MailerLite vs Keap
Trying to choose between MailerLite vs Keap as your email marketing software? Here's when to choose each tool – and the pros and cons to know about.
- 4.4 TrustPilot
- 4.7 Capterra
- 4.7 G2
Average 4.6 / 5
MailerLite
MailerLite is an all-in-one email marketing platform that allows you to create newsletters, landing pages, and even websites using pre-made templates. It has 100+ integrations with other platforms and a recurring payment feature for paid newsletters.
Pricing
Free plan, dynamic paid plans depending on the features and the contact list size start from $9/month billed yearly.
Key features
- Drag-and-drop email editor with an AI writing assistant
- No-code website, blog, and landing page builder
- iPad subscriber app for generating leads on offline events
- Paid newsletter subscription
- Automated sequences
- Integrations with online stores
- Email verifier
Support
24/7 email and live chat support
- 2.6 Trustpilot
- 4.1 Capterra
- 4.2 G2
Average 3.6 / 5
Keap
A sales and marketing automation platform catered to small businesses. Has CRM and email and text marketing features.
Pricing
Starts at $159 a month for 1,500 contacts (billed yearly)
Key features
- Email automation
- Drag-and-drop email builder
- Segmentation
- Reporting and analytics
- Integrations with various services
- CRM
- Virtual phone number
Support
24/7 online chat support, email support, and call-in support for the UK, US, and Australia. US call-in support is available on weekdays from 6 am to 7 pm PST.
General info about company
MailerLite
MailerLite was founded in 2005 as a web design agency but then switched to email marketing. The company is remote-first, with employees in 40 countries.
Keap
Keap was founded in 2001 by brothers Scott and Eric Martineau and now CEO Clate Mask. The company headquarters is in Chandler, Arizona.
Difficulty
MailerLite
No coding or design skills are required to create emails and web pages. The platform also offers an extensive knowledge base with tutorials, which makes it beginner-friendly.
Keap
Although users can create emails and automations without coding or designing, the platform is vast and can be overwhelming to navigate.
Best for
MailerLite
E-commerce, freelancers, small businesses
Keap
Small businesses that need to constantly keep in touch with clients via not only email but also text and phone.
Free plan
MailerLite
A generous forever free plan with a limit of 1 user, 1,000 contacts, and 12,000 monthly emails. The free plan includes:
- Email editor and automation builder
- Website builder and 10 templates for landing pages
- Sign-up forms and pop-ups
- 24/7 email and chat support for the first 30 days
Keap
No free plan, only 14 day free trial.
Pricing
MailerLite
Growing business:
- $9-205/month billed yearly, depending on the number of subscribers, with a limit of 50k contacts at the highest price
- Unlimited emails and 24/7 support
- Includes extra features like dynamic emails, selling digital products, blogs, and an unsubscribe page builder
- 3 users available
Advanced:
- $19-1,600/month billed yearly, with a limit of 500k contacts at the highest price
- An email limit if you have more than 50k subscribers, up to 6 million, depending on the number
- Includes features like custom HTML editor, AI writing assistant, Facebook integration, promotion pop-ups, and more
- Unlimited users
Entreprise:
- Depends on the scope of work
- Only available for businesses with 100k and more subscribers
- Includes the services of a dedicated success manager, onboarding, account audit, and dedicated IP and deliverability consultation
Keap
Keap has three plans, billed yearly/monthly:
Pro $159 / $199
- 1,500 contacts
- 2 users
- Email marketing
- Marketing, sales & workflow automation
- CRM
- Quotes, invoices & payments
- Landing pages & online sales
- Text marketing (US)
Max $229 / $289
- 2,500 contacts
- 3 users
- Core features
- Dedicated phone line (US & Canada)
- Appointments
- Enhanced landing pages & sales tools
- E-commerce tools (promo codes, order bumps, etc.)
- Advanced reporting
Ultimate $279 / $349
- 2,500 contacts
- 3 users
- Core features
- Premium CRM & sales management
- Advanced marketing & sales tools (round robin, email health report, etc.)
- Permission levels for users
- Affiliate management & collaboration
- Advanced reporting
Other pricing features:
- 14 days free trial with all the features
- All plans require a mandatory one-time onboarding fee of $999
Support
MailerLite
Customer support is available 24/7 via email and live chat — however, it’s only available for 30 days on the free plan. Users can also hire experts in email marketing, copywriting, no code development, and more.
MailerLite also offers an extensive Customer Self-Service Center. It includes:
- A large categorized knowledge base, that includes articles about troubleshooting most common issues
- Video tutorials
- A Circle community where users can communicate with each other
- A free ML Academy with 5 free online courses about MailerLite and email marketing
Keap
24/7 online chat support, email support, and call-in support for the UK, US, and Australia. US call-in support is available on weekdays from 6 am to 7 pm PST.
Customer support managers for each user, access to Keap Academy’s live training events and online learning platform, and Knowledge Base.
Features
MailerLite
- Email marketing automation
- Sign-up forms
- Landing pages
- Website builder
- Blog builder
- Email verifier
- Transactional emails
- Click maps
- The ability to sell digital products like e-books and online courses
- Setting up a paid subscription for emails
Keap
- Email and text marketing automation in a drag-and-drop builder
- Segmentation
- Reporting and analytics
- Integrations with various services
- CRM
- A mobile app for iOS and Android for a virtual phone number and leads management
- Forms and landing pages
- Appointments booking and payments
Templates
MailerLite
70+ templates for newsletters:
- Blog digests
- Events
- Holiday emails
- Featured product
- Notifications
- Surveys and quizzes
- Deals and offers
- Emails for creative professionals
40+ templates for landing pages:
- For bloggers
- For creative professionals
- Events
- Surveys and quizzes
- Coming soon
- Celebrations
- Books
- Non-profits
18 website templates for different industries and purposes:
- Business
- E-commerce
- Education
- Events
- Food and drinks
- Portfolio
- Wellness
Keap
18+ templates
Templates for one on one email conversations with clients
Templates for:
- Promo emails
- Online stores
- Flash sale
- Healthcare
- Home decor
- Fitness
Video/screenshots
MailerLite
Keap
Integrations
MailerLite
139 integrations with services for CRM, loyalty programs, e-commerce, project management, surveys, and more.
Keap
29 integrations including Zapier, Jotform, WordPress, Instapage, OptinMonster, and more.
Devices
MailerLite
-
MailerLite has a web app, an iOS app, and an iPad app only for subscribing leads on offline events.
Keap
- Website
- A mobile app for Android and iOS to use a virtual phone number and manage contacts. Available in the U.S., Australia, Canada, U.K., and New Zealand
- No installable solution.
Languages
MailerLite
English
Keap
English
Automation
MailerLite
- 15 automation recipes for welcome emails, abandoned cart, membership renewal, online courses, and more.
- Paid versions include an AI writing assistant powered by OpenAI that allows users to write marketing copies faster.
- Automated A/B testing for up to 3 workflow variations.
Keap
Marketing and sales automations:
- Free consultation
- Deal follow-up
- Reminders
- Yearly birthday greetings
- Review request
Pros
MailerLite
- A very simple and minimalist product that is good for beginners
- Many unique features like paid newsletters and selling digital goods
- Great customer support
- A lot of integrations available
- Easy migrations from other services
- Extensive video tutorial library for new users
Keap
- Helpful automations
- Many features (CRM, email marketing, etc.) in one place
- Customer support
- Integrations
Cons
MailerLite
- May come off as too simple for experienced marketers
- You need to get approval to start working with the service
- 2FA requires a third-party app instead of a phone number
- Stripe integration can be troublesome
- Confusing categories in the interface
- Outdated documentation at times
Keap
- No A/B testing
- Difficult to cancel and billing issues
- Steep learning curve
- Software is slow
Reviews from experts
MailerLite
Great level of satisfaction in terms of the results we are obtaining in our campaigns, as well as how it is to work with MailerLite on a daily-basis. Also, very important to mention the amazing customer service provided. Always very quick, detailed and helpful. Message Factory couldn’t be any happier by working with MailerLite!
On the down side, MailerLite felt a bit unpolished at times. Things like the odd feature that was incomplete, or a tab that seemed to be in the wrong place – small things that slowly added up, resulting in a bittersweet experience.
MailerLite is great, and I’m sure it will only get better with time. It just fails to deliver an exceptional email marketing experience right now
Keap
Overall: Keap Max Classic: It does the job supporting our business. But none of us like using it. We have too many integrations and automations set up that it would just be too arduous to switch.
Pros: Keap Max Classic: It has a lot of features to support businesses that need the room to scale up. It is pretty powerful in what it can do.
Cons: Keap Max Classic: It is convoluted, complex, and confusing. We had to make custom forms and interfaces for our staff because everyone was too confused working directly within Keap. It is also SLOW. Most functions are not snappy. Creating and maintaining campaigns get really confusing really quickly once you graduate from the simplest of campaigns.
Keap allows small business owners like me to create systems and automation to run, grow and scale our businesses. As a solopreneur just starting out, I couldn't hire an assistant to help me schedule appointments or to send out my emails. I was losing potential clients due to lack of follow-up. My business was chaotic. Keap helped me create processes that run, practically on autopilot, while I am working on my business and working for my clients. It is like having a couple of extra employees.
What do you dislike about Keap?
Keap is a very robust platform, which means it does have a bit of a learning curve. They provide training and plenty of resources to help you learn, but it takes a little time to understand all its abilities fully.
*This information is current as of 02/13/2024. While we regularly update our articles, it`s possible that this article may not contain some of the latest information.
