Ava AbbottMailchimp is an all-in-one marketing platform for small businesses. It is owned by Rocket Science Group, an American company that was founded in 2001 by Ben Chestnut, Dan Kurzius, and Mark Armstrong.
Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, Mailchimp started as an email and newsletter tool for small businesses and expanded into a multi-billion marketing automation company. Its user base and financial position have both increased over the years.
In FY2019, Mailchimp’s annual revenue was $700 million. It is now the most popular email marketing software in the world with over 10 million users. [1]
Mailchimp offers a free plan for up to 2,000 contacts and 10,000 emails per month. Its Essentials plan is one of the cheapest options in the market and starts at $9.99/month for 500 contacts and 500k emails.
Medium businesses can get Mailchimp’s Standard plan with advanced automation for $14.99/month. To access all Mailchimp’s features and tools, users can get the Premium plan starting from $299/month. Mailchimp has transformed into a marketing automation platform for SMBs.
It now offers a website builder, online stores, digital ad support, and analytics. In 2020, Mailchimp launched AI-based tools to transform into a fully integrated automation platform. As a fully integrated automation platform, Mailchimp can meet the ever-increasing needs of SMBs and fend off top competitors like SendinBlue, Moosend, and many more. [2]
Here is an in-depth analysis of Mailchimp’s competitors and alternatives:
1. SendinBlue
Year founded: 2012
Headquarter: Paris, France
SendinBlue is a marketing automation platform and an email autoresponder provider. It helps SMBs to run all of their marketing, from email, SMS, chat marketing, automation services, CRM, social media ads, and retargeting.
The company’s offerings overlap and compete with Mailchimp in many areas. SendinBlue’s free plan offers up to 300 emails per day and its paid plans start at $25/month for up to 40,000 emails and features designed to address enterprise-level needs. In 2020, SendinBlue raised $160 million in its latest funding round.
It will use the funds to expand its presence in North America, where it grew 100% in 2019. SendinBlue has focused on adding more CRM tools and solutions to automate SMBs’ back offices. These tools and solutions increase its competitive edge over Mailchimp in 2021 and beyond. [3]
2. Constant Contact
Year founded: 1995
Headquarter: Waltham, Massachusetts
Constant Contact is an online marketing platform owned by Endurance International Group. The platform integrates seamlessly with social media and offers tons of features and management tools. But the platform is not easy to use, which undercuts its competitive edge over Mailchimp.
Constant Contact offers a 60-day free trial period and flexible paid plans starting at $20. Constant Contact’s hands-on approach in helping SMBs differentiates the company from other competitors. In 2020, the company launched a virtual forum for SMBs called the Power Hour series.
These forums are industry-specific virtual roundtable that lasts for 60 minutes and allows SMBs to exchange ideas. It helped many SMBs adjust, adapt, and overcome the crisis and its challenges. Constant Contact’s hands-on approach increases its competitive edge over Mailchimp. [4]
3. GetResponse
Year founded: 1998
Headquarter: Gdansk, Poland
GetResponse is email automation and marketing tool that offers tons of customization options. The platform is designed with A/B testing options, lead-nurturing CRM, and other user-friendly tools, which eliminates the need for a third-party email marketing plugin.
GetResponse offers robust email marketing, automation, and analytics tools at a lower monthly cost than Mailchimp. Businesses can enjoy a 30-day free trial period before upgrading to a paid plan and pay either monthly, yearly, or biannually.
SMBs with less than 1000 contacts can either get a biannual plan for $10.50/month, a yearly plan for $12.30/month, or a monthly plan for $15/month. GetResponse is affordable and the perfect Mailchimp alternative for cash-strapped SMBs with growing subscriber list and audience. [5]
4. Campaign Monitor
Year founded: 2004
Headquarter: Nashville, Tennessee
Campaign Monitor offers a complete solution for automated email marketing. Its features include analytics, apps and integrations, and robust tools for personalization, marketing automation, and contact management.
The platform also features a drag-and-drop editor for creating emails that drive marketing campaigns. Campaign Monitor has over 250,000 customers worldwide and offers a paid plan for $29/month. The main advantage of Campaign Monitor is thought leadership.
It provides global and country-specific email marketing reports and campaign data to help SMBs tackle emerging challenges in local and global markets. These reports showcase its thought leadership and give the company an edge over Mailchimp. [6]
5. AWeber
Year founded: 1998
Headquarter: Chalfont, Pa
AWeber is a suite of web-based email marketing software that allows businesses to personalize campaigns to their audience. More than 120,000 businesses and bloggers use the platform to boost sales and profits.
E-commerce giants like Magento use AWeber to leverage its automation tools. The platform offers a 30-day free trial period and its paid plans start at $19 for 500 subscribers. In 2020, AWeber introduced a free plan to help SMBs connect with their audiences, grow their business, and survive the crisis.
AWeber Free allows for up to 500 subscribers, unlimited users per account, and offers full access to AWeber’s Customer Solutions team and integration library. All these automation capabilities for free can poach some clients from Mailchimp. [7]
6. Moosend
Year founded: 2011
Headquarter: London, UK
Moosend is a robust email marketing platform with a flexible custom pricing structure and advanced automation features. The main competitive advantage for Moosend is its robust features that appeal to startups and Fortune 500 businesses.
Catering to big and small businesses gives it an advantage over Mailchimp. Moosend offers a free plan for SMBs with less than 1,000 subscribers and a Pro plan for $8/month per 1,000 subscribers. Its Pro plan can cost up to $608/month for 200,000 subscribers.
Businesses that need advanced functionalities like SSO and SAML security protocols can get the Enterprise plan. Moosend’s robust features and simple pricing structure makes it a worthy top Mailchimp competitor. [8]
7. Klaviyo
Year founded: 2012
Headquarter: Boston, Massachusetts
Klaviyo is marketing automation and email platform designed for eCommerce. The platform allows online businesses to store, access, analyze, and use customer data to drive highly-targeted marketing campaigns. It integrates with the leading eCommerce platforms like WooCommerce, Shopify, BigCommerce, and more. Klaviyo’s customer base has doubled year-over-year to reach 50,000 companies in 125 countries.
In 2020, Klaviyo raised $200 million in a Series C funding round on a $4.15 billion valuation. It has raised $385.5 million so far, including $150 million for Series B in 2019. The funds will boost Klaviyo’s growth and competitive edge over Mailchimp in 2021 and beyond. [9]
8. ConvertKit
Year founded: 2013
Headquarter: Boise, Indiana
ConvertKit is an email marketing tool for eCommerce stores. The platform offers a selection of features designed to automate eCommerce marketing campaigns. With ConvertKit, online stores can create segmentation and automation rules, simple emails with images and CTA buttons, and landing pages.
Businesses can also integrate ConvertKit with other tools and apps to boost the impact of their campaigns. ConvertKit offers a free trial period and paid plans starting from $29/month for up to 1,000 subscribers.
Its streamlined selection of features and tools make it a great resource and a Mailchimp alternative for online businesses. [10]
9. ActiveCampaign
Year founded: 2003
Headquarter: Chicago, Illinois
ActiveCampaign offers comprehensive customer experience automation and email marketing tools. Its features include marketing automation tools, sales, and CRM platforms, and machine learning capabilities.
In 2020, ActiveCampaign added 40,000 businesses on its platform to reach 130,000 customers. It also expanded its global presence and now employs 750 people worldwide.
ActiveCampaign offers affordable plans starting at just $9 per month, which increases its competitive edge over Mailchimp. However, the platform’s email design capabilities do not match Mailchimp’s robust design features and tools. [11]
10. HubSpot Inc.
Year founded: 2006
Headquarter: Cambridge, Massachusetts
HubSpot is a customer relationship management (CRM) platform with comprehensive solutions for eCommerce stores. With the HubSpot Marketing Hub, online businesses have access to email marketing and automation tools, landing pages, and custom reporting.
But HubSpot’s cheapest plan starts at $50/month for up to 1,000 contacts and the next tier costs $800/month. The price can discourage cash strapped SMBs and push them to Mailchimp or other CRM competitors.
For the Q3 2020 ended September 30, HubSpot’s total revenue was $228.4 million, up 32% year-over-year. Its subscription revenue for the quarter also surged 32% y-o-y to $221.1 million. HubSpot is expected to deliver around $237 million in revenues for Q4 2020 and annual revenue of $868 million for the full year 2020. HubSpot’s outstanding financial performance and growth make it a worthy top Mailchimp competitor in 2021 and beyond. [12]
11. Omnisend
Year founded: 2014
Headquarter: London, UK
Omnisend is an email marketing tool that integrates seamlessly with any eCommerce platform. The platform is designed with eCommerce in mind. Omnisend overtook Mailchimp in 2020 to become the number-one-rated email marketing app on Shopify.
It offers a free plan but doesn’t restrict the number of subscribers. SMBs with less than 15,000 emails per month can use the free plan and grow their base email list then pay $16/month when they surpass the limit.
Its Pro plan costs $99/month and comes with a drag-and-drop builder that can rival Mailchimp’s builder. Omnisend is a top Mailchimp competitor for many reasons. [13]
12. MailerLite
Year founded: 2010
Headquarter: Vilnius, Lithuania
MailerLite is a simple email marketing platform with tons of user-friendly features to help SME grow and thrive. The platform offers a landing page builder, embeddable web forms, automation tools, and integrations.
SMBs can use its free plan but it is very limited and doesn’t offer customer support. Its paid plans start at $10/month for up to 1,000 subscribers and 12,000 emails per month. In 2020, MailerLite integrated its email sending app with the Stripe dashboard.
Now, businesses can leverage the platform to offer newsletter subscriptions as a service platform. The integration increases MailerLite’s competitive edge and can entice SMBs from Mailchimp. [14]
13. Ontraport
Year founded: 2007
Headquarter: Santa Barbara, California
Ontraport is an all-in-one platform that offers customer relationship management (CRM), email marketing automation, and all the essential tools for sales. Its suite of tools for eCommerce can help online businesses create complete digital marketing plans and support their efforts across all growth stages. Ontraport has a customer base of nearly 5,000 active customers globally.
It offers a free trial and its paid plans start at $79 per month, which is more expensive than Mailchimp. In 2020, Ontraport secured investment from Accel-KKR Credit Partners to help catalyze growth and expand market share. The fund increases Ontraport’s competitive edge further. [15]
14. SendX
Year founded: 2016
Headquarter: Wilmington, Delaware
SendX is a feature-rich email marketing solution that offers email marketing and automation tools, a landing page builder, a drag-and-drop editor, signup forms, and popups. The main drawback of using SendX over Mailchimp is its shorter 14-day free trial period.
It also doesn’t offer a free plan, which undercuts its competitive edge. But, SMBs are enticed by SendX’s affordable plans that start at $9.99/month or $7.49/year for up to 1,000 contacts. The business plan accommodates users with 1 and 15,000 contact numbers.
Larger businesses with 10,001 to 15,000 subscribers can pay $59.99/month when billed annually or $79.99/month for monthly billing. SendX’s collection of features and simple pricing structure can entice SMBs from Mailchimp. [16]
15. Benchmark Email
Year founded: 2004
Headquarter: Huntington Beach, California
Benchmark Email is a web-based email marketing service provider that caters to SMBs and online marketers. It offers a free plan for up to 2000 subscribers and 14,000 emails per month. However, the free plan offers limited data tracking and reporting, data storage, and segmentation.
To access powerful tools, businesses have to get the paid package for $28.85 per month. On January 8, 2021, Benchmark Email secured a $3 million funding to expand its operations. The funds give the company additional growth capital and boost its competitive edge in 2021. [17]
References & more information
- Locke, T. (2020, June 19). Billion-dollar company Mailchimp started as a side gig – here’s what the founder would do now to make extra money. CNBC
- Lardinois, F. (2020, Sep 22). MailChimp launches new AI tools as it continues its transformation to a marketing platform. Tech Crunch
- Lunden, I. (2020, Oct 1). France’s Sendinblue, an all-in-one digital marketing platform, raises $160M. Tech Crunch
- Ward, M. (2020, Aug 11). Constant Contact Brings Together Small Businesses and Entrepreneurs for “Power Hour” Roundtables. PR Newswire
- Mathews, A. (2020, Aug 15). GetResponse vs ClickFunnels: Blog Charge Compares Top All-In-One Marketing Solutions. Business Wire
- Business Wire (2020, Jan 3). Campaign Monitor’s Newest Report Shows Email Marketing Engagement Grew in 2019. AP News
- Schultz, R. (2020, July 14). AWeber offers a Free Email Service Plan for Small Businesses. Media Post
- Gunn, D. (2020, Sep 25). Sendinblue or Moosend: Which is the Best Email Marketing Tool? Winning WP
- Miller, R. (2020, Nov 17). Marketing automation platform Klaviyo scores $200M Series C on $4.15B valuations. Tech Crunch
- Campaign Monitor (2020, Feb 20). 10 Best ConvertKit Alternatives for 2020. Campaign Monitor Blog
- ActiveCampaign (2021, Jan 13). ActiveCampaign surpasses 130,000 customers, onboards over 40,000 customers in 2020. PR Newswire
- HubSpot (2020, Nov 05). HubSpot Reports Q3 2020 Results. PRNewswire
- Zunenshine, M. (2020, June 30). Omnisend: Smarter Marketing With an Automated Hand. CRM Org
- EM Daily (2021, Jan 22). MailerLite Integrates With Stripe To Support Paid Email Newsletters. Media Post
- Accel (2020, Sep 25). Ontraport, Inc. Receives Strategic Growth Financing from Accel-KKR Credit Partners. Accel-KKR
- Finser, E. (2021, Jan 1). SendX Review: A Newer Solution, But is it Better? The Digital Merchant
- PR Newswire (2021, Jan 8). Benchmark Email Secures Funding to Fuel Growth and Drive Acquisitions. MarTech Series
- Featured Image by Campaign Creators
Brianna Parker
Kevin Johnson
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