In today’s post, I will talk to you about the Top 3 Email Service Providers I Recommend for your email list and list building. These three different email providers are at different price points, and two of them offer a free version of the program. However, free versions do not have all of the bells and whistles of a paid subscription.
Let’s discuss the pros and cons of each program. I am discussing programs that range from the least robust to the most robust as far as features are concerned. Each program provides different features at different price points. So, the more you pay, the more features you will have access to.
This is the least robust program of the three we will discuss today. What I love is that the pricing is really straightforward. This program offers a free version, a growing business version for $9.00 a month if you pay annually, and $10 a month if you pay monthly. There is also an advanced option that is $19.00 a month when you pay yearly and $21.00 a month when you pay monthly. All of these price points are for your first 1,000 subscribers. Let’s discuss the different features at each price point.
Free Version:
The free version limits the number of emails you can send each month, and its key features are the drag and drop editor, email automation builder, website landing pages, and sign up forms and pop ups. You also receive free 24 hour email and chat support for the first 30 days, and then after that, you have to pay.
$10.00 Subscription:
The $10.00 a month fee gives you the ability to sell digital products, access to unlimited templates, the ability to use the auto resend feature on your campaigns, and unlimited emails.
$21.00 Subscription:
$21.00 a month gives you Facebook integration, a custom HTML editor, promotional pop ups, multiple triggers in your automations, AI writing assistance, and so much more.
I have used MailerLite and recommended it to clients who want to start small and work their way up, and that is why I recommend this email service provider.
The second one I recommend is ConvertKit. ConvertKit is free for up to 1,000 users but features fewer integrations. They also offer a paid version that is $15.00 a month if you pay monthly and $9.00 a month if you pay yearly for their Creator (which is their middle of the row package), or you can subscribe to Creator Pro for $29.00 a month if you pay monthly and $25.00 a month if you pay yearly.
Here is the major con for the creator and creator pro options. These account prices are only good for up to 300 subscribers. After you surpass that number, the price increases. However, you get unlimited landing pages and forms and broadcast (same as campaigns in MailerLite), you have the ability to sell your digital products and subscriptions, you get live chat, and they have a feature called free migration. Free migration allows you to migrate from another service provider. They offer automation sequences, visual automation builders, third party integration, and more.
If you wanted a subscription that allows you to send emails to up to 1,000 subscribers, then you would pay $25.00 a month yearly and $29.00 monthly for the Creator. For the Creator Plus account, you would pay $50.00 a month yearly or $59.00 a month monthly.
As you can see, with each step up, you gain access to more features, but your cost is also going up.
If we’re talking cars, Active Campaign would be a Cadillac or a Mercedes; it would be a luxury product, and it comes with that luxury brand price point because it has all of the extra bells and whistles and features.
When paid yearly, it is $49.00 a month and $70.00 a month if paid monthly for the Plus package (this is the lowest package they offer). Professional is $149.00 a month if paid yearly and $187.00 a month if paid monthly. As you can see, it is much more expensive. Let’s talk about what you get for that price.
The features include email marketing and marketing automation, inline popup and modal forms, landing pages, Facebook custom audiences, and lead ads that you can track on your site. You can also utilize WooCommerce, Shopify, and BigCommerce integrations. It also has the new AI feature. The features just go up and improve from there. You can use Active Campaign as a CRM to keep track of all your sales.
Active Campaign offers contact migration, just like ConvertKit does, in case you want to move over from another platform. They also offer video tutorials, accelerated onboarding, a knowledge base, and help guides. They offer a ton of help, and they offer SMS automation. This feature allows you to automatically send text messages to your potential clients and customers.
Active Campaign is the most Robust email service provider of the three. Active Campaign is the most comprehensive and has the most features to offer. MailerLite is the simplest and least robust, with ConvertKit in the middle.
That is the breakdown of the three email service providers I recommend. Now that you have seen the list, you may wonder why I didn’t mention Mailchimp. In my opinion, Mailchimp promises a lot with its free program to reel you in and get you excited about getting something for free. But once you start trying to create content, you quickly realize you cannot do what is necessary to build an email list without paying because it will not let you create automation. So why would you use a tool that doesn’t allow you to meet your needs without paying? Once you start paying, they constantly want you to pay for every single feature that you need, and in the end, it costs you more than the programs I recommend.
If you struggle with email marketing, then I have a FREE resource I would like to give you. Download How to Market Effectively with Email today!
