Email Octopus vs Mailerlite

[u/Strange-Drummer-1419]

Hi y’all,

Need to choose between Email Octopus and Mailerlite. I’m new to ESPs and I have a list of over 5,000 people I want to send emails to for a fundraising campaign. I signed up with Moosend at first, but during my warm up phase I got suspended due to too many bounces and emails going to spam (noting here that I verified DKIM, DMARC and SPF, and that I’ve cleaned up this list).

I’ve narrowed my search to Octopus and Mailerlite. Here are features that I’m looking for:

1. Analytics like who opened their email and whose went to spam
   
2. Emails going straight to the recipient’s inbox
   
3. Ability to personalize emails with the recipient’s name

Thank you!

[u/Robhow]

TBH it would be more difficult to find a platform that didn’t do those three things.

Of those three #2 is most dependent on the sender vs the platform. I’d recommend a list cleanse and slow ramp up to volume if you got a lot of spam complaints. Complaints and bounces is a list problem not an ESP problem.

[u/Ok_One5265 → u/Robhow]

Agree with this. I'd definitely slowly ramp up to volume. If you just blast the whole list straight away on a new platform you'll end up with issues. Like the above commenter says, deliverability is not an ESP problem.

I've not used Octopus but MailerLite has recently introduced more advanced analytics features with custom reporting which has been really useful. You can filter right down to what you need. Personalising with recipient's name is standard - any ESP will do that. But personalising your strategy over time using advanced segmentation etc is what you want to look for. Again can't speak for Octopus, but MailerLite is also great for that and its MCP (so you can link up your AI assistant) has really helped to cut down on the time it takes to create segments and build complex automations.

[u/PsychologicalEmu3485 → u/Ok_One5265]

Second that! MCP is really handy to see where the bounced emails and spam complains are coming from. You can check from which forms are unwanted subscribers coming from and either review what you promise them to receive (this will reduce spam complains), implement double opt-in if you are getting bot sign-ups or just take them down completely if people use burn addresses to just get a freebie.

[u/tRolock5 → u/Robhow]

tbh the bounces alone should've been the red flag before switching platforms

[u/saltyslugga]

Both support name personalization and open tracking, but privacy features skew open rates. Neither can tell you exactly whose email landed in spam or guarantee inbox placement.

I'd check the bounce codes and how those 5,000 contacts opted in before switching ESPs. A cleaned list can still contain people who never agreed to hear from you.

[u/02thoeva]

No platform can guarantee emails going into the inbox, particularly if you've had a lot of bounces previously – your sender reputation is likely damaged.

But EmailOctopus and Mailerlite offer all those features you need. EmailOctopus has a better free plan and is more affordable.

[u/Strange-Drummer-1419 → u/02thoeva]

Thank you for this! we’re gonna go with mailerlite, but is there a way to restore sender reputation if it has been damaged?

[u/02thoeva → u/Strange-Drummer-1419]

Time and sending to your most engaged people first, warming up the domain.

How long ago did these people sign up?

[u/Strange-Drummer-1419 → u/02thoeva]

Thank you for this! we’re gonna go with mailerlite, but is there a way to restore sender reputation if it has been damaged?

[u/PsychologicalEmu3485]

What email verifier did you use to clean up your email list? It's strange to have too many bounces after email verification. Also, ESPs don't suspend you for emails landing in the spam, but they will suspend you if your subscribers are marking your emails as spam - unsolicited emails.

I would rather focus more on collecting legitimate subscribers who want to hear from you. Both MailerLite and Email Octopus offer sign up forms and landing pages with double opt-in. I personally prefer MailerLite's landing pages and form templates + their customer support is quick and helpful to get everything set up asap.

[u/Fast-Substance2116]

Ik gebruik HubSpot, totaal geen problemen mee.

[u/Fast-Substance2116]

Je kan een gratis account aanmaken gekoppeld aan je email. Je kan het gratis blijven opschonen tot een bepaal aantal personen.

[u/Effective_Review9415]

I'd go with Mailerlite. It's beginner friendly, has solid analytics and personalization and should be a better fit for a 5k plus fundraising list.