Mailchimp vs tinyAlbert

Which Shopify app is best for you?

How does tinyAlbert stack up against Mailchimp's Shopify app? You might be surprised. 

tinyAlbert punches way, way above its weight. It delivers the same essential email marketing features you get with Mailchimp with a difference. Shopify store owners enjoy a smooth user experience (there's no need to leave the Shopify dashboard) and transparent pricing that won't leave you guessing about hidden costs.   

Install the tinyAlbert app, and in a few minutes, your AI-powered marketing assistant will help you set up automations, write and schedule campaigns, and display a lead generation form on your Shopify store.

User experience

Check out the aggregate customer review scores from Trustpilot. tinyAlbert gets high marks for an intuitive interface and affordability.

Mailchimp users reported frustration with customer support, list integration, and customization options. Based on my Mailchimp experience, I'd add confusing documentation to the list of disappointments.

Variable	Mailchimp	tinyAlbert
Shopify app store score *	3.6	4.7
Reporting & Analytics	Sophisticated tools	Essential tools
Ease of Use	Getting started is confusing. You start on the Shopify dashboard, and then the app opens your Mailchimp account in a new browser tab, where automations and other tools are managed.	A simplified UI ensures a quick onboarding process. Users spend more time crafting campaigns and less time mastering tools. Great for solopreneurs.
Customer support	Customer reviews say it's not sterling. Free plan is limited to 30 days of support, and good service is available for Pro plan members.	Available to users with free and paid plans. 24/7 chat, email, and phone.

* Scores were recorded on June 26, 2023.

In terms of reporting and analysis, Mailchimp has an impressive tool kit. I especially like the campaign benchmarking, which lets me compare the open rate for one campaign against my audience average and the industry average. tinyAlbert has a minimalist, Zen-like dashboard. All the essential KPIs are here, and they're easy to find.

App features

The range of available features is far greater than I could document here, so let me cover a few points.

Campaigns

• Mailchimp has two template editors, the boxy Classic editor and a new one that comes loaded with 106 templates and a nice drag-and-drop editor. Users on the paid plan can create their templates.
• tinyAlbert has three basic template frameworks that can be regenerated with a mouse click. All campaign templates can be customized with the drag-and-drop editor.

Lead generation

Both tinyAlbert and Mailchimp have mobile responsive forms that are great for list-building.

AI subject line assistant

Both apps have an AI tool that writes compelling subject lines and brand-specific content. Mailchimp claims to have 20+ AI tools, but at the time of writing, many were not widely available or required a paid plan.

Features	Mailchimp	tinyAlbert
AI subject line assistant	Y	Y
AI-designed branded messages	Y	Y
A/B Testing	Y (paid plan)	N
24/7 support by email and chat	Y (paid plan)	Y
App learning curve	Steep	Short

App automations

Both apps have automations that cover four essential e-commerce needs: abandoned cart, win-back, welcome series, and thank you for purchase.

• tinyAlbert has six automations -- available to every user -- and a few more in the pipeline. Users can personalize templates with a drag-and-drop editor and enter custom Preview text. 
• Mailchimp has 80+ automations (called journeys) plus a custom automation builder. Sounds like a lot, but it's unlikely that a small to medium size email marketer would use most of them. Some are app-specific (e.g. Zapier only), and others are variations of a single purpose (e.g. there are four engagement automations).

Email automations	Mailchimp	tinyAlbert
Abandoned cart	Y	Y
Product Review Request	Y	Y
Thank You For Purchase	Y	Y
Welcome email series	Y	Y
Welcome email series (with discount)	Y	Y
Win-Back Flow	Y	Y
Template customization	Y	Y
Preview text editing	Y	Y

App pricing

Some folks might say Mailchimp pricing is a teensy-weensy bit hard to nail down, but not me. It just takes time to discover the actual costs. Here's an example. 

• I installed the Mailchimp app on my Shopify store, hoping to take advantage of the free plan. Then Mailchimp told me I couldn't use a prebuilt journey (automation) until I upgraded my free Mailchimp email account to a paid plan. So now I'm confused: do I need to pay for the app and get a paid Mailchimp plan? And then, there is transactional email, which is an add-on.

Based on that experience, I can't be sure if the Mailchimp prices in the table below are accurate. They may be higher. tinyAlbert costs are easy to calculate. Drag a slider to estimate the number of contacts and the monthly price is presented clearly. These costs are based on tiered pricing.

Both apps come with overage costs. At the time of writing, Mailchimp's overage fees were approximately $6.50/month per 500 contacts. Overage fees for tinyAlbert are $3/100. That's higher than Mailchimp, but customers can mitigate those increases by changing their pricing tier.

Contacts	Mailchimp	tinyAlbert
500	$10  (6000 sends)	$10  (unlimited sends)
2500	$60 (30,000 sends)	$45  (unlimited sends)
5000	$100  (60,000 sends)	$90  (unlimited sends)
10,000	$135  (120,000 sends)	$162  (unlimited sends)

What's the bottom line?

I'm pretty sure Mailchimp's Shopify app offers good value, but you really, really have to work for it. And you need time to figure out the tools. And then there's those maddening user docs. 

tinyAlbert is a breath of fresh air. It's easy to learn, quick to implement, and even easier to customize. The AI does the grunt work, so you can focus on other things, like running an online store. 

Which app is best for you? That depends. Do you want an app that helps you run a business, or do you want to spend time learning an app?