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MAILCHIMP VS. ATTENTIVE

Drive more revenue with a unified platform

Managing email and SMS in one platform drives real results. Compare Mailchimp vs. Attentive to find a solution that delivers better ROI.

  • 22x ROI

    Mailchimp SMS e-commerce users saw up to a 22x ROI after launching their first SMS Marketing campaign.

  • 416M+ sent

    Mailchimp has successfully delivered over 416 Million SMS messages since launch.

  • 1.97x CTR

    Mailchimp users saw up to a 97% higher click rate when they used both Email and SMS.

  • 1.3% unsubs

    Mailchimp SMS Marketing has an average unsubscribe rate of 1.3%

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Unify your messaging

Combine email and SMS into one seamless brand experience. Reach customers wherever they are.

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Drive higher engagement

Use cross-channel flows to send the right message at the right time and turn browsers into buyers.

How do Attentive and Mailchimp compare?

  • Mailchimp

    ✅ The #1 email marketing platform* with built-in SMS for an all-in-one solution that serves more than e-commerce.

  • Attentive

    ❌ An SMS tool first. Primarily built for e-commerce, with email added only recently as an expansion.*

  • ✅ Designed to grow with teams, offering a price-to-feature ratio that adapts to the needs of both small and large businesses.

  • ❌ High-cost entry. Targeted at large companies with enterprise-level budgets and needs.

  • ✅ Mailchimp provides 24/7 email and chat support, and 24/7 phone support + onboarding to Premium plans.*

  • ❌ Limited weekday chat support service. Technical service is restricted to a 24/5 schedule.

  • ✅ Sophisticated analytics and reporting, including revenue attribution, industry benchmarking, and A/B testing.

  • ❌ Attentive analytics system was recently rebuilt, the platform is still refining how it reports data.

  • ✅ Marketing automation flows with 100+ customizable templates to choose from.

  • ❌ Relies on AI-generated messages rather than providing pre-built templates.

  • ✅ Offers flexible pricing, with plan options to fit different size businesses and needs.

  • ❌ Custom quotes only. Pricing based on messages sent, list size, channels, and AI products selected.

Businesses like yours trust Mailchimp

Reach mobile users faster with SMS

A study shows that nearly 1 out of 3 consumers open their SMS texts within just one minute of receiving them. With Mailchimp SMS, you could see up to a 97% higher click rate with Email + SMS.*

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A circular layout showing audience segments with profile photos and labels including Shopify Customers, Like Mailers, Media Contact and E-commerce stats

Drive revenue with powerful segmentation tools

Marketers gain 2x more revenue using AI-powered segments, an advanced feature in Mailchimp’s platform.*

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Do more with Mailchimp’s 300+ app integrations

Mailchimp’s open API makes it easy to consolidate data across platforms—so you can keep using the tools you love.

Three G2 Grid Leader badges for Summer 2023, showing awards in Small Business, Mid-Market, and Enterprise categories with red and yellow accents

11M+ users use Mailchimp

But don’t just listen to our large, loyal customer base—Mailchimp is also recognized as an industry leader for businesses of many sizes.

Source: G2.com, Inc

Switching should make life easier, not harder

Use the onboarding support and migration tools designed specifically to import your contacts and brand assets.

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Switching to Mailchimp is easy

Ready to make the jump? Let us help with personalized onboarding through your first 90 days and award-winning customer support.

FAQs

  • The biggest difference lies in the maturity and integration of the platform. Attentive was built specifically for SMS and later added email functionality as a secondary feature. Mailchimp offers a unified platform where email, SMS, and CRM have been integrated from the start.

    Managing your marketing channels separately creates data silos that limit performance. A unified platform ensures customer data remains in a single environment, providing a consistent record of engagement.

    Mailchimp’s structural depth allows for coordinated messaging and automated workflows that function without the need for manual data syncing between disconnected dashboards.

  • Comparing Attentive vs. Mailchimp, Mailchimp is the best option if you’re running campaigns that need to work across email and SMS together.

    The Marketing Automation Flows let you design complete cross-channel flows in a single window, so you can map out exactly how email and SMS work together to move people toward a purchase.

    Coordinated messaging across both channels consistently drives higher engagement than isolated SMS blasts because you’re meeting customers where they are with the right message for each moment.

    When email and SMS support each other as part of one strategy rather than operating independently, you create a cohesive experience that feels intentional instead of random. That’s the difference between a brand that feels connected and one that feels disjointed.

  • Mailchimp and Attentive use different pricing models tailored to different business scales. Mailchimp uses a transparent, flexible credit system where you can see exactly what you’ll pay and scale up or down based on what you actually need.

    Attentive pricing is primarily designed for large enterprises and high-volume SMS senders. This model typically requires custom quotes and involves high-minimum contracts with fixed spending commitments.

    For businesses that want room to grow without being tied to rigid cost structures, Mailchimp offers the flexibility to adjust your plan as your needs change. You’re never paying for more than you use, and you’re never stuck in a contract that doesn’t make sense anymore.

  • Moving your SMS contacts from Attentive to Mailchimp is straightforward thanks to Mailchimp’s bulk import tool.

    Upload your contact list quickly without complicated technical steps or lengthy processes. The system is designed to make the transition as smooth as possible, so you’re not starting from scratch.

    Mailchimp also helps you maintain compliance during the migration by ensuring that opt-in status and consent records carry over properly. If you’re on an eligible plan, you’ll have access to onboarding support that can guide you through the process and answer any questions that come up along the way.

  • Yes. Mailchimp includes comprehensive compliance and deliverability features as part of the platform. These features include:

    • Quiet Hours that automatically prevent messages from going out during times when people don’t want to be disturbed.
    • Automatic opt-out handling that ensures that unsubscribe requests are processed immediately, keeping you compliant with regulations.
    • Double opt-in tools that confirm that people genuinely want to hear from you before you start sending them messages.

    Beyond compliance tools, Mailchimp’s established global infrastructure has been built and refined over years to ensure messages reach their destination reliably. Whether you’re sending to an inbox or a phone, our platform’s deliverability standards help your messages actually get through instead of getting filtered out or blocked.

  • Mailchimp’s deep integrations with Shopify and WooCommerce help e-commerce brands recover lost sales and drive repeat purchases.

    These integrations can trigger SMS messages automatically based on real-time purchase data and web behavior, like abandoned carts, back-in-stock alerts, or post-purchase follow-ups.

    The real advantage comes from unified customer profiles that combine purchase history, browsing behavior, and engagement data in one place. This gives you the context you need to send SMS messages that actually feel personalized and relevant instead of generic.

    When you know what someone has bought, what they’ve browsed, and how they’ve engaged with past messages, you can create mobile messaging that people actually want to receive.