Mailchimp is the bomb.
It’s constantly on our lists as one of the top growth hacking tools out there.
Why?
Because it helps you drive email marketing automation with all the features you’ll need.
But, here’s what.
Just because it’s the industry standard that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t shop around for the right tools that are a good fit for your organisation.
For example, there are other Mailchimp alternatives that are better with deliverability or are great for targeting.
These little enhancements can make all the difference if you want to leverage a particular feature that is important for your organization.
If you’re not looking at leveraging a particular feature and just want to check out what other options you have, this article can also help you out.
So, let’s get to it.
The Benefits of Mailchimp
Mailchimp is pretty much an industry standard when it comes to email automation platforms. It has everything that you could ever need to run a small to medium business.
You can create email sequences, it’s got great reporting, and you’ve got an editor that works pretty we with a drag-and-drop interface.
It’s got lots of integrations because of its popularity and the ability for marketers to create segmented lists.
Mailchimp is also relatively inexpensive if you have small lists of contacts.
But, sometimes it isn’t enough.
You might have budget constraints, you might need a little more power, or you could just be in need of a change.
Also, you could take issue with its limited email automation features or it’s steep pricing once you start scaling up the operations you’re engaged in.
Regardless, of your motivation, you should always keep an eye out for new email automation that suits your individual needs.
There are a lot of Mailchimp alternatives out there and here is a round up of some you could find interesting this 2021.
Mailshake
Here’s our primary example of an email automation Mailchimp alternative that you can use if you’re primarily focused on outreach for link building, B2B cold contacts or PR efforts.
Mailshake was designed for people who do cold emails and need advanced mail merge functionality with proven templates and automated follow-up features.
Here’s why.
People who do cold emails don’t necessarily need all the bells and whistles of a full-fledged eCommerce-focused email automation app, but they do want good mail merge and tracking of email opens and CTRs.
Despite the fancy features Mailshake lacks, it still makes for a solid alternative for outreach especially with linkbuilding and B2B sales.
It’s got solid integrations, A/B testing, a throttle feature for email sequences, and list-cleaning credits that are perfect for maintaining good email hygiene.
And, yes, its got a phone dialler for an omnichannel outreach campaign.
It doesn’t come cheap though, but with a solid lineup of features for $59, it’s been said to work wonders with a popular user base.
We do not recommend this for people with an eCommerce platform or need advanced automation, but we can give it our seal approval if a majority of your tasks rely on cold emails.
Constant Contact
Constant Contact is by no means a small player in the email automation community, it’s one of the big names because of the features that they bring to the table.
This is especially true if you are just starting out with eCommerce and don’t even have a website set up yet.
This app advertises itself as a solution that’s easy for marketers to use and here’s why.
Constant Contact is an all-in-one platform for marketers and a lot of people love it because it’s easy to use.
Don’t have a website yet?
No problem.
They’ve got a website hosting service with built-in analytics, the ability to connect a custom domain, unlimited storage, mobile-responsive builds and an SSL to boot.
And, that’s not all, they also take care of other marketing tasks that you need to set up like custom landing pages, a logo maker, and almost everything to get you started in beginning your journey in eCommerce.
You get access to their email automation and marketing tools, there’s nothing special here, but we find that their triggered email series workflows and the ability to create custom audiences well engineered.
They even integrate a social posting feature where you can manage organic posts and ads that you have on Facebook and Instagram.
As per pricing, this is where it gets interesting.
They have two main packages, “Email” and “Email Plus”. These are $20 and $45 respectively, and you get access to their full suite of features except the following.
You are also capped to three users with “Email” while the upgraded versions allows up to ten of your team members to access the account.
Now, you could roll with the normal vanilla version, especially if you’re just first starting out, but the plus version allows for some cool features such as a welcome email series and dynamic content.
For people who are new, stick with the cheaper option and consider moving to the slightly more expensive version if you’re looking at scaling. The basic package seems to get the job done well if you ask us.
I would recommend the application for marketers who don’t want to look too far for an all-in-one solution that consistently gets the job done.
ActiveCampaign
One reason why people flock to Mailchimp is email automation, but it’s not really for everyone, especially for those who want some more power and customization in their sequences.
If you want advanced email automation and have complex workflows with a variety of triggers, you’ve got to look for something else.
Enter ActiveCampaign.
Now, the application has most of the features that you’re probably looking for in email automation software, but what makes it stand out are its email sequences.
It gives you options for microconversions, upsells and cross-sells, and timed responses.
There’s a lot of data for you to leverage as well since you can track a customer’s journey easily with their interface and find areas where you could be bottlenecking.
Another thing that we love is the drag-and-drop style of automation that you can use with split-testing if a particular automation is working for you.
Test out wait times, content and even follow ups from your teams.
And, this is all with their built-in lead scoring, so you can accurately track and attribute results.
We like this application because of how much data you can generate and put to good use.
Their Lite package will set you back $9 a month for yearly billing and pricing is highly dependent on the number of contacts you manage plus what sort of services you require.
For example, moving from Lite to Plus, will cost you an extra $40, but you get access to their mobile CRM app, automations map, customizable sales pipelines, conditional content and lead scoring.
Is it worth it?
If your organization is heavily invested in eCommerce or manage multiple B2B prospects that demand custom sequences and highly personalized messages, then this is the application for you.
We do find one thing wrong with it.
And, that’s the lack of a free feature.
For this Mailchimp alternative, commitment is a must.
Drip
Heavily invested in ecommerce?
Then, consider using Drip.
Drip isn’t exactly an all-in-one email automation platform.
It’s mainly a CRM application, but it has powerful lead nurturing capabilities.
Marketers can set it up to hit up their prospects on different mediums, e.g., social media, SMS or email, and then lead them to make a buy decision.
And, it doesn’t stop there.
You can amp up your nurturing activities by setting particular discount codes and other sales incentives for different personas to get them through the funnel.
They combine multichannel automation with highly advanced segmentation.
Think about it this way, as soon as a customer triggers something in your marketing automation, you can immediately segment, target, and lead them through any funnel that you have.
Throw in an A/B test, too, while you’re at it, because it has support for that as well.
It’s got the usual host of features such as an email builder and some templates to get you started. There is integration for other eCommerce tools like Shopify and WooCommerce.
We love the application because it’s highly data driven, you can use analytics to make better business decisions.
Their cheapest option is $19 a month, and that’s enough power since it allows you to send an unlimited number of emails. As you scale, you pay based on how many people are in your account. So, when you go beyond 500, it increases to $29.
The price seems to be justified given that it’s not just an email automation machine.
Drip is an application that is highly recommended for ecommerce store vendors.
Zoho Campaigns
Zoho CRM is a popular application with over 50 million subscribers, and if you already use the platform, you should consider using their email automation software not only because of its native support but also because of its rich feature set.
Their email builder comes in quite handy if you’re looking to craft visually-appealing emails for different occasions. All you have to do is to pick out a template and drag-and-drop the customizations that you need.
You’ve got the regular array of email automation software – not as powerful as others in this list but pretty solid – and auto-responders, and you’ve got access to powerful personalization per email.
They even take care of opt-ins so you don’t have to burden your prospects with emails that they don’t want to receive.
To top it all off, they’ve got a mobile application for you to track your campaigns on the go.
Zoho Campaigns is also really competitive when it comes to the pricing that it offers.
You get three options of an “email-based plan”, “subscriber-based plan”, and “pay by email credits” covering most of the bases for different use cases.
Their “email-based plan” comes in at a mere $2 a month with their annual packages and it comes fully-packed with incredible features.
Zoho Campaigns is a worthy consideration, especially if you use their CRM platform.
SendinBlue
SendinBlue is another all-in-one marketing tool that’s gotten a lot of traction because of how much it can do.
One thing we like about SendinBlue is its ability to combine not only SMS and email marketing, but even website chatbots as well.
They have transactional email capabilities so you can have email sequences triggered via customer interactions with your web properties. This is useful for eCommerce ventures that need content remarketing to keep customers nurtured.
You can also tweak your campaigns to have custom send time optimization for each clients that you have. This allows you to improve your open rates by pegging sending times to those that make it convenient for you readers.
To top it all off, you’ve got a anding page builders which can be used to create hyper-targeted campaigns, and the ability to use retargeting ads on people you’ve engaged with in the past.
We like it’s list management tools that allow growth hackers to track prospects down the funnel.
Pricing is focused on per email that you send out and a basic package will set you back $25 a month.
Mailjet
Mailjet is more of a direct alternative to Mailchimp and it offers almost the same features with a good number of add-ons. (It’s a couple of cents cheaper as well.)
You get a standard dashboard, tracking, and more importantly, email marketing automation.
We like the fact that you can store an unlimited number of contacts in their database. This is extremely helpful for companies that deal with a load of data.
Say you want something more customized to your organization, Mailjet offers their API for you to create more personalized options to grow your business.
If you’re looking to upgrade the way you communicate with your customers, it also offers you the option to send out transactional emails. These emails will help alert your clients whenever a milestone is reached or an event in your store is triggered.
They don’t just stop at transactional emails, they have transactional SMS as well which is perfect for creating an omnichannel campaign.
Now, we personally like transactional emails and SMS, because it does wonders in lead nurturing and helps with remarketing.
Another Mailjet benefit is their optimization for agencies, they offer a whitelabelled version of their services. And, according to some, they have great deliverability.
If you want GDPR support, they’ve got that, too.
Pricing is pretty standard, it starts as low as $8.69 per month and it can be a cheaper alternative to Mailchimp which starts at $9.99. Payment is based on how many emails you send daily and their free feature is powerful.
You can also request for custom emterprise quotes for more personalized needs.
ConvertKit
ConvertKit is not exactly what you would expect out of your run-of-the-mill email marketing software.
This app was designed with creators in mind.
Here’s why.
Their main focus is creating beautiful email templates that you can use for your newsletters and updates.
But, they don’t just stop there.
They also have options for you to build personalized landing pages and sign up forms. Plus, there is no limit to how many you can create making it great for all those little campaigns that you have.
Think about it as a Canva-themed email automation software for actively growing your audience as a creative.
It doesn’t lack in the email marketing automation category either. It packs a punch with its drag and drop email sequence features, it has tracking and metrics, plus an option for you to A/B test the campaigns that you have.
If you’ve been following our content, we highly stress the importance of testing when it comes to campaigns because it’s the only way to have an edge against the competition.
ConvertKit doesn’t come in cheaper either.
It’s cheapest option is $29 and this gives you automated funnels and sequences that you can use for email automation. And, if you want advanced reporting – which most growth hackers need – that will cost you another $30.
Now, here’s what you have to remember about ConvertKit.
It doesn’t just focus on email marketing, but rather creating good-looking materials.
If you’re not too particular with how your emails look, then you could use something else, but if you want to create things that are highly customized and aesthetically pleasing, their interface is a safe bet.
AcyMailing
How about if you need something that integrates easily to your WordPress or Joomla as a plugin?
That’s where plugins such as AcyMailing come in.
These plugins are great if you mainly send newsletters or have a very
With a plugin like theirs you don’t have to worry about the number of users in your team that are tweaking the tool for your organization. You can easily have everyone on board.
Plus, you can send an unlimited number of emails as well and simple statistics for the free version.
They have a drag-and-drop email builder so you can expect easy newsletter crafting even if you’re pressed for time.
However, if you want to really feel the power of AcyMailing you shud take advantage of their paid packages.
This plugin allows you to create custom workflows and conditional sending for emails that you distribute, follow up emails, and email override.
But, that’s not all, you get an email improvement tool and a bounce back handing system.
As per pricing, they’re actually pretty comptetive.
Their free version can do the job for a lot of people who send out newsletters manually, but adding just 29 Euros a year gives you access to great automation tools.
Another interesting approach to pricing is their most expensive option which comes in at 319 Euros yearly. This is ultimately cheaper because it gives you the ability to use the app with up to 20 of your domains.
This is a good option for growth hackers who maintain a lot of websites, but need email CRM and automation for each being used.
It’s wonderful for those who want something simple to use with native WordPress integrations at the lowest price possible.
Takeaways
Here’s the thing.
Just because it’s new, cheap or the industry standard, for that matter, doesn’t mean you have to jump into a new trend.
You need to find tools that are the right fit for your organization.
What does your organization need?
Do you outreach? Are you a creator? Do you need advanced automation for your ecommerce store?
These are the main points for consideration.
Once you get your main tools in order, then you can start looking at the other frills that you could use to boost your growth.
Also, you don’t always have to pay.
A lot of the tools that we covered have a free version that you can use to try out specific services.
Good growth hackers are efficient with the resources that they have.
Do you have any other Mailchimp alter alternatives that could have made this list? Let us know in the comments below.
