Omnisend vs. Attentive: A feature-by-feature comparison (2025)

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Omnisend vs. Attentive — two names you’ll hear often if you’re serious about SMS marketing. Despite what you may have heard, SMS is far from dead. In fact, it’s still one of the most effective ways to cut through the noise, ranking just behind email as the most preferred communication channel. And unlike crowded inboxes, texts get read fast.

It’s high time you add SMS marketing to your arsenal, and both Omnisend and Attentive make it seamless. The strengths of these SMS marketing platforms, however, are very different, and those differences matter, especially if you’re migrating from Yotpo.

So, in the battle of Omnisend vs. Attentive, which one deserves a spot in your marketing stack? Let’s break it down.

Omnisend vs. Attentive: An overview

Omnisend and Attentive both promise to up your SMS marketing game, but they come at it from very different angles. Omnisend was built from the ground up as an omnichannel platform, combining email, SMS, and push notifications so your marketing doesn’t live in silos. Attentive, on the other hand, started as an SMS-first powerhouse and has since added basic email marketing features to widen its reach.

For ecommerce brands, the distinction matters. If you want all-in-one marketing automation with flexibility to grow into multiple channels, Omnisend makes that doable from day one. If your focus is purely on SMS at scale — and you have the budget to match — Attentive brings depth in that area.

Here is an Omnisend vs. Attentive quick comparison:

Omnisend: Overview and best use cases

Omnisend was built for ecommerce from the very beginning, not retrofitted to it. That matters, because every feature is designed with online stores in mind, from its prebuilt automations for abandoned carts and order follow-ups, to its ecommerce-specific triggers like product views and VIP tagging.

Where some platforms make you pick a lane, Omnisend thrives on omnichannel marketing. It combines email, SMS, and push notifications in a single, cohesive platform, letting you run campaigns that follow customers wherever they shop or scroll. That’s not just about the convenience, it’s also how you keep your messaging consistent and your brand top-of-mind.

SMB (small and mid-sized) brands especially benefit from Omnisend’s balance of power and accessibility. Built-in signup forms, customizable templates, and ready-to-use workflows mean you can get campaigns out the door fast without sacrificing polish. And because it’s intuitive, you won’t be stuck watching hour-long tutorials just to send a welcome email.

Setup is refreshingly quick: connect your ecommerce platform, import your contacts, and you can launch your first campaign in hours. With transparent, affordable plans (including a free tier), Omnisend gives growing brands room to experiment without committing to enterprise-level budgets.

Best for: ecommerce brands that want a well-rounded, omnichannel marketing platform, not just email or SMS in isolation. If your goal is to run coordinated campaigns across multiple touchpoints, without stitching together five different tools, Omnisend delivers the balance of features, flexibility, and value that makes it a long-term partner, not just another subscription.

Attentive: Overview and best use cases

Attentive made its name as an SMS-first marketing platform, and that focus still defines it today. Email was added later, giving brands the option to run basic cross-channel campaigns, but make no mistake, SMS is where Attentive shines.

The platform is known for SMS innovation: advanced features like Rich Communication Services (RCS), 2-tap opt-ins from mobile sites, and interactive messaging that blurs the line between marketing and conversation. It’s why Attentive is trusted by large retail and ecommerce brands with big customer bases and an equally big appetite for mobile engagement.

Attentive’s mobile-first DNA runs deep. Its AI-powered personalization tools can tailor send times, offers, and even conversational flows based on customer behavior. For brands running frequent flash sales or aiming for high-impact, instant engagement, that speed and adaptability are invaluable.

That said, Attentive isn’t built for casual experimentation. There’s no instant signup, so you’ll need to book a demo, go through a sales process, and typically commit to a higher budget. While the platform offers a 30-day trial, it comes after qualification, not at the click of a button. But the upside is its high-touch onboarding and support for the brands that sign on.

Best for: enterprise and upper mid-market brands that prioritize SMS above all else. If mobile engagement is your main revenue driver, and you’re willing to invest in a platform purpose-built for high-volume, personalized SMS, Attentive delivers the depth you need. But for smaller stores or those looking for balanced multichannel marketing, it may be more platform — and more spend — than necessary.

Ease of use

Omnisend

One of Omnisend’s biggest strengths is how quickly you can go from signup to sending your first campaign. The platform offers a free plan with instant access (no credit card required), so businesses can start exploring features without any upfront commitment.

The onboarding process is designed to be frictionless. A quick setup wizard walks you through connecting your ecommerce store, importing contacts, and choosing your first automation or campaign. For many users, this means going live in just a few hours.

Larger companies making the switch from another provider also get migration assistance, ensuring a smooth transition.

The learning curve is far from steep. Omnisend’s clean, intuitive interface is backed by helpful tooltips and a detailed knowledge base. Many customers highlight how easy it is to navigate and manage everything in one place. As Tristan J., a small business founder, puts it:

With drag-and-drop editing, prebuilt templates, and automation workflows ready to go, Omnisend makes onboarding feel less like “setup” and more like “start selling.”

Onboarding with Attentive is more involved than with plug-and-play platforms like Omnisend — and that’s by design. 

Attentive’s typical clientele are mid-to-large businesses that expect a higher-touch setup, so you won’t find an instant free signup button. Instead, you’ll need to book a demo and go through a sales and onboarding process before gaining access. While they do offer a 30-day trial, it’s only after a demo call and qualification.

The flip side is that Attentive delivers very hands-on onboarding for those who sign on. From technical setup to strategic guidance, their “white-glove” approach ensures you’re supported from day one. The platform itself is modern and user-friendly, making it easy to craft SMS campaigns, track results, and adapt on the fly.

As CC G., a Growth Marketing Manager, puts it:

SMS list building

Omnisend

Omnisend provides customizable opt-in forms that you can embed on your website. You can also integrate these forms into your checkout process. These allow visitors to subscribe to your SMS list by providing their phone numbers.

You can create pop-ups and dedicated landing pages to build your list of SMS subscribers. Creating phone-number-only forms can help grow your SMS list quicker. 

You can also design forms with tailored messaging and incentives. This encourages visitors to join your SMS list.

Attentive

For SMS list building, Attentive offers mobile keyword opt-in. Customers can text a specific keyword to a designated number to subscribe to your SMS list. This method is useful for offline channels, such as in-store signage or print ads.

Attentive also provides a web opt-in widget that you can embed on your website. 

However, Omnisend offers gamification features like Wheel of Fortune and teasers, which add a fun element to your SMS campaigns. Attentive does not have any such features.

SMS campaign creation

Let’s compare Omnisend vs. Attentive in terms of SMS campaign creation.

Omnisend

While Omnisend is more known for its email marketing capabilities, it offers a comprehensive omnichannel approach that includes SMS campaigns. 

You can create integrated campaigns that combine SMS messages with:

• Email 
• Web push notifications
• Social media

Omnisend provides robust automation capabilities. The platform allows you to create sophisticated SMS workflows triggered by specific events. 

For example, you can set up automated SMS messages for 

• Abandoned carts 
• Order confirmations
• Shipping notifications
• Personalized product recommendations

You can conduct A/B tests to optimize your SMS campaigns. You can test different messages, timing, or CTA buttons. This helps you identify the most effective versions and improve your campaign performance.

Attentive

Attentive specializes in SMS marketing. The platform simplifies the process of crafting SMS messages.

However, its segmentation capabilities are quite basic compared to Omnisend. Attentive lets you categorize your SMS subscribers based on specific attributes or tags.

You can also schedule your SMS campaigns in advance.

Verdict:

Choose Attentive if you want best-in-class SMS/MMS tools and plan to make mobile engagement the core of your growth strategy. Its strengths shine in high-volume, time-sensitive campaigns like flash sales, product drops, and conversational commerce, especially for brands with the budget to maximize its advanced SMS features.

Choose Omnisend if you want to run cohesive, multichannel campaigns that blend SMS with email and push notifications, without sacrificing ease of use. It offers all the core SMS capabilities most ecommerce stores need, plus deeper automation, testing, and personalization options to tie your messaging together across channels. For brands that want balance rather than SMS in isolation, Omnisend is the smarter long-term play.

SMS predesigned templates

Omnisend

Omnisend provides a range of customizable SMS templates to help businesses get started quickly. These templates cover different use cases, such as: 

• Cart abandonment 
• Order confirmations
• Promotional offers

You can customize the content and design of templates with ease. This helps align the message with your brand identity and marketing goals.

Attentive

Attentive also provides a library of pre-designed SMS templates that enable quick and easy campaign creation. 

You’ll get templates for various use cases, including:

• Welcome messages
• Promotions
• Flash sales
• Product recommendations

You can customize the templates with your own messaging and branding elements.

Both platforms offer a range of pre-designed templates that you can use to optimize your SMS campaigns.

SMS automation

Omnisend

Omnisend offers a wide range of automation features for SMS marketing. You can create automated SMS campaigns based on various triggers, such as:

• Abandoned carts
• Post-purchase follow-ups
• Order confirmations

It also comes with a visual workflow builder that helps you design complex automation workflows, including branching logic and conditional steps. 

With Omnisend, you can personalize your SMS messages with dynamic content, adding customer names, product recommendations, or unique discount codes. You can schedule automated SMS sequences to send a series of messages over time, playing a key role in nurturing and engaging your prospects.

Where Omnisend really stands out is in combining SMS, email, and push notifications in a single automated flow. This means you can create sequences that respond to multiple customer behaviors across channels. For example, sending an email after a product view, then following up with SMS if there’s no purchase.

It also supports multi-trigger workflows and split testing, allowing you to experiment with different paths and content variations to see what drives better results. 

For ecommerce, Omnisend’s specific triggers — like “product viewed but not purchased,” “order placed,” or “customer tagged as VIP or churn risk” — give you the precision to target messages exactly when they’ll have the most impact.

Attentive

The Attentive AI feature offers robust automation capabilities for text message campaigns.

It allows you to create personalized automated SMS workflows triggered by specific events. Some examples are:

• Welcome messages
• Abandoned carts
• Shipping notifications

It also supports intelligent automation features, such as:

• Behavioral triggers
• Time-based triggers
• Drip campaigns

While Attentive is best known for its SMS-first automation, it now supports multi-step workflows, so you’re not limited to one-and-done texts. You can chain multiple messages together, spaced out over hours or days, to build a more deliberate customer journey.

Since adding email capabilities, Attentive also supports cross-channel automation, allowing brands to include email touches within their SMS flows. This means you can, for example, send an initial SMS after a customer browses a product, follow up with an email if they haven’t purchased, and then send another SMS with a special offer — all within the same automated sequence.

So, who wins in automation? For SMS campaigns only, Attentive is a strong choice. However, for truly omnichannel campaigns, Omnisend offers broader automation capabilities that extend beyond SMS.

Compliance and opt-in options

Omnisend

Omnisend is designed to help you adhere to SMS marketing regulations. It offers opt-in management tools, including double opt-in confirmation and easy opt-out options. So, your messages are sent only to subscribers who have explicitly given their consent.

With Omnisend, you can manage customer consent preferences. Your subscribers may choose their communication preferences. They may also opt in or opt out of specific types of messages.

Attentive

Attentive also places a strong emphasis on compliance. There is a strong focus on adhering to SMS marketing regulations. It is built with legal and ethical SMS marketing practices in mind.

Attentive provides robust opt-in management capabilities. It ensures that only engaged and consenting subscribers receive your messages.

Attentive enables you to handle customer consent preferences and allows subscribers to control the types of messages they receive. This empowers your audience to tailor their messaging preferences according to their needs.

Both platforms offer similar features when it comes to compliance features. Omnisend and Attentive both adhere to market regulations. These platforms also follow industry best practices.

Importantly, both allow you to customize consent handling by region. For example, applying different opt-in rules for the US versus the EU. This is crucial for global ecommerce stores that must navigate varying regulations like GDPR, TCPA, and other local laws, ensuring you stay compliant without manually managing different subscriber lists.

Two-way text messaging

Omnisend

Omnisend supports two-way text messaging through an integration with Gorgias.

This allows US-based customers to reply to your messages, which you can view and respond to directly from your Gorgias interface.

Omnisend also enables you to automate responses to customer replies using chatbot-like functionalities. You can set up predefined responses based on the received messages.

With its two-way text messaging feature, you can use SMS as a channel for customer support. You can address inquiries and concerns, or provide support in real time.

Attentive

Attentive also supports two-way messaging. 

The platform captures and logs customer responses within the platform. You can view and respond to these messages directly from the platform’s interface.

Attentive provides automation capabilities for responding to customer replies. You can set up predefined responses based on the content of the received messages.

With Attentive’s two-way text messaging, you can use SMS as a channel for customer support, just like you can with Omnisend. It enables real-time engagement and addresses customer queries effectively.

Both Omnisend and Attentive offer similar capabilities regarding two-way messaging.

Analytics and reporting

Omnisend

Next on our Omnisend vs. Attentive feature comparison is analytics.

Omnisend provides in-depth reporting and analytics for your SMS marketing campaigns. It offers insights into:

• Delivery rates
• Open rates
• Click-through rates 
• Conversion rates
• Campaign performance
• And more!

You can track key performance metrics, such as:

• The number of SMS messages sent
• Messages delivered
• Messages opened

You can also monitor CTR to measure the effectiveness of your SMS campaigns.

Where Omnisend goes further is in connecting campaign performance directly to store revenue and the customer lifecycle. Rather than stopping at open or click data, it shows you exactly how each campaign or automation flow contributes to sales — and at which stage of the customer journey those conversions occur.

Its revenue attribution goes above channel-wide, as it drills down to individual steps in an automation workflow, whether that’s an SMS reminder, an email follow-up, or a push notification. This lets you see which specific touchpoints are driving purchases, so you can double down on the ones that deliver the most value. For brands serious about ROI tracking, this level of detail turns analytics from “nice to know” into a direct roadmap for optimization.

Attentive

Attentive offers detailed analytics to measure the success of your SMS campaigns. It tracks metrics like CTR, conversion rates, and revenue generated.

You can also track essential performance metrics like:

• Message delivery rates
• Open rates
• Engagement rates

These metrics help you assess the effectiveness of your SMS campaigns and optimize your strategy.

Attentive also provides revenue tracking capabilities. It enables you to attribute revenue directly to your SMS marketing initiatives.

Omnisend’s analytics is more suited to ecommerce than Attentive’s. You can track key ecommerce metrics, such as conversion rates, cart abandonment, and more.

Omnisend also provides insights on your best-performing campaigns and you can see how different consumer segments are performing. These insights help you optimize your ecommerce marketing strategy.

Deliverability

Omnisend

The deliverability rate for Omnisend is high.

Why?

Because it works closely with telecom partners and adheres to industry best practices. This ensures that your messages are successfully delivered to recipients.

With Omnisend, you can monitor the delivery status of your SMS messages. It provides insights into successful deliveries and notifies you of any potential issues.

Attentive

Attentive also has high delivery rates. The platform ensures that your messages reach the recipients successfully.

Like Omnisend, it has also established strong relationships with telecom carriers. This facilitates optimal deliverability.

Attentive also offers monitoring capabilities. So, you can track the delivery status of your SMS messages with ease. You can also quickly identify any issues related to deliverability. 

When it comes to deliverability, it’s a draw between both platforms.

Pricing

The pricing information for Attentive is not available on its website. This makes doing an Omnisend vs. Attentive comparison difficult.

Omnisend is built to be highly accessible, especially for small and mid-sized ecommerce brands. Its pricing is transparent, predictable, and scales with your contact list — no hidden upsells. You can choose from:

• Free plan: Up to 250 contacts, 500 emails/month, 500 web push notifications, one time gift of $1 global SMS credits
• Standard plan: Starts from $16/month for up to 500 contacts, 6,000 emails/month, unlimited web push notifications, one time gift of $1 global SMS credits
• Pro plan: Starts from $59/month for up to 2,500 contacts, unlimited emails and web push notifications, and bonus global SMS credits every month, equal to your monthly payment 

Additional SMS credits available on any plan, even the free tier and global SMS messaging is supported on all plans as well.

Omnisend also recently launched a dedicated SMS-only plan, ideal for brands switching from standalone SMS tools like Yotpo. 

It starts at just $7/month for the first year (includes 667 SMS messages in the US), then $10/month — with no hidden carrier fees. It works as a standalone subscription or alongside Omnisend’s Standard and Pro email plans. 

Attentive, like other SMS tools, uses a custom pricing model based on your list size, message volume, and feature requirements. To get pricing, you must:

• Book a demo before accessing rates
• Expect a platform fee plus per-message charges
• Plan for an enterprise-level investment — often $1,000+/month at scale
• Qualify for a 30-day trial only after the sales process

While Attentive can deliver strong ROI for large, SMS-first brands with the budget to match, it’s priced for enterprises, not startups or small DTC stores.

Verdict:

For transparent, scalable pricing with great value at all tiers: Omnisend wins.

For large brands with high SMS budgets and enterprise expectations: Attentive may be worth the premium, but it’s not for everyone.

Integrations with third-party apps

Omnisend

Omnisend provides a wide range of integrations with popular third-party apps and platforms. It integrates with all major ecommerce platforms like:

• Shopify
• Magento
• WooCommerce
• BigCommerce

It also integrates with marketing channels like Facebook and Google ads.

Omnisend an App Marketplace with over 130 integrations covering CRMs, review platforms, loyalty programs, shipping solutions, and more. Many of these are 1-click integrations, tailored to the needs of SMBs, and supported by public documentation, making them easy to set up without developer help.

This self-serve approach means smaller teams can quickly build the marketing tech stack they need, without drawn-out onboarding cycles or costly custom work.

Attentive

Attentive also connects with key ecommerce platforms such as Shopify, Magento, and BigCommerce, along with CRM tools like HubSpot and Salesforce. It provides API access for custom integrations but doesn’t have an app marketplace. 

Instead, Attentive relies heavily on white-glove setup for more complex use cases. This can be a plus for large enterprise brands needing bespoke solutions, but it’s less convenient for smaller businesses that prefer quick, DIY integration.

Customer support

Omnisend has built a reputation for award-winning customer support that’s accessible to every user, not just top-tier clients. 

All customers get 24/7 live chat and email support, with an average first-response time of under 3 minutes. 

For brands on plans of $400/month or more, Omnisend adds a dedicated Customer Success Manager to the mix. This hands-on approach has earned Omnisend multiple awards for customer service and a loyal following among ecommerce marketers.

Attentive, on the other hand, is known for its high-touch, white-glove support — particularly for mid-market and enterprise brands. 

Most enterprise customers receive a dedicated onboarding specialist, Customer Success Manager, and even strategic account managers to help guide campaigns and optimize performance. 

However, unlike Omnisend, Attentive does not advertise 24/7 availability publicly. The level of support can vary depending on your contract or tier, and smaller brands that aren’t on custom plans may find the experience less hands-on. There’s also no universally available live chat for small leads or self-serve users.

For large brands that value a deeply involved support relationship, Attentive’s approach can be a major asset. For teams that need reliable, round-the-clock access to help, Omnisend’s always-on model is the safer bet.

Omnisend vs. Attentive: Final verdict

If you are stuck in an Omnisend vs. Attentive dilemma, we hope this article helps make your decision easier. 

Attentive offers robust features and capabilities for SMS marketing.

Omnisend offers SMS marketing and more channels for marketing automation like email and push notifications. It also offers a comprehensive set of tools tailored to the specific needs and award-winning customer support. If you are looking for an omnichannel marketing solution for your ecommerce business, Omnisend is the ideal choice.