Mailchimp Software Reviews

“helpful tools with some limits”

Pros

Getting around this software feels pretty easy if you already have some basic familiarity with online applications. The layout and tools are understandable although someone completely new may need a little time to get comfortable with the basics it offers.

Cons

The free plan is nice to have but it does feel somewhat restrictive. Since I only manage a small number of emails, dealing with the limited features available to free users became a bit frustrating. At the same time, I understand they are running a business so it makes sense that some functions are reserved for paying customers. The email designer also felt short on customization options and could have been more user-friendly though overall I still felt it was worth using.

“powerful automation and templates”

Pros

Between the integrations, ready-made templates and automation, there's a lot to appreciate here. I've connected it to my website lead captures and my WooCommerce stores and I really like being able to build automated workflow sequences around triggers and segments. It absolutely works as a customer relationship contact tool as well. I've helped clients implement powerful, expensive CRM platforms and I genuinely appreciate that this delivers many of those same premium features at a much lower price. The included layout templates are also a big plus because they help you get started quickly. Even someone with no design background or HTML knowledge can still put together attractive emails for clients. The automatic integrations with popular e-commerce tools are another feature I really value.

Cons

One thing that feels limiting is collecting extra subscriber information. For instance, I wanted to capture each user's state so I could localize certain offers but the address options are set up as either the full address or nothing. I managed to work around it by using a text field instead though it would be better not to have to use that kind of backdoor solution. I'd also love to see a larger template library. We're in such a visual era with social media and web design so it's surprising that it hasn't expanded the template selection more and rotated in fresh layouts every month to keep things current.

“clean design and helpful templates”

Pros

Right from the start, the interface makes sense. The layout is clean, the options are clearly presented and it's simple to understand. I regularly have to show others how to use it and people from all kinds of age groups and backgrounds are able to pick up the features without any trouble. The templates included are also very practical and thoughtfully designed.

Cons

there's not much I dislike about it. I've been using it for years and it has been consistently reliable. If anything, I'd just like to see even more email templates added.

“favorite newsletter platform”

Pros

Back in college, a company I worked for adopted this platform early so I've had the chance to use it and see how it evolve over the past 8 years. I've tested other newsletter tools since then but this is still the one I prefer most and the one I usually recommend. A few things I really appreciate are the generous freemium plan which supports up to 2,000 subscribers and gives small businesses room to explore the software before committing financially, the flexible and simple email template editor, the powerful analytics that help you get the most insight possible from email campaigns and the well-designed dashboard that makes everything feel organized and user-friendly.

Cons

Nothing is flawless and while I don't have any major complaints, there are a couple of areas that could be better. Setting up automations can feel a little awkward in the beginning especially for first-time users who may not find the process very simple. Also, once a business outgrows the free plan, the subscription structure can start to feel a bit complicated and pricing can increase fairly fast even if the value still makes it worthwhile.

“user-friendly and unbeatable value”

Pros

From day one, this product felt very easy to use. I was able to upload a list, create an email, send it out and check the open rates all on the first day. Since I had used Constant Contact before, this one felt much more user-friendly by comparison and the pricing is hard to beat.

Cons

One issue I've run into is with scheduled emails not being sent because the campaign was accidentally paused and in my opinion that's a bit too easy to do. That said it's really more of a user mistake on my end so I just need to pay closer attention and double-check the status before sending.

“packed with plugins and value”

Pros

It comes with plenty of plugins, feels very simple to use and even includes a free plan. The documentation is also really detailed which is helpful whenever I run into something I'm not sure about.

Cons

The pricing structure is a bit confusing to figure out. On top of that, report generation isn't very strong when you're on the cheapest plan.

“fantastic templates and crm tools”

Pros

After using it for years, we still absolutely love it. The built-in templates are excellent and we've also been able to create custom ones for both our own needs and our clients. It doubles really well as a mini CRM too which makes it useful for managing different contact groups and email lists. It connects nicely with websites especially through WordPress plugins and there's plenty of community support available. Overall, it's a product everyone on our team has been happy with.

Cons

it feels like the ideal mailing list and email sending tool. There really isn't anything that stands out as a downside for me.

“useful templates but limited free plan”

Pros

It's a very user-friendly email marketing application that works well for companies of any size. The pre-made templates are especially helpful and the suggestions and examples it provides while creating a mailing make the whole process much more convenient.

Cons

A number of integrations, contact limits and some additional features are locked behind the paid subscription. The free plan should allow a higher user or customer limit. They also need to add more pre-designed layouts for unique or new mailing campaigns.

“flexible templates for newsletters”

Pros

Setting up a mailing list and sending regular emails is really easy especially with the templates. Any message you already use can be turned into a template, then updated without much effort for the next month's email. Adding images is simple too and it helps the messages stand out a lot more.

Cons

One thing that trips me up sometimes is figuring out where the links are placed in a template. I've sent a few emails where images or other elements ended up linked to the wrong thing. Another downside is that once your mailing list goes over 2,000 people, you have to pay a monthly fee. I'm not there yet but if I reach that limit, I may need to switch to another software option.

“beautiful emails without coding”

Pros

Creating polished emails feels really easy with the drag-and-drop builder. It doesn't require any developer help or HTML knowledge which makes the tool very approachable for non-technical users.

Cons

I do wish it offered more automation options and behavioral triggers like Marketo or Eloqua though I understand it's designed more for simpler use cases.

“affordable and highly customizable”

Pros

Running an online news organization, we've gotten a lot of value from this because it's affordable, simple to work with and very customizable. The RSS feed feature is especially useful for our publishing needs and it's something we regularly recommend to other publishers. The WordPress and Broadstreet integrations are also essential for us which makes the platform even more worthwhile.

Cons

Pricing starts out free but as your list expands, the cost goes up. Even so, the rates are still very affordable and easy to justify considering the results. We also ran into a few glitches when updating our feed customization a few months back but the customer support team helped us sort everything out and get back on track.

“mail campaigns made productive”

Pros

Over time, this has become a reliable part of our company's email campaigns. We mostly depend on it for scheduled emails and it helps us forward messages to people based on specific features without much hassle. The automation works well for managing the mailing process and the templates along with the content management tools make it simple to create and edit emails exactly the way we want. Because of that, it has been a very productive system for handling our email communication.

Cons

I do appreciate having client and customer responses collected in one place. That said there are times when analyzing all those email replies is not very clear or effective especially when trying to understand how clients reacted to certain messages. When that happens, it gets harder for us to pull useful insights and properly target the right audience.

“powerful automations and value”

Pros

Compared with other platforms I checked out, this one gives you more functionality for the price than anything else I came across. The automation capabilities are really impressive especially how many you can run at the same time. Its templates are also well designed so putting together a personalized newsletter or campaign email only takes a few minutes.

Cons

Once you start building a bigger set of automations though, the workflow can feel a bit circular. The dashboard is not very user friendly and getting to the section you need often means clicking around the site in a pretty confusing way.

“Great basics on a free plan”

Pros

The platform is easy to use and comes with the core tools most businesses need. In many cases, the free plan is more than enough to get the job done.

Cons

One downside is that it doesn't always support custom HTML especially if the drag-and-drop options don't meet a user's needs.

“discounts help but editor frustrates”

Pros

One thing that really helps is the pricing. They give a 10% discount when you enable two-factor authentication and non-profits get another 15% off which is a nice bonus. Like most email marketing tools, it lets you filter lists using tags and updating records by uploading CSV files is easy for our team.

Cons

The biggest frustration is the design interface and the lack of great testing or quality control whenever updates are released. The editor only supports a two-column layout so if we want three images next to each other, we have to rely on non-responsive tables. Those look bad on some phones and often end up completely distorted in Outlook on a PC even though they display fine on Apple devices. A major update near the end of 2018 changed the way images are inserted and that seems to have broken the responsiveness in some of our emails. An earlier major update also randomly inserted foreign characters into older campaigns and even into our email footer. On top of that, trying to use the email editor from a phone even one with a large screen, is almost impossible.

“newsletter builder that delivers”

Pros

This software took almost no time at all to learn. It lets you put together pretty polished newsletters with just a little drag-and-drop work. Managing the recipient list is also easy and it's helpful to see who's opening emails and who hasn't been very active.

Cons

There really wasn't anything wrong for what we needed. It fit our needs well overall. I could imagine it being a little harder to work with for a larger organization that needs more flexibility because the functionality is somewhat limited.

“fast bulk email tracking”

Pros

Sending an email to a large group of people is really quick and simple with this tool. It also helps that you can track whether people have opened the emails which is very useful.

Cons

There are a lot of formatting options and that can feel a bit overwhelming at times.

“fantastic for bulk email campaigns”

Pros

Running email campaigns with this software has been really convenient. I can import email addresses quickly and send bulk emails in just a few minutes. I've been using it for the last two years and haven't had any major issues. It also lets me create and save email templates which helps a lot and saves time when sending regular campaigns. The interface is very user-friendly and there's no configuration needed to get started.

Cons

At times, the emails end up in the recipient's junk folder and I'm not really sure why that happens.

“powerful email marketing toolkit”

Pros

When it comes to automating email marketing, this software is an absolute powerhouse. I've been using it for my website to help grow the business and bring in leads through email campaigns. One reason I enjoy using it is that it feels much more easy than many other email marketing tools out there. The free entry point is especially helpful for beginners since new users can use the platform at no cost up to 2,000 subscribers. That gives plenty of room to understand how everything works before spending money. It also lets you build impressive email templates without writing any code at all. The designs look polished and they can really help improve click-through rates and lead generation. On top of that, the paid plan is generally affordable and gives you the ability to send attractive, targeted emails to an unlimited audience. The A/B split testing feature is also very useful because it shows what works in a campaign and what doesn't which makes it much easier to measure impact.

Cons

One downside is that the Pro plan which is aimed more at business owners, feels somewhat overpriced. I was comfortable with the pricing of the lower-tier plan but the Pro option is definitely on the expensive side. Another frustrating limitation is the lack of freedom to delete a subscriber list whenever needed. Sometimes a business's target audience changes and older lists need to be removed. Here, that's only possible if the list hasn't been used in the previous seven days. I'd really prefer the flexibility to delete or modify a list anytime I want.

“clean emails and helpful guides”

Pros

It feels very simple to start. There are also plenty of useful guides and articles that share marketing best practices and tips for making the most of the platform. The emails my organization sends through it come out looking clean, simple and very on-brand for us.

Cons

If you are not comfortable with HTML, it really limits your ability to build emails outside of their standard templates. For instance, if you want an email with three columns, you have to begin with that specific layout because you cannot go back and change the column structure after you start building the template. I have also noticed the site crashes pretty easily especially when I am unsubscribing more than 100 people from a list. It is only a small inconvenience but it feels like something the developers should be able to fix without much trouble.