Campaigner vs iContact
We give Campaigner a 2.4 GPA and iContact a 2.6, out of 4.0. iContact grades higher on value for money. They get the same grade on the free plan, features, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Campaigner
Email marketing with multi-path workflows and audience insights
iContact
Email marketing for small businesses, with social posting built in
How we grade them
| 2.4GPACampaignerFair | 2.6GPAiContactGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CEssentials is $14 a month for up to 1,000 contacts, right at the middle of what email tools charge, and $72 at 10,000. But it has no automation workflows and keeps Campaigner branding; both need Advanced at $35. Campaigner doesn't say whether prices are billed monthly or yearly. | BStandard is $9 a month for 500 contacts billed monthly, inside the cheaper quarter of email tools, and $73 at 10,000. It stops at 1 user, 2 lists, 1 segment and 1 automation, though; unlimited use and social posting are Premium at $16, a little above the middle. |
| Free plan and trial | CNo free plan, but a 30-day free trial with full access to every feature, and no card is mentioned. A month is long enough to run a real campaign or two. | CNo free plan, but a 30-day free trial with full access, and no card is mentioned. A month is enough to send a few real newsletters before deciding. |
| Features | BThe whole job: drag-and-drop and HTML editors, A/B and multivariate tests, multi-path workflows with rule triggers, dynamic content, segments, landing pages and store-driven cart emails. Workflows need Advanced, and SMS is a separate product. | BThe whole job: a drag-and-drop editor with templates, AI-written emails and images, automations on sign-ups, dates and segments, forms, landing pages and social posting from the same dashboard. Dynamic content and built-in verification are Ultimate only. |
| Ease of use | CNo App Store rating on record, and it's a web app where the work is building templates, segments and branching workflows. The builder checks for errors before launch, which helps, but expect some learning. | CNo App Store rating on record. It's a web app where you build the emails, lists and landing pages yourself; the AI drafts help, but there's still setting up before the first send. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb only, with WooCommerce, BigCommerce, Shopify, Zapier, HubSpot, Salesforce, Google Analytics and Adobe Analytics, plus a REST API, webhooks and SFTP imports. No desktop or phone app, so B is the ceiling. | BWeb only, with Salesforce, Shopify and posting to Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn and X, plus a separate edition that runs inside Salesforce. No API, Zapier or phone app on record. |
| Best for | segmented email for small online stores | small-business newsletters with social posting |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Campaigner and iContact. How we grade
Price against what you get
Campaigner starts at $14 a month and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. iContact starts at $9 a month and scores 2.7.
They score the same, and iContact starts $5 a month lower. Of the other email marketing and newsletter tools on the chart, 3 score higher than Campaigner for less, and none scores higher than iContact for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Campaigner starts at $14 per month for up to 1,000 contacts. iContact starts at $9 per month for up to 500 contacts, billed monthly.
- iContact also covers templates.
At a glance
| Campaigner | iContact | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free trial |
| Starts at | $14 per month for up to 1,000 contacts | $9 per month for up to 500 contacts, billed monthly |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | 30-day free trial with full access to every feature | 30-day free trial with full access |
| Web | ||
| Made by | J2 Global Canada, Inc. | J2 Martech Corp |
| Price read from | campaigner.com | icontact.com |
| Checked | Oct 18, 2026 | Oct 18, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Campaigner
- Businesses that want branching workflows at a low entry price
- Online stores sending cart and back-in-stock emails
- Teams that segment heavily by contact data and behavior
iContact
- Small businesses sending regular newsletters to a modest list
- Marketers who want email and social posts planned in one place
- Salesforce users who want to send campaigns without leaving it
Worth knowing
Campaigner
- Essentials has no automation workflows and keeps Campaigner branding on emails; both need Advanced.
- Reputation Defender list cleaning costs 20% of the plan price, and transactional email is an add-on on Custom plans.
- The pricing page shows monthly prices without saying whether they are billed monthly or yearly, and gives no price above 100,000 contacts.
- Text messaging is a separate product, Campaigner SMS, which can add SMS steps to workflows.
iContact
- There is no free plan; after the 30-day trial the cheapest plan is $9 a month for 500 contacts.
- Standard allows 1 user, 1 landing page, 1 automation and 1 segment; unlimited use needs Premium or Ultimate.
- Sending past the plan's monthly limit is charged as overage, and lists over 50,000 contacts are priced by contacting sales.
- The comparison chart on the pricing page shows different figures from the price slider, such as Ultimate at $54 for 5,000 contacts against $84.
Key features
Campaigner
- Editors and templates
- Drag-and-drop and HTML editors, mobile-ready templates, reusable content blocks, content pulled from RSS feeds or a URL, and an AI subject line generator.
- Automation workflows
- A visual builder for straight-line or multi-path workflows with time, rule, conditional and custom triggers, delays and an error check before launch. Advanced plan and up.
- Segmentation and dynamic content
- Segments by contact fields, campaign activity, form submissions and, on Advanced, location. Dynamic and conditional content changes an email for each reader.
- Audience Insights and AI Insight Builder
- A dashboard of contact demographics such as age, location and home ownership, and an add-on that builds mailing lists from a plain-language description.
- Ecommerce emails
- Free WooCommerce and BigCommerce plugins and a Shopify plug-in sync store data for abandoned cart and back-in-stock emails, with purchase history segments on Advanced.
- API, webhooks and SFTP
- A REST API, webhooks for contact, list and campaign activity, and scheduled SFTP imports and exports on every plan.
iContact
- Drag-and-drop editor and templates
- Build emails from blocks of text, images, buttons and video, starting from a library of pre-designed email and landing page templates and stock images.
- AI email and image generation
- Describe the email, tone and length and AI drafts the subject line, copy and calls to action, or creates images saved to the media library. Brand settings keep drafts on style.
- Automations
- Welcome emails on sign-up, specific-date and custom-date triggers, and journeys that start when a contact qualifies for a segment. Standard allows one automation.
- Social posting
- Schedule posts to Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn and X from one dashboard, embed posts in emails, and post an email's content to social channels as it sends.
- List management and verification
- CSV import, segmentation, sign-up forms and landing page forms, plus email verification that marks addresses deliverable, risky, undeliverable or unknown.
- iContact for Salesforce
- A separate edition that runs campaigns, scheduled sends and reports inside Salesforce using its contact and lead data. It is arranged through a specialist.
Plans
Campaigner
Essentials$14
per month for up to 1,000 contacts, billing term not stated
Editors, templates, A/B and multivariate tests, autoresponders, landing pages and reports, with Campaigner branding. $72 a month at 10,000 contacts.
Advanced$35
per month for up to 1,000 contacts, billing term not stated
Adds multi-path workflows with time and rule triggers, conversion tracking, purchase behavior and no branding. $124 a month at 10,000 contacts.
CustomCustom
For large senders: sub-accounts, single sign-on, a dedicated account manager and deliverability consulting. Setup fees may apply.
iContact
Standard$9
per month for up to 500 contacts, billed monthly
Sends 10 times the list a month, 1 user, 2 lists, 1 segment, 1 landing page and 1 automation. Price rises with the list: $73 a month at 10,000 contacts.
Premium$16
per month for up to 500 contacts, billed monthly
Sends 12 times the list, unlimited users, lists, landing pages and automations, social posting and the AI content assistant. $109 a month at 10,000 contacts.
Ultimate$24
per month for up to 500 contacts, billed monthly
Everything in Premium, sends 15 times the list, email verification included, dynamic content and AI templates and images. $128 a month at 10,000 contacts.
Ways to pay less
Campaigner
No public discounts listed.
iContact
- Annual discount
Save 15% with yearly billing
iContact's pricing page lists a 15% saving for paying yearly: Standard at 500 contacts is $92 a year against $9 a month billed monthly.
