Comparison of MailChimp and Aweber
MAIL CHIMP:
- MailChimp offers a trial period in which their service is free for up to 2,000 subscribers.
- But, there’s a major limitation on the number of emails you are allowed to send with a free MailChimp account. Also, the autoresponder feature is disabled which makes a free account much less useful.
- Autoresponders are a very important tool for those hoping to put their online marketing on autopilot, but for a person who is new to marketing online, you can survive without this feature for a while.
- MailChimp lets you either design your forms entirely from scratch or use their GUI to design a professional looking for
- They have many templates to choose from. If you are a half decent web designer, you’ll have full control of how your page looks, and will love Mail Chimp.
- They will host your email photos for you.
- A drawback: you can have only one signup form per list
- Another drawback: you can’t sent an email to multiple lists at the same time.
- MailChimp will close your account if you use certain words which imply making money quickly from home – they will shut down your account.
COSTS:
- Free trial – permanently free up to 500 sucscribers, but limited.
- MailChimp fees begin at $10.00 per month for 500 subscribers.
- From 501 to 1,000 subscribers, cost is $15.00 per month.
- From 1,001 to 1,500 subscribers, cost is $20.00 per month.
- From 1,500 to 2,000 subscribers, cost is $25.00 per month.
AWEBER:
- Aweber wants you to use their templates – if you try to change them, you could have a problem.
- Aweber will host your own photos.
- In Aweber you can have as many signup forms as you want per subscriber list and track performance of each one independently
- With Aweber, you can tell exactly who has opened your email, and which links they have clicked on.
- Aweber tracks clicks within an email – there is a noticeable click through rate when using Aweber vs. MailChimp
- Aweber is much more powerful than MailChimp when it comes to tracking users.
- Email management features are also much more powerful than MailChimp
- Hands down Aweber has a much better support system than Mail Chimp… I can’t tell you how many times I called and talked to one of their reps with a problem. They stayed on the phone with me until my problem was solved.
- Having phone support is extremely important!
COSTS:
- Aweber – 30 day free trial.
- Then cost for up to 500 subscribers is $19.00 per month.
- For 502 to 2,500 subscribers cost is $29.00 per month.
- For 2,501 to 5,000 subscribers cost is $49.00 per month.
- For 5,001 to 10,000 subscribers cost is $69.00 per month.
If I were starting a brand new list, and could afford $19.00 per month, my choice would be Aweber, if not, I would choose the MailChimp comparable option which is $10.00 per month. You do need a landing page (a simple website or blog), with an optin form (created within MailChimp or Aweber) for people to sign up for your newsletter list.
Potential and current customers always want a free report, eBook or short video. You can come up with a short (PDF) report to be forwarded to customers after they sign up for your newsletter list. That process is all automated and delivered through whichever mail program you choose to use.
ALWAYS put a “thank you” letter in any item you ship – whether through Etsy or eBay. This “thank you” can tell about the free report you have for them – all they have to do is go to your website or landing page and fill out their name and email to be added to your newsletter list.
MY CHOICE: HANDS DOWN – AWEBER!