketer would enjoy the ability to include their own HTML code directly, rather than being limited to blocks.
• Ortto: Ortto aims to optimize your email marketing strategy by automating as much of the process as possible.

Pipedrive Alternatives

Finally, we’ll consider some Pipedrive alternatives:

• SharpSpring: Sharpspring is often used by small businesses and agencies. The tool provides basic email marketing software options and some automation advantages.
• Emarsys: Emarsys claims to take your marketing brand and apply it directly to your email marketing campaign, providing a more personalized result.

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are the answers to the most common questions regarding the best Mailchimp alternatives.

Wrapping Up

The winner of the alternative email marketing platforms is Hubspot.

Hubspot offers many features and an impressive knowledge base full of helpful content.

Hubspot is the best alternative to Mailchimp because it provides more services and better personalization at a higher cost.

Hubspot also includes more automation and analytics features than Mailchimp, making it a good choice for companies searching for a comprehensive growth platform.

The runner-up is Active Campaign.

ActiveCampaign beats Mailchimp on deliverability, automation, and list management.

Mailchimp is less expensive, offers a free plan, and is easier to use, but ActiveCampaign provides a CRM and over 250 email templates available to all users.

Thus, the demand for online marketing platforms has risen significantly to help marketplaces expand and businesses take advantage of marketers’ skills to grow their businesses.

Among the rising stars of this industry is ActiveCampaign but there are also ActiveCampaign alternatives.

The best alternative is SendX. Let’s see why.

An Overview of ActiveCampaign

ActiveCampaign is an industry-leading, all-in-one marketing automation platform that manages contacts, drives sales, monitors engagement, and helps manage your users’ experience.

What Is ActiveCampaign?

ActiveCampaign is one of the leading email marketing platforms.

It seeks to help small-to-mid-sized businesses in their marketing efforts by automating their efforts to contact customers and improve their experiences with their online content.

Where Does ActiveCampaign Excel?

ActiveCampaign put its CRM, email marketing, and automation tools in one easy-to-use interface.

Its automation tools are versatile and can apply to several uses, which include contact management, email management, newsletter management, and even content design.

ActiveCampaign’s user-friendly interface makes launching and managing a new campaign easy.

Its analytical tools help refine your approach and boost customer engagement with your emails, landing pages, and newsletters.

Additionally, ActiveCampaign can integrate with several commonly-used apps. It helps spread your marketing campaign further and meet customers where they are.

Don’t know how to use these features after you’ve started?

Or has something gone wrong?

Use their live chat to get in touch with a representative.

Where Does ActiveCampaign Fall Short?

Although ActiveCampaign’s interface is easy to use, its options can be overwhelming, especially when you are beginning to learn how to use it.

Their lower-cost subscriptions include less training in the onboarding stage, causing you to rely on more tech support later, which only comes in the form of live chat.

When you look at an ActiveCampaign review, you’ll find out that editing text for emails will require you to go back through several steps after the preview stage, and the post editor does not always format texts consistently.

Best ActiveCampaign Alternatives: Our Top 3 Options [Ranked & Reviewed]

ActiveCampaign is among the best services in its industry, but it is not a one-size-fits-all service, nor is it the only example of excellence in this industry.

If ActiveCampaign does not sound like it works for you, consider one of our three carefully chosen alternatives.

1. SendX: Our Pick

Our Pick

Like Sendinblue, SendX is a rising star that may overtake ActiveCampaign and offers many of the same features its packages do at a significantly lower cost.

SendX offers an excellent CRM program, email automation, and content editing to help your business grow, though it may sacrifice some of the sophistication of ActiveCampaign.

Visit SendXRead SendX reviews

Like Sendinblue, SendX is a rising star that may overtake ActiveCampaign and offers many of the same features its packages do at a significantly lower cost.

SendX offers an excellent CRM program, email automation, and content editing to help your business grow, though it may sacrifice some of the sophistication of ActiveCampaign.

Key Features of SendX

SendX offers the online marketing features that new businesses need to grow and offers them an intuitive online interface.

Additionally, they are working to develop testing features and deeper analytics for their customers—all at the same affordable price.

• Email automation: SendX’s email automation workloads and response features are on par with ActiveCampaign’s and are easier to understand.
• Email Editor: SendX’s email editor lets you preview your message in real time and offers over 50 templates and over 500,000 stock images.
• Deliverability: SendX Uses more complicated, trusted software in delivering emails to get around email addresses’ spam and social filters.
• Unlimited Emails: Since charges are based on subscriber count, you can send as many emails as needed to subscribers for no additional cost.
• 24/7 Support: All levels can receive tech support at all times of the day.

Best For

Small to mid-sized business owners with a limited marketing budget 

ActiveCampaign vs. SendX: How They Compare

Compared to ActiveCampaign, SendX is a relatively new player in this field, but its features are developing quickly, and it is half the price of ActiveCampaign.

That price does not skimp on features either; automation recipes and content editors are available at SendX’s lower levels, as is CRM software.

ActiveCampaign’s features at the moment go further in-depth than SendX’s but such features are not necessary for small or mid-sized companies.

ActiveCampaign also offers extensive integration that SendX has not had a chance to catch up with yet, though their quick development suggests this will happen soon.

Why is SendX a Great Alternative to ActiveCampaign?

SendX gets the same job done as ActiveCampaign and helps complete it in a less complicated fashion, making it an upgrade alternative.

SendX offers the same type of automation, CRM features, and content features at its lowest subscription, which currently is $7.49/month.

This software offers a simpler alternative to ActiveCampaign that is just as effective at growing a business for a much lower cost.

Pros of SendX

• Affordability: SendX starts at $7.49/month, and includes the features that define ActiveCampaign’s Plus plan.
• Simplicity: SendX is easy to use and always strives for simplicity and improving its user experience.
• Quick Development: SendX may not offer certain features such as A/B testing now but will at the same price in the future.

Cons of SendX

• Lack of sophistication: experienced business owners who want more sophisticated analytics and contact management will not find it here.
• Still Developing: though it is developing fast, there are still features lacking in SendX.
• Limited Deployability: At the moment, SendX is exclusively a web/Chrome concentrated app.

SendX Pricing

• 1-1000 subscribers: $7.49/month including all features. 
• 1001-2500 subscribers: $14.99/month including all features.
• 2501-5000 subscribers: $29.99/month including all features.

Conclusion: Should You Choose SendX Over ActiveCampaign?

We think the combination of SendX’s affordability with its features makes it arguably a better candidate for starting to grow your business than ActiveCampaign.

With its proven and effective tools for email, SMS, and social media marketing and subscriber-based pricing system, there are no better tools available for you to take your first steps in online marketing.

2. Mailchimp: Runner-Up

Runner Up

Mailchimp is an email marketing platform developed over decades to include a plethora of features that help you manage your relationships with customers and increase conversion value with individual customers.

Its simple layout makes it accessible for many beginning entrepreneurs and marketers.

Visit MailchimpRead Mailchimp reviews

Mailchimp is an email marketing platform developed over decades to include a plethora of features that help you manage your relationships with customers and increase conversion value with individual customers.

Its simple layout makes it accessible for many beginning entrepreneurs and marketers.

Key Features of Mailchimp

• All-in-one platform: You can edit your ad campaigns, use your CRM, and design newsletters all without leaving the same page.  
• Greater Integration: It integrates 100s of tools for your convenience, including favorites like Slack, and includes a social media tool, which makes this an upgrade alternative.
• Excellent Support: 24/7 live chat and email support.
• Unique Customer Outreach: Mailchimp includes not only newsletters, ads, and emails but new possibilities for reaching customers such as postcards.
• Design Capability: Mailchimp has over 100 templates ready to use and customize for emails.  

Best For

Small to mid-sized businesses and business owners new to online marketing

ActiveCampaign vs Mailchimp: How They Compare

ActiveCampaign and Mailchimp are respected names in the CRM and email marketing industry but both stand out in different ways.

Both are at their core email-focused platforms but both have come to include excellent CRM programs and features.

The main differences between the two are simplicity and what you get for the price.

ActiveCampaign includes the same amount of features for a lower price while Mailchimp has a simplified, streamlined platform.

Its software guides you through every step while ActiveCampaign does not.

ActiveCampaign’s sophistication is an advantage for a veteran of the industry.

For less money than Mailchimp, you can begin customizing your campaigns to a deeper level from the outset.

Why is Mailchimp a Great Alternative to ActiveCampaign?

Though Mailchimp may be slightly more expensive, it is the closest match to Active Campaign and does not have a steep learning curve.

With its helpful automated guide, you can quickly begin your email campaigns and begin using its CRM features.

Pros of Mailchimp

• Navigability: Mailchimp makes it easy for a new business owner to begin navigating the world of online marketing.
• Affordable: Mailchimp starts with a free version and its paid plans offer extensive features for a fair price.
• Pay-as-you-go plan: Mailchimp offers an email marketing option for businesses that do not want to enter contracts or subscriptions.

Cons of Mailchimp

• Lack of Customization: Mailchimp’s workflows and customer journey portals offer no customization compared to ActiveCampaign.
• Limited Marketing Automation: A/B testing and analytical features offer less helpful and in-depth conclusions than ActiveCampaign’s.
• One-dimensional Communication: While Mailchimp offers SMS and web communication options, they are not as developed as their email communication design.

Mailchimp Pricing

• Free: starting at $0/month for up to 500 contacts.
• Essentials: starting at $11/month for 50,000 marketing contacts with automation tools, custom reports, optimization tools, and email and chat support.
• Standard: starting at $17/month for 100,000 marketing contacts with advanced automation, reporting, and expansion tools.
• Premium: starting at $299/month for all features from standard and advanced testing tools with phone support.

Conclusion: Should You Choose Mailchimp Over ActiveCampaign?

If you are just starting a business with an online presence and don’t have the budget to spend your hard-earned cash on advanced marketing analysis tools yet, Mailchimp can go a long way for you.

You can cut your teeth using this software or many other free email marketing platforms for just $0 and get used to using emails and newsletters for marketing campaigns.

If you continue to value simplicity, then you can also stick with Mailchimp into its paid tiers, which do offer many of the same features as ActiveCampaign, albeit in limited capacities.

Choosing between the two comes down to your familiarity with online marketing tools and the level of sophistication you desire in the analytical tools you can use to grow your business.

3. Campaign Monitor: Budget Pick

Also Great

Campaign Monitor has been around since 2004, making this company the same age as ActiveCampaign.

Only recently have Campaign Monitor’s staff begun adding extended features, but like Mailchimp, its email capabilities stand out in the industry and make this a great alternative for those who just need to send emails.

Visit Campaign MonitorRead Campaign Monitor reviews

Campaign Monitor has been around since 2004, making this company the same age as ActiveCampaign.

Only recently have Campaign Monitor’s staff begun adding extended features, but like Mailchimp, its email capabilities stand out in the industry and make this a great alternative for those who just need to send emails.

Key Features of Campaign Monitor

Campaign Monitor does not pretend to be an all-in-one platform, which is what makes it the budget alternative.

Its key features and pricing tiers all relate to the increased deliverability and function of email campaigns.

ActiveCampaign has the edge on CRM and analytics but Campaign Monitor’s features allow you to dedicate all energies to excellent, successful email campaigns.

• Targeting: Personalize your email campaigns with email analytics and segmentation.
• Step-by-step guide: Miss nothing in your campaign building process with Campaign Monitor’s detailed email builder.
• Testing: Run A/B tests to determine the best marketing strategy for your team and product.
• Link review: Fight link rotting by using the link review feature to make sure all links to your products remain fresh and functional.
• Expanding communication options: Campaign Monitor now offers email, SMS, and live chat as options for communication and automated channels to your customers.

Best For

Small business owners who just need basic email marketing

ActiveCampaign vs. Campaign Monitor: How They Compare

While ActiveCampaign boasts excellent CRM features and workloads, its email builder is not as detailed as Campaign Monitor’s.

Campaign Monitor is one of the few exclusive email marketing platforms.

Its email interface not only creates a more thorough email than ActiveCampaign can; it is also easier to understand and use for new business owners approaching online marketing for their business.

Campaign Monitor’s basic version also offers a great starter package for you to begin automating your emails and campaigns at an affordable price.

Campaign Monitor starts at just $9/month for extensive email features, which is much cheaper compared to ActiveCampaign’s lite plan.

The extra cost for ActiveCampaign is for more complicated marketing features and analysis, but if you do not need these features, ActiveCampaign can be rather expensive.  

Why is Campaign Monitor a Great Alternative to ActiveCampaign?

Campaign Monitor’s simplicity makes it an excellent alternative to ActiveCampaign.

For just $9/month you can start an email marketing campaign without CRM or convoluted analytics getting in the way.

Their email builder also offers more detail and help than ActiveCampaign’s, which is perfect for users focused on this single dimension.

Its support is also highly rated, which assures that you are in good hands if you hit any snags.

Pros of Campaign Monitor

• Affordability: Campaign Monitor offers fairly-priced plans for email-marketing plans, so you can focus the majority of your budget on developing your product above all.
• Simplicity/Support: Campaign Monitor’s interface is intuitive and suitable for both experienced internet/computer users and business owners who are newer to the world of such technology.
• Focused: Campaign Monitor’s single-dimension focus lends it unparalleled excellence in conducting its email campaigns.

Cons of Campaign Monitor

• Inflexible Pricing: Campaign Monitor’s pricing always scales up to the next subscriber level, meaning you would pay the same price for 30,000 or 50,000 subscribers.
• Limited Capability: Campaign Monitor is an excellent email platform, but it offers no other features for building marketing campaigns.
• Overwhelming Templates: Campaign Monitor includes so many different templates for its emails that it can be overwhelming to choose from them.

Campaign Monitor Pricing

• Basic: $9/month
• Unlimited: $29/month
• Premier: $149/month

Conclusion: Should You Choose Campaign Monitor Over ActiveCampaign?

If you are a new small business or a still growing small business just starting with email campaigns, Campaign Monitor is a better option for you than ActiveCampaign.

ActiveCampaign’s features can be overwhelming and even obstructive to those still learning how to market online and its cost includes those extra features.

Campaign Monitor’s interface is more intuitive for business owners taking their first steps to grow online and its features will introduce you to analytics and engagement tracking with emails.

Though Campaign monitor does not offer as much integration or contact possibility as ActiveCampaign, Campaign Monitor may develop these features in time.

Notable Mentions: Other Alternatives to ActiveCampaign

Active Campaign, SendX, Mailchimp, and Campaign Monitor are certainly not the only online marketing tools available, and if none of them sounded appealing to you, then perhaps these honorable mentions may help you.

HubSpot

Hubspot has earned respect as a CRM platform and developed its features to improve customer relationships over two decades.

Its free version even includes a CRM and helps users understand how it and its features work.

Visit HubSpotRead HubSpot reviews

Hubspot has earned respect as a CRM platform and developed its features to improve customer relationships over two decades.

Its free version even includes a CRM and helps users understand how it and its features work.

Why Is HubSpot a Great Option?

Though Hubspot’s paid plans are more expensive than ActiveCampaigns, they present more possibilities to grow and more tools to do so, making the costs worth it.

Their analysis, automation, and personalization features are more extensive and help you say what a customer wants to hear in messages to them.  

Drawbacks to HubSpot

Hubspot might be a little too complicated and bloated for new users.

Its deep analytics might confuse users and get in the way of making new campaigns.

In addition, while many other companies operate on monthly billing models, Hubspot uses inflexible six- or 12-month contracts.

Consequently, this can make their already high prices feel even higher.

There is also no flexible pricing, unlike with ActiveCampaign and SendX.

Moosend

Moosend, like SendX, seeks to offer email marketing at an affordable price and help businesses grow through excellent email campaigns.

Their focus is above all on refining emails and their features and appearance.

Don’t expect a CRM here.

Visit MoosendRead Moosend reviews

Moosend, like SendX, seeks to offer email marketing at an affordable price and help businesses grow through excellent email campaigns.

Their focus is above all on refining emails and their features and appearance.

Don’t expect a CRM here.

Doubling down on one aspect of online marketing has paid off for them and customers as they can offer all analytical features and design features of their email campaigns for prices based on subscribers rather than tiers.

Why Is Moosend a Great Option?

Moosend’s affordability makes it a great option and alternative to ActiveCampaign, as does its single focus.

Moosend might be the best option among the honorable mentions for customers focused on email campaigns.

They offer lovely, aesthetically pleasing templates for emails and newsletters to catch customers’ eyes, excellent analytical reporting on email marketing campaigns, and A/B testing to refine marketing strategies starting at $9/month for 500 subscribers.  

Drawbacks to Moosend

If you need a bit more than email automation, such as basic CRM features and landing page management, Moosend cannot help you.

Though affordable, it costs more than our top pick, SendX.

While SendX is $7.49/month for up to 1,000 subscribers, Moosend is nearly double the cost for the same amount of subscribers.

Aweber

Aweber is another email-first platform that has doubled down on refining its email marketing capabilities.

They seek to help business owners with building an email list and gaining customers with email campaigns and email automation but they also have landing page templates available in addition to eCommerce pages.

Visit AweberRead Aweber reviews

Aweber is another email-first platform that has doubled down on refining its email marketing capabilities.

They seek to help business owners with building an email list and gaining customers with email campaigns and email automation but they also have landing page templates available in addition to eCommerce pages.

Why is Aweber a Great Option?

Aweber’s microfocus has expanded its capacity to market through email significantly.

The company offers over 700 templates for emails, while ActiveCampaign and others offer less than 100.

The marketing automation tool is also easy to use, with analytics that can be understood and explained through several connected mobile apps.

For creating an email/newsletter campaign with a specific aesthetic, Aweber is a great option.  

Drawbacks to Aweber

Like Moosend, Aweber is limited in terms of growing your business and attracting attention.

It also comes without CRM features, and although it does have analytics and landing page creation, these do not make up for the lack of CRM.

AWeber is also more expensive than Moosend, SendX, and ActiveCampaign.

It offers fewer features, with the only real payback being its expanded content template selection.

Even More Options To Check Out

To make this list of alternatives even more useful for our readers, we’ve analyzed more options that allow you to grow your business and improve your marketing techniques.

Let’s take a look at some newcomers to the field.

Sendinblue

Sendinblue is a newcomer to the email marketing and CRM scene but it has started to make a name for itself quickly.

Sendinblue features many of the same features as ActiveCampaign, SendX, and others, and even does so in a free version.

Its free version is limited, however, as it limits the number of emails you can send.

Visit SendinblueRead Sendinblue reviews

Sendinblue is a newcomer to the email marketing and CRM scene but it has started to make a name for itself quickly.

Sendinblue features many of the same features as ActiveCampaign, SendX, and others, and even does so in a free version.

Its free version is limited, however, as it limits the number of emails you can send.

Its pricing is also its major drawback.

Though it offers a free version that can help new business owners get used to CRM and email automation, its other plans are more expensive than ActiveCampaign’s most basic package.

Omnisend

Omnisend poses itself as an alternative to all the offered options by offering unlimited “Web pushes” for all its pricing plans.

They never define what that means in the rundowns of their features, which are the same as every other email automation engine and tool.

Visit OmnisendRead Omnisend reviews

Omnisend poses itself as an alternative to all the offered options by offering unlimited “Web pushes” for all its pricing plans.

They never define what that means in the rundowns of their features, which are the same as every other email automation engine and tool.

Omnisend’s reporting features are delightfully easy to understand and their segmentation features are advanced and offered at the free level.

But ActiveCampaign and SendX’s segmentation features are just as advanced and come with more features for their price.

Getresponse

Getresponse started as an email marketing and automation service but converted to an all-in-one marketing needs suite.

Getresponse’s tools now include a website builder, live chat, and even sales-oriented features.

With the addition of these features and integration capabilities, Getresponse’s online marketing capacities have accelerated rapidly and attracted several small-business owners.

Visit GetresponseRead Getresponse reviews

Getresponse started as an email marketing and automation service but converted to an all-in-one marketing needs suite.

Getresponse’s tools now include a website builder, live chat, and even sales-oriented features.

With the addition of these features and integration capabilities, Getresponse’s online marketing capacities have accelerated rapidly and attracted several small-business owners.

Their features are extensive and starting to grow, and they offer their tools in their free version.

Their paid versions are also affordable and based on contacts, starting at $19/month for 1,000 contacts.

Other Alternative Roundups (Similar to ActiveCampaign)

ActiveCampaign is not the only online marketing solution for which customers are seeking alternatives.

As online marketing grows in relevance, more companies have entered the market and now offer their services as alternatives for the big names in the industry.

Related services have begun expanding too, such as social media managers and marketing services.

If you are seeking these other services and want to see what their alternative markets look like, feel free to see these other roundups below.  

• Mailchimp: Mailchimp is not without a list of potential replacements or alternative services. Several services claim to offer better email marketing solutions and better CRM solutions. Evaluate these alternatives yourself with this list of Mailchimp alternatives.
• Hootsuite: Hootsuite’s social media management capacities have put it on the map for many businesses. But luckily, it does not hold a monopoly. So, if Hootsuite does not sound suitable for your business or product, then check out Hootsuite alternatives.
• Pipedrive: Pipedrive has become a go-to sales manager for thousands of business owners. But others have started to migrate away from it to these Pipedrive alternatives. If you are unsure if Pipedrive can help you better than an alternative, then look at all the other services you can use.

Frequently Asked Questions

Even after extensive comparison to nine other services, there still may be unresolved questions about ActiveCampaign, which we will answer here.

Wrapping Up

ActiveCampaign is not alone in providing great marketing services to business owners seeking to use the power of the internet to their advantage.

But their success may have gone to their head, as reflected in their now less-affordable pricing.

Thus, we recommend SendX to help you begin building your business or product’s online following.

And if you only seek to launch email campaigns, then we recommend Campaign Monitor.

When someone subscribes to your list, they permit you to contact them with marketing messages in the future.

In this article, we will discuss what opt-in plugin forms are, the different types of forms available, and how to select the correct plugin for your needs.

We will also review the top 15 WordPress opt-in plugins available today.

What Are WordPress Opt-in Form Plugins?

An opt-in form is a feature on a website that allows visitors to subscribe to your email list.

The word “opt-in” means that the visitor says it’s OK for you to contact them about your products and services.

Opt-in forms are an essential tool for any email marketer because they help you grow your list of subscribers.

Types of WordPress Opt-in Form Plugins

You can choose from five basic opt-in forms.

1. Pop-up Boxes

Pop-up boxes appear as a small box that pops up on the screen.

Many marketers choose to use it in the lower right-hand corner of a web page.

2. Modal Boxes

Modal boxes are similar to pop-ups, but they appear in the middle of the screen.

3. Slide-in Boxes

Slide-in boxes are opt-ins that appear as a small box sliding in from the side of the screen.

4. Sidebars

Sidebars are opt-ins that appear in the sidebar of a website, usually on the right side.

They can be static or they can scroll with the page.

5. Notification Bars

Notification bars are opt-ins that appear at the top or bottom of a website, usually across the entire width of the screen.

Why Use a WordPress Opt-in Form Plugin?

Typically, you’ll use an opt-in form plugin for two reasons.

Increase Conversions

The first reason to use an opt-in form plugin is to increase conversions.

A conversion is when a website visitor takes the desired action that you want them to take.

For example, if you have an eCommerce store, a conversion would be when someone buys something from you.

If you have a blog, a conversion might occur when someone subscribes to your email list.

Allow Visitors to Opt-in to Emails

An opt-in form allows a visitor to subscribe to your email list so that you can contact them in the future. It’s different from a general contact form.

In this case, the visitor specifically states that they want to receive marketing messages from you.

The benefit of this is that you can send targeted emails to people who already show an interest in your products or services.

It can lead to more sales and more customers because you’re only contacting people who want to hear from you.

How to Choose the Right Opt-in Plugin

Consider the following four factors when selecting your next WordPress opt-in form plugin.

1. Integration

You’ll want to make sure that the plugin integrates with your email service provider (ESP).

For example, if you use MailChimp to send your emails, you need a plugin that provides a built-in MailChimp integration.

That way, each new lead is automatically added to your MailChimp list.

2. Ease of Use

The best plugins have a user-friendly interface and provide step-by-step instructions.

They also offer customer support in case you run into any problems.

3. Performance

The plugin should not slow down your website.

A slow website can lead to lower conversion rates and fewer subscribers.

4. Flexibility

The plugin should be flexible so that you can customize it to match your branding.

For example, the plugin should make it simple to change the colors, fonts, and text of the opt-in form.

Best WordPress Opt-in Form Plugins

It’s time to take a look at the best plugins available.

1. Thrive Leads

Thrive Leads is a popular popup plugin that allows you to create opt-in forms and pop-ups.

Our Pick

Thrive Leads is a popular popup plugin that allows you to create opt-in forms and pop-ups.

Visit Thrive LeadsRead Thrive Leads reviews

Best For

Marketers who want to increase conversions.

Notable Features

• A/B testing
• Built-in integrations
• Analytics and reporting dashboard

Pros

• Includes many different types of forms
• Offers a simple drag and drop editor
• Easy to use
• Helps you use content targeting rules
• The triggers help to segment your list

Cons

• A paywall locks some features
• High traffic sites may experience slowdowns
• Integrations sometimes require resetting

Is Thrive Leads Hard To Use?

No, the dashboard is a simple and intuitive for users.

There shouldn’t be any stumbling in the menus.

Pricing & Plans

• Thrive Suite: $99 per quarter or $299 annually

When purchasing Thrive Leads inside the Thrive Suite, you also get Thrive Quiz Builder, Thrive Optimize, Thrive Architect, Trive Comments, and four other plugins.

Our Take

Thrive Leads is an excellent plugin for increasing conversions.

It’s easy to use and offers a wide range of features.

2. MailOptinLite

MailOptinLite is a powerful WordPress opt-in form plugin.

It allows you to create beautiful opt-in forms and manage your leads in one place.

Runner Up

MailOptinLite is a powerful WordPress opt-in form plugin.

It allows you to create beautiful opt-in forms and manage your leads in one place.

Visit MailOptinLiteRead MailOptinLite reviews

Best For

Beginners looking for a simple way to collect emails.

Notable Features

• Lightbox popups
• Exit-intent popups
• Slide-in boxes

Pros

• Easy to set up A/B tests
• Integrates with many popular email marketing platforms
• Makes default WordPress signup forms look more attractive
• Can create gated content with the tool
• Reporting and analytics

Cons

• The free version (Lite) offers limited options
• No live chat support
• Offers a limited number of templates

Is MailOptinLite Hard To Use

No, the plugin includes a simple dashboard.

Pricing & Plans

• Lite: $0 per year
• Standard: $89 per year
• Pro: $199 per year
• Agency: $399 per year

Our Take

MailOptinLite is a good WordPress opt-in form plugin if you’re looking for something to get started with.

You’ll need to upgrade to a paid plan for the best features.

3. ConvertPro

ConvertPro allows you to create high-converting opt-in forms.

Also Great

ConvertPro allows you to create high-converting opt-in forms.

Visit ConvertProRead ConvertPro reviews

Best For

Businesses with high-traffic sites looking for an easy way to increase conversions.

Notable Features

• Drag and drop editor
• Exit-intent technology
• Mobile-friendly designs

Pros

• Integrates with popular email marketing platforms
• Action triggers can increase engagement
• Fast loading forms
• Offers on-click text popups
• Easy A/B testing features

Cons

• The template library is on the smaller size
• Can’t optimize forms for better performance on tablets
• Doesn’t include lightbox features

Is ConvertPro Hard To Use?

No, it’s easy to use due to its easy to follow design.

Pricing & Plans

• Convert Pro: $89 per year
• Growth Bundle: $249 per year

Our Take

ConvertPro is easy to use and offers a variety of features, including drag-and-drop editing, exit-intent technology, and mobile-friendly designs.

4. Opt-in Panda

Opt-in Panda is a WordPress opt-in form plugin that allows users to hide content until website visitors subscribe.

Opt-in Panda is a WordPress opt-in form plugin that allows users to hide content until website visitors subscribe.

Visit Opt-in PandaRead Opt-in Panda reviews

Best For

Marketers who require a gated content feature.

Notable Features

• Will integrate with services like GetResponse, Mailchimp, and more
• The unique content locking feature encourages the opt-in
• Four types of locks are available

Pros

• Allows single and double opt-ins
• Loads quickly
• Optimized for mobile devices
• Locked content remains visible for SEO purposes
• Integrates easily with Visual Composer

Cons

• Sometimes loses its integration connections
• It will potentially frustrate some site visitors
• Support isn’t always responsive

Is Opt-in Panda Hard To Use?

It’s a simple WordPress plugin to use, so the design is very intuitive for users to implement into their regular WordPress management.

Pricing & Plans

• Free

Our Take

Opt-in Panda is an excellent choice if you want the gated content feature.

5. PopUpMaker

PopUpMaker allows you to create both lightbox popups and inline forms.

With this plugin, you can choose from a variety of templates and customize them to match your website’s design.

PopUpMaker allows you to create both lightbox popups and inline forms.

With this plugin, you can choose from a variety of templates and customize them to match your website’s design.

Visit PopUpMakerRead PopUpMaker reviews

PopUpMaker also includes a powerful email marketing integration that lets you connect your opt-in forms to your email list.

Best For

An eCommerce store will appreciate this plugin.

Notable Features

• Popups for content upgrades
• Opt-in boxes that open automatically
• Upsell and cross-sell slide-ins

Pros

• Integrates with WP Forms, Ninja Forms, and more
• Popups for product categories
• Product popups
• Can target specific browsers and countries
• Add videos and images to popup forms

Cons

• Limited templates
• No preview option
• The editor is a little confusing

Is PopUpMaker Hard To Use?

No, but it takes time to understand the dashboard.

Pricing & Plans

• Start: $87 per year
• Grow: $147 per year
• Optimize: $247 per year

Our Take

PopUpMaker is a solid tool that will help you increase your conversion rate.

However, the lack of templates and preview options may be a dealbreaker for some users.

6. ConvertBox

ConvertBox is a powerful tool that allows you to customize opt-in forms based on repeat visitor history or email subscriber status.

ConvertBox is a powerful tool that allows you to customize opt-in forms based on repeat visitor history or email subscriber status.

Visit ConvertBoxRead ConvertBox reviews

Best For

Bloggers, course creators, and affiliate marketers.

Notable Features

• Pass data to and from an email service provider
• Drag and drop editor
• Real-time tracking and analytics

Pros

• A/B testing
• Exit intent forms
• Personalize by name and other data
• Easily segment leads
• Use countdown timers to encourage the opt-in

Cons

• Could use improvements with its page-by-page reporting
• No monthly pricing option
• An overwhelming number of features for new marketers

Is ConvertBox Hard To Use?

It’s easy to use the dashboard.

However, there are a dizzying array of options.

Pricing & Plans

It offers one $ 495-lifetime pricing option

Our Take

ConvertBox is the best tool on the market for customizing the user experience based on past interactions with your brand.

7. Holler Box

Holler Box is a plugin that allows you to create pop-ups and opt-ins for your website.

Holler Box is a plugin that allows you to create pop-ups and opt-ins for your website.

Visit Holler BoxRead Holler Box reviews

Best For

Agencies and small business owners.

Notable Features

• A/B testing
• Exit intent options
• Customizable design

Pros

• Integrates with major email marketing platforms
• Can create banners
• Includes a website chat feature
• Use callout popups
• Select when and where popups display

Cons

• More expensive than other options
• Plugin sometimes returns confusing error messages
• Integrations need to be reset periodically

Is Holler Box Hard To Use?

It’s easy to use for most users.

An intuitive design makes it so that there isn’t a ton of trial and error in trying to find what you want.

Our Take

Holler Box is an effective tool for increasing your website’s engagement.

8. Hustle

Hustle will help you improve website conversions via its opt-in forms.

Hustle will help you improve website conversions via its opt-in forms.

Visit HustleRead Hustle reviews

Best For

Any type of business currently struggling to convert website traffic into leads.

Notable Features

• Unique opt-in forms for mobile devices and desktops
• CSS customization options
• Smart triggers for slide-ins and popups

Pros

• Includes social sharing buttons
• Integration with a variety of email service providers
• Supports both Gutenberg and Classic Editor in WordPress
• The Recaptcha option fights spam
• Analytics and reporting

Cons

• Some users report that the plugin deletes itself
• Integrations don’t always “fire”
• The support team isn’t responsive

Is Hustle Hard To Use?

No, it’s easy to install and use without much learning involved.

Pricing & Plans

• Free

Our Take

Hustle does have some cons.

However, most plugins do.

The pros far outweigh them.

9. Icegram

Icegram helps you grow and nurture your tribe.

Icegram helps you grow and nurture your tribe.

Visit IcegramRead Icegram reviews

Best For

Any type of business can use Icegram.

Notable Features

• Automated relays and saved submissions
• Security checks
• Offers 12 different types of messaging features

Pros

• Comes with ready-to-use campaigns
• Behavior triggers
• Retargeting
• Analytics
• Unlimited usage

Cons

• The dashboard isn’t intuitive
• Multiple options cause some confusion
• You need to sometimes reset its integrations

Is Icegram Hard To Use?

You should plan to take the time to understand all the dashboard options at first.

Pricing & Plans

• Free

Our Take

The wide range of features makes Icegram a worthy choice.

10. Sumo 

Sumo is a free WordPress opt-in form plugin that offers a wide range of features and options.

Sumo is a free WordPress opt-in form plugin that offers a wide range of features and options.

Visit SumoRead Sumo reviews

Best For

All types of businesses can put the power of Sumo to work.

Notable Features

• Welcome mat features
• Smart Mode list builder popup
• Click triggers

Pros

• Can set it up in under 60 seconds
• Offers a free-forever plan
• Integrates with all major email service providers
• Can customize the forms to match your website’s color scheme
• Social media share buttons

Cons

• The free version includes Sumo branding
• The paid plan is expensive
• The interface isn’t as intuitive as other options

Is Sumo Hard To Use?

No, but the interface takes some getting used to.

Pricing & Plans

• Free
• Pro: $39 per month

Our Take

Sumo is a nice tool for businesses of all sizes.

The free plan is generous and the paid plan packs in interesting features.

11. Bloom

Bloom is a plugin created by Elegant Themes.

Bloom is a plugin created by Elegant Themes.

Visit BloomRead Bloom reviews

Best For

Bloggers, affiliate marketers, and eCommerce businesses can use Bloom.

Notable Features

• Time popups
• Scrolling opt-in forms
• On-click forms

Pros

• Over 100 templates to choose from
• Exclude specific website pages
• Integrates with plenty of email software
• Automatic fly-in popup forms
• Can lock premium content

Cons

• Doesn’t include a drag and drop form builder
• No exit-intent popup options
• Can’t purchase it as a standalone plugin

Is Bloom Hard To Use?

Users find it intuitive and have little hassle getting up and running.

Pricing & Plans

You must purchase an Elegant Themes membership to use Bloom.

• Annual: $89 per year
• Lifetime: $249

Our Take

Bloom works well for anyone already using the Elegant Theme platform.

12. OptinMonster

OptinMonster is one of the most popular plugins available, with a lot of features and an easy-to-use interface.

OptinMonster is one of the most popular plugins available, with a lot of features and an easy-to-use interface.

Visit OptinMonsterRead OptinMonster reviews

Best For

People who want to increase conversions with powerful pop-ups, exit-intent forms, and floating bars.

Notable Features

• Floating bars
• Lightbox popups
• Scroll boxes

Pros

• Integrates well with major email service providers
• Use gamified wheels
• Over 100 templates are available
• Geolocation targeting
• Easily add unique content to each opt-in form

Cons

• Customer support isn’t as responsive as other options
• CSS features don’t always work well
• The free plugin version provides limited features

Is OptinMonster Hard To Use?

No, it’s a relatively simple WordPress plugin with a design that should allow for a seamless implementation.

Pricing & Plans

• Free
• Basic: $9 per month
• Plus: $19 per month
• Pro: $29 per month
• Growth: $49 per month

Our Take

OptinMonster is one of the industry’s leaders.

It’s well worth the investment when using a paid plan.

13. Elementor Pro Popup Builder

Elementor Pro Popup Builder is one of the most versatile plugins on the market.

Elementor Pro Popup Builder is one of the most versatile plugins on the market.

Visit Elementor Pro Popup BuilderRead Elementor Pro Popup Builder reviews

Best For

All business types.

Notable Features

• Simple drag and drop editor
• Build custom opt-in forms
• Display conditions and triggers

Pros

• No coding skills required
• Content lock features
• Exit intent popup forms
• Use it for sales promotions
• Upsell features

Cons

• Exit animations are not as good as other options
• No split testing features
• Reporting features aren’t as robust as other plugins

Is Elementor Pro Popup Builder Hard To Use?

No, the drag and drop builder makes it easy to use.

Pricing & Plans

• Essential: $49 per year
• Expert: $199 per year
• Agency: $399 per year

Our Take

If you’re looking for a plugin that comes with almost every essential feature, consider using Elementor Pro Popup Builder.

14. WP Subscribe

WP Subscribe is one of the most user-friendly WordPress optin form plugins available.

WP Subscribe is one of the most user-friendly WordPress optin form plugins available.

Visit WP SubscribeRead WP Subscribe reviews

Best For

All types of businesses can put WP Subscribe to work.

Notable Features

• Popup animations and triggers
• Popup previews
• Attractive designs

Pros

• Show related articles inside your popup forms
• No coding required
• Mobile-friendly designs
• Supports shortcodes
• Opt-in forms come optimized for speed

Cons

• The plugin stops working periodically
• Fewer features than other options
• Support always helps but sometimes takes a while to respond

Is WP Subscribe Hard To Use?

No, it’s easy to implement and users should have little issue navigating the program.

Pricing & Plans

• Free plan for one site
• Unlimited sites plan: $19
• Unlimited sites membership: $199

Our Take

WP Subscribe is a good choice if you’re looking for an opt-in form plugin that’s easy to use and doesn’t require any coding.

15. MailPoet

MailPoet is a freemium WordPress opt-in form plugin that allows you to create beautiful opt-in forms and manage your subscribers.

MailPoet is a freemium WordPress opt-in form plugin that allows you to create beautiful opt-in forms and manage your subscribers.

Visit MailPoetRead MailPoet reviews

Best For

Bloggers and affiliate marketers with smaller businesses.

Notable Features

• Single and double opt-in forms
• A/B split testing
• Drag and drop editor

Pros

• Use images in your opt-in forms
• Can use the built-in MailPoet email plugin
• Use it to send newsletters
• Basic engagement analytics
• Plenty of templates

Cons

• Must upgrade for detailed statistics
• Google Analytics integration requires a paid plan
• Best segmentation options come with paid plans only

Is MailPoet Hard To Use?

No, it’s a simple plugin to learn and use.

Pricing & Plans

• Starter: Free
• Creator: $8 per month
• Business: $10 per month
• Agency: $30 per month

Our Take

MailPoet is a quality WordPress opt-in form plugin for those just starting their online business.

The paid plans are affordable.

WordPress Opt-in Form Examples

Looking at examples of companies and brands using WordPress opt-in forms helps when you need ideas for your WordPress website.

FabFitFun makes good use of a simple opt-in form in the footer of its website.

At Backlinko.com, Brian Dean uses an effective “above-the-fold” opt-in form to attract new subscribers.

He makes sure website visitors understand that they won’t find Dean’s newsletter content on his website.

On his website, Neil Patel, uses a full-page opt-in form.

It encourages visitors to enter their website URL to receive a free website audit.

Jon Morrow gives his Smart Blogger visitors an interesting exit-intent popup when they try to leave.

It uses an industry-relevant image and offers a 3-part video series.

How To Use an Opt-in Form in WordPress

It’s simple to set up an opt-in form using a plugin in WordPress.

You can install most plugins directly from your WordPress dashboard by going to Plugins > Add New and searching for the plugin by name.

Once you install the plugin and activate it, you’ll need to configure it according to your needs.

Each plugin offers its own settings page where you can add fields, customize the form’s appearance, and more.

If you can’t find the plugin by searching for it, then you can always download it from the WordPress.org plugin directory and upload it to your site manually.

After installing and activating your favorite plugin, follow these steps.

Select the opt-in form type you want to use on your website.

There are many different types of opt-in forms, so be sure to choose the one that’s right for you.

Configure the plugin settings to match your preferences.

You can usually find the settings page by going to Settings > Optin Forms in your WordPress dashboard.

Place the opt-in form on your website using a shortcode or widget.

Most plugins will provide a shortcode that you can copy and paste into any post or page on your site.

Test the opt-in form to make sure it’s working properly.

Be sure to test all the fields and submit the form several times to make sure everything is working as it should.

Wrapping Up

WordPress optin form plugins make it easy to collect email addresses from your website visitors.

Most plugins offer a wide range of customization options.

Select one or two from the above list and investigate them in detail.

Choose the one that meets your needs and put it to use on your site.

Email marketing campaigns may help you engage your customers better and gain more sales.

Since the top email marketing platforms are Mailchimp and Constant Contact, you must decide which one is right for your business.

This guide will teach all about Constant Contact vs Mailchimp and which one is best for you.

Hear about the similarities and differences between Contact Contact and Mailchimp.

We look into templates, design, automation, integrations, and reporting features between the two email marketing platforms.

Most importantly, you will find out the advantages and disadvantages of Constant Contact vs Mailchimp.

Read on to learn all the details behind the two email platforms!

What is Constant Contact?

When I worked as a marketing manager for a legal services company, I used Constant Contact for sending email marketing campaigns to lawyers and other legal firms.

So, what is Constant Contact?

Constant Contact is an online marketing services company founded in 1995 which serves various small businesses.

The platform from Constant Contact allows business owners to monitor and send email marketing operations.

You can also use it for social media marketing and developing websites and online stores.

What is Mailchimp?

When I worked for a nonprofit organization, I utilized Mailchimp to send out impressive email campaigns and provide health information to everyday people.

Mailchimp is an email marketing tool that enables business owners to communicate with their customers and others interested in their products or services.

Mailchimp provides contact management facets, a well-designed email marketing campaign, sound data analytics, and several advanced features.

Suitable Users

The best email marketing service focuses on specific audiences and does not provide an infinite amount of capabilities for any possible customer base.

When too many diverse clients are part of the game, email marketing services tend to lack the customized features consumers need.

Who is Constant Contact For?

Constant Contact is valuable for small businesses.

The email marketing software from Constant Contact is perfect for the commerce industry and small shops.

It provides companies with online store development and other e-commerce capabilities.

Currently, the email solution provider has more than 600,000 customers.

Who is Mailchimp For?

Mailchimp provides an email marketing service for a wide range of customers.

The diverse consumer base includes one-person startups, small businesses, nonprofit organizations, and even Fortune 500 companies.

Even bloggers use Mailchimp.

The industries represented include:

• Food services
• Finance
• Education and training
• Government
• Health and fitness
• Insurance
• Legal services
• And more

When to Use Constant Contact Vs Mailchimp

Email and digital marketing solutions serve a variety of roles and provide different features.

Each consumer can decide which email marketing tool is best for them based on customer support services, automation capabilities, and other email marketing features.

When to Choose Mailchimp?

When considering Mailchimp vs Constant Contact, choose Mailchimp when looking for a user-friendly interface and gorgeous designs for your email template.

You can also split test your email marketing campaigns through the platform to see which time is best to send them.

When to Choose Constant Contact?

If you are looking for email marketing software with an easy-to-use interface and a simple design, then Constant Contact is the right choice.

Constant Contact is perfect for beginners as well as those with advanced email campaign marketing expertise.

Comparison Between Constant Contact and Mailchimp

Constant Contact alternatives include Mailchimp Pro and the standard Mailchimp email marketing platform.

Essentially, Constant Contact and Mailchimp do have some similarities.

Nonetheless, they also have divergences in terms of:

• Email list management
• Templates
• Analytics
• Each automation feature
• Designs
• Integrations
• Reporting
• Phone support and customer service

List Management

Email list management involves collecting important information about subscribers to your email solution account.

Using specific marketing strategies to assess business email lists can help marketers better understand their consumer base.

It allows marketers to figure out whether a specific email campaign will effectively target their audience.

How is Constant Contact’s List Management?

Constant Contact’s list management features involve adding client emails and organizing customers based on industry or other characteristics.

Doing so allows small businesses to target the right audience in each email.

Some features include tagging, segmenting contacts, integrating with Outlook, and storing a wide amount of information on each customer.

How is Mailchimp’s List Management?

Mailchimp’s list management capabilities allow you to create a master list and import lists from zip files and more.

Lastly, you can identify groups within each list and match customers to each group.

Mailchimp also lets you track which groups open your emails the most.

Templates and Design

The right email template needs to have compatibility among various devices and a consistent layout.

The design of any email newsletter needs to consistently match the company brand.

Automated email features and visual graphics that align with the content may help.

What are Constant Contact’s Templates and Design?

Constant Contact has 100 built-in email templates for you to choose from.

As such, you should have enough choices without an infinite amount to look through.

You can also use layout and column features to create the best email newsletter for your audience.

What are Mailchimp’s Templates and Design?

On Mailchimp, you can reuse past email templates or edit those you’ve used before.

Along with more than 100 email templates available to choose from on this platform, Mailchimp also provides a chance to produce a personal brand template.

Reporting and Analytics

Email marketing software features reporting and analytics to help marketers better assess and engage their audience.

For instance, Constant Contact uses the Google Analytics application while Mailchimp has its reporting capabilities.

With analytics, you’ll see which campaigns get the most openings and clicks.

What is the Strength of Constant Contact’s Reporting and Analytics?

The Constant Contact email platform has the key strength of simplifying the reporting procedure.

All essential statistics are available in one simple chart.

As such, users will easily understand the analytics of Constant Contact and gather all relevant data in one spot.

It also integrates Google Analytics.

What is the Strength of Mailchimp’s Reporting and Analytics?

Mailchimp has its reporting features that provide real-time statistics and a Click Map that tells you where your customers clicked after opening your email newsletters.

You can even obtain comprehensive revenue reports that will track sales from each email campaign.

Automation

The best email marketing services include automation features so that you don’t spend needless hours creating the perfect email template.

For instance, you can create an automatic email sent to consumers who had products in their online cart but didn’t finish purchasing.

Send an automatic email with a discount to tempt the customer to buy the products.

What Automation Feature Does Constant Contact Have?

Constant Contact allows you to send automatic emails including welcome emails, emails for those with abandoned online carts, and anniversary or birthday emails.

You can even have automatic resending of emails to customers who failed to open the initial newsletter.

What Automation Feature Does MailChimp Have?

Mailchimp provides automated emails such as those based on specific dates like birthdays or ones that are triggered based on the actions an email subscriber takes.

Integrations

Email marketing platforms also tend to have integration capabilities, such as downloading email contacts from Outlook, Gmail, your files, and other email systems.

Further, integration can involve combining multiple tools and systems to streamline the production of email campaigns.

Constant Contact’s Integrations

Constant Contact has numerous integrations to consider.

For example, you can add Eventbrite attendees to Constant Contact subscriber lists and contacts from Google Sheets, Gravity Forms submitters, and Google Contacts.

Calix Marketing Cloud also recently announced an integration with Constant Contact.

You can even integrate Mailchimp subscribers to the platform.

Mailchimp’s Integrations

Similarly, you can add your subscribers from Constant Contact to Mailchimp in case you decide to switch your email marketing platform.

Generally, you can integrate nearly any app with the Mailchimp platform including Shopify, Salesforce, HubSpot, and WordPress.

Design and Flexibility

Every email newsletter process comes with many design factors.

The factors include the background, visual imagery, and even call-to-action buttons.

Flexible email templates are also essential.

They can make automatic emails and other newsletters.

Flexibility provides simple processes to customize borders, backgrounds, paragraphs, and more.

Constant Contact’s Design and Flexibility

Depending on the price point, Constant Contact can provide you with more than 200 email templates and designs to choose from.

You will have the ability to customize the design and the text blocks.

Constant Contact provides greater flexibility in terms of designing the type of newsletters you prefer.

Mailchimp’s Design and Flexibility

Mailchimp also provides enough flexibility to customize an email with the colors you prefer, the fonts that make the best impact, and the images in the sizes you choose.

You can also personalize emails with sign-up forms and automation features.

Email Marketing Features

You should find numerous email marketing features on both Mailchimp and Constant Contact.

The best email platforms have robust analytics features, optimization for mobile devices, automation capabilities, and third-party app integrations.

Email surveys are also effective features for marketers.

What to Know About Constant Contact’s Email Marketing Features

Constant Contact includes features like automation and interactive email templates.

For instance, the platform can trigger automatic emails based on subscribers’ actions.

Constant Contact allows email newsletters to include interactive content like RSVPs and responses to surveys.

It also allows tracking in real-time.

What to Know About Mailchimp’s Email Marketing Features

Via Mailchimp, you can manage subscriber lists, data analytics and click-through rates, and social media sharing.

Some other features include mobile signup forms, subscriber email testing, and customization of email designs.

You’ll benefit from detailed analytics and an easy-to-use interface.

Reporting

Reporting features via email marketing platforms provide a plethora of information, including:

• The growth of subscriber lists
• Real-time data
• Reports based on your company brand
• Overall engagement
  • Click-through rates, open rates, and bounce rates

The best email marketing report should also include how many people unsubscribed, recent subscribers, business metrics, and a list of the best-performing campaigns.

Constant Contact’s Reporting

Constant Contact has various analytics features to assess the success of email campaigns.

You can track the click-through rates, email open rates, and the number of newsletters sent.

You can download every report and save it for future use.

You can also compare the metrics with industry standards and prior email campaigns.

MailChimp’s Reporting

Similar to Constant Contact, the Mailchimp reports also show the number of clicks and email opening rates.

You can also view landing page reports about the number of clicks, views, and signup rate.

You can even see how well your social media channels are engaging customers.

Registration Forms

Email marketing involves registering subscribers and producing effective registration forms for potential consumers.

When you create an account on Mailchimp or Constant Contact, you need to create an email signup or a registration form.

Then, you can share the form through social media channels and other means.

Constant Contact’s Registration Forms

Constant Contact includes professional email sign-up forms with mobile-optimized and security features.

You can personalize the email signup form to fit your website and your company brand.

Further, you can integrate email marketing services to simplify registration forms.

MailChimp’s Registration Forms

To create a Mailchimp registration form, click on the audience and then choose the audience dashboard.

Now, pick the “current audience” and click “Manage Audience.”

Now, you can pick “signup forms” and then the “Form Builder” button.

Highlight and copy the signup form URL and paste it into a new browser tab.

Now, right-click and pick the “View Page Source” tab.

Now, you can edit the signup form and customize it.

Landing Pages

There are numerous landing pages available through email marketing platforms, such as online store pages, lead generation pages, product description pages, and subscription pages.

Constant Contact’s Landing Pages

Constant Contact provides customized landing pages that allow you to boost your conversion rates.

Constant Contact’s landing page builder allows you to quickly design your website landing pages without needing to manually code them on your site.

Mailchimp’s Landing Pages

Mailchimp also provides a landing page builder feature.

Here, you can choose your favorite template and customize it to fit your company brand.

You can also produce the URL for the landing page.

Also, you can choose your audience, tags, and tracking features.

Ease of Use

What is the easiest email marketing platform to use?

Which one has the best user-friendly interface?

Which one is best for beginners and which one is better for experts?

You can find the answers to these questions below.

Is Constant Contact Easy to Use?

Constant Contact is the easiest email marketing system to utilize.

The platform is also great for beginners, especially since it has a simple interface where you can easily manage the contact lists, calendar of campaigns, and email templates.

Is Mailchimp Easy to Use?

Mailchimp may not be the perfect choice for beginners, but, once you get the hang of it, the interface is one of the simplest to get used to due to the drag-and-drop capabilities.

You should also find the email editor easy to use.

Customer Service

An easy-to-use interface isn’t always enough.

Email solution platforms also require effective customer service capabilities.

From live chat options to phone support, the best email marketing system aims to solve customers’ problems.

What is Constant Contact’s Customer Service System?

The customer service phone number for Constant Contact is 866-289-2101 for those in the United States and Canada.

The company also provides a live chat option for its customers to talk with a specialist.

You can find other customer service phone numbers here.

What is Mailchimp’s Customer Service System?

Mailchimp does not offer as many options for customer service support.

You can choose a topic in a form ranging from technical support and account access to billing and contact sales.

Once you pick the topic, you will see tutorials and guides as well as a contact form for customer service support.

Pricing

What is the price of Constant Contact vs Mailchimp?

There are multiple different pricing plans to choose from with more features and email templates when you pay more.

If affordability matters to your needs, then check out the pricing plans below.

Constant Contact’s Pricing Plans

The pricing plans for Constant Contact have tiered costs that start as little as $9.99 per month and can grow above $300 under the Core pricing plan.

You can get away with $9.99 a month if you have 500 or fewer contacts.

The Plus pricing plan starts at $45 per month and grows to $410 per month when the contact list grows above 45,000 subscribers.

Mailchimp’s Pricing Plans

Mailchimp has one very simple plan starting at $0 and then grows to the Essentials pricing plan at $11 per month, the Standard pricing plan at $17 per month, and the Premium pricing plan at $299 per month.

What are the Similarities Between Constant Contact and Mailchimp?

Mailchimp and Constant Contact both provide data analytics reports including click-through and open rates.

Further, both email marketing platforms provide automated emails after you customize your account.

Lastly, both Mailchimp and Constant Contact enable A/B testing to see which email variations work best.

Pros and Cons of Constant Contact and Mailchimp

You’ll find numerous benefits along with disadvantages of the two email solution providers for business owners and nonprofits.

Pros

The pros of email marketing systems include automation, customized email templates, integration, data analytics reports, and easy-to-use platforms.

Also, straightforward email list management benefits customers as well.

What to Like about Mailchimp

Mailchimp has numerous reporting feature benefits and user-friendly design features.

Mailchimp also provides more automation capabilities than Constant Contact at a more affordable cost.

In addition, you can obtain more A/B testing options through Mailchimp.

What to Like about Constant Contact

Constant Contact has a higher deliverability rate than Mailchimp, so you can rest assured the emails make their way to customers’ inboxes.

You’ll love the simple design and the easy-to-navigate interface.

It’s perfect for beginners as well as those with advanced skills.

It also integrates with Google Analytics and Eventbrite.

Cons

Nonetheless, every email solution provider comes with certain drawbacks and disadvantages.

Below, I detail the cons of Mailchimp and Constant Contact.

What Not to Like about Mailchimp

The interface on Mailchimp is more awkward to use and somewhat outdated compared to more modern platforms.

Since it is a membership-based site, it is more difficult to import email contacts.

The email templates are rather basic and customers spend more time creating a well-designed template.

What Not to Like about Constant Contact

The email templates on Constant Contact lack advanced features and workflows.

Essentially, the email templates are limited in terms of customization.

The automation capabilities are also limited.

Can You Transfer Contacts Between Mailchimp and Constant Contact?

It is possible to transfer all of your email contacts from Mailchimp to Constant Contact and vice versa.

You will need to follow the steps below.

Transferring Contacts From Mailchimp to Constant Contact

1. Go to the Audience tab on Mailchimp
2. Click the “Current Audience”
3. Press “View Contacts”
4. Click on “Export Audience”
5. Choose “Export as CSV”
6. Unzip the Mailchimp files
7. Upload the Mailchimp contact list to Constant Contact

Transferring Contacts From Constant Contact to Mailchimp

1. Go to the Contacts section and click “Active”
2. Select “all active contacts” and click export
3. Pick the fields you want and then click “Export Contacts”
4. Then choose Download CSV

Final Word

The complete guide detailing Constant Contact vs Mailchimp should have helped you decide which platform is best for you.

You can pick the best automation capabilities, data analytics reports, and integration features.

What email marketing system are you planning to use?

Let us know!

In this article, you will learn how ActiveCampaign works, what the ActiveCampaign pricing model is, how it compares to other services in the market, and whether it is worth it for you.

What is ActiveCampaign?

ActiveCampaign is an email marketing platform that helps businesses manage their entire customer experience workflow.

The platform includes opt-in email forms, list management, list segmentation, email automation, customer relationship management (CRM), and many other features.

ActiveCampaign’s marketing automation software caters to small to medium-sized businesses and has successfully served them thus far.

With over 145,000 customers from almost 200 countries (as of April 2021), the company is valued at over $3 billion.

Most of its new customers come from word of mouth.

The ActiveCampaign enterprise is also one of the more user-friendly services available, helping it cater to solo entrepreneurs and bloggers and larger companies looking to step up their e-commerce and SaaS marketing efforts.

The drag-and-drop editor lets customers set up email autoresponders based on timing, on-site user behavior, user intent, buying history, browsing history, geo-location, and more.

ActiveCampaign combines scaled pricing, user-friendliness, customer support, and marketing/sales capability to help small and medium-sized businesses run their marketing more effectively.

How Does ActiveCampaign Work?

ActiveCampaign is a cloud-based service.

Once logged in, the software allows users to create new automations (email campaigns), manage email lists, view recent subscribers, set up opt-in forms, and view analytics reports.

The core of ActiveCampaign’s service is its automation capability.

Customers can create workflows that run in the background without additional input.

Utilizing automation is a great way to increase customer retention.

For example, you can tell ActiveCampaign to automatically send an email about a specific product only to people who have clicked to read an article about a similar topic.

This type of targeting is more likely to have a higher conversion rate, while not over-selling to the rest of your list who might not be interested in that product.

The software can do this without needing someone to manually segment the list and send an email blast each time.

ActiveCampaign also features machine-learning algorithms to analyze prospect/customer data and offer insights to help businesses make more effective decisions.

Overall, ActiveCampaign helps businesses save time, market more effectively, and increase sales.

ActiveCampaign Pricing

ActiveCampaign’s pricing is broken up into three tiers, starting with the most affordable.

Lite Plan

ActiveCampaign Lite plan pricing:

• 500 contacts: $9 per month (yearly) or $15 per month (monthly)
• 1000 contacts: $29 per month (yearly) or $30 per month (monthly)
• 2,500 contacts: $49 per month (yearly) or $61 per month (monthly)
• 5,000 contacts: $79 per month (yearly) or $99 per month (monthly)
• 10,000 contacts: $139 per month (yearly) or $174 per month (monthly)
• 25,000 contacts: $229 per month (yearly) or $286 per month (monthly)
• 50,000 contacts: $339 per month (yearly) or $424 per month (monthly)
• 75,000 contacts: $449 per month (yearly) or $561 per month (monthly)
• 100,000 contacts: $549 per month (yearly) or $687 per month (monthly)
• >100,000 contacts: Customized pricing

This ActiveCampaign enterprise pricing plan includes marketing automation, email marketing sorftware, unlimited emails, the drag-and-drop builder, pre-made email templates, opt-in forms, segmentation, site and event tracking, and campaign/automation reporting.

The Lite plan supports one user login at a time.

Plus Plan

ActiveCampaign Plus plan pricing:

• 500 contacts: $49 per month (yearly) or $70 per month (monthly)
• 1,000 contacts: $49 per month (yearly) or $70 per month (monthly)
• 2,500 contacts: $99 per month (yearly) or $125 per month (monthly)
• 5,000 contacts: $149 per month (yearly) or $186 per month (monthly)
• 10,000 contacts: $229 per month (yearly) or $287 per month (monthly)
• 25,000 contacts: $379 per month (yearly) or $474 per month (monthly)
• 50,000 contacts: Customized pricing

The Plus plan offers everything in the Lite plan plus:

• landing pages,
• Facebook Custom Audiences,
• contact scoring,
• SMS marketing,
• conditional content,
• advanced reporting,
• CRM with sales automation,
• lead scoring,
• customer success pipelines
• advanced customer experience management features.

In addition, up to 25 users can have unique logins.

Professional Plan

ActiveCampaign Professional plan pricing:

• 500 contacts: $149 per month (yearly) or $187 per month (monthly)
• 1,000 contacts: $149 per month (yearly) or $187 per month (monthly)
• 2,500 contacts: $149 per month (yearly) or $187 per month (monthly)
• 5,000 contacts: $209 per month (yearly) or $262 per month (monthly)
• 10,000 contacts: $339 per month (yearly) or $424 per month (monthly)
• 25,000 contacts: $549 per month (yearly) or $686 per month (monthly)
• 50,000 contacts: Customized pricing

This is ActiveCampaign’s most popular plan, offering some powerful machine learning features.

These include predictive sending, predictive content, marketing attribution, split automations, site messages, sales engagement automation, win probability, and personalized product experiences.

This plan also offers CXA strategy consultations and access to quarterly business reviews from the ActiveCampaign team.

Up to 50 users can create accounts.

Enterprise Plan

ActiveCampaign’s Enterprise plan only offers custom pricing.

With this plan, you receive everything in the other plans plus a host of customization options.

This plan is tailored to larger businesses that want domain support, onboarding, training, custom reporting, design services, email marketing software, and more.

ActiveCampaign Pricing Comparisons

Here is how ActiveCampaign’s pricing compares to some of its competitors.

ActiveCampaign Pricing vs. Mailchimp Pricing

MailChimp is a cheaper ActiveCampaign alternative, with a free option if you have 2,500 subscribers or less.

MailChimp’s premium tiers are cheaper than ActiveCampaign, and MailChimp stays cheaper even as your subscriber base scales up.

However, MailChimp’s email marketing software comes with fewer features overall.

ActiveCampaign Pricing vs. HubSpot Pricing

HubSpot separates its pricing into three tiers.

They are more expensive than ActiveCampaign.

HubSpot’s Starter package starts at $50 per month, their Professional package starts at $500 per month, and their Enterprise package starts at $1,200.

While HubSpot can cater to smaller and medium-sized businesses, it is best for companies with large budgets.

ActiveCampaign Pricing vs. Constant Contact

Constant Contact is cheaper than ActiveCampaign.

It starts at $9.99 per month for their Core plan and $45 per month for their Plus plan.

As the service scales, it stays cheaper than ActiveCampaign.

However, Constant Contact has a monthly send limit of 24 email times your total contacts.

Beyond this, you will pay a fee of $0.002 per email.

Limitations like this aren’t an issue for companies sending fewer emails.

However, some companies could quickly go over this limit.

ActiveCampaign Pricing vs. Emma

Emma starts at $99 per month for up to 10,000 contacts.

They also only offer annual contracts, which might not suit smaller businesses or content creators.

Their other two tiers are priced at $159 per month and $299 per month, respectively, for up to 10,000 contacts.

If you have more than 10,000 contacts, you must contact them for a custom quote.

If you have around 10,000 contacts, Emma is cheaper than ActiveCampaign.

Is ActiveCampaign Worth It?

Compared to other services, ActiveCampaign is on the more expensive end overall.

However, businesses with small contact lists can start cheaply and scale up as their business/contact list grows.

When it comes to the actual service offered, ActiveCampaign offers more advanced features than most of its competitors.

If you want to use targeted automation to increase sales, ActiveCampaign can be an ROI-positive option.

If you also wish to access machine-learning data to improve your decision-making, ActiveCampaign is one of the only SMB-facing services that offer this data.

However, if you won’t get as much value from segmenting your audience and targeted automation, then a less expensive email marketing service might suit your business better.

Wrapping Up

Overall, ActiveCampaign is a powerful tool focused on helping its customers save time, optimize marketing efforts, and increase sales.

Customer results indicate that if ActiveCampaign is right for you and fits into your budget, it has the potential to make a positive impact on your bottom line when utilized correctly.

For this reason it’s a smart idea to start your email list as early as you can, so you can continue to build it as you grow your blog.

To do this, you’ll need somewhere to collect, store, and send emails to your subscribers.

That’s where an email marketing tool comes in.

Here you’ll be able to create sign-up forms to capture subscribers, set up content upgrades or automated welcome sequences, and send newsletters or other marketing emails to readers.

There are lots of email marketing tools available, but in this feature we’ll be comparing two of the most popular for bloggers — ConvertKit and Mailchimp.

In this review we’ll cover:

• Pricing
• Features
• Analytics
• Integrations
• Experience and Support
• Our Verdict

Pricing

As a new blogger, or an experienced blogger who wants to save on monthly expenses, price can be a key factor in which email marketing software you choose.

This may be especially true in this battle between the giants of Mailchimp and ConvertKit, as one offers a free plan and the other doesn’t.

Mailchimp is one of only a handful of email marketing tools to offer a free plan.

The free plan is suitable for bloggers with an email list smaller than 2,000 subscribers, so it’s great for beginners or bloggers with a new list.

On this plan you’re limited by how many emails you can send per month, but this is generously capped at 12,000.

While the plan misses out on some advanced features, it’s a popular place to start as there’s no pressure to grow and monetize your list straight away.

Beyond the free plan, both Mailchimp and ConvertKit work on subscriber count based pricing model.

The service remains the same, but you pay a higher cost if your subscriber numbers increase.

Here’s a comparison table of what you can expect to pay based on subscriber count at Mailchimp and ConvertKit.

As you can see from the table above, you can expect to pay around $20 more per month for a similar number of subscribers if you choose ConvertKit over Mailchimp.

If you want to trial both services before you make a decision, you can sign up for the “Free” plan with Mailchimp or opt for a 14-day trial of ConvertKit’s plan.

Features

After you’ve considered the price, the next area to research is the feature list.

Like most email marketing software out there, ConvertKit and Mailchimp offer a similar service with comparable features.

Here’s a look at some of the most popular features for bloggers and how they compare on ConvertKit vs. Mailchimp.

Subscriber Management

Let’s start with one of the most noticeable differences between ConvertKit and Mailchimp, which is how they handle subscribers.

Mailchimp is set up on a per-list basis, so within your account you can create multiple lists for different purposes.

This can make targeting campaigns easy, but it also means that you could be in a position where someone subscribes to multiple lists.

If you have more than one list this can become hard to manage and confusing for subscribers — especially if they want to update their details or unsubscribe.

While Mailchimp has brought in the ability to tag subscribers, and therefore create a more unified database of subscribers, the functionality feels less intuitive than ConvertKit’s approach.

ConvertKit is set up in a way that’s closer to how a customer relationship management (CRM) tool is.

People can subscribe through a sign-up form, and from there you can tag them or create a rule that adds them to one or more lists.

This means that you have one record per subscriber, which makes things a lot easier if you have multiple lists or want to categorize subscribers by lots of interests or purposes.

If you want to start an email list solely to send your blog posts by email or to send a monthly newsletter to all your subscribers, Mailchimp’s system would work well for this.

If you plan to segment your list further or create multiple content upgrades or lead magnets, ConvertKit’s approach to subscriber management would suit your needs better.

Sign-Up Forms

Mailchimp and ConvertKit both allow you to create customized sign-up forms for your blog.

These sign-up forms are a great way to encourage your readers to enter their email address and become a subscriber.

Both services offer a range of sign-up form types including landing pages, widgets you can add to your blog sidebar, and forms which can be embedded within your blog posts.

Due to the way that Mailchimp and ConvertKit handle subscribers differently, Mailchimp only allows you to create one sign-up form per list.

While you can use this to create widgets and embedded forms, you can’t create multiple versions with different fields or check boxes.

With ConvertKit you can create multiple sign-up forms, so you could present readers with a customized offer or message for specific pages on your blog.

This makes it an effective way to attract subscribers based on interest and grow your subscriber list in an organized way.

Design

As you’d expect from email marketing tools that are designed with bloggers and small business owners in mind, ConvertKit and Mailchimp both allow you to customize the designs for your sign-up forms, email templates, and other elements of your email marketing experience.

With both providers you can input your blog’s brand colors and use them throughout your designs — you can style your sign-up forms to match your blog’s theme, and create landing pages with a similar look and feel to your website.

You can also style fonts, font sizes, borders, and add images and graphics to forms and template designs.

This all helps your readers to feel at home and more connected to your email campaigns.

The design process feels easier with Mailchimp, especially if you are new to email marketing or design.

You can start from premade templates for your email campaigns, customize existing designs, or create your own.

This is through a drag-and-drop style editor, where you can click and make edits visually.

There’s also the opportunity to add custom CSS if that’s something you’re comfortable with.

Designing your email campaigns in ConvertKit is a different experience.

The platform is focused on text-based emails, with plain text emails (which are reported to have higher success rates) the default.

You can still style email campaigns with your on-brand fonts, colors, and imagery, but it’s definitely geared towards text-focused emails.

Email Campaigns

Let’s move on and take a look at the different ways you could use email marketing tools like Mailchimp or ConvertKit to stay in touch with your subscribers.

Blog Posts via Email

One of the most popular ways for bloggers to use email marketing is to send a daily or weekly digest of blog posts.

This is also known as sending blog posts via RSS, which is the technology that creates a “feed” of your blog posts for your email marketing software to distribute.

It’s simple to set up blog posts via RSS feeds in Mailchimp and ConvertKit.

Mailchimp has a guide and a pre-built template with the fields already included for your daily or weekly email.

ConvertKit also has a guide on how to do this that also shows you how to change the frequency of your emails.

The process feels easier with Mailchimp, where you have more opportunity to customize the way your emails will look for subscribers.

You can also manually edit RSS feed emails within ConvertKit, but the design ability is more limited and single broadcasts don’t include a link back to the original blog post by default.

Newsletters

Another great way to stay in touch with your email subscribers is to create a weekly or monthly newsletter.

This helps to attract people to subscribe, especially if your content is designed with your ideal audience in mind, and is an easy way to encourage readers to visit your blog more often.

To create a newsletter, you would follow the same process as you would to create any email campaign within both Mailchimp and ConvertKit.

From there, you would create or re-use an existing design or template, create your content, save, and schedule for sending.

You’d then repeat this weekly or monthly, depending on how often you send your newsletter.

As Mailchimp is set up to handle designed email templates better than ConvertKit, it would be our pick if you want to send image-heavy or formatted newsletters.

While you can send and schedule newsletters with ConvertKit, the service is better designed for text-only or mostly-text emails.

Automated Campaigns

Mailchimp and ConvertKit both offer the ability to create automated campaigns.

These can be used in a number of ways, and here are some of the most popular ways for bloggers to use automation:

• Send a welcome sequence to new email subscribers that directs them to your best content
• Send a lead magnet to new subscribers
• Send a series of emails to subscribers as part of a free email course

As you can see, automation can not only save time as you don’t need to manually customize emails, but it can result in an enhanced experience for subscribers — especially if you create a free email course.

The process to create automated campaigns (also known as drip campaigns) is smooth with both providers.

You create a workflow or automation, and then add in the individual emails within it. You can then set the triggers and rules, which is where you tell the software who to send the email to and when.

Mailchimp and ConvertKit both allow you to send timed emails, so you can send the first email and the second a specific number of hours or days later.

While you can create automated campaigns with both providers, we feel ConvertKit has an edge here.

The platform has been designed with this type of email marketing in mind, and is well set up to allow you to create multiple sign-up forms, tag subscribers, and create rules based on your subscribers’ activity.

Analytics

After you’ve designed and sent your email campaigns, you’ll want to know how they’ve performed.

This is where analytics and reporting come into play, and it’s important for the email marketing provider you choose to share the type and depth of data that you need.

Mailchimp has long been known for providing excellent analytics and data reporting.

You can view a huge range of statistics from your sent campaigns and your subscribers’ activity, including the links clicked, who has clicked them, how engaged subscribers are with your emails, and more.

One area of analytics that’s especially useful is the graph which shows you when people open your emails.

This can help you to refine future email campaigns and send them based on when your audience is active.

ConvertKit also offers a full range of analytics, including link click data, subscriber activity, and the essentials like the percentage of emails delivered and opened.

We found that the analytics didn’t go into the same depth as Mailchimp, but that all the important stats were available.

Integrations

As bloggers we use lots of tools, software, and programs to manage our blogs.

Email marketing is just one part of the machine, so if you can find a tool that integrates with other software you use this can make managing your blog more efficient.

Mailchimp and ConvertKit both have a really useful database to help you find an integration for your other software.

At the time of publication, they both offer integrations for these popular tools for bloggers:

• Acuity Scheduling
• Gleam Giveaways
• LeadPages
• Squarespace
• WordPress

There’s also the ability to use Zapier to create your own integrations for hundreds of different tools and combinations.

It’s worth doing a search on both to see how they compare for other software that you use already, as this could be a deciding factor in the email marketing tool you choose for your blog.

Experience and Support

Lastly, let’s see how Mailchimp and ConvertKit compare when it comes to user experience and customer support.

Mailchimp’s interface is clean and simple, even more so thanks to a recent rebrand in October 2018.

The service has an element of fun and humor, and the menu system and design interfaces are intuitive and easy to learn.

ConvertKit also has a clutter-free approach, with a simple dashboard area that allows you to easily navigate between functions to create, send, and evaluate the success of your email campaigns.

There may be a bigger learning curve with ConvertKit, but the good news is it’s backed by plenty of useful tutorials and how-to guides.

Both email marketing tools have knowledgebases which contain articles, guides, tutorials, and answers to common questions.

These are searchable, so you can easily find a help article which meets your needs.

If you can’t find an answer for your query, there’s plenty of resources available online — especially through helpful tutorials by other users on YouTube.

When it comes to more detailed support, this is an area where the free plan with Mailchimp suffers.

There’s no access to email support beyond 30 days for free plan users.

ConvertKit users can raise a support ticket to reach customer or technical support, and Mailchimp users on a paid plan can access email or live chat support.

Our Verdict

Mailchimp and ConvertKit are both popular with bloggers for a reason — you can easily start and grow your email list at a relatively low cost.
So who would we recommend in the battle between Mailchimp vs. ConvertKit?
As the two platforms offer a unique experience, we feel it depends a lot on your needs and how you want to use email marketing for your blog.
Mailchimp may be the best choice for you if you want:

• A free plan that gives you time to understand the basics of email marketing
• Lower monthly costs
• Highly designed templates for your blog newsletters
• Detailed analytics for your email campaigns

ConvertKit could be the right choice for you if you want:

• Affordable monthly costs
• To create multiple sign-up forms and lead magnets
• To tag subscribers based on activity
• Ability to create marketing-focused, text-based email campaigns
• A discount for paying yearly in advance

As with almost every software, it’s also about your own personal taste and experience.

We’d recommend signing up for Mailchimp’s free plan and ConvertKit’s free 14-day trial to give them both a test and see which you like best.

You could also look at alternatives, such as ActiveCampaign, MadMimi, Infusionsoft, and Aweber.

We weigh these options in other comparison guides:

• Infusionsoft vs Mailchimp
• Convertkit vs Aweber

Learn More About Blogging

Now that you’ve explored email marketing for your blog, continue the learning by taking a look at our blogging resources.

We have an ever-growing archive of helpful blog posts that cover topics like how to write a great blog post and how to make money blogging.

A healthy subscriber list can help you to grow your blog faster, sell more products or services, earn more affiliate income, or attract more pageviews for your blog.

In this article we’ll compare two popular email marketing tools — Infusionsoft and MailChimp.

We’ll take a look at how they compare, whether they are easy to use, and how much it’ll cost to run your email marketing campaigns.

Introduction to MailChimp and Infusionsoft

MailChimp is one of the most popular email marketing tools around.

It was founded in 2001 and began life as a side project for its web design agency founders, but it’s grown today into a marketing tool that’s used by millions of customers.

Although MailChimp offers a range of marketing services, it’s primarily used by bloggers and small business owners for email marketing and email automation.

Infusionsoft was also founded in 2001, and is known as an all-in-one marketing tool for business owners.

The company’s goal is to build technology to help small businesses grow, which it does with a customer relationship management (CRM) tool, email marketing, marketing automation, and lead management.

Email Marketing

As a blogger, your audience is one of your biggest assets.

It’s always helpful to grow your audience on social media, but your email list is one of the most important ways to stay in touch with your readers.

After all, social media trends change, but your email list is yours forever.

The content of your emails matters, but so does the delivery of them and the experience that your readers get when they sign up.

This is why email marketing tools like MailChimp and Infusionsoft are very focused on helping you to create a positive experience for subscribers.

In this section we’ll take a look at some of the functions that are the most useful for bloggers, like email design, setting up email campaigns, and managing your subscribers.

Subscriber and List Management

The first place to start when evaluating email marketing tools is to measure how they handle subscribers.

Different tools allow you to create lists and manage subscribers differently, so it’s a good idea to make sure this fits with how you want to grow your lists.

MailChimp allows you to create different lists with their own sign up forms, which means that subscribers are categorized by the list they belong to.

This works well if you have one list — for example, your blog newsletter.

An area where this doesn’t work so well is if you want to create multiple lists — for example, if you have a home decor blog and you also sell a course about interior styling.

Your subscriber would need to join all of your lists separately, which can be confusing and overwhelming for them.

Infusionsoft really shines with its with multiple lists and all-in-one solution.

With a built-in CRM tool, Infusionsoft is contact-focused and you can tag or sign up a subscriber to multiple lists from one contact record.

Both tools allow you to create a range of sign up forms, from very simple forms to widgets that can be styled to match the style of your blog.

MailChimp automatically creates sign up forms for your lists, which can then be styled and either linked to or embedded on your website.

Infusionsoft offers a more in-depth design process for creating web forms, which can again be embedded on your WordPress blog.

Email Design

MailChimp and Infusionsoft both offer the ability to design your own emails to match your blog or brand.

You can start from templates, import a design from a third party, or create your own design using HTML and CSS coding.

MailChimp’s email design tool is one of the best known, thanks to its user friendly drag-and-drop system.

You can use one of the built-in templates and customize to suit your needs, or you can use a third party design like one of these free MailChimp templates.

Infusionsoft also has a campaign builder tool, where you can design email templates from a blank canvas or use prebuilt templates from their marketplace.

Their walkthrough guide offers an introduction to how to use the builder, along with screenshots and animations to help you build your email campaigns.

Both tools allow you to easily create branded email designs, which is a great way to keep your blog and brand in the minds of subscribers.

You can also create landing pages with both Infusionsoft and MailChimp, which can be a great way to encourage signups to your list.

If you’d like to learn more about email best practice, Infusionsoft has created a guide on how to design emails, which also features some visual inspiration for your own designs.

Email Campaigns

For any blogger who wants to invest in their email marketing, email campaigns are the way to go.

There are lots of different ways to use email to attract new subscribers, drive traffic to your blog, or sell products or services.

The most popular types of email campaigns for bloggers include a weekly or monthly newsletter, or promotional emails for affiliate products.

Both MailChimp and Infusionsoft allow you to create these types of email campaigns.

You can create one-off emails or design a template that you reuse weekly or monthly for a newsletter.

Both systems also allow you to personalize your email campaigns, using the data provided by subscribers — for example, you could feature their name within your emails to make them more engaging.

The process to create and send email campaigns feels more simple in MailChimp, as it’s designed to be approachable and easy to use for all.

Infusionsoft’s system is slightly more complex, but after a small learning curve you’ll be able to create and send email campaigns with ease.

Marketing Automation

Both email marketing tools allow you to schedule emails, plus create a series of emails which is trigger by actions taken by your subscribers.

This series is known as marketing automation.

MailChimp and Infusionsoft both offer a level of marketing automation within their software.

As MailChimp is primarily an email marketing tool, the automation side of the software is not as in depth as CRM-based Infusionsoft.

For most bloggers though, the marketing automation features of both tools will be a welcome addition.

One of the most popular ways to make use of marketing automation as a blogger is to set up a welcome sequence for new subscribers.

This can be a really engaging way to make new subscribers feel connected to you and your blog, and direct them towards your best content.

MailChimp has a dedicated guide on how to create a welcome email, which walks you through the setup process.

In Infusionsoft this type of email is known as a “campaign sequence,” and you can find an in-depth series of guides on how to use the function here.

Once you’re more comfortable with your email marketing tool, you could explore different ways to use marketing automation to grow your list or drive more traffic to your blog.

A popular way to do this is to create a free email course, which is delivered to your subscribers over a set period of time.

For example, if you have a fashion blog you could create a free email course on how to find your personal style.

This could feature your own tips and advice, links to your blog content on the subject, and affiliate links to your favorite products.

Support

Email marketing can be a tricky subject to master, which is why a good support and customer service team is essential.

Both MailChimp and Infusionsoft offer a range of customer support options.

For MailChimp users on the free plan, this is limited to their knowledgebase and help guides only.

To access email and chat support, you’ll need to upgrade to a paid plan.

Infusionsoft customers can access a rage of support options including 24/7 chat, help guides and tutorials, and also phone support during business hours.

If phone support is important to you, MailChimp may not be the right provider for you — to keep costs low they only offer support via their website.

Infusionsoft and MailChimp both have detailed how-to guides available in their knowledgebases, so whichever email marketing tool you choose you’ll be able to find step-by-step guides to help you achieve your goals.

Pricing

While MailChimp and Infusionsoft both offer email marketing as a service, Infusionsoft is definitely a more comprehensive marketing tool.

This is reflected within the pricing plans, which are more expensive than MailChimp’s model.

For bloggers who are new to email marketing, you’ll be happy to know that MailChimp offers a free plan.

Known as “Forever Free,” this plan is free for up to 2,000 contacts.

It has almost all of the functionality of MailChimp’s paid plans, with the exception of premium support and advanced email delivery options.

Infusionsoft doesn’t offer a free plan, but you can try the service for free for 14 days with no credit card required.

Like most email marketing tools, both MailChimp and Infusionsoft’s pricing is based on your subscriber count.

This can be great if you have a small, engaged list which means you can keep your monthly costs low.

As your list grows, your monthly cost will increase but this growth hopefully means your blog is more profitable too.

Let’s compare the pricing for both MailChimp and Infusionsoft at some common subscriber counts:

*Infusionsoft offers a 50 percent discount for the first three months, so this figure would increase by 50 percent for months 4–12.

As you can see, MailChimp is a much more affordable email marketing solution for bloggers.

Even if you have a large list of 10,000 subscribers, your monthly cost is around half of what it would be with Infusionsoft.

It’s important to remember when comparing these figures that email campaigns are only one part of Infusionsoft’s marketing software.

It’s also a comprehensive CRM system, with marketing automation, lead scoring, and e-commerce functionality too.

As MailChimp doesn’t offer this range of services, you’d need to invest in several pieces of software (and connect them using a tool like Zapier) to get a similar experience for your blogging business.

Infusionsoft vs MailChimp — Which Should You Choose?

Now that we’ve compared the two email marketing tools, it’s time to reflect on the pros and cons of each and which we’d recommend to bloggers.

When you start a blog it’s worth keeping your monthly costs low, so that you can reinvest any profit back into the growth of your blog.

For this reason, we feel that MailChimp is a great option for bloggers.

It’s affordable, easy to use, and keeps things simple.

You can create and send welcome emails to new subscribers, set up a weekly or monthly newsletter, and also create your own free email courses.

Infusionsoft is an attractive option for more experienced bloggers who want to build multiple or complex lists, or for bloggers who run a business.

You can create the same email campaigns as in MailChimp, but it can also become the hub for your business.

Its built-in contact management and marketing automation features make it a powerful tool for small business owners.

Still Searching for Your Perfect Email Marketing Tool?

MailChimp and Infusionsoft are both popular marketing tools to kickstart your subscriber list, but if they’re not right for you we have some other options for you to consider.

Here at StartABlog123 we’ve compared many different email marketing services.

Browse our recent comparison reviews, including Constant Contact vs MailChimp, MailChimp vs Aweber, and ConvertKit vs Aweber.

If you are looking for a fully-featured CRM system with lead generation, but Infusionsoft isn’t the one for you, other popular options include Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics, and ActiveCampaign.

For more blogging tips, including how to use email and digital marketing to grow your blog, make sure you are subscribed to our VIP blogging tips newsletter.

While publishing to social media is better than nothing, it doesn’t allow you to build relationships with (or engage with all of) your readers.

To do this, you need something more dynamic, something more personal.

You need email marketing.

We know this may sound crazy.

After all, email is dead. It’s been dead for years.

It’s easy to think that, but it’s not true.

Email is alive and well.

And unlike social media, where only a certain fraction of your subscribers may see your post, emails get delivered without fail to everyone on your email list.

It remains a powerful tool to connect with your readers, learning what sort of content you can create to better serve them.

Because of the great power that email campaigns can have, there are many companies out there selling email marketing software.

It can be overwhelming to choose one, and some bloggers will just give up in frustration.

We don’t want this to happen to you, which is why we’ve created a series of articles comparing popular email marketing software.

In this edition, we’re going to look at ConvertKit and ActiveCampaign, helping you to decide which is the best choice for your needs.

We’ll compare the two tools based on the following criteria:

1. Features
2. Ease of Use
3. Pricing
4. Customer Support

To skip to a specific section, click on any of the above links.

Quick Comparison: ConvertKit vs ActiveCampaign

Before exploring every feature you’ll receive from both platforms, let’s take a brief look at the pros of each.

The Pros of ConvertKit

There are a few critical benefits of ConvertKit that you’re bound to experience over its competitors to help boost conversion rates.

Highly Responsive Support

As a creator, it’s essential to be able to easily access technical support when needed.

This point is particularly true when dealing with site migration and learning a new interface.

Fortunately, ConvertKit has exceptional customer support that answers questions and concerns quickly.

You should be able to access their support team through your dashboard or on the support landing page.

Straightforward Subscription Management

Taking action with all of the subscribers on your contacts list can be challenging without the support of valuable tools.

With ConvertKit, you will find highly flexible features, such as a tagging system that allows you to manage your email subscribers.

As a site creator, you can move email addresses from one group to another for advanced automation of your workflow.

Useful Landing Page Editor

One of the more unique features of this email marketing tool is its landing page creator and editor.

Even if you don’t own a website, you will be able to use the landing page builder to create a basic page.

With a user-friendly interface, you can quickly and effortlessly direct your contacts through a complex sales funnel.

The Pros of ActiveCampaign

ActiveCampaign is another high-quality option when it comes to an email editor and manager for marketing campaigns.

Some of its most notable benefits include:

User-Friendly Design

The most impressive feature of this platform is how it is seamlessly designed for the best user experience.

When creating marketing materials, you can easily add custom fields with the designing feature.

Also, users can create stylish templates with the landing page builder, compared to plain-text emails.

Similar to most other email builders, ActiveCampaign has a drag-and-drop style for its editor.

You will be able to manage pre-designed templates to add custom modules, graphics, and other media.

Alternatively, you can build your marketing materials from scratch without needing coding experience.

Analytics

Another important item you will find on your dashboard is analytics.

Accessing analytics can help you determine email deliverability and manage your marketing segmentation for the highest number of clicks.

Using these metrics, you can make the most effective personal emails through the email editor from your dashboard.

Some of the most helpful analytics you will have include:

• Geotracking
• Page visits
• Click-maps
• Purchase tracking
• Free Migration

If you’ve used an email marketing software in the past, ActiveCampaign makes the switch simpler.

With free migration, you have the option of bringing your existing contacts to the new platform.

Considering it is a fantastic marketing option with great deliverability rates, no migration cost is exceptional.

Great Deliverability

The deliverability of your emails is equally as crucial as managing segmentation.

With ActiveCampaign, you will have a low-cost platform with above-average deliverability results.

Over time, you are expected to experience between 90% and 96% deliverability.

It is important to note these rates are significantly higher than with most other email marketing platforms.

For example, GetResponse has deliverability rates between 80% and 87.5% throughout the year.

Similarly, ConvertKit’s deliverability falls between 90% and 96.3%.

ConvertKit vs ActiveCampaign

You must have an email marketing platform with the right features.

But which features do you need, exactly?

This depends on your situation.

If you’re a beginning blogger, then you don’t need much.

All you want is something that allows you to send emails more efficiently (and with more data reporting) than your typical consumer email service provider.

As you get more advanced, you’ll find your need for features growing.

Therefore, you want to make sure you pick email marketing software that can grow with you as your blog grows.

How do ConvertKit and ActiveCampaign stack up in this regard?

ConvertKit Features

ConvertKit aims to be the email marketing software for bloggers and online creators.

The features it includes reflect this. It doesn’t try to do anything else except be an excellent, easy-to-use email tool.

These are the key features ConvertKit offers:

• Forms — ConvertKit offers opt-in forms that are easy to embed and mobile-friendly.
• Sequences — Create personalized email sequences using a drag-and-drop editor.
• Broadcasts — Send one-off emails about time-sensitive deals or promotions, or connect your RSS feed to automatically send your subscribers an email of each new blog post you publish.
• Reporting — Track the number of people subscribing each month, how many people are opening your emails, and more.
• Email Automation Features — Set up rules that govern the emails someone sees when they subscribe (such as an automatic follow-up email)
• A/B Testing — Test different versions of subject lines or almost anything else you can imagine to see which your subscribers prefer.
• Subscriber Tools — Segment and tag subscribers based on their interests.
• Integrations — Connect ConvertKit to WordPress, LeadPages, and other tools that are part of your blogging workflow.

ActiveCampaign Features

While it’s certainly a viable solution for bloggers who want to implement email marketing, ActiveCampaign has a decidedly different target audience than ConvertKit.

The program’s features reflect this.

While ActiveCampaign does have email marketing features, it aims to be a complete marketing solution.

As such, it has lots of tools for ecommerce marketing, CRM, and sales.

It’s clearly aimed at people or companies who want to use email to sell products.

Here are some of the features you’ll find in ActiveCampaign:

• Opt-In Incentives — Easily add forms to your site to convince visitors to subscribe.
• Automated Sequences — Automatically notify subscribers about new posts each time you publish something.
• Personalize Content — Track visitor and subscriber behavior to provide them with the most relevant content.
• Targeted Emails — Group your audience into segments based on almost any factor.
• Triggered Emails — Trigger emails based on purchases, site visits, or engagement.
• Scheduled Emails — Schedule emails for a specific date and time.
• Third-Party Integrations — ActiveCampaign integrates with PayPal, Stripe, Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, Facebook, and more than 150 other apps.

If you just want to send emails to your subscribers, then both ConvertKit and ActiveCampaign are evenly matched.

They allow you to do all the things you’d want to do.

We think that ConvertKit is a better pick based on features if you just want to run the promotion for a blog.

If you’re looking to do more advanced, sales-focused marketing automation, then ActiveCampaign is going to be a better pick (especially with features like SMS marketing).

Ease of Use

If you can’t figure out how to use the software with minimal effort, then it’s not worth your time as a blogger.

At least, it’s probably not best when you’re starting out. When you’re learning how to do email marketing for your blog, you don’t want the technical details of the software to get in the way of the larger marketing principles.

How do ConvertKit and ActiveCampaign compare based on ease of use?

There’s a pretty clear winner here, and it’s ConvertKit.

This is mainly because it focuses on email marketing for bloggers and doesn’t overwhelm you with lots of other marketing features.

Unless you’re already selling products or services and are creating your blog as another marketing or lead generation channel, you don’t need all the features of ActiveCampaign.

They’ll just get in the way of most new bloggers, so we recommend ConvertKit if you’re looking for something that’s easy to pick up and begin using.

Pricing

Great software is worth paying for. When you pay, you help keep the developers in business and allow them to update the software.

But you don’t want to pay more than necessary.

How do ConvertKit and ActiveCampaign compare based on price?

ConvertKit Pricing

ConvertKit’s pricing structure is based on the number of subscribers you have.

The basic pricing tiers are as follows:

• 0–1,000 subscribers: $29 per month
• 1,001–3,000 subscribers: $49 per month
• 3,001–5,000 subscribers: $79 per month
• 5,001–8,000 subscribers: $99 per month
• 8,001–10,000 subscribers: $119 per month
• More than 10,000: Consult the calculator on their “Pricing” page

While there isn’t a free plan available, ConvertKit does offer a 14-day free trial to help you decide if their software is right for you.

They don’t require you to use a credit card to sign up for the trial, and the trial offers you full, unrestricted access to all of ConvertKit’s features.

ActiveCampaign Pricing

The pricing for ActiveCampaign is a bit more complicated.

It’s based both on the number of subscribers you have and the features you want.

For the sake of a fair comparison with ConvertKit, we’ll assume you’re using the “Lite” plan.

This plan has all the features you’ll need as a blogger.

Most of the features in the higher tiers are tailored to more advanced bloggers or ecommerce marketers.

For the Lite plan, then, the pricing for different numbers of subscribers is as follows:

• 0–500 subscribers: $15 per month
• 501–1,000 subscribers: $29 per month
• 1,001–2,500 subscribers: $49 per month
• 2,501–5,000 subscribers: $89 per month
• 5,001–10,000 subscribers: $139 per month
• 10,001–25,000 subscribers: $225 per month

You can try ActiveCampaign for free for 14 days without having to enter any credit card information.

The trial allows you to use most features of the software without restrictions, though certain advanced features (such as API access) are restricted.

This will only be an issue for very advanced users, so it’s not something you need to worry about if you’re just getting started with email marketing.

The question of which program is cheaper is an interesting one.

At the very beginning, ActiveCampaign is almost half the price of ConvertKit.

Once you break 500 subscribers, however, the price is the same as ConvertKit.

As you go up in subscribers beyond 1,000, ConvertKit becomes cheaper.

It’s also worth considering that the price you pay for ConvertKit includes all the program’s features.

If you have ActiveCampaign and do want more advanced features like SMS marketing, you’ll pay much higher rates.

Therefore, ConvertKit is a better price over the long run, even if ActiveCampaign is cheaper for total beginners.

Customer Support

ConvertKit offers 24/7 email and live chat support to all customers regardless of their number of subscribers.

You can also reach out to support via Facebook and Twitter for more general, less urgent questions.

All ConvertKit subscribers also get access to a private Slack group where they can ask questions and share their knowledge with other users of the platform.

The company also has a Knowledge Base where you can search for answers to common issues.

ActiveCampaign offers email and live chat support. In addition, they have weekly training webinars to help teach you how to use the software, and you can also book one-on-one sessions that will help you overcome specific challenges.

If you’re in Chicago, you can even schedule an in-person session, which is a delightfully personal touch.

Overall, the two companies are equal in the customer support they offer.

Neither has phone support, which is too bad, but both still offer a variety of ways for customers to contact them.

ActiveCampaign vs ConvertKit: Who Wins?

Overall, we think that ConvertKit is the winner when it comes to the best email marketing automation tool for bloggers.

If you run a small business that needs sales automation, CRM, and other related features, then ActiveCampaign is a better choice.

If you don’t run an online business, however, then ActiveCampaign is going to give you lots of unnecessary features (and at a higher price than ConvertKit, especially once your email list grows).

Looking for other email marketing software, perhaps that comes with email templates or lets you create landing pages

Check out these guides:

• ConvertKit vs AWeber
• Constant Contact vs MailChimp

One of the best ways to attract, grow, and connect with your readers is through email.

If you’ve read our guide on email marketing, you’ll know why email is still so relevant today, and how to make the most of it.

If you’ve decided to give email marketing for your blog a try, a great place to start is MailChimp.

It’s perfect for new bloggers, as it’s free for up to 2,000 subscribers and very easy to learn and use.
Jump to:

• How to Use MailChimp as a Blogger
• How to Create a MailChimp Account
• Make an Impact With Free MailChimp Email Templates
• Affordable Email Marketing Templates
• Alternatives to MailChimp

How to Use MailChimp as a Blogger

Before we jump into the free MailChimp templates, you might wonder what you could use email marketing for as a blogger.

For online store owners or big brands it’s obvious — email marketing can be used to drive sales.

It can also be used to build trust and attract website visitors, which are great reasons to use it as a blogger.

Here are five different ways you could use email marketing as a blogger:

1. Send your latest blog posts to readers through your RSS feed (find out more about RSS in our article)
2. Start a weekly or monthly newsletter
3. Build an email list for the future, for example if you plan to launch a product, service, or promote affiliate offers
4. Invite conversation from readers and make the experience more personal
5. Promote or distribute a free product or service that you’ve created, like a checklist or e-book

It helps to have an idea of what you’d like to use MailChimp for, but if not you can always revisit this once you’ve set up your account.

How to Create a MailChimp Account

If you haven’t already done so, now is a great time to create your MailChimp account.

You can sign up for a free account in moments — just head to the MailChimp signup page.

Enter your details, then you’ll be prompted to confirm your account.

Once your account is confirmed you’ll be able to update your profile, create lists, and start to create templates for email marketing.

To help you make the most of MailChimp, they’ve created a comprehensive guide to getting started with MailChimp.

Make an Impact With Free MailChimp Email Templates

After you’ve had time to familiarize yourself with MailChimp, it’s time to think about the next steps.

Even if you don’t have a big list of subscribers yet, it can be helpful to create a “welcome email” or series of emails in preparation — especially if you want to encourage your new subscribers to take action.

To do this, you’ll first need to create or edit a template.

While you can DIY your own template if you know HTML and CSS coding, it can often help at first to use a free template as a basis.

This allows you to concentrate on your content and email marketing sequences, with customizations only needed in the email template design.

A professional, on-brand template for your email marketing can make a real difference to how your subscribers relate to you and your blog.

You could either use one of the templates below as it comes, or customize it further to match your brand style.

Whichever you choose, it’s a quick and easy way to create a professional-looking email.

Here are our picks for the top free MailChimp templates for bloggers.

Free Official MailChimp Templates

The official templates provided within MailChimp are a good, solid foundation if you’re a beginner, or if you want to take a blank canvas and create your own email design on top of it.

MailChimp offers a number of free email templates, known as layouts, tailored to different types of email marketing.

The “Tell Your Story” template is designed with newsletters in mind.

MailChimp also comes pre-loaded with over 75 different themes.

These styled templates are a good place to start, and if you see a theme you like you can easily customize the colors, add your own images, and really make it your own with the built-in drag-and-drop editor.

For more advanced users or bloggers who are happy to edit HTML files, MailChimp has released a series of Email Blueprints which can be used to create custom themes with ease.

Free Templates From Third Parties

We think the free templates included within MailChimp are great, and you can usually find a layout or theme that works for your blog newsletter, email series, or blog posts feed.

If you want something a little different, perhaps with more design flair, try one of these third party HTML email templates.

Summer

Summer is a fun, bright template from Mail on Acid in collaboration with MailNinja.

The template features a hidden preheader section, ready-to-use content sections, and backgrounds and buttons that should display correctly in even the most stubborn email client.

It’s also fully mobile responsive, so your subscribers get the best experience on all devices.

Halloween

Halloween by PSD2HTML definitely makes an impact.

This free HTML template is perfect for a seasonal surprise, and can easily be customized to feature your Halloween blog content — whether that’s recipes, fashion looks, or family activity ideas.

The template has been tested with all major email clients, and also contains imagery you can customize to create a themed newsletter.

My Newsletter 2

While it may not look as impressive as the others at first, My Newsletter 2 is one of many responsive designs from Foundation for Emails.

These email templates are highly customizable and designed to be responsive across all devices, so your newsletters will look great viewed on desktops, mobile devices, and tablets.

When you download the template you’ll also get access to free tutorials on how to edit the designs.

Passion

Passion is a popular free responsive email template, and it’s easy to see why.

This glossy template helps you to create professional-looking emails in minutes.

With plenty of pre-made content areas for you to customize, Passion is a great template to use if you want to send an eye-catching email that doesn’t take hours to create.

Green Village

For a sleek, branded email newsletter template, Green Village is the way to go.

This MailChimp template features content blocks which work well for a weekly or monthly newsletter, to showcase your most recent blog posts, or to welcome new subscribers to your list.

As well as the code for the template, you’ll also be able to download a free editable PSD file which allows you to create custom headers for your emails.

Kreative

Kreative is a professional MailChimp theme that features a sleek look and lots of content areas to help you build your newsletter template, including spaces to spotlight a promotion or affiliate product.

It’s Litmus tested, which means it’s completely compatible with desktop and mobile email clients.

This template has the added bonus of its own free online builder included, which means you can customize elements of the design before you import into MailChimp.

Passion

It seems that Passion is a popular name for MailChimp email templates.

This Passion template, by PixelHint, features a large hero image which is a great space to show off a featured blog post or promotional offer.

The modular layout allows you to customize the content areas easily, and it’s also a fully responsive email template that works in all major email clients.

Bella

Bella is another popular multipurpose email template from the team at PixelHint.

This template is designed to be multipurpose, with different blocks to suit different types of content — including sections for blog posts and advertising banners.

Like some of the other free MailChimp templates in this list, Bella is Litmus tested and works well on all major email clients, including Gmail, Yahoo, and Outlook.

Pook

If you want to create a showstopping newsletter for your blog, Pook by Litmus is a great option.

This modern template has been designed with newsletters in mind, and is optimized to encourage your subscribers to click “read more” on any articles they find interesting.

While you’ll need a Litmus account to access the download, these are free and it can be a useful resource for email marketing tips.

Affordable Email Marketing Templates

If you’re happy to invest in a responsive email template for your blog, resource websites like Envato Elements offer hundreds of affordable premium templates on a subscription basis.

You can currently access all these themes, as well as other design elements, for $16.50 per month.

In addition to professional-looking responsive templates for MailChimp, as well as for other email marketing tools like Campaign Monitor, you can also find fun seasonal themes — like this Christmas email template.

This is a quick and easy way to create email marketing campaigns and seasonal newsletters for your blog, without the need to pay a designer.

Another great marketplace to look for MailChimp templates is Creative Market.

Here you’ll find lots of design-led themes, like this e-newsletter theme which would be perfect for a blog newsletter.

On Creative Market you can also find design elements to complement your MailChimp template, like this set of editable image files that allows you to easily create email headers to promote your blog content.

Alternatives to MailChimp

MailChimp is a powerful email marketing tool for bloggers, but if you’ve experimented with it and feel it’s not right for you, don’t worry — there are alternatives.

We’ve tested and reviewed a number of popular email marketing tools here on the blog.

To find the right email marketing solution for you, read our recent reviews of Aweber, Constant Contact, and ConvertKit.

Learn How to Grow Your Blog

We hope this guide has helped you to find some free newsletter templates that inspire you to create an amazing blog newsletter, email series, or one-off email for your readers.

Here at Startablog123 we want to help you start, grow, and monetize your blog.

Now that you’ve made a start with email marketing, why not visit our How to Blog section for more ideas on how to improve your blog.

Our guides include the best times to post on social media, how to find ideas for your blog posts, and how to install a WordPress theme.

For the ultimate blogging tips and advice, become one of our VIP subscribers. In every issue we’ll share advice from blogging experts, and you’ll pick up a few tips on how to run successful email campaigns, too.

Make sure you’re on our list to receive the next edition — sign up to our VIP list here.

Despite the prevalence of social media and chat apps, email still remains an essential communication tool (even among millennials and Gen Z).

If you’re not using email marketing as part of your blogging strategy, then you’re missing out on opportunities to connect with your readers that social media just can’t give you.

Your post on Facebook may reach only a small fraction of your followers, but your subscribers will see every email you send (so long as you’re not writing emails that look like spam).

Yet, getting started with email marketing can be overwhelming.

There are dozens of email marketing programs out there, all promising to be the best solution for your blog.

To help you cut through the hype, we’re going to compare two of the most popular email marketing tools for bloggers: ConvertKit and AWeber.

We’ll look at how they stack up in terms of features, pricing, ease of use, customer support, and more, all so that you can stop researching email service providers and start connecting with your audience.

Comparison Overview

To create this guide, we compared ConvertKit and AWeber based on four key criteria:

1. Features
2. Ease of Use
3. Pricing
4. Customer Support

Based on these, we’ll give you an overall assessment of each program, including the types of blogs (and bloggers) we think each is best for.

In the end, neither service is “better” than the other, but one is likely better for your specific situation.

1. Features

AWeber and ConvertKit are both comprehensive email marketing tools, but how do they compare based on their features?

AWeber Features

AWeber has been around longer than ConvertKit — CEO Tom Kulzer founded the company in 1998.

The company has had a long time to develop and perfect their software.

Here’s a list of the key features AWeber offers:

• Email Automation — Welcome new subscribers, create educational email courses, and automatically send emails notifying subscribers of new posts.
• Sign-Up Forms — Create and customize forms to capture emails and turn readers into subscribers.
• Email Newsletters — Turn each blog post you publish into an email newsletter, or send custom newsletters to keep your subscribers updated.
• Drag and Drop Editor — Customize the way your emails look without having to know any code. You also have access to over 6,000 free stock images and buttons to use in your emails.
• Email Tracking — Track important statistics like open rates and click-throughs, all displayed in graphs for easy reference.
• Subscriber Segmenting — Once your blog is growing, you can segment your subscribers in order to send them customized content.
• Third-Party Integrations — Integrate with WordPress, LeadPages, and dozens of other programs that you use to run your blog.

ConvertKit Features

ConvertKit, on the other hand, is a newer entrant to the market.

CEO Nathan Barry founded ConvertKit in 2013, but it’s grown rapidly since then, reaching over $1 million in monthly recurring revenue, according to “Forbes.”

And just because it’s newer, that doesn’t mean it lacks in powerful features, either.

These are the key features ConvertKit offers:

• Forms — ConvertKit offers opt-in forms that are easy to embed and mobile-friendly.
• Sequences — Create personalized sequences of emails using a drag-and-drop editor.
• Broadcasts — Send one-off emails about time-sensitive deals or promotions, or connect your RSS feed to automatically send your subscribers an email of each new blog post your publish.
• Reporting — Track the number of people subscribing each month, how many people are opening your emails, and more.
• Automation Features — Set up rules that govern the emails someone sees when they subscribe.
• Subscriber Tools — Segment and tag subscribers based on their interests.
• Integrations — Connect ConvertKit to WordPress, LeadPages, and other tools that are part of your blogging workflow.

Overall, AWeber and ConvertKit are equal when it comes to features.

For someone starting out with email marketing for their blog, either would be a good choice.

However, the two programs do have some key differences when it comes to features:

• Email Templates — ConvertKit deliberately does not allow you to create customized email templates. This is because the company’s founder believes they’re bad for business, taking away the focus from your content. AWeber does include customizable drag-and-drop templates, on the other hand. These may or may not be important to you depending on the sort of blog you run.
• Subscriber Handling — ConvertKit automatically deletes duplicate subscribers among your different email lists, as well as automatically notifying you of inactive subscribers. This may seem like a minor, obscure feature, but it can make a big difference in how much you pay to send emails when you have a large list.

There are a few other minor differences, but they don’t matter in the scheme of things for most bloggers. Both programs give you all the features a beginning blogger needs to stop thinking about email marketing and actually do it.

2. Ease of Use

Of course, features aren’t the only thing that matters when you’re choosing email marketing software.

The best features in the world are useless if they’re buried in a user interface that’s difficult to navigate.

When it comes to usability, AWeber and ConvertKit are equal.

Most of the differences in usability relate to specific, advanced features that won’t be relevant until your blog is at a high level.

By that point, you’ll have the experience to determine which features matter to you.

Both programs have modern, clean interfaces (despite ConvertKit’s claim that AWeber is “stuck in 1999”).

They also have extensive documentation to help new users get started, as well as support staff to assist users at all levels (see below for more information on the support that each company provides).

3. Pricing

If you want access to high-quality email marketing software and support, you’re going to have to pay.

While it is possible to send marketing emails for free, we don’t recommend it.

It simply becomes too unruly once your email list grows past a certain size.

Both ConvertKit and AWeber require you to pay.

Neither has a “Free” plan.

But they do differ in how much they cost.

ConvertKit Pricing

ConvertKit’s pricing structure is based on the number of subscribers you have.

The basic pricing tiers are as follows:

• 0–1,000 subscribers: $29/month
• 1,001–3,000 subscribers: $49/month
• 3,001–5,000 subscribers: $79/month
• 5,001–8,000 subscribers: $99/month
• 8,001–10,000 subscribers: $119/month
• More than 10,000: Consult the calculator on their “Pricing” page.

While there isn’t a free plan available, ConvertKit does offer a 14-day free trial to help you decide if their software is right for you.

They don’t require you to use a credit card to sign up for the trial, and the trial offers you full, unrestricted access to all of ConvertKit’s features.

AWeber Pricing

Like ConvertKit, AWeber also charges based on your number of subscribers.

This is their pricing structure:

• 0–500 subscribers: $19/month
• 501–2,500 subscribers: $29/month
• 2,501–5,000 subscribers: $49/month
• 5,001–10,000 subscribers: $69/month
• 10,001–25,000 subscribers: $149/month
• More than 25,000 subscribers: Custom quotes available

While they don’t offer a free plan, AWeber offers a free 30-day trial to help you decide if their software is right for you.

They do require you to enter credit card information to sign up for the trial, but you are free to cancel anytime before your trial ends to avoid being charged.

Overall, AWeber is the winner in terms of the sticker price.

That being said, ConvertKit could end up being cheaper because they don’t charge you for duplicate subscribers or people that have unsubscribed.

This won’t be relevant when you’re first building your email list, but it could become more important as your blog grows.

4. Customer Support

Quality customer support can make or break your experience with a product.

While online, searchable documentation (and Google) make it easier than ever to find answers to technical questions, sometimes you need to talk to a real person.

So for our final point of comparison, let’s look at the customer support that AWeber and ConvertKit offer:

AWeber Customer Support

AWeber offers 24/7 email and live chat support to all customers, regardless of how many subscribers they have.

They also offer phone support 8 a.m.–8 p.m. EST Monday through Friday, as well as an extensive Knowledge Base where you can search for answers to common questions.

In terms of the actual performance of their customer service team, AWeber has won several Stevie Awards in recognition of their customer service, as well as recognition from the National Customer Service Association.

But what do people have to say about their service?

This customer was quite satisfied, noting in particular how the customer service team are “extremely friendly and willing to work one on one with you”:

In fact, we couldn’t find any bad experience or negative reviews related to AWeber customer service.

This indicates that their official industry awards are well-deserved.

ConvertKit Customer Support

ConvertKit offers 24/7 email and live chat support to all customers regardless of their number of subscribers.

You can also reach out to support via Facebook and Twitter for more general, less urgent questions.

All ConvertKit subscribers also get access to a private Slack group where they can ask questions and share their knowledge with other users of the platform.

The company also has a Knowledge Base where you can search for answers to common issues.

In practice, their customer service also performs well.

Here’s what one customer had to say:

But not all customers have been satisfied.

The reviewer below had issues when migrating their old email list from a different provider to ConvertKit:

For most new bloggers, the above won’t be a relevant issue, but it’s still worth noting in case you’re starting a new blog with an existing audience.

Overall, AWeber is the winner when it comes to customer service.

They have a long track record of providing their current level of service, with official recognition of it several years in a row.

AWeber also offers phone service, whereas ConvertKit only offers service via email and chat.

For many customers, this won’t make a big difference, but it could be a deal-breaker if you prefer to speak to a support person on the phone.

It’s also worth noting that, while both services offer “24/7” support, actual response times will vary (particularly if there’s a high demand for support).

Still, the availability of support options means that you can usually get ahold of someone quickly.

And both platforms offer the same level of customer service regardless of the size of your business or list of subscribers.

When Should You Use ConvertKit?

ConvertKit is a valuable tool for individuals looking to manage their email campaigns.

You’ll have access to many email marketing services to assist with attracting and engaging your audience.

With that said, there are four primary reasons as to why you could consider ConvertKit integration.

1. Growing an Audience

ConvertKit is similar to MailChimp, AWeber, GetResponse, and other email marketer platforms.

They’re all designed to assist with email delivery to help grow your audience.

By developing a network of contacts, you can spread awareness of your business through newsletters and other features.

One of the best ways to establish a good subscriber count is through email campaigns.

You’ll be able to deliver engaging content to separate lists as well as implement advanced email automation to manage your newsletters.

It’s also likely you’ll experience enhanced email deliverability, increasing your number of visitors.

2. Higher Email Conversions

Another advantage of this platform is that it can assist with email conversion.

Creating an attractive message with an easily accessible landing page can help any online business.

With the help of ConvertKit, you’ll be able to use an email builder that leads readers to your site effortlessly.

3. Organizing Contacts

One essential part of the migration is to ensure you stay organized along the way, especially with new subscribers.

When your clients fill out the form to receive emails, their data get stored for your review.

You can then sort through the list of contacts and organize them into separate lists.

Using this process, you can deliver a specific email sequence to particular groups.

Alternatively, you can push marketing materials to your entire contact list at once.

When it comes to organization, you’ll find this feature is one of the best that this platform has to offer.

When To Use AWeber?

AWeber is a helpful platform for email marketers looking for a variety of pricing plans for marketing materials.

It has a three-step process: creating emails, sending emails, and growing your business.

Professionals looking for seamless integration for an email tool are bound to love this platform’s options.

Some of the key features AWeber offers include:

1. Social Media Integrations

Adding your socials to your marketing emails is of the utmost importance for quick follows.

If you want to increase the number of people who stay up-to-date with your company’s updates, social media is essential.

By using AWeber, you can craft an email sequence with your socials embedded in every email.

2. Automated Emails

Another impressive feature of this platform is its visual automation builder.

Not only will you be able to create a professionally styled email, but you can also automate your email marketing.

By browsing through the different delivery options, you can find the ideal settings and set them in place for as long as you want.

You can send any type of email to all email providers automatically at the schedule you’ve chosen.

Instead of having to broadcast emails on your own, this process helps to save plenty of time and effort.

3. Tagging

A unique feature of AWeber is that it allows you to use tags.

The tagging feature helps you organize everyone who uses your signup form so you can manage your communications.

Once a client uses the signup form, you can then put them into specific groups to deliver the right emails to particular audiences.

Is AWeber Better Than MailChimp?

Another popular platform for email marketers is MailChimp, which is one of the more well-known platforms.

Using MailChimp, you can access plenty of useful features, though at an additional cost.

There are a couple of features that set this platform apart from AWeber, including:

Mobile App

MailChimp’s convenient mobile app allows site owners to manage their marketing materials from anywhere.

You’ll be able to do any activity that you’d typically complete on your computer as long as you have an internet connection.

The integration of mobile email management is one of the most amazing tools to have.

Modern Templates

MailChimp’s templates are some of the best on the market, especially for modern companies with a strict pricing table.

You’ll find hundreds of professionally designed layouts that you can edit as needed.

For example, adding a custom field to provide specific information to your audience or removing a custom field for a streamlined aesthetic.

Membership Option

When you look at the membership pricing through MailChimp, you’ll find there are a few options.

Their most expensive plan starts at $299 per month and has customizable features depending on what you need.

On the other end, they also have a free option that offers multi-channel tools to begin building your business.

 With four different membership options, it’s easy to find the ideal package for your needs.

Which Is Better GetResponse vs AWeber?

When you’re looking for professional email marketing tools, GetResponse is a company to consider.

They have multiple plans available on a monthly or annual basis, as well as a 30-day free trial for every program.

The bulk of GetResponse’s features are similar to AWeber, apart from a couple of differences.

Webinars

With GetResponse, users have the opportunity to run webinars through their accounts.

If you’re searching for another lead generation tool, webinars are a fantastic idea.

You’ll have access to several features, including chatrooms, multiple presenters, and screen shares.

Advanced Automation

The level of automation GetResponse offers far outweighs its competitors, including AWeber.

You’ll find marketing automation, which helps with product purchases, abandoned carts, link clinks, and more.

It’s also easy to take advantage of workflow-based automation, helping to lead clients down the funnel.

When readers fill out the newsletter form, GetResponse will automatically send a message to their inbox.

The signup form will also export their information to your contacts for effortless management.

Compared to AWeber, there’s no doubt that the automated features outperform this platform.

Why Is AWeber the Best?

AWeber is often regarded as the best email marketing platform for several reasons.

It’s a fantastic resource for beginners looking to spend less money than with other programs initially.

Also, it offers many customizable templates that you can manage without any coding experience.

A few other advantages AWeber has over the competition include:

• Basic Automation: You’ll be able to automate email courses, welcome new subscribers, and notify users of newly posted content.
• Drag and Drop Editing: Managing customized emails has never been simpler than with a drag-and-drop editor.
• Organizing Subscribers: Once users sign up for your newsletter, you can effortlessly organize them into specific groups.

Third-Party Integration: It’s easy to use an assortment of other programs and plugins on your AWeber blog.

Overall Assessment

In the end, should you choose ConvertKit or AWeber?

The answer depends on your situation.

You should choose ConvertKit if:

• You want the tools to easily manage large numbers of email subscribers and multiple email lists.
• You want basic email templates without lots of fancy design.
• Access to a Slack support group is important to you.

On the other hand, you should choose AWeber if:

• You’re concerned about paying less money (at least in the beginning).
• You want a wide range of customizable email templates.
• The highest quality customer support (as well as phone support) is important to you.

As you can see, the main differences between the two email platforms are minor for the majority of people starting a blog.

It matters more to start collecting emails and using your email list to connect with your audience.

We hope this guide has given the knowledge you need to decide which email platform is best for you.

If you’re looking for more information on how to start a blog, grow your audience, or make money online, then we suggest you sign up for our newsletter.

We’ll send you a weekly email with the latest tips on blogging success, as well as exclusive promotions and discounts.

Sometimes a reader might find you through a search engine or through social media, and might only read one or two posts before leaving.

You want to keep readers coming back again and again to enjoy your new content, and the best way to do this is through email.

Using email marketing tools, you can set up a weekly or monthly newsletter, automated campaigns like alerts for your latest blog post, and even create opt-ins to attract your readers to subscribe.

In this article we’ll take a look at two popular email marketing service providers, Constant Contact and MailChimp, and compare them to see which is the best option for bloggers.
Jump to:

• Pricing
• Features and Functionality
• User Experience
• Overall Winner

Pricing

When comparing software solutions one of the first details to look at is often the price – especially if you’re just starting a blog or want to keep your monthly costs low to maximise profit.

Both MailChimp and Constant Contact offer monthly subscription services, meaning you can sign up on a month by month basis and change your plan as your mailing list grows.

Let’s take a look at their pricing and packages (as of August 2018).

MailChimp Plans and Pricing

MailChimp offers a generous “Forever Free” plan.

On this plan you can have up to 2,000 subscribers and send up to 12,000 emails per month for free, which is perfect for if you’re new to email marketing for your blog.

The plan has some limitations — there’s no ongoing support beyond the first 30 days and there are some branding and testing options that aren’t included, but it’s a great plan for beginners or bloggers with a small email list.

For MailChimp’s paid plans, the pricing reflects the number of subscribers on your email list.

Starting at $10 per month for up to 500 subscribers, the paid plan offers extra support, custom branding, and the ability to send unlimited emails per month (subject to the usual fair use).

To estimate your monthly cost based on your subscriber count you can use their pricing calculator.

MailChimp also offers a Pro Add-on for $199 per month, which is a good option if you require enhanced support, advanced segmentation, and comparative reports.

All MailChimp plans include standard features, including:

• Email campaigns
• Customizable templates
• Landing pages
• Sign-up forms
• Marketing automation
• Segmentation and groups
• Basic reports
• A/B testing
• Apps and integrations

Constant Contact Plans and Pricing

Unlike MailChimp, Constant Contact doesn’t offer a free plan.

This might make it less attractive if you’re on a budget or want to keep those initial costs low while you build your blog audience and subscriber list.

The company does offer a free trial, which varies between 30 and 60 days depending on promotions.

Constant Contact’s “Email” plan starts at $20 per month and allows you to send unlimited emails to your subscribers.

The exact monthly cost is based on your subscriber count, and to see what your monthly cost would be, check their sign-up page.

Included in this plan are the tools you need to create and monitor email campaigns, including:

• Email campaigns
• Contact management
• List building tools
• Tracking and reporting
• Customizable templates
• Marketing calendar
• Email scheduling
• Apps and integrations

If you need email automation or A/B testing you’ll need to upgrade to the “Email Plus” plan which starts at $45 per month and is based on the size of your subscriber list.

Compare Pricing Side-by-Side

With both companies offering similar paid plans, here is a side-by-side comparison of monthly costs based on different subscriber counts:

Constant Contact vs. MailChimp Pricing: the Winner

When it comes to picking a winner on price in the MailChimp vs. Constant Contact battle, our vote has to be MailChimp.

Their “Forever Free” plan is perfect for new bloggers or those with a small subscriber list, and their monthly costs are lower than Constant Contact’s — especially if your list grows beyond 5,000 to 10,000.

Compare the full list of pricing and features for MailChimp and Constant Contact.

Features and Functionality

You might have noticed from looking at the plans above that MailChimp and Constant Contact have slightly different offerings.

In this section we’ll take a look at some key email marketing features for bloggers and how the two companies compare.

Design and Templates

Both Constant Contact and MailChimp offer you a choice from a wide range of templates, as well as the ability to build your own template or customize an existing one.

This means that whichever email marketing software you go with, you have the opportunity to create an email template or design that suits your blog and your goals.

Both companies offer a drag and drop design interface, making designing easy.

Email Campaign Types

One of the first ways you can introduce email marketing as a blogger is to send your new blog posts to subscribers automatically using a service called RSS.

New blog posts are added to your RSS feed and distributed via your email marketing software.

MailChimp offers this facility as standard and within the “Forever Free” plan, but to get this running with Constant Contact you’d need to make use of an integration like Zapier.

Another popular way to keep your audience engaged is by sending a weekly or monthly newsletter.

Both Constant Contact and MailChimp make this easy for you, with the ability to create and schedule email campaigns included as a key feature.

You can also create and schedule one-off campaigns, like if you wanted to promote a specific blog post as part of a sponsored collaboration or to promote a new product or service.

Automation

A popular way to attract readers and keep them engaged is to create an opt-in.

When a visitor opts in to emails on your site, they get an automated email offering to send them a product or freebie, followed by a sequence that introduces your blog or a particular product or service you’re promoting.

Email automation is included with all MailChimp plans, however, with Constant Contact you’d need to upgrade to their “Email Plus” plan to unlock full automation features.

A/B Testing

When creating campaigns to promote a product or service, or to attract maximum engagement from your newsletter, you might want to test a few different headlines to see which is the most engaging.

This is called A/B testing. It allows you to then send the remaining emails with the most engaging headline, resulting in better results.
A/B testing is currently included with all MailChimp plans, including “Forever Free.”

To unlock A/B testing in Constant Contact you need to subscribe to their “Email Plus” plan, starting at $45 per month.

Integrations

With so many different aspects to blogging, it’s important that software we invest in plays nicely with other software we use.

Constant Contact and MailChimp both boast hundreds of integrations with apps and other software, including CRM systems like Salesforce and Magento, competition widgets like Gleam, and many other useful blog and business services.

MailChimp has a larger integrations library, with popular apps including Gmail, Shopify, Outlook, and Woocommerce.

To check if your apps and services are compatible you can view MailChimp’s integrations or Constant Contact’s integrations.

Deliverability

Once you’ve designed your email campaign you want to make sure it’s going to reach the inboxes of your subscribers instead of landing in their spam folder or even being blacklisted.

Bloggers have run tests with MailChimp standing out as a clear winner when it comes to deliverability — 79 percent of email campaigns land in the subscriber’s inbox compared to 61 percent from Constant Contact.

Analytics

After you’ve sent your emails you’ll want to be able to check on their progress, including open rates and activity from subscribers.

This is easy to do with MailChimp and Constant Contact, with both offering basic analytics including tracking clicks, opens, and revenue goals you’ve set.

MailChimp users will find their analytics suite much more detailed, with the ability to see which links were the most clicked within a campaign, what time of day your subscribers are active and other data like geography and social shares.

Constant Contact vs. MailChimp Features and Functionality: the Winner

There’s another clear winner here in the Constant Contact vs. MailChimp battle, with MailChimp winning in this round.

It boasts more blogger-friendly features and the detailed analytics are extremely useful for improving your email marketing strategy further.

User Experience

While it may be less important than the technical side of email marketing or being able to create campaigns that achieve your goals, your own user experience of the software still matters.

In this section we look at the interface and behind the scenes, as well as what you can expect in terms of customer service and support.

Interface

Learning new software and tools can be difficult, which is why a clear, easy-to-use interface and dashboard can make all the difference.

You won’t be disappointed with either MailChimp or Constant Contact, with both offering an intuitive experience for users.

From our experience and talking to other bloggers, the simplicity and uncluttered approach from MailChimp is appreciated — with some mentioning that they found Constant Contact to have a steeper learning curve.

MailChimp’s clean design allows you to focus on creating and running great email campaigns.

Customer Support

If email marketing is new to you, chances are you’ll want to reach out for support at some point.

For more experienced bloggers or those with a background in marketing, dedicated customer support may be less of a necessity.

Both Constant Contact and MailChimp offer FAQs and help or knowledge base sections, covering topics with helpful answers in written or video form.

Users on the “Forever Free” plan with MailChimp have no access to support, and the company doesn’t provide phone support, meaning it may not be the best option for you if you prefer to call someone and talk through a problem.

Constant Contact, on the other hand, offers a range of support options on all plans including phone and 24/7 live chat, making it a great choice for bloggers who want to be able to speak to someone.

Constant Contact vs. MailChimp User Experience: the Winner

So who wins this round?

Our vote this time is with Constant Contact, as a clear winner in offering a support system that’s accessible and more in-depth.

If you’re happy with email support, a paid plan from MailChimp would still work well for you.

Key Features of Constant Contact vs. MailChimp

Let’s delve into some of the most impressive features that Constant Contact and MailChimp offer to their customers.

Social Media Marketing Tools

Social media is a diverse resource when it comes to marketing, especially since there are numerous platforms.

Whether you’re looking for better outreach on Facebook or Twitter, both Constant Contact and MailChimp can help.
Let’s delve into the unique social media marketing tools that both platforms have to offer.

Constant Contact

Social Share is the tool that Constant Contact offers, which allows you to connect your social media to your account.

You’ll be able to promote your company via LinkedIn, Twitter, or Facebook.

There’s also the opportunity to manage your posting schedule, allowing you to post multiple times daily.

As an added benefit, Constant Contact also provides a specialty service known as the Social Media Quickstarter.

It’s an essential option for beginners interested in testing functionality across their socials.

With Quickstarter’s help, you can get started on an assortment of platforms with ease.

MailChimp

MailChimp also has a prime number of services designed to assist you with social media management.

You can focus on Instagram ads, Facebook ads, organic posting, and more.

The primary focus of their social media planning is to help you reach a larger audience while managing analytics reporting.

Depending on the marketing tools you need, you’ll need to consider the basic plans they offer.

Each plan has different pricing and can include benefits such as:

• Unlimited phone support
• Behavioral targeting
• Custom templates
• Dynamic content
• Custom branding

Design Elements

When you’re creating marketing materials, having access to top-quality content is of the utmost importance.

Both platforms are helpful whether you’re on the hunt for stock images or a seamless creative experience.

Let’s go over some of the most notable design elements you’ll find with both MailChimp and Constant Contact.

Constant Contact

One of the major reasons users enjoy Constant Contact is that they have an assortment of aesthetically pleasing images.

With the help of their templates, you can create high-quality content for your email list with little experience.

You won’t have to worry about having coding knowledge or a trove of personal images; everything is built into the platform.

At this time, there are over 250 professionally designed templates that you can use as-is or with customizations.

Also, it’s important to note that each of the templates is mobile responsive, helping to save you time and effort.

MailChimp

With the perfect subject lines, you can draw potential customers in, but your email content is what makes them stay.

MailChimp, like Constant Contact, has plenty of top-quality templates that you can use for marketing materials.

There are over 100 customizable templates that can help you get a head start on spreading brand awareness.

When logged in, you’ll be able to create and send emails from anywhere using their mobile app.

Also, you can monitor email deliverability, including deliverability rate, through the app.

This feature is one of the most valuable tools for business owners and individuals constantly on the go.

Frequently Asked Questions

Overall Winner: MailChimp

Email marketing is increasingly becoming one of the best ways to communicate with and grow your blog audience.

The ability to send newsletters, create automated sequences for opt-in freebies, and send your blog posts automatically can really help to encourage repeat visits to your blog.

Through our research and comparisons above, our clear winner and our email marketing software of choice for bloggers is MailChimp.

Their free plan makes email marketing for bloggers really accessible and their pricing is consistently lower than Constant Contact.

We also liked the fact that most features are available within all plans, meaning you don’t need to commit to a large monthly cost to start building your subscriber list effectively.

Constant Contact may be a more attractive option if a high level of quality support is important to you, as this is an area where users have experienced some frustration with MailChimp.

For most bloggers, we’d recommend MailChimp as a great place to start building your subscriber list and creating more traffic to your blog.

It’s Time to Grow Your Audience

We hope this guide has helped you to choose the right email marketing software for your blog.

If you have an idea for a new blog but haven’t started yet, visit our guide to the best free blogging sites in 2021.