* UPDATE – January 2020 *
As of January, 2020, ConvertKit now offers a free starting plan. That being said, you may not need to search for a cheaper starting alternative to ConvertKit. However, aspects of this post still apply if you’ve been on ConvertKit for a while and are looking for recommendations for a tool that works the same or better, but at a lower cost.
Enjoy…
My Introduction to ConvertKit
I first started following Nathan Barry shortly after he was featured in Gumroad back in 2013. I actually went back and found the first email from him that I had in my archives…
As an email marketer for the last decade, I always keep my eyes out for new technology and platforms. So, when he fully launched ConvertKit I took note and I’ve enjoyed watching the growth over the years. ConvertKit exists to help individual creators make a living doing the work they love. They’ve built a platform focused on helping individuals serve their audience.
ConvertKit is a powerful tool, but, they’re still one of many email providers in a highly competitive industry.
Competitive Pressures Facing ConvertKit
If you live in a small town and there is only one auto-mechanic, you pretty much have to pay whatever they charge. Email platforms are an altogether different story. There are literally thousands of email platforms. So, naturally, people will try to find cheaper alternatives.
Which leads me to last week…
I provide email marketing consulting and I had a client reach out and ask my suggestions on what vendors they could switch to in order to cut their email expenses in half. Since the ultimate goal was to pay less money for the same outcome, I thought I’d provide a few different options to accomplish this…
Options Without Switching Platforms
Making ConvertKit Cheaper
I’ve built robust enterprise-level marketing automation solutions and overseen platform transitions for companies sending 750+ million messages a year. Change can be VERY wonderful, but it can also be VERY painful. If done well, you can save 50% on your expenses… but if done poorly, it can also cost companies hundreds of thousands of dollars.
I can’t stress this enough: Think twice before switching email vendors.
If you want a cheaper option, but switching platforms could put more money at risk then you can save, I’d remove inactive email addresses from your list. ConvertKit actually has 5 suggestions to prune your list. I’d follow this list, but I would be sure to export the email addresses before you remove them from your account. They may make a nice audience for retargeting on Instagram or Facebook to reactivate them later on with a targeted message.
Make More Money from Your Email Program
The next option I always want to highlight for people looking to cut expenses is simply to press them about making more money. Here are a few questions to ask yourself before switching…
- When was the last time you launched a new product?
- What A/B tests have you been done?
- How many broadcast emails are you sending per month?
- When was the last time you raised your prices?
- How often are you updating your messages?
- What emails have the highest open and click rates?
Some of the most fruitful changes I’ve made to my automated messages have come after looking at the stats. For example, when we send a message about our online community, no one clicks on that message. How can you refresh that email to increase trust?
Of course, these are great questions even if you still want to switch vendors, but re-focusing on making money instead of saving it can help you serve your customers better instead of just sending them cheaper emails.
Switching from ConvertKit
So, you’re determined to switch from ConvertKit. Here are a few email providers that offer similar features like easy form building, simple automation, and tagging leads for simple segmentation.
I’m using an example of a company with 100,000 subscribers on their list for the pricing quotes. This number of email subscribers on ConvertKit is $679/mo if you are paying monthly and $566/mo if you pay annually.
Send in Blue
$173/mo (more expensive if you exceed 350,000 sends per month)
This is an exciting option that I recently discovered while researching this question. Aside from the cost savings alone, they also have SMS capabilities baked into their platform.
MailerLite
$240/mo (up to 1.2 million emails per month)
MailerLite has humble origins just like ConvertKit but has over 500,000 clients and they deploy over 1 billion messages per month. They have a robust library of tools and videos to help you get started.
GetResponse
$490/mo (Pro Plan)
This is an especially nice option for people who want to connect with their audience through webinars. Their platform has the ability to conduct webinars with your audience included in the price.
Any others I should be including?
Feel free to comment below if you think I’m missing an email provider that is on par with ConvertKit for features but comes in at a much lower price.
