A quick roundup of Constant Contact alternatives for those who are looking for an ESP, or looking to make a switch.
No matter what size your business is, email marketing plays a vital role in success.
Not only does it give you the opportunity to establish and build relationships with your target audience, but the right email service provider (ESP) can help you monitor just how well your communication efforts are paying off.
Picking the right tool, though, can be tricky. With loads of options to choose from, and many of them saying they offer similar features, how are you supposed to make a decision?
Constant Contact has been a popular choice for businesses for a long time. One of the first email marketing platforms out there — they’ve been a familiar name to many marketers and small business owners since 1995.
But what about today? Constant Contact has surely changed and improved since 1995, but how does their platform stack up with other platforms on the market now?
Here are a few Constant Contact alternatives to help you adequately survey the modern ESP landscape.
The 10 Best Constant Contact Alternatives
Campaign Monitor
GetResponse
SendPulse
ActiveCampaign
Mailchimp
BenchMark
ConvertKit
AWeber
Emma
Sendinblue
How we sourced our data
To get an accurate picture of the tools covered in this article, we visited unbiased review sites like G2 and Capterra to get a good first-hand look at how users were experiencing each platform, not just how they were talking about themselves on their websites.
We visited each competitor’s site as well, but only for up-to-date information on features and pricing.
Every email service provider is going to have customers that vouch for it and those who were unhappy. As a marketing professional, you know that you can’t make everyone happy. Here’s a list of Constant Contact alternatives to help you find an ESP that suits your brand’s specific needs.
1. Constant Contact vs. Campaign Monitor
Yes, you’re reading this post on the Campaign Monitor blog, so we acknowledge that this could come off a bit biased. But, we feel that Campaign Monitor is a top solution for those looking for a Constant Contact alternative.
Campaign Monitor is an industry-leading, easy-to-use email marketing platform for all marketing professionals across all industries.
With over a decade of experience, our platform allows users to create and send beautifully branded emails while monitoring their success with our helpful campaign dashboard.
Customers get the most out of our responsive template library, and newly-updated user interface that makes building emails or automation workflows easier and more delightful than ever. This stands in strong juxtaposition to Constant Contact’s interface that has been known by customers to lag and feel a bit out of date.
And with offices around the globe, customers in any timezone are able to connect with our customer support team and resolve their issues any time, day or night.
If you need an ESP to serve as an all-in-one email marketing tool, Campaign Monitor might not be the best fit for you or your email campaigns. Constant Contact offers features like a landing page builder or social media integrations that Campaign Monitor doesn’t have.
Similarly, if you have intricate and complex automation and personalization needs for a wide and varied audience, one of our partner enterprise solutions might be a better tool to help you reach your email marketing goals.
But if you want an email marketing tool that ranks higher for its ease of use, ease of setup, ease of admin, quality of support, deliverability, and building/personalizing emails, Campaign Monitor is your way to go.
You’ll also find a price benefit in picking a more focused tool like Campaign Monitor, with plans starting at $9/month — less than half of Constant Contact’s $20/month.
Reviews from Campaign Monitor customers
Comprehensive Email Marketing Platform. I’ve tried a lot of different email marketing platforms over my 15 years in marketing and Campaign Monitor is hands-down the best option out there. I would waste hours of my time fiddling around on other platforms to get things to display properly. In other platforms, everything would look great until I send out the email and then the HTML would be all jumbled and things wouldn’t display properly. This is not the case with Campaign Monitor. When I send emails they look exactly the same as they do in the preview. Finally, I can get hours of my life back!
— Jessi N, Director of Marketing & Business Development
The best email marketing software. Campaign Monitor is so far the easiest to use in its field. Creating beautiful emails and managing campaigns cannot be easier, even if you have never done it before.
— Luca M, CEO and founder
Great User Support and an Accessible Platform. Campaign Monitor is easy to use and accessible for every employee regardless of their skillset. The client service team responds quickly when there are issues to be resolved.
— Administrator in Public Relations and Communications
2. Constant Contact vs. GetResponse
A screenshot of GetResponse’s website in 2021.
GetResponse is a suite of tools that offers email marketing solutions to both enterprise businesses and small businesses — but is particularly known for its small business solutions.
The brand states that their tools help marketers grow their sales, maximize return on investment, and help you succeed in online marketing.
They boast a robust template library with over 500 pre-built template options, though it’s worth mentioning that customers find the drag-and-drop builder not particularly robust.
GetResponse also has a free plan with limited features for those with under 500 subscribers, making it an attractive option for getting started. From there, plans start at $12.30/month.
Reviews from GetResponse customers
One of the best programs to send emails. GetResponse is an incredible tool to do email marketing, in our company we use it to manage our entire list of clients and distribute in an organized way all our informative and promotional emails, usually the emails arrive or inbox or promotions which is very good and shows great quality in this tool, the percentage of reading and opening emails, GetResponse has a very intuitive and advanced email editor with good templates to create our emails, we usually use it to create promotional emails, you can also manage your contact lists and possible customers, I have imported them from any other data collection tool, on the other hand, regarding the price GetResponse is very kind because their plans in quality and price are excellent and they offer us a large amount of monthly emails for a really accessible price.
— Maria S, Marketing Specialist
It is a very reliable tool for email marketing. GetResponse is a very powerful tool, one of the things that I like the most are its reporting and statistics functions since they are very detailed, easy to understand and provide enough data to understand what works best for our landing pages and which campaigns need a readjustment in the strategies to generate more conversions. On the other hand the templates offered have good designs and allow me to create very fast campaigns and easily readjust them.
— David B, Web Designer
3. Constant Contact vs. SendPulse
A screenshot of SendPulse’s website in 2021.
SendPulse is an email service provider that offers marketing tools intended to help consumers empower their business. Marketing themselves as an all-in-one communication platform, their services expand beyond just email and into SMS, messengers (think chatbots), and web push (browser notifications).
The brand states that the principles behind their vision include being customer-focused and innovative, all while prioritizing teamwork to help provide only the best for their customers.
Customers find the drag-and-drop builder easy to use, and have enjoyed the SMS function as well. And while the platform scores high for ease of use and ease of setup, customers have mentioned bugs, lack of support, and poor performance when building campaigns among their dislikes.
SendPulse offers a free plan for up to 500 subscribers. After that, plans start at $6.40/month — still favorable to Constant Contact’s $20/month.
Reviews from SendPulse Customers
A Great Platform For Email and SMS Marketing. I admit it was pretty challenging to understand the process of creating a template email and sending out your campaign. But once you know the methods of importing, exporting developing campaigns, this platform is a great start point for any individual. I used it in my previous company to send out campaigns.
— Jonathan P., Marketer
Good integration and useful tool for email marketing. There are lots of things I like with regards to SendPulse, the free edition of this application is one of them since it provides its end-users the opportunity to evaluate the tool and so that they can make their own conclusions.
— Nandani S., Digital Marketing Consultant
4. ActiveCampaign vs. Constant Contact
A screenshot of ActiveCampaign’s website in 2021.
ActiveCampaign is a relatively new tool that boasts a lot of features — particularly around their automation platform. Positioning themselves as a “customer experience automation” tool, ActiveCampaign has features that help you reach, nurture, convert, and grow your audience.
Another all-in-one platform, ActiveCampaign offers a lot of advanced features that more seasoned marketers are looking for. Like Campaign Monitor, they offer an advanced automation builder that a lot of ESPs lack.
With features that span a lot of different use cases, some customers might find ActiveCampaign has more than they need, and may not want to pay the $25/month starting price tag. But, for more advanced marketers who are looking to expand far beyond email, and want to do it all from one platform, ActiveCampaign is a compelling choice.
Reviews from ActiveCampaign customers
ActiveCampaign – Great for Solopreneurs & Small Biz Too. I am a fan of MailChimp – but switched to Active Campaign because it merges the capacity for email newsletters and mass mailings with the need for one–to-one messaging and automation. Usually solutions for larger businesses are overkill for micro-businesses, but AC is a great solution for both.
— Mary M, Principal
Affordable and functional software for Marketing Automation. The Automation Builder is simple and clear to use, and the storage of previous campaigns for use as templates is incredibly helpful! The help guides available online from Active Campaign are also clear and concise.
— Gemma P, Director
5. MailChimp vs. Constant Contact
A screenshot of Mailchimp’s website in 2021.
MailChimp is one of the most popular ESPs on this list. It’s an all-in-one tool with a pretty robust free plan for those with under 2,000 contacts, which makes it easy to say yes to them while getting started. Plus, for beginner marketers who want to be able to manage a lot of their tools — like a website, form builder, popups, and even direct mail — from the same platform, MailChimp is an attractive option. Though, it’s worth noting that running a website with them will be an additional cost from using their email marketing services.
It’s also worth noting that MailChimp just launched a direct integration with Shopify, which is nice for eCommerce retailers.
Marketers who are looking to get more advanced with their marketing, though, might find MailChimp’s features a bit basic. Common quips with MailChimp tend to be around their not-so-advanced automation features, their customer support, and the lack of flexibility in their drag-and-drop editor. Plus, their recent acquisition by Intuit leaves some question marks around where the platform could be heading.
With paid plans starting at $9.99/month, MailChimp is a good option for entry-level marketers looking for an easy-to-use tool and don’t need much email marketing automation or segmentation.
Reviews from MailChimp customers
Modern email program with intuitive interface. Mailchimp is fairly intuitive. The email builder is drag and drop and it doesn’t take long to get the hang of it. I also like the quick view of the email results on the dashboard. It’s a great way to track the success of a campaign and compare it with previously sent emails.
— Dan S., Small Business Co-Founder
Overall good free email marketing program. I like the price point – we are at a free subscription currently. I do like the simplicity of updating and being able to manage contacts well. We have several different groups, depending on the dissemination of information needed, while we can also add tags and target groups that way.
— Stephanie L., Landscape Designer
6. Benchmark vs. Constant Contact
A screenshot of Benchmark’s website in 2021.
Benchmark promotes itself as “email marketing that won’t slow you down,” thanks to its powerful tools that are streamlined for continued growth. This ESP states that it’s their goal to create tools that help marketers grow their audience, all while helping increase both sales and overall engagement.
Most users find their email builder intuitive and easy to use, giving marks for that part of the platform. That said, users have also found list management difficult, leading to trouble segmenting users or adding lists of new subscribers. Pricing can get somewhat expensive as well as your number of contacts goes up.
Plans for Benchmark has a free version capped at 250 emails per month. To unlock unlimited emails, plans begin at $13/month.
Reviews from Benchmark Email customers
Great Tool for General Marketing. Benchmark Email is user-friendly as straightforward as far as features go. This tool would be great for small business marketing, non-profit association or even corporations. Personally, I enjoy the customization features. The different templates are fun and allow you to create a custom piece of work to reach your audience.
— Marissa R., Associate Director of Chapter Services
Benchmark email a great service! This system has allowed to attract new clients and in turn make great advantages or move the traffic of our website, it seems to me that it has extremely attractive simple and simple tools which allows to be much more agile When creating .edit marketing campaigns, we have not had any kind of problem we have had innovation managing to release the work stress found in marketing areas.
— Alice T.
7. ConvertKit vs. Constant Contact
A screenshot of ConvertKit’s website in 2021.
Of the Constant Contact competitors, this one is perhaps the least conventional. ConvertKit is a relatively new email marketing platform specifically tailored toward creators. They have a lot of the features you might expect from an ESP — like automation, sign-up forms, email sending, etc — but their platform is mostly geared toward musicians, writers, podcasters, YouTubers, etc who are looking for a tool to help them monetize their platform and build relationships with their listeners/readers.
For online creators, using ConvertKit is an easy choice. With features geared specifically for making a living off of your online platform, ConvertKit is the leader in this space. For those marketing on behalf of a business or organization, though, a more traditional
ConvertKit is free up to 300 subscribers, and paid plans start at $9/month.
Reviews from ConvertKit customers
User-friendly and easy to start for the not-so-tech-savvy. For someone without a lot of technical knowhow, you can simple, clean, great looking emails. Even someone like me, who is tech-savvy and has used almost every major email marketing provider, the CK setup time is great.
— Alaia W., Business Organization & Process Consultant
A great email service for writers! It’s easy to use, and it’s a great email system for people who are writers or write a lot of content.
— Isabel S., Portrait Designer
8. AWeber vs. Constant Contact
A screenshot of AWeber’s website in 2021.
AWeber is another ESP that gives marketers a wide range of tools to help grow their businesses. With email marketing services, and other marketing tools like landing page templates, eCommerce pages, and push notifications, AWeber has features to reach just about your entire marketing funnel.
A lot of customers think highly of their automation tools and list management — making it easy to segment your email list and reach targeted groups with targeted messages. At the same time, some say their email builder, email templates, and campaign creation interface are a bit outdated.
AWeber has a free tier of up to 500 subscribers, and from there, their paid pro plan begins at $16.50/month.
Reviews from AWeber Customers
High quality service for a premium price. The service that Aweber provides is top notch. All the tools that it gives, the deliverability of the emails, reporting and analytics all is perfect.
— Liudas B, Owner
The best platform for email marketing is incredible. I like how it provides our company with a means to automate the response to personalized emails, I like how it is integrated into each ecosystem of programs, it integrates with other platforms without problem, the delivery capacity is impressive fast, besides it is extremely easy to use and your customer support is effective.
— Maiker L, General Manager
9. Emma vs. Constant Contact
A screenshot of Emma’s website in 2021.
Emma is an industry leader in email and digital marketing that focuses on helping its consumers drive conversions and revenue with email. They typically cater to the needs of those in more specific industries, like fitness, retail, agencies, restaurants, franchises, universities, and nonprofits.
To help these brands, Emma has built a platform that helps managers keep their brands and messages consistent across distributed teams. With the ability to lock templates and manage campaigns across locations, Emma is ideal for organizations that might have more than one location — like a restaurant franchise or a gym — who need to keep their brand consistent while sending messages specific to their location.
Emma doesn’t send transactional emails out of the box (something a lot of ESPs on this list do) or include a survey tool. If getting quick feedback or transactional emails are top priorities in your email marketing strategy, Emma might not be the tool you need to reach your goals as efficiently as possible.
With prices starting at $89/month, Emma is priced above what a lot of small businesses need. However, if you’re running marketing for a franchise or business with multiple locations, Emma is an excellent choice.
Reviews from Emma customers
Easy tool with massive impact. Emma’s easy-to-edit templates are a breeze to use and are a great way to start a mass mailing. Plus, their ability to test multiple subject lines (and see the results for which ones lead to the most clicks) makes it certain that your email will get the greatest engagement possible.
— Dakota R, Resident Director
Reaching our client base with Emma. I love the ease of use. The ready-to-go templates save me time and brain power. Our clients get a beautiful, professional-looking communication from us. I can integrate and customize the look of my Eventbrite events into my emails with no trouble.
— Trista B, Marketing Manager & Maxwell Health Champion
10. Sendinblue vs Constant Contact
A screenshot of Sendinblue’s website in 2021.
Sendinblue is a powerful ESP that covers an array of marketing needs. With email marketing tools, SMS, Chat, and a shared inbox feature for support teams, Sendinblue is an all-encompassing tool.
Customers seem to get the most out of their campaign creation workflow, which is said to be intuitive and easy to segment. However, some customers have complained of their automation features, as well as a lack of integrations with other tools.
Sendinblue has a free tier with unlimited contacts, but it only lets you send 300 emails a day and misses core features like A/B testing. Their paid plans start at $25/month.
Reviews from Sendinblue customers
Great for email automation. Nice free plan for starters and to learn basics. Good support. It works. The templates are good. The UX is good. Creating and following a campaign is easy and you get good information about it. The free version lets you start and try features and learn.
— Gastón B
Good Value! Compared to Constant Contact send in Blue is a great value. Our email list approaches 70k and we found that CC’s pricing kept creeping up. Their templates are easy to set up and customize for your program.
— Dominic J, Executive Director
Wrap up
Those who are considering making a switch from Constant Contact will find no shortage of alternatives. Picking the right ESP for your business needs can be difficult, but we hope that this blog post helped provide some guidance for your decision.
If Campaign Monitor stood out to you amongst this list of Constant Contact alternatives, feel free to request your live demo today and see what we can do to help improve your email marketing efforts.
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