The 6 best Campaign Monitor alternatives for 2023 (free and paid)
By: Bernard Meyer — May 24, 2023
Reading Time: 9minutes
Many marketers who are looking to automate their email campaigns believe that Campaign Monitor is the best tool to work with.
But is that really the case?
Not entirely.
While Campaign Monitor is one of the best email marketing platforms, its lack of ready-to-use automation workflow templates often has users looking for other platforms for their email campaigns.
Luckily, there are many Campaign Monitor alternatives with all the useful features you need to run effective email campaigns.
In this post, we will share the top alternatives to Campaign Monitor you can use to run your email campaigns on autopilot and convert more customers.
What Campaign Monitor has to offer?
Campaign Monitor is a reliable email marketing software with simple features and a user-friendly interface.
The tool allows you to create, send, and optimize your email marketing campaigns. It comes with modest automation capabilities, allowing you to program emails to be delivered to subscribers based on certain campaign triggers.
This email marketing software is reasonably priced with the basic plan going for $9/mo. However, it lacks some essential features and you may have to upgrade to a more expensive plan to enjoy premium email marketing functionalities.
Creating marketing emails with Campaign Monitor is straightforward with its easy-to-use email builder. Users can choose from a variety of templates for their campaigns and customize them with their brand elements.
The templates are optimized for mobile devices to help users design campaigns that look good on all devices.
Pros
Rich collection of templates: Campaign Monitor has a large collection of professionally-designed email templates you can use to create eye-catching email campaigns.
Ease of use: Build your campaign in minutes with Campaign Monitor’s drag and drop email builder that allows you to add custom campaign elements with ease.
Collaborative email building: The email builder allows you to give access to other team members to encourage campaign collaboration.
Detailed analytics: Campaign Monitor’s full suite of analytics helps users understand their campaign performance and optimize for success.
Cons
Limited editing options: While there are options to edit and customize the templates, they are very limited. This leaves users with emails that look similar to others that have been designed with Campaign Monitor.
Expensive premium version: At $149/mo, the premium version is very expensive for what it offers. The top Campaign Monitor alternatives are cheaper and deliver more value.
No free plan: Campaign Monitor doesn’t have a free plan. You have to pay to get started with this tool even while the top alternatives to Campaign Monitor have a free plan you can use to gauge if the tool is right for you.
Lacks automation workflow templates: Campaign Monitor doesn’t have pre-designed workflow templates for automated email campaigns.
Lacks multi-channel functionality: Besides email and SMS, Campaign Monitor doesn’t support other channels like web push and Facebook ads to increase your contact with your audience.
Campaign Monitor alternatives: overview
Before we dive deep into the features of the top Campaign Monitor alternatives, here’s a table that summarizes their key attributes for a quick comparison.
Omnisend is an excellent email marketing platform and the best Campaign Monitor alternative if you want to drive sales on autopilot.
In 2022, Omnisend’s US-based customers saw an ROI of $72 for every $1 invested in email marketing, making Omnisend a cost-effective email marketing tool that has everything you need to run profitable marketing campaigns.
Its intuitive and user-friendly email builder allows you to create email campaigns without any friction.
Unlike other Campaign Monitor alternatives that are complex and difficult to use, Omnisend’s email builder is straightforward and you’ll be able to create your first campaign within minutes of signing up.
To help you with your automation needs, Omnisend has pre-designed ready-to-use automation workflows for different campaign triggers.
For ecommerce businesses, this makes it easy to onboard new customers and increase sales by encouraging shoppers to complete their purchases.
Get started with Omnisend to drive sales on autopilot
When it comes to pricing, Omnisend has more affordable and feature-rich plans than Campaign Monitor.
Omnisend Free plan vs Campaign Monitor Basic plan
Omnisend’s free plan matches up to Campaign Monitor’s basic plan which goes for $9/mo. With Omnisend, you can reach up to 250 contacts and send up to 500 emails per month.
You can also send up to 60 SMS and deliver up to 500 web push notifications. Other features you can access for free with Omnisend include:
Campaign Monitor’s basic plan has the following features:
Customizable templates
Limited segmentation tools
Signup forms
A/B testing
Real-time analytics
As you can see, Omnisend’s free plan provides almost everything that Campaign Monitor offers for $9/mo. With its feature-rich free plan, Omnisend is one of the best ecommerce platforms and a top alternative to Campaign Monitor if you are on a tight budget.
Omnisend Standard plan vs Campaign Monitor Unlimited plan
If you need more features than what’s offered by Campaign Monitor’s basic plan, you can upgrade to their Unlimited plan that costs $29/mo. With this plan, you get unlimited email sends, a countdown timer, and timezone sending.
On the other hand, Omnisend’s standard plan costs $16/mo and comes with everything in the free plan, 6,000 monthly emails, and unlimited web push.
Omnisend Pro plan vs Campaign Monitor Premier plan
Campaign Monitor’s Premier plan costs $149/mo. Omnisend’s Pro plan costs $59/mo yet delivers more advanced email marketing features than Campaign Monitor.
Besides unlimited email sends, Omnisend’s Pro plan allows you to send thousands SMSs and unlimited web push notifications so you can effectively reach your audience.
You also get 24/7 priority support to help you deal with the challenges that arise as you design your campaigns.
Features comparison
Let’s now assess Omnisend’s key features and compare the same with Campaign Monitor.
Email builder: Omnisend’s email builder is easy to use and allows users to customize their emails with their logo, brand colors, and fonts.
Campaign Monitor’s email builder is a bit complex, especially for beginners. It also has limited customization options, making it difficult for your emails to stand out in your recipients’ inboxes.
List building features: Omnisend offers popup and signup forms to help you build your audience. On the other hand, Campaign Monitor only offers sign-up forms as its list-building feature.
Marketing automation: Omnisend offers pre-designed workflows to help you with your automation campaigns. Campaign Monitor doesn’t have ready-to-use automation workflows and you’ll have to build your campaigns from scratch.
A/B testing: Split test your campaigns with Omnisend and Campaign Monitor to discover the best elements for your email campaigns.
Analytics & reports: Omnisend’s comprehensive campaign reports provide valuable insights to improve your email marketing.
Campaign Monitor, too, provides real-time campaign reports to help marketers make smart decisions.
Integrations: Omnisend integrates with 130+ apps to help you promote your brand with ease.
Campaign Monitor also has multiple integrations to help you get the most out of your marketing.
Channels
Both tools offer email and SMS marketing. However, Omnisend supports additional channels like Facebook and Google to help you boost your sales potential.
Customer support
Omnisend’s award-winning customer support is always available to address your concerns and help you build creative email campaigns. The 24/7 priority customer support is available to users in all plans, even the free one.
Campaign Monitor does not provide priority support to users in the basic plan.
Constant Contact is a solid email marketing platform with robust features and a great reputation with email marketers, making it one of the best alternatives to Campaign Monitor.
Unlike other Campaign Monitor alternatives, Constant Contact doesn’t offer a free plan. It does offer a free trial, however, which allows you to send up to 100 emails and create a social media post.
Why is Constant Contact a better alternative?
Social posting and ads can help you expand beyond emails
Seamless integration with other tools to augment the platform’s capabilities
CRM features can help you connect with your customers
Superior landing page builder to drive lead generation
Pricing comparison
Lite plan starts from $12/mo
Standard plan starts from $35/mo
Premium plan starts from $80/mo
Features comparison
Visual email builder that makes it easy to design campaigns
Flexible campaign customization gives more control to you
Automated workflows based on audience engagement can help power up your email campaigns
Added value with polls and coupons to engage and attract your audience
ActiveCampaign is a powerful email marketing software and a great alternative to Campaign Monitor. However, unlike other tools on this list, ActiveCampaign feels more like a CRM than an email marketing tool.
That said, ActiveCampaign doesn’t offer a free plan. It does offer a 14-day free trial for its various paid plans though.
Why is ActiveCampaign a better alternative?
Integrates with ecommerce platforms and supports transactional emails
Allows users to manage multiple domains
Eye-catching email templates
A/B testing options
Pricing plans comparison
Plus plan starts from $49/mo
Professional plan starts from $149/mo
Enterprise plan – custom pricing
Features comparison
Built-in CRM
Behavioral data reporting
Automation options at all customer touchpoints
Site and event tracking
Customer support comparison
ActiveCampaign provides chat and ticket support in all its plans.
Brevo, formerly Sendinblue, is an easy-to-use platform with powerful email marketing features that appeal to both novice and advanced marketers.
It combines email marketing with SMS and WhatsApp marketing to help you reach customers on the platforms where they spend most of their time.
Brevo’s free plan is pretty good; you can send 300 emails per day using it. This makes it a very startup-friendly platform as bulk email sending is possible with it.
Why is Brevo a better alternative?
SMS and WhatsApp marketing channels
Sufficient list-building tools
Landing page builder
Transactional email campaigns
Pricing plans comparison
Starter plan starts from $25/mo
Business plan starts from $65/mo
Brevo plus – custom pricing
Features comparison
Multichannel marketing
CRM tools
Automation workflows
Pre-built editable email templates
Customer support comparison
Brevo provides personalized support and tailored onboarding on the Brevo plus plan.
Mailchimp is a modern platform and one of the most popular Campaign Monitor alternatives for email marketing newbies. Its simple interface makes it easy to create email campaigns and optimize them for success.
While Mailchimp offers a free plan, it isn’t as generous as it used to be. You can only send up to 1000 emails per month and the customer support is only available for the first 30 days.
Why is Mailchimp a better alternative?
AI-powered creative assistant
Advanced personalization tools
Audience management tools
Subject line helper
Pricing plans comparison
Essentials plan starts from $13/mo
Standard plan starts from $20/mo
Premium plan starts from $350/mo
Features comparison
Forms and landing pages
Automated customer journeys
Predictive segmentation
Send time optimization
Customer support comparison
24/7 email and chat support for all the paid plans.
AWeber is a tried and tested email marketing software that’s an excellent Campaign Monitor alternative if you’re looking for a simple way to create email campaigns. It comes with pre-built customizable campaigns that allow you to design your emails in minutes.
The tool also offers a powerful email builder along with a host of templates that simplify email creation and drive your campaigns. There’s a free plan that allows you to send emails to up to 500 subscribers.
Bernard is the Director of Content at Omnisend, with a passion for good research, helping ecommerce businesses with their marketing automation needs, and beating absolutely everyone in Mario Kart 64.
quick links
related features
These are the Omnisend features that can help you get the results mentioned in the article.
