Are there better alternatives to MailChimp?
I'm curious if there are better alternatives to MailChimp for growing a personal email list. I've had mine on MailChimp but I find it a barrier when creating and sending emails. I really liked the simplicity of TinyLetter but one thing that's missing is, is the ability to ask for their name or a field additional to email. Wondering what other services ya'll use are out there.
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I've started using https://emailoctopus.com in combination with Amazon SES for my weekly newsletter. Free if you have less than 2500 subscribers and send less that 60K emails a month.
Saw EmailOctopus mentioned here because it's built by a fellow IndieHacker @jonathanbull
Thanks for the shoutout!
You should try sendgrid.com ! :D
We've been using sendgrid for a few years now, and until recently were excellent, but are about to change to AWS SES. We've found a lot of our customer's emails getting blocked to Microsoft addresses (msn.com hotmail.com etc). Turns out it's because we're on a shared IP address which has been blocked for spam reasons. Contacted support 2 months ago but still not resolved.
Unfortunately $80/month for dedicated IP address is too much for us, so moving to AWS SES where if we hit the same issue it's $25/month for dedicated IP address.
Second Sendgrid. Have used them for a while and have had no problems. They also send the first 40k emails for free.
Thanks for sharing! Does send grid do bulk email delivery? I thought they only did transactional emails via an API.
Yes it does ! https://sendgrid.com/docs/glossary/bulk-email-service/
I use Sendgrid for both transactional emails and marketing campaigns.
I just signed up for Mailerlite for its free option and will see how it go. Had nightmare experience with mailchimp after its AI suspended my Welcome E-mail content, and eventually block my account and never respond to my e-mail so...
Yeah, their support sucks. Can you imagine, they blocked my account because it seemed to their AI my emails were spammy or so. And only I posted about the situation on my Twitter they unblocked it! Nah! (I'm still using it though :( )
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Email Octopus all day every day and twice on a Sunday
https://alternativeto.net/software/mailchimp/
Might be worth scanning through these alternatives.
👋 I'm biased but I've been running Buttondown for a while and it's mostly taken off with people in this niche: technical folks looking to build a following!
I've been on Drip for a while and it's solid, though many creators are on ConvertKit these days and love it. cc @NathanBarry
I was so excited to try out ConvertKit but then there aren't free tier (only free trial) so I had to go with Mailerlite. I heard many great things about ConvertKit and thought that it would be cool if they have some kind of free tier/program for small startup/business.
I use Email Octopus with Amazon SES for Filtist.com
I use and am a big fan of @NathanBarry's ConvertKit.com
There's a wordpress alternative that does the same thing with no reoccurring costs https://hackernoon.com/how-to-make-a-sales-funnel-without-monthly-fees-64a532e97640
I'm biased, but I suggest you try https://www.customerly.io
We currently manage thousands of customers from all over the world. We have a large number of customers who have switched over to us from MailChimp.
mailerlite.com
I don't think so lol - i know that isn't what you wanted to hear but yeah, they are top of the game. Also great podcast about Ben on Master of Scale episode 39 there: https://mastersofscale.com
Best tool for personal email list is http://getrevue.co!
What are your barriers?
Yes, there is a bunch of competitors in the space. What's the size of our list? That's usually the question that determines the price you pay monthly. I wrote a tutorial on how to set up a an email autoresponders without monthly fees. Reply if I should share it here.
GMass for GMail🔥
What was the barrier? Do they still have the free option?
Just the interface is becoming bloated. I'd like a simpler interface that does one thing, which is for me to craft my content and then be able to send/schedule and it shows up in my email lists' inbox. No need for templates and all that jazz.
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mailerlite looks quite nice actually, haven't tried the one yet - I just recommitted to mailchimp for a current project despite wanting to avoid it. Is the mailerlite branding in the emails quite subtle? Does the free plan feel overly restrictive from a functionality perspective at all?
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Nice, and do you find the editor restrictive on the free version as it doesn't have the HTML editor? I appreciate that's not needed for many users :)
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awesome, really excited to start using it 🤓
Devil's advocate right now (it's Whiskey Wednesday, bear with me ;)
Everybody (myself included) is being quite alarmist / reactionary about the Mailchimp changes. Curious what would happen if we leaned into the pricing changes as an indicator of things to come.
When Apple got rid of the headphone jack, it was met with #courage... this could very well be a sign of things to come.
Mailchimp being a market leader is more than likely ahead of the curve right now, and either making the biggest fucking mistake ever, or are setting a trend for what everybody will be doing within the next 18 months.
Perhaps the takeaway is that we should be thinking more about leveraging what Mailchimp has to offer, instead of immediately running to a less established company that just sprung up during the "AWS SNS ESP Gold Rush of 2019" (trademarked / patent pending).
I read recently about some spam issues MailerLight was experiencing, and I know historically AWS SNS has had pretty poor deliverability, so even though I'm struggling with my 10$ per month increase with Mailchimp over the last few months, I'm also concerned with moving elsewhere will have a bigger impact than 20-30$ out of my pocket.
Anyway, just my 0.02 on this :)
I like your style and cents josh! I agree, however I was considering AWS SNS via email octopus myself, not bc I'm on mailchimp but rather corporate conglomeration (Twilio acquiring Sendgrid) would typically be the time I jump ship! however I simply just dig both companies and they're stellar at what they do! Well minus SG being interview snobs! ;)
Oh, I wasn't even aware of the Mailchimp changes. Honestly I think Mailchimp as a company is great.
I've been with them for a while, my request in my question was really just an alternative that did one thing and one thing well with a simpler interface. I even made reference to TinyLetter which is also owned by Mailchimp.
The interface to me is where I get lost and becomes a barrier for me when trying to stay engaged with my audience.
I see... most of the dialog I've been seeing lately is more around their recent pricing changes, and as mentioned, personally starting to wonder if we're all being reactionary to what is going to become an industry wide set of changes.
There's definitely simpler tools out there, but I think with email, it's less about the UI and more about the company's ability to get emails into inboxes. Email is really freaking hard, and even the best in the industry are still navigating ever changing waters in regard to standards and practices.
I mean, if you're happy with MC and they own a simpler tool, I'd say just run with that, since you're getting their expertise in the concise package you so desire.
Since you're exploring options in a time when everybody is rushing to capitalize on some pricing changes, I'd make sure to do a TON of research on providers to make sure they can provide you with a solid level of deliverability and aren't just some fly by night "me too" offering.
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