Drip VS MailChimp: Which Is A Better Email Marketing Tool

By Sruthy

By Sruthy

Sruthy, with her 10+ years of experience, is a dynamic professional who seamlessly blends her creative soul with technical prowess. With a Technical Degree in Graphics Design and Communications and a Bachelor’s Degree in Electronics and Communication, she brings a unique combination of artistic flair…

Learn about our editorial policies.
Updated January 7, 2025

This tutorial compares the two best Email Marketing tools – Drip vs MailChimp based on their features, pricing, pros, and cons:

Both Drip and MailChimp were born with the intention of harnessing the power of email marketing in order to transform a business into an unparalleled success. To that degree, both platforms have evolved and reinvented themselves to serve this purpose ever since their inception.

Today, both MailChimp and Drip enjoy a loyal fan base of their own, the former more so than the latter.

Drip VS MailChimp

Drip Vs MailChimp

How do both of these, Drip and MailChimp, fair in their performance when pitted against each other? That is exactly what we intend to find out in this article.

We intend to strip both these tools to their very last feature and explore what they offer, the features where they excel, and the issues users might have while using these email marketing tools.

So without much further ado, let’s get started with some history into the two tools at loggerheads here.

What Is MailChimp

MailChimp is one of the oldest known email marketing software available in the market today. Founded in 2001, it has been used by businesses, both small and large alike, to send simple marketing emails and newsletters.

MailChimp only grew in popularity when it tempted prospects with a free plan back in the year 2001. Since then, there has been no stopping its meteoric rise, becoming a formidable tool with the highest share of the pie in the market when it comes to email marketing software.

MailChimp is prominently meant for casual bloggers and startups, small and medium businesses.

What Is Drip

Drip is a relatively new and comparatively advanced marketing automation software. Founded in 2013, it primarily focuses on marketing automation for eCommerce businesses by building a personalized experience for e-store owners.

Most of it’s features are focused on advanced functions such as a visual automatic builder, and other features that specifically target eCommerce businesses.

Drip caters to bloggers, Automation marketing enthusiasts, and players from the eCommerce industry.

Fact Check: The battle between MailChimp and Drip is more a battle of new vs. old, and currently MailChimp seems to have a remarkable upper hand over Drip with regards to their respective market shares.

market shares 1

According to the above report published by Datanalyze, MailChimp beats all other email marketing tools by a long mile with a whopping 68.41% market share. If MailChimp’s own annual report is to be believed, then customers on MailChimp have sent over 350 million emails in 2019 alone.

Drip, on the other hand only occupies a measly 1.00% of the total market share among similar tools. That isn’t to say, it isn’t performing well. Currently, it is home to over 7000 loyal users.

Drip Market share

So as you can see, MailChimp being the older of the two tools clearly has an upper hand against Drip with regards to their respective market share. However, that might change in the near future, as the world around Drip starts gaining some traction. We will have to just wait and watch.

Now before we move along to deconstruct both MailChimp and Drip’s features, let’s go through some of the most frequently asked questions surrounding email marketing software today.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q #1) How to grow an email list?

Answer: When growing an email list, there are two options available to you. You can try to buy an email list or build one yourself organically. We recommend you avoid buying a list as most emails you get in such lists are either not verified or are simply not interested.

Alternatively, try to build your own list by asking for email ids from every customer who visits your site. In return, you can reward them with an e-book or white paper.

Q #2) What is the appropriate frequency of sending emails?

Answer: You have to ensure that your emails aren’t a source of annoyance for your prospects. Thrice or four times a month will create consistency while making sure your brand stays alive in your prospect’s conscious mind.

Q #3) What should be considered a good email open rate?

Answer: An email open rate tells you how many times was your email opened by your prospects. In our experience, a 10-15% email open rate is decent enough to create interest in your brand.

Q #4) How can you analyze the performance of your email marketing campaign?

Answer: The performance can be analyzed by checking the Email bounce rate, click-through rate, and conversion rate. Both Drip and MailChimp provide their users with tangible stats and figures pertaining to the performance of their campaigns.

MailChimp Vs Drip – Feature Comparison

FeaturesMailChimpDrip
User InterfaceSimple and CleanAdvanced and Sleek
A/B TestingYesYes
Customer SurveysYesNo
Auto-RespondersYesYes
Drip CampaignsYesYes
Dynamic ContentYesYes
Event Triggered EmailYesYes
Landing PagesExtremely CustomizableLimited Customization
List ManagementYesYes
Template ManagementYes Yes
Analytics YesYes
PlatformCloud, iOS, AndroidCloud
Customer Support24/7 24/7
TrainingOnline, Webinars, DocumentationsOnline, Webinars, Documentations
Ideal Customer SizeSmall, and Medium enterprises. Causal BloggersSmall, Medium and Large enterprises, bloggers, marketers
SMS Marketing AutomationPlug-in requiredPlug-in required
PricingStarting @ $10/ monthStarting @ $19/ month
User Rating4.48/54.44/5

We proceed further to compare the competing tools on a variety of parameters, mainly pertaining to the features, and the pricing plans offered by both tools. Based on our study, we were able to draw out a conclusion as to which tool was a better option for email marketing. The results are for everyone to see below.

#1) Interface

MailChimp

Interface

MailChimp has a very immaculate interface that makes accessing its features and navigating through its portal very easy. However, one can’t help but notice the early 2000’s aesthetic, which is hard to shake off.

Drip

drip interface

Drip being the newer of the two surprises its users with an advanced user interface that is fluid, visually sumptuous, and riddled with eye-catching animation. Apart from brilliant visuals, it is also very easy to use and navigate.

Winner: Drip

Drip is the winner due to its visually arresting and sleek UI, and top bar accessible features edges out the old school aesthetics of MailChimp.


#2) Email Campaigns

MailChimp

MailChimp offers its users with a ‘Campaigns’ option that makes sending newsletters, emails, and announcements possible to a site’s subscribers. In MailChimp, you get three options to send your emails.

Email Campaigns Mailchimp

  • Regular
  • Automated
  • Plain

In regular email campaigns, you get to choose the campaign name, set the recipients, note the subject line, and ultimately design your email. To make things more interesting, MailChimp provides you with a plethora of template options to choose from. Templates are known to boost deliverability.

templates

However, if you are not into ostentatious looks, then opting for ‘Plain text’ email campaigns will satisfy you.

Automation, on the other hand, allows you to email automatically when your set conditions are triggered.

Drip

Email Campaigns drip

no emails

Drip provides you with two options to send emails.

  • Campaigns
  • Broadcasts

broadcasts

In Campaigns, you get to choose the set of emails that will be sent over a period of time depending on the automation configurations set in your personalized account settings.

A ‘Campaign’ will be triggered if a customer does any of the following on your site:

  • Checkout
  • Return
  • Add to Cart
  • Simple product browsing

Broadcast, on the other hand, is a simple way to send one email at a time. These can be a one-off announcement pertaining to sale or discounts, or a simple newsletter.

Unlike MailChimp, Drip doesn’t offer fancy templates to design your emails. Instead, Drip offers its users with the ‘Global Styles’ feature wherein you set a style and don’t have to bother with any further customization whatsoever.

Drip also offers Liquid Templating, so you can send highly targeted emails on the basis of various conditions.

Perhaps Drip’s unique feature is its ability to send scarcity emails to your subscribers without help from any foreign tool. This is done with the help of the ‘Expiring URL’s’ feature, exclusive to Drip only.

Winner: Drip

Drip has more unique features that make the whole process of sending emails even easier. The ‘Global Styles’ and ‘Expiring URL’s’ feature instantly make it the most unique tool in the market, when it comes to creating email campaigns.


#3) Automation

MailChimp

Automation auth

You can send automated emails in MailChimp by selecting the features while creating a campaign. Emails like welcome messages, updates on blogs, or new product information can be sent automatically when any of the assigned triggers are set off.

There are also a bunch of options to choose from if you are looking for an automated campaign for your eCommerce store. For this to work effectively, you have to first integrate your online store with the tool.

MailChimp is however lacking in the SMS marketing automation department but does allow for plug-ins and integration with outside SMS automation tools to make SMS marketing possible.

Drip

Drip has the most advanced and visually appealing automation builders in the market today. It is powered by two very important features:

  • Workflows
  • Rules

workflows

Rules

Workflows allow you to set multiple triggers. This works for all the other apps that you have in connection with Drip. The automation builder can be customized in 7 crucial steps, with ‘Action’ being the most interactive one. Plus, it is mesmerizing to look at.

Rules, on the other hand, allow you to set a bunch of simple rules across multiple apps and websites you own. As with MailChimp, you need an external plug-in to launch an automated SMS marketing campaign in Drip.

Winner: Drip

Unlike MailChimp, Drip’s automation builder is advanced, intuitive, and visually sumptuous. It allows for a versatile experience when automating a particular campaign that is simply missing from MailChimp.


#4) Integration

MailChimp

integrations

MailChimp has the largest number of integrations, the highest among any email marketing tools available in the market today. By our count, it has over 200 integrations with API and webhook functionality acting as the cherry on top of the cake.

Drip

drip integration

Being a new player in the game, Drip has only 50+ native integrations to its credit, which includes integration with more than 10 eCommerce apps. Apart from the above, they also have Zapier integration and webhook management in their app.

Winner: MailChimp

MailChimp clearly is a far superior tool when it comes to the number of integrations, mainly thanks to the software’s age and standing in the market.


#5) Social Media Integration

MailChimp

Social Media Integration

In MailChimp, you get to build your own Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram ads, going so far as to allow you to pick your own audience as well set your own budget. You also get to track how your ad campaigns are performing. This feature is great for lead generation.

Sadly, MailChimp doesn’t have the ability to automate social media Ads; this can make running a retargeting social media campaign very tricky.

Drip

social media integration instructions

Although not available on all social media platforms, Drip is extremely efficient for running a Facebook Ad Campaign. Drip allows you to automate your Facebook, thus giving you the power to decide who gets to see your ads.

Lead Ads

You also get to directly connect your Facebook Lead Ads to Drip. This gives you the ability to automatically enter any submitted form into a campaign or workflow, which was set up by you in the first place to empower them.

Winner: Tie

Although Drip offers some advanced options with Facebook ad automation, it also does not provide any ad features for other popular social media platforms. MailChimp, on the other hand, does offer more flexibility regarding platforms but does not allow ad automation.

Also read =>> Best Social Media Marketing Tools


#6) List Management

MailChimp

The software comes with a dedicated audience list option and tags that help in the management of your subscriber’s list. The tool allows you to either add multiple tags to your subscribers’ one at a time or all at once.

list management

Under its ‘audience section’, you get to create a segment for your subscribers based on the conditions you specify in the settings. The saved segment can then be used for a targeted email campaign.

tags

segment

Deleting emails from your list in MailChimp can be a headache as you have to filter out the inactive subscribers in your segmented list and then delete them manually.

Drip

drip people

Drip also provides its users with ‘tags’, ‘segments’ and ‘people’. However, it does not allow for the creation of multiple lists. Tags can be applied manually or via automation. You also get to add various conditions to categorize your subscribers into segments.

Unlike MailChimp, email pruning in Drip is extremely convenient. You can set multiple pruning conditions under the ‘Pruning Operations’ section in Drip. You set the conditions on which to remove subscribers.

pruning operations

Winner: Drip

Email pruning is extremely crucial as it improves a tool’s deliverability. Drip succeeds in offering a pruning feature, which is advanced and thus is our winner here.


#7) Landing Pages

MailChimp

Landing page template

MailChimp provides you with a plethora of features and tools to both customize and build a landing page or form. To create a landing page, you first need to specify, for what type of audience you are creating this page.

After selecting your audience, you get to choose from a variety of templates to build your landing page with. The landing page is customizable, with the ability to add content blocks being the major highlight of this feature.

Drip

temp drip

Although Drip allows you to edit forms by adding fields, or altering the text, it does not offer anything exciting with regards to building and customizing a landing page. Forms, on the other hand, can be constructed on the platform as widgets, or pop-ups.

Winner: MailChimp

MailChimp because of its ability to easily build a customizable landing page is a clear winner here. Drip can build forms, but you need external tools and plugins to build a landing page with it.


#8) A/B Split Testing

MailChimp

The software allows you to split test your campaigns. You can start testing the subject line with name, content, and ‘send time’ in consideration. You get to test up to 3 variations, set the percentage of people who will receive the test combinations, and determine which variation is a winner, depending on your settings.

Drip

This software allows you to split test campaigns based on the ‘Subject’, ‘From Name’, and delivery time. Moreover, Drip also allows its users to conduct an A/B test right under the automation workflow. This is really unique as no other tool offers this feature.

Sadly, Drip does not allow users to split test the variation of their email content.

Winner: Drip

Although Drip lacks the ability to test variations in email content, it does deliver a unique feature in the ability to conduct a split test under the workflow automation function. MailChimp does not offer automation split testing.


#9) Deliverability

Both MailChimp and Drip deliver exceptional deliverability rates, which you can see for yourself below with and without SPF/DKIM auth record setup.

Without SPF/DKIM AUTH records setup

Tool NameInbox DeliverabilityPrimary and Promotional TabsSpamMissing
MailChimp82.31%1.54%13.08%3.08%
Drip93.85%0%6.15%0%

With SPF/DKIM AUTH records setup

Tool NameInbox DeliverabilityPrimary and Promotional TabsSpamMissing
MailChimp95.45%0%4.55%0%
Drip100%0%0%0%

Winner: Drip

As you can see, both tools provide great deliverability. However, Drip outperforms its competition to near perfection with auth records setup in place. Drip showcases 100% deliverability as compared to MailChimp’s 95.45% rate.


#10) Pricing

MailChimp Pricing

MailChimp comes with three primary plans, along with its popular free plan.

PlanFreeEssential StandardPremium
Price$0$10.43$15.58$311.68
Subscribers2000 Maximum Contacts50050010000
Features•7 marketing channels
•Single email automation
•5 email templates
•Marketing CRM
•All email templates
•A/B testing
•Custom branding
•24/7 award-winning support
•Journey automations
•Retargeting ads
•Custom-coded email templates
•Advanced audience insights
•Advanced segmentation
•Multivariate testing
•Unlimited seats and role-based access
•Phone support

MailChimp pricing

Drip Pricing

SubscribersPricing
500$19 / Month
2000$29/ month
3000$49/ month
3500$59/ month
4000$69/ Month
5000$59/ month
140000$1599/month

Drip pricing

Winner: MailChimp

Although Drip offers way more in terms of features, MailChimp is simply more affordable and thus viable, especially for casual bloggers and small businesses at a starting price of $10. With MailChimp, you also get a free plan to test the tool as much as you want. With Drip, you only get a 14-day free trial.

Pros And Cons

MailChimp:

ProsCons
Clean and Simple User InterfaceOld design
Plethora of Templates to choose fromLack of advanced email campaign building features
Affordable Pricing PlansWeak Automation builder
Highly Customizable Landing Pages Lack of intuitive email pruning features
Over 200+IntegrationsNo Automation Split Testing

Drip:

ProsCons
Sleek and Visually Arresting UIRelatively expensive
Advanced Automation BuilderLack of tools to customize landing page
Advanced Email Pruning FeaturesLow number of integrations
Send Scarcity emails without any help from external toolsDoes not split test variations in email content

Conclusion

Although both the tools have a plethora of features to boast of, we would like to hand over the title of the best email marketing tool to Drip. Drip beats MailChimp, thanks to its visually arresting interface, extremely simple and advanced campaign builder, intuitive automation, and unique features such as ‘Expiring URLs’.

Drip also beats MailChimp by mail when it comes to deliverability rate, delivering a 100% deliverability as compared to MailChimp’s 95.5% rate with auth records setup in place.

Drip has a long battle ahead of it if it is to conquer the market share currently occupied by MailChimp. However, as the word of mouth around Drip gains momentum, and if MailChimp remains complacent in providing a new experience to its users, we might very well see Drip dominating the market sooner than later.

Was this helpful?

Thanks for your feedback!

Leave a Comment