Omnisend vs Attentive: A feature-by-feature comparison

Reading Time: 10 minutes

One of the biggest misconceptions out there is that SMS marketing is outdated and ineffective.

But is that really true?

Not at all.

With the rising popularity of platforms like Whatsapp, Snapchat, and Instagram, many people may think that SMS marketing is not relevant anymore.

The truth is SMS marketing still remains very effective. In fact, SMS is the second most preferred communication medium after email.

It’s high time you include SMS marketing in your marketing arsenal and there’s no easier way to do that than to use SMS marketing platforms. Omnisend and Attentive are two popular ones that you can use.

So, Omnisend vs Attentive: which is the right platform for your business? Find out by reading this detailed review and comparison post.

Omnisend vs Attentive: An overview

Attentive is an SMS marketing platform. But it also comes with built-in basic email marketing features. It provides a wide range of tools necessary for businesses to grow. The platform makes it easy for you to interact with your mobile-first audience.

On the other hand, Omnisend is an omnichannel marketing platform. It focuses on email, SMS, and push notifications.

Why should you combine email, SMS, and push notifications in your marketing automation workflows? Because it can help you reach a wider audience and improve engagement and response rates.

With Omnisend, you can combine email and SMS marketing seamlessly. You can create multi-touchpoint marketing campaigns, leading to higher conversions and ROI.

Here is an Omnisend vs Attentive quick comparison.

	Omnisend	Attentive
Known for	All-in-one email and SMS marketing tool	SMS marketing
Free plan	Yes	Yes
Starting price	$16/mo	Custom pricing
Text message per month	60 SMS (monthly SMS plans available)	No info available
Free SMS credits	Available on the Pro plan	No info available
SMS automation	Yes	Yes
SMS campaigns	Yes	Yes
Web push notification campaigns	Yes	No
Segmentation	Yes	Yes
Signup forms	Yes	No
Customer service	24/7 live chat and email support for all. Customers on higher-priced plans get a dedicated Customer Success Manager	Email support, chatbot

Omnisend vs Attentive: Who is each platform built for?

Omnisend is a marketing automation platform that is designed for ecommerce businesses. It can help enhance customer engagement, automate marketing campaigns, and optimize your ecommerce marketing strategy.

Omnisend integrates easily with all major ecommerce platforms, including Shopify, WooCommerce, and BigCommerce.

It is the ideal platform for your omnichannel marketing strategy. 

Why? Because it does not offer SMS marketing as a separate service. 

Omnichannel offers a full package with email, SMS, and web push notifications. This helps create the ultimate omnichannel marketing experience.

It is best suited for:

• Ecommerce businesses of all sizes
• Both beginners and experienced users

Attentive is also an SMS marketing platform. But it is not built for ecommerce. You can use it for a range of other businesses.

It has integration with Shopify, Magento, and BigCommerce. It can be useful for ecommerce businesses who want to use it as an SMS marketing software.

Attentive is best suited for:

• B2C brands from a range of industries
• Companies looking for specialized SMS marketing software

Let’s now get into an Omnisend vs Attentive feature comparison.

Ease of use

Omnisend

One of the key strengths of Omnisend is its ease of use. It offers a clean and intuitive user interface. This makes it easy for you to navigate and find the features you need. 

The platform also provides drag-and-drop functionality, pre-built templates, and automation workflows. These features simplify the process of creating SMS campaigns.

Attentive

Attentive specializes in SMS marketing. This allows for a more streamlined and simplified experience. You can easily create and send SMS messages with minimal steps involved.

The platform offers templates and automation features that help you quickly launch SMS campaigns. There is no extensive setup or configuration required.

SMS list building

Omnisend

Omnisend provides customizable opt-in forms that you can embed on your website. You can also integrate these forms into your checkout process. These allow visitors to subscribe to your SMS list by providing their phone numbers.

You can create pop-ups and dedicated landing pages to build your list of SMS subscribers. Creating phone-number-only forms can help grow your SMS list quicker. 

You can also design forms with tailored messaging and incentives. This encourages visitors to join your SMS list.

Attentive

For SMS list building, Attentive offers mobile keyword opt-in. Customers can text a specific keyword to a designated number to subscribe to your SMS list. This method is useful for offline channels, such as in-store signage or print ads.

Attentive also provides a web opt-in widget that you can embed on your website. 

However, Omnisend offers gamification features like Wheel of Fortune and teasers, which add a fun element to your SMS campaigns. Attentive does not have any such features.

SMS campaign creation

Let’s compare Omnisend vs Attentive in terms of SMS campaign creation.

Omnisend

While Omnisend is more popular for its email marketing capabilities, it offers a comprehensive omnichannel approach that includes SMS campaigns. 

You can create integrated campaigns that combine SMS messages with:

• Email 
• Web push notifications
• Social media

Omnisend provides robust automation capabilities. The platform allows you to create sophisticated SMS workflows triggered by specific events. 

For example, you can set up automated SMS messages for 

• Abandoned carts 
• Order confirmations
• Shipping notifications
• Personalized product recommendations

You can conduct A/B tests to optimize your SMS campaigns. You can test different messages, timing, or call-to-action (CTA) buttons. This helps you identify the most effective versions and improve your campaign performance.

Attentive

Attentive specializes in SMS marketing. The platform simplifies the process of crafting SMS messages.

However, its segmentation capabilities are quite basic compared to Omnisend. Attentive lets you categorize your SMS subscribers based on specific attributes or tags. 

You can also schedule your SMS campaigns in advance.

SMS predesigned templates

Omnisend

Omnisend provides a range of customizable SMS templates to help businesses get started quickly. These templates cover different use cases, such as 

• Cart abandonment 
• Order confirmations
• Promotional offers

You can customize the content and design of templates with ease. This helps align the message with your brand identity and marketing goals.

Attentive

Attentive also provides a library of pre-designed SMS templates that enable quick and easy campaign creation. 

You’ll get templates for various use cases, including:

• Welcome messages
• Promotions
• Flash sales
• Product recommendations

You can customize the templates with your own messaging and branding elements.

Both platforms offer a range of pre-designed templates that you can use to optimize your SMS campaigns.

SMS automation

Omnisend

Omnisend offers a wide range of automation features for SMS marketing. You can create automated SMS campaigns based on various triggers, such as 

• Abandoned carts
• Post-purchase follow-ups
• Order confirmations.

It also comes with a visual workflow builder. It helps you design complex automation workflows, including branching logic and conditional steps.

With Omnisend, you can also personalize your SMS messages with dynamic content. You may add customer names, product recommendations, or discounts.

You can schedule automated SMS sequences to send a series of messages over time. This plays a key role in nurturing and engaging your prospects.

Attentive

The Attentive AI feature offers robust automation capabilities for text message campaigns.

It allows you to create personalized automated SMS workflows triggered by specific events. Some examples are:

• Welcome messages
• Abandoned carts
• Shipping notifications

It also supports intelligent automation features, such as:

• Behavioral triggers
• Time-based triggers
• Drip campaigns

So, who wins in automation? For SMS campaigns only, Attentive is a better choice. However, for omnichannel campaigns, Omnisend offers much better automation features.

Compliance and opt-in options

Omnisend

Omnisend is designed to help you adhere to SMS marketing regulations. It offers opt-in management tools, including double opt-in confirmation and easy opt-out options. So, your messages are sent only to subscribers who have explicitly given their consent.

With Omnisend, you can manage customer consent preferences. Your subscribers may choose their communication preferences. They may also opt in or opt out of specific types of messages.

Attentive

Attentive also places a strong emphasis on compliance. There is a strong focus on adhering to SMS marketing regulations. It is built with legal and ethical SMS marketing practices in mind.

Attentive provides robust opt-in management capabilities. It ensures that only engaged and consenting subscribers receive your messages.

Attentive enables you to handle customer consent preferences and allows subscribers to control the types of messages they receive. This empowers your audience to tailor their messaging preferences according to their needs.

Both platforms offer similar features when it comes to compliance features. Omnisend and Attentive both adhere to market regulations. These platforms also follow industry best practices.

Two-way text messaging

Omnisend

Omnisend supports two-way text messaging through an integration with Gorgias.

This allows US-based customers to reply to your messages, which you can view and respond to directly from your Gorgias interface.

Omnisend also enables you to automate responses to customer replies using chatbot-like functionalities. You can set up predefined responses based on the received messages.

With its two-way text messaging feature, you can use SMS as a channel for customer support. You can address inquiries and concerns, or provide support in real time.

Attentive

Attentive also supports two-way messaging. 

The platform captures and logs customer responses within the platform. You can view and respond to these messages directly from the platform’s interface.

Attentive provides automation capabilities for responding to customer replies. You can set up predefined responses based on the content of the received messages.

With Attentive’s two-way text messaging, you can use SMS as a channel for customer support, just like you can with Omnisend. It enables real-time engagement and addresses customer queries effectively.

Both Omnisend and Attentive offer similar capabilities regarding two-way messaging.

Analytics and reporting

Omnisend

Next on our Omnisend vs Attentive feature comparison is analytics.

Omnisend provides in-depth reporting and analytics for your SMS marketing campaigns. It offers insights into:

• Delivery rates
• Open rates
• Click-through rates 
• Conversion rates
• Campaign performance
• And more!

You can track key performance metrics, such as:

• The number of SMS messages sent
• Messages delivered
• Messages opened

You can also monitor CTR to measure the effectiveness of your SMS campaigns.

Omnisend also offers revenue attribution features and helps you track and measure the revenue generated from your SMS marketing efforts.

Attentive

Attentive offers detailed analytics to measure the success of your SMS campaigns. It tracks metrics like CTR, conversion rates, and revenue generated.

You can also track essential performance metrics like:

• Message delivery rates
• Open rates
• Engagement rates

These metrics help you assess the effectiveness of your SMS campaigns and optimize your strategy.

Attentive also provides revenue tracking capabilities. It enables you to attribute revenue directly to your SMS marketing initiatives.

Omnisend’s analytics is more suited to ecommerce than Attentive’s. You can track key ecommerce metrics, such as conversion rates, cart abandonment, and more.

Omnisend also provides insights on your best-performing campaigns and you can see how different consumer segments are performing. These insights help you optimize your ecommerce marketing strategy.

Deliverability

Omnisend

The deliverability rate for Omnisend is high.

Why?

Because it works closely with telecom partners and adheres to industry best practices. This ensures that your messages are successfully delivered to recipients.

With Omnisend, you can monitor the delivery status of your SMS messages. It provides insights into successful deliveries and notifies you of any potential issues.

Attentive

Attentive also has high delivery rates. The platform ensures that your messages reach the recipients successfully.

Like Omnisend, it has also established strong relationships with telecom carriers. This facilitates optimal deliverability.

Attentive also offers monitoring capabilities. So, you can track the delivery status of your SMS messages with ease. You can also quickly identify any issues related to deliverability. 

When it comes to deliverability, it’s a draw between both platforms.

Pricing

The pricing information for Attentive is not available on its website. This makes doing an Omnisend vs Attentive comparison difficult.

Nevertheless, Omnisend offers tiered pricing plans. It is based on the number of contacts you have in your database.

Its free plan which allows you to send 60 SMS per month. Customers of the Pro plan receive an additional bonus of free monthly SMS worth the same as their monthly plan costs. In other words, if they spend $59 per month on the Pro plan, they will also receive $59 of free SMS credits.

In addition, you’re able to subscribe for monthly SMS credits regardless of the plan you’re on—so Free users can still opt to purchase a specific amount of SMS credit each month, from as little as $20.

Attentive’s like other SMS tools pricing structure is also based on the number of contacts. It offers customized pricing plans tailored to your business needs.

You must schedule a demo first for a 30-day free trial of any of their paid plans.

Given the lack of transparency by Attentive, Omnisend takes the lead in this aspect.

For more details, use our email pricing calculator below to quickly compare price rates and features with other top platforms. Input your desired number of contacts, choose up to two other email marketing providers from the list, and see how Omnisend stacks up against them.

Integrations with third-party apps

Omnisend

Omnisend provides a wide range of integrations with popular third-party apps and platforms. It integrates with many ecommerce platforms like:

• Shopify
• Magento
• WeCommerce
• BigCommerce

It also integrates with marketing channels like Facebook and Google ads.

Omnisend also offers an app marketplace. You can find more integrations to extend the functionality of the platform.

Attentive

Attentive offers integrations with ecommerce platforms Shopify, Magento, and BigCommerce. It also integrates with CRM tools like HubSpot and Salesforce.

Attentive offers API for integration, but it does not have an app marketplace. Also, Omnisend offers more integration options than Attentive.

Customer support

Omnisend vs Attentive comparison is incomplete without comparing customer support.

Omnisend wins hands down because of its award-winning customer support.

It offers customer support through email and live chat and the first response time is less than 3 minutes. This is why Omnisend has won many awards and accolades.

For plans worth $400/month or above, customers get access to a dedicated Customer Success Manager.

Attentive offers customer support through email and live chat and doesn’t provide more details on its website.

Wrap up

If you are stuck in an Omnisend vs Attentive dilemma, we hope this article helps make your decision easier. 

Attentive offers robust features and capabilities for SMS marketing.

Omnisend offers SMS marketing and more channels for marketing automation like email and push notifications. It also offers a comprehensive set of tools tailored to the specific needs. If you are looking for an omnichannel marketing solution for your ecommerce business, Omnisend is the ideal choice.