As the name would have it, AWeber is an all-in-one platform for sending out emails. But, the fact is it’s been around for a while now and is fairly well-known.
In addition to handling all the technical aspects of sending out emails (building your email list, delivering the mail, measuring open rates, etc.), AWeber also offers a whole slew of marketing tools. These include things like; landing page builders, automated email responders, viral marketing, and email marketing analytics.
While AWeber is a great solution for someone who is just getting started, or for someone who doesn’t want to handle the technical side of email marketing, it’s not the only solution out there. Today, we’re going to take a look at the best alternatives to AWeber and Nitroflare.
Free Email Hosting
Let’s begin with the good news first – free email hosting is back! Several years ago, large web hosting companies made it difficult to find a free email hosting plan. They would often charge you a lot of money for the privilege of being able to use their service. Thanks to new privacy regulations and the ever-changing landscape of the internet, companies like Gmail, Hotmail, and Outlook.com now offer free email hosting to their customers.
If you’re looking for free email hosting, then check out these reputable services. They will hopefully provide you with good value and quality while not forcing you to pay for each individual service.
Protonmail
Protonmail is, hands down, the best all-around mail service that we’ve tried. Not only do they offer free email hosting (Protonmail Basic), but they also provide users with a free domain as part of their package. For a long time, we’d recommend checking out their service, as it provides good value and quality for the price. They also have plenty of features that you would find in a $20+/mo service, but for free!
Fastmail
Fastmail is, again, another service that provides good value for the price. They also offer a very affordable ($5/mo) Protonmail tier which is ideal for people on a budget who want to try out the service. In addition, they offer a free domain with your account as well as free spam and virus scanning.
Mail Chimp
Mail Chimp is yet another good option for someone looking for free email hosting. Their pricing is fairly flexible, as they offer a free plan as well as discounted plans for those who want to pay on a monthly basis. One of the best parts of using the service is that they provide you with a free domain and you can install a custom theme from their amazing marketplace. Once you’ve set up your account, you’ll see an overlay on the dashboard that allows you to get connected to customers and potential customers through email marketing campaigns. You can automate email campaigns and set up conditional email messaging based on specific actions or events.
Aurora
Aurora is, in some ways, the anti-AWeber. It was founded with a single purpose – to provide an affordable and simple alternative to SaaS (Software as a Service) providers like AWeber. So instead of users paying a monthly fee to use AWeber, they pay a one-time fee to use Aurora. After paying this initial cost, they have access to all of the same features as AWeber, with the addition of marketing analytics. All of which makes it a great choice for someone looking for a SaaS provider.
Fiery
Fiery is, hands down, the most feature-rich of the services we’re going to look at today. Not only do they provide you with a free domain, but you can also install a custom skin which makes your website look like a professional business. They also offer free email hosting for their users, as well as a free autoresponder tool. You can use the tool to automatically send out emails at preset times to your audience, or you can use it to send out a welcome message when a new user signs up for your email list.
Rackspace
Rackspace is, yet again, a company that provides good value for the price. Their offering is called CloudMail, and it is, essentially, a free email hosting service that they provide for businesses. So instead of paying for each email account individually, you can set up a CloudMail account and install a mail client on your computer to manage your email from there. It doesn’t get any easier than that.
SendGrid
SendGrid is, once again, another service that provides good value for the price. In addition to handling all the technical aspects of sending out emails (building your email list, delivering the mail, measuring open rates, etc.), they offer a completely free option for those who want to try out the service. As an added bonus, if you do decide to migrate to a paid plan, they’ll give you $500 worth of credits to use for sending emails. This means you’ll save $500 without having to purchase a single thing.
Mailjet
Mailjet is, once more, another service that provides good value for the price. In addition to handling all the technical aspects of sending out emails (building your email list, delivering the mail, measuring open rates, etc.), they also offer a completely free option for those who want to try out the service. As an added bonus, the team at Mailjet are experts when it comes to email marketing, so if you’re looking for help establishing an email marketing strategy or need help launching an email marketing campaign, they’re your best bet.
Mail chimp vs. aaurora
At this point, you might be wondering what is the difference between Mail chimp and Aurora. Let’s break down the major differences;
- Mail chimp is free, while Aurora is $5/mo.
- Mail chimp provides basic features, while Aurora provides more features (e.g. a free domain, free email hosting, and a free autoresponder).
- Mail chimp provides basic functionality, while Aurora is completely customizable.
- The UI/UX (User Interface/User Experience) of Mail chimp is awful, while the UI/UX of Aurora is great.
- Mail chimp doesn’t offer any kind of automation, while Aurora does.
So, which one should you pick? The answer is, it depends on what you’re looking for. If you are, indeed, looking for a simple and affordable solution, then check out Mail chimp. On the other hand, if you are looking for something a little more advanced, or if you want to create a completely unique look and feel for your website, go with Aurora.
What If I Don’t Want to Hand Over Any Money?
Okay, so you don’t want to commit to a subscription plan. What then? You have a couple of options. Firstly, you could try out a free trial of one of the services above. Most of these services offer a free trial, so you might as well take advantage of it. Secondly, you could try out a service called Wix, which provides you with a free domain and you can install a free template to get started with your website. After you’ve installed the template, you’ll have access to all the tools needed to build a professional-looking website. However, keep in mind that Wix is not an email marketing service, so you will have to find someone to help you set up your email list.
So, once you have a working email list, you can use the platform to send out emails – just keep in mind that you won’t have full control over the look and feel of your emails. If you’re looking for a simple solution, the one that we’ve recommended above will get you started just fine. However, if you’re looking for something a little more custom, Wix isn’t the solution for you.
Final Takeaway
As we’ve established above, there are several good services out there for those who don’t want to commit to a monthly subscription and want to keep things simple. As always, we recommend trying out a free trial of the service before committing to a paid option. Not only will this give you a chance to explore the platform and see how it works, but it will also allow you to take advantage of any offers the company might have to provide you with bonuses or discounts if you do decide to pay afterward.