MailChimp is an all-in-one integrated marketing platform designed as an alternative to email software that existed in the early 2000s, which were rather oversized and expensive.
The combination of its smart marketing technology, inspiring content, and award-winning support are tailored specifically for small businesses to empower them to start and grow their businesses on their terms.
If you lack high-end tools and resources that your larger competitors possess, MailChimp is not only easy to use and free, but it also gives you access to technology that’ll empower and help you to grow.
MailChimp sends billions of emails every day as you can send out messages en masse to your followers or customers. However, its real problem is ensuring these messages reach your customers’ or target audiences’ inboxes – not junk folders.
It distinguishes itself through various ways that protect you from malware and phishing scams while trying to deliver them to people’s inboxes.
Despite MailChimp’s powerful features and popularity, it has its drawbacks. Among these is the “difficulty” of use while your business or brand grows, but also it’s not made for everyone.
If you’re looking to switch to alternative services that can do the same thing or more, with friendlier pricing, better quality of service, and user experiences this roundup post will look at 10 such services and why they’re great contenders to MailChimp.
MailChimp Limitations
Despite MailChimp’s powerful features and popularity, it has its drawbacks.
Among these is the “difficulty” of use while your business or brand grows, but also it’s not made for everyone.
Not only that, but it also released a new Terms of Service, which changed how accounts were changed to being based on audiences, including transactional, subscribed, and unsubscribed contacts. So you end up with an inflated number of contacts and eventually pay more to use the service.
Worse still, they didn’t warn their customers in advance about the change until after they were implemented and customers only got a generic email notifying them of the changes without highlighting the parts that were of more concern to their users.
This is probably one of the several reasons people are seeking MailChimp alternatives for WordPress, not to mention the steep learning curve.
The service also limits users on the content they can send especially if they deem it to be high-risk, and can stop working with companies that don’t meet the criteria. Some users have also cited unhelpful support as a reason for looking for alternatives.
If you’re looking to switch to alternative services that can do the same thing or more with friendlier pricing, better quality of service, and user experiences this roundup post will look at 10 such services and why they’re great contenders to MailChimp.
What To Consider When Choosing The Best MailChimp Alternatives For WordPress
Before we get into our top picks for the best MailChimp alternatives for WordPress, here’s what to look for when selecting one for your needs:
- Subscribers: Check that the service you want to use allows you plenty of room to grow because most plans get pricier as your subscriber count increases.
- Ability to automate: The service should be able to create emails – individual or series – that will be sent automatically to your subscribers or audiences during specific trigger events.
- Content Personalization: This enables you to use subscribers’ details to deliver personalized content with their own names.
- Segmentation: This allows you to have specific groups for your subscriber list. For instance, you can group them into people who have bought something or those who haven’t, and then create and build campaigns around the categories you come up with, and emails specific to them.
- Split testing: A/B testing lets you test different message variations before you send them out, so you can tell what will work for your audience and what won’t work.
- Customer signup forms: If the tool offers you a feature that can create customer signup forms that reflect the look and feel of your brand, and pick out the information you want subscribers to give you as they sign up, it’ll go a long way to help with your email marketing.
- Analytics: This is one of the most important features of any tool for marketing as it shows you the audience’s demographics and patterns of behavior. It also shows you how many opens, clicks, subscribe/unsubscribe rates, and more you get from your marketing/outreach efforts.
Best MailChimp Alternatives For WordPress
Note: The pricing for each software is based on the structures available at the time of writing this post. The actual price may vary from time to time according to the provider.
1. Sendinblue
This is a popular MailChimp alternative for WordPress that’s designed to help startups and newbies run smooth marketing campaigns. It offers email and SMS marketing services so you can create interactions with your audience, and makes sure your messages get sent and delivered to their inboxes.
Sendinblue is different from other services here because it charges you based on the number of emails you send and you can buy SMS credits for an infinite period of time.
You can also create a free account with as many contacts as you want, there’s no limit to it, but you can only send about 9,000 emails every month or 300 emails per day. It’s also a better service to MailChimp in terms of automation at reasonable prices and you can access most of its features like advanced segmentation, split testing, automated campaigns, and email template library in the free plan.
Its email marketing tools are linked to the customer relationship management (CRM) tools so you can easily manage all interactions with your customers under one roof.
However, one of its limitations is that if you exceed the customer limit you’re allowed to send automated emails for, you’ll have to upgrade to the paid subscription. Their pricing plans range from $25, $39, and $66 for the Lite, Essential, and Premium plans respectively.
Sendinblue is great for startups and newbies who want to stay small but need a free yet robust email marketing service provider. It’s also great for established businesses and an Enterprise plan with custom pricing and all the premium features like integrated CRM is available for that.
2. Moosend
Moosend is another good MailChimp alternative for WordPress that offers a series of features for users who like sophisticated but fast options. Among these include powerful and easy-to-use campaign editor, landing page builder, free email newsletter templates, list segmentation options, subscription forms, email marketing automation, real-time analytics, and integrations with your favorite services and applications.
Its free plan is free forever (no credit card required), just as with MailChimp, but it offers up to 1,000 subscribers and doesn’t have any limitations on emails or the features you can use and how to use them. You get unlimited customer segmentation, a fast and reliable automation builder, and free email templates for any and every occasion.
Their customer support is available through tutorials and guides for the free plans, but paid users get email, phone, and chat support. There’s a wide variety of pricing plans from the custom pay-as-you-go so you can only pay when you send emails at no extra cost, down to the classic monthly plans.
It also has the classic monthly plans with the free one, Pro ($8 per month), and an Enterprise plan with custom pricing based on your needs.
It integrates with WordPress and WooCommerce, but it has limited options for signup forms and you can only create HTML forms – no opt-in popups.
Moosend is a great email newsletter alternative to MailChimp, especially for small businesses, as it lets you access most of its features on the free plan, while the cost increases based on your needs but at reasonable rates.
Their customer support is great and there’s a wide variety of pricing plans from the custom pay-as-you-go so you can only pay when you send emails at no extra cost.
3. ConvertKit
ConvertKit is a full-featured email service provider that offers all the email marketing tools and automation you need to grow your blog and business.
It’s another good choice if you want to switch from MailChimp and is geared towards creatives such as publishers, bloggers, YouTubers, course creators, photographers, and podcasters. It automates email marketing and has beautiful email forms so you can capture more subscribers and make them part of your campaigns.
Some of its features include forms and landing pages, easy to use list management feature, visual automation builder that you can use to create and develop automated workflows, and personalized email funnels to send subscribers the right content at the right time.
Its user interface is user-friendly and allows you to create and group your contact list easily, but most of its features aren’t intuitive as you’d find with other services like it. Otherwise, it integrates with third-party apps and services such as CRM software, eCommerce platforms, and OptinMonster among others.
ConvertKit offers two pricing plans: Free and Complete. The free plan lets you test new ideas and try them out without building a full website and go through the hassles of registering domain names, and website setup among other steps. You can simply build a landing page within minutes and publish it online. The plan offers unlimited landing pages and forms, plus email broadcasts that can reach up to 1,000 subscribers.
The Complete plan starts at $29 per month and offers more features for creators to run their growing businesses and stay connected with their audiences.
4. GetResponse
GetResponse is a modern email marketing platform that allows small businesses to create mailing lists and capture data about their subscribers and audiences. You can create targeted subscriber lists and send high-impact newsletters to your valuable list of partners, prospects, and clients.
It offers basic and advanced email automation features like signup forms, interactive newsletter templates, landing pages, email campaigns, marketing automation, conversion funnels, autoresponders, and even lets you host webinars.
You can send your newsletters to multiple segments unlike MailChimp and if you have any queries, you can reach their support team via email, chat, or phone. They also have a wide range of knowledge resources to help you promote your business better.
Its pricing plans include the Basic plan ($15), Plus plan ($49), and Professional ($99). An Enterprise plan is also available with custom pricing depending on your needs and each plan comes with a 30-day free trial.
5. AWeber
AWeber is the oldest email marketing software on this list. It’s been offering powerfully-simple email marketing to help businesses communicate with their customers and prospects more effectively and profitably since 1998
The service lets you build email lists, send out professional and beautiful emails, and connect faster with your audience than you ever have.
It boasts features such as autoresponder, advanced reporting, a smart AI-powered design assistant to build branded email templates in seconds, drag/drop email and landing page designer, pre-built template library, campaign automations, and an AMP for email.
You can also import pre-built campaigns from the marketplace, which deliver high performance directly to your account for faster automation.
AWeber’s doesn’t have a free plan, but its pricing plans are based on the number of subscribers as follows: $19 for 0-500 subscribers, $29 for 501-2,500 subscribers, $49 for 2,501-5,000 subscribers, $69 for 5,001-10,000 subscribers, and 10,000-25,000 subscribers per month.
6. Constant Contact
Constant Contact is another popular email marketing software created with the success of small businesses and nonprofits in mind. It features tools like subject line testing, automatic welcome emails, and contact segmentation so you can get started with email marketing and be a professional in no time.
It offers a range of intuitive marketing apps that you can use to expand your customer base and nurture relationships with features like social campaigns, reporting, event marketing, survey, and offer management, all available as independent tools or as an integrated suite.
The software lets you import customer data from email clients or spreadsheets, and personalize email sign-up forms, and then embed them on social media (Facebook) or web pages to capture contacts and grow your email lists.
There are also a variety of customizable email templates with drag/drop elements including real-time reporting to track opens, clicks, forwards, social shares, and much more and benefit from industry-leading deliverability rates.
Customer support, which is a lot better than MailChimp’s, is available via phone, online, and in-person at Constant Contact free seminars.
There are only two pricing plans: Email ($20) and Email Plus ($45) per month, both based on the number of contacts, and you can send unlimited emails and get more file storage, plus add more powerful features by upgrading to the Plus plan and grow your business. The first month is free for both plans.
7. MailerLite
MailerLite offers the latest features for email marketing designed to help you build up a subscriber list, nurture, and grow strong relationships.
It packs features that help you create amazing campaigns such as the drag/drop editor and newsletter templates, grow your audience like website builders, landing pages and embedded forms, and deliver the right message using segmentation, personalization, email automation, and more.
If you want to optimize your campaigns, MailerLite allows you to do so using split testing to be effective with your messaging and analytics to track your results to find what works best for your business.
You can sign up free for the 14-day trial and test run all the premium features, or you can go with the available pricing plans including the free plan for up to 1,000 subscribers and 12,000 emails monthly.
The premium plans are priced based on the number of subscribers as follows: $10 for 1 – 1,000, $15 for 1,001 – 2,500, $30 for 2,501 – 5,000, and $50 for 5,001 – 10,000, all with unlimited emails per month.
8. Campaign Monitor
This is a straightforward, premium email marketing and automation tool that’s easy to use and allows you to customize any template or design to showcase your company’s brand at its best to each aspect of your campaign.
Its features include free professional email templates that help businesses create product announcements and other targeted campaigns, event promotions, newsletters, and marketing offers among others. These templates are responsive to mobile devices so all your campaigns look good across platforms.
Also included is a team template manager through which you can customize your email designers by locking some parts of the template so that you can keep and update only those you want, and maintain your brand identity.
You can also create smart segments for better results, use signup forms to reach a bigger audience, get analytics to improve your strategy based on variables like geography, engagement per campaign, and acquisition.
In terms of integrations, Campaign Monitor can seamlessly integrate with many of your favorite pre-built apps and integrations so you can connect your CRM software, your website, or eCommerce platform and bring all your data together in one platform.
Customer support is available through chat, training videos, and other helpful resources, plus social media pages.
Campaign Monitor has three pricing plans: Basic ($9) with up to 2,500 emails, Unlimited ($29) with unlimited emails, and Premier at $149 per month with unlimited emails across campaigns and automated emails. There’s no free plan, but a trial is available that lets you start sending beautifully designed emails today with the drag-and-drop editor and library of free templates.
High volume pricing is also available and a pay per campaign plan for those sending emails occasionally.
9. ActiveCampaign
ActiveCampaign is another great alternative to MailChimp that offers you the tools you need from email marketing, CRM, and marketing automation to create incredible experiences for your customers.
It’s ideal for sales, marketing, and customer service teams with powerful features including personalized emails and sales automation.
It also integrates with many apps including WordPress, Facebook, Shopify, WooCommerce, and Zapier among others to streamline your workflows.
It’s better than MailChimp as it’s a team tool for large or whole teams, at reasonable prices. Plus, it offers machine learning features including Win probability, Predictive sending, and Predictive Content (in beta).
Win probability helps your team know what to spend more time on because not every deal will close. You also get to know when you need to nurture your leads using automation, or when to add a personal touch.
Predicative sending and predictive content help you email your customers at the perfect moment and the right content to the right customer.
There’s no free version, but there’s a 14-day trial, and if you like it, you can select from four affordable pricing plans: Lite ($9), Plus ($49), Professional ($129), and Enterprise ($229). Each plan has various features so you can find the right one for your business before subscribing to it.
10. Drip
This is a powerful email marketing software that uses smart marketing techniques to help you get more subscribers to your mailing list. You can create conversations and send automated emails to your clients based on their user behavior, including customized emails.
You can also check for new and returning visitors, clicked links and cart abandonment, build personalized experiences, drive meaningful engagement, and earn the loyalty of your customers over the long-term.
It has features that enable you to get customer data and insight into what they’re looking at, clicking on or craving, set your store apart with personalization, build trust and loyalty from their inboxes to other channels including social media, and pinpoint what’s working to optimize the experience.
Drip’s pricing plans depend on the number of users you have in your account. For a minimum of 100 people, you’ll pay $19 per month and send unlimited emails, and the cost increases as the number of users grows.
Wrapping Up
MailChimp is usually the first email marketing and newsletter tool that comes to mind when you want to start your email marketing campaigns. It’s not for everyone though, and still has its shortcomings like pricing and quick change of terms as we’ve already seen.
Thankfully though, all the 10 MailChimp alternatives for WordPress are great and offer a wide range of functionality and features to help beginners, small, and established businesses with their email marketing based on their needs.
Some offer integrated CRM tools, while others integrate with many more of your favorite and popular apps and tools. You can choose one with a free plan and test run it before subscribing depending on the features that match your business needs and goals, or if you like, one that doesn’t have a free plan, but the pricing is reasonable, it’s worth a try.
