AWeber is an email marketing services platform that pioneered the advent of email marketing tools. It was launched in 1998 and was among the first of its kind. Sendlane on the other hand is comparatively new and was launched in 2015.
While AWeber has around 100000 active users, it has been through better days when it had competitors that were less innovative than its present state.
It used to have an interface that was sleek and a great user experience. This had led to a huge number of customers to sign up and make use of their tool for a core marketing tool for email management in their internet strategy for marketing.
Is that still so? We will find out in this review comparing the two email marketing platforms: AWeber and Sendlane.
Sendlane vs AWeber – Email Templates
AWeber has 700+ HTML templates that are mobile responsive to use for your emails. You can add a logo of your own or choose from one of the 600+ free photos in their stock feature.
If you need a custom template you can request one from AWeber. They will design one specifically for the business that you have. You can also get an existing template customized. But designing a custom template contacting AWeber comes at a cost, there is a surcharge for it.
However, the templates are outdated and old fashioned. Many seem impractical for use. There is also a drag-and-drop email builder. It has a better Preview Email Function than the one before.
Now the company uses design elements that are responsive for the design of the Preview function.
Sendlane has only 50+ templates that are premade. However, you can create a template on your own and save it for the future if you want.
The templates are uncategorized and seem like a mess. Sendlane lets you make new templates starting from scratch. You can fetch a template and re-edit it, reuse a template. This allows you to save time.
The templates have more contemporary compared to AWeber. But even with these, you feel that they need an update. When compared to AWeber’s template design, Sendlane does feel more modern and intuitive.
Sendlane vs AWeber – Autoresponders
Enewsletters that can be sent automatically to subscribers on your email list are called autoresponders. Based on time intervals and rules that you define they get ‘triggered’.
For example, you can design autoresponders to:
Send a welcome message to someone who signs for your email list
Exactly a week later you can automate an email for discount codes on some of your products
After three weeks you can send them an invitation for following you on social media
And so on…
When you make use of autoresponders you have an advantage as a lot of the email marketing that you have gets automated. If things are set up correctly by you, subscribers can receive key messages of your business.
You do not need to worry about sending out these messages manually. Using autoresponders, you can manage your emails and mailing preferences. You can also save a lot of time.
AWeber features a decent autoresponder. You could set up email lists to be used to send emails automatically to subscribers that are new. You can create campaigns where you can give tags to subscribers which based on their actions are applied to them. For example, whether they open an email or click a link. These tags could act as triggers to determine further actions.
Sendlane has very robust automation. You can create different workflows. You can also segment users based on their actions and other criteria. Subscribers have certain triggers and tags applied to them. You can segment them based on custom actions as well such as being transferred to another list.
Sendlane has a feature that’s additional which is called Email retargeting. This allows the setting up of campaigns and workflows based on the interaction of subscribers with the website. A code will keep a track of the behavior of the users on the website. Then you can mail them accordingly. A good example of the use of this feature would be its use to reduce cart abandonment.
In AWeber email automation is simple. You create a mailing list and then apply simple steps of email, applying tags or delay. These are based on different actions like clicking a link or opening an email.
CRM style integration is not present in advanced segmentation. If you need to create a custom automation for a particular segment in AWeber, you have to give them a separate tag and then make new automation separately for those who join into that segment.
On the other hand, Sendlane deeply integrates with the website that you have. It lets you create great automation having a wide range of segmentation and functions. For example, the feature of email retargeting shows you how a subscriber interacted with the website.
In terms of autoresponders, there is a close competition between AWeber and Sendlane. Sendlane is slightly ahead due to advanced automation features. But AWeber is not far behind.
Sendlane vs AWeber – Pricing
You can try AWeber free of charge for 30 days. During this period, you can use all of the AWeber premium features. This is a great option for you to test and try this email marketing automation software. It doesn’t have a free plan.
Sendlane gives you a 14 day period for trial use. It doesn’t have a free plan either. While using it, you have to keep track of those unsubscribing from the mailing list. Neither AWeber nor Sendlane will do that for you.
AWeber will charge you for people who unsubscribe from your list until you manually delete them from the mailing lists. AWeber will charge you multiple times for contacts on multiple lists.
In comparison, Sendlane charges only once per contact even if they are on multiple lists but may charge you for undeleted unsubscribers.
Except for the plan that is the lowest, AWeber is cheaper than Sendlane
These prices for Sendlane are based on per month when you subscribe to an annual plan.
- 10,000 subscribers for $208/month
- 25,000 subscribers for $266/month
- 50,000 subscribers for $374/month
- 75,000 subscribers for $491/month
- 100,000 subscribers for $666/month
This Pricing for AWeber is per month based on an annual subscription plan.
- 500 subscribers for $16.15/month
- 2500 subscribers for $26.15/month
- 5000 subscribers for $46.15/month
- 10,000 subscribers for $66.15/month
- 25,000 subscribers for $146.15/month
As we see above AWeber is much better priced than Sendlane.
Sendlane is a premium tool. Their “growth” plan is the cheapest one and covers up to 5000 contacts. The Pro plan is then available for however many subscribers you have. The Growth plan introduction is $ 79 a month if paid annually, while it is a $ 125 Pro plan.
AWeber does not have tier pricing. It gives full features to all its users irrespective of the plan they have purchased. AWeber is great as it has email campaigns of a simple approach and great pricing.
With AWeber, you can make use of a plan that’s cheap for up to 500 contacts with most functionality of a Pro plan. This helps you to get grips with this great email marketing tool. This is great for those just beginning in email marketing.
The 14-day free trial offered by Sendlane does not require a credit card for registration. It is fully functional. It lets you send up to 100 contacts: 500 emails.
As we see as far as pricing is concerned AWeber is the clear winner here. The pricing is highly competitive by AWeber and for the features, it offers very reasonably.
Sendlane on the other hand is much more expensive. The only advantage of Sendlane pricing is that it has a plan for 100,000 subscribers and you don’t have to get an enterprise plan for up to 100000 subscribers. In AWeber, you have to go for an enterprise plan after crossing 25000 contacts.
What is Better – Sendlane vs AWeber
Both these email providers for marketing offer similar packs. For example, basic automation for email, tagging for segmentation of subscribers based on their behavior, drag-and-drop email builders, creating landing pages using built-in templates, and more.
With AWeber you get the basics of email automation and email marketing done. If you are not well versed with email automation. AWeber is a great platform for you. It has better customer support. It is cheaper. AWeber has more templates and a better editor.
In comparison, Sendlane has better automation features, better reporting, and better landing pages. It is more expensive than AWeber. Sendlane has great email automation. It is more of a premium email marketing platform. You can check our detailed article on Mailchimp vs Constant Contact vs AWeber.