Trying to decide between FluentCRM, MailPoet, or MailChimp as the best email marketing platform for your WordPress site?
All three tools make sending emails to your contacts possible to help grow your business and build a better relationship. Since email gets the highest ROI out of any marketing channel, you want to be sure you’re choosing the tool that best aligns with your budget and goals.
By the end of this FluentCRM vs MailPoet vs MailChimp review, you’ll have a better idea of which tool is best for your site.
In this review, we’ll take a look at the key features of each tool, along with a pricing breakdown, and I’ll recommend where each tool will be the best fit.
FluentCRM Vs MailPoet Vs MailChimp: Key Plugin Features
Let’s start this FluentCRM, MailPoet, and MailChimp comparison by looking at some of each platform’s main features. Below you’ll see what makes each of these tools stand out.
FluentCRM
FluentCRM is an email marketing automation plugin that essentially adds the functionality of a CRM and advanced email platform to your WordPress site. It can do everything from lead generation, in-depth contact management, sending basic emails, segmenting leads, creating advanced email automations, and more.
Ease of Use
Since FluentCRM is a WordPress plugin, all you need to do is install the plugin and start creating your email automations. When installing the plugin, you’ll also add Fluent Forms, which lets you add sign-up forms to your site.
One great feature is that it automatically integrates with other WordPress plugins. So, there’s no need to set up complex integrations.
FluentCRM will automatically detect which plugins you’re using and show you the automations you have available. For example, if Paid Memberships Pro is installed, you’ll automatically see the available membership email automations. The same thing goes for online store owners using WooCommerce.
The biggest configuration you’ll need to do with FluentCRM involves setting up your email sending. If you use WordPress to send your emails, you’ll run into email deliverability issues. Instead, you can utilize an affordable service like Amazon SES, Mailgun, or SendGrid to send your emails.
Core Features
FluentCRM is packed with features that make it a robust email marketing tool and standalone CRM. With this tool, you can send manual or automated email campaigns, create drip sequences, and email marketing automations.
Here’s what multiple drip sequences looks like:
Sending email campaigns to your contacts list is similar to the other two tools. However, you also have the option to split-test your emails and take other post-campaign actions.
With email sequences, you can create multiple emails sent out based on specific actions or timelines. These work best inside an automated funnel. For example, you can add a welcome sequence that brings new subscribers into your world, a post-purchase upsell sequence, and more.
FluentCRM offers a wealth of automation features too. But even though the automation features are advanced, they’re still incredibly beginner-friendly.
Setting up automations requires no additional configuration. FluentCRM will automatically detect the plugins you have installed on your site and give you a set of triggers to choose from. Once a user takes one of these actions, it’ll trigger the automation you create.
Here’s what some of these triggers can look like:
After that initial trigger, you can choose different actions for your subscribers to take. Best of all, you can have multiple automations running simultaneously. For example, you can have welcome sequences, launch sequences, post-purchase sequences, abandoned cart sequences, and more.
You’ll build these automation workflows visually so you can easily add new emails and customize your user journey.
To deliver an even more custom-tailored experience, you can create automated email campaigns based on conditional logic. Or, even A/B email campaigns to improve your conversions over time.
Finally, there are built-in tagging and dynamic segments, which you can use to send targeted email campaigns or use them to trigger new email automations for your subscribers.
Overall, the automation features are highly advanced while still being very easy to use, unlike other tools.
Integrations
FluentCRM offers 25+ different integrations with popular WordPress tools and plugins. The most widely used integrations include WooCommerce, Elementor, MemberPress, LearnDash, Easy Digital Downloads, and more.
The best thing about using FluentCRM alongside other plugins is tools is that FluentCRM will automatically detect the plugins you have installed and show you the best ways you can take advantage of the integration. There’s no complex setup or configuration required.
However, the plugin doesn’t currently integrate with many existing form or lead generation plugins. It easily integrates with Fluent Forms, but other popular plugins aren’t currently supported. You can get around this by using webhooks, but this might be too advanced for some WordPress users.
MailPoet
MailPoet is a WordPress plugin that makes it easy to send email newsletters. It lets you design and send manual and automated emails directly from your WordPress dashboard. The core focus of the plugin is to help you send email newsletters. However, it can also create welcome emails and other automated email campaigns.
Ease of Use
MailPoet couldn’t be simpler to use. Since it’s built for WordPress, all you need to do is install the plugin, and the setup wizard will walk you through setting up the plugin and even sending your first email.
The plugin is intuitive and includes a variety of templates to help you create email campaigns quickly.
That being said, in our personal experience, it has been buggy at times and the sending service has proved to be troublesome on occasion too.
Core Features
MailPoet is very beginner-friendly and offers many tools to help you design your email newsletters. You’ll find over 50 drag-and-drop templates you can customize to your liking.
Your email newsletters can be automated or sent out manually. Other sequences you can create are welcome sequences or automated post notification emails whenever you publish a new blog post.
If you’re running a WooCommerce store, then there are a few email types you can use, including:
- Abandoned shopping cart emails
- First purchase emails
- Product purchase emails (for a product or category)
Integrations
In total, MailPoet offers 29+ different integrations. Most of these integrations are with WordPress form plugins and other lead-generation tools, which makes sense since you need to generate leads to send emails. These plugins include Elementor, OptinMonster, FluentForms, Formidable Forms, and more.
There aren’t many other plugins supported beyond optin and lead generation plugins. However, you will find integrations with popular plugins like MemberPress and WooCommerce.
MailChimp
MailChimp is a very popular and robust email marketing platform. It lets you create and send email newsletters, create advanced automations, segment your list, and more. It offers a ton of functionality and integrations too. But, since it’s a third-party tool, you’ll need to integrate it properly to use it with your WordPress website.
Ease of Use
It’s not directly built for WordPress, so you’ll want to use a third-party MailChimp plugin like MC4WP to connect the service to your site. To connect things properly, you’ll also need to verify your domain, connect via your API key, and more. Although this isn’t that difficult, it can be a bit technical for beginners.
Once you’ve added MailChimp functionality to your site, then you’ll manage your lists and send emails from your MailChimp account.
Core Features
MailChimp features over 100 email templates and an email builder that lets you easily customize your own emails. Depending on the plan you’re using, you can either send manual emails, scheduled emails, or create complex automations.
The manual email feature is similar to what you can do within MailPoet and FluentCRM.
The most useful feature is its in-depth campaign builder. With this tool, you can build complex customer journeys with branching if/then logic. Emails are directly tied to your customer’s actions, so they’ll receive a relevant email whenever they take a particular action.
There’s a library of pre-built customer journeys for your marketing goals. Here’s how it looks:
Integrations
Overall, MailChimp integrates with over 300 different plugins and tools. This makes sense since it’s one of the most popular and widely used email marketing platforms out there. No matter what tool you’re using, you’ll probably be able to find a MailChimp integration for it.
You’ll find integrations for WooCommerce, MailOptin, FuseWP, and more.
That being said, just because there are a lot of integrations to choose from doesn’t mean they work properly or are easy to set up. With most integrations, including the WordPress to MailChimp integration, you’ll spend a lot of time configuring things to get them to work properly.
FluentCRM Vs MailPoet Vs MailChimp Pricing
Beyond the feature set and learning curve, price is going to be one of the biggest factors when it comes to choosing the right email marketing platform for your needs.
Below you’ll find a detailed breakdown of how these tools handle pricing.
FluentCRM Pricing
Unlike other SaaS tools and WordPress plugins, FluentCRM has very straightforward pricing. It relies on simple yearly pricing, a significant advantage for agencies and medium-sized businesses.
The main difference between each pricing tier is the number of sites you’ll need to support.
Currently, the most affordable plan is the Solo Entrepreneur plan, which starts at $129 per year. It is occasionally discounted, as you can see in the screenshot below, so keep an eye out for some offers from time to time.
Here’s a quick look at the premium plans as at March 2024:
You’ll also need to consider an email provider to send your emails through. There are dozens of providers, like Mailgun, SendGrid, and Amazon SES. You’ll pay based on the number of emails you send. With a provider like Amazon SES, you’ll pay $0.10 for every 1,000 emails you send.
Finally, there’s a free version of the plugin that packs many of the same features as the premium version. The main difference is that these features won’t be as in-depth, but you can still send emails, create automations, segment your list, and more.
MailPoet Pricing
If you’re on the Starter plan, MailPoet is free for up to 1,000 contacts. However, you’re limited to 5,000 emails per month.
This plan includes subscription forms, basic automation, and an email analytics summary. All sending is done through MailPoet.
Once you exceed the 1,000 subscriber threshold, you must upgrade to the Business or Agency plan. The price of these will increase further as your subscribers go up. However, you also get access to detailed email statistics, segmentation, marketing automation, and the ability to send unlimited emails.
MailChimp Pricing
MailChimp offers a free plan for up to 500 contacts. The free plan also lets you send up to 1,000 emails per month. However, you will have limited access to email templates and analytics features.
To get the full value out of MailChimp, you’ll need to upgrade to one of the premium plans, which starts at $13 per month for 500 contacts.
The Essentials plan gives you access to additional features like A/B testing, email scheduling, and simple customer journeys. The Standard plan offers more advanced customer journeys, advanced segmentation, and in-depth testing. Like MailPoet, the price of the plan will increase based on the number of subscribers you have.
Here’s a breakdown of the monthly MailChimp plans based on 500 contacts:
Note that pricing increases sharply. For example, if you have 5,000 contacts you’ll be paying $100 a month for the Standard plan.
FluentCRM Vs MailPoet Vs MailChimp: Which One is Best?
Overall, all three email marketing platforms accomplish the same task. They let you send emails to a list of new prospects and existing customers to make more sales and deepen your relationship.
If all you’re trying to do is send a weekly email newsletter or other basic emails, you can use MailPoet. It’s simple, easy to use, and lets you send emails and create basic automations quickly.
But if you need to create advanced automations or want in-depth segmentation, robust contact management, and much more, then FluentCRM will be the best option. Not only does it have all the same features, but it’s the most affordable option, and the size of your contact list will never limit you.
The only thing FluentCRM doesn’t have is a collection of email templates. However, you’ll be writing emails inside the block editor, offering you plenty of creative options.
Keep reading the article at WP Mayor. The article was originally written by Kevin Wood on 2024-03-27 14:41:55.
The article was hand-picked and curated for you by the Editorial Team of WP Archives.