Best Email Marketing Software 2021

Constant Contact vs. Mailchimp

Is Constant Contact or Mailchimp the better solution for you? This in-depth, feature-by-feature breakdown will help you decide which email marketing tool is the best fit for your business.

Email marketing software is used by businesses in a wide range industries. The two most popular solutions on the market today are Constant Contact and Mailchimp. We will discuss the key differences between both platforms, and offer a head-to-head comparison on their most important features.

Our research consisted of product demos with the software companies, and dozens of hours spent hand-testing each tool. More details regarding our research process can be found on our email marketing category page.

Constant Contact & Mailchimp Comparison Summary

We researched and extensively tested both Constant Contact and Mailchimp. Constant Contact received a SoftwarePundit Analyst Rating of 71 while Mailchimp received a rating of 90.

Mailchimp was rated higher because it is more affordable than Constant Contact, while offering a broader and better suite of email marketing features. In particular, Mailchimp’s automation and A/B testing tools are far more robust than Constant Contact’s.

One advantage of using Constant Contact is its built-in integration with Shopify. With Mailchimp, you must connect Shopify through a third-party integration provider, like ShopSync or Zapier.


CriteriaAnalyst RatingFeaturesUsabilityPricingCustomer Support
Constant Contact716879
Mailchimp9010988.5

In terms of pricing, Mailchimp is more affordable than Constant Contact. When we compared the pricing between two plans with similar functionality, we found that Mailchimp is about 25% less expensive than Constant Contact.

Both solutions offer the standard features found in most email marketing tools. These include data integration and storage, segmentation, an email builder, and A/B testing. In general, Mailchimp’s feature suite is more robust than Constant Contact’s.

Overall, Mailchimp is the better email marketing solution in terms of pricing and features, and most businesses should choose this solution over Constant Contact. However, Constant Contact has a few unique strengths that may make it worth testing - unlimited monthly email sends and a built-in Shopify integration.

Here’s a quick breakdown of who will prefer each option:

You'll prefer Constant Contact if:

  • If you currently use Shopify to manage your online store
  • You want a subscription that includes unlimited email sends and lists

Try Constant Contact

You'll prefer Mailchimp if:

  • You want a solution with a free plan
  • You want the solution with better automation and A/B testing tools
  • You want the more affordable solution

Try Mailchimp


Table of Contents

Constant Contact & Mailchimp Price Comparison

Overall, Constant Contact is less affordable than Mailchimp. The table below compares pricing between two plans with similar functionality. On average, Mailchimp is about 25% less expensive than Constant Contact. The biggest pricing difference exists in paid plans with less than 500 contacts.

Contact SizeConstant Contact Email PlusMailchimp Standard Plan
0 to 500$45$14.99
501 to 2,500$70$51.99
2,501 to 5,000$95$79.99
5,001 to 10,000$125$105
10,001 to 15,000$195$170
15,001 to 25,000$225$200

There are two other factors you should consider when comparing Constant Contact and Mailchimp pricing:

  • Only Constant Contact offers unlimited monthly email sends. Mailchimp limits monthly email sends to 10 to 15 times your contact size.
  • Constant Contact does not offer a free plan. Mailchimp offers a free plan with up to 500 contacts and 10,000 email sends per month.

Constant Contact Pricing Details

Constant Contact pricing starts at $20 per month, and is based on your number of contacts. Constant Contact offers three paid subscription plans. This company offers a 50% first-month discount, and a 60-day free trial.

Contact SizeEmailEmail PlusPro
0 to 500$20$45N/A
501 to 2,500$45$70N/A
2,501 to 5,000$65$95$195
5,001 to 10,000$95$125$245
10,001 to 15,000N/A$195$295
15,001 to 25,000N/A$225$355

Mailchimp Pricing Details

Mailchimp pricing starts at $9.99 to $299 per month depending on your plan. Monthly pricing increases depending on your number of contacts. Mailchimp offers one free plan, and three paid plans. Below, we offer a breakdown of Mailchimp’s monthly subscription costs.

Number of ContactsEssentialsStandardPremium
500 contacts$9.99$14.99N/A
1,500 contacts$20.99$51.99N/A
2,500 contacts$30.99$51.99N/A
5,000 contacts$52.99$79.99N/A
10,000 contacts$78.99$105$299
15,000 contacts$135$170$370
20,000 contacts$170$200$420

Email send limits depend on the plan you choose and your number of contacts. Mailchimp charges overages if you exceed email send limits or maximum contact count. Below is an overview of Mailchimp’s email send limits.

PlanEmail send limit
Free10,000 sends per month and 2,000 send daily
Essentials10 times your maximum contact count
Standard12 times your maximum contact count
Premium15 times your maximum contact count

Constant Contact & Mailchimp Feature Comparison

Constant Contact and Mailchimp both offer the core set of email marketing features. These include segmentation, drip campaigns, and an email builder. In general, Mailchimp’s suite of features is more robust than Constant Contact’s.

For a full analysis of each solution’s features, read our Constant Contact and Mailchimp reviews.

FeatureConstant ContactMailchimp
A/B testingLimitedYes
Analytics and reportingYesYes
Custom data fieldsUp to 100 fieldsUp to 30 to 80 fields
DashboardYesYes
Data integration and storageYesYes
DeliverabilityGoodGood
Drip campaignsLimitedYes
Email builderYesYes
IntegrationsOver 500Over 250
Landing Page BuilderYesYes
Pre-designed email templatesYesYes
SegmentationYesYes

Drip Campaigns

Constant Contact and Mailchimp both allow you to create drip campaigns that send a series of automated emails to your contacts. However, Mailchimp is a far better product than Constant Contact when it comes to automation.

Mailchimp’s Customer Journey feature allows you to create complex drip campaigns with branching points. Each Customer Journey consists of specific starting points, actions, and rules that you can customize using a visual drag-and-drop builder.

image of mailchimp automation workflows

Customer Journeys begin when triggered by one of the starting points listed below. You can add multiple starting points to a single campaign.

  • Abandons cart
  • Buys a specific product
  • Clicks specific link in email
  • Opens email
  • Recurring date
  • Sign ups
  • Time since last purchase

You can use actions and rules to add steps and splits in your Customer Journey. This allows you to send better targeted content to your contacts.

  • Actions: Send email, add or remove a tag, add or remove from a group, end journey
  • Rules: If/else, wait, delay

With Constant Contact, you can create autoresponders that send automated emails in sequential order, but you can not create splits and branching points in your workflows. This significantly limits your ability to send targeted emails that are tailored to your contacts.

Constant Contact Email Series

Drip campaigns in Constant Contact also begin with a starting point. Constant Contact includes less starting points than Mailchimp. Also, you can only include one starting point per workflow. Here are the starting points included in Constant Contact.

  • Email opened
  • Link clicked
  • Contact joins list
  • Contact placed first order

Once you have selected a starting point, you can choose the order in which you want your email series sent. You can add delays between each email.

Segmentation

Both Constant Contact and Mailchimp allow you to create segments of your contact list using the data that’s stored in the system. Using segments is a best practice to increase the relevancy of your emails, and save cost by reducing send volume.

Both solutions allow you to configure segment conditions to include or exclude portions of your list. You can add up to 10 segment conditions in Constant Contact and up to 5 segment conditions in Mailchimp. Here are some examples of segment conditions included in each platform.

Segment Conditions

Data SourceDescriptionExample Data Points
Contact ActivityThis type of segment condition is based on contact behavior.
  • Clicked
  • Did not click
  • Opened
  • Did not open
  • Were sent
  • Were not sent
Contact InformationThis type of segment condition is based on the attributes associated with each contact.
  • Birthday month
  • Contact source
  • Custom field
  • Date added
  • Job title
  • Last date edited
DemographicGeographic segmentation is based on the location of your contact
  • City
  • Country
  • Postal code
  • State

Integrations

Both Constant Contact and Mailchimp offer a large library of built-in software integrations. Constant Contact offers over 500 integrations, while Mailchimp offers over 250.

Constant Contact is the only solution that integrates with Shopify. To integrate Mailchimp with Shopify, you have to use a third-party integration provider, like ShopSync, Automate.io, or Zapier. Without a built-in integration, transferring customer and order data between platforms is suboptimal.

Shopify customers should consider testing Constant Contact, or one of the many other solutions that integrate with Shopify, such as ActiveCampaign or Sendinblue.

A/B Testing

Mailchimp’s A/B testing is more robust than Constant Contact’s. As you can see in the table below, Mailchimp beats Constant Contact in every A/B test component. Additionally, Mailchimp’s Premium plan offers multivariate testing. Constant Contact does not offer multivariate testing in any plan.

A/B Test ComponentConstant ContactMailchimp
VariablesSubject lineEmail content, from name, send time, subject line
Email VariationsUp to 2 versionsUp to 3 versions
Testing Length Period48 hours maximumVirtually unlimited
Winning MetricsClick rate, open rateClick rate, open rate, total revenue

Bottom Line

Constant Contact and Mailchimp are the two most popular email marketing solutions on the market today. Both solutions are best for small businesses with moderately advanced marketing needs.

Overall, Mailchimp is the better email marketing solution in terms of pricing and features, and most businesses should choose this solution over Constant Contact. However, Constant Contact has a few unique strengths that may make it worth testing - unlimited monthly email sends and a built-in Shopify integration.

If you’re interested, visit Constant Contact or Mailchimp today to get started.

Lloyd Park

Lloyd Park is a Research Analyst at SoftwarePundit, where he conducts in-depth analyses of software markets and products. Lloyd also has experience managing the development of software platforms and is an expert in content production & media software. You can connect with Lloyd on LinkedIn.

Lloyd is an expert in several software categories including:

  • Dental software
  • Email marketing software
  • Field service management software
  • Legal software
  • Property management software

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