MailerLite vs. Smartlead.ai

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
MailerLite
Score 8.8 out of 10
Small Businesses (1-50 employees)
MailerLite is an email marketing platform for small businesses, creators, and ecommerce brands, used to automate the customer journey and grow a customer list. Users can send unlimited emails with every plan. Pricing starts at $10/month. MailerLite enables users to: Grow and engage their audience - Build newsletters, forms, pop-ups, landing pages, and even full websites with a Drag and drop builder that offers total creative control over designs. 150 customizable…
$10
per month
Smartlead.ai
Score 7.2 out of 10
N/A
A solution to scale cold email outreach featuring unlimited mailboxes, unlimited warmups, deliverability-focused infrastructure, and a unibox to handle the revenue cycle.
$39
per month
Pricing
MailerLiteSmartlead.ai
Editions & Modules
Free
$0
per month 1 user
Growing
$10
per month 3 users
Advanced
$20
per month Unlimited users
Enterprise
Custom pricing
per month
Basic
$39
per month 2000 active Leads & 6000 Emails per month
Pro
$94
per month 30000 active Leads & 150000 Emails per month
Custom
starting at $174
per month upto 12M Active Lead Credits
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
MailerLiteSmartlead.ai
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
YesNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
YesNo
Entry-level Setup FeeOptionalNo setup fee
Additional DetailsAdditional 30% discount available to Non-profit organizations. Up to a 10% for paying yearly.Discount of up to 17% available for annual billing.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
MailerLiteSmartlead.ai
Features
MailerLiteSmartlead.ai
Email & Online Marketing
Comparison of Email & Online Marketing features of Product A and Product B
MailerLite
8.8
88 Ratings
9% above category average
Smartlead.ai
5.9
2 Ratings
30% below category average
WYSIWYG email editor9.577 Ratings5.01 Ratings
Dynamic content9.069 Ratings1.01 Ratings
Ability to test dynamic content7.563 Ratings4.01 Ratings
Landing pages8.566 Ratings00 Ratings
A/B testing8.854 Ratings7.02 Ratings
Mobile optimization8.469 Ratings8.01 Ratings
Email deliverability reporting9.377 Ratings8.01 Ratings
List management9.276 Ratings00 Ratings
Triggered drip sequences9.051 Ratings8.01 Ratings
Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
MailerLite
6.9
76 Ratings
11% below category average
Smartlead.ai
7.5
2 Ratings
3% below category average
Dashboards6.01 Ratings6.52 Ratings
Standard reports8.876 Ratings8.01 Ratings
Custom reports6.01 Ratings8.01 Ratings
Pre-Send Testing
Comparison of Pre-Send Testing features of Product A and Product B
MailerLite
9.4
69 Ratings
15% above category average
Smartlead.ai
4.5
2 Ratings
57% below category average
Email Previews9.469 Ratings8.02 Ratings
URL Validation00 Ratings2.01 Ratings
Link Tracking00 Ratings2.01 Ratings
Image Validation00 Ratings3.01 Ratings
Inbox Display00 Ratings6.02 Ratings
Email Accessibility Tools00 Ratings6.02 Ratings
Best Alternatives
MailerLiteSmartlead.ai
Small Businesses
Mad Mimi
Mad Mimi
Score 10.0 out of 10
Mad Mimi
Mad Mimi
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 8.7 out of 10
Emma by Marigold
Emma by Marigold
Score 8.7 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
MailerLiteSmartlead.ai
Likelihood to Recommend
9.0
(88 ratings)
6.0
(2 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.1
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
9.2
(25 ratings)
8.0
(2 ratings)
Support Rating
9.4
(4 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
MailerLiteSmartlead.ai
Likelihood to Recommend
Mailerlite
I didn't have much luck when testing other similar tools and since we tested with free plan, we couldn't commit to something else if we couldn't get basic stuff fixed. That's when we switched to MailerLite, and their support was great and super helpful all the way (during our free plan, especially). Plus, they're super budget-friendly for startups, so I highly recommend.
Read full review
Smartlead.ai
We have ceased using the tool as our primary outbound marketing platform for all the reasons stated. Slick integration but poor ROI. We have switched to a platform that does not require management of dozens of domains and email addresses and sends from a U.S.-based API
Read full review
Pros
Mailerlite
  • Offers a user-friendly interface, making it simple to create beautiful forms, group subscribers, and automate emails.
  • Includes email automation workflows in their free plan - the only provider I know of that doesn't charge you after one month or hit you with "transaction fees".
  • Excellent video tutorial library so you can learn email marketing as a beginner without feeling overwhelmed.
Read full review
Smartlead.ai
  • Slick API integration with both our waterfall and CRM
  • Quick email verification tool
  • Handles high volume sending with ease
Read full review
Cons
Mailerlite
  • EVERYONE should be allowed to at least use the AI bot chat feature. This doesn't take a person and is such basic customer service that it should be offered at all levels.
  • It would be nice if MailerLite worked better with AddEvent icons
  • When emailing support it took days to get a response (after an agent escalated the issue). Some concerns are more urgent and email support shouldn't mean bad support.
Read full review
Smartlead.ai
  • Response rate has been abysmally poor
  • ROI has been negligible
  • APIs are not U.S.-based
  • Does not handle attachments well
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
Mailerlite
Mailerlite is awesome and it does everything I need and then some. They're always innovating and adding new features, and their team is flippin' amazing. Can't see myself ever switching. They may not have everything, but looking at how well their team works, they'll get there for sure and I'm willing to wait.
Read full review
Smartlead.ai
No answers on this topic
Usability
Mailerlite
I find it very easy to use, intuitive with a clean interface and drag and drop functionality where that adds value. It's quite configurable for our brand and the template and duplication options are very useful as we reuse a lot of content.
Read full review
Smartlead.ai
It's a good tool and you can figure out your way around it, but overall visibility from a bird's eye view could be better. Oftentimes you have to open up multiple tabs to see different client views
Read full review
Support Rating
Mailerlite
Whenever I contact Support, either via email or through online chat, I always get a speedy response that gives me the answer I need. The AI Agent on the online chat is excellent and has helped me so much on numerous occasions.
Read full review
Smartlead.ai
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
Mailerlite
MailerLite has similar features to the tools mentioned above. The main advantage is that it is very complete in its free version. This is ideal for those who are starting out and want to try a complete email marketing platform.
Read full review
Smartlead.ai
At the time when I was evaluating, Smartlead offered a client portal and was also a bit less pricey compared to some of their competitors
Read full review
Return on Investment
Mailerlite
  • Gives us the ability to track the popularity of content in our email as well as who has read the content.
  • The customizable layout gives us the opportunity to be creative and have our culture shine through our company communication.
  • The ability to see who has un-subscribed helps our HR department to see who isn't receiving important company information so we can ask them to re-subscribe.
  • Helps our company to be more transparent and communicate more effectively.
Read full review
Smartlead.ai
  • Negligible return
  • Open rates and response rates run below 10%
  • Best for single channel buziness development
Read full review
ScreenShots

MailerLite Screenshots

Screenshot of reports, that can include unsubscribe count, spam complaints, bounces, link activity and other metrics that are critical to measuring success.Screenshot of automations for every subscriber journeyScreenshot of the MailerLite landing page builderScreenshot of an example newsletterScreenshot of some of the over 150 templates availableScreenshot of where to find MailerLite's integrations