The demand for email automation tools (autoresponders) has grown excessively over the last few years and so has the supply.
There are now dozens of autoresponders on the market, each trying to distinguish themselves by addressing specific customer needs.
It can be hard to decide which one is the best for your needs with so many options without spending hours scanning product pages, review sites, and scheduling demos.
For this reason, we’ve started this series to help you understand the pros and cons of some of the top autoresponders available.
Today, we will look at both Mailvio and Mailerlite – and see how they compare against each other.
These autoresponders have the advantage of arriving late in the game. As a result, they have capitalized on the shortcomings of more established platforms.
Let’s have a look.
Mailvio vs Mailerlite: Focus and Unique Selling Points
About Mailvio
Mailvio is the younger of the two email automation platforms having arrived on the scene in 2019. While still in its infancy, Mailvio has quickly become a go-to option for digital marketers and currently serves 600+ email marketers.
This autoresponder was created by Neil Napier who has well over 10 years of experience in digital marketing. It’s safe to say, Mailvio was designed BY digital marketers FOR digital marketers.
The main focus of Mailvio is to create conditions so customers can have reasonably better email deliverability, compared to other services out there.
Customer success is at the heart of Mailvio. They aim to deliver more of your emails into the inbox of your subscribers, boosting your open rates and clicks.
Now, let’s have a look at Mailerlite.
About Mailerlite
Mailerlite is an amazing autoresponder platform that provides its users with many of the features that our industry is now accustomed to.
This platform primarily supports small businesses, startups, and freelancers. As the name suggests, Mailerlite aims to be one of the most lightweight and easy to autoresponders around.
Now that we have outlined the focus and unique selling points of both platforms, let’s see how they compare against each other.
Mailvio vs Mailerlite: Getting Started
Email marketing is a serious business especially when it comes to customer privacy. Gone are the days when you could simply purchase an autoresponder plan and blast an email to everyone on your lists without any protocol.
To ensure that both you and your subscribers have the best experience possible, Mailvio and Mailerlite both require you to go through an approval process before sending your first email.
Mailvio Approval Process
Mailvio’s approval process is in the form of a very simple questionnaire.
There are two main reasons for this approval process:
- To ensure that all laws regulating email marketing are upheld and;
- To determine which Mailvio plan is more suited for your needs.
Mailvio will not allow you to use their platform if your lists are generated unethically.
During the approval process, you will be asked the following questions:
In addition to this, you will be required to provide some personal details such as your name and business address. This is in accordance with the CAN-SPAM Act passed by congress.
It takes about 3 minutes to complete the whole process and at most, 6 hours before you’re approved.
So long as you are honest and ethical with your marketing, you shouldn’t have any problems with being accepted.
Mailerlite Approval Process
Mailerlite’s approval process is also straightforward and can be completed in a few minutes.
Again you will be asked to provide some personal details and information regarding your lists:
Additionally, you will be required to verify website ownership if you have one even though you can be approved without a website.
The main drawback to this process is the amount of time it takes to be approved. In some instances, users have reported waiting up to 72 hours without a response.
But, if you have the patience, once you are approved it’s smooth sailing from there.
NB. Mailerlite is big on ethical email marketing. So if your lists were scraped or purchased it might be best to look elsewhere and…
WARNING FOR AFFILIATE MARKETERS: based on customer reviews, Mailerlite is no longer an affiliate marketer-friendly platform.
If you decide to pick up Mailerlite be sure to vet their refund policies before purchasing. In the event you are not approved you may not be readily reimbursed.
The Verdict
Mailvio takes the lead as their approval process is very easy and fast. They only require that you be honest in filling out their forms and practice ethical marketing. Mailerlite makes it a bit more difficult to get approved especially if you are into digital/affiliate marketing. Score: 1/0 to Mailvio.
Mailvio vs Mailerlite: Ease of Use & User Interface
Ideally, whatever autoresponder you choose should make it easier to run your business.
You don’t want to spend your time trying to figure out how things work. Instead, most of your efforts should be directed toward serving your customers.
While having a great user interface makes for a better user experience, it doesn’t necessarily have an impact on functionality or results.
Let’s see how Mailvio stacks up against Mailerlite in this category.
Mailvio Ease of Use and User Interface
Prior to the launch of Mailvio 2.0, this autoresponder needed a bit of work especially when it came down to creating email automation. On top of that, the whole layout of the platform was a bit much to take in.
It’s great to see that Mailvio 2.0 took those points into consideration as it’s now one of the easiest-to-use autoresponders around.
Everything has been improved in terms of navigation, color schemes, and layout.
In particular, it is now much easier to create email automations and access your campaigns, subscribers, tools, etc.
If you are new to Mailvio, it will take no more than an hour or two to learn how to use it to full effect.
Mailerlite Ease of Use and User Interface
Mailerlite prides itself on being lightweight and easy to use.
There are no issues whatsoever with navigation or accessing any of the features.
Mailerlite does have an exceptional drag-and-drop email builder that even 5-year-olds can use.
Mailerlite’s user interface is sleek and a bit more captivating than Mailvio’s.
The Verdict
This was a close one because both platforms are easy to use and have little to no learning curves. Mailerlite does take the win by a slight margin due to its slightly better user interface and color schemes. Score: We’re all tied at 1/1
Mailvio VS Mailerlite: List Management
Every customer’s journey with you or your business will be different. It’s not enough to simply blast one email to every single soul on your list.
You need to interact with your subscribers based on their needs and ensure that they only receive content that adds value to them.
One of the easiest ways to achieve this is with List Management.
Let’s take a look at how Mailvio and MailerLite approach this issue.
First up this round, Mailerlite.
Mailerlite List Management
As with everything they do, Mailerlite focuses on simplicity when dealing with list management. Their emphasis is on allowing their users to organize their subscribers into groups and segments.
Creating sub-lists by grouping and segmentation make it easy to interact with subscribers based on where they are on their customer journey.
With Mailerlite it is easy to create sub-lists based on various criteria as shown below:
As you can see, with Mailerlite you can segment your lists based on location, time zone, sign-up dates, etc.
You can also organize your subscribers into groups that are not defined by any specific criteria. This can be done automatically or manually.
A point worth noting is that regardless of the number of groups or segments you add a subscriber to, they will always be counted as just one subscriber.
In addition, this autoresponder makes it a breeze to:
- Import subscribers
- Edit Subscribers Data
- Manage Unsubscribers
- Deal with subscribers who mark your content as spam and;
- Reach out to unconfirmed subscribers
In a nutshell, with Mailerlite, organizing your subscribers is one of the easiest things to do.
Mailvio List Management
You might have noticed that we switched things around and dealt with Mailerlite first.
That’s because we believe that list management should be more than just the ability to organize your subscribers. In fact, that should be the base standard for every autoresponder, and for the most part, it is.
So this should come as no surprise that Mailvio also allows you to organize subscribers efficiently.
Subscribers can be added to lists and segments which makes it easier to provide them with content they are likely to engage with.
Mailvio allows you to organize subscribers based on how they engage with your content into segments. There are a lot of variables available so you can build really started segments:
Making it easy to see what subsections of your audiences are more attuned to your content and…
…what marketing angle will make you more profit.
Digital marketers will find Mailvio’s list segmentation capabilities quite intuitive.
But what about cleaning your lists and ensuring that you do not fall for Spam Traps?
This is where Mailvio takes “customer success” a bit more seriously than its counterparts.
It is essential that marketers practice good list hygiene and routinely clean their lists in order to maintain a good sender reputation and deliverability rate.
While most autoresponders, including Mailerlite, do not offer list cleaning services, Mailvio does.
With Mailvio’s List Cleaning service it takes only a few seconds to rid your lists of potential spam traps and invalid email addresses.
Thanks to this service you can mail your leads safely in the knowledge that only valid subscribers will receive your emails!
The Verdict
Mailvio wins this round by a landslide thanks to its list cleaning services. We believe that this is a visionary move by Neil and his team and that other autoresponders need to follow suit. Score: 2/1 to Mailvio
Mailvio vs Mailerlite: Deliverability
For many, deliverability is the most important factor to consider when choosing an email autoresponder.
Simply put, the more of your emails that get delivered to your subscribers’ inboxes, the higher your open rates will be and the more profits you will make.
So, how do our two platforms react to this issue? Let’s find out.
Mailerlite Deliverability
It seems that Mailerlite’s team has heard the cries of their customers for better deliverability rates and has answered.
According to research done by EmailToolTester, Mailerlite had impressive delivery rates of over 95% as of October 2021.
This is superb especially when you consider that competitors such as Mailchimp have deliverability rates that barely crack 85%.
So what does this mean?
Well, for customers of Mailerlite, more of their emails end up where they want them, in their subscriber’s inboxes.
Mailvio Deliverability
When it comes to email deliverability, Mailvio is the king of the hill.
Yes, it’s true that other platforms have considerably high deliverability rates but what about open rates?
The average open rate right across the industry is 5%. That means most emails sent using these platforms, especially affiliate campaigns, end up in “Promotion or Junk” folders.
And guess what? If no one reads your emails you don’t make any money 🙂
That’s where Mailvio is different.
Top Marketers like Chris have all reported considerably higher open rates thanks to switching to Mailvio.
Open rates above 10% are rarely heard of in this industry, let alone 27%. So how is this achieved?
Simple, Mailvio helps to boost your Sender’s Reputation by borrowing the credibility of their pre-warmed-up IP addresses.
Meaning, email service providers like Gmail and Yahoo will mark your sender’s address as reputable. As a result, they will ensure that more of your emails are inboxed.
On top of that, using Mailvio’s list cleaning services mentioned above further helps to improve your sender’s reputation.
The Verdict
Another landslide win for Mailvio. Based on their delivery and open rates, it’s safe to say, you’re leaving dollars on the table by settling for lower rates. Score: 3/1 to Mailvio
Mailvio vs Mailerlite: Design and Testing
This section will be a little different since both platforms rank equally in terms of design and testing capabilities.
Email Design
Both Mailvio and Mailerlite make designing emails a seamless process. Their drag-and-drop editors are as easy to use as a toothbrush.
But if you get stuck along the way there are countless premade templates to choose from.
These templates are mobile-friendly and rather appealing to the eye.
If on the half chance that you don’t like any of these templates you can create your own from scratch with drag and drop ease. Or, feel free to upload your own HTML designs.
Mailvio and Mailerlite each allow you to customize every aspect of your emails including:
- Fonts
- Colors
- Headers and;
- Unsubscribe Buttons
Additionally, email personalization is supported by both platforms. This feature is very helpful when it comes to getting your subscribers to trust you. With Mailvio this is done through “Merge Tags” while Mailerlite allows you to create custom fields.
It’s also easy to test how your emails will look on desktop and mobile. Mailvio also supports table previews.
With Mailvio you can go one step further by testing how your email will look in various email providers by sending test emails.
A very subtle but necessary addition to Mailvio’s design process is the ability to check all your links at a glance.
If you’ve ever sent an email to a thousand subscribers with the wrong link you’ll know just how powerful this feature is.
Both platforms could work on adding spam filters to help with deliverability.
Sign Up Form Design
Both autoresponders allow you to quickly create forms that can be hosted or embedded into your websites.
Mailerlite has the edge here. Their forms are much more responsive and versatile. Popup forms that trigger based on a viewer’s action (eg. exist popup) are a fan favorite.
Landing Page & Website Design
Unlike Mailerlite, Mailvio doesn’t support landing pages nor website design so there’s not much to compare here.
The Verdict
This is a close one to call. Both platforms make it super easy to create email campaigns and offer just about the same number of unique features. However, Mailerlite takes this win thanks to the extra versatility of their Forms. Score: 3/2 to Mailvio
Mailvio vs Mailerlite: Email Automation & Analytics
Think about this: what if you were to end up staying in the hospital…will your family be okay? Will your bills be paid? How will your business be impacted?? Will the money still keep coming in?
It can happen to all of us. And it can happen suddenly – with no warning.
When that does, who is there to pick up the pieces? And most importantly – keep the money coming in.
That’s why Email Automation is so incredibly important. It helps to make your business as hands-free as possible. So even if you can’t work, your business won’t come to a standstill.
Let’s have a look at the automation capabilities and reporting systems of Mailerlite and Mailvio.
Automation and Workflows
Both Mailerlite and Mailvio provide state-of-the-art Email Automation builders. They have similar designs and functionalities.
I was surprised at first to see that Mailerlite went through the trouble of creating an automation builder that could compete with Mailvio’s.
Even though I haven’t used Mailerlite’s workflow design personally, from what I can see, it ranks in the top 3 along with Mailvio and Active Campaign.
Here’s a bit of what you can do on both platforms:
Send Trigger Emails
This allows you to interact with your subscribers based on their behaviors.
Trigger emailing automatically sends emails and updates custom fields with new data, based on specific actions or “triggers” such as clicking a link or completing a form.
Personalize Customer Interactions
Engage with each subscriber personally by adding them to groups and list segments based on their behaviors. Then send content they will find valuable.
Track Results
With these two platforms, you are able to track your automation performance with ease. See how subscribers interact with your content and marketing approach. Then use this data to improve your results.
Track Subscriber Activity
Stay abreast with the actions of your subscribers. See who engages with your content and who is inactive.
Analytics
Upon logging into Mailvio’s dashboard you are instantly greeted with detailed statics of your campaign and automation performances.
What you will like about this data is its simplicity. You are provided with exactly what you need to know in order to understand what’s working and what needs improving.
More or less, the same type of data is available to users of Mailerlite.
The Verdict
I anticipated that Mailvio would take the win here but Mailerlite can be surprisingly intricate when they want to be. It’s another draw. Score 4/3 to Mailvio.
Mailvio vs Mailerlite: Support
Support is the backbone of any successful business. It’s easier to keep a customer than to get a new one. And quality support is what keeps customers around.
Let’s see what kind of support you can expect from Mailvio vs Mailerlite.
Mailvio Support
Mailvio has a much smaller customer base compared to other autoresponders. But if they are serious about climbing the ladder they must provide reputation-building support.
And that’s exactly what they have done.
Along with 24/7 email support, you can book a Free 30-minute video call with a support agent once per week to help you with any issue.
This is truly helpful if you are new to email marketing or have any technical troubles.
This support goes beyond just helping customers to use Mailvio better. The team really tries to ensure that all of their users become better at email marketing and provides a host of useful articles in their knowledge base.
To push home this point, users can join Mailvio’s interactive FaceBook Community where there are weekly training calls coving digital marketing topics.
Mailerlite Support
With over 1.2 million users, Mailerlite has proven that they know how to deliver stellar customer support.
Like Mailvio, they have prepared an in-depth Knowledge base for your reference. Admittedly though, the knowledge is mostly about how to use their tools.
Additionally, Mailerlite offers 24-hour email support for all of its customers. At this time, phone support is not a feature of this platform, nor is live support via video calls.
Live 24/7 hour chat support is available on premium plans.
The Verdict
I’m sure that you will find great support from either platform but I’m giving Mailvio the nod here because of its free 30-minute video support. You can cover so much in 1 minute through video chats than you can do sending emails back and forth all week. Score: 5/3 to Mailvio
Mailvio vs Mailerlite: Pricing
Thankfully, you won’t have to dig deep into your pockets to afford any of these two autoresponders.
Mailvio Pricing
Digital Marketers want two things from an autoresponder:
- Higher Deliverability Rates
- Robust Features
Normally it would be impossible to meet this demand without charging customers a small fortune or cutting corners. But somehow Mailvio has done the impossible.
They have brought an autoresponder to the market with features that can outperform even top competitors, enhanced deliverability rates, and all at an unbeatable cost.
For starters, you can try out Mailvio for free for a 14-day trial period.
Their introductory payment plan lets you send unlimited emails to up to 10,000 subscribers for only $39 monthly.
Mailerlite Pricing
Mailerlite also offers a free trial where it allows users to send up to 12,000 emails to a maximum of 1,000 subscribers.
While many key features such as live 24/7 chat and A/B split testing is not supported on this plan, it’s still more than enough to get started
Users will have access to all premium features of any of Mailerlite’s paid plans. Their payment tiers are as follows:
The Verdict
This is a hard one to decide because price alone doesn’t tell the whole story and each business and individual has different needs. But, seeing a Mailvio is more affordable at every level, it wins this auction. Score: 6/3 to Mailvio.
Mailvio vs Mailerlite: Customer Testimonials
The majority of people make purchasing decisions based on other people’s reviews. So it is only natural that we round off this article with a few customer testimonials.
Mailvio Success Stories
The bulk of Mailvio users are digital marketers that need a better-performing autoresponder in terms of price and conversion rates.
Let’s see what they have to say:
Love Mailvio because is simple to use and very affordable. I moved from Infusionsoft looking for something simpler and more affordable. I couldn’t be happier with my decision. Natalie Eastman – A Higher Note LLC
Mailerlite Success Stories
Mailerlite seem to have shot themselves in the foot.
Based on the testimonials on their Home Page, it’s clear that they intend to attract users who were seeking a better alternative to Mailchimp for their digital marketing needs.
But it now seems Mailerlite is turning away digital marketers, especially affiliate marketers.
As a result, they have gathered a few telling reviews:
It’s worth noting that Mailerlite’s customer base is made up mainly of small businesses. Perhaps it’s time for them to adjust their marketing angle to better reflect their target audience.
It also seems their approval system has been stirring up a storm:
You can find more detailed reviews about Mailerlite from real customers on Trust Pilot.
The Verdict
Mailerlite takes the loss here. But there is a great lesson to learn here about attracting your ideal customers. Score: 7/3 to Mailvio.
Final Remarks
This concludes our comparison of Mailvio vs Mailerlite. Both autoresponders are high-performing and feature-rich while also being affordable.
Choosing between the two depends on a few factors but in particular, your niche.
Digital Marketers will absolutely appreciate Mailvio as it was designed specifically for their needs. At the same time, Mailvio is capable of supporting businesses of all sizes and niches.
On the other hand, small business owners and eCommerce brands will revel in the simplicity of Mailerlite.
While Mailerlite does target Digital Marketers, it may be best to avoid them if you plan on running any type of affiliate campaign.