If you’re looking for an Alternative to Mailchimp or a budget email marketing tool, you’ve probably come across Sendinblue in your hunt. In this Sendinblue review, I’m doing to dive into the pros and cons of Sendinblue, and why it’s actually better than MailChimp (in most cases)!
Click Here To Try Sendinblue For Free
Sendinblue Review
Sendinblue brings something different to the email marketing space. It doesn’t charge you for the number of people on your email list. Instead, you just pay Sendinblue based on the number of emails you send.
When you get started with email marketing it can be a little overwhelming with all the tools and autoresponders. Also as you go into the pricing you see what most tools like Aweber and ConvertKit start at $30+/month which is a hefty price for someone just starting out.
So what do you end up doing?
If you ask 1000 bloggers who’ll find that 90% of then will either sign up for MailChimp or just not build an email list.
Why is that?
Well, MailChimp is a huge company and spends A lot of money on advertising!
MailChimp’s free plan only allows you to have an email list of 2000 people in comparison, the free plan of Sendinblue allows you unlimited contacts
However, you are limited at 300 emails /day which comes out to ~10k emails/month which is on par with Mailchimp’s “free” plan which only lets you send 10k emails as well.
Just because Mailchimp gives you more emails/day in their “free” plan doesn’t mean you’re better off. You have to think about the longer term.
For example, let’s say you’re on paid plans with both MailChimp and Sendinblue with an email list of 20k people and you send 3 emails/month
- Sendinblue costs only $39/month
- MailChimp costs $159/month (that’s in their basic plan with limited features)
That’s a massive difference! The moment you start paying MailChimp is actually 4x more expensive than Sendinblue!
So, if you’re going to have less than 2000 people on your list and never paying for Mailchimp then it might be an alright choice.
However, if you are planning on growing your subscribers than I’d recommend going to Sendinblue.
Click Here To Try Sendinblue For Free
About Sendinblue
Sendinblue is a European based company (which is great in an industry filled with US-based companies) that started in 2012.
Sendinblue is much more than just an email newsletter tool: it’s a complete Sales & Marketing toolbox. Email, SMS, Facebook ads, chat, CRM, and more in one single SaaS platform
The major thing that separates Sendinblue from most email marketing tools like Mailerlite, ConvertKit, and Aweber is that fact that Sendinblue doesn’t charge you are your email subscribers grows. You pay based on the number of emails you send which is a refreshed in the industry.
Sendinblue Features
1. GDPR and data security
Being based in Europe, Sendinblue is built with a big focus on data and security and is compliant with Europes new GDPR laws(by default).
Also, if you’ve spent any time around developer forums, you know that most technology enthusiasts don’t trust US-based data companies, so it’s good to have companies based outside that offer better data security and competition.
2. Ease of use
The drag and drop email builder allow you to build professional and beautiful newsletters on your own without having to ever touch a piece of code.
3. CRO suite
Sendinblue is a complete CRO suite that has all the steps you need in converting your visitors.
Every single account has a CRM, and allows you to build Signup Forms, Landing Pages and run Facebook Ads retargeting.
4. Integrations
One big plus with using Sendinblue is that it integrates with Zapier thus connecting it with literally “EVERY integration” out there.
Sendinblue also has native support for Magento making it extremely popular for transactional emails for eCommerce stores.
5. Automation
Sendinblue visual automation is super easy to use and makes it super easy to create and visualize every marketing campaign.
Sendinblue also comes built-in with advanced automation features like:
- lead scoring
- A/B split condition
6. Easy Detailed Analytics
Reporting and Analytics are very important to keep in mind with any marketing campaign to see what works and what didn’t. Sendinblue comes with all the analytical data that you need, ie click-through rate, open rate, bounce rate, and other metrics.
7. Support
Sendinblue has great support that’s available via email, chat, and phone in six languages!
8. Pricing
One of the reasons I like Sendinblue is the pricing! You don’t have to pay just to maintain and grow an email list, you just pay when you email.
Why is this great?
Well, right now I’m not running an email list for this blog (As I’m trying something new) however when I start to I’m going to only send an email once a month. (here’s what’s new this month)
Paying $79/month for Convertkit for 5000 subscribers is worth it if I’m launching a course or running a marketing campaign that involves 10-20 emails.
However, if I just want to send a few emails a month, nothing beats Sendinblue as I can grow an email list of almost 40k people for a fun hobby blog for only $20/month! (hint: you can do the same for your non-profit, small business or startup!)
Click Here To Try Sendinblue For Free
Sendinblue Pricing
Sendinblue has 5 different plans (all allow unlimited contracts)
- Free (up to 300 emails/day) – $0
- Lite (up to 40k emails/month) – $25/month
- Essential (up to 60k emails/month) – $39/month
- Premium (up to 120k emails/month) – $66/month
- Premium (up to 360k emails/month) – $173/month
- Enterprise – Custom
Sendinblue ends up usually being about 4x the price of MailChimp and other Email marketing tools.
eg. To Send 3 emails to 20,000 people each month
- Sendinblue costs only $39/month
- MailChimp costs $159/month (that’s in their basic plan with limited features)
- Convertkit cost $179/month
Sendinblue Discount Code
They’re many websites on the internet making misleading offers such as:
- Sendinblue Coupon
- Sendinblue Discount Coupon
- Sendinblue Discount Code
- Sendinblue Discount
- Sendinblue Coupon Code
- Sendinblue Coupons
- Sendinblue Code
- Sendinblue Promo Codes
However, the truth is that Sendinblue does not offer any coupons to anyone!
However…..
You can get a discount on Sendinblue if you decide to pay Annually instead of Monthly! If you decide to pay annually instead of monthly you will save 20%
Simply click the link below and pick “Annual”
Click Here To Get The Discount
Is Sendinblue Worth It?
The answer is definitely YES! For the price, Sendinblue allows you to have an email list with no caps on the number of contracts and only charges you on the number of emails sent. It’s without a doubt one of the best budget email marketing tool on the market.
SendInBlue vs MailChimp
There’s a reason why businesses all over the world still use email marketing in 2021 – it simply works. And not only does it work, it actually works really well.
According to McKinsey, email marketing is 40 times more effective when it comes to acquiring customers than Facebook and Twitter combined!
The email marketing industry has matured over the years and there are a number of well-developed email marketing tools out there that make it super easy to use email as a powerful marketing tool.
In this review, we’re going to take a look at a tool that has been around since the early 200s, MailChimp, and a tool that’s relatively new but extremely promising, SendInBlue.
MailChimp is currently one of the most widely-used email marketing tools out there. It is a really easy-to-use tool that comes with a great free plan and standard features like a drag-and-drop editor for your emails, automations, and more. Founded in 2001, it has millions of customers around the world and around a billion emails are sent using MailChimp every day.
SendInBlue is a pretty new email marketing tool, created “only” 8 eight years ago in 2012. Overall, the tool is very powerful and comes packed with modern features and an affordable price.
When we talk about SendInBlue vs MailChimp, here are some quick pointers you should consider:
- While MailChimp does offer a free plan, SendInBlue is more affordable in the long run and it also comes with a free plan.
- MailChimp’s features are pretty limited and outdated when compared to SendInBlue. For example, when it comes to automations and list management, SendInBlue is definitely a better choice.
Now that you have a basic idea of the differences between the two email marketing tools, let’s take a look at the differences more in-depth.
Click Here To Try Sendinblue For Free
SendInBlue vs MailChimp: Ease of Use
Ideally, you want your email marketing tool to be as easy to use as possible. It can be really annoying to use a cluttered interface that is not user-friendly.
When it comes to ease of use and usability, MailChimp does pretty well. The software is pretty easy to get used to and you can quickly find most of the functions that you would need. However, it can be a bit annoying getting to some functions like adding opt-ins for sign-ups.
SendInBlue is also designed to be really easy to use. The drag-and-drop email builder is super fast and you can quickly and intuitively find all the functions you would need.
There are some tiny details that make it a pleasure to use such as the option to quickly revert back to previous versions of emails and a guide that helps you through every single step.
Overall, both the tools are pretty easy to use and come with quick learning curves so you can get started fast.
SendInBlue vs MailChimp: Design
Email marketing is a competitive field as almost every business is using some form of email marketing today. This is why it is important to ensure not only the quality of your email’s content is good but also the design of the email itself.
Both MailChimp and SendInBlue come with decent features when it comes to designing emails. For example, both MailChimp and SendInBlue come with tons of templates that are customizable so you can quickly create emails that are visually impressive.
While some of the designs on both the tools are a bit outdated, the sheer number of templates available means you can find a template for almost any purpose you can think of.
When it comes to the visual editor, SendInBlue kind of lags behind as the MailChimp editor is really smooth and allows you to do a lot of things with a simple user interface. For example, the MailChimp editor has a lot more options when it comes to fonts and functionality like adding social media buttons.
The good news is both the platforms provide a lot of responsive and ready-to-go templates that make your emails stand out. However, if you want to build all your emails from scratch, it would definitely be easier to use MailChimp instead of SendInBlue.
SendInBlue vs MailChimp: List Management
Managing your subscribers is a fundamental feature of any email marketing tool. However, when it comes to ease-of-use and functionality, MailChimp has a lot of problems while the process is fairly straightforward with SendInBlue.
Let’s start with SendInBlue. You can import your contacts by either copy-pasting information, using a CSV file, or doing everything manually. Naturally, the easiest and most time-saving process is to use CSV files. Once your list is updated with all your subscribers, you can start the segmentation process.
On SendInBlue, you can segment your users by a wide range of attributes like location, employment, user behavior, etc. Everything is just a matter of a few clicks and the process is a breeze to get through. Additionally, SendInBlue allows you to segment your subscribers and manage them on all plans, not just the higher-tier ones.
Now let’s get to MailChimp. While importing your subscribers is a pretty straightforward process on MailChimp too, things start going downhill quickly.
Advanced segmentation is only available to users who paid for the higher-tier plans. Also, MailChimp follows a segmentation philosophy where everything is group-based instead of being list-based.
This means that you can create different “groups” of your subscribers but all of them will be on the same list. Additionally, MailChimp doesn’t allow you to message subscribers from two groups at once.
Overall, when it comes to managing your list, SendInBlue is much better than MailChimp.
Click Here To Try Sendinblue For Free
SendInBlue vs MailChimp: Automations
Automation is another crucial part of email marketing. Considering the amounts of emails involved in most email marketing campaigns, it would be a really tedious, and impossible, process without automation. Both MailChimp and SendInBlue and MailChimp come with basic automation features but again, in this aspect, MailChimp lags behind for many reasons.
SendInBlue’s automation process is very simple and it offers a number of different preset automation templates to help you get started. It also comes with a very intuitive drag-and-drop editor that allows you to visualize the automation process.
The editor works on a simple if-this-then-that principle with basic triggers. Overall, considering the price point, SendInBlue definitely provides one of the best basic automation experiences compared to other email marketing tools.
Lastly, SendInBlue’s automation features are also available on all plans and it also comes with some nice niche features like allowing you to send your emails at the “best” time which helps a lot in terms of optimization.
MailChimp’s automation features also include a list of templates that you can use based on the goal you’re trying to accomplish. However, the triggers and functionality provided in the MailChimp automation system are fairly limited and not as user friendly as SendInBlue.
Lastly, MailChimp only allows you to use automations if you sign up for the more experience plans. The only good thing about MailChimp’s automation system is that, if you use the higher-priced plans, you can connect it to your website and CRM which allows you to use a somewhat advanced automation process.
Overall, it is pretty clear that SendInBlue has got MailChimp beat when it comes to automation.
SendInBlue vs MailChimp: Sign-up Forms
In order to add subscribers to your list, you will have to use sign-up forms, and naturally, both SendInBlue and MailChimp allow you to create sign-up forms.
On MailChimp, creating sign-up forms is pretty easy. You have the option of choosing from different types of forms such as a pop-up form, an embedded form, or an entire landing page. However, the interface is a bit annoying to deal with and some minor issues with the responsiveness of the forms.
As for SendInBlue, creating a form is really easy and actually fun. It comes with a modern form editor that allows you to create forms using a drag-and-drop approach which makes things much easier. You can also allow your subscribers to select the list they want to get opted into which is a pretty niche but good feature to have.
Overall, creating forms is much easier in SendInBlue when compared to MailChimp.
SendInBlue vs MailChimp: CRM
Ideally you do not want to use an email marketing tool in place of a full-fledged CRM but if you’re looking for basic CRM functions, both SendInBlue and MailChimp offer CRM features too.
MailChimp comes with a premium feature called Social Profiles that allows you to track the publicly available social media data of your subscribers and create campaigns based on the data. It also is useful when it comes to e-commerce data when connected to your online store.
As for SendInBlue, it allows you to create some basic customer profiles too and get an overview of the different actions of the subscriber such as what pages they’ve visited.
However, as far as CRM features go, both of them are pretty limited and I would recommend using an advanced CRM like Hubspot for best results.
SendInBlue vs MailChimp: Reporting
In terms of reporting, both SendInBlue and MailChimp come with decent features that allow you to track the performance of your email campaigns like open rate, bounces, clicks, etc. You can also easily find other analytics like geolocation too.
It is really easy to track your conversions on both the tools and both of them come with Google Analytics integration for advanced reporting and analytics.
SendInBlue vs MailChimp: Split Testing
Split testing, or A/B testing, can be really useful when it comes to optimizing your emails. If you’re not familiar with it, split testing refers to sending different variants of an email to different segments in your list to find out which one works the best overall.
MailChimp allows you to send up to three different variants of the email on the lower-priced plans and up to 8 different variants of the email for the higher-tier plans. You can split-test all the different parts of an email such as the subject line, content, etc.
SendInBlue also allows you to split test every aspect of your email including the subject lines, design, and content. However, you can only send two different variants of the email with SendInBlue.
SendInBlue vs MailChimp: Integrations
It is very likely that you’ll be using your email marketing tool in congruence with other digital marketing tools. Both MailChimp and SendInBlue offer a lot of integrations that help you connect with a lot of major tools that are used in digital marketing.
While SendInBlue does not have as many integrations as MailChimp does, it covers the most important ones such as Drupal, Salesforce, WooCommerce, and more.
As for MailChimp, you can integrate with more than 200 different tools. However, if we’re being honest, you’ll probably not really need to use all of them.
Additionally, you can use tools like Zapier to connect with other tools that might not offer native integration support with MailChimp or SendInBlue.
Overall, as far as integrations go, both SendInBlue and MailChimp rank well. MailChimp still does have more integrations natively though.
Click Here To Try Sendinblue For Free
SendInBlue vs MailChimp: Pricing
Pricing is a pretty important factor when it comes to any digital marketing tool, especially if you’re a small business. Fortunately, both SendInBlue and MailChimp provide free plans so let’s take a look at what you get:
| SendInBlue Free Plan | MailChimp Free Plan |
| SendInBlue’s free plan allows you to add unlimited subscribers, send transactional emails, and also a basic CRM. However, you can only send 300 emails every day on the free plan. | MailChimp’s free plan allows you to add only 2,000 subscribers. You can use 7 marketing channels, some basic templates, basic CRM features, and some other features like basic automations and surveys. |
While both SendInBlue and MailChimp have free plans that are good for getting started with email marketing, both the plans have severe limitations and you’ll most likely have to upgrade to a paid plan eventually.
With that being said, here’s a quick overview of the different plans offered by SendInBlue and MailChimp.
MailChimp offers three different paid plans:
- Essentials ($9.99 per month to $259 per month / 500 to 50,000 subscribers)
The Essentials plan comes with everything that’s offered in the Free plan but it also comes with split testing, a bigger template library, and custom branding.
- Standard ($14.99 per month to $499 per month / 500 to 100,000 subscribers)
The Standard plan offers everything in the Essentials plan. Some of the additional features include retargeting ads, advanced insights, custom templates, and behavior-based automation.
- Premium ($299 per month to $1,099 per month / 10,000 to 200,000 subscribers)
The Premium plan is the highest tier plan and comes with everything in the standard plan. Additional features include advanced segmentation, better customer support, role-based access, and multivariate testing.
SendInBlue also offers three different paid plans:
- Lite ($25 per month with 40,000 emails per month)
The Lite plan comes with all the features of the Free plan. You can send up to 40,000 emails per month on this plan with no daily limit set like the Free plan.
- Essential ($39 per month with 60,000 emails per month)
The Essential plan comes with all the features of the Lite plan. Additionally, it also unlocks custom branding, split testing, and advanced analytics.
- Premium ($66 per month to $173 per month with 120,000 emails per month to 350,000 emails per month)
The Premium plan has all the features of the Essential plan and comes with additional features like Facebook ads, landing pages, chat, marketing automation, and multi-user access.
Click Here To Try Sendinblue For Free
As you probably noticed, SendInBlue and MailChimp have two different approaches to pricing as well.
While SendInBlue offers unlimited contacts and limits the number of emails you can send per month, MailChimp’s plans are charged based on the number of subscribers you have. You can buy additional email credits if your monthly email limit is exhausted with SendInBlue.
Do note that even MailChimp has a limit to the number of emails you can send per month but it is really high.
SendInBlue vs MailChimp: Customer Support
To be honest, unless you’re using the higher-tier plans, both SendInBlue and MailChimp offer pretty basic and limited customer support. Fortunately, considering the ease of use for both the tools, you probably won’t need a lot of customer support anyway.
Both of them offer a self-help section with guides and tutorials for most of the functions you would need. You can still get basic customer support through email and live chat with both the tools. On the higher tier plans, you can get priority customer support over the phone too.
SendInBlue vs MailChimp: Pros and Cons
Now that we’ve covered both SendInBlue and MailChimp, let’s take a look at the pros and cons when it comes to both the tools.
SendInBlue Pros and Cons
| Pros | Cons |
| The plans are relatively affordable and provide a ton of value. | The free plan limits you to send only 300 emails per day. |
| Great email automation features and a simple process. | The number of native integrations offered is pretty limited. |
| Additional features like SMS marketing and landing page editor. | |
| Decent deliverability. |
MailChimp Pros and Cons
| One of the best free plans in the email marketing industry. | It can get costly once you start adding more subscribers. |
| A huge number of integrations and templates. | The automation features are pretty limited. |
| Great email editor. |
SendInBlue vs MailChimp: Verdict
Now that we went through all the different aspects of both SendInBlue and MailChimp, here are some thoughts on which one is right for you.
While MailChimp is the largest email marketing tool out there, I would say SendInBlue is arguably much better when it comes to certain aspects. For example, the pricing is much more affordable and it is also much easier when it comes to list management and segmentation.
Previously, there used to be some concerns regarding the deliverability with SendInBlue but with the latest updates, things have been getting better and it can definitely compete with MailChimp on most fronts.
Overall, I would say while it might not be the best email marketing tool out there right now, SendInBlue has a lot to offer and you should definitely try it out as it offers a lot more value for a better price than MailChimp in my opinion!
Click Here To Try Sendinblue For Free
Related Articles:
Leave a Reply