AWeber vs Mailchimp: Which Email Marketing Platform Should You Actually Use?
Both AWeber and Mailchimp have been around for over two decades. AWeber launched in 1998 and is credited with inventing the email autoresponder. Mailchimp came along in 2001 and now dominates the market in terms of brand recognition. But which one should you actually use?
Here's the short answer: Mailchimp wins for most users thanks to better automation features, a more intuitive interface, and more advanced marketing tools. But AWeber has some real advantages—particularly for affiliate marketers, anyone who values customer support, and businesses with 500-50,000 subscribers where pricing can work out cheaper.
Let's break down exactly where each platform excels and where they fall short.
Quick Pricing Comparison
Before diving into features, here's what you'll actually pay:
AWeber Pricing
AWeber offers three paid tiers: Free, Lite, and Plus. The Lite plan starts at $15/month for up to 500 subscribers, but it restricts you to just 1 email list, 1 custom segment, 3 automations, and 3 landing pages. The Plus plan starts at $30/month for 500 subscribers and gives you unlimited automations, landing pages, and list segments.
The free plan limits you to 500 subscribers and 3,000 emails per month. Note that AWeber charges based on total subscriber count, not email sends—so your costs scale with list size.
Big caveat: AWeber recently increased prices significantly for grandfathered customers. Some users reported price hikes of 50-150%, which has pushed many to look elsewhere.
Mailchimp Pricing
Mailchimp has four tiers: Free, Essentials ($13/month for 500 contacts), Standard ($20/month for 500 contacts), and Premium ($350/month for 10,000 contacts).
The free plan includes up to 500 contacts and 1,000 email sends per month, with a daily send limit of 500. But here's the catch—Mailchimp's free plan no longer includes email scheduling or automation. You can build and preview automation workflows, but you need a paid plan to actually use them.
Mailchimp also counts unsubscribed contacts and people who haven't confirmed opt-in toward your total. This can push up costs significantly if you're not regularly cleaning your list.
Pricing Verdict
For small lists under 500 subscribers, both free plans are usable but limited. Once you need real features, AWeber's Plus plan at $30/month gets you unlimited automations, while Mailchimp's Standard plan at $20/month has better automation capabilities but charges you for unsubscribed contacts. At scale (10,000+ subscribers), Mailchimp tends to be pricier, especially if you need the Premium tier.
Ease of Use: Mailchimp Wins
Mailchimp's platform is easier to navigate than AWeber's. The interface is more intuitive, and most users can create their first campaign without watching tutorials.
AWeber has some quirks that frustrate users. The naming conventions are confusing—they call regular newsletters "Broadcasts" and use "Campaigns" when they mean email automations. Some common options feel hidden, like reusing a campaign or selecting a sender address.
That said, if you just need basic email sends and autoresponders, AWeber is simple enough. It's when you want to do anything more complex that Mailchimp's UX advantage becomes clear.
Email Templates: AWeber Has More, Mailchimp Looks Better
AWeber offers over 700 email templates, which sounds great until you realize many look dated. Mailchimp has around 100 templates, but they're cleaner and more modern.
Both platforms have drag-and-drop email builders. Mailchimp's editor looks more polished and is easier to use. AWeber has a "Smart Designer" feature that analyzes your website or social media and automatically builds custom email templates with your branding—which is actually pretty useful for getting started quickly.
Mailchimp offers dynamic content features that AWeber doesn't have, letting you show different content to different subscribers within the same email based on their attributes or behavior.
Automation: Mailchimp Is More Powerful
This is where Mailchimp pulls ahead significantly.
Mailchimp offers advanced automation including customer journey builders, abandoned cart sequences, product retargeting, and complex multi-step workflows with conditional logic. These work particularly well for e-commerce businesses thanks to strong integrations with Shopify, WooCommerce, and other platforms.
AWeber's automation is more straightforward. You get autoresponders, tag-based automations, and basic sequences. It's easier to set up simple automations, but you'll hit limitations faster if you want sophisticated customer journeys.
If automation is a priority, Mailchimp is the better choice. If you just need welcome sequences and basic follow-ups, AWeber gets the job done without the complexity.
Deliverability: Mixed Results
Email deliverability—whether your emails actually reach inboxes—matters more than most features. Here's where things get interesting.
Historical deliverability tests from EmailToolTester showed Mailchimp with around 91.2% deliverability compared to AWeber's 87.8%. However, AWeber has better deliverability tools including proper authentication setup (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), smart bounce handling, and visibility into sender health.
One common complaint about Mailchimp: emails tend to land in Gmail's Promotions tab more often than AWeber's. Not the spam folder, but not the primary inbox either.
Both platforms take deliverability seriously, and results can vary significantly based on your sending practices, list quality, and content. Neither is dramatically better than the other in practice.
Customer Support: AWeber Wins Decisively
This is AWeber's biggest advantage. AWeber offers 24/7 chat support and phone support during business hours on all plans. They've won multiple awards for customer service.
Mailchimp's support is more limited. The free plan only includes email support for the first 30 days after signing up. Phone support is reserved for Premium plan customers ($350+/month). Most users are stuck with email and chat.
If you're not technical and expect to need help, this difference matters. AWeber will actually pick up the phone.
Landing Pages & Sign-Up Forms
Both platforms offer unlimited landing pages on free plans, which is generous.
Mailchimp's landing page builder is easier to use and includes e-commerce features—you can sell products directly from landing pages. But there are only about 10 templates to choose from.
AWeber has 39+ landing page templates and offers some unique form features like adding video and audio files. Customization (fonts, colors, backgrounds) is more straightforward in AWeber.
Both platforms let you create pop-ups, embedded forms, and standalone sign-up pages. Mailchimp has basic SEO tools built into landing pages, even on the free plan.
Integrations
Mailchimp has the edge on integrations, with connections to virtually every major platform: Shopify, WooCommerce, WordPress, Salesforce, Zapier, and hundreds more. The e-commerce integrations are particularly strong.
AWeber integrates with most popular tools too, and supports more file formats for importing contacts (XLS, TSV, CSV, TXT vs. Mailchimp's CSV-only approach). But overall integration ecosystem is smaller.
Who Should Use AWeber?
- Affiliate marketers: Mailchimp has strict policies against affiliate marketing and has been known to ban accounts without warning. AWeber is more affiliate-friendly.
- Anyone who values support: If you want phone access to real humans, AWeber is the choice.
- Simple use cases: If you just need to send newsletters and basic autoresponders without complex automation, AWeber is simpler and can be cheaper.
- Mid-size lists (500-50,000): AWeber's pricing can work out better at certain list sizes.
Who Should Use Mailchimp?
- E-commerce businesses: Better integrations with Shopify, WooCommerce, etc., plus features like abandoned cart emails and product recommendations.
- Marketers who need advanced automation: Customer journeys, behavioral triggers, conditional logic—Mailchimp has it.
- Teams that want a polished UI: If design and user experience matter to you, Mailchimp feels more modern.
- Small lists under 500 contacts: Mailchimp's free plan allows more contacts (500 vs. 500) but with significant limitations on both.
The Bottom Line
For most small businesses, Mailchimp is the better choice. The automation features are stronger, the interface is cleaner, and the e-commerce integrations are excellent. You'll pay for it once your list grows, but the capabilities justify the cost for businesses that actually use them.
Choose AWeber if you need phone support, do affiliate marketing, or want something simpler without the learning curve of Mailchimp's more advanced features.
Neither platform is perfect. Mailchimp's free plan has become increasingly restrictive—no scheduling, no automation, limited templates. AWeber's recent price hikes have frustrated long-time customers. Both charge for unsubscribed contacts in ways that can inflate your bill.
If you're price-sensitive and want more generous free limits, check out our guide to best email marketing software for alternatives like Brevo that might better fit your budget. Also see our AWeber pricing breakdown for detailed cost comparisons at different list sizes.