Having trouble choosing between Campaign Monitor and Mailchimp?
Well, you are in the right place.
In this Campaign Monitor vs Mailchimp comparison, we will be taking an in-depth look at both of these email marketing tools and revealing which one is better.
So without further ado let’s dive straight into the article.
Table of Contents
- Campaign Monitor vs Mailchimp
- What is Mailchimp?
- Pricing
- Ease of Use
- Email Design & Templates
- Automation
- Segmentation
- Reporting & Analytics
- Integrations
- Customer Support
- What I like and don’t like about Campaign Monitor & Mailchimp
- Verdict: Which one is better?
- Best Campaign Monitor and Mailchimp Alternatives
Campaign Monitor vs Mailchimp
Before we get down to exactly which email marketing tool is better let’s take a look at what both of these email marketing tools are.
What is Campaign Monitor?
Campaign Monitor is an email marketing tool built to help marketers grow and scale their email campaigns.
Campaign Monitor makes it easy to connect with your audience through straight email marketing and automation tools.
Founded in 2004 by Ben Richardson and Dave Greiner, Campaign Monitor quickly rose to become one of the leading email marketing tools for marketing professionals.
Today they have helped 150,000 businesses reach their goals including some of your favorites like BuzzFeed, Coca Cola, and Disney.
Related: The Detailed Campaign Monitor Review
Click Here To Try Campaign Monitor
What is Mailchimp?
If you have heard of email marketing then you have probably heard of Mailchimp.
Founded in 2001 by Ben Chestnut and Dan Kurzuis, Mailchimp originally began as an email marketing tool but after receiving many requests from their customers to expand their channels Mailchimp soon became an all in one marketing automation software.
Mailchimp offers email marketing, Marketing CRM, landing pages, and much more!
Today Mailchimp has helped over 20 million customers reach their goals and they continue to grow and improve every single day.
Related: The Full in-depth Mailchimp Review
Pricing
Pricing is a huge factor when it comes to choosing an email marketing tool.
After all, we all want an email marketing tool that has amazing functionality but at a great price!
Let’s check out the pricing options at Campaign Monitor and Mailchimp.
Campaign Monitor Pricing
The pricing at Campaign Monitor is pretty simple and straightforward.
There are three different price plans and the price varies depending on the number of people you plan on sending emails to.
The plans are the Basic plan, the Unlimited plan, and the Premier plan.
The Basic plan starts at $29 per month and includes:
- 12,500 emails across campaigns and automated emails
- Customer Support via email
- All email marketing features
- Insights Analytic suites
- Basic marketing automation
The Unlimited plan starts at $59 per month and comes with everything in the Basic plan as well as:
- Unlimited emails across campaigns and automated emails
- Priority support via email
- Advanced marketing automation
- Unlimited inbox previews
- Time zone sending
- Unlimited Spam testing
- Countdown timer
The Premier plan starts at $149 per month and comes with everything in the Unlimited plan as well as:
- Premier phone and email support
- Pre-built engagement segments
- Send time optimization
- Advanced link tracking
- Email builder section locking
There is no free trial however it’s free to sign up but in order to send emails to more than 5 subscribers, you have to be on one of the plans.
Campaign Monitor also offers a 15% discount if you run a non-profit organization.
Mailchimp Pricing
Mailchimp has a solid and reasonable pricing structure. There are 4 different pricing plans, the Free plan, the Essentials plan, the Standard plan, and the Premium plan.
The Free plan is, of course, FREE for up to 2000 contacts and includes:
- 7 marketing channels
- 1-Step Automation
- Basic templates
- Marketing CRM
- Surveys
- Websites
- Custom domains
The following price plans vary depending on the number of contacts that you have.
The Essentials plan starts at $9.99 per month includes everything in the Free plan as well as:
- All email templates
- Multi-step automation
- A/B testing
- Custom branding
- 24/7 customer support
The Standard plan starts at $14.99 per month includes everything in the Essentials plan as well as:
- Customer Journey Builder + Branching points
- Advanced Audience Insights
- Retargeting ads
- Custom templates
- Behavioral targeting automation series
The Premium plan starts at $299 per month and includes everything in the Standard plan as well as:
- Advanced Segmentation
- Multivariate Testing
- Unlimited seats and role-based access
- Phone Support
Who has the better price?
Mailchimp has an overall cheaper price and it also has a forever free plan which is something that Campaign Monitor does not have.
Ease of Use
What good is an email marketing tool if it’s rocket science to operate.
Let’s take a look at the usability of Campaign Monitor and Mailchimp.
Campaign Monitor Ease of Use
I must say that Campaign Monitor offers a comfortable experience when it comes to the entire usability of the user interface.
From the time you sign up, you are presented with a simplistic and clean dashboard that has easy navigation.
There is also a user-friendly drag and drop builder that makes it easy as 1,2,3 to create your emails and send them out in no time.
The entire interface and the language Campaign Monitor uses to create a smooth experience especially if you need any help navigating the platform.
My favorite part has to be the inbox preview which shows you exactly how your subscribers will see your message before you even send it out.
Click Here To Try Campaign Monitor
Mailchimp Ease of Use
Mailchimp’s entire platform was designed with beginners in mind. From the time you sign up you are directed to a dashboard that’s easy to navigate and operate.
Mailchimp makes the process of creating and sending out your first email extremely simple and smooth. This is done through an intuitive drag and drop builder.
I also like the fun and goofy language that Mailchimp uses on their platform, it really softens the tone and makes the entire platform more interesting and exciting to use.
I must say that Mailchimp provides an abundance of tips and guides to help you through the process if you hit any speed bumps in the process.
Which one is easier to use?
I have to say this round is clearly a tie since there is no clear winner on which one is the easiest one to use.
Email Design & Templates
The overall design and templates of your emails determine if your audience follows through with your call-to-actions or not.
Let’s take a look at the email design & template options offered at Campaign Monitor and Mailchimp.
Campaign Monitor Email Design & Templates
Campaign Monitor equips you with hundreds of clean and modern templates that you can use to begin building high-converting email campaigns.
These templates are available in a number of different formats like newsletters, announcements, events, and holiday emails.
Want to be a bit more creative and personal? Well, you can also design a template from scratch with the simple drag and drop editor.
Needless to say, all the templates are responsive and mobile-friendly, which means they look great on every device.
Click Here To Try Campaign Monitor
Mailchimp Email Design & Templates
On the other hand, Mailchimp has over 100 different templates that were designed to fit any message that you may have.
The pre-designed templates have all the content blocks and elements that you need in order to build professional campaigns in minutes.
You are also given the option to customize your templates using the intuitive drag and drop editor which gives you the full creative freedom to make it unique to you.
You can also import your custom HTML template if the pre-designed templates aren’t up to your standards.
The only downside is that you have to be on one of the paid plans in order to access the templates as well as upload your own custom HTML template.
Who has a better email design?
This round is a tie since both email marketing software offer well designed and professional templates that you can take advantage of.
Automation
Automation is the backbone of any successful email marketing campaign. If you’re using an email marketing tool that doesn’t have solid automation then you are leaving a lot of money on the table.
Let’s take a look at the automation features offered at Campaign Monitor and Mailchimp.
Campaign Monitor Automation
Campaign Monitors’ automation features allow you to automate your entire customer journey in a few simple steps.
Moreover, Campaign Monitor has a journey designer located in the “Automation” section of your dashboard.
This feature allows you to create a series of emails that are triggered by certain events, dates or subscriber activity.
These triggers include:
- Subscribers joining your list
- Subscribers entering a segment
- Subscribers exiting a segment
- A date
- An anniversary of a date
The best part is that you are given a birds-eye view of how your entire campaign is going to work based on the actions your subscribers take.
I also like the fact that Campaign Monitor offers extensive guides that will assist you in creating high-converting automation workflows.
Click Here To Try Campaign Monitor
Mailchimp Automation
Mailchimp also provides a wide range of options when it comes to automation. You can create workflows such as:
- Welcome series
- Happy birthday emails
- Purchase confirmation emails
- Abandoned cart emails
You can even create your own custom automation emails if the automation templates aren’t adequate enough for you
Mailchimp offers the option to seamlessly integrate your automation with your website, however, it is worth noting that you can’t integrate with Shopify!
The downside comes from the fact that there is no visual editor so you can’t see exactly how your subscribers maneuver through the customer journey.
Also, in order to take advantage of the majority of the automation features that Mailchimp provides you with you have to be on one of the paid plans.
Who has better automation?
I would have to say that Campaign Monitor won this round given the fact that it has a more visually appealing automation builder.
Segmentation
Did you know that marketers found a 760% increase in email revenue from segmented campaigns?
Moreover, segmented email campaigns have an open rate that is 14.32% higher than non-segmented campaigns.
Segmentation is simply sending the right message to the right person at the right time.
When used correctly segmentation can be extremely powerful and can increase the overall return-on-investment of your email campaigns.
Let’s take a look at the segmentation features offered at Campaign Monitor and Mailchimp.
Campaign Monitor Segmentation
Campaign Monitor provides two options when it comes to segmenting your emails. These options are detailed lists and smart segments.
Segments are individual attributes like country and gender while lists refer to large groups of contacts.
This is where it gets scary, you can segment contacts based on what they bought from you, where they travel and where they like to eat.
Campaign Monitor makes this possible by easily connecting to your website, apps, or whatever e-commerce platform you’re using.
All in all, you’re provided with everything that you need in order to successfully and accurately segment your audience.
Click Here To Try Campaign Monitor
Mailchimp Segmentation
When it comes to list management and segmentation this is one of the areas that Mailchimp falls down in.
At Mailchimp, you are given segments and groups. I must admit that this confused me a bit but segments refer to the filtering and dividing of similar contacts. On the other hand, groups refer to a collection of contacts categorized by their interests or preferences.
Unfortunately, with Mailchimp, you can’t send a message to contacts in more than one list without having to worry about duplicate contacts across multiple lists.
That means you will be paying for a contact multiple times especially if that contact is in multiple groups.
Who has better segmentation?
I have to admit I am not SUPER impressed by the segmentation offered by these two tools. However, I must say that Campaign Monitor came up on top in this round.
However, if you’re looking for an email marketing tool that has a bit more detailed segmentation check out ActiveCampaign or GetResponse.
You should also check out ConvertKit, a platform that takes full advantage of tags.
Reporting & Analytics
Having solid reports will allow you to make great decisions on the best steps that you need to take in order to improve your email campaigns in the long run.
Let’s take a look at the reporting features offered at Campaign Monitor and Mailchimp.
Campaign Monitor Reports
Campaign Monitor provides you with all the basic metrics that you need in order to accurately see the performance of your email campaigns.
You can check the unsubscribe rates, bounces, open rates, unique open rates, spam complaints and the number of times the email was opened.
The opens and clicks are also recorded within time ranges which shows you which hour of the day and day of the week your subscribers are most active.
Campaign Monitor goes a step further with even more detailed reporting. For example, you can see the opens and clicks from certain recipients as well as which links your recipients engaged with the most.
The advanced reporting also shows you the average clicks per person as well as the percentage of people that didn’t click any links.
I also like the WorldView feature which shows where your subscribers are in real-time and how they are interacting with your emails based on the geo-location.
Based on the statistics and metrics you can split test your emails based on sender, content or subject header.
Click Here To Try Campaign Monitor
Mailchimp Reports
The reports and analytics at Mailchimp are a bit more detailed and comprehensive.
You can view all the necessary metrics you need in order to make the best possible decisions about your campaigns.
These metrics include the open rates, the unsubscribes, the click-through-rates, and the bounces.
The best part?
You can compare your metrics against industry standards so you can see exactly how you’re performing from an industry level.
My favorite analytic feature offered by Mailchimp has to be the Send Time Optimizer which calculates the best time to reach your audience based on your existing reports & analytics.
Who has better reporting & analytics?
I would have to say Mailchimp wins this round by a hair, however, I wouldn’t make my buying decision based on this feature alone.
Integrations
Regardless of if this is your first time building a business online or you are a seasoned veteran, there will be multiple different apps that you need on your journey.
Having an email marketing tool that integrates with these different apps is key to your long-term success.
Let’s take a look at the integration options offered at Campaign Monitor and Mailchimp.
Campaign Monitor has over 250 different integrations including some of the most popular apps like Shopify and Salesforce.
Mailchimp has over 800 different integrations including some of my favorites like WooCommerce and Calendly.
However, it should be noted that Mailchimp does not integrate with Shopify which can be a huge disadvantage especially if Shopify is your main e-commerce platform.
Customer Support
Regardless of if you have sent 1 email or if you have sent out over 10,000 emails, there will always come the time when you need help.
Let’s take a look at the Customer support options offered at Campaign Monitor & Mailchimp.
Campaign Monitor Customer Support
Campaign Monitor has a knowledge base that has information on everything that you need in order to navigate the email marketing tool effectively.
It has information on a wide range of topics from Account management to everything you need to know about automated emails.
They also offer training videos that were built to guide you through the entire process and make your Campaign Monitor journey a smooth one.
Campaign Monitor offers phone and email support. However, if you want priority email support or phone support you have to be on the Premier plan.
Priority support means that your support requests go to the top of the queue and your requests will be taken into consideration first.
Click Here To Try Campaign Monitor
Mailchimp Customer Support
It’s no secret that Mailchimp has incredible customer support.
Over the last couple of years, Mailchimp has won 9 Stevie Awards for their phenomenal customer service. 4 of these 9 awards were gold!
They have also maintained a 92% customer satisfaction rate with their customer service.
Mailchimp has a huge knowledge base that has information on everything that you need to know about the email marketing platform.
I must admit that I was a bit disappointed by the fact that there were no video tutorials which is a bummer since I am a visual learner.
On the other hand, Mailchimp offers email support, live chat support, and phone support.
However, if you are on the free plan you are only given access to the email support for 30 days!
That being said, in order to take advantage of the live chat support, you have to be on the Essentials plan or higher.
Moreover, if you want phone support and priority response you must be on the Premium plan which will set you back at least $299 per month.
That can be a huge disadvantage especially if you have an urgent problem that you would like solved immediately.
Who has better customer support?
I have to say that the winner of this round goes to Mailchimp thanks to its consistent and excellent customer support proven by the awards it has won.
What I like and don’t like about Campaign Monitor & Mailchimp
Like every email marketing tool out there on the market Campaign Monitor and Mailchimp have their fair share of pros and cons.
Let’s take a look at what I like and don’t like about Campaign Monitor & Mailchimp.
What I like about Campaign Monitor
- The platform is super easy to use
- The interface is extremely comprehensive and robust
- They integrate with Shopify
- They have a great automation feature
What I don’t like about Campaign Monitor
- There is no forever free plan
Click Here To Try Campaign Monitor
What I like about Mailchimp
- They offer forever free plan
- They are over 800 different integrations that you can take advantage of.
- There are hundreds of pre-designed templates to choose from
What I don’t like about Mailchimp
- There should be better list management
- There is no integration with Shopify
Verdict: Which one is better?
Both of these email marketing tools are superb at what they do and it is no surprise that they have helped hundreds of thousands of businesses grow.
However, which one is the better choice?
Well, this is totally up to you and what your goals are.
Campaign Monitor is an excellent email marketing tool with a user-friendly interface with a simple email building structure. The platform offers powerful automation tools and gets the job done in one of the most efficient and effective ways possible. They also offer exceptional customer support.
Mailchimp is a powerful marketing tool trusted by millions that provide you with all the tools that you need in order to create a solid marketing system within your business. Building emails is an easy process and the reporting and analytic features are worth it.
In order to know exactly which tool is right for you let’s take a look at who each of these email marketing tools is for.
Who is Campaign Monitor for? Campaign Monitor is for marketers who want a system that helps them build creative marketing strategies.
Who is Mailchimp for? Mailchimp is for the small business owner who wants to have a system that handles their email marketing on auto-pilot.
Best Campaign Monitor and Mailchimp Alternatives
Here are the best Campaign Monitor and Mailchimp alternatives based on what you are looking for in an email marketing tool.
If you are looking for a cheap email marketing tool then check out our review on MailerLite.
Run an e-commerce business? If so then you should check out our review on Drip and our review on Sendlane.
If you are looking for an all in one marketing option tool then give our review on GetResponse a read.
If you are looking for a comprehensive and detailed email marketing tool then check out our review on ActiveCampaign.
Other Comparisons:
- ConvertKit vs Mailchimp
- AWeber vs GetResponse
- Drip vs ConvertKit
- Mailchimp vs MailerLite
- GetResponse vs ActiveCampaign
