If you’re tired of juggling a half a dozen different tools for tasks you wish could be done in one, then this article is for you.
Activity Messenger was built on the belief that many organizations don’t need all the complexity that each of these tools offers.
Most want a simple interface that can quickly send a newsletter, create a survey, fill out a digital waiver and sell tickets for your next event/class/training.
Email Marketing: I used Mailchimp to send a monthly newsletter to 12,000 subscribers. I was sending one email a month and probably using 20% of the features MailChimp offered. It got really expensive.
Surveys: A local Swim School was using SurveyMonkey on a free plan but kept bumping into limits and did not want to spend 40$ a month simply to collect end of session surveys.
Online ticket sales: A gymnastics club that has one event a year did not want to learn a whole new platform and pay exorbitant ticket fees with Eventbrite.
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Most of our customers have stories like this.
They’re either overpaying or using 3-4 free versions of these tools and working around restrictions to save money.
We built Activity Messenger with a simple interface that anyone can use.
No clutter.
No complexity.
No extra features to confuse and overwhelm you.
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In this article, we’ll compare Activity to all of these platforms. We’ll discuss the differentiators and explain the various complexities that we’ve intentionally left out:
How we replace Mailchimp
How we replace Survey Monkey
How to replace EventBrite
How we replace JotForm
Extra Perks: Canva and ChatGPT integration
Key things to consider before making the switch
Disclaimer: While most of our customers replace these tools with our solution, depending on the depth of your needs, Activity Messenger may not be able to replace all of these tools for your specific use case.
To learn more, book an introductory meeting with one of our experts
Let’s start with the elephant in the room: cost. Budget considerations are critical for any business, and when it comes to value for money, Activity Messenger shines. Unlike Mailchimp, where pricing can quickly escalate based on the number of contacts you have, Activity Messenger offers a more budget-friendly tiered pricing model.
Email marketing is great, but in today’s fast-paced environment, sometimes you need a more immediate way to reach your audience. That’s where our bulk SMS feature comes in. While Mailchimp focuses primarily on email, Activity Messenger allows you to send mass text messages.
Mailchimp has a long list of features that make the platform intimidating for most who don’t need complex functionality. Activity Messenger, on the other hand, is designed with simplicity in mind.
Our intuitive, user-friendly interface makes it easy for anyone to jump in and start creating beautiful newsletters. We even fully integrate with Canva to make the transition even easier.
A/B testing: Test different subject lines, design, content, and send-times so you can learn what works best for your audience.
Automated Journeys: Build custom, automated workflows in Customer Journey Builder to send relevant messages based on how your customers interact with your brand.
Send Time Optimization: Analyze your email engagement data to determine the perfect time to send your campaigns.
Read more about how Activity Messenger is an alternative to Mailchimp
SurveyMonkey can often overwhelm users, especially those who aren’t tech-savvy. Activity Messenger prides itself on an intuitive interface that lets you create surveys without having to navigate through a maze of features. The idea is to get you up and running as quickly as possible with minimal effort.
SurveyMonkey’s pricing model can be restrictive. You may be limited in the number of questions you can ask or the number of responses you can collect. With Activity Messenger, no matter which plan you choose, you have unlimited access to all of our features, from creating surveys and forms to sending unlimited emails and SMS.
SurveyMonkey doesn’t offer much in the way of broader communication tools. With Activity Messenger, you can send out beautiful newsletters just like you would with any email marketing platform. And let’s not forget our bulk SMS feature, which allows for multi-channel communication.
A/B test question type: Conduct A/B tests and test for answer bias by randomly segmenting respondents to see different images or text.
Question & page randomization: Reduce answer bias by randomizing the order of the pages in a survey or the order of questions within a page.
Matrix of dropdown menus: Allow respondents to evaluate several items using the same set of measurements by choosing from a preset list of answer choices.
Learn more about how Activity Messenger is an alternative to SuveyMonkey
EventBrite charges 3.7%+1.79 per ticket + payment processing fees. Activity Messenger charges 1% + payment processing fees.
This cost reduction provides your organization with an economical alternative without sacrificing quality or functionality.
When you’re running an event, effective pre- and post-event communication can make or break it. With Activity Messenger, you can send pre-event reminders, SMS updates, and beautifully designed emails.
After the event, it’s just as easy to thank attendees, send event recaps, or even conduct feedback surveys. With Activity Messenger, you can turn your entire event workflow into a single, automated process.
Speaking of surveys, getting attendee feedback is crucial for any event. EventBrite allows third-party survey integrations but it’s not an integrate feature within their platform.
Activity Messenger, however, comes with built-in post-event survey capabilities. You can easily set up and send post-event surveys to your attendees via SMS or email.
Marketplace to find Events: If most of your sales come from Eventbrite’s marketplace, Activity Messenger is not for you. However, if most of your attendees find you through your own marketing efforts, the dollar savings may be worth considering.
Smart Audiences: Smart Audiences are composed of proven event attendees, with traits common to your event attendees.
Event Management App: Oversee your event, monitor ticket sales, check-in attendees, track attendance, and accept secure payment. (Note: Activity Messenger does all of this on a mobile responsive dashboard)
Learn more about how Activity Messenger is an alternative to EventBrite
Unlike Jotform, which often imposes limits on the number of forms you can create, form views, and submissions, Activity Messenger has no limits. Whether you’re a dance studio, a swim school, or a martial arts dojo, you can create an unlimited number of forms without worrying about hitting a cap.
Collaboration is vital for any business, but with Jotform, the number of users who can access and manage your forms is limited. Activity Messenger allows an unlimited number of users to be part of your account.
This means that your entire team of administrators, trainers, or customer service representatives can be involved in the process at no additional cost. It helps foster collective ownership and ensures that everyone is in the loop.
Activity Messenger takes communication to the next level. Let’s say you’ve sent out a digital waiver that needs to be signed by all attendees before an upcoming event. Three days before the event, you log in and see that some recipients haven’t filled it out yet.
With Activity Messenger, you can quickly resend an SMS to only those people who have not yet signed the waiver. You can even schedule it so that the system chases people to sign instead of you.
Integrations with other platforms: Jotform has and ever-growing and constantly improving collection of form integrations.
Add a countdown to your form: Add a bold, animated counter which shows your form users just how long they have to complete the form.
Create Apps: Jotform lets you add forms, widgets, products, and your branding to a customized app.
All of these platforms require you to learn a new image editing software or import images each time. With Activity Messenger, you can create designs using Canva without ever leaving the platform.
In addition to saving you time and allowing you to use a tool you know well, the integration makes it easier to maintain the same brand image you have on social media and your website.
Activity Messenger also integrates with ChatGPT to simplify your newsletter creation and design.
The integration allows you to
Having MailChimp, SurveyMonkey, JotForm and Eventbrite for your Small Business or Non-for-Profit is a bit like buying several BMWs for a family with 3 children.
What you really need is a reliable minivan that meets your exact needs.
So if you don’t need Automated Journeys, Send Time Optimization, Question & page randomization, Matrix of dropdown menus or Intelligent Audiences, Activity Messenger is most likely the solution for you.
To find out more, book a call with one of our experts
Before you finalize your choice of class management software, consider these two things:
If you’re using four or five different platforms, it’s hard to maintain consistency. Your branding gets diluted because each platform has its limitations in customization. This doesn’t help you build a strong brand identity.
Your data is all over the place! Customer information in one tool isn’t necessarily synchronized with another, making it difficult to analyze your customers’ preferences.
Each tool comes with its own subscription costs. Sure, $40/month for one tool may seem reasonable, but it adds up quickly if you’re using multiple platforms.
Switching between platforms is a huge time suck. The minutes spent logging in, navigating, and exporting/importing data may seem trivial, but over the course of a year, they add up to a significant chunk of wasted time. Plus, you have to learn how each platform works, making it difficult to delegate.
Have you ever tried to integrate one tool with another? Even if it’s “just a click away,” technical problems are always around the corner. Troubleshooting them takes you away from what you should be doing: growing your business.
Wouldn’t life be easier if one tool could do it all? And with Activity Messenger, it’s a viable solution.
An all-in-one platform ensures that your branding is consistent across all your communications. Whether it’s a registration form, a newsletter, or an event invitation, you’re sending the same visual and contextual message.
Having all your data in one place makes it easy to access and analyze. The valuable insights you gain can help you make better decisions without the hassle of pulling data from multiple sources.
One tool, one cost. It’s easier to budget for and less expensive than juggling multiple subscriptions. You get all the right features, none of the ones you don’t need, and a more than fair price. And that’s not even counting the time you’ll save.
An all-in-one platform is designed to work, well, as one. That means fewer hiccups, less troubleshooting, and an easier way to translate your business rules into scalable workflows.
