With its user-friendly interface and a great range of features, ConvertKit is one of the most popular email marketing applications for bloggers, content marketers, and small businesses.
However, it’s definitely not the only application in its category. From similar email marketing tools to more powerful solutions aimed at small and medium-sized businesses, there are several high-quality ConvertKit alternatives available.
Below, we’ve listed the top alternatives to ConvertKit, ranging from inexpensive email marketing applications to full featured tools aimed at more of a “prosumer” and small business audience.
If you’re searching for an email marketing automation platform that’s easy to use, you’ll find a lot of value below. Many of the applications on our list are available as free trials, letting you test and compare them to ConvertKit before you make a buying decision.
Drip
Drip is an email marketing automation application that has a lot in common with ConvertKit, from its straightforward and confusion-free user interface to its great looking emails, simple workflow builder and huge range of integrations with shopping carts, e-commerce platforms and more.
Like ConvertKit, Drip is designed with simplicity in mind. The user interface is clean, intuitive and easy to use, with most features accessible in one click and campaigns quick and easy to create, even for people with limited or no email marketing experience.
Opt-in forms and landing pages
Drip’s opt-in form builder is very similar to the tools you’ll find in ConvertKit. Forms are clean and simple, with options to choose a form’s basic layout, edit its color and adjust the fonts and other style options to match your website.
One minor weakness of Drip is that it doesn’t include a landing page builder — instead, you can create opt-in forms and integrate them into your existing landing pages, or use an integration to connect Drip with a tool like LeadPages or Instapage.
Opt-in forms created in Drip are easy to integrate into any WordPress site using the official Drip WordPress extension. Drip even includes the option to add an exit pop-up to your page to give departing users an extra chance to opt in, helping you increase your conversion rate.
Email marketing and automation
From an email marketing perspective, Drip and ConvertKit are roughly equal. Both include the same email autoresponder tools, called “courses” in ConvertKit and “campaigns” in Drip, with similar workflow builders and automation features.
Both apps include a good variety of integrations, ranging from e-commerce platforms to form and landing page tools. Drip wins out slightly on the integration front, with support for a wider range of different tools and applications.
Pricing
Priced from just over $40 per month for a list size of 1,000 subscribers, Drip is slightly more expensive than ConvertKit. Users with lists of 100 subscribers of less can use Drip for free, without having to worry about subscription fees until their list grows beyond 100 people.
Verdict
All in all, Drip is a great alternative to ConvertKit that offers a similar interface and toolset at a very similar price. Aside from the landing page builder, it matches all of ConvertKit’s features and feels slightly more robust as a marketing tool for serious users.
If you’re considering ConvertKit but want a more general purpose email marketing automation tool — instead of one designed specifically for blogging — you’ll find a lot to like about Drip.
Ideal for:
● Small businesses
● Startups
● Marketers with existing landing page software
MailerLite
MailerLite is a fairly new email marketing automation platform consists of designers and developers all over the world – with a common goal to build a world-class product. With its competitive pricing and high-quality email toolkit, it’s a great ConvertKit alternative for users searching for the best value for money.
From a features perspective, MailerLite stands up very well next to ConvertKit. It includes a drag and drop email editor that lets you customize your email content to match your brand identity, as well as a full HTML editor to give you additional editing and design power.
There’s a variety of free newsletter design templates, a built-in photo editing tool and a fast file manager for adding images, video and other content to your emails.
Opt-in forms and landing pages
MailerLite includes a variety of tools for building your opt-in list. There are pop-up subscription forms that you can customize and easily add to your website, embeddable forms that you can place inside sales copy or blog posts, and even a powerful drag and drop landing page tool.
In fact, MailerLite includes some of the best form and landing page design features of all of the low-cost email marketing automation tools we’ve tested.
Email marketing and automation
From an automation perspective, MailerLite includes all of the tools most email marketers will need, from custom conditions to actions and delays. Creating workflows is quick and painless thanks to the intuitive MailerLite interface.
MailerLite integrates with over 30 different applications, ranging from e-commerce platforms to landing page software and pop-up tools. There’s also a Zapier integration, allowing you to link MailerLite to hundreds of other web apps in just a few clicks.
Pricing and Verdict
Available free for lists of less than 1,000 subscribers with unlimited emails (and for 30% of the price of ConvertKit as your list grows). MailerLite is a great low-cost ConvertKit alternative that delivers similar features and usability at an unbeatable price. Their notable products include Email marketing, landing pages, signup forms, create a blog, set up paid newsletter subscriptions and more.
Ideal for:
● Bloggers and solopreneurs
● Marketers that want a complete email marketing toolkit
● Marketers looking for inexpensive email automation software
MailChimp
MailChimp is another popular alternative to ConvertKit, particularly for bloggers and beginner email marketers with smaller email lists and less intensive needs than those of expert digital marketers and growing businesses.
Email marketing and automation
Like ConvertKit, MailChimp includes a powerful marketing automation system that lets you set up custom automation rules to add subscribers to specific mailing lists, send emails based on user behavior and deliver custom email notifications to users.
One huge advantage of MailChimp is that it includes the ability to recover abandoned carts via email — something that’s only possible through ConvertKit and many other tools by creating a Zapier workflow.
As a traditional email marketing platform, MailChimp scores highly. It includes a wide range of different email templates aimed at bloggers, informational product creators, SaaS businesses, consultants and startups alike, as well as a simple drag and drops email template design tool.
Opt-in forms and landing pages
MailChimp also includes a user-friendly form builder tool that allows you to create opt-in forms with just a few clicks.
Forms can be customized with specific fields, as well as design options ranging from fonts and colors to graphics, layout options and more. There’s even an option to translate your form and response emails into more than 50 languages.
The biggest disadvantage of MailChimp is its lack of landing page options. MailChimp does not include a landing page builder — instead, you’ll need to integrate with Instapage, Leadpages or Megaphone to use custom landing pages for your campaigns.
Pricing
Compared to most email marketing software, MailChimp is highly affordable. New users with a list of 2,000 subscribers or less can send up to 12,000 emails per month for free, while higher capacity plans are available from just $10 per month.
Finally, MailChimp has one of the most impressive integration collections of any email marketing application, with support for a huge range of different e-commerce platforms, CRM tools, digital marketing applications and more.
Verdict
If you’re looking for a robust, reliable (it’s been around since 2001 — far longer than most other email marketing tools) and affordable alternative to ConvertKit and don’t mind creating landing pages with another application, MailChimp is one of the best choices available.
Ideal for:
● Marketers that need a robust, reliable email marketing platform with a great track record
● Solopreneurs and bloggers with small lists (2,000 subscribers or less)
ActiveCampaign
If you’re looking for something a little more powerful than ConvertKit — an email marketing app that’s designed for businesses, rather than individuals — you’ll appreciate the high-quality tools and features included in ActiveCampaign.
Designed with small and mid-sized business in mind, ActiveCampaign includes all of the email marketing features you’ll find in ConvertKit, along with some high-quality additions such as an effective and user-friendly CRM tool.
Opt-in forms and landing pages
ConvertKit and ActiveCampaign both include simple and effective opt-in form builder tools that let you create new forms in just a few clicks. All of the form display modes in ConvertKit can be replicated using ActiveCampaign, with an additional floating bar form display mode.
One minor weakness of ActiveCampaign is that it lacks a landing page builder, meaning you’ll need to design your landing pages manually or use a platform like Leadpages or Instapage to create landing pages for your PPC and content marketing campaigns.
This isn’t a major issue, as ConvertKit’s landing page builder isn’t exactly a powerhouse, but it could be an annoyance for people looking for an all-in-one solution.
Email marketing and automation
Creating email campaigns and automation rules is simple in either application. ActiveCampaign includes a powerful and user-friendly automation workflow builder that can segment your email list dynamically using page tags, geolocation data and a variety of other options.
You can also find a variety of great email templates in ActiveCampaign, making it easy to launch a professional looking email campaign in minutes. There’s even a drag and drop email builder to allow for quick and simple text, image, font, color, and layout customization.
Finally, ActiveCampaign includes a powerful CRM tool that integrates with your email marketing automation campaigns and personal email. While the CRM doesn’t quite match up to dedicated CRM software, it’s a useful addition for any business with a dedicated sales department.
Pricing
All in all, ActiveCampaign offers the same email marketing automation features as ConvertKit, with a few business-focused tools sprinkled in for good measure. Starting from $17 per month, it’s also ever so slightly less expensive than ConvertKit for people with small subscriber lists.
Verdict
If you’re a solo user looking for a lightweight, simple email automation application for your blog or small business, you’ll love ConvertKit. However, if you need a tool that your entire team can use, you’ll probably enjoy the extra features and small business focus of ActiveCampaign.
Ideal for:
● Small businesses and startups
● Mid-sized businesses and agencies
● Experienced marketers that require more power than ConvertKit offers
GetResponse
Designed for small businesses that drive traffic using PPC and organic search, GetResponse is a great alternative to ConvertKit for users that need better landing pages and a greater focus on conversion optimization.
Email marketing and automation
Like ConvertKit, GetResponse includes a variety of email marketing tools. There’s a campaign builder with the usual autoresponder options, as well as more than 500 great looking templates for you to choose from.
There’s also list segmentation and personalization, along with a Perfect Timing feature to help you optimize your delivery timing and ensure your messages reach subscribers at the perfect time of day.
GetResponse includes a user-friendly automation workflow builder that lets you drag and drop new automation rules onto a blank canvas. Like ConvertKit, it’s easy to use and designed for both beginners and experts, letting anyone create an automation workflow in minutes.
If you run an e-commerce website, you’ll like how easy GetResponse makes it address cart abandoners to recover lost sales and increase your conversion rate.
Opt-in forms and landing pages
Finally, the biggest strength of GetResponse is its landing page builder. Unlike the lightweight, simple landing pages and limited editing options included in ConvertKit, GetResponse features hundreds of conversion optimized, customizable opt-in, sales, promo and video landing pages.
Using the GetResponse landing page builder, you can quickly and easily switch out images to give your landing page a clear theme, adjust text, change the page’s color scheme and make other major edits, all without any HTML or CSS skills.
Pricing
GetResponse is available with several different pricing plans, starting from $15 per month for users with less than 1,000 subscribers. Pro and Max plans, which offer larger lists and extra features, are available from $49 and $165 per month.
Verdict
While ConvertKit is aimed squarely at bloggers and content marketers, GetResponse is built from the ground up for small businesses, making it a great ConvertKit alternative for teams of marketers that require both email marketing automation tools and a great page builder.
Ideal for:
● Small businesses
● Marketers that use PPC platforms like Google Adwords and Facebook Ads
What’s your go-to email marketing automation software?
ConvertKit is a great email marketing automation application, but it’s certainly not the only tool of its type on the market. From Drip to GetResponse, there are numerous email marketing apps on the market that offer similar features and unique benefits.
What’s your go-to email marketing automation software? Do you use one of the applications on our list above, or do you have another tool that we haven’t covered? Let us know your thoughts, ideas and marketing automation application recommendations in the comments.
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