Constant Contact vs. Customer.io

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Constant Contact
Score 7.7 out of 10
N/A
Constant Contact is a full-featured email marketing solution with capabilities such as social media integration, drag-and-drop editing, and real-time reporting. It is a bulk email tool designed for SMB customers. Since 2019, Constant Contact also offers marketing automation features, a website and landing page builder, and other tools to support midsize businesses.
$12
per month
Customer.io
Score 8.8 out of 10
Small Businesses (1-50 employees)
Customer.io is a customer engagement platform that enables marketers to build sophisticated automated messaging campaigns. With access to real-time behavioral data, users can create personalized and relevant messages to engage and retain customers. This includes sending emails, push notifications, SMS, in-app messages, and more through a visual building experience. Built for scale, Customer.io boasts users among over 5,300 companies, sending over 17 billion messages per year.
$100
per month
Pricing
Constant ContactCustomer.io
Editions & Modules
Lite
Starting at $12.00
per month
Standard
Starting at $35.00
per month
Lead Gen & CRM
Starting at $449.00
per month
Premium
Starting at $80.00
per month
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Constant ContactCustomer.io
Free Trial
YesYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoYes
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeOptional
Additional DetailsThe SMS Marketing tool can be added to any Core or Plus Constant Contact account. SMS is only available in the US for Core and Plus paid plans. SMS can be added when logged in to an account after purchase. Plans start at $10/month for up to 500 messages.Essentials: For startups and small teams engaging customers on their mobile and web apps. - Up to 5,000 profiles*, Send Emails, Push, In-App, and SMS, Visual Workflow Builder, Segmentation, Two Workspaces, Email Support, Customer Community Premium: For high-growth companies looking for greater control over their messaging outcomes. - Everything in Essentials, Custom Data + Message Volume, Premium Product Features, Additional Workspaces, 90-day Onboarding Program, Premium Email & Chat Support, Managed Deliverability, Dedicated IPs, Parcel Pro Licenses, HIPAA Compliance Enterprise: For at-scale companies looking to create world-class customer experiences. - Everything in Premium, Managed Infrastructure*, Customer Success Manager, Quarterly Success Reviews, Technical Account Manager*, Audit Logging & Data Governance*, Parcel Business Licenses, Migration Support*, *Available by consultation.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Constant ContactCustomer.io
Considered Both Products
Constant Contact

No answer on this topic

Customer.io
Chose Customer.io
I found Customer.io much easier to navigate than any of the other email platforms out there, and the pricing is MUCH better as well.
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
Constant ContactCustomer.io
Email & Online Marketing
Comparison of Email & Online Marketing features of Product A and Product B
Constant Contact
7.6
98 Ratings
5% below category average
Customer.io
-
Ratings
WYSIWYG email editor5.884 Ratings00 Ratings
Dynamic content8.385 Ratings00 Ratings
Ability to test dynamic content8.082 Ratings00 Ratings
Landing pages8.159 Ratings00 Ratings
A/B testing5.856 Ratings00 Ratings
Mobile optimization8.286 Ratings00 Ratings
Email deliverability reporting9.0140 Ratings00 Ratings
List management7.896 Ratings00 Ratings
Triggered drip sequences7.450 Ratings00 Ratings
Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
Constant Contact
7.4
95 Ratings
4% below category average
Customer.io
-
Ratings
Dashboards8.088 Ratings00 Ratings
Standard reports7.093 Ratings00 Ratings
Custom reports7.358 Ratings00 Ratings
Pre-Send Testing
Comparison of Pre-Send Testing features of Product A and Product B
Constant Contact
7.7
47 Ratings
7% below category average
Customer.io
-
Ratings
URL Validation8.131 Ratings00 Ratings
Link Tracking7.834 Ratings00 Ratings
Image Validation8.632 Ratings00 Ratings
Inbox Display8.335 Ratings00 Ratings
Email Accessibility Tools7.928 Ratings00 Ratings
Spelling and Grammar Check6.736 Ratings00 Ratings
Spam Testing6.426 Ratings00 Ratings
Email Previews7.746 Ratings00 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Constant ContactCustomer.io
Small Businesses
ReachMail
ReachMail
Score 10.0 out of 10
Simplify360
Simplify360
Score 7.9 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Emma by Marigold
Emma by Marigold
Score 8.5 out of 10
SAP Service Cloud
SAP Service Cloud
Score 9.1 out of 10
Enterprises
Emma by Marigold
Emma by Marigold
Score 8.5 out of 10
SAP Service Cloud
SAP Service Cloud
Score 9.1 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Constant ContactCustomer.io
Likelihood to Recommend
6.4
(113 ratings)
9.9
(8 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.5
(23 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
9.0
(10 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Availability
9.0
(4 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
10.0
(4 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
10.0
(17 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Online Training
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
10.0
(9 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Configurability
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Constant ContactCustomer.io
Likelihood to Recommend
Constant Contact
Constant Contact is the best tool for communicating information in an attractive way to multiple people with customizable pictures, content, and links. It is also the best option for tracking information regarding what constituents received the email, clicked through, unsubscribed, etc. This platform makes keeping track of data for multiple levels of constituents manageable.
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Customer.io
This tool is well-suited for companies looking to run email marketing campaigns or send out newsletters regularly to their users/customers. The workflow setup is especially useful for companies who want to send specific emails based on user behavior - i.e. they've not logged in recently, have bought a specific product, haven't opened any emails, etc. This could also be useful for freelancers like me since you can create different workspaces within Customer.io. I have configured it this way to handle email marketing for a few of my clients, and the software keeps everything organized and separate. This might not be the best tool for small businesses, considering the price. It may be better to start out with a cheaper email marketing tool, and then if/when necessary, scale-up with a tool like Customer.io.
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Pros
Constant Contact
  • Market segmentation is great: my main segmentation is by region because that's how our sales team is divided.
  • Lists: making customized email lists is easy and intuitive; the custom fields allow some flexibility in case our fields don't exactly line up with Constant Contact's.
  • Campaigns: creating campaigns is quick and simple. I especially appreciate the 'resend to non-openers' option. I am constantly using this feature.
  • Subject line generator: I like using the recommended subject lines. I'm able to plug in their recommended ideas, or sometimes, this feature helps me generate my own ideas.
Read full review
Customer.io
  • Managing users, attributes and events. You are easily able to modify any user, based on their ID, and add or remove attributes, assign events to them. That makes it very easy to segment later and to assign them to several campaigns based on behavior. Just a warning: this integration isn't so easy (at least it wasn't for us).
  • Creating workflows of campaigns is very easy. You can quickly create behavioral campaigns based on attributes, segments and add elements to the workflow. You can send an email, then wait, then send another, then exit the campaign if they converted, etc. The workflow is easy to configure and very powerful for automation.
  • We don't use many email templates (we make them in MJML) but it's very easy to add senders, to change templates and in general to test designs.
  • Deliverability works very well, at least for us. It sends emails pretty fast and without issues.
  • Exporting is very quick and easy. Importing wasn't a feature until recently, but it works well too.
  • Seeing activity it's also useful. In general, logs are awesome (be it of a customer, of activity on the site, email sends, etc.).
  • We don't use environments, but it might be very useful for a bigger company.
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Cons
Constant Contact
  • Drag and drop interface can be buggy. For example, when you drag in a component, sometimes the email template keeps scrolling, so you're not able to actually drop in the component.
  • Reporting is a bit confusing. There are 2 different ways to access reporting and I believe only one of them allowed you to view click rates for embedded links.
  • Limitations on the drag and drop interface. For example, you're not able to create a sidebar that spans the entire length of the email, which was a request from a client.
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Customer.io
  • Push notifications are very rudimentary. Everything has to be done by hand unless you're sending an extremely simple message.
  • A bit too email centric.
  • Lacks an ability to schedule messages on a daily, weekly, etc. basis.
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Likelihood to Renew
Constant Contact
There is no doubt that we are going to renew Constant Contact. We have not just invested a lot of time in learning and creating a great looking product but we have developed a strong database of information that allows us to track how we are doing for each newsletter. This supports our goals of creating products that residents desire and are excited to receive.
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Customer.io
No answers on this topic
Usability
Constant Contact
There is always room for improvement. I don't know how they test their systems, but they should invite not-so computer savvy people to test it. If I, as an expert have problems, they need to think like the technophobe. Since I've used Constant Contact in the past as part of my former employment, I have not viewed any of the tutorials and just jumped in to work on my client's newsletter. With that said, I found some areas easy and some a bit cumbersome
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Customer.io
No answers on this topic
Reliability and Availability
Constant Contact
No major problems in sending out the email campaigns and accessing the analytics
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Customer.io
No answers on this topic
Performance
Constant Contact
The system seemed quite slow sometimes. Specifically, there was sometimes a delay in sends if it was during a high traffic period. There were time-outs when uploading new code for an email, and a lag in reporting analytics which was sometimes as long as 72 hours
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Customer.io
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Constant Contact
I think the overall support for Constant Contact has always been incredible; I have nothing negative to say. Our customer support representative was attentive, easy to understand, and very knowledgeable. I never felt like I wasn't a priority of his and my issues, while very small, were fixed in a very short time frame.
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Customer.io
No answers on this topic
Implementation Rating
Constant Contact
Implementation is very easy for someone who wants to send out the “batch and blast” type newsletters. If you want to use their templates with no customizations, the product works fine. However, the more customizations you get into involving link color, etc, that’s where things can get tricky for someone who may not be familiar with coding
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Customer.io
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
Constant Contact
We tried Mailchimp. We could send messages to larger groups for free with Constant Contact. And we simply found more people read the emails and responded more frequently when we used Constant Contact. I think it's because it didn't feel as much like a marketing tool as when we contacted them with Mailchimp.
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Customer.io
Customer.io was really the first pure, full-featured drip email program on the market and as far as I know, it's still the simplest and best overall for that specific function. SendGrid has also added drip campaign features, but I would seriously evaluate Customer.io against any other drip email provider because they really have all the key elements you need to make it work.
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Scalability
Constant Contact
Very reliable in sending email campaigns and controlling the recipients so that no contact is sent the same email more than once, even if they are on a resent list
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Customer.io
No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
Constant Contact
  • Good email marketing option that we need to expand on
  • We have not had a strong determinable ROI, but we do not always know if a donation resulted from an email
  • Very affordable and we plan in keeping it as a resource
Read full review
Customer.io
  • Fast testing for new products to specific groups. It saves a lot of time and money.
  • Removed workload from marketing = more time to make it better.
  • Better contact with specific groups, seeing a increase in sales because of this.
Read full review
ScreenShots

Constant Contact Screenshots

Screenshot of The AI Content Generator can be used to create content for emails, social posts, or SMS.Screenshot of Advanced Automation workflows make sure marketing is always on.Screenshot of Hundreds of pre-built email templates are available or a simple drag-and-drop email editor is available to start from scratch.Screenshot of The Social Posting tool is used to plan and post Social media messaging across platforms.Screenshot of SMS Marketing can reach customers wherever they are.Screenshot of E-commerce tools can be integrated with Constant Contact to sell more.

Customer.io Screenshots

Screenshot of account performance visible at a glance from the Dashboard view.Screenshot of Drag and drop messages, time delays, and branches where desired, to build cross-channel campaigns.Screenshot of Localization for global audiences. One message delivered in multiple languages.Screenshot of Triggered campaigns based on forms submissions, customer attributes, customer actions, and dates.Screenshot of Data-driven or manual segments can be created in the no-code builder for recipient lists, campaign triggers, filters, and conversion goals.Screenshot of Emails are built with a code editor that helps navigate code and iterate.