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AWeber costs climb fast as your list grows, and getting a real person to help with the move can feel like pulling teeth. Here is the calmer path.
by Didem Kiran · Last updated: 2026-05-31Most teams do not leave AWeber because of one dramatic problem. They leave because the small frustrations add up: the bill creeps higher every time the list grows, the interface feels dated, and support tickets sit unanswered when a campaign is on the line. If any of that sounds familiar, you are not stuck.
This guide walks through the full move, step by step. You will see exactly what carries over from AWeber, how to export and import without losing data, and how Mailsoftly handles the heavy lifting for you with free hands-on migration. No downtime, no guesswork, and a real person on the other end.
Comparing options? See our full roundup of the best email marketing services for the complete picture.
Quick context: Mailsoftly offers transparent pricing, free hands-on migration, and human support. 500 contacts and 2,000 emails per month, no credit card.
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Key Takeaways
AWeber is a capable, long-running tool, and for a small starter list it works fine. The friction shows up as you scale. Three patterns come up again and again when people describe why they started looking.
AWeber prices by subscriber count, so the bill rises in steps as your list grows, whether or not those contacts are active. Many teams discover they are paying for thousands of cold subscribers who never open a thing. That math gets uncomfortable around the 5,000 and 15,000 contact marks, which is exactly where a flat-rate plan starts to look much better.
Building a simple broadcast should not take a dozen clicks. AWeber’s editor and automation builder carry years of accumulated features, and that weight slows down the everyday tasks most senders actually do: write an email, pick a segment, hit send. When the tool is harder than the task, people start dreading the work.
When a send is scheduled and something breaks, waiting hours for a reply is its own kind of stress. The most common complaint we hear from switchers is not a missing feature. It is the silence: tickets that go unanswered, and no human to walk them through a fix in the moment they need it.
Read enough? Try Mailsoftly free with 500 contacts and 2,000 emails per month, no credit card.Start free with Mailsoftly →
The biggest fear about any migration is losing data. The honest answer: almost everything that matters comes across, and the few things that do not transfer automatically are quick to rebuild. Here is what moves.
The one thing worth noting: subscriber engagement history (past opens and clicks) lives inside AWeber and does not travel between platforms. That is true of any migration, not just this one. What matters more, your active subscribers and the consent behind them, comes with you in full.
You can run this yourself, or hand it to Mailsoftly’s migration team and let them do the work. Either way, here is the full sequence so you know what is happening at each stage.
Inside AWeber, open your list, go to Subscribers, and use the export option to download a CSV. Include all custom fields and tags in the export so nothing is left behind. If you run multiple lists, export each one separately and label the files clearly. This is the AWeber export contacts step, and it is the foundation everything else builds on, so take a moment to confirm the file opens and the columns look right.
In Mailsoftly, create your account and use the contact import tool to upload each CSV. Map the columns (email, name, custom fields) to Mailsoftly’s fields during upload. If you would rather not touch a spreadsheet at all, this is the point where the migration team takes over: send them your AWeber export and they handle the mapping, the segments, and the cleanup for you.
Mailsoftly’s team imports your AWeber contacts, rebuilds your segments, and recreates your core automations for you, at no cost. You review and approve before anything goes live. Most accounts are fully moved in one to two hours of hands-on work.
Before you send to your full list, authenticate your sending domain in Mailsoftly by adding the SPF and DKIM records to your DNS. This tells inbox providers your mail is legitimate and protects your reputation as you start sending from a new platform. Send a few test broadcasts to your own addresses across Gmail, Outlook, and one more provider to confirm everything lands in the inbox.
Recreate your welcome series and any follow-up sequences in Mailsoftly’s automation builder. Map each AWeber trigger to its Mailsoftly equivalent, keep the same timing between messages, and paste in your existing copy. Turn each automation on only after you have tested it with a sample contact so you can watch the flow run end to end. The migration team can set up your core flows as part of the move.
Here is how the two stack up on the points switchers care about most. All Mailsoftly prices shown are annual billing (as of 2026-04-15).
| What you care about | AWeber | Mailsoftly |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Per subscriber, climbs with list size | Flat tiers by contact band |
| Free plan | Limited | Free: 500 contacts, 2,000 emails per month |
| 5,000 contacts | Varies, rises with count | Basic: $39 per month, 40,000 emails |
| 15,000 contacts | Varies, rises with count | Business: $79 per month, 150,000 emails |
| Migration help | Self-serve docs | Free hands-on migration team |
| Support model | Tickets, variable response | Human support, fast replies |
For reference, Mailsoftly’s higher tiers continue the same flat pattern: Premium is $159 per month annually for 30,000 contacts and 300,000 emails, and Enterprise is custom-priced with unlimited contacts and emails. The point is predictability. You always know what next month costs, even as your list grows. You can see the full breakdown on the Mailsoftly pricing page.
A few practical concerns come up before almost every switch. Here are the short answers.
The migration is the hard part, and it is done. Your first week is about building trust with inbox providers and getting comfortable. Keep it simple.
For the broader landscape, see our full comparison of best email marketing services covering every major platform.
Looking for a simpler Aweber alternative? See why teams switch to Mailsoftly as a Aweber alternative — free hands-on migration in 1-2 hours, no contracts, real human support.
Most migrations take one to two hours of hands-on work, and Mailsoftly’s team handles the bulk of it. The exact time depends on how many lists, segments, and automations you have, but you keep sending from AWeber the whole time, so there is no downtime and no rush. You go live only when your account is tested and you have approved it.
No. Your contacts, custom fields, tags, and segments transfer cleanly, and your automation logic is rebuilt in Mailsoftly with the same triggers and timing. The only thing that does not travel is historical engagement data like past opens, which stays inside AWeber for any platform move. Your active, consented subscribers come with you in full.
There is no cost to migrate. The hands-on migration is free, and you can start on the free plan with 500 contacts and 2,000 emails per month, no credit card required. When you outgrow free, paid tiers start at $39 per month annually for 5,000 contacts (as of 2026-04-15), with flat, predictable pricing as your list grows.
Yes, and most teams do. You run both in parallel, send a few campaigns from Mailsoftly to confirm deliverability and comfort, then close your AWeber account once you are confident. There is no forced cutover and no gap in your sending schedule.
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