Overview
Constant Contact is one of the longest-established small business email marketing platforms, founded in 1995. The platform's positioning has remained consistent: approachable email marketing for very small businesses, with light marketing automation, simple landing pages, and event marketing tools. Constant Contact is most commonly used by small retail businesses, non-profits, professional services firms, and event organisers — audiences underserved by enterprise-leaning platforms.
Constant Contact is sold in three tiers: Lite, Standard, and Premium. Lite covers basic email marketing and is contact-priced. Standard adds automated email series, A/B subject line testing, and Google Ads integration. Premium adds dynamic content, advanced segmentation, custom domains, and SEO recommendations. Add-ons include SMS marketing, e-commerce features, and Constant Contact Lead Gen & CRM (a separate product, formerly SharpSpring) for businesses needing marketing automation depth.
Key Features
- Email marketing with drag-and-drop editor and 200+ templates
- Automated email series (welcome, anniversary, re-engagement)
- Contact list management with segmentation and tagging
- Landing pages with form capture
- Event marketing tools with registration and ticketing
- Social posting and ad creation for Facebook, Instagram, Google
- A/B testing on subject lines (Standard and above)
- Dynamic content and advanced segmentation (Premium)
- SMS marketing add-on (US numbers)
- Surveys and polls
- Reporting with open, click, and engagement tracking
- QuickBooks, Shopify, WooCommerce, and Eventbrite integrations
Pricing
| Tier | Model | Typical Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Lite | Monthly, contact-based | From $12/mo (500 contacts) |
| Standard | Monthly, contact-based | From $35/mo (500 contacts) |
| Premium | Monthly, contact-based | From $80/mo (500 contacts) |
| Premium @ 25K | Monthly, contact-based | ~$450/mo |
Pricing verified May 2026. Contact count drives cost across all tiers. SMS marketing, Lead Gen & CRM, and event registration add-on fees billed separately. Non-profit discount of 20–30% available on annual contracts.
Strengths
- Very approachable UX targeted at non-technical small business owners
- Strong event marketing tooling, particularly for non-profits
- Established brand recognition in US small business segment
- Non-profit discount programme is meaningful (20–30%)
- Live phone support included on Standard and Premium
Limitations
- Marketing automation depth lags ActiveCampaign, Brevo, and HubSpot
- List growth rapidly increases bill — cost-per-contact is higher than peers at scale
- B2B lead scoring and account-based features are absent
- Template designs and editor flexibility lag Mailchimp and Klaviyo
- Product pace of innovation has slowed since the Endurance acquisition era