24 August 2013
Comments: 5

MailChimp vs Thunder Mailer

Both MailChimp and Thunder Mailer provide many useful features for email marketers. Which one is better? In order to answer this question, it’s necessary to take a close look at both of them. You also have to consider your own needs and what you are most comfortable with.

While MailChimp and Thunder Mailer have some traits in common, they are also quite different in many ways. Let’s find out what these two email marketing solutions have to offer and how they stack up against each other.

MailChimp

MailChimp

MailChimp is an email and autoresponder service that has several different plans you can sign up for. This service has gotten more popular in recent years, and has won over some business from more established companies such as AWeber.

One reason for this is that you can sign up for MailChimp for free. While many autoresponders give you a free trial period, if you want to keep the service you will have to pay for it. MailChimp has a genuinely free option, though this does place a limit on the number of emails you can send.

Some of the main features of MailChimp are:

  1. Pre-designed Templates

    You can choose among many different templates, making it easy to create a themed newsletter for almost any purpose. If you want to mail out a newsletter based on your business or hobby, chances are MailChimp has a template that’s ready for you to use.

  2. Drag and Drop Editor

    This lets you drop and move content blocks and photos to the exact spot you need them. Adjusting the layout of your messages is simple. You can even edit your photos without opening a photo editing program to do so.

  3. Analytics

    Testing is one of the most important aspects of email marketing, and MailChimp provides you with some sophisticated tools to do this. You can do split testing of campaigns and track data such as subject lines and delivery dates.

  4. Mobile Friendly

    MailChimp is set up so you can stay in touch with your mobile subscribers too. You can send campaigns from your iPhone or Android phone using their apps.

MailChimp pricing

There are many different plans to choose from with MailChimp, the cost depending on the number of subscribers you have and the number of emails you want to send. Here are some of the plans:

  • Free

    You can have up to 2,000 subscribers and send up to 12,000 emails per month. If you have more subscribers, or if you need to send more emails, then you will need to upgrade and pay.

  • $10 per month

    Send unlimited emails to as many as 500 subscribers per month.

  • $50 per month

    Send unlimited emails to as many as 5,000 subscribers per month.

  • $150 per month

    Send unlimited emails to as many as 25,000 subscribers per month.

Drawbacks of MailChimp

MailChimp is a good autoresponder for people who are starting out with a small list and want a free option for email marketing. On the other hand, once your list starts to grow it will start getting more expensive!

They offer many useful features. If, however, you have a large list (or you plan to build one), you should recognize that there will be costs involved. It can be complicated to transfer names from one list to another, so once you start a free list with a service like MailChimp, you may feel locked into it when you have to start paying.

Thunder Mailer

Thunder Mailer

Thunder Mailer is not an autoresponder service, but it’s a software you download and run on your computer. This is a product that allows you to send bulk emails to as many subscribers as you want. It can be downloaded to any Windows OS, and once you purchase it there are no further charges.

Some of the benefits of Thunder Mailer include:

  1. Simple to Install and Use

    Downloading and installing the program will only take a few minutes. There is a Wizard Guide that lets you set up and send an email campaign in 3 simple steps.

  2. Send Unlimited Emails

    One of the biggest advantages of using Thunder Mailer is that there are no limits on the number of subscribers you can have or the number of emails you can send out.

    With MailChimp (or any other autoresponder), the more subscribers and emails you have, the higher the cost. With Thunder Mailer, you never have to worry about limits!

  3. Message Editor

    This is what allows you to create professional looking emails very quickly. You can create messages in either HTML or plain text format.

    Adding or editing content is very simple, and the editor works much like word processing programs such as Microsoft Word. You can also create personalized email messages, a tactic that is proven to increase open rates.

  4. List Management Tools

    You can import unlimited email addresses into Thunder Mailer, segment your lists based on demographics, and clean out your list, removing suspicious or duplicate email addresses.

  5. Filtering

    This is an important process that lets you get rid of emails that bounce, that are blocked, unsubscribes or invalid addresses. This allows you to maintain the quality of your list and improve your results.

  6. Support

    Once you purchase Thunder Mailer, you have access to support whenever you need it. There are also tutorials to help you install and set up the program and to answer common questions.

  7. No Need for Hosting

    Another benefit is that you can use Thunder Mailer even if you don’t have any web hosting. You can use the SMTP settings provided by your internet service provider. Alternately, you can use other SMTP services, such as Amazon SES and SendGrid.

Pricing for Thunder Mailer

You can test out Thunder Mailer for free by download it now. The full version costs $169. Presently, however, we are offering a special promotion where you can get it for $69 only. Note that this is a one-time-only payment.

As of this writing, we are glad to offer an additional 20% discount, bringing the cost down to $55.20!

Drawbacks of Thunder Mailer

There are a couple of possible drawbacks to Thunder Mail. One is if you have no money to invest up front and need to start your list for free. While $69 is not much to access all of the features, if you cannot afford this then you could start off with MailChimp’s free plan.

Another limitation of Thunder Mailer is that it only works with Windows, so if you have a Mac OS you could not install it.

Conclusion

We have looked at two alternatives for building and managing your email list. There are some pros and cons to each.

MailChimp lets you start building a list for free. However, once your list grows beyond a certain point the cost of using this service increases. An autoresponder becomes a permanent monthly fee that you will have to pay, once that usually increases over time.

As we have already discussed, with Thunder Mailer there is no need to be concerned about upgrading your plan as your list gets bigger. Once you own the software, you can send out unlimited emails.

Thunder Mailer is software that you only have to purchase once. If you can afford the initial $69 fee up front (use the 20% coupon: HAPPY20 and get 20% discount immediately), it is cheaper and more convenient in the long run. There are no monthly bills to pay and no limits on how many messages you can send. This is why I recommend you to check out Thunder Mailer, over other subscription based services.

Buy Thunder Mailer now

Use coupon code: HAPPY20 and get 20% off instantly.

5 responses on “MailChimp vs Thunder Mailer

  1. Cole Wiebe says:

    A good comparison.

    We currently use MailChimp, but are open to another solution. In your Product page, I see ThunderMailer running on a PC. Do you offer a Mac version?

    – Cole

  2. joe says:

    I email from replies only. My replies come from backpage and craigslist etc. I don’t email from bought lists but I would like to start emailing from the list of ad replies I have built up. my email goal is only about 1,000 a day which is impossible for me to do one by one anymore. I have sought out help from freelancers only to be taken. So which is the best way to go for me

    • Jasmine says:

      Hello Joe,
      1,000 a day is not too many. Yes, you can use our mass email program, Thunder Mailer to email to your list from Craigslist.

  3. Julius says:

    I know its only for PCs right now…
    Are you planning a Mac version for the future?
    If yes, when is it expected?