AWeber Review: Is This Email Marketing Tool Worth It?

AWeber is one of the OGs of email marketing software. Founded in 1998, it's been around longer than most of its competitors and claims over 100,000 customers. But being around a long time doesn't mean it's still the best choice.

After digging into AWeber's pricing, features, and limitations, here's the honest take: it's a solid, simple email marketing tool with excellent customer support, but the pricing doesn't quite match the feature set when you compare it to modern alternatives.

Let's break it down.

AWeber Pricing: What You'll Actually Pay

AWeber offers four pricing tiers: Free, Lite, Plus, and Unlimited. Here's what you're looking at:

Free Plan

The free plan is decent for getting started, but it's more limited than competitors like MailerLite which offers 1,000 subscribers on their free tier.

Lite Plan

The Lite plan gives you access to email automation and advanced message analytics, but the restrictions on automations and segments can feel limiting if you're serious about segmentation.

Plus Plan

The Plus plan is AWeber's most popular option and removes most of the artificial limitations. If you need unlimited automations or more than one segment, you'll need this tier.

Unlimited Plan

The Unlimited plan makes sense only for high-volume senders with massive lists. At $899/month, you're getting unlimited subscribers, but the pricing jumps dramatically from the Plus tier.

Pricing By Subscriber Count

Here's where AWeber can get expensive. As your list grows, costs scale up:

The annual billing option gives you roughly 33% off, which helps. But compared to some competitors, AWeber's pricing feels steep for what you get.

Done-For-You Setup Service

AWeber also offers a done-for-you setup service where their team builds your entire email marketing system in 7 days. This includes emails, landing pages, workflows, and integrations, with 30 days of unlimited edits afterward. The service costs a one-time $79 setup fee (marked down from $599), plus your regular subscription starting at $30/month.

Nonprofit and Student Discounts

AWeber offers discounts for nonprofits and students. Qualifying organizations get 3 months of service free when opening new accounts, followed by a 25% discount on future invoices. You'll need to provide proof of nonprofit status (501(c)3 paperwork) or student status.

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What AWeber Does Well

Customer Support That's Actually Helpful

This is AWeber's standout feature. They offer phone support, email support, and live chat on all paid plans. Most competitors (Mailchimp, GetResponse, Campaign Monitor) don't offer phone support on standard plans. If you're new to email marketing and want to talk to a human when things go wrong, AWeber delivers.

Users consistently praise AWeber's customer support as responsive, thorough, and genuinely helpful. The support team is available 24/7 on Plus and higher plans, with priority support ensuring faster response times.

700+ Email Templates

AWeber has one of the largest template libraries in the industry, offering over 700 HTML templates. While some reviewers note that certain templates feel a bit dated, there's enough variety that you'll find something that works. All templates are mobile-responsive and compatible with all major email services.

The templates cover various categories including newsletters, promotions, announcements, ecommerce, events, and more. You can customize any template with your brand colors, fonts, logos, and imagery using the drag-and-drop editor.

Smart Designer Feature

This is genuinely cool. Enter your website URL and AWeber's Smart Designer crawls your site to learn your branding-colors, fonts, logos-and generates custom email templates that match your brand. The system analyzes your website or social media account and automatically builds a gallery of ready-to-use, custom email templates in seconds.

It's a time-saver and something you don't get on most other platforms. The Smart Designer eliminates the need to manually configure brand elements, giving you professional-looking templates instantly.

Canva Integration

AWeber integrates directly with Canva, letting you create graphics without leaving the email builder. For small teams without a designer, this is handy. You can design images for your email messages directly within your AWeber account without switching between platforms.

Learn more about Canva in our Canva review or check out Canva pricing.

Landing Page Builder

The landing page builder is one of AWeber's stronger features. You can create pages, embed signup forms, sell products, and connect custom domains. They offer 46+ landing page templates that are well-designed and don't require much customization to look professional.

The drag-and-drop landing page builder includes advanced features on the Plus plan, and you can create unlimited landing pages to capture leads, promote products, or host content.

Blog Broadcasts (RSS to Email)

If you run a blog, AWeber can automatically turn your RSS feed into email newsletters. Set a schedule, and new posts get sent to subscribers without manual work. This RSS-to-email automation feature converts blog content into newsletters automatically, helping you deliver content consistently.

PayPal Integration for Selling

AWeber integrates with PayPal, letting you collect payments for digital products and services directly through landing pages and emails. When someone buys, you can trigger automated follow-up sequences. You can also tag customers based on the products they purchased and segment them for targeted campaigns.

AI Writing Assistant

AWeber includes an AI Writing Assistant to help you write emails, subject lines, and newsletters faster. This built-in tool helps overcome writer's block and speeds up email creation, particularly useful for users who send frequent campaigns or struggle with copywriting.

Drag-and-Drop Email Builder

The drag-and-drop email builder offers three different editors to accommodate different skill levels: a visual drag-and-drop builder, an HTML editor (with WYSIWYG or raw HTML editing), and a plain text message creator. You can choose different elements, drag them into your message, and customize them without coding.

The builder includes theme settings that help you define colors, fonts, links, and other brand elements globally. It also integrates with Unsplash for quick access to stock photos.

AWeber Integrations: Connecting Your Marketing Stack

AWeber integrates with a wide array of platforms and services, though the breadth isn't quite as extensive as some competitors. Here are the key integration categories:

Ecommerce Integrations

AWeber connects with major ecommerce platforms including Shopify, WooCommerce, PayPal, Stripe, ClickBank, and SAMCart. These integrations allow you to sync customer data, segment contacts based on purchase history, and trigger automated emails based on buying behavior.

The Shopify integration is particularly robust, letting you synchronize customer data and create unique paths in automation workflows based on specific product purchases.

CRM and Sales Integrations

While AWeber isn't a CRM itself, it integrates with popular CRM platforms including Salesforce, HubSpot, Highrise, Freshsales, and Zoho CRM. These integrations are typically managed through third-party platforms like Zapier, Make (formerly Integromat), or Apiant.

Webinar and Meeting Integrations

AWeber integrates with Zoom, GoToWebinar, and similar platforms, allowing you to automatically add webinar registrants to email lists and send automated reminder sequences.

Landing Page and Website Builders

AWeber works with WordPress, Squarespace, Wix, Weebly, Leadpages, ClickFunnels, Unbounce, and many other website builders. The WordPress integration is particularly seamless, allowing you to install signup forms directly from your WordPress dashboard.

For advanced landing pages, check out our Leadpages review.

Automation Platforms

AWeber integrates with Zapier, Make, Microsoft Power Automate, and Integromat, giving you access to thousands of additional integrations. Through Zapier alone, you can connect AWeber to over 5,000 apps, automating subscriber additions, tagging, and list management.

Form Builders

AWeber works with Typeform, JotForm, Wufoo, Gravity Forms, and other form builders. These integrations automatically add form submissions to your AWeber lists, with the ability to map custom fields for more detailed subscriber information.

Social Media Integrations

AWeber integrates with Facebook Lead Ads, allowing you to automatically add leads generated from Facebook advertising directly to your email lists. You can also embed signup forms on Facebook Business Pages.

Email Verification Tools

AWeber integrates with email verification services like Kickbox and ZeroBounce, helping you clean your lists by identifying and removing invalid email addresses before sending campaigns. This improves deliverability and protects sender reputation.

While AWeber's integration library is solid, platforms like ActiveCampaign and HubSpot offer more native integrations without relying on third-party connectors.

AWeber Email Deliverability: The Critical Metric

Email deliverability-the percentage of emails that actually reach the inbox rather than spam folders-is arguably the most important metric for any email service provider. Unfortunately, this is one area where AWeber struggles compared to competitors.

Deliverability Test Results

According to independent deliverability testing by EmailToolTester, AWeber achieved an 83.1% deliverability rate in their most recent tests. This places AWeber 11th out of 15 tested platforms-below the industry average and far behind leaders like ActiveCampaign and MailerLite.

AWeber's deliverability has been inconsistent over the years. Testing showed rates as high as 93.2% in June 2023, but performance has fluctuated significantly. The five-round average sits at just 82.44%, which is considered poor deliverability.

Where AWeber Struggles with Deliverability

The biggest deliverability problem is with Gmail, where AWeber achieved only 81% delivery to the primary inbox in recent tests-the second-lowest rate among tested platforms. This is problematic since Gmail is one of the most popular email providers.

AWeber also has high rates of missing emails (10.4%) and spam placement (6.6%)-the highest among tested providers. These figures are concerning for anyone relying on email marketing for business growth.

Where AWeber Performs Well

AWeber's deliverability shines with Yahoo and AOL, consistently achieving high rates (often 100%) with these internet service providers. If your audience primarily uses Yahoo or AOL email addresses, AWeber performs excellently.

Deliverability Features and Best Practices

AWeber does enforce proper email authentication, including SPF, DKIM, and DMARC. All messages sent through AWeber are authenticated automatically, and users are encouraged to set up custom DKIM and DMARC for optimal deliverability and compliance.

AWeber manages bounces and inactive emails by helping marketers prune their lists regularly. The platform tracks bounce rates and provides tools to remove unresponsive subscribers, which helps maintain sender reputation.

However, AWeber uses shared IP addresses for most users, which means one user's poor sending practices can negatively impact others on the same IP. This collective impact can lead to deliverability issues if not properly managed.

The Bottom Line on Deliverability

If email deliverability is critical to your business (and it should be), AWeber's inconsistent performance is a red flag. Tools like ActiveCampaign, MailerLite, and Brevo offer significantly better deliverability rates at comparable or lower prices.

AWeber Automation Capabilities: Basic but Functional

Email automation is where AWeber shows its age. While the platform invented the autoresponder and offers solid basic automation, it can't compete with modern platforms when it comes to sophisticated workflows.

What Automation Features Are Available

AWeber offers several automation triggers and actions:

AWeber allows you to create multi-step flows with delays between messages. You can link campaigns together so subscribers who complete one campaign automatically move to another.

Automation Limitations on Lower Tiers

On the Free plan, you're limited to just 1 automation. The Lite plan gives you 3 email automations, which is extremely restrictive for anyone building multiple workflows. Only the Plus plan offers unlimited automations.

This tiering feels artificial and punitive, especially since competitors like MailerLite offer unlimited automations even on free plans.

Where AWeber Automation Falls Short

The biggest limitation is the lack of advanced branching and conditional logic. You can't easily create sophisticated workflows that branch based on multiple conditions or subscriber attributes. The automation builder lacks the visual sophistication and flexibility of platforms like ActiveCampaign, Drip, or ConvertKit.

AWeber also doesn't offer behavioral automation based on engagement scoring or complex if/then logic. If you need to build workflows like "If subscriber opens Email A but doesn't click, wait 2 days then send Email B, but if they do click, add Tag X and send to Campaign Y," you'll find AWeber frustrating.

For users who need more advanced automation, third-party tools like AWtomator exist to extend AWeber's capabilities, but this adds cost and complexity.

Who AWeber Automation Works For

If you need basic autoresponders, welcome sequences, or simple post-purchase follow-ups, AWeber handles these well. The automation features are straightforward and easy to set up for beginners. But if you're planning sophisticated behavioral marketing or complex sales funnels, you'll outgrow AWeber quickly.

AWeber Analytics and Reporting

AWeber provides basic analytics and reporting, but the insights are limited compared to more advanced platforms.

Standard Reporting Features

AWeber tracks standard email metrics including:

The Plus plan includes advanced reporting features like split testing results, sales tracking, and more detailed analytics on landing pages and forms.

Reporting Limitations

AWeber doesn't offer a way to filter out bot clicks or inflated Apple Mail Privacy opens, which can skew your open rate data. You also can't build custom reports or export data for deeper analysis without manual work.

Ecommerce, sales, and attribution reporting are limited unless you're on a paid plan. While basic campaign statistics come standard, deeper insights like automation performance reports and form conversion metrics are paywalled.

There's no dedicated deliverability dashboard showing your sender reputation scores or inbox placement rates, which would be helpful given AWeber's deliverability challenges.

List Management and Segmentation

AWeber provides tools to manage and segment your email lists, though the features vary significantly by plan tier.

List Management Features

AWeber allows you to:

When you exceed your subscriber count, AWeber automatically upgrades you to the next tier. However, downgrades are not automatic-you must contact customer support to adjust your billing if your subscriber count decreases.

Segmentation Capabilities

Segmentation is severely restricted on lower tiers. The Free and Lite plans limit you to just 1 custom segment, which is almost useless for targeted marketing. The Plus plan provides unlimited custom segments.

You can segment based on:

The segmentation interface is functional but not as intuitive as platforms like ActiveCampaign or HubSpot, which offer visual segment builders with real-time subscriber counts.

Where AWeber Falls Short

Limited Automation Capabilities

Here's the big problem. AWeber's automation features are basic compared to competitors like ActiveCampaign or even newer tools like Brevo. You get basic triggers and actions, but building sophisticated multi-step workflows with conditional logic? Not AWeber's strength.

If you need advanced marketing automation, you'll hit the ceiling quickly.

Segmentation Restrictions on Lower Tiers

On the Lite plan, you're limited to just 1 custom segment. That's pretty restrictive if you're serious about sending targeted emails. You'll need the Plus plan to unlock unlimited segments.

Pricing Doesn't Match Features

This is the core issue. AWeber charges prices comparable to more advanced tools but doesn't include the pro-features to justify it. Tools like MailerLite offer similar (or better) functionality at lower prices. Brevo includes CRM features AWeber lacks.

Inconsistent Deliverability

AWeber's deliverability rates fluctuate significantly and rank below average in independent tests. With an 83.1% deliverability rate and particularly poor performance with Gmail, you could be losing nearly 1 in 5 emails to spam folders or bounces. This directly impacts your marketing ROI.

Interface Feels Dated

AWeber's interface works, but it's not as clean or intuitive as newer platforms. Navigation can feel clunky-finding certain options takes more clicks than it should. They also use confusing terminology ("Broadcasts" for regular emails, "Campaigns" for automations) that creates unnecessary friction.

Multiple reviewers note that the interface feels outdated compared to competitors, with some templates appearing old-fashioned and customization options feeling limited.

Limited Advanced Features

AWeber lacks several features that competitors offer as standard:

Recent Price Increases

Multiple long-term users report that AWeber recently increased prices while not significantly improving services. The implementation of new sending limits combined with price increases has frustrated loyal customers, with some migrating to competitors like Moosend, MailerLite, or Brevo.

AWeber vs. The Competition

AWeber vs. Mailchimp

Both are priced similarly and neither is the cheapest option. AWeber is slightly more affordable and offers phone support on all paid plans. Mailchimp has a slicker interface and better automation features. If you do affiliate marketing, AWeber is the safer choice-Mailchimp has stricter terms around affiliate links.

Mailchimp also offers more advanced features like predictive demographics and customer journey builder, but AWeber's customer support is significantly better.

AWeber vs. MailerLite

MailerLite is significantly cheaper with a more generous free tier (1,000 subscribers vs. 500). It's also simpler to use and has excellent deliverability. AWeber has more templates and phone support. For most small businesses, MailerLite offers better value.

MailerLite's drag-and-drop editor is more modern and intuitive, and their automation builder offers better conditional logic without the price premium.

AWeber vs. Brevo (Sendinblue)

Brevo (formerly Sendinblue) includes CRM features AWeber doesn't have, plus better automation capabilities and SMS marketing. Pricing is competitive and sometimes cheaper depending on your sending volume. If you need more than basic email marketing, check out our Brevo review and Brevo pricing breakdown.

Brevo's deliverability is also significantly better than AWeber's, and their transactional email features are more robust.

AWeber vs. ActiveCampaign

ActiveCampaign is more expensive but vastly superior for automation. If you need complex workflows, advanced segmentation, and CRM functionality, AWeber can't compete. ActiveCampaign also has excellent deliverability rates.

The learning curve is steeper with ActiveCampaign, but the power and flexibility justify the additional cost for serious marketers.

AWeber vs. ConvertKit

ConvertKit is designed specifically for creators, bloggers, and course sellers. It has a cleaner interface, better automation for digital products, and simpler subscriber management. AWeber has more templates and phone support.

ConvertKit's pricing is similar but the platform feels more modern and purpose-built for online creators.

AWeber vs. GetResponse

GetResponse offers more advanced features including webinar hosting, conversion funnels, and better automation at comparable prices. AWeber's advantage is primarily customer support and ease of use for beginners.

Security, Compliance, and Reliability

Security Features

AWeber enforces industry-standard security measures including:

Compliance Features

AWeber helps users comply with email marketing regulations:

Reliability and Uptime

AWeber maintains high uptime with reliable infrastructure. The platform owns its full delivery stack rather than outsourcing to third parties, which gives them more control over performance but hasn't translated to superior deliverability.

Email sending is typically fast, with most campaigns deploying within minutes of scheduling.

Who Should Use AWeber?

AWeber makes sense if you:

For more options on email marketing, check out our guide to best email marketing software and email marketing for small business.

Who Should Skip AWeber?

Look elsewhere if you:

Getting Started with AWeber: What to Expect

The Onboarding Process

AWeber's onboarding is straightforward. After signing up for the free plan, you'll be guided through:

The platform provides helpful tooltips and video tutorials throughout the setup process.

Migration from Other Platforms

If you're switching from another email service provider, AWeber makes migration relatively easy. You can import subscriber lists via CSV files, and AWeber won't count unsubscribed contacts toward your billable total.

However, AWeber doesn't automatically migrate your email templates, automations, or campaign history. You'll need to rebuild these elements manually.

Learning Resources

AWeber provides extensive learning resources including:

Time to Value

Most users can send their first email campaign within 30 minutes of signing up. Building more sophisticated automation sequences takes longer, but the interface is intuitive enough that beginners can get started without extensive training.

AWeber Customer Support: The Standout Feature

If there's one area where AWeber genuinely excels, it's customer support.

Support Channels

AWeber offers multiple support options:

Support Quality

Multiple reviewers praise AWeber's support team as responsive, knowledgeable, and genuinely helpful. Response times are typically quick, with live chat queries answered within minutes and email responses within hours.

The phone support is particularly valuable for users who prefer talking through complex issues rather than typing back and forth. This is rare in the email marketing space where most competitors have eliminated phone support entirely.

Priority Support on Plus Plan

Plus plan subscribers receive priority 24/7 support, meaning faster response times and access to more experienced support representatives who can help with complex automation scenarios.

The Bottom Line

AWeber is a reliable, straightforward email marketing tool that's been doing this for over 25 years. The customer support is excellent, the template library is huge, and features like Smart Designer and Canva integration are genuinely useful.

But here's the reality: AWeber's pricing puts it in the same range as tools that offer significantly more. The automation features are too basic for growing businesses. The segmentation limits on lower tiers are frustrating. The deliverability issues are concerning-losing 17% of your emails to spam or bounces directly impacts revenue. And the interface could use a refresh.

AWeber works well for absolute beginners who want hand-holding and phone support. It's fine for simple newsletters and basic email sequences. But it's not the best value proposition in the market anymore.

If you're just starting out and want something simple with good support, AWeber's free plan is worth trying. But if you're comparing paid plans, tools like MailerLite, Brevo, or even Mailchimp often deliver better value. If you need advanced automation, ActiveCampaign is worth the premium. If deliverability is critical, look elsewhere.

AWeber isn't a bad platform-it's just that the email marketing space has evolved faster than AWeber has adapted. For the price they're charging, you deserve better deliverability, more powerful automation, and a more modern interface.

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Frequently Asked Questions About AWeber

Is AWeber really free?

Yes, AWeber offers a free plan for up to 500 subscribers with 3,000 emails per month. However, you're limited to 1 email list, 1 landing page, and 1 automation, with AWeber branding on your emails. It's enough to get started but quite restrictive.

Can I cancel AWeber at any time?

Yes, AWeber has no long-term contracts. You can cancel your subscription at any time. However, you'll need to submit a written request to terminate your service to stop future billing.

Does AWeber work with WordPress?

Yes, AWeber integrates seamlessly with WordPress. You can install email signup forms directly from your WordPress dashboard using AWeber's WordPress plugin.

What payment methods does AWeber accept?

AWeber accepts Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Discover credit cards. They also accept debit cards with the Visa or Mastercard logo. Payments are billed automatically on a recurring basis.

How does AWeber compare to Constant Contact?

Both platforms target small businesses with similar pricing and features. AWeber offers better automation capabilities, while Constant Contact provides more event marketing features. AWeber's customer support is generally rated higher.

Can I use AWeber for affiliate marketing?

Yes, AWeber is generally affiliate-friendly and doesn't have the strict restrictions that Mailchimp imposes on affiliate marketers. This makes AWeber a popular choice among affiliate marketers and online entrepreneurs.

Does AWeber have a mobile app?

AWeber offers mobile-responsive templates and a mobile-optimized dashboard, but doesn't have a dedicated native mobile app for iOS or Android. You can access your account through a mobile web browser.

How long does it take to set up AWeber?

Most users can create an account, import contacts, and send their first email within 30 minutes. Building more complex automation sequences takes longer. AWeber's done-for-you setup service will build your entire email system in 7 days for a $79 fee.

For more details on pricing tiers, see our AWeber pricing and AWeber cost breakdowns.