When it comes to email marketing software, Fluttermail and AWeber are two of the most well-known platforms available today. With so many options on the market, it can be difficult for business owners to determine which solution is the best fit for their unique needs and goals.
Choosing the right email marketing provider is crucial though, as it has significant impacts on the success of marketing campaigns and the growth of the business overall.
In this comprehensive comparison guide, we will evaluate both Fluttermail vs AWeber across eight key criteria to highlight the strengths and weaknesses of each platform.
By the end, readers should have all the information they need to confidently decide if Fluttermail or AWeber will be the best email marketing software for them to meet their business objectives.
1. Understanding the Basics
Fluttermail was founded in 2021. It is a relatively new email marketing platform but has quickly grown in popularity thanks to its easy-to-use drag-and-drop editor. Fluttermail already has over 50,000 users.
AWeber was founded in 1998 by Tom Kulzer, making it one of the oldest email marketing services. It now has over 120,000 paying customers. AWeber helped pioneer many email marketing innovations.
Both platforms have an established user base. Fluttermail appeals more to new entrepreneurs while AWeber targets small businesses looking for advanced features.
2. Features and Functionality
Automation
Fluttermail
Fluttermail’s drag-and-drop workflow builder allows you to visually map out multi-step email campaigns based on different subscriber actions and triggers. For instance, you can automatically enroll people in sequences when they join your list, make a purchase, download an asset from your site, and more.
Useful automation includes welcome sequences to onboard new subscribers, abandoned cart flows to recapture lost sales, date-based triggers like happy birthday messages, RSS-driven drips with your latest content, and conditional branching logic based on open and click activity.
With Fluttermail’s robust conditional options, you can highly personalize content, deliver timely messages.
Not only do you get the ideal automated communication scenario when you can hyper-personalize marketing content, you can also integrate the platform with other apps and leverage subscriber tags to segment your audience for tailored content within your automation.
AWeber
AWeber’s automation capabilities shine through its Follow-Up Funnels tool. The marketing automation builder brings simplicity to the process of creating cascading email series within three buckets: post-signup funnels after a subscriber joins, post-purchase interactions after someone buys, and browse abandonment flows if they leave your site without converting.
Within these funnels, you can set up unlimited steps and insert wait periods between messages.
Additionally, AWeber enables you to trigger emails based on subscriber anniversary dates or RSS feeds. You can also schedule email delivery based on specific dates.
For personalized content, advanced segmentation with tags and split funnels based on user actions is supported. Integrations further empower you to pull data from other platforms into your email automation workflows.
Winner: Tie
In summary, both email marketing tools provide a powerful marketing automation builder with extensive automation solutions to schedule emails, build sequences in a visual workflow editor, and react to subscriber behaviors with tailored content.
Their robust options for conditional logic personalization and integration with third-party apps result in this category being declared a tie.
Email Templates
Fluttermail
Fluttermail provides professional email templates to help you quickly create on-brand campaigns. You have access to over 100 responsive templates spanning categories like welcome series, product announcements, newsletters, holiday promos, and to create engaging pop-ups.
The template editor makes it easy to customize colors, fonts, and design elements. You can also easily insert your own images, buttons, dividers, and blocks of content without needing to code. Fluttermail’s templates are mobile-optimized so your emails render beautifully across devices.
If you want full creative control, you can build emails completely from scratch using the customizable editor. It offers a WYSIWYG experience using drag-and-drop modules and an intuitive interface. This flexibility lets you maintain consistency with your brand style.
AWeber
AWeber provides professionally designed responsive templates for the most common email campaign types. All templates feature easy customization of images, colors, content blocks, buttons, dividers, and more using the What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get editor.
While the template selection of this email marketing tool is more limited compared to Fluttermail, focusing on commonly used categories helps users quickly find an appropriate starting point. For further customization not supported in the template editor, AWeber also gives access to the raw HTML source code.
For complete creative freedom, you can build an email from scratch using AWeber’s drag-and-drop editor and library of design elements. Options may not be as robust for non-coders compared to Fluttermail. However, flexibility is enabled across both templated and original emails.
Winner: Fluttermail
Fluttermail wins when it comes to email templates thanks to providing significantly more professionally designed template options across a wider variety of campaign categories.
Combined with strong customizable options without needing coding knowledge, Fluttermail empowers both designers and non-designers to quickly create on-brand, engaging emails.
Segmentation
Fluttermail
Fluttermail provides robust segmentation options to send targeted, personalized emails to subgroups within your audience. You can create segments based on subscriber properties like email activity, purchases, clicked links, location, and more.
An intuitive segment builder makes it easy to set up groups without coding. You can also assign tags to subscribers to categorize them, then target tags in your broadcast emails for hyper-segmentation.
Integrations with platforms like Google Analytics further expand segmentation by piping in behavioral data. Dynamic lists auto-update too based on real-time subscriber actions on your website.
Overall, Fluttermail equips you with the tools to get extremely granular with customized email targeting to improve clickthrough and open rates.
AWeber
AWeber enables you to segment your subscriber list using tags and groups. Apply tags manually or automatically based on user properties and actions. You can also group contacts and target emails to specific groups based on behaviors.
AWeber’s segmentation focuses more on email metrics like open and click activity versus extensive behavioral data. However, core capabilities allow for basic segmentation without requiring technical skills.
For more advanced options, AWeber integrations do enable linking subscriber interactions on your website to your email segmentation profiles for expanded targeting options in your email marketing campaign.
Winner: Fluttermail
Fluttermail wins when it comes to segmentation functionality. Its intuitive builder simplifies creating targeted subgroups without coding while baked-in integrations provide richer behavioral data for hyper-segmentation capabilities leading to higher engagement and conversions.
Analytics
Fluttermail
Fluttermail provides powerful email analytics to help you understand subscriber engagement and optimize your campaigns for better results.
Real-time reports within the app track opens, clicks, unsubscribes, spam complaints, links visited, and more. You can segment these metrics by campaign as well as subscriber segments. Interactive charts and graphs make data visualization intuitive.
Fluttermail also offers a comprehensive Email Activity Feed. This lets you monitor subscriber behaviors like email forwards in one activity stream in chronological order. Critical insight like abusive sender complaints get flagged instantly so issues can be addressed timely.
Integrations with Google Analytics give a holistic view of subscriber actions beyond your email universe while heat mapping tools reveal engagement at a more granular email and link level.
AWeber
AWeber provides industry-standard email analytics around opens, clicks, unsubscribes, spam reports, and more. Reports are segmented by both campaigns and subscriber segments for comparison. Charts offer visual data representations while the raw figures empower data-driven decisions.
The activity timeline records subscriber and campaign events chronologically so you can monitor behaviors over time, spot issues needing attention, and identify optimization opportunities. This insight complements regular real-time analytics.
For a singular view encompassing website analytics with email, AWeber integrates with Google Analytics as well as leading heat mapping software. So in many ways, core functionality mirrors Fluttermail but may not be as robust in certain areas.
Winner: Fluttermail
With its comprehensive real-time tracking, unified activity feeds, and emphasis on highlighting issues needing immediate attention, Fluttermail provides a more powerful analytics experience to help marketers master the art and science of effective email campaigns.
Unique Features
Fluttermail
Fluttermail stands out for its Lead Magnet campaigns feature. This tool makes it easy to build landing pages to capture new subscriber data using lead magnets. Choose from a wide range of customizable templates, drag-and-drop content blocks, and embed high-converting opt-in forms.
Other useful unique capabilities include built-in e-commerce tracking for monitoring subscriber purchase behavior, PayPal integration to directly sell products and services via emails, Instagram integration to turn posts into email content, and surveys to get feedback from your audience.
While Fluttermail’s core email functionality has parity with AWeber, these bonus offerings provide enhanced value without requiring additional apps. Everything is packaged together in one platform.
AWeber
AWeber’s key unique capability is multi-account support under a single login. This works very well for agencies and enterprises managing dozens or hundreds of campaigns across divisions or clients in one place.
Other proprietary features include RSS-to-email distribution for turning blog posts into visual newsletters, split testing tools to optimize content and campaigns, streamlined social sharing to spread emails virally, and advanced analytics through its Lab360 platform.
So although some comparable products may be required to replicate certain innovations, AWeber’s multi-account dashboard remains a standout differentiator.
Winner: Fluttermail
Because Fluttermail’s platform includes Lead Magnet landers, built-in e-commerce tracking, PayPal sales enablement, and additional bonus tools, it wins when it comes to unique functionality that stretches value beyond robust core email services.
This convenience, savings potential, and expanded capabilities without add-ons give Fluttermail an advantage.
3. Ease of Use
Fluttermail
Fluttermail provides an intuitive drag-and-drop email editor that makes designing and sending campaigns highly visual and user-friendly. Default settings help novices dive right in while granular customization satisfies experts.
The streamlined dashboard beautifully guides you through every workflow from building subscriber forms to creating emails, automation, reports, and more. Icons and interactive elements help you navigate with minimal effort or confusion.
Fluttermail’s elegance continues across the web and mobile apps. Whether you’re a solopreneur doing everything yourself or an agency seeking usability and speed, it hits the mark.
AWeber
AWeber delivers a clean, organized interface guiding users seamlessly through core email tasks like building subscriber forms, creating broadcast and automated messages, segmenting your list, personalizing content, viewing reports, and more.
While offering depth for savvier customers, AWeber’s simplified workflows help novices overcome learning curves preventing them from tapping into the power of email marketing quickly at affordable rates.
Whether working in the web dashboard or AWeber’s mobile app, simplicity takes center stage without restricting flexibility. Their usability shines most for solopreneurs and very small businesses getting started.
Winner: Tie
Fluttermail and AWeber both emphasize usability with streamlined navigation, intuitive interface elements guiding users, and sensible defaults to allow both beginners and experts to work efficiently.
Their sleek dashboards across the web and mobile facilitate email marketing adoption and satisfaction through well-balanced simplicity and customization. Hence, this category results in a usability tie.
4. Email Deliverability
Fluttermail
Fluttermail aims to provide industry-leading email deliverability through proprietary innovations like granular-level dedicated IP warming and self-healing inboxing technology.
Optimized sender scoring metrics and continuous authentication monitoring maintain strong sender reputations. Robust infrastructure with geo-distributed servers prevents bottlenecks that risk deliverability drops.
Fluttermail also enables the customization of FROM names per campaign to match subscriber expectations. Further, an inbox placement guarantee ensures financial accountability for optimizing successful delivery.
AWeber
As an email marketing pioneer, AWeber has over two decades of deliverability optimization expertise creating provider-level brand recognition and helping emails hit the primary inbox.
AWeber’s dedicated deliverability team oversees proprietary technologies preventing spam triggers through authentication safeguards, optimized sending infrastructure, and special relationships with major ISPs nurtured over 20+ years in business.
Granular-level diagnostics offer transparency around potential deliverability threats while consultation services help strategize further improvements when needed.
Winner: Tie
Both Fluttermail and AWeber demonstrate deep technology expertise and hands-on management delivering extremely competitive email deliverability rates across subscriber inboxes.
Their commercial success directly correlates with and depends on optimized delivery through proprietary innovations. Hence, this category is a tie.
5. Customer Support and Community
Fluttermail
Fluttermail provides 24/7 customer support via live chat, email, and phone. As a relatively new company, their growing user community also offers assistance through active support forums where customers can flag issues to the Fluttermail team directly.
There is a Fluttermail Facebook User Group that allows customers to interact, share best practices, and collectively troubleshoot challenges. As the user base expands, this community resource will provide added value beyond formal support channels.
AWeber
With over two decades in business, AWeber has developed extensive self-service support content including documentation, webinars, and video tutorials to address common questions. They also offer email, chat, and phone assistance 24/7 with their customer support team.
As an early email marketing pioneer, AWeber enjoys long-standing user communities across various channels. For example, an active AWeber Users Facebook Group is facilitating community-enhanced support through informal networking and idea exchange.
Winner: AWeber
Considering AWeber’s established user community that provides informal assistance and its long history of building vast self-service support materials, it edges out Fluttermail for overall customer support ecosystems beyond one-to-one channels.
However, Fluttermail does deliver very robust direct support via chat, email, and phone.
6. Integrations
Fluttermail
Fluttermail offers a growing app marketplace with over 800 third-party integrations across major categories like CRM, e-commerce, website builders, payment processors, and more.
Some of the most popular integrations include platforms like Shopify, WooCommerce, Google Analytics, Zapier, PayPal, and Instagram.
New integrations get continuously added and custom API connections can be built for unique needs. The platform makes it easy to set up seamless data and functionality syncing to empower personalized cross-channel marketing automation.
AWeber
AWeber features over 350 integrations with many leading programs across key capabilities sought by customers.
This includes Facebook Lead ads, as well as major payment solutions like Stripe and PayPal, top CRM platforms such as Ontraport and ActiveCampaign, leading e-commerce providers including Shopify, WooCommerce, and BigCommerce, as well as web and marketing tools like WordPress, Google Analytics, and Zapier.
Their longstanding 20+ year history as an email pioneer enabled AWeber to build connections with software solutions most valued by email marketers for smoother data flows.
Winner: Fluttermail
With over twice the number of integrations spanning newer solutions preferred by modern marketers, Fluttermail edges out AWeber’s established yet sometimes more legacy options.
The richer integration choice and cutting-edge options for seamless automation merit the win for Fluttermail here when it comes to third-party app extensibility.
7. Pricing
Fluttermail
Fluttermail offers a range of plans suited to businesses of different sizes.
Key differences in the plans relate to the number of contacts, emails per month, and premium features like advanced automation and some integrations.
Their flexible pricing provides affordability for small businesses while supporting the demands of larger companies with scalable options. Overall, you get robust capabilities even at lower tiers relative to competitors.
AWeber
AWeber offers a free plan and three paid plans:
- Lite – $12.50/month
- Plus – $20/month
- Unlimited – $149/month
The tiers focus mainly on list size, emails per month, and segmentation capabilities. Entry plans meet the needs of solopreneurs while higher pricing unlocks support demanded by agencies and corporations.
Compared to Fluttermail, you may need to upgrade tiers sooner as your lists and campaigns grow to maintain full functionality. However, entry pricing facilitates affordability.
Winner: Fluttermail
With more features included within lower-priced introductory plans and more flexibility around list sizes before needing to upgrade, Fluttermail beats AWeber when it comes to overall pricing models and value provided across customer tiers.
8. Reviews and Reputation
Fluttermail
As a relatively new email marketing platform, Fluttermail has limited third-party reviews but early feedback is very positive. Users praise the easy-to-use drag-and-drop editor, great customer support, and strong deliverability.
Some disadvantages mentioned include the lack of mature integrations compared to competitors and occasional glitches since it’s newer software. However, the company is recognized for responding rapidly to resolve issues.
Overall, Fluttermail earns glowing reviews for its intuitive interface enabling fast onboarding and impactful email campaigns from day one without technical skills. The current average rating is 4.8/5 stars.
Read Fluttermail Reviews on SourceForge.
AWeber
With over 20 years in the industry, AWeber has accumulated extensive reviews highlighting its reliable email deliverability, quality technical support, and suitability for small business owners on a budget.
Users mention occasional frustrations with older legacy features compared to modern rivals. However, new leadership is recognized for investing in platform updates. The major downside mentioned often is high pricing on upgraded plans.
Considering its maturity and huge client base, AWeber enjoys positive reviews averaging 4.7/5 stars thanks to getting the email marketing fundamentals right through decades of optimization.
Winner: Tie
Both platforms earn overwhelmingly positive feedback but at different stages of growth for contrasting reasons. Fluttermail wins on forward-looking technology while AWeber takes the crown for time-tested reliability and support.
The contrast balances out evenly to a tie. Each is recommendable in its own regard based on user needs and values.
9. FAQ’s
Fluttermail
- What types of email campaigns can I create?
Fluttermail allows you to easily create and send a wide variety of campaigns from broadcasts to sequences, automation, RSS-driven emails, and more. Robust templates help you design quickly. - Is there a free trial?
Yes, Fluttermail offers a 14-day free trial to test drive their platform. You get full access to features to build campaigns and analyze performance before deciding. - Can I import my subscriber list?
Fluttermail makes it easy to import contacts from any source, including CSV files. No need to start email marketing from scratch. - Is Fluttermail GDPR compliant?
Absolutely. Fluttermail helps customers comply with privacy regulations like GDPR and CASL through data management tools like opt-in subscriptions, consent tracking, and subscriber visibility controls.
AWeber
- How long does it take to get set up?
You can create your first campaign in under 10 minutes with AWeber. The intuitive drag-and-drop builder and templates accelerate onboarding. - Can AWeber integrate with my CRM?
Yes. AWeber seamlessly integrates popular CRM platforms like Ontraport, Infusionsoft, ActiveCampaign, ZohoCRM, and Salesforce using bi-directional contact and data syncing. - Is there a money-back guarantee?
AWeber offers a 30-day money-back satisfaction guarantee across all pricing plans. - Does AWeber work for multinational companies?
Global brands leveraging AWeber’s multi-account support, localization features, and global delivery infrastructure. Enterprise-grade solutions help you scale.
Final Thoughts
Choose Fluttermail If…
Fluttermail is the best choice if you want a user-friendly email marketing platform with excellent deliverability to manage email marketing campaigns for a small or medium-sized business without needing a big budget or technical resources.
Its intuitive drag-and-drop editor, strong features, built-in landers, and e-commerce tracking provide great value. Scalable pricing facilitates growth over time as well.
Choose AWeber If…
AWeber is one of the best marketing automation tools ideal for solopreneurs and very small businesses that desire simplified email marketing solutions from an established industry leader.
Although the platform may lack some modern features of competitors, you can rest easy knowing pricing starts affordable and its core functionality has been proven for over 20+ years across 350,000+ customers.
As your business expands over the years, AWeber provides scalable solutions to meet your needs across multiple customer tiers. The platform will grow with you.
Choosing the right email marketing software is extremely important, so please leave a comment below with any additional questions so we can offer personalized guidance in assessing your needs and priorities!