Mailerlite vs. Mailchimp: I Tested Both and Chose a Clear Winner

Mailerlite and Mailchimp are both popular email marketing tools. They offer a wide range of features, but which is the best? I tested both and chose one. This guide provides an in-depth comparison of Mailerlite vs. Mailchimp. There’s a clear winner.

My Favorite

I’ll cut to the chase and tell you which email marketing software I chose for my business. Then, you can browse the rest of the article to analyze features, pricing, etc., to decide which is best for you.

I’m a digital marketer that uses a suite of tools. Both Mailchimp and Mailerlite offer email templates, marketing campaigns, embedded forms, list management, in-depth analytics, nurture campaigns, multi-step custom workflows, automation functionality, advanced reporting, and basic templates; Mailerlite was ultimately a better choice for my small business.

I prefer Mailerlite because of its user interface, campaign automation capabilities, and great integrations. It has the features I want for an unbeatable price.

Mailchimp has more features, hands down. While I usually choose the platform with more features, I was looking for an email platform, not a website builder, social media calendar, or appointment scheduler.

Based on the pricing and ability to segment audiences more comprehensively and without limits, I chose Mailerlite as my email marketing service.

Mailerlite Vs. Mailchimp Pricing

While the free email marketing plan with Mailchimp offers more subscriber spaces, I found Mailerlite to be less inexpensive with more subscribers when compared with Mailchimp. Since I knew I needed to scale, Mailerlite was more affordable for me in the long run. Unlike Mailchimp, Mailerite provides unlimited audiences (or groups).

Mailerite Pricing

Mailerlite has four plans. They range from free to enterprise based on your total subscriber count. I love that they don’t count each person in your database, only those in an active campaign.

The free plan is for you if you just want to send emails and don’t care about multiple users or an unsubscribe plan.

You’ll probably want the Growing Business Plan if you want more advanced features such as pages and websites, more email templates, sending dynamic emails, selling digital products, or having multiple users.

If you are a ‘bells-and-whistles’ kind of marketer that wants all the features, go for the Advanced Plan.

Keep in mind that your price will increase as you gain subscribers. That’s a good problem to have, though.

Free Plan

With up to 1000 subscribers, your free email marketing plan allows for a single user. While it doesn’t include advanced features, it does include emails, newsletters, automation, email support, and pages. You can send up to 12,000 monthly emails. That’s incredible.

Mailerlite’s free plan has fewer subscriber seats than Mailchimp but offers better segmenting options. Mailerlite allows more daily email sends, but you’ll go through a quick approval process to send more than 1000 emails in a broadcast campaign.

Growing Business Plan

The growing business plan is only $9/month billed annually for up to 1,000 subscribers. This includes everything in the free plan plus the ability to sell digital products, webpages, blogs, email templates, unsubscribe pages, dynamic emails, unlimited landing pages, and three users!

Advanced Plan

If you’re an advanced business with up to 1,000 subscribers, you’ll pay $19/month (billed annually). This includes everything in the free plan and the Growing Business plan, plus your emails are unlimited, your users are unlimited, and you get access to 24-hour live chat support, Facebook integration, an HTML editor, promotional pop-ups, and multiple trigger automation features.

Enterprise Plan

This plan is for businesses that want to customize landing pages, websites, and digital products. Pricing is custom as well.

Mailchimp Pricing

Mailchimp charges based on your subscribers that are in segmented audiences. If you want to create multiple lists to segment your audience, you’ll want to upgrade beyond the free plan.

I don’t like being limited with segmenting. I enjoy having multiple audiences so I can send specific messages. So being limited with audiences while using Mailchimp was frustrating as a marketer.

If you don’t segment your audiences or use tags and groups as a general rule, this wouldn’t be an issue for you.

Free Plan

Mailchimp generously allows you to have up to 2000 subscribers and send up to 10,000 monthly emails in their free plan. You can only send 2000 emails daily, so a broadcast email to more than 2000 wouldn’t work on the free plan.

• A single audience
• Subscriber forms
• Email automation
• Landing Pages
• Social Posting
• FB ads
• Instagram Ads
• Postcards
• Websites and Domains
• Single User

You’ll be limited on templates, so if you want more creative freedom, you’ll want to upgrade your plan.

Essential Plan

The Essential email marketing plan is for you if you need more than one audience. You can have three audiences; the cost is $23 for up to 1500 subscribers. With the essentials plan, you can remove the Mailchimp branded footer, access 100 + templates, and send surveys.

Standard Plan

Most marketers will likely choose the standard plan and its additional features. You’ll get five audiences with the standard plan.

These include extras such as:

• The customer journey builder
• Custom coded templates
• Behavioral targeting
• Retargeting Ads
• Social Scheduling
• Send Time Optimization

Premium Plan

This plan is for marketers with 10,000 + subscribers. It includes unlimited audiences and pro segmenting features. This is the only plan that offers phone support.

Mailerlite Features

I chose Mailerlite’s email marketing software for its ease of use and features. The interface is easy to navigate. Creating and managing campaigns is a breeze. Let’s dive into some of the features that make Mailerlite great.

User-Friendly Interface

One thing I appreciate about Mailerlite is its user-friendly interface. The dashboard is well organized and easy to navigate. Email marketing efforts are easier to manage because of this.

Subscriber Management

MailerLite’s subscriber management system is incredibly intuitive and easy to use. You can add, filter, and organize your subscribers in one place and easily import subscribers via TXT, CSV, or copy/paste from Excel. MailerLite recognizes fields automatically and lets you organize them. Duplicates and bad records will disappear like magic.

You can also use the real-time filter tool to find subscribers fast based on several conditions, including interest groups (tags), signup date, time zone, campaigns, automation workflows, and time inactive. Additionally, you can update individual profiles if needed.

MailerLite’s subscriber management system makes it easy to manage your subscribers effectively.

Workflow Email Automation

MailerLite’s automated workflows make it easy to send targeted emails based on specific subscriber behaviors. For example, you can automatically send a welcome email when a subscriber joins a group or an onboarding email when a subscriber completes a form.

MailerLite’s automated workflows can also be used to trigger other actions, such as adding subscribers to specific email lists or sending them to a specific web page.

MailerLite’s automated workflows make it easy to take action based on subscriber behavior. Automated workflows can send emails, add subscribers to lists, or perform other actions.

There are three types of automated workflows:

1) Trigger-based workflows are activated when a specific event occurs, such as subscribing to a list or clicking a link.

2) List-based workflows are activated when a subscriber joins or leaves a list.

3) Date-based workflows are activated on a specific date or time.

MailerLite’s automated workflows make it easy to take action based on subscriber behavior.

Pop-Ups

Another reason I chose Mailerlite’s email marketing tool is for the lead generation features. While there are more robust lead capture tools you can add to a website, Mailerite’s pop-ups, slide in’s, and bars are a great way to increase sign-ups without being too intrusive.

MailerLite’s dynamic email pop-ups are the perfect way to increase your newsletter subscriptions. With just a few clicks, you can create responsive pop-ups that catch visitors’ attention and match your website design.

The drag & drop builder makes it easy with pre-designed blocks and custom settings to help you build effective pop-ups. Add pop-ups to your WordPress or Shopify website with MailerLite plugins, and they’ll appear automatically on your website.

By using Mailerlite’s lead capture tools, I could avoid adding another plugin and didn’t have to mess with integrating another tool.

I also appreciate the variety of templates and the ability to show particular offers on certain pages or hide them on others.

RSS Campaigns

MailerLite’s RSS campaign feature makes sending your latest blog posts as automated emails easy. With Mailerlite’s drag-and-drop editor, you can create a custom RSS campaign in minutes.

You can choose a pre-built template or create your own design. Customize the template with your branding, content links, and other important elements.

Set up a campaign that automatically sends an email with your updated blog posts at your chosen frequency. Or, add an RSS block to any newsletter.

Segmentation

Mailerlite has great segmentation capabilities. I can easily segment my list by location, activity, website behavior, etc. This allows me to send targeted campaigns that are relevant to my subscribers.

For example, I could send a campaign to people who live in a certain city or who haven’t opened my emails in a while.

Mailchimp also has great segmentation capabilities, but Mailerlite’s were slightly easier to use.

With MailerLite, you can easily divide your subscribers into smaller audiences based on a set of characteristics that are relevant to you.

This allows you to send more targeted emails that are more likely to meet your marketing goals. MailerLite’s segmentation feature is constantly updated as you grow your list, so you can be sure that your segments are always up-to-date.

There are endless ways to segment your audience, so you can tailor your campaigns to meet your specific needs. You can filter subscribers based on how active or inactive they are with your emails or segment them based on their engagement levels.

Doing this can create nurturing sequences for loyal readers and re-engagement campaigns for inactive subscribers. With MailerLite, targeting your audience and improving your email marketing results is easy.

Interest Groups

MailerLite’s email marketing Interest Groups allow you to target specific audiences by adding custom labels to subscribers. You can create groups based on behaviors or interests and increase engagement with email content tailored for each group. The best part? You only pay for the subscribers you use, even if they are in multiple groups.

This feature gives subscribers options on the signup form to self-select their interests. Use these insights to personalize content and send people ultra-relevant emails that will resonate and convert.

Integrations

Mailerlite integrates with a wide range of tools and services. This is important because it allows me to automate my workflow and connect all of my tools.

Here are some of the integrations that Mailerlite offers:

– Zapier

– Google Analytics

– WordPress

– Shopify

– WooCommerce

Layout Options

Mailerlite provides a variety of layout options for your email campaigns. You can choose from a range of templates or create a custom layout.

Campaign Automation

One of my favorite features is campaign automation. With Mailerlite, I can create automated email sequences triggered by certain events, such as subscribing to my list or abandoning a cart.

This is a great way to nurture leads and turn them into customers.

Bulk Email Sends

While I had to get approval to send more than 1000 emails, my approval came in on the same day, and I could bulk send to my list of 11,000 subscribers later that day.

Embedded Subscriber Forms

MailerLite’s embedded subscriber forms are easy to add to your website and help you grow your subscriber list quickly.

The form builder is easy to use, so you can create a form that matches your brand and website design. You can also add a subscribe button to your website so visitors can easily sign up for your emails.

Embedding lead capture forms on my website were easy with Mailerlite. I could choose from various customizable templates and add the forms to my site with a few clicks.

WordPress Plugin

Mailerlite offers a WordPress plugin that makes it easy to add forms and pop-ups to my website.

Newsletters

Another reason I chose Mailerlite is that they offer drag-and-drop newsletters. This is a great way to keep subscribers updated on your latest content, products, and services.

MailerLite’s Newsletter Editor enables you to create beautiful and engaging newsletters without any coding knowledge. The editor comes with pre-built design blocks that you can use to create a professional-looking newsletter in minutes.

You can also insert e-commerce products into your newsletters to promote new items or personalize emails with recent purchases. Additionally, you can save newsletter templates for future campaigns.

MailerLite’s Newsletter Editor is the perfect tool for creating captivating, interactive content. Add carousel galleries, accordion tabs, and event RSVPs to your newsletters in minutes.

Mailerlite has additional features that I have not yet used but are worth exploring.

Websites

MailerLite’s website builder is a great way to create a custom website layout. You can add interactive blocks like quizzes and surveys to engage visitors and rank on search engines to drive more traffic through your site.

You can also collect leads and build relationships with your audience using integrated email tools. Plus, you can offer exclusive content, digital products, and Stripe payments through your site.

Landing Pages

MailerLite’s drag and drop landing page builder makes it easy to create custom pages that attract and convert visitors. With their builder, you can easily create pages that match your brand and reflect your unique marketing message. Mailerlite’s powerful optimization tools help you make the most of your traffic.

Facebook Custom Audiences

By using MailerLite’s Facebook Custom Audiences, you can target ads to people who are similar to your subscribers. You can be sure that your advertising budget is being spent on reaching the right people.

You can create Custom Audiences for your Facebook advertising by selecting the subscriber segments you wish to include while excluding those that do not match your advertising goals.

Custom Domains

If you have a custom domain, you can use it with MailerLite’s website builder. This will allow you to create a landing page or website using your own domain name instead of the default domain name.

A/B Split Testing

MailerLite’s A/B split testing tool makes it easy to test the performance of your landing pages. Version A and version B of your landing page are created, then displayed to landing page visitors at random. The best-performing version is then chosen as the “winner” and displayed to all incoming landing page visitors.

This tool is essential to maximizing subscriber collection because it allows you to hone in on what works best for your audience. By testing different versions of your landing page, you can determine the design, layout, or messaging most effectively convert visitors into subscribers.

MailerLite’s A/B split testing tool is simple and easy to implement. It’s a valuable tool for improving your landing page performance and maximizing subscriber collection.

Sell Products

If you’re looking for a way to create and sell digital products quickly and easily, MailerLite is the perfect platform for you! With MailerLite, you can easily create web pages, set up payments, and promote your products. Thanks to our responsive design templates, you can be sure that your products will look great on any device.

Sell Newsletters

If you’re looking to start monetizing your newsletter, MailerLite is a great tool to help you do that. With MailerLite, you can quickly create a landing page for your newsletter and collect leads and payments all in one place.

You can customize the page to match your brand and embed an archive of past newsletters to show potential subscribers the value of subscribing. And with the Stripe integration, you can securely process payments on your landing page.

Sell Recurring Subscriptions

MailerLite makes it easy to sell recurring subscriptions with your digital products. Connect to Stripe and use the e-commerce templates to create engaging product pages.

Drive traffic with social media, email, pop-ups, and more. Review analytics and A/B test to optimize pages. Hooray, you made a sale! Deliver the files automatically and track revenue. Then retain customers and upsell using email marketing.

Surveys and Quizzes

Surveys and quizzes are a great way to engage your subscribers and learn more about them. They can also be a fun way to collect feedback or gather information for later use. Mailerite makes creating custom surveys and quizzes easy with its drag-and-drop editor.

You can build surveys with pre-built blocks, design settings, and templates. And you can add polls to your emails to get more responses from your subscribers. The data collected from surveys and polls can help you optimize your campaigns and better understand your subscribers.

Mailchimp Features

Mailchimp has an expansive list of features. While it’s more expensive, digital marketers may appreciate the suite of marketing tools.

Send Emails

Mailchimp is one of the most popular email marketing platforms in the world. It offers users various templates, or you can code your own in their email builder. The Creative Assistant will even design emails for you based on your branding. You can also track how your campaigns are performing and see which ones are getting the best results.

Content Optimizer

Mailchimp’s content optimizer is a great tool for improving your email content. It compares your campaigns to email best practices and offers suggestions to improve your copy, imagery, and layout. The content optimizer is a great place to start if you want to improve your email campaigns.

Landing Pages

Mailchimp’s landing pages are some of the most beautiful and well-designed pages on the internet. With just a few minutes of work, you can create a landing page that looks great and encourages visitors to join your audience or buy your stuff. Mailchimp’s landing page builder is easy to use, and you can create a page that looks great without any design experience.

Digital Advertising

Mailchimp’s digital ad platform is powerful and can help you reach the right users for your online store. You can target users with similar interests as your contacts on advertising platforms like Facebook and Instagram and across the web with Google’s Ad Network. Additionally, you can retarget site visitors while browsing social channels or the web. This allows you to target those most likely to act on your ads, increasing your chances of success.

Social Media Tools

Mailchimp’s social media tools make connecting with your fans and finding new ones easy. With tools for scheduling and publishing posts across Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, you can create new content or reuse elements that worked in your other campaigns. You can also use Mailchimp’s social media tools to track your posts’ performance and measure your campaigns’ impact.

Website Builder

Mailchimp’s Website Builder is one of the market’s simplest and most effective website builders. It’s easy to use, fast, and perfect for creating a website that will help you promote your business or organization.

With Mailchimp’s Website Builder, you can create a website that looks great, functions well, and is search engine optimized to get the most out of your online presence.

Online Store

Mailchimp’s online store platform is a great way to sell your products online. With built-in tools for marketing and shipping, you can start selling immediately. You can also use Mailchimp’s online store to create beautiful product pages, track your inventory, and accept payments.

Appointment Scheduling

Mailchimp’s appointment scheduling tool makes setting up appointments with your customers easy. You can schedule appointments, send reminders, and track your calendar with just a few clicks. You can also use Mailchimp’s appointment scheduling tool to take payments for appointments.

Custom Domains

Mailchimp’s custom domain feature allows you to use your own domain name for your Mailchimp account. This is a great way to brand your Mailchimp account and make it look more professional. Additionally, using a custom domain can help improve your deliverability and give you more control over your mailings.

Customer Journeys

Mailchimp’s customer journey builder is a great tool for creating automated email campaigns. With the customer journey builder, you can create campaigns triggered by specific events, like subscribing to your list or visiting your website. You can also use the customer journey builder to segment your contacts and send them more targeted content.

A/B Testing

Mailchimp’s A/B testing tool allows you to test different elements of your email campaigns to see what works best. With A/B testing, you can test things like subject lines, images, and call-to-action buttons to see what gets the best response from your contacts.

Behavioral Targeting

Mailchimp’s behavioral targeting feature allows you to send targeted content to your contacts based on their behavior. With behavioral targeting, you can segment your contacts based on how they interact with your emails, what pages they visit on your website, and what products they buy. This allows you to send more relevant content to your contacts, potentially leading to higher engagement and conversions.

Surveys

Mailchimp’s survey tool allows you to collect feedback from your contacts. With surveys, you can gather information about your customers’ satisfaction with your products or services, their opinions on your brand, and their suggestions for improvements. Surveys are a great way to get valuable customer feedback that can help you improve your business.

Mailchimp Vs. Mailerite Winner

While both email marketing platforms offer impressive features, Mailchimp wins due to its sheer number of advanced features and the variety of email templates. Both Mailerlite and Mailchimp offer email marketing tools with a drag-and-drop editor.

Each email marketing tool offers advanced automation and embedded forms. Each email marketing software offers free plans as well as upgraded marketing tools.

Chat support is offered with each depending on the plan, as is phone support. Mailchimp offers more in the way of social media tools. Mailchimp wins for more automation features.

If you’re in digital marketing and are looking for an email platform with all the bells and whistles, Mailchimp is the way to go. However, if you don’t need all the extras that Mailchimp offers, then Mailerlite is a more affordable, scalable option.