4 ms·

Mailchimp/Mandrill is pretty expensive, but designing emails without a solid WYSIWYG editor is just too painful for my taste. Are there good, cheaper alternativ

Mailchimp/Mandrill is pretty expensive, but designing emails without a solid WYSIWYG editor is just too painful for my taste. Are there good, cheaper alternatives out there for transactional email and newsletters with good delivery?

PostHeat 5y ago
I'm working to build a good WYSIWYG email editor at https://postheat.com/create https://postheat.com/create
orky56 5y ago
Constant Contact is still independent. Its WYSIWYG is just fine and comes out a little cheaper for me.
- pirsquare 5y ago
  FWIW, I wouldn't recommend Constant Contact to anyone. Simple reason is that you need to call their support line to cancel subscription. Source: https://community.constantcontact.com/t5/Get-Help/Billing-FAQ/td-p/363817 https://community.constantcontact.com/t5/Get-Help/Billing-FA...
  - jkestner 5y ago
    I did that, wasn’t painful. On the other hand, Mailchimp expired unused credits I had to send emails. I know it’s the way of the world, but digital credits shouldn’t expire.
mtlynch 5y ago
I like EmailOctopus Connect.[0] It includes a WYSIWYG editor, but it sends outgoing mail through your own Amazon SES account, so it stays affordable even with large lists. They also have a non-SES offering which costs a little more.[1] They're also bootstrapped and independent. They have a really easy to use API[2] (other providers have horrifically inscrutable APIs[3]). The customer service used to be excellent since you were talking directly to the founders. Now they've outsourced customer support so that's not as good, but I still like them far more than any other email service provider. [0] https://emailoctopus.com/pricing-connect https://emailoctopus.com/pricing-connect [1] https://emailoctopus.com/pricing https://emailoctopus.com/pricing [2] https://emailoctopus.com/api-documentation https://emailoctopus.com/api-documentation [3] https://docs.bigmailer.io/reference#updatecontact https://docs.bigmailer.io/reference#updatecontact
pirsquare 5y ago
Postmark is the gold standard for transactional emails. They have the best deliverability since they don't mix marketing emails.
- alberth 5y ago
  No true anymore. Postmark has been doing bulk emailing since 2019. https://postmarkapp.com/blog/api-bulk-the-final-frontier https://postmarkapp.com/blog/api-bulk-the-final-frontier
  - SahAssar 5y ago
    They say in that blogpost that they do separate transactional and bulk email: > Q: How will you maintain high deliverability for transactional email? > A: Separating transactional traffic from other types of email using different sending IPs and From domains is a longstanding best practice for ensuring optimal deliverability. ... > That means transactional and broadcast traffic never intersect in Postmark, including IP ranges. https://postmarkapp.com/blog/api-bulk-the-final-frontier#how-will-you-maintain-high-deliverability-for-transactional-email https://postmarkapp.com/blog/api-bulk-the-final-frontier#how...
throwawayboise 5y ago
HTML is for web pages. Email should be plain text.
- wintermutestwin 5y ago
  My partner's one-person service business sends out monthly availability emails to her small list of eager customers. Plain text would not suit her image and brand at all. You are saying she should send a plain text email with a link to a webpage? It sounds like you have no understanding of a business like hers.
  - throwawayboise 5y ago
    Yes that's what I'm saying. I realize many don't agree, but I'm also very convinced I'm right.
    - noizejoy 5y ago
      I’ve learned over the decades, that “being right” is rather irrelevant when it comes to communication patterns. Language changes and communication patterns, technologies, and how they are used constantly evolve (for better or worse). While I also would prefer email to be text only, it seems most of the world feels differently. So I stopped worrying about it. Side note: In theory an HTML email can be more visibly respectful of privacy while being nicely formatted, than visiting a webpage, although in practice that distinction seems increasingly rare.
- ChrisArchitect 5y ago
  With you on that for sure, but after years of seeing it the return on HTML emails good and bad is still just too good to ignore. Still great marketing return etc. And with mobile having evolved the way it has and even browser engines/mail clients becoming much more adept, HTML emails (designing them obviously still painful but it's marginally better than 10 years ago), are still working for millions of ppl. And I suppose that leads into some of what this deal is about (other reasons being integration and data etc)
paolator 5y ago
I feel you. Designing emails should be easy, not painful. If you're after a solid WYSIWYG editor and actually great customer support, MailerSend may just be your option for your transactional emails (https://www.mailersend.com/ https://www.mailersend.com/). And MailerLite for newsletters with the best deliverability. Keeping both transactional and marketing emails separate helps you in building and maintaining a good sending reputation. Disclosure: I work for the parent company, but have done a lot of competitor research — MailerSend provides the best prices that you'll see in this space (12,000 emails/month for the free plan and US$25 for 50,000 emails/m to give you an idea) and we actually care and like to implement on the customer feedback we receive. If you end up trying it, never hesitate to reach out to our team, more than happy to help!
rsoto 5y ago
We had to migrate from Mailchimp when they started bumping up their plans. We did our research and Mailerlite[1] was our choice, and we've been a customer for a couple of years now. 1: https://www.mailerlite.com/ https://www.mailerlite.com/
Angius 5y ago
I'd like to introduce you to our lord and savior MJML: https://mjml.io https://mjml.io It's a HTML-like language that lets you create email templates without much pain, and compiles to HTML understandable by email clients.
ghayes 5y ago
What about Sendgrid†? They have a good WYSIWYG editor and fairly reasonable price points [0] in my experience. † now owned by Twilio [0] https://sendgrid.com/pricing/ https://sendgrid.com/pricing/
sprkwd 5y ago
HTTPS://mautic.org
michelb 5y ago
I'm using Campaign Monitor for newsletters and Sendgrid for transactional. I design the emails using MJML or export with Emailify after designing in Figma (amazing!).

PostHeat 5y ago

I'm working to build a good WYSIWYG email editor at https://postheat.com/create https://postheat.com/create

orky56 5y ago

Constant Contact is still independent. Its WYSIWYG is just fine and comes out a little cheaper for me.

pirsquare 5y ago
FWIW, I wouldn't recommend Constant Contact to anyone. Simple reason is that you need to call their support line to cancel subscription. Source: https://community.constantcontact.com/t5/Get-Help/Billing-FAQ/td-p/363817 https://community.constantcontact.com/t5/Get-Help/Billing-FA...
- jkestner 5y ago
  I did that, wasn’t painful. On the other hand, Mailchimp expired unused credits I had to send emails. I know it’s the way of the world, but digital credits shouldn’t expire.

mtlynch 5y ago

I like EmailOctopus Connect.[0] It includes a WYSIWYG editor, but it sends outgoing mail through your own Amazon SES account, so it stays affordable even with large lists. They also have a non-SES offering which costs a little more.[1] They're also bootstrapped and independent. They have a really easy to use API[2] (other providers have horrifically inscrutable APIs[3]). The customer service used to be excellent since you were talking directly to the founders. Now they've outsourced customer support so that's not as good, but I still like them far more than any other email service provider. [0] https://emailoctopus.com/pricing-connect https://emailoctopus.com/pricing-connect [1] https://emailoctopus.com/pricing https://emailoctopus.com/pricing [2] https://emailoctopus.com/api-documentation https://emailoctopus.com/api-documentation [3] https://docs.bigmailer.io/reference#updatecontact https://docs.bigmailer.io/reference#updatecontact

pirsquare 5y ago

Postmark is the gold standard for transactional emails. They have the best deliverability since they don't mix marketing emails.

alberth 5y ago
No true anymore. Postmark has been doing bulk emailing since 2019. https://postmarkapp.com/blog/api-bulk-the-final-frontier https://postmarkapp.com/blog/api-bulk-the-final-frontier
- SahAssar 5y ago
  They say in that blogpost that they do separate transactional and bulk email: > Q: How will you maintain high deliverability for transactional email? > A: Separating transactional traffic from other types of email using different sending IPs and From domains is a longstanding best practice for ensuring optimal deliverability. ... > That means transactional and broadcast traffic never intersect in Postmark, including IP ranges. https://postmarkapp.com/blog/api-bulk-the-final-frontier#how-will-you-maintain-high-deliverability-for-transactional-email https://postmarkapp.com/blog/api-bulk-the-final-frontier#how...

throwawayboise 5y ago

HTML is for web pages. Email should be plain text.

wintermutestwin 5y ago
My partner's one-person service business sends out monthly availability emails to her small list of eager customers. Plain text would not suit her image and brand at all. You are saying she should send a plain text email with a link to a webpage? It sounds like you have no understanding of a business like hers.
- throwawayboise 5y ago
  Yes that's what I'm saying. I realize many don't agree, but I'm also very convinced I'm right.
  - noizejoy 5y ago
    I’ve learned over the decades, that “being right” is rather irrelevant when it comes to communication patterns. Language changes and communication patterns, technologies, and how they are used constantly evolve (for better or worse). While I also would prefer email to be text only, it seems most of the world feels differently. So I stopped worrying about it. Side note: In theory an HTML email can be more visibly respectful of privacy while being nicely formatted, than visiting a webpage, although in practice that distinction seems increasingly rare.
ChrisArchitect 5y ago
With you on that for sure, but after years of seeing it the return on HTML emails good and bad is still just too good to ignore. Still great marketing return etc. And with mobile having evolved the way it has and even browser engines/mail clients becoming much more adept, HTML emails (designing them obviously still painful but it's marginally better than 10 years ago), are still working for millions of ppl. And I suppose that leads into some of what this deal is about (other reasons being integration and data etc)

paolator 5y ago

I feel you. Designing emails should be easy, not painful. If you're after a solid WYSIWYG editor and actually great customer support, MailerSend may just be your option for your transactional emails (https://www.mailersend.com/ https://www.mailersend.com/). And MailerLite for newsletters with the best deliverability. Keeping both transactional and marketing emails separate helps you in building and maintaining a good sending reputation. Disclosure: I work for the parent company, but have done a lot of competitor research — MailerSend provides the best prices that you'll see in this space (12,000 emails/month for the free plan and US$25 for 50,000 emails/m to give you an idea) and we actually care and like to implement on the customer feedback we receive. If you end up trying it, never hesitate to reach out to our team, more than happy to help!

rsoto 5y ago

We had to migrate from Mailchimp when they started bumping up their plans. We did our research and Mailerlite[1] was our choice, and we've been a customer for a couple of years now. 1: https://www.mailerlite.com/ https://www.mailerlite.com/

Angius 5y ago

I'd like to introduce you to our lord and savior MJML: https://mjml.io https://mjml.io It's a HTML-like language that lets you create email templates without much pain, and compiles to HTML understandable by email clients.

ghayes 5y ago

What about Sendgrid†? They have a good WYSIWYG editor and fairly reasonable price points [0] in my experience. † now owned by Twilio [0] https://sendgrid.com/pricing/ https://sendgrid.com/pricing/

sprkwd 5y ago

HTTPS://mautic.org

michelb 5y ago

I'm using Campaign Monitor for newsletters and Sendgrid for transactional. I design the emails using MJML or export with Emailify after designing in Figma (amazing!).