If you’re reading this, you’re probably already well aware of the importance of email marketing and don’t need much convincing.
This post will focus on comparing two big players in the email marketing platform industry, ConvertKit, and Drip.
If you’re weighing the pros and cons between using either of the platforms, then look no further than this page. In this comparison, I’m going to cut the fluff and get straight to the business, so that you can have some clarity in your thoughts.
So without further ado, let’s get started…
Automation Capabilities
Visual Email Builder
Individual Subscribers management
Ease of Implementation
Integrations
Pricing
Drip vs. ConvertKit: The Verdict
If you’re a little short on time, you can use the subheadings to jump between sections.
You can also scroll down to the “The Verdict” section if you just want the final recommendation.
1. Automation Capabilities
Drip – You need to create one-step if-this-then-that rules as well as campaigns and workflows that send customers the right message at the right time based on the actions they take.
You can set up ‘Basic rules’ to automatically trigger when a customer does something.
Let’s say, one of your new customer John purchases your product, you can make a rule to automatically send john a welcome email.
A ‘Campaign’ on the other hand is an entire series that automatically sends a sequence of emails at times you decide.
For example, you can create a campaign for new customers (like John) that is set to deliver warm welcomes, discount, or whatever else you want to encourage them to keep buying from you.
And a ‘workflow’ is an entirely automated path that guides your customers down unique journeys based on what they do (or don’t do)
The best thing about workflows builder is that it allows you to create really complex automations in a visual way.
With workflows, you can do EVERYTHING on the basis of customers action.
For example, you can send timely reminder emails to customers who abandon a cart and send a re-engagement email that nudges them back to the checkout.
If you’re thinking this all looks great, but I’m not sure I can create these types of workflows myself!
Well, you’re in for a real treat.
Because you don’t need to create it yourself, Drip has all already done the hard work for you.
All you need to do is alter them according to your preferences and you’re good to go.
Convertkit – Convertkit also works on if-this-then-that functionality that lets you create automation rules that keep working while you’re not working.
ConvertKit automations are very similar to Workflows in Drip. You can build them visually and in almost the exact same way as in drip. (Workflows of drip are certainly a lot more advanced though)
You can create automation by selecting actions, conditions or events.
In ConvertKit, an event is when something happens which causes a person to be pulled forward, such as when a product or service is purchased, a person is entered into a “thank you” sequence.
An action is something set in motion after a trigger that directs a person to a following designated step.
Actions can do things like add or remove tags, start (or stops) a sequence, add a person to automation, or cause them to exit automation.
Winner: Well both Drip and ConvertKit are all about ‘automations’ that will take all the hard work from your plate, if you’re looking for more options with your automations and integrations, then Drip is your option.
2. Visual Email Builder
Some people believe that fancy emails are the way to win your customer’s heart while some believe in plain text emails.
Personally, I like the latter one.
Why?
Because…
They have higher open and click-through rates
They’re friendlier. Like when your friend John drops you a birthday email
They’re easy to personalize (and quick to make)
Probably that’s the reason, almost every marketer emphasis on this (and uses it for themselves too)
All of those reasons are still very good and very true.
But…
It’s good to have options!
Sometimes, you want to show instead of telling.
Because of that, Drip went ahead and built the Email Builder that can handle both the situations.
So whenever you go to make a new campaign or broadcast email inside of Drip, you will be given the choice between building in the Visual Builder or the Text Builder.
I really find it helpful because now I don’t need to depend on someone to code an email for me.
At ConvertKit, it’s one of their top priority to keep the text-based emails and include a few extra elements as possible.
Winner – While both platforms have text builders that are easy to use and understand, Drip pulls out ahead with its Visual Email builder.
3. Individual Subscribers management
This is the MOST important feature that I wish ConvertKit had.
There is no way to tell how active a subscriber is.
Convertkit defines cold subscribers as anyone who hasn’t opened or clicked an email in the last 90 days and has been subscribed for at least 30 days.
And to solve the problem of cold subscribers, ConvertKit offers a very handy solution.
First of all, you need to go to your subscribers page and use the Subscribers dropdown to select only Cold Subscribers.
Then use the checkbox at the top to select all of them. Then click the “Select all subscribers” text link.
Now you have the option to delete all of these subscribers, but chances are there are people in here that are falsely tagged as being cold.
That’s because all ESP determine opens based on whether or not a 1px transparent image was loaded in an email.
So if someone has been reading all of your emails, but has images disabled, they will show up as cold—even though they aren’t.
So what’s the solution then?
Now you need to add them to a new tag called “Cold subscribers”.
Next, go to automations and create a new rule. The trigger should click a link and the action should be to remove the cold subscribers tag.
Here’s an example:
Next, you want to send a broadcast to all of your cold subscribers to give them a final chance to stay on the list before you delete them.
The broadcast can be simple. Just say something like:
Also, make sure that you make that link use the link trigger automation that you set up in the previous step.
Now, send this email to that selected cold subscriber’s group.
Many people will click on that link to prove that they’re engaged. Since we have set the automation they’ll automatically be removed from the cold subscribers tag. (Just wait a week or so to give people time to do that)
Once that time has passed, select all the subscribers in your Cold Subscribers tag and delete them all.
It’s better to have 1,000 engaged subscribers instead of 100,000 subscribers and a 10% open rate.
So I have shown you how can handle the cold subscribers in ConvertKit if you’re already a ConvertKit customer it might help you in future
But the problem still exists…
Let’s say, you want to create a segment based on people who opened a particular email, clicked on a link or visited a particular webpage? You can’t do that with ConvertKit.
There’s also no way to determine how engaged a particular subscriber is on your list even if they are explicitly tagged.
Let’s say you send 10 emails to two different people (with a call to action in each email)
Person 1 – Opens your 8 emails and clicked on 5 links.
Person 2 – Opens your 5 emails and clicked on 2 links.
As you can see clearly person 1 is more active than person 2, but ConvertKit will tell both subscribers are active.
But how active? God knows!
Let’s enter Drip into the picture…
Let’s say I want to send an email to someone who subscribed within the last 45 days, lives in Seattle but didn’t open my last 2 emails. It’s a piece of cake!
Another thing I like about drip is their Lead Scoring feature.
With the help of it, you can see how your leads and customers are interacting with your business.
Let me explain it to you step-by-step.
For example, if a person signs up for your newsletter and opens every email and click on every link you send their way.
This shows that the person is super engaged, and you can send them a ‘Special Coupon’ for being super engaging automatically.
Here’s how it will look in your drip account:
You can start a new workflow, and let’s make the workflow trigger the moment when once sign up for that newsletter.
Once they’ve subscribed, start sending them emails with trigger links Inside.
These links can lead people to specific products, landing pages or your favorite blog posts (anything you really want)
Every time people will click on the email, a point will be added to their custom lead score.
Now let’s think about what you can do with people who are super engaged, kind of engaged, and not really engaged at all.
You can set up a couple of decisions if someone has a high lead score they will receive a sweet VIP coupon or anything exclusive you really want to give to your most engaged people.
If they have fewer points in their lead score, you can send them a slightly lower discount.
And if they NEVER click on your emails, you don’t have to send them anything at all.
With custom events in Lead Scoring, you can do pretty much anything.
Winner: If you really want to understand who are your subscribers and how they are interacting with your business, then Drip is your option. Segmenting subscribers is ConvertKit is good but it isn’t the best one.
4. Ease of Implementation
ConvertKit and Drip, both believe in creating the best onboarding experience for each of their customers.
Both of them offers to help you do that—how-to videos, 24/7 customer support, Knowledge base articles, blog articles, and more.
It’s a great option for people who are just getting started or have a small list of subscribers.
But…
What about the customers who have a ton of existing data, automations, from their past platforms?
In case of Drip, their ECRM team is there to help you find out what additional service you might need to get you started with their platform.
In the case of ConvertKit, If you have more than 5,000 email subscribers, its Concierge Migration service will hook you up with a dedicated ConvertKit team who will migrate your data for FREE.
Winner – It’s a win for each. Both Drip and ConvertKit provides a great onboarding experience, which is exactly what you need to get started.
5. Integrations
Both Convertkit and Drip gets along with pretty much any e-commerce, landing page, and membership site providers you want to put in action.
Even if any of the platforms doesn’t directly integrate, you don’t need to worry about it.
Both the platform work with integration platforms like Zapier for additional integration options to meet your needs.
If you want to check the complete integration list of Drip, check here.
And for ConvertKit, go here.
Winner – It’s a win for each.
6. Pricing
Let’s talk about the pricing part.
Here’s the breakdown of ConvertKit and Drip pricing:
Subscribers Count
ConvertKit
Drip
For up to 2,500 subscribers
$49 per month
$49 per month
For up to 5,000 subscribers
$79 per month
$122 per month
For up to 10,000 subscribers
$119 per month
$184 per month
For up to 25,000 subscribers
$199 per month
$370 per month
For up to 50,000 subscribers
$379 per month
$680 per month
On a pure value of money basis, ConvertKit is definitely cheaper than Drip.
ConvertKit base plan starts at $29 for up to 1000 subscribers, Drip base plan starts at $49/month for up to 2500 subscribers.
Earlier ConvertKit didn’t offer a free trial but now they do provide a free trial for 14 days.
Drip offers a forever free account, for up to 100 subscribers.
I know a hundred subscribers may not be that big of a number to allow you to see good returns from your email marketing efforts.
However, it is more than enough to let you explore what the platform (drip) has to offer at your own pace.
But…
There’s one catch – they require your credit card number when you sign up for a drip account, even if you don’t want to upgrade to a paid plan.
This is done primarily for two reasons.
First, to weed out the potential spammers. Second, the freebie seekers who will never upgrade.
In any given day, it’s a minor hurdle compared to the benefits of a free forever account.
Drip vs. ConvertKit: The Verdict
To be honest, Convertkit and Drip are very similar (Almost too similar in fact)
Sometimes I get feeling that someone copied off someone when building their product, but that’s not the case here…
Both are tailored to different audiences.
If you’re looking for a simple but powerful email marketing platform without too many additional features, then ConvertKit might be your choice.
Its email editor is very intuitive, their visual automations paint a clear picture of subscribers journeys, and it works with a fair share of integrations.
Go with ConvertKit if:
You’re on a budget
You want something simple and fast to adapt
You want to step up your game with automations (or switching from outdated solutions like AWeber or MailChimp)
You really don’t mind about pruning your inactive subscribers list
You only need basic segmentation features
If you’re looking for a platform with more robust features that can help take your business to the next level, then Drip is your platform
The platform easily integrates with other applications, comes with pre-made visual workflows, and offers visual and text email builders, and lead scoring that can truly change the way of your automation.
Go with Drip if:
If you run an e-commerce store
If you want to use advanced automations features that are not available in ConvertKit.
If you have no issues with a higher price point.
If you don’t want to take advantage of the Lead scoring feature
Personally, I think Drip is a better choice but it would be great if their pricing matched with ConvertKit.
No doubt, Drip is more expensive but they do offer a lot more as well.
The question here is: Do YOU need those additional features?
Get started with ConvertKit
Get started with Drip
Also, let me know if you have any questions!
(Full disclosure: I am an affiliate for this company, which means if you use the above link to give it a trial run, I do earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you. Thanks in advance if you do choose to go through the link above )
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