One of the most important tools for any business is email marketing software (opens in a new tab). This is what allows you to collect email lists and send messages to subscribers all over the world at the click of a button. With over 4 billion (opens in a new tab) active email users worldwide, you would be doing your business a disservice by not considering email marketing.
There are many tools for email marketing, and two well-known examples are MailChimp and Constant contact. MailChimp is the leading email marketing platform, with over 13 million customers. Others such as Constant Contact offer comparable tools, but do not have a broad user base as much as MailChimp’s.
We want to see how MailChimp and Constant Contact fare against each other. We will compare them based on critical factors such as features, prices, performance and customer support. After reading this article, you can also see our previous one MailChimp review (opens in a new tab) and Review of constant contact (opens in a new tab) for more information.
Functions
MailChimp is a web-based platform. There is a free version that gives you access to the basic features and premium pricing tiers that unlock the more advanced features. With MailChimp, you can send messages to as many email addresses on your list with the click of a button.
After signing up for MailChimp, you can set out to build a new email list or import an existing one you have. Make sure that any addresses you import have given you explicit permission to send marketing emails. Otherwise, sending messages to unauthorized addresses constitutes spam, and MailChimp will penalize you.
To build a new email list, MailChimp allows you to create and embed forms on your website or social media pages. Any address someone enters into the form will automatically be added to your mailing list. This platform also offers analytical tools to give you insights about your email audience to know what needs improvement.
Constant Contact is a web-based platform just like MailChimp. It gives you tools to grow your email list and analytical tools to gather insights into your email audience. But Constant Contact goes much further than email. It allows you to send messages to customers and market via SMS. It also has a website builder that allows you to design visually appealing websites for your business. The web builder includes an e-commerce tool that allows you to accept payments from customers and sell items online.
Constant Contact is a more versatile tool than MailChimp.
Performance
MailChimp is primarily a web-based app, but it also has mobile apps for iOS and Android. These apps allow you to manage your email campaigns on the go, but don’t provide the full functionality you can access on the web-based interface.
MailChimp’s web-based interface is easy to navigate despite its many features. Various functions are neatly arranged across the dashboard, so it’s easy to find what you want.
Constant Contact is a versatile platform with many advanced features focused on email marketing and some other types of marketing. The platform offers a great user experience, with features neatly arranged on the dashboard’s top menu. In May 2022, the team behind Constant Contact revamped the user interface to make it easier than it was.
Constant Contact is primarily a web-based app, just like MailChimp. It has mobile apps for iOS and Android, but you’ll be better off with the web-based interface, as you won’t be able to access all of the platform’s features on the mobile app.
We didn’t notice any pattern of customer complaints with the performance of MailChimp or Constant Contact, so it’s a tie in this category.
User support
MailChimp offers live customer support via email, live chat, and phone, although the options available to each user depend on their premium pricing plan. All premium plans include email and live chat support, but only the highest plan includes phone support. One good thing about MailChimp is that even free users get access to email support, but only for the first 30 days after signing up.
You can also access the official MailChimp Help Center, which contains user guides and tutorials to help you navigate the platform. Similarly, there is an official marketplace where you can hire approved MailChimp experts (for a fee) to help your marketing efforts.
Constant Contact offers email and phone support to all paying users, unlike MailChimp which limits phone support to the highest level. However, we observed many complaints from customers that the platform’s customer service was inadequate. For reference, Constant Contact has a low rating of 1.4 out of 5 stars (opens in a new tab) on Trustpilot, although MailChimp has same score (opens in a new tab).
All things being equal, we consider Constant Contact’s customer service to be better than MailChimp’s, given that the former does not limit support options according to price levels.
Pricing
A major difference between MailChimp and Constant Contact is that the former has a free tier, while the latter does not. You have to pay to use Constant Contact, which gives it a disadvantage against MailChimp, although there is a long 60-day free trial.
MailChimp offers three premium plans; Essential for $11 / £11 / AUD$16 per month, Standard for $17 / £17 / AUD$25 per month; and Premium too high $299 / £299 / AUD$499 per month. The Essentials plan supports a maximum of 5,000 monthly emails to 50,000 contacts, the Standard plan supports 6,000 monthly emails to 100,000 contacts, and the Premium plan is unlimited.
Constant Contact offers two plans; Corefrom $9.99 / £9.99 / AUD$14.99 per month, and Plus, from $45 / £45 / AUD$70 per month. The price of both plans increases depending on the number of contacts. For example, you pay $35 / £35 / AUD$55 per month for 501-2,500 contacts and $300 per month for 45,001-50,000 users on the Core plan, or $70 / £70 / AUD$100 per month for 501-2,500 contacts and $410 per month for 45,001-50,000 contacts on the Plus plan.
MailChimp is a much more affordable tool than Constant Contact.
Verdict
MailChimp and Constant Contact each have their advantages and disadvantages. Constant Contact is a more versatile marketing tool than MailChimp and offers a better user experience. Nevertheless, MailChimp provides better customer support and is much more economical to use.
We consider MailChimp the superior tool for individual and small business users. Constant Contact is best suited for large companies with high marketing budgets.
We have listed the best email providers (opens in a new tab).
