Email Marketing Tools in a Nutshell: The 5 Absolute Best Alternatives to Mailchimp in 2024
by Ben Güthlein - August 27, 2024
Are you looking for an alternative to Mailchimp? You are in the right place.
Mailchimp is one of the most popular and famous email marketing tools today. Businesses in more than 175 countries trust Mailchimp to send 6 billion messages a week.
However, it’s important to note that Mailchimp has shifted its pricing model, eliminating the free plan and introducing limitations to its basic tiers. Above all, this means that what was once a free or low-cost option for many users may now come with significant costs or restrictions.
Luckily there are many other products on the market that may be more suitable for your use case or budget.
Here is a selection of the best ones, focused on the key facts and recommendations and along with the best discounts currently available.
Mailchimp Alternative No.1: Brevo (formerly SendinBlue)
Features:
Brevo offers a comprehensive suite of features including email marketing with newsletters, campaigns, and automation, SMS marketing, CRM for customer management, a landing page builder, live chat, transactional email handling, marketing automation for streamlined processes, and in-depth analytics to measure campaign performance
Pricing:
Brevo offers a freemium plan, allowing you to send up to 300 emails per day to an unlimited number of contacts. Paid plans start at 7€/month for increased sending limits and additional features, however custom limits are available.
➕ Pros
- Affordable pricing options
- Comprehensive feature set
- Robust automation capabilities
- User-friendly interface
- Strong transactional email handling
- Detailed analytics and reporting
➖ Cons
- Limited design customization options
- Restricted free plan
- Potential email deliverability issues
- Varying customer support quality
- Additional costs for certain features
Best suited for:
Brevo is an ideal Mailchimp alternative for budget-conscious small to medium-sized businesses, those needing a multi-channel marketing approach, e-commerce stores requiring efficient transactional email management, and marketers prioritizing automation and data-driven insights.
Special discounts:
Not available at the moment.
Mailchimp Alternative No.2: Klaviyo
Features:
Klaviyo is an e-commerce focused email marketing platform that offers a robust set of tools that will sevre more than well as a Mailchimp alternative. At its core, it provides email marketing capabilities, including newsletters, automated campaigns, and personalized messaging. Beyond email, Klaviyo integrates seamlessly with e-commerce platforms, offering features like customer segmentation based on purchase behavior, product recommendations, SMS marketing, and in-depth analytics. Additionally, the platform also provides tools for building landing pages and forms.
Pricing:
Klaviyo’s pricing is based on the number of contacts and email sends. While it offers a free plan for small businesses, for most companies, a paid plan will be necessary. In detail, the platform offers a variety of pricing tiers to accommodate different business sizes and needs. While the pricing structure can become complex for larger businesses with extensive email lists, Klaviyo generally provides good value for the features offered.
➕ Pros
- Strong integration with e-commerce platforms
- Advanced segmentation and personalization features
- Robust automation capabilities
- Excellent customer support
- Comprehensive analytics and reporting
➖ Cons
- Pricing can become expensive for large email lists
- Steeper learning curve compared to some competitors
- Limited design templates compared to other platforms
Best suited for:
Klaviyo is best suited for e-commerce businesses that prioritize personalization, automation, and data-driven marketing. Particularly, it’s well-suited for companies with a strong focus on customer relationships and retention. While it can be used by businesses in other industries, its core strengths lie in its e-commerce capabilities.
Mailchimp Alternative No.3: GetResponse
Features:
GetResponse is a comprehensive email marketing platform offering a wide range of features beyond email. Namely, it includes tools for email creation, automation, landing page building, webinars, and online store creation. On top of that the platform also provides marketing automation capabilities, allowing users to create complex workflows based on subscriber behavior. Lastly, GetResponse offers analytics and reporting features to help users track campaign performance.
Pricing:
This Mailchimp alternative offers a tiered pricing structure based on the number of contacts and email sends. Although there’s a free plan with limited features, most users will need a paid plan. The platform provides several pricing options to accommodate different business sizes and needs. While the pricing can become steeper for larger email lists, GetResponse generally offers competitive rates.
➕ Pros
- Comprehensive feature set
- User-friendly interface
- Strong automation capabilities
- Wide range of integrations
- Good value for money
➖ Cons
- Pricing can increase rapidly for large email lists
- Some advanced features can be complex
- Customer support often inconsistent
Best suited for:
GetResponse is well-suited for small to medium-sized businesses seeking a versatile email marketing platform with additional features like landing pages and webinars. It’s especially beneficial for those who want to automate marketing processes and leverage advanced analytics. While it can accommodate larger businesses, the pricing structure might become a limiting factor for those with extensive email lists.
Mailchimp Alternative No. 4: Convert Kit (soon to be just Kit)
Features:
ConvertKit is a Mailchimp alternative which is primarily an email marketing platform with a focus on simplicity and ease of use. Of course it offers core features like email creation, automation, and subscriber management. Although it doesn’t have the same breadth of features as some competitors, it excels in providing a clean interface and intuitive workflow for creating email sequences and landing pages.
Pricing:
ConvertKit’s pricing is based on the number of subscribers. There does exist a free plan for small lists, but most users will need a paid plan. On the upper side, the platform has a straightforward pricing structure with a few clear tiers. While it might not be the most affordable option for extremely large email lists, ConvertKit generally offers competitive pricing for its target audience.
➕ Pros
- User-friendly interface
- Strong focus on email creation and automation
- Good value for money for smaller email lists
- Excellent customer support
➖ Cons
- Limited advanced features compared to some competitors
- Lack of robust CRM functionality
- Pricing can become steep for large email lists
Best suited for:
ConvertKit is best suited for bloggers, content creators, and small to medium-sized businesses that prioritize email marketing and simplicity. In a nutshell, it’s ideal for those who want a clean, user-friendly platform without the complexity of advanced features offered by some competitors. While it can handle larger email lists, its core strengths lie in serving the needs of smaller businesses and individuals.
Mailchimp Alternative No.5: Active Campaign
Features:
ActiveCampaign is a professional marketing automation platform that goes beyond email marketing. It offers robust features such as email creation, automation, CRM, landing pages, and SMS marketing. A standout feature is its advanced segmentation capabilities, allowing users to create highly targeted campaigns. To top it off, ActiveCampaign provides robust analytics and reporting tools to measure campaign performance.
Pricing:
ActiveCampaign’s pricing is based on the number of contacts and the features required. It is based on a tiered pricing structure with several plans to accommodate different business sizes. Despite being a cost-effective for small businesses, pricing can escalate for larger companies with extensive contact lists.
➕ Pros
- Advanced automation capabilities
- Strong CRM integration
- In-depth analytics and reporting
- Excellent customer support
- Flexible pricing plans
➖ Cons
- Pricing can become expensive for large email lists
- Steeper learning curve compared to some competitors
- Limited design templates compared to other platforms
Best suited for:
Compared to Mailchimp, ActiveCampaign is an alternative that is best suited for businesses that require a powerful marketing automation platform with a strong emphasis on CRM and advanced segmentation. It’s ideal for companies with complex sales processes and a need to nurture leads effectively. To sum things up, it’s particularly well-suited for those with a dedicated marketing team and a willingness to invest in the platform’s learning curve.
Ben Güthlein
Performance Marketing & Growth Expert
A data-driven performance marketing leader with 10+ years of experience and a knack for boosting growth & ROI. Currently available as a freelance, fractional or interim expert for startups, scale-ups and established companies / corporations looking to optimise or scale their digital marketing efforts.
Need a hand? Get in touch here
