Constant Contact is an established email and marketing automation platform. But users keep searching for alternatives, primarily due to pricing concerns.
They have strong opponents, each offering a powerful Constant Contact alternative with their spin. Some even feel that other programs are better at the same job than Constant Contact.
With the email and SMS marketing scene growing, numerous providers have cropped up. As such, Constant Contact’s competitors have built respectable solutions that are worth looking into.
We’ve selected the nine best Constant Contact alternatives based on data we acquired from several websites. But before we start comparing providers, we will first expand upon what Constant Contact offers.
Constant Contact Features & Pricing
Constant Contact markets itself as an all-in-one marketing software provider with a primary focus on email marketing. They provide numerous other features that help automate marketing operations like social media, SMS campaigns, landing page creation, event marketing, etc. In short, they provide businesses with the following:
- Email marketing tools, templates, and campaign automation features;
- eCommerce promotional tools such as coupons, transactional emails, payments, etc.;
- Website and landing page builder;
- Social media ad management tools.
- Other branding tools aimed at SMBs.
Constant Contact, like many other rivals, offers a tiered payment system. Yet, unlike many others, they have divided their pricing plans into two major categories:
- Email plan — Starts at $9.99 per month, providing basic email marketing features and scales based on the number of contacts.
- Email Plus — Starts at $45 per month, offering all-in-one marketing automation solutions and scales based on the number of contacts.
Why Do People Switch from Constant Contact?
Many keep searching for Constant Contact alternatives. Some are unhappy with the pricing plans, and need more features, while others don’t appreciate the limited automation capabilities. Here are the primary reasons why people look for Constant Contact alternatives:
- High Pricing: They have comparatively high pricing plans compared to rivals and many non-useful features.
- No Free Plan: There is no free plan available for business owners to test the features and deliverability and migrate as they scale.
- Limited Automation Capabilities: Constant Contact’s email automation features are minimal. They only provide automatic sends to non-openers or a small selection of triggered events. Many of Constant Contact’s competitors allow their users to create highly customizable automated chains.
- Basic Email Editor: Constant Contact’s email editor is basic. Coupled with many old-school templates, the need for more dynamicity and freshness in this area is a deal-breaker for many.
- Email Deliverability: While other providers can push nearly 80% of emails directly to the inbox, Constant Contact struggles to reach such a higher number. Their best performance is about 73%, which means 27% of emails didn’t even reach the subscribers, according to third-party sources.
Alternatives To Constant Contact:
If you’re contemplating making a switch and need a comprehensive review of email marketing services better than Constant Contact, you’ve come to the right place.
We’ll use third—party resources, Capterra ratings and reviews, and our experience in the email marketing domain to compare services like Constant Contact.
By the end of this list, you’ll have all the details related to programs similar to Constant Contact and make an informed decision. So, let’s begin:
1. Sender – Best Competitor by Features And Pricing
Sender is a multi-purpose marketing automation tool with an extensive feature set that’s better than Constant Contact in every regard. The best thing — you get to use all the pro features even on a free plan, without any restrictions for up to 2500 subscribers.
As a Constant Contact alternative, it beats the software in question by a long shot.
Sender puts a lot of emphasis on email deliverability. With customized solutions that retain high sender reputations, your emails are delivered to inboxes instead of spam or failing to arrive. Additionally, Sender also tracks bounced emails, which allows you to clean up your campaign lists for inactive addresses quickly.
While tailored to SMBs and up-and-coming businesses, Sender works perfectly well for established brands. Extensive automation features and robust integrations make it easy for marketers to migrate faster, even with the most complex tech stacks.
For example, look how easily you can set up email & SMS automation workflow using a drag-and-drop builder:
If you’ve been searching for a Constant Contact alternative, picking Sender can be your best bet. The platform offers a free plan for up to 2 500 subscribers without any restrictions.
Sender vs Constant Contact: Platform Comparison
Let’s look at how Sender fares as a competitor when compared to Constant Contact:
| Constant Contact | Sender | |
| Special features | Event & donation management Social media management | Email & SMS automation Responsive email templates library Drag and drop automation workflow builder |
| Cons | Basic email design editor Restrictive automation Limited email testing features | No landing page builder |
| Price | Starts from $9.99 for 500 contacts | Start from $8.33 for 2500 contacts |
| Free plan | No free plan. Only a 1 month trial is available. | Unrestrictive free plan for up to 2500 contacts & 15000 email sends per month. |
| Support | Live chat, email, phone. | Live chat, email. |
As you see, Sender offers more flexibility in terms of pricing, free plans, and automation. And the superiority is visible on platforms like Capterra. Have a look at how Sender compares to Constant Contact below:
Sender vs Constant Contact Price Comparison
| Constant Contact | Sender | |
| Up to 500 contacts | $9.99 | Free |
| Up to 2500 contacts | $35 | Free |
| Up to 5000 contacts | $55 | $22 p.m. |
| Up to 10000 contacts | $80 | $38 p.m. |
| Up to 25000 contacts | $155 | $97 p.m. |
Best Free Alternative to Constant Contact
Is there a free version of Constant Contact? Sadly, no. But don’t be disappointed, there’s something much better — Sender.
Sender is the best free alternative to Constant Contact. It offers all the advanced features like automation workflows, email list management tools, and a robust email builder, which you won’t find in Constant Contact.
The best thing is that Sender doesn’t restrict free users from using professional features up to 2500 subscribers. So, you can start leveraging the power of Sender for email marketing without paying anything extra when you migrate from Constant Contact.
You’ll save money as Sender is cheaper than Constant Contact in the long run. Here are all the features you can enjoy with Sender’s free plan:
- Drag-and-drop email marketing automation workflow builder;
- Pre-built workflows and custom trigger automation;
- Intuitive drag-and-drop builder with product blocks, video blocks and complete personalization;
- Deep segmentation with custom profiling for dynamic personalization of campaigns;
- Pop-up form builder with behavioral triggers and automation features, and a lot more;
Stop thinking about trying Sender. It costs nothing.
Sign up for a free account now.
#2. Mailchimp – Best for Events & Meetings
Mailchimp is one of the most popular email automation tools. As an industry titan, it offers an extensive feature set tailored for email marketing. Mailchimp markets itself as an all-in-one platform that turns emails into revenue.
Mailchimp is a full-service Constant Contact alternative that provides great value, especially for beginners. It has a user-friendly interface and has categorized all features in easy-to-navigate menus for simplicity.
Most importantly, it’s cheaper than Constant Contact while providing everything Constant Contact does. Mailchimp has an appointment scheduling feature and email optimization feature as part of their feature set. Mailchimp also matches Constant Contact in the customer support department. Both companies provide support through email, phone, and live chat.
However, Mailchimp could be better at pricing and is quite predatory for a user.
As common in the industry, cheaper plans only include some features. In fact, with Mailchimp, even the most expensive plan will give you only some features, as some will be paid separately.
Also, Mailchimp uses the least forgiving strategy to calculate subscriber counts. They add every active, inactive or duplicate subscriber to the total count to increase your cost per email and overall email marketing costs.
Constant Contact vs Mailchimp: Platform Comparison
Coming to a full-fledged comparison, let’s look at where Constant Contact stands against its rival:
| Constant Contact | Mailchimp | |
| Special features | Event & donation management Social media management | Appointments scheduling Drag and drop builder Email optimization. |
| Cons | Basic email design editor Restrictive automation Limited email testing features | Adds up inactive, duplicate, and unsubscribed users to the total subscriber count Minimal features for standard plans |
| Price | Starts from $9.99 for 500 contacts | Starts from $9.36 for 500 contacts |
| Free plan | No free plan. Only a 1 month trial is available. | Free plan up to 500 contacts & up to 2500 emails per month. |
| Support | Live chat, email, phone. | Live chat, email, phone. |
Users on Capterra have also preferred Mailchimp, as evident from the Mailchimp vs Constant Contact comparison page.
Mailchimp vs Constant Contact Pricing
| Constant Contact | Mailchimp | |
| Up to 500 contacts | $9.99 | $15 |
| Up to 2500 contacts | $35 | $31 |
| Up to 5000 contacts | $55 | $53 |
| Up to 10000 contacts | $80 | $79 |
| Up to 25000 contacts | $155 | $200 |
#3. ConvertKit – Best Alternative For Creators
ConvertKit is the “creator marketing platform”. They have positioned themselves as an all-in-one tool for artists, creators, influencers, musicians, writers, etc. Of course, SMBs can also take full advantage of the platform features.
As a Constant Contact alternative, Converkit is much better for creators, small businesses and early-stage entrepreneurs. Many features focus on offering a comprehensive solution to a problem and helping save time. In fact, their tagline — ‘Spend less time on marketing and more on creating’ is an apt embodiment of their philosophy.
One of the standout features of Converkit is that it provides excellent customization and creation options for landing pages. It could be considered a mini-CMS, looking at the creation features. All other standard email marketing features are similar to any other solution on the list.
On the other hand, ConverKit has its drawbacks — primarily associated with scaling. There are limited seats available which can lead to annoying log-offs if you have a growing team. Additionally, many advanced features used by pro marketers are pretty disappointing. For example, audience segmentation is quite basic. You can enable advanced features. However, these are available only if you pay for the “Creator Pro” plan.
ConvertKit vs Constant Contact: Platform Comparison
Let’s look at a comprehensive comparison between ConvertKit and Constant Contact to help you decide better:
| Constant Contact | ConvertKit | |
| Special features | Event & donation management Social media management | Landing page Creation Opt-in forms Lead magnet automation |
| Cons | Basic email design editor Restrictive automation Limited email testing features | Basic segmentation & reporting features with the standard plan Limited user seats. |
| Price | Starts from $9.99 for 500 contacts | Starts from $9 for 300 contacts. |
| Free plan | No free plan. Only a 1-month trial is available. | Up to 1000 contacts. |
| Support | Live chat, email, phone. | Live chat, email. |
Let’s look at how Capterra users have compared and rated Constant Contact against ConvertKit:
ConvertKit vs Constant Contact Pricing
| Constant Contact | Convertkit | |
| Up to 300 contacts | $9.99 | $9 |
| Up to 1000 contacts | $35 | $29 |
| Up to 5000 contacts | $55 | $79 |
| Up to 10000 contacts | $80 | $119 |
| Up to 25000 contacts | $155 | $199 |
| Up to 45000 contacts | $9.99 | $319 |
#4. AWeber – Best Alternative for Broadcasting
Aweber is another email marketing service designed for small businesses. Like many other email service providers, they also provide additional features such as pop-up forms, push notifications, a landing page builder, etc.
In addition to all the advanced features, Aweber has two unique ones – AMP emails and hosted broadcast archive. Comparatively, few providers have these functionalities, and Constant Contact isn’t one of them.
However, these two providers are the most similar on the list. While Constant Contact has no free plan, most pricing strategy matches with Aweber being slightly cheaper. Additionally, both companies offer two plans, with the more expensive one providing all features.
Customer support functionalities are similar too. Constant Contact and Aweber let users connect with their support team through live chat, email, or phone.
Finally, while the pricing strategies are similar, Aweber does come out on top. Both companies have paid plans starting at a similar cost, but Aweber scales a lot more efficiently, eventually being about 33% cheaper.
Constant Contact vs AWeber Platform Comparison
Let’s look at a cursory level overview of how Constant Contact stands against its opponent — AWeber:
| Constant Contact | AWeber | |
| Special features | Event & donation management Social media management | AMP emails & hosted broadcast archive |
| Cons | Basic email design editor Restrictive automation Limited email testing features | Outdated user interface Lack of advanced smart automation capabilities |
| Price | Starts from $9.99 for 500 contacts | Starts from $29 for 1000 contacts |
| Free plan | No free plan. Only a 1 month trial is available. | Up to 500 contacts. |
| Support | Live chat, email, phone. | Live chat, email, phone. |
Now, let’s take a look at what people are saying on Capterra about both these email marketing solutions:
AWeber vs Constant Contact Pricing
| Constant Contact | AWeber | |
| Up to 500 contacts | $9.99 | $20 |
| Up to 2500 contacts | $35 | $30 |
| Up to 5000 contacts | $55 | $50 |
| Up to 10000 contacts | $80 | $70 |
| Up to 25000 contacts | $155 | $150 |
#5 ActiveCampaign – Best Alternative For E-Commerce Business
ActiveCampaign is a powerful marketing automation platform that offers email marketing, marketing automation, and CRM tools as part of its package. ActiveCampaign focuses on conversions and optimizes the sales part of e-commerce marketing primarily.
Sales automation is one of their standout features. They allow users to aggregate data from numerous sources to improve the probability of a conversion. Important sales features, such as lead and contact scoring and deal win probability, are available as part of the package.
ActiveCampaign is a highly modular platform, and there’s barely anything that can’t be customized. Starting from email newsletter templates to drip campaigns, you can customize anything. As a result, it makes ActiveCampaign a great Constant Contact alternative for those who can take advantage of the features.
Unfortunately, due to the high level of customization available, ActiveCampaign has a steep learning curve. For non-tech-savvy people, getting the hang of ActiveCampaign can take a lot of time. Email automation is a prime example. While the interface offers many powerful automation tools, the process is needlessly complex. You should set some time away just to learn the automation process on ActiveCampaign.
On the other hand, with all the powerful features on offer, ActiveCampaign would be a lot more expensive than Constant Contact. Yet, the prices hover around the same amount. However, ActiveCampaign does get slightly more expensive at the top end of the subscriber range.
ActiveCampaign vs Constant Contact: Platform Comparison
Let’s look at the features, cons, and pricing of ActiveCampaign compared to Constant Contact:
| Constant Contact | ActiveCampaign | |
| Special features | Event & donation management Social media management | Sales Funnel Automation Capabilities |
| Cons | Basic email design editor Restrictive automation Limited email testing features | Complex email automation |
| Price | Starts from $9.99 for 500 contacts | Starts from $15 for 500 contacts |
| Free plan | No free plan. Only a 1-month trial is available. | X |
| Support | Live chat, email, phone. | Live chat, email, phone. |
Users on Capterra also prefer using ActiveCampaign over Constant Contact, primarily due to the value for money and features.
ActiveCampaign vs Constant Contact Pricing
| Constant Contact | ActiveCampaign | |
| Up to 500 contacts | $9.99 | $15 |
| Up to 2500 contacts | $35 | $55 |
| Up to 5000 contacts | $55 | $99 |
| Up to 10000 contacts | $80 | $155 |
| Up to 25000 contacts | $155 | $259 |
#6. Campaign Monitor – Best Alternative for Segmentation Features
Campaign Monitor is another email marketing automation platform that has best-in-class segmentation features. They still need to branch out to other functionalities (such as sales automation) but are good at email features.
Like most email marketing platforms, they have a relatively extensive set of features related to email automation. However, their standout feature is intelligent contact segmentation, which allows users to hyper-target and personalizes emails.
They also pepper in some minor features that significantly benefit small businesses. For example, the Link Review tool automatically scans emails for broken links and is a great nice-to-have addition to any marketing campaign.
As with all email marketing platform providers, Campaign Monitor has its drawbacks. Campaign Monitor has not had the time to develop all features as extensively. Some of them need to be improved. For example, most marketing automation tools have a landing page builder or an editor. Unfortunately, Campaign Monitor provides no such functionality. In addition, their email template builder is quite limited compared to Constant Contact.
Finally, cost-wise, Campaign Monitor is a clear winner. However, costs start scaling quickly and catch up to Constant Contact standards with a growing email list. While it remains cheaper at all subscriber counts, the differences eventually become negligible.
Campaign Monitor vs Constant Contact Platform Comparison
Let’s look at both platforms from a feature and pricing perspective to gain a better perspective:
| Constant Contact | Campaign Monitor | |
| Special features | Event & donation management Social media management | Smart contact segmentation Transactional emails |
| Cons | Basic email design editor Restrictive automation Limited email testing features | Doesn’t have a landing page builder Limited email template builder |
| Price | Starts from $9.99 for 500 contacts | Starts from $9 for 500 contacts |
| Free plan | No free plan. Only a 1 month trial is available. | X |
| Support | Live chat, email, phone. | Live chat, email, phone. |
The email marketing community has thoroughly compared Campaign Monitor and Constant Contact on Capterra. Here’s a glimpse:
Campaign Monitor vs Constant Contact Pricing
| Constant Contact | Campaign Monitor | |
| Up to 500 contacts | $9.99 | $9 |
| Up to 2500 contacts | $35 | $29 |
| Up to 5000 contacts | $55 | $49 |
| Up to 10000 contacts | $80 | $89 |
| Up to 25000 contacts | $155 | $199 |
#7. SendInBlue – Best Alternative with Shared Inbox
SendInBlue is a fairly established all-in-one marketing automation platform. Just like most other platforms, they provide the ability to edit and create landing pages, automate emails, build signup forms, etc.
SendInBlue also has an SMS marketing automation feature that allows companies to nurture users who love texting and take full advantage of the fast reaction times provided by the channel. However, their truly unique feature is the shared inbox. SendInBlue offers the opportunity to connect all related inboxes into one. As a result, users can see all communication with every client and lead.
Yet, Constant Contact does have an advantage over SendInBlue. The former provides much better reporting and analytics features across all pricing plans. While the reporting and analytics features can be improved with SendInBlue by paying more, the standard plan is heavily limited.
Additionally, SendInBlue has a rather unusual pricing model. Instead of charging based on the number of subscribers, SendInBlue charges you based on the number of emails sent per month. As such, businesses might need more time to predict the cost of using their platform upfront.
SendInBlue vs Constant Contact: Platform Comparison
SendInBlue is pretty dope and is loved by many across the world. Let’s look at where it stands when compared to Constant Contact:
| Constant Contact | SendInBlue | |
| Special features | Event & donation management Social media management; | Shared inbox; SMS Marketing. |
| Cons | Basic email design editor Restrictive automation Limited email testing features. | Limited reporting features with the standard plan |
| Price | Starts from $9.99 for 500 contacts | Starts from $25 for 10000 emails. |
| Free plan | No free plan. Only a 1-month trial is available | Up to 9000 emails per month. |
| Support | Live chat, email, phone. | Live chat, email, phone. |
Capterra users love SendInBlue and have rated SendInBlue almost 4.5 stars on all fronts. Here, have a look:
SendInBlue vs Constant Contact Pricing
SendInBlue and Constant Contact cannot be directly compared as both platforms have different pricing strategies. However, you can check out the pricing calculator on the SendInBlue website to understand the platform’s cost.
#8 GetResponse — Best Competitor by Deliverability
GetResponse is a powerful email marketing service known for affordability, deliverability, and full-service features. The company offers every tool you need to communicate, engage, and delight your users across multiple channels.
One of the unique features of GetResponse is its capability to embed live chat on all your web pages and landing pages. This can help boost your conversion rates, engage your audience better, and enhance your customer delight operations. Apart from that, it offers every standard feature in any email marketing solution.
Unlike Constant Contact, GetResponse offers a better omnichannel campaign-building experience and an affordable price structure. Plus, the automation features are also great, considering the pricing plans they offer. However, automation features are not part of the basic plan.
If you’re serious about deliverability and want a Constant Contact alternative that promises a better result, you should definitely look into GetResponse. Plus, the free plan allows you to look around without spending money.
GetResponse vs Constant Contact: Platform Comparison
If you compare GetResponse vs Constant Contact, there’s not much difference, except for the pricing plan and a couple of supplemental features. Still, have a look at a comparison chart to decide for yourself.
| Constant Contact | GetResponse | |
| Special Features | Event & donation management Social media management | Live chat integration AI-powered personalization recommendations |
| Cons | Basic email design editor Restrictive automation Limited email testing features | Complicated segmentation features Restricted features on lower plans |
| Price | Starts from $9.99 for 500 contacts. | Starts from $15.58 for up to 1000 contacts. |
| Free plan | No free plan. Only a 1 month trial is available. | Free plan for up to 500 subscribers with limits and restrictions. |
| Support | Live chat, email, phone. | Live chat and email . |
The email marketing community on Capterra, too, feel the same about both solutions. They’re the same, with similar reviews, ratings and experience.
GetResponse vs Constant Contact Pricing
| Constant Contact | GetResponse | |
| Up to 500 contacts | $9.99 | Free |
| Up to 2500 contacts | $35 | $23.78 |
| Up to 5000 contacts | $55 | $44.28 |
| Up to 10000 contacts | $80 | $64.78 |
| Up to 25000 contacts | $155 | $142.68 |
#9 HubSpot — Most Complete CRM Platform with Email Features
HubSpot is a popular Constant Contact competitor driven to automate email, sales, support, and many other aspects of your marketing strategy. HubSpot cloud application is designed around its CRM system that you can use for free, even on the Free HubSpot plan.
If you’ve read our blog on marketing automation, you’d already know that HubSpot is jam-packed with features beneficial to help you win the inbound marketing game. Compared to Constant Contact, HubSpot stands higher in simplified UI, better marketing automation features, and deeper analytics.
However, HubSpot can get quite limiting as the basic plan has several limitations in terms of features and subscribers. Not that Constant Contact is any better, but HubSpot pricing plans can still get costly for a budding or growing business.
If you’re in a B2B business or running a model with elaborate sales, funnel needing deep nurturing, consider switching to HubSpot from Constant Contact. It has dedicated modules to help you scale faster.
HubSpot vs Constant Contact: Platform Comparison
| Constant Contact | HubSpot | |
| Special Features | Event & donation management Social media management | Marketing automation features Revenue intelligence automation Free CRM |
| Cons | Basic email design editor Restrictive automation Limited email testing features | Costly pricing structure Paid add-ons Steep learning curve |
| Price | Starts from $9.99 for 500 contacts | Starts from $45 per month for up to 1000 contacts. |
| Free plan | No free plan. Only a 1 month trial is available. | No Free Plan. Only a trial account. |
| Support | Live chat, email, phone. | Live chat, email, phone. |
Users love HubSpot more than Constant Contact, and in the Constant Contact vs HubSpot battle, HubSpot is a clear winner, as per Capterra:
HubSpot vs Constant Contact Pricing
| Constant Contact | HubSpot | |
| Up to 500 contacts | $9.99 | $45 per month (up to 1000 contacts) |
| Up to 2500 contacts | $35 | $135 |
| Up to 5000 contacts | $55 | $216 |
| Up to 10000 contacts | $80 | $396 |
| Up to 25000 contacts | $155 | $936 |
More on Constant Contact Email Marketing Features
You already know that Constant Contact email marketing software helps streamline, automate and analyze email marketing campaign results.
Though you’re searching for Constant Contact alternatives and must be looking for an answer to your question — does Constant Contact have a free plan, let’s revisit what the best features of Constant Contact are.
Constant Contact Newsletter Templates
Constant Contact offers many templates to create email newsletters. You can use its branded template builder, start with blank templates or even import your custom code if you’ve already designed an email with any other email template builder.
Constant Contact Email Templates
Constant Contact has a decent email template library with options for every industry. You can start creating quickly by choosing a template and editing it via the email editor.
Constant Contact Website Builder
Constant Contact website builder is designed for people with little to no web design experience who want a beautiful and responsive website. Its drag-and-drop features help you create and launch landing pages and full websites within hours.
This feature can be helpful if you plan to do a lot of email marketing and want to integrate your website with the Constant Contact email marketing tool.
Constant Contact Landing Page Builder
Constant Contact landing page builder allows you to create a single-use webpage with a clear goal and focused call to action for your email campaigns.
Constant Contact Salesforce Integration
Integrating Constant Contact and Salesforce allows you to plan and deliver Email Newsletters, Action Alerts, and Special Offers in the best way possible.
It also helps you create and manage mass email campaigns and generate responsive and informative campaign-effectiveness feedback.
Constant Contact Customer Service
Constant Contact gives you access to a wealth of information on its website with many video tutorials. In addition, they offer live chat and phone support and have an online community.
Constant Contact Alternatives You Can Use Now
- Always look for competitors that offer better support and features;
- Test out each of the alternatives mentioned above before you finally pick and migrate to a solution.
- Choose a cheaper Constant Contact alternative with an unrestrictive free plan.
Also read: 10 Best Mailchimp Alternatives for 2022 (Free & Paid)
