This AWeber review uncovers a solid, stable, and reliable email marketing solution with industry-leading reliability. Competitors like GetResponse offer more innovation, but AWeber is simple, and in simplicity, there is beauty.
I have been using AWeber for my business for ten years, so I can honestly review all the pros, cons, features, and weaknesses.
AWeber Review Rating
AWeber Rating | 4.5/5.0 |
💸 Pricing | ★★★★✩ |
⚡ Features | ★★★★✩ |
📧 Email Deliverability | ★★★★★ |
🖱 Ease of Use | ★★★★✩ |
👩❤️👩 Client Satisfaction | ★★★★★ |
☎ Customer Support | ★★★★★ |
AWeber Review Summary
This AWeber review reveals a solid core set of email marketing automation tools, 3rd party integrations, email templates, and very happy customers. If you need advanced automation, CRM, and sales funnels, take a look at GetResponse or Ontraport.
AWeber is one of the oldest and most mature email marketing services, first established in 1998. AWeber’s focus on email deliverability, customer service, and marketing automation, all at a great price point, makes it a great choice for startups and SMBs.
I recommended AWeber for SMBs and startups wanting good automation, tagging, segmentation, excellent customer service, and email deliverability.
Still, for eCommerce & enterprises, it is surprisingly lacking, and its email analytics are surprisingly weak.
AWeber Review: Features
⚡ Features | Simple Automation, Landing Pages, Templates |
🏆 Unique Features | Push Notifications, A/B Testing |
🎯 Best for | Small Businesses |
♲ Subscription | Monthly |
💰 Price | $16-$146/mo |
✂ Discount | None Available |
🌎 Region | Global |
AWeber Pros
★ Excellent Customer Satisfaction Ratings
★ Excellent Email Deliverability
★ 700+ Email Templates
★ Push Notifications
★ 6000+ Stock Photos
★ 24/7 Phone & Chat Support
★ Good Automation, Segmentation & Tagging
★ Excellent Customer Service
AWeber Cons
✘ No CRM
✘ No Funnels
✘ Poor Analytics
The Review Process
We have tested 30 of the most popular email marketing software vendors out of a list of over 100. We have compared over 80 key features and benefits to make a solid and fair comparison. In total, over 2,400 data points have been compiled over our months of testing. For further details on what we tested, jump to the Main Email Marketing Testing & Comparison Page.
AWeber: Ranked 3rd Best For Pricing
Top 5 Best Email Marketing Services For Price
- SendX: The lowest cost email marketing software by a big margin, and packed with enough great features for startups and SMBs
- GetResponse: GetResponse is the 2nd lowest-costing software but has the best set of advanced power features available. If you need CRM, Auto-Funnels, Facebook lead generation, and cross-platform tracking – GetResponse is the best choice.
- AWeber: A good price and features balance, suitable for those wanting basic automation and valuing simplicity
- Benchmark Email: With their Free service for up to 2,000 contacts, Benchmark is the best free email marketing service provider. And it has plenty of power features too.
- iContact: A well-priced service for a good set of features. If you want intelligent sending and a strong CRM, look at GetResponse.
Value Ratings | ||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Value | ☆☆☆☆☆ | ☆☆☆☆☆ | ☆☆☆☆☆ | ☆☆☆☆ | ☆☆☆☆ | ☆☆☆☆ | ☆☆ | ☆☆☆☆ | ☆☆☆☆ | ☆☆☆ | ☆☆☆☆ | ☆☆☆☆ |
Model | Contact | Contact | Contact | Contact | Contact | Contact | Contact | Contact | Contact | Contact | ||
Free-Tier | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | 6K/m - $0 | 9K/m - $0 |
#Contacts | ||||||||||||
500 | $7.49 | $15 | $19 | $13 | $17 | $25 | $15 | $9 | $30 | $79 | 30K/m - $9.65 | 40K/m - $25 |
2,500 | $15 | $25 | $29 | $30 | $38 | $49 | $50 | $39 | $50 | $147 | 60K/m - $18.95 | 60K/m - $39 |
10,000 | $39 | $65 | $69 | $76 | $81 | $119 | $99 | $111 | $110 | $297 | 150K/m - $69 | 120K/m - $67 |
25,000 | $112 | $145 | $149 | $144 | $191 | $166 | $219 | $179 | $199 | $497 | 450K/m - $230 | 350K/m - $173 |
50,0000 | $172 | $250 | $392 | $237 | $295 | $316 | $299 | $239 | $379 | $599=< 125K | ||
Unlimited | $2,999 | $99 per extra 100K | ||||||||||
Cost per Contact (cents) | 0.39 | 0.65 | 0.69 | 0.74 | 0.81 | 1 | 1 | 1.11 | 0.67 | 2.97 | NA | NA |
Visit SendX Services | Visit GetResponse | Visit AWeber Services | Visit Benchmark | Visit ConstantContact | Visit ConvertKit | Visit Mailchimp | Visit ActiveCampaign | Visit iContact Services | Visit Ontraport | Visit MailJet Services | Visit SendinBlue |
When it comes to pricing, AWeber is there with the leaders. They came third in our study. The heatmap below shows their position relative to other service providers.
Table 2: Value for money ratings, price model, cost per contacts comparison
[Related Article: Top 5 Cheapest Email Marketing Services]
When it comes to pricing, AWeber is there with the leaders. They came third in our study. The heatmap below shows their position relative to other service providers.
Competitor Pricing Table – All Email Marketing Services
Value Ratings | ||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Value | ☆☆☆☆☆ | ☆☆☆☆☆ | ☆☆☆☆☆ | ☆☆☆☆ | ☆☆☆☆ | ☆☆☆☆ | ☆☆ | ☆☆☆☆ | ☆☆☆☆ | ☆☆☆ | ☆☆☆☆ | ☆☆☆☆ |
Model | Contact | Contact | Contact | Contact | Contact | Contact | Contact | Contact | Contact | Contact | ||
Free-Tier | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | 6K/m - $0 | 9K/m - $0 |
#Contacts | ||||||||||||
500 | $7.49 | $15 | $19 | $13 | $17 | $25 | $15 | $9 | $30 | $79 | 30K/m - $9.65 | 40K/m - $25 |
2,500 | $15 | $25 | $29 | $30 | $38 | $49 | $50 | $39 | $50 | $147 | 60K/m - $18.95 | 60K/m - $39 |
10,000 | $39 | $65 | $69 | $76 | $81 | $119 | $99 | $111 | $110 | $297 | 150K/m - $69 | 120K/m - $67 |
25,000 | $112 | $145 | $149 | $144 | $191 | $166 | $219 | $179 | $199 | $497 | 450K/m - $230 | 350K/m - $173 |
50,0000 | $172 | $250 | $392 | $237 | $295 | $316 | $299 | $239 | $379 | $599=< 125K | ||
Unlimited | $2,999 | $99 per extra 100K | ||||||||||
Cost per Contact (cents) | 0.39 | 0.65 | 0.69 | 0.74 | 0.81 | 1 | 1 | 1.11 | 0.67 | 2.97 | NA | NA |
Visit SendX Services | Visit GetResponse | Visit AWeber Services | Visit Benchmark | Visit ConstantContact | Visit ConvertKit | Visit Mailchimp | Visit ActiveCampaign | Visit iContact Services | Visit Ontraport | Visit MailJet Services | Visit SendinBlue |
Unlike most email service providers, Aweber does not offer complicated service tiers. There is simply one service, and this includes:
- Email Marketing Automation
- Unlimited Email Sends
- Segmentation, Tagging, Autoresponders
- Signup Forms, Email Templates & Stock Photos
- Email to RSS, Facebook & Twitter
- 945 integrations to other platforms
Things to Know About AWebers Pricing
Surprisingly, an added analytics charge of $19 per month is included in the prices shown on the website.
Another thing to note is that you will be charged for two subscribers if you have multiple lists and have the same contact on two of those lists. The pricing model is based on subscribers per list, not unique contacts. To avoid duplication, maintain only one list per business, and use tagging to separate your customers into different segments.
AWeber Email Marketing & Automation Features
Aweber offers a selection of predesigned email templates and a good selection of high-quality images for use in your email campaigns. The email design process is also fully drag-and-drop, making crafting your message a breeze.
AWeber has a huge collection of 700+ newsletter templates and 6,000+ licensed images, ensuring your emails look professional and unique. They will also host your uploaded images.
AWeber also has the largest collection of predesigned email capture forms with over 1,000 different designs, which are also fully customizable. The forms on offer are Inline, Pop-Over, Lightbox, and Pop-Up. The only thing missing is an Exit Intent form.
Most software providers offer Autoresponders, Email Sequencing, Customer Tagging, and Segmentation. What separates Aweber is the ease of implementation and the levels of automation available. The video below will give you a good idea of how easy this process is.
AWeber Review Video
ScreenShot of How I Use AWeber Automation
As you can see above, simple sequential automation and tag-based triggers are all covered in AWeber’s core service.
Is AWeber Falling Behind On Machine Learning?
We see a powerful trend in the industry towards machine learning to improve email services. Take, for example, the excellent innovation by GetResponse, which enables you to target each contact with an email delivered at the usual time they open emails. If your contact reads their emails at 6:30 am on weekdays, the email will be delivered then. Hence, it is at the top of the inbox. You can also deliver the email at, for example, 9 am in every timezone; it is called “Time Travel” by GetResponse. ActiveCampaign and SendX also have similar functionality.
AWeber has now implemented personalized email delivery times.
AWeber Reporting & Analytics
AWeber has a solid set of basic reporting and analytics. You will have the ability to analyze and improve your campaigns with reporting that allows you to compare open rates, undeliverable, unsubscribe clicks over time, and more. You can also seamlessly segment your list based on the responses or actions against your email.
It is also a breeze to list unsubscribes or undeliverables a swiftly remove the contact from your database using Bulk Delete.
However, to suggest AWeber has any kind of advanced reporting or analytics would be incorrect. The reporting is very static and cannot configure even basic dates; for example, it is impossible if you want to view performance over more than one year.
AWeber is aimed at small businesses, but I am not sure this level of reporting will grow with you as you grow. It may be something you are willing to accept in exchange for their low pricing and simplicity of use.
[Related Post – Compare All Email Marketing Services Side By Side]
Of course, you can also see list growth, unsubscribes, and social shares. Finally and importantly, A/B Testing, the ability to test the email performance with different subject lines and content, is included in the service.
Advanced Email Features
AWeber RSS to Email
Email to RSS is a simple yet effective way to streamline the communication process with your audience. You can set it up so that when you publish a new article on your website in a specific category, the email service will be notified and can build a customized email and send it to your audience without you having to do anything. This is a huge timesaver.
Surprisingly, not all email newsletter providers offer this service. To view the other vendors offering this service, check out our Email Service Master Comparison Table.
Email to Facebook
With the RSS function, you can quickly and effectively integrate the AWeber mailing engine into Facebook. Any broadcast email you set up can, with a single click, also send an update to a Facebook page.
Email to Twitter
A nice addition is automatically updating your Twitter profile from a broadcast message. It is these little process improvement that saves time and effort.
AWeber’s Lack of Advanced Features for Enterprise & Ecommerce
AWeber is not aiming at enterprise customers. There is no possibility of hosting multiple accounts to enable better workflow and collaboration in the marketing department.
There is also no mechanism for customer relationship management (CRM) or lead capture. So if you are part of a larger team, you will want to consider GetResponse or Ontraport. GetResponse has a great price point and a complete set of features.
One saving grace for AWeber here is the SalesForce.com integration. SalesForce.com is the industry leader in CRM, so integrating your marketing department’s contact list into the Salesforce ecosystem can be critical for enterprise customers. Out of all tests, only three software vendors offer a fully integrated site chat function; AWeber is not one of them.
AWeber Has Serious Integrations
AWeber does not have native landing pages, payment processors, or eCommerce functionality like our review-winning GetResponse, but it does have a set of integrations that enable this functionality.
AWeber’s strategy is not to build a completely integrated solution themselves but to build integrations to a huge network of 3rd parties. This is the saving grace of AWeber because, with over 950 integrations, you are guaranteed to have the ability to integrate with practically every serious service out there. In addition to that, they have a Zapier integration, which enables another 1,500 services. So you can rest assured all the usual payment processors and eCommerce services are covered, including:
- Paypal
- Stripe
- Shopify
- Square
- WooCommerce
Security & Certifications
Cybersecurity is of utmost importance at this stage in the development of the internet. High-profile data leaks and hacks result in large fines to businesses that do not adequately protect their customer’s data.
Email Service Provider Security Compliance Table
GDPR Compliant | ✔ |
SSL TLS Encryption | ✔ |
EU-US Privacy Shield | ✔ |
AWeber Rated Number 1 For Customer Service
Top 5 Email Marketing Services for Customer Support & Customer Satisfaction
- AWeber: Easy to use, and with a 4-star Trustpilot rating and 5-star Twitter sentiment rating, the customers are happy. Probably because AWeber offers a 24/7 telephone number and immediate response times.
- Ontraport: The customers are happy with raving fans on Trustpilot and an excellent 5-star Twitter sentiment rating. It’s a shame the support is only 12/7.
- ActiveCampaign: A 4-star ease of use, with an excellent 4-star Trustpilot rating, and happy Twitter users, Active Campaign offers great support, although only 10 hours a day, 5 days per week.
- ConstantContact: Offering 14/6 phone, email & chat support, a 4-star Trustpilot rating, plus an excellent array of self teach video tutorials makes the service easy to use.
- GetResponse: Surprisingly, our overall winner only gets a 2-star Trustpilot rating, even though the Twitter Sentiment indicator is five stars. With 24/7 immediate response via chat or email, I do not think you can go far wrong.
Service Ratings | ||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ease of Use | ☆☆☆☆ | ☆☆☆☆ | ☆☆☆☆☆ | ☆☆☆☆ | ☆☆☆☆ | ☆☆☆☆☆ | ☆☆☆☆ | ☆☆☆☆ | ☆☆☆☆ | ☆☆☆☆ | ☆☆☆☆ | ☆☆☆ |
Customer Satisfaction | ☆☆☆☆ | ☆☆☆☆ | ☆☆☆☆ | ☆☆☆☆ | ☆☆☆☆ | - | ☆☆☆☆ | ☆☆☆☆ | - | - | - | ☆ |
Customer Twitter Sentiment | ☆☆☆☆☆ | ☆☆☆☆☆ | ☆☆☆☆☆ | ☆☆☆☆☆ | ☆☆☆☆☆ | ☆☆☆☆☆ | ☆☆☆ | ☆☆ | ☆☆☆☆☆ | ☆☆☆☆☆ | ☆☆☆☆☆ | ☆☆ |
Support (Chat, Email, Phone) | Phone, Chat, Email | Chat, Email | Chat, Email | Chat, Email | Phone, Chat, Email | Phone, Chat, Email | Limited | Phone, Chat, Email | Phone, Chat, Email | Chat, Email | Chat, Email | |
Support Times | 24/7 | 12/7 | 24/7 | 10/5 U.S. | 14/6 | 24/7 | 10/5 | 10/5 | 24/7 | 12/5 | 10/5 U.S. | 24/7 |
Response Time | Immediate | Immediate | Immediate | Immediate | Immediate | Immediate | Delayed | Delayed | Immediate | Immediate | Delayed | Delyed |
Customer Support | ☆☆☆☆☆ | ☆☆☆☆ | ☆☆☆☆ | ☆☆☆☆☆ | ☆☆☆☆ | ☆☆☆☆☆ | ☆☆☆ | ☆☆ | ☆☆☆☆☆ | ☆☆☆☆ | ☆☆☆☆ | ☆ |
Visit the Vendor | Visit AWeber Services | Visit Ontraport | Visit GetResponse | Visit ActiveCampaign | Visit ConstantContact | Visit SendX Services | Visit MailJet Services | Visit SendinBlue | Visit Benchmark | Visit iContact Services | Visit ConvertKit | Visit Mailchimp |
Table 8: Customer Support & Customer Satisfaction
AWeber scores highly in customer service and customer satisfaction. Whatever problem you may be facing, the talented and passionate support team is available instantly, and the support service is easy to navigate and use.
Summary
AWeber offers a good core set of email marketing automation tools, and what it does not provide natively is covered with a massive collection of 950+ integrations. Its customers are extremely happy and willing to pay a little more to get the highest customer service and personal support.
[Related Post – Compare All Email Marketing Services Side By Side]
AWeber Email Marketing – Full Features Data Sheet
Email Service Provider | |
---|---|
Value for Money | ☆☆☆☆☆ |
Features | ☆☆ |
Deliverability | ☆☆☆☆☆ |
Ease of Use | ☆☆☆☆ |
Client Satisfaction | ☆☆☆☆☆ |
Support | ☆☆☆☆☆ |
Total Stars | 26 |
Price Model | Contact |
Free Option | No |
500 Contacts | $19 |
2,500 Contacts | $29 |
10,000 Contacts | $69 |
25,000 Contacts | $149 |
50,0000 Contacts | $392 |
Unlimited Contacts | |
Cost per Contact (cents) | 0.69 |
Primary Features eMail | |
eMail Templates | ✔ |
eMail Images | ✔ |
Email Form Templates | ✔ |
Drag & Drop Email Design | ✔ |
Autoresponders | ✔ |
Marketing Automation | ✔ |
Individual Customer Automation | ✔ |
Customer Tagging & Segmentation | ✔ |
Intelligent Timing Delivery | |
Time Travel (Global 9am Delivery) | |
Basic Email Analytics | ✔ |
Powerful Email Analytics | |
A/B Testing | ✔ |
SPAM Scoring | ✔ |
Advanced Features | |
Webinar Integration | ✔ |
Hosting Webinar & Recording | |
Email from RSS Feeds | ✔ |
SMS Marketing | |
Automatic Product Recommendations | |
Site Chat CRM Integration | |
Membership Site Service | |
Team / Enterprise Functions | |
Multiple User Accounts | |
Sales Team Lead Distribution | |
Salesforce Service Integration | ✔ (i) |
Primary Features Funnels | |
Surveys/Polls | |
Sales/Lead Funnels | |
Landing Pages | |
Exit Popups | |
Primary Features Sales & Payments | |
eCommerce Integrations | |
Full Payment Gateways | |
Abandoned Cart Integration | |
Win Back / Bounce Back | |
Payment Mgt | |
Discount Coupons | |
Referral Program Mgt | |
CRM & Remarketing | |
CRM & Deal Management | |
Cross Platform Journey Tracking | |
Activity Scoring | |
Integrations | |
3rd Party Integrations | 948 |
Zapier App Integration | ✔ |
Deliverability | ☆☆☆☆☆ |
Security & Certifications | |
GDPR Compliant | ✔ |
SSL TLS Encryption | ✔ |
EU-US Privacy Shield | ✔ |
Ease of Use | ☆☆☆☆ |
Customer Satisfaction | ☆☆☆☆ |
Customer Twitter Sentiment | ☆☆☆☆☆ |
Support (Chat, Email, Phone) | Phone, Chat, Email |
Support Times | 24/7 |
Response Time | Immediate |
Customer Support | ☆☆☆☆☆ |
Visit the Vendor | Visit AWeber Services |