Constant Contact vs Aweber: Which is Better in 2026?
Constant Contact and AWeber both target small businesses and solo marketers who need email campaigns, automation, and landing pages without an enterprise budget. The clearest split between them is the free tier: AWeber gives you a genuinely free plan up to 500 subscribers with no time limit, while Constant Contact only offers a free trial before you must pay. From there the two diverge on event tools, support channels, and template depth.
Bottom line: Aweber wins this matchup. Omnisend ranks #1 on our Email Marketing list. Omnisend is the highest-listed Email Marketing tool with a free plan. Pick Constant Contact if you need a free tier to start with.
Short on time? Here's the quick answer
We've tested both tools. Here's who should pick what:
Constant Contact
Established email marketing for small businesses
Best for you if:
- • Small businesses that run in-person or virtual events alongside email marketing and want phone support as a fallback
- • You want a free tier before you commit
- • You want easy to use
- • You want good for beginners
Aweber
Email marketing for small business
Best for you if:
- • Email-focused creators, solo marketers, and small e-commerce sellers who want a real free plan and deep template and automation options
- • You want simple email marketing
- • You want good for beginners
| At a Glance | Constant Contact | Aweber |
|---|---|---|
Starts at | FreeFree tier available | $15/moLite |
Best For | Email Marketing | Email Marketing |
Rating | 4.2/5 | 4.3/5 |
Free plan | Yes | No |
Choose Constant Contact or Aweber?
Choose Constant Contact if
Established email marketing for small businesses
- Small businesses that run in-person or virtual events alongside email marketing and want phone support as a fallback
- You want a free tier before you commit
- You want easy to use
- You want good for beginners
Choose Aweber if
Email marketing for small business
- Email-focused creators, solo marketers, and small e-commerce sellers who want a real free plan and deep template and automation options
- You want simple email marketing
- You want good for beginners
| Feature | Constant Contact | Aweber |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing Model | Freemium | Paid |
| User Rating | ★4.2/5 10,413 reviews | ★4.3/5 973 reviews |
| Categories | Email MarketingMarketing Automation | Email MarketingMarketing Automation |
In-Depth Analysis
Constant Contact
Strengths
- +Built-in event management with registration, ticketing, and follow-up emails, a feature AWeber does not offer at all
- +Phone support in addition to live chat and email, useful for less technical small business owners who want to talk to someone
- +Broader small-business marketing toolkit beyond email, including social media posting and basic e-commerce tools
- +Nonprofit discount of up to 30 percent off standard pricing, on top of the 15 percent discount for prepaying annually
Weaknesses
- -No permanent free plan, only a trial period before every account must move to a paid tier starting at 12 dollars a month for 500 contacts
- -Contact-based pricing climbs steeply as a list grows, with a jump from 2,500 to 2,501 contacts reported to raise the bill by 40 to 60 percent depending on plan
- -A/B testing is limited to subject lines only, while AWeber tests full content variations
Best For
Small businesses that run in-person or virtual events alongside email marketing and want phone support as a fallback.
Constant Contact earns its place for businesses that need event registration built in, but the lack of a free tier and the steep contact-based pricing curve are real costs to weigh against that.
Aweber
Strengths
- +Genuinely free plan for up to 500 subscribers and 3,000 monthly emails, with no time limit and full access to automation and integrations
- +Over 600 email templates, the largest library among small-business email tools in this comparison
- +A/B testing covers full content variations, not just subject lines, giving more room to actually improve open and click rates
- +Unlimited users per account on every paid tier, useful for small teams that do not want to pay per seat
Weaknesses
- -No built-in event management, registration, or ticketing, a gap for any business that runs webinars or in-person events regularly
- -Support is limited to live chat and email, no phone option for businesses that prefer to talk through an issue
- -Entry paid tier (AWeber Lite) is comparable in price to Constant Contact's Standard tier once list size grows past the free plan's 500-subscriber cap
Best For
Email-focused creators, solo marketers, and small e-commerce sellers who want a real free plan and deep template and automation options.
AWeber is the stronger default for anyone whose marketing is primarily email, thanks to its genuine free tier and stronger content-testing tools.
Head-to-Head Comparison
Pricing
Aweber winsAWeber offers a free plan for up to 500 subscribers with 3,000 monthly emails and no time limit. Constant Contact has no permanent free plan, only a trial, with paid tiers starting at 12 dollars a month for Lite at 500 contacts, scaling to 35 dollars for Standard and 80 dollars for Premium. AWeber's free tier gives it a clear cost advantage for anyone starting small.
Core capability
TieBoth cover the fundamentals well: email campaigns, automation workflows, landing pages, and list segmentation. AWeber leans toward creator and e-commerce use cases with deeper content testing, while Constant Contact leans toward broader small-business marketing with event and social tools layered in.
Ease of use
TieBoth platforms are built for non-technical small business owners with drag-and-drop editors and straightforward onboarding. Neither has a meaningful learning-curve advantage over the other based on independent reviews.
Integrations
TieBoth maintain large integration libraries covering common e-commerce, CRM, and social platforms. Neither has a documented integration gap that would push a buyer toward one over the other on this basis alone.
Support
Constant Contact winsConstant Contact offers phone support alongside live chat and email. AWeber offers chat and email only, with no phone option, which matters for less technical users who prefer to talk through a problem directly.
Event management
Constant Contact winsConstant Contact includes built-in event registration, ticketing, and follow-up emails. AWeber has no equivalent feature, so businesses running webinars or in-person events regularly will need a separate tool alongside AWeber.
Content testing and templates
Aweber winsAWeber offers over 600 templates and A/B testing across full content variations, not just subject lines. Constant Contact's subject-line-only testing is narrower, giving AWeber the edge for marketers focused on optimizing email performance.
Migration Considerations
Moving from Constant Contact to AWeber generally means exporting your contact list as a CSV and rebuilding automations manually, since visual workflow logic does not transfer automatically between platforms. Moving from AWeber to Constant Contact follows the same pattern, plus you lose AWeber's free tier once you make the switch, so confirm your list size fits Constant Contact's paid pricing before migrating. Neither platform offers a one-click import from the other.
Pricing: Constant Contact vs Aweber
| Plan | Constant Contact | Aweber |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 | $12 month Lite | $15 Lite |
| Tier 2 | $35 month Standard | $30 Plus |
| Tier 3 | $80 month Premium | $99 Done For You |
Pricing verified from each vendor's public pricing page. Compare in detail on Constant Contact pricing and Aweber pricing.
Who Should Use What?
On a budget?
Constant Contact has a free tier. Aweber is paid only.
Go with: Constant Contact
Want the highest-rated option?
Constant Contact: 4.2/5 (10,413 reviews). Aweber: 4.3/5 (973 reviews).
Go with: Aweber
Value user reviews?
Constant Contact: 10,413 reviews (4.2/5). Aweber: 973 reviews (4.3/5).
Go with: Constant Contact
3 Questions to Help You Decide
What's your budget?
Constant Contact is freemium. Aweber is paid. Constant Contact lets you start free.
What's your use case?
Both are email marketing tools. Compare their specific features to decide.
How important are ratings?
Aweber is rated higher: 4.3/5 vs 4.2/5.
Key Takeaways
Aweber
- Higher user rating: 4.3/5 vs 4.2/5
- Our pick for this comparison
Constant Contact
- Has a free tier
- Larger review base (10,413 reviews)
The Bottom Line
Choose AWeber if your marketing is primarily email-driven, your list is under a few thousand subscribers, and you want a real free plan to start with no time pressure. Choose Constant Contact if you regularly run events, want phone support as a backup, or need social media posting bundled with email in one dashboard. Solo creators and small e-commerce sellers tend to save money with AWeber's free tier; local businesses and nonprofits running webinars or in-person events get more practical value from Constant Contact's event tools and support options.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does AWeber have a free plan?
Yes. AWeber Free covers up to 500 subscribers and 3,000 monthly emails with no time limit, including access to automation and the integration library. Constant Contact does not have an equivalent permanent free plan, only a limited-time trial.
Which is cheaper for a list under 500 contacts?
AWeber, since its free plan covers up to 500 subscribers at no cost. Constant Contact requires a paid plan starting at 12 dollars a month for the same list size once the trial period ends.
Can I run a webinar registration through either platform?
Constant Contact has built-in event management with registration and ticketing. AWeber has no equivalent feature, so you would need a separate event tool alongside AWeber.
Which platform has better A/B testing?
AWeber. It supports testing full content variations, while Constant Contact only tests subject lines, which limits how precisely you can optimize a campaign in Constant Contact.
Does either platform offer phone support?
Constant Contact does, in addition to live chat and email. AWeber offers live chat and email support only, with no phone option.