3 Amazing Mailchimp Alternatives You Need To Know About
Mailchimp is one of the most popular email marketing platforms around. It even integrates directly with Squarespace. But, if we’re being honest, Mailchimp can often feel clunky and the interface keeps changing. The minute you find a feature and get used to it, something changes on the backend and it’s no longer there.
However, just because Mailchimp integrates directly with Squarespace, that doesn’t mean it’s your only option. In fact, there are plenty of alternatives out there and today, I’ll share 3 of them with you.
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3 Amazing Mailchimp Alternatives To Consider For Your Email List
The platforms below are the ones I have personally used and recommend. They are either free or have a free trial and, best of all, they’re easy to use.
1. MailerLite
Before we go any further, I’ll be upfront and say that MailerLite is what I currently use for my email list. MailerLite has a lot of attractive features that make it a perfect Mailchimp alternative.
For starters, you can create email sign up forms such as inline forms, exit-intent popups, slide ins, and full page forms. You can also create landing pages. All of those are available on the free plan so if you’re on a super-tight budget, MailerLite is a great choice.
When it comes to subscriber management, you can organize subscribers into groups and get even more specific with segments. In other words, you can get super granular and create targeted email campaigns to ensure your subscribers only get emails that are relevant to them.
MailerLite also offers automations so you can set up welcome and nurture sequences. Their email builder offers a drag and drop experience so you can easily drag blocks into the editor to create your email.
You can also save any email you design as a template and reuse it later on. MailerLite does offer templates but they’re available on the paid plan only.
It’s also worth mentioning that you’ll find pretty cool blocks in the email builder — aside from text and images, you can insert blocks that promote your blog posts, products, countdown timers, survey blocks, and more.
MailerLite Pricing
MailerLite is free for up to 1000 subscribers and allows you to send up to 12000 emails/month. You can upgrade to unlimited emails per month for $10. After that, pricing starts at $15/mo.
MailerLite Squarespace Integration
When it comes to integrating MailerLite with Squarespace, it’s pretty easy to do. In fact, I have a full tutorial that walks you through the set up process and as a result, you’ll be able to use Squarespace Newsletter Form block and have it automatically synced with your MailerLite account.
Related post: How to Connect MailerLite With Squarespace
2. ConvertKit
ConvertKit is another popular email marketing service that caters towards content creators. It offers a wide variety of sign up forms which can be added as an inline form or as a modal popup which shows up after a user has scrolled down a certain percentage or after they have spent a certain amount of time on your website.
ConvertKit also offers attractive landing pages which, like MailerLite, are available on the free plan.
At first glance, ConvertKit doesn’t have a lot of options for organizing your subscribers. You can assign them a tag and that’s it. However, those tags are more than enough to trigger automations and ensure your subscribers get all the relevant emails.
ConvertKit also has a powerful visual automation builder which makes it easy to build automations for your list. The downside is that automations are available on the paid plan only.
In terms of emails, ConvertKit offers a handful of templates and they are mostly text-based, however, you can insert images, text, countdown timers, social media links, and other elements to create your email.
ConvertKit also makes it pretty easy to write your emails and you can even edit emails directly within the automation instead of having to wait for another window to open up.
ConvertKit Pricing
ConvertKit is free for up to 1000 subscribers however, you can only create forms, landing pages, and send regular broadcasts. Automations are a feature of the paid plan as well as the ability to sell subscriptions and digital products. Paid plans start at $29/mo for 1000 subscribers.
ConvertKit Squarespace Integration
While there is no direct integration, you can easily add a ConvertKit sign up form to your Squarespace website. All you have to do is copy the code from your ConvertKit account and paste it into a code block in Squarespace.
3. Flodesk
Flodesk is a relatively new email marketing tool that stands out with two things. First, the email templates are drop-dead gorgeous. Secondly, they offer a flat price no matter how many subscribers you have. Yes, you read that right.
As far as email templates go, you’ll find a variety of templates and you can also easily create gorgeous templates with their layout blocks. Another cool feature is that you can upload your logo and set your brand colors so you never have to go hunting for the exact hex codes.
In terms of forms, Flodesk allows you to create inline and popup forms as well as landing pages. Popup forms can be triggered on a scroll or a timer — there is no exit-intent feature.
Related Post: How to Quickly Create a Landing Page on Squarespace
You can organize your subscribers into segments but there is no ability to further tag and segment those users. You can create automations to deliver your freebie and even set up nurture and sale sequences.
However, given that Flodesk is still a new company, it doesn’t have all the bells and whistles as ConvertKit and MailerLite do. I will, however, say that they managed to make email marketing as simple as possible and quite enjoyable too. It’s simple and it works and if you don’t need a lot of complicated features, Flodesk is the perfect choice.
Flodesk Pricing
As mentioned earlier, you’ll get a flat price no matter how many subscribers you have — $38/mo. This includes unlimited emails and automations as well. While they don’t have a free plan, they do have a free 30-day trial.
Flodesk Squarespace Integration
To add your Flodesk forms into Squarespace, you’ll need to add a bit of code to your Code Injection area in Squarespace under Settings > Advanced. You’ll then need to paste the actual form code within a code block where you want your sign up form to appear.
Which One Is Right For You?
All three email marketing platforms have attractive features but you might still be wondering which one is right for you. And while that decision is completely up to you, here are a few things to keep in mind:
ConvertKit was built with content creators in mind but it also makes emailing your list super easy, not to mention it allows you to create powerful automations. Tagging is easy as well and a lot of the stumbling steps have been removed simply because you don’t have to worry about groups, segments, and the like.
However, the free plan is quite limited so if you want automations as soon as you sign up, you’ll need to upgrade to the paid plan which starts at $29/mo for up to 1000 subscribers. Try ConvertKit here for free.
MailerLite is what I currently use and love. They have a generous free plan for up to 1000 subscribers and they offer automations even on that free plan. The downside to MailerLite is that they don’t have text-based emails like ConvertKit and they can be a little confusing with all the groups and segments to organize your list.
Related Post: How To Trigger A MailerLite Popup On Button Or Image Click In Squarespace
However, if you want to get started for free and have platform that can grow with you (and Squarespace integration is super easy!), definitely give MailerLite a try here.
Lastly, let’s talk about Flodesk. Out of the bunch, I’ll be honest, Flodesk appears to my designer aesthetic the most. However, given that it’s still a pretty young platform compared to ConvertKit and MailerLite, Flodesk can be somewhat limiting.
You can organize subscribers into segments but you can’t, for example, move subscribers around in those segments based on a link they click outside of automations. Similarly, this is limited to only one link at a time which doesn’t work so well if you have more complex automations.
What Flodesk has going for them is the price. One flat rate for unlimited subscribers. While they might seem more expensive upfront at $38/mo, keep in mind that’s the price you continue paying whether you have 10, 200, 1000 or 50000 subscribers. That’s pretty compelling.
If you’re after the simplest email marketing experience as possible and don’t need a lot of complex options, Flodesk is a great choice. As mentioned earlier, Flodesk has a 30-day free trial and if you use my link to sign up, you’ll get 50% off your subscription for life.
Final Thoughts
As you can see, you’re not stuck with Mailchimp. Both MailerLite and ConvertKit offer a free plan and they’re pretty easy to add to Squarespace. Flodesk, on the other hand, has a 30-day free trial and a price you can’t beat plus gorgeous email templates to start with. Now all you have to do is decide which platform is best for your needs and get started.
Looking for help in choosing the right email marketing platform for you? I’ve helped dozens of entrepreneurs to design websites that reflect their brand and integrate all the techy bits and pieces together such as email marketing platforms.
I’d love to work with you and help you create a website that elevates your brand and works behind the scenes to attract your ideal clients. I can’t wait to chat with you!
