iContact vs. Twilio SendGrid

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
iContact
Score 7.4 out of 10
N/A
iContact is an email marketing solution that was acquired by Vocus in 2012. The product is integrated with Facebook and Twitter and is aimed at SMBs with unlimited sending as a key feature.
$14
per month
Twilio SendGrid
Score 7.4 out of 10
N/A
Twilio SendGrid Marketing Campaigns provides users with segmentation, campaign editing, and deliverability. According to the vendor, Twilio SendGrid Marketing Campaigns is trusted by over 80,000 customers globally, including Airbnb, Spotify and Uber. Twilio SendGrid Marketing Campaigns aims to help users by providing: MORE EFFICIENT EMAIL BUILDING The campaign building process is free from frustrating, rigid step-by-step wizards that slow users down. The vendor says…
$15
per month
Pricing
iContactTwilio SendGrid
Editions & Modules
1500 Users
$15.00
per month
2500 Users
$25.00
per month
5000 Users
$45.00
per month
Basic
$15
per month
Advanced
$60
per month
Free
Free
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
iContactTwilio SendGrid
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
YesNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
iContactTwilio SendGrid
Considered Both Products
iContact

No answer on this topic

Twilio SendGrid
Chose Twilio SendGrid
SendGrid is far and away better in terms of email template building, stock templates, and delivery rates.
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
iContactTwilio SendGrid
Email & Online Marketing
Comparison of Email & Online Marketing features of Product A and Product B
iContact
6.6
26 Ratings
21% below category average
Twilio SendGrid
7.8
46 Ratings
4% below category average
WYSIWYG email editor7.024 Ratings7.733 Ratings
Dynamic content7.021 Ratings7.936 Ratings
Ability to test dynamic content5.021 Ratings8.134 Ratings
Landing pages7.014 Ratings7.622 Ratings
A/B testing5.017 Ratings8.526 Ratings
Mobile optimization7.021 Ratings9.034 Ratings
Email deliverability reporting7.025 Ratings7.646 Ratings
List management8.025 Ratings5.940 Ratings
Triggered drip sequences6.015 Ratings7.520 Ratings
Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
iContact
8.0
26 Ratings
2% above category average
Twilio SendGrid
7.9
46 Ratings
1% above category average
Dashboards8.026 Ratings8.444 Ratings
Standard reports8.025 Ratings8.544 Ratings
Custom reports8.015 Ratings6.928 Ratings
Pre-Send Testing
Comparison of Pre-Send Testing features of Product A and Product B
iContact
7.0
1 Ratings
19% below category average
Twilio SendGrid
9.1
8 Ratings
7% above category average
URL Validation7.01 Ratings9.38 Ratings
Link Tracking7.01 Ratings9.08 Ratings
Image Validation7.01 Ratings9.07 Ratings
Inbox Display7.01 Ratings9.38 Ratings
Email Accessibility Tools7.01 Ratings9.08 Ratings
Spelling and Grammar Check7.01 Ratings8.66 Ratings
Spam Testing7.01 Ratings9.38 Ratings
Email Previews7.01 Ratings9.08 Ratings
Best Alternatives
iContactTwilio SendGrid
Small Businesses
ReachMail
ReachMail
Score 10.0 out of 10
ReachMail
ReachMail
Score 10.0 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
VerticalResponse
VerticalResponse
Score 10.0 out of 10
VerticalResponse
VerticalResponse
Score 10.0 out of 10
Enterprises
Emma by Marigold
Emma by Marigold
Score 8.6 out of 10
Emma by Marigold
Emma by Marigold
Score 8.6 out of 10
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User Ratings
iContactTwilio SendGrid
Likelihood to Recommend
8.0
(45 ratings)
5.7
(57 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
3.4
(19 ratings)
7.0
(1 ratings)
Usability
8.0
(6 ratings)
1.0
(4 ratings)
Availability
9.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
8.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
9.9
(9 ratings)
3.0
(9 ratings)
Online Training
1.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
8.5
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
7.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
iContactTwilio SendGrid
Likelihood to Recommend
iContact
I would only recommend it if someone was a small business. I think they are the best suited for companies who will send out a coupon or offer here and there. The most recent updates made it more complicated to use for more complicated processes. It is easy to train someone on the program, and so quick to learn. But I would also only stick to the simpler things. I also think the colorful templates are great, and show great creativity. But again, it is hard to justify recommending the program when it isn't WYSIWYG.
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Twilio
I think Sendgrid is a great tool for sending out emails of all types. I've primarily used it for transactional emails as we've had other solutions for marketing emails, but I'm sure it would do just a good job - there is a "Marketing" section within the app you can use. Sendgrid integrates really easily with the development frameworks I've used, such as Laravel and Lumen; I've also integrated it with Moodle with ease.
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Pros
iContact
  • Contact management. iContact is really great for entering all your contact. You are able to put them onto different lists, and let them choose which lists they would like to be a part of as well. There are many data fields provided to fill in information.
  • Emailing. We use the email feature at least once a month. They are always improving and adding new features, which is very helpful in presenting content in a new and exciting way to our readers. There are many options with remade templates and themes, or you can add your own.
  • Insights. It is really helpful being able to have the data to see what is working and what isn't. It is nice to be able to go back and see how things went in the past compared to now. Opens, clicks, shares, etc.
Read full review
Twilio
  • Managing email lists / audiences is easy with features like groups and segments.
  • They provide pre-built email templates that are very easy to modify. It is also super easy to create new email templates with their drag-and-drop email builder.
  • Provides clear / easy-to-read analytics of email campaigns.
  • I can easily import large email contact lists all at once or add a user manually one-at-a-time, when needed.
Read full review
Cons
iContact
  • We also would like to send transactional messages which don't require an opt-out, this is a challenge with iContact. (May be a feature with pro?)
  • The regular version of iContact doesn't support event management or logic flows for automated messaging.
  • Custom form fields have limited field type options (can't build a drop-down).
Read full review
Twilio
  • Not necessarily their Email API but their email in general - they are currently in beta for automated email sequences but are still bare bones. Much more work is needed before it can be used mainstream and be able to convert everything to SendGrid.
  • Helping with warming up our dedicated IP for the best-sending score.
  • We seem to hit the promotions folder a decent amount (maybe the IP problem above) and even a lot of their emails hit my spam or promotions folder (whether they be transactional or marketing) which isn't a great sign when trusting an ESP.
  • Transactional email sequences would be a huge plus.
  • Now that Twilio owns SenGrid, having an integrated platform where you could see all our transactional emails together.
  • Better reporting and split reporting between transactional and marketing emails.
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Likelihood to Renew
iContact
iContact has been a quick and easy way to send any announcements and news directly to email and social media subscribers. Its tracking and reporting capabilities turn a simple email into a marketing campaign that can be used as a tool to efficiently gauge reader response and customer satisfaction, and ultimately to reach potential customers. The consistency and excellent customer service is what makes this program a pleasant experience.
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Twilio
No answers on this topic
Usability
iContact
I rate iContact as an easy to use program due to its user friendly dashboard and user interface. Most companies of small to medium size do not have a dedicated marketer, therefore it is someone multitasking who may or may not have this kind of experience. iContact makes it relatively simple and can actually expand one's knowledge in the area of business promotion.
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Twilio
It has the potential to be really cool. However, it feels as if it was created by developers for developers (and I work with developers, yet even for me the instrument was somewhat not easy to use - just read SendGrid's help manuals...) However, if you are into data and your way of thinking is more mathematical rather than lyrical, you'll enjoy this instrument
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Reliability and Availability
iContact
iContact is regularly up and running. Only once has it been unavailable for maintenance, which is to be expected and even desired for optimal performance when needed.
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Twilio
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
iContact
They have always been responsive to any issues or concerns that have arisen with our account. Our customer account manager participates in our monthly county-wide communicators meetings via telephone to ensure that we are getting the most from the service. He also analyzes our lists to help us weed out inactive contacts.
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Twilio
Twilio SendGrid Email API is everything we want it to be, and we have no reason to look for any other solution. Features and pricing match exactly what we need. As developers for SaaS products, Twilio SendGrid Email API provides a great service. I hope that they stay this way and don't inflate the service with too many marketing oriented features, because there are other tools for that and Twilio SendGrid Email API is a API for sending email first and foremost.
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Online Training
iContact
The templates are difficult to customize, and they don't render well in email platforms
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Twilio
No answers on this topic
Implementation Rating
iContact
i wouldn't be using it if i wasn't satisfied. time is money
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Twilio
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
iContact
I didn't have a say in the decision because I wasn't with the company at the time. I listed HubSpot here because I know we used it in conjunction with iContact for email automation, but HubSpot Email was only recently built-out to the point where it is today. Now, iContact and HubSpot are no longer integrated.
Read full review
Twilio
If given a choice between the two, I would pick Mandrill over SendGrid. Mandrill is slightly more expensive but the data & reports that you receive from it make the service worth it. Mandrill lets you export reports over a period of time, view the actual content of emails that you've dispatched and the customer support is way better. If you can bear the slightly higher cost, Mandrill would be a better choice.
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Scalability
iContact
iContact stays the same with the number of users added or taken away. It certainly remains reliable despite increased usage, and so, can be considered scaleable in that aspect.
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Twilio
No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
iContact
  • We have a template for webinars that we send every month. We just edit it and send. This couldn't be easier (once you know where to find it).
  • We like the breakdown of statistics in the dashboard. They're easy to read.
  • iContact isn't a comprehensive solution, so it is only one of a few products we use for marketing.
Read full review
Twilio
  • Our clients experience significant ROI from their web forms - without receipt of forms, many of them would not still be in business.
  • As a solution for clients' sites, we find SendGrid is a fast installation and a 1 stop problem solver, saving us man-hours.
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