Even if you are looking for the cheapest or lowest-cost email marketing software, you still need to decide what features you need. SendX is our price winner but also offers a great feature set to pleased customers. GetResponse offers an excellent price and all the power of cross-platform tracking, CRM, and Auto-funnels, the complete feature set.
Email Marketing Price Comparison Table 2021
| 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 |
Table 2: Value for money ratings, price model, cost per contacts comparison
Top 5 Best Free & Low-Cost Email Newsletter Services
- SendX: The lowest-cost email marketing software by a big margin and packed with great features for startups and SMB’s.
- 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 reasonably priced service for some good features. But if you want intelligent sending, look at SendX or a CRM look at GetResponse.
1. SendX: The Lowest Cost Email Marketing Software
SendX is one of the newest email marketing services existing for just a few years, but this enables it to do things differently. SendX’s focus on email deliverability, customer service, and marketing automation, all at the best price point, makes it a solid choice for startups & small to medium businesses.
Packed full of great features like one-click resend to unopened and automated geo-targeted timezone deliverability and best open time deliverability make it a worthy winner.
SendX is actually one of our 4 Winners for Overall Best Email Marketing Services.
SendX Pros
★ Industry Leading Pricing – Lowest Cost
★ Good Automation, Segmentation & Tagging
★ 24/7 Phone & Chat Support
★ Excellent Customer Satisfaction Ratings
★ 50+ email Templates +1/2 Million Stock Photos
★ Excellent Email Deliverability + Smart Delivery
★ Geo-Targeted Deliverability + Push Notifications
SendX Cons
✘ No CRM
✘ No Funnels
SendX Pricing
When it comes to pricing, SendX is the leader. They are actually the lowest cost service provider in 4 of the 5 categories, meaning if you have, or plan to have more than 500 contacts, then SendX is the best choice.
Unlike most email service providers, SendX does not offer complicated tiers of service. There is simply one service & price, and this includes:
- Email Marketing Automation
- Unlimited Email Sends
- Segmentation, Tagging, Autoresponders, Drip Campaigns
- Signup Forms, Email Templates & Stock Photos
- Geo-location Timezone Delivery
- Smart Delivery Based On User Open Patterns
- 1-Click Unopen Resends
- Multi-User Roles & Teams
- Free Migrations Service and much more.
What I like about the SendX pricing model is that it is simple and transparent. There are no hidden charges, and they will even migrate you from another service provider free of charge; this is impressive.
SendX Email Marketing & Automation Features
SendX offers a selection of pre-designed 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.
In fact, SendX has a collection of 50+ high converting newsletter templates and impressive 1/2 million licensed images, the most of any other provider. This will ensure your emails will look professional and unique.
SendX Service Overview Video
SendX Email Capture Forms
SendX also has a solid collection of pre-designed email capture forms that are fully customizable using a drag and drop interface. They also have a plugin for WordPress and Medium or a javascript embed code option.
I created a popup form in just a few minutes using the intuitive wizard, guiding you through the process. The forms application is more powerful than all the others I have tested.
Marketing Automation
Most software providers offer Autoresponders, Email Sequencing/ Drip Campaigns, Customer Tagging, and Segmentation. SendX provides all of these services included in the price. The automation is based on the IF-THIS-THEN-THAT model and is simple to use.
I like the bulk action automation options, which allow you to automate tedious list maintenance; for example, if a contact unsubscribes, you can automatically remove them from lists and delete their contact information.
SendX Reporting & Analytics
SendX has a great set of 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.
Geo-Visualization With SendX – Screenshot
[Related Post – Read The Full SendX Review for Further Features]
Of course, you can also see list growth, unsubscribes, and even 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.
Visit SendX for a Free 14 Day Trial
Smart Send – Machine Learning?
We see a powerful trend in the industry towards machine learning to improve email services. Take, for example, the excellent innovations by SendX, which enables you to target each contact with an email delivered at the usual time they open emails, so if your contact reads their emails at 6:30 am weekdays, the email will be delivered then, so it is at the top of the inbox You can also deliver the email at, for example, 9 am, in every timezone.
So, SendX is providing innovative uses of AI and machine learning, all at the industry’s best price point.
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.
One-Click Unopened Resends
The simple approach to design and functionality adopted by SendX means you can easily resend an email to contacts who did not open the original email by changing the title/subject line and resubmitting.
Multiple User Accounts & Collaboration
SendX does, however, allow you to host multiple accounts to enable better workflow and collaboration in the marketing department. You can add different accounts with different permissions. Permissions are simple; you either have administrator or contributor privileges.
Ease of Use & Customer Ratings
Using as many independent sources as possible, we have rated the services provided.
| Our rating on ease of use and design | ☆☆☆☆☆ |
| Using the independent ratings from Trustpilot Users – we also filtered out obviously biased ratings. | N/A |
| Customer Twitter Sentiment Index | ☆☆☆☆☆ |
| Support (Chat, Email, Phone) | Phone, Chat, Email |
| Support Times | 24/7 |
| Response Time | Immediate |
| Average Ratings of Support Times, Response Times & Accessibility | ☆☆☆☆☆ |
SendX scores highly in customer service and customer satisfaction. Whatever problem you may be facing, the talented and passionate support team is available instantly, the support service is easy to navigate and use. I asked a question on the website via the chatbot and was then immediately transferred to a human, who helped me out and offered me a free phone consultation.
Free Migration Service
Finally, the icing on the cake is that SendX will migrate you from your current email newsletter service provider to SendX for free. One of the biggest problems is that when you have built your contact lists, funnels, and automation with one company, the thought of moving to another provider is a headache of cost and effort. The fact that SendX provides this as a courtesy is impressive.
SendX Review Summary
SendX’s focus on email deliverability, customer service, and marketing automation, all at the best price point, makes it a solid choice for startups & small to medium businesses. Packed full of great features like one-click resend to unopened and automated geo-targeted timezone deliverability and best open time deliverability make it a worthy winner.
| Visit SendX for a Free 14 Day Trial | Read the Full SendX Review |
2. GetResponse: Best & Cheapest Email Marketing Service
GetResponse is simply one of the best email marketing services around, with a complete portfolio of services. Combining fantastic entry-level pricing with a set of powerful CRM & eCommerce services that will grow with your business and also drive your business forward.
If you need CRM, Auto-Funnels, Facebook lead generation, and cross-platform tracking – GetResponse is the best choice.
GetResponse Pros
★ Best In Class Pricing
★ Excellent Email Deliverability
★ Full Suite of CRM Features
★ Unique AutoFunnel Solution
★ Fully Integrated Landing Pages & Payment Gateways
★ Dedicated Line To Account Manager
GetResponse Cons
✘ No Free Tier
✘ Spam Check Very Stringent
GetResponse Pricing
When it comes to pricing, GetResponse has done its homework. Below you can see that GetResponse currently offers one of the lowest price points and offers by far the broadest, most integrated set of services for all business needs. So, for the features you get combined with the pricing, GetResponse is the winner.
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 |
These are the prices for the basic plan, which includes:
- Email Marketing
- Autoresponders
- Unlimited Landing Pages
- Automation Templates
- Forms & Surveys
- Exit Popups
- Facebook Adverts Integration
- 150+ integrations
At industry-leading low price points, GetResponse offers more features than nearly every other competitor, which means a great deal for you.
View the GetResponse pricing page to view the tiers of service for yourself.
Email Marketing & Automation Features
Out of all the email marketing companies we tested, GetResponse offers the full suite of email marketing and automation features.
Like many of the services reviewed, they offer a huge selection of pre-designed 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.
In fact, GetResponse has the largest collection with over 500 newsletter templates and over 5,000 licensed images, so you can be sure your campaign will look professional and unique.
Also included are pre-designed and highly customizable email capture forms for your website. They are also one of the few services to offer Exit Popups for your website.
All software providers offer Autoresponders, Email Sequencing, Customer Tagging, and Segmentation. What separates GetResponse 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.
What Makes GetResponse Unique?
GetResponse has a few unique services which separate them from the crowd. My favorites are:
Perfect Timing – Perfect timing is a brilliant way to deliver your emails at the precise moment your customer is most likely to open them. GetResponse uses algorithms to analyze your contact’s opening times. If your contact is an early riser and usually opens your emails at 5 am, then the algorithm takes account of this information and delivers future messages at this time. This means every single contact has the right message at the right time according to their behavior; this is fantastic. GetResponse claims Perfect Timing increases open rates by 23% and click-through rates by 20%, and I do not doubt them.
Time Travel – if you operate a business that spans multiple time zones, then this feature is perfect for you. Suppose you have a special offer that runs from 9 am to 5 pm on a specific day. You can use the Time Travel Feature to time your email’s arrival for exactly 9 am on that day in their timezone.
Reporting & Analytics
Again, GetResponse leads the way in basic and advanced reporting and analytics. You will have the ability to analyze and improve your campaigns with reporting that allows you to compare desktop versus mobile, regional performance, or even global performance. The Global-View feature maps the individual to their location on a map and uncovers open rates, click rates, and social shares. This can be invaluable if you plan a roadshow, conference, or any regional activity, as you can visualize and target your clients in that area.
Of course, you can also see list growth, unsubscribes, and even social shares. Finally and importantly, A/B Testing, the ability to test the email performance with different subject lines and content, is included even with the Basic starter package.
Integrated Webinar Service
In terms of advanced features, GetResponse is the only service that offers both 3rd party Webinar Integration but, most importantly, a fully integrated Webinar Service. Webinars are an excellent way to engage your clients and share the advantages of your products and services.
Email to RSS
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.
The Excellent GetResponse Email Marketing Visualization – Screenshot
Site Chat
Out of all tests, only three software vendors offer a fully integrated site chat function; GetResponse is one of them. An integrated chat function helps you communicate directly with people visiting your site in real-time.
Enterprise Functions
GetResponse has some great enterprise functions:
- Multiple User Accounts – For a multi-person marketing team, the ability to collaborate on campaigns and assign roles to different employees is critical.
- Sales Lead Team Workflow – Having the ability to assign hot prospects to members of the sales team is important for businesses that need personal contact with the customer.
- SalesForce Integration – SalesForce.com is the industry leader when it comes to CRM, so integrating your marketing department’s contact list into the Salesforce ecosystem can be critical for enterprise customers.
Primary Features: AutoFunnel
Only 3 of our tested companies provide a Sales Funnel service. GetResponse arguably does this better than its competitors by having services that cover the entire sales process.
[Related Article: Read the Full Detailed GetResponse Review]
Amazingly AutoFunnel is part of the GetResponse Plus Plan, and for only $179- per month, you can host 25,000 contacts and get access to the entire portfolio of AutoFunnel related services.
Primary Features: Sales & Payments
The key to automating the sales funnel shown in the previous section is to have the ability to integrate the landing pages into the process. Many small businesses using WordPress, for example, will struggle to structure and host high-quality landing pages. The challenge is getting your website to communicate with PayPal, Stripe, or Square. If you have a reoccurring payment model, for example, a membership program, this is close to impossible to manage by yourself.
Not only does GetResponse offer a fully integrated landing page and payment processing service, but they also have integrated abandoned cart follow-ups and effective customer Win Back automation. This is an impressive collection of integrated services, which means you do not have to worry about using 3rd party integrators or solutions to automate your workflow. This is as beneficial for SMB’s as it is for enterprise businesses.
Customer Relationship Mgt (CRM) & Remarketing
As mentioned previously, CRM integration enables the whole service to integrate seamlessly. Many email marketing companies claim to have a great CRM service, but only a few offer a lead rating system and cross-platform customer tracing.
Lead Scoring & Cross-Platform Journey Reporting
Consider this example, a customer sees your Facebook advert and takes action to visit your website for further information. They then ask a question via site chat to your helpdesk. They click around your website, looking for further information on a product. Then later, they signup to your email list and then send an email to the support team. All of these interactions will be captured and reported in the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system. This appears to be a very interested and active customer. Based on the Scoring System rules you create, you can flag a customer as a hot prospect and assign the task to a member of the sales team to reach out to them.
This exemplifies the cross-platform journey of a potential customer and enables you to reach out to hot prospects for a sale.
Ease of Use & Customer Ratings
Using as many independent sources as possible, we have rated the services provided.
| Our rating on ease of use and design | ☆☆☆☆☆ |
| Using the independent ratings from Trustpilot Users – we also filtered out obviously biased ratings. | ☆☆ |
| Customer Twitter Sentiment Index | ☆☆☆☆☆ |
| Support (Chat, Email, Phone) | Chat, Email |
| Support Times | 24/7 |
| Response Time | Immediate |
| Average Ratings of Support Times, Response Times & Accessibility | ☆☆☆☆ |
GetResponse scores highly in both ease of use and their modern approach to design. Despite the vast and powerful array of features and functions, the service is easy to navigate and use.
GetResponse Summary
GetResponse offers a fully integrated service with practically every feature you can imagine. Surprisingly they can compete effectively at both ends of the price spectrum, offering industry-leading low prices for Startups and SMB’s and offering a full spectrum Pro service for the enterprise. Whichever tier of service you choose, you can be sure GetResponse will grow with and help grow your business.
| Try a GetResponse Free Trial | Read the Full GetResponse Review |
3. Benchmark Email: Best Free Email Marketing Service For 2,000 contacts
California-based Benchmark Email was established in 2004. They offer a solid set of features for a competitive price. Neither the price leader nor the features leader, Benchmark, occupies a place in the industry, offering simplicity and value for money.
Benchmark Pros
★ Free Service for 2,000 contacts
★ Easy to Use Automation Pro
★ 24/7 Phone & Chat Support in 9 Languages
★ Good Twitter Sentiment Ratings
★ Easy Responsive Email Editor
Benchmark Cons
✘ Image Storage Costs $5/m
✘ Reports of Email Deliverability Issues
Benchmark Email Pricing
Benchmark Email offers an excellent Free service, which is better than MailChimp’s free service?
Standout Benchmark Email Free Features:
- Up to 2,000 contact storage – capped at 14,000 emails per month
- Drip Campaigns
- RSS to Email
- Click Heatmap Reports
- Survey & Polls
- Unlimited Video Hosting
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, Benchmark Email does not offer complicated tiers of service. There is simply the Free service & the Pro service.
Things to Know About Benchmark Email’s Pricing
What I like about the Benchmark Email pricing model is that it is simple and transparent. However, there are a few add on costs you need to be aware of:
- On the Free/Basic package, you will need to pay $5 per month for more than 10Mb of image storage.
- The dedicated IP address to avoid any deliverability issues will cost $29 per month, even on the PRO service.
- Although the emails are responsive, if you want to check your email formattings on multiple devices, it is $14 for 100 tests.
Benchmark Email Marketing Features
Like all of the services reviewed, Benchmark Email offers a selection of pre-designed 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.
In fact, Benchmark Email has a collection of reasonable newsletter templates, but unlike many of its competitors, it does not offer a large selection of licensed images; you will have to source your own, which can be costly and time-consuming.
Benchmark Email Key Features
Highlights of the Benchmark Email Pro Service:
- Email Marketing Automation
- Unlimited Email Sends
- Segmentation, Tagging, Autoresponders, Drip Campaigns
- Automated Customer Journey Funnels
- Facebook Audiences Integration
- CRM Integration
- Events Management
- Polling & Surveys
- Unopened Resends
- Benchmark RSS to Email
- Email to Facebook & Twitter
[Related article: The In-Depth Benchmark Email Test & Review]
Benchmark Email Reporting & Analytics
Benchmark Email has a great set of reporting and analytics. You will have the ability to analyze and improve your campaigns with reporting that allows you to compare open rates, undeliverable, unsubscribes clicks over time, and more.
You can also seamlessly segment your list based on the responses or actions against your email.
They even have a nice way of reporting the social activity an email generates; this is somewhat unique to Benchmark.
Visit Benchmark Email for a Free 14 Day Trial
Ease of Use & Customer Ratings
Using as many independent sources as possible, we have rated the services provided.
| Our rating on ease of use and design | ☆☆☆☆ |
| Using the independent ratings from Trustpilot Users – we also filtered out obviously biased ratings. | N/A |
| Customer Twitter Sentiment Index | ☆☆☆☆☆ |
| Support (Chat, Email, Phone) | Phone, Chat, Email |
| Support Times | 24/7 |
| Response Time | Immediate |
| Average Ratings of Support Times, Response Times & Accessibility | ☆☆☆☆☆ |
Benchmark Email Review Summary
Benchmark Email has a strong portfolio of tools, including effective visual automation, smooth A/B testing, and good analytics. Social integrations to Facebook, Twitter, and even LinkedIn & Slack show a well-rounded product feature set. A reasonable CRM for small businesses is also included. Starting at Free for up to 2,000 contacts, but even the Pro service is very competitively priced and well worth considering.
| Visit Benchmark | Read the Full Benchmark Review |
4. AWeber: Inexpensive & Good Mix of Features
AWeber is one of the older and most mature email marketing services, first established in 1998. AWeber’s focus on email deliverability, customer service, and basic marketing automation makes it a solid choice for startups and small to medium businesses. Still, for eCommerce & Enterprises, it is surprisingly lacking.
AWeber Pros
★ Excellent Customer Satisfaction Ratings
★ Excellent Email Deliverability
★ 700+ Email Templates
★ 6000+ Stock Photos
★ 24/7 Phone & Chat Support
★ Good Automation, Segmentation & Tagging
★ Excellent Cusomter Service
AWeber Cons
✘ No CRM
✘ No Funnels
AWeber Pricing
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.
Unlike most email service providers, Aweber does not offer complicated tiers of service. 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 though, there is an added analytics charge of $19 per month, but this is included in the prices shown on the website.
Also, another thing to note is that if you have multiple lists and you have the same contact on two of those lists, you will be charged for two subscribers. The pricing model is based on subscribers to lists, not the number of unique contacts. To ensure you do not have this duplication, maintain only one list per business, and use tagging to separate your customers into different segments.
AWeber Email Marketing & Automation Features
Like all of the services reviewed, Aweber offers a selection of pre-designed 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 creating your message simple.
Most software providers offer Drag & Drop Email & Forms creation, 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.
You must note that AWeber’s Automation is very basic; any complex automation will become confusing quickly.
ScreenShot of How I Use AWeber Automation
Simple sequential automation and tag-based triggers are covered in Aweber’s core service, as you can see above.
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, and unsubscribe clicks over time. 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 lacks the ability to configure even basic dates; for example, if you want to view performance over more than one year, it is impossible.
AWeber is clearly aimed at small businesses, but as you grow, I am not sure this level of reporting will grow with you. 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]
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.
Ease of Use & Customer Ratings
Using as many independent sources as possible, we have rated the services provided.
| Our rating on ease of use and design | ☆☆☆☆ |
| Using the independent ratings from Trustpilot Users – we also filtered out obviously biased ratings. | ☆☆☆☆ |
| Customer Twitter Sentiment Index | ☆☆☆☆☆ |
| Support (Chat, Email, Phone) | Phone, Chat, Email |
| Support Times | 24/7 |
| Response Time | Immediate |
| Average Ratings of Support Times, Response Times & Accessibility | ☆☆☆☆☆ |
AWeber scores highly in customer service and customer satisfaction. Whatever problem you may be facing, the support team is available.
AWeber Review 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 delighted and are willing to pay a little more to get the highest levels of customer service and personal support.
| Visit AWeber | Read the Full AWeber Review |
5. iContact: Good Features & Competitive Pricing
North Carolina-based iContact was established in 2003 and has grown to be a leading service for medium to large size businesses. While their price model is competitive for small businesses; also, some of their features unlock enterprise-level benefits, but many features are missing compared to their competitors.
Pros
★ Personal Customer Success Manager for All Paid Accounts
★ Easy to Use Basic Automation
★ 24/7 US Phone & Chat Support
★ Salesforce Mass Email
★ Getty Images Included
Cons
✘ No CRM
✘ No Timezone or User Timing Delivery
iContact Pricing
When it comes to pricing, iContact is reasonably priced, but you need to balance that against the features on offer. Unlike most email service providers, iContact does not offer complicated tiers of service. There is simply the Pro service.
iContact Email Marketing Features
iContact has a good collection of newsletter templates and hundreds of high-quality Getty licensed images. This should ensure your emails will look professional and unique.
iContact Capture Forms
iContact also a solid collection of pre-designed email capture forms that are fully customizable using a drag and drop interface. They also have a plugin for WordPress and, alternatively, a javascript embed code option.
You can also support your capture forms with landing pages hosted by iContact.
Unopened Resends
Again the simple approach to design and functionality adopted by iContact means you can easily resend an email to contacts who did not open the original email by changing the title/subject line and resubmitting.
Email to Facebook, LinkedIn & Twitter
You can quickly and effectively integrate the Benchmark mailing engine into Facebook. Any broadcast email you setup can, with a single click, also send an update to a Facebook page, your Twitter profile, or LinkedIn from a broadcast message. It is these little process improvements that save time and effort.
iContact Marketing Automation
Most software providers offer Autoresponders, Email Sequencing, Drip Campaigns, Customer Tagging, and Segmentation. iContact provides all of these services included in the price. However, the scale of the automation engine cannot compare presently with GetResponse or Active Campaign. Take a quick look at the video below.
iContact Reporting & Analytics
iContact has a good set of reporting and analytics. You will have the ability to analyze and improve your campaigns with solid reporting.
You can also seamlessly segment your list based on the responses or actions against your email. They also have a nice way of reporting the social activity an email generates.
[Related Post – Compare All Email Marketing Services Side By Side]
Of course, you can also see list growth, unsubscribes, and even 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.
iContact’s Features for Enterprise & Ecommerce
iContact is also aiming at larger enterprise customers by offering a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system. Most small email marketers do not really need this level of functionality. But if you are part of a larger team that needs CRM, you will want to consider GetResponse, ActiveCampaign, or Ontraport. GetResponse has a great price point and a solid set of features.
Ease of Use & Customer Ratings
Using as many independent sources as possible, we have rated the services provided.
| Our rating on ease of use and design | ☆☆☆☆ |
| Using the independent ratings from Trustpilot Users – we also filtered out obviously biased ratings. | N/A |
| Customer Twitter Sentiment Index | ☆☆☆☆☆ |
| Support (Chat, Email, Phone) | Phone, Chat, Email |
| Support Times | 24/7 |
| Response Time | Immediate |
| Average Ratings of Support Times, Response Times & Accessibility | ☆☆☆☆☆ |
iContact scores highly in customer service and customer satisfaction. Whatever problem you may be facing, the talented and passionate support team is available instantly, the support service is easy to navigate and use.
iContact Review Summary
iContact is neither the most expensive service nor the best value for money. It has a portfolio that covers email marketing and basic automation but lacks innovation in machine learning, intelligent send, and visual auto-funnels. The CRM is OK but does not include tracking the customer’s cross-platform journey. It is a reasonable price for a reasonable set of services. As an enterprise customer, it is good value, with Salesforce integration, but lacks cutting-edge features.
| Visit iContact for a Free 30 Day Trial | Read the iContact Review |
Cheapest Email Marketing Software Summary
Even if you are looking for the cheapest or lowest-cost email marketing software, you still need to decide what features you need. SendX is our price winner but also offers a great feature set to thrilled customers. ActiveCampaign offers an excellent price and all the power of cross-platform tracking, CRM, and Auto-funnels, the complete feature set.
