EngageBay vs Loops
EngageBay is a all-in-one marketing platform while Loops is a email marketing platform. EngageBay has been around since 2018, giving it a 4-year head start over Loops (founded 2022). EngageBay is the more affordable option at $14.99/mo — that's $34.01 less per month than Loops's $49/mo entry point. Both offer free plans to get started. EngageBay has the edge with A/B testing, landing pages, SMS marketing. Both tools work well for indie and bootstrapped.
Quick Verdict
EngageBay wins on price, rating, integrations.
Best for most users: EngageBay (small businesses on a budget).
EngageBay
All-in-one CRM for marketing, sales & support
EngageBay is a bootstrapped all-in-one CRM platform that bundles marketing automation, sales pipeline management, helpdesk ticketing, and live chat into a single affordable package. Founded in 2018 as a cost-effective alternative to HubSpot, it serves over 150,000 businesses with a free plan supporting up to 15 users. Its strongest differentiator is delivering the full marketing-sales-support stack at a fraction of enterprise CRM pricing, making it particularly attractive to budget-conscious SMBs.
Loops
The email platform built for SaaS
Loops is a developer-first email platform designed exclusively for SaaS companies, combining marketing and transactional email in a single clean interface. Built by Y Combinator alumni, it features a Notion-style block editor, event-based automation triggered by user behavior like signups and upgrades, and contact-based pricing with unlimited sends. Its standout strength is letting small SaaS teams replace both their marketing email tool and transactional service (like SendGrid) with one unified platform.
Feature Comparison
| Feature | EngageBay | Loops |
|---|---|---|
| Rating | 4.7/5 | 4.6/5 |
| Starting Price | $14.99/mo | $49/mo |
| Free Plan | 250 contacts, 1,000 branded emails, up to 15 users | 1,000 contacts, 4,000 sends/month, Loops branding |
| Founded | 2018 | 2022 |
| Email Templates | 100 | 15 |
| Integrations | 30 | 24 |
| Deliverability Rate | 95% | 95% |
| Marketing Automation | ✓ | ✓ |
| A/B Testing | ✓ | ✕ |
| Landing Pages | ✓ | ✕ |
| Segmentation | ✓ | ✓ |
| Drag & Drop Editor | ✓ | ✕ |
| SMS Marketing | ✓ | ✕ |
| Ecommerce Features | ✓ | ✕ |
| API Access | ✓ | ✓ |
| Multi-Language | ✕ | ✓ |
| Web Push Notifications | ✓ | ✕ |
| Live Chat | ✓ | ✕ |
| Advanced Analytics | ✓ | ✕ |
EngageBay: Pros & Cons
Pros
- +Exceptionally affordable all-in-one platform combining CRM, marketing, sales, and support — Pro plan at $119.99/mo vs HubSpot at $900+/mo
- +Generous free plan supports up to 15 team members with email marketing, CRM, helpdesk, and live chat included
- +Highly rated customer support (4.8/5 on Capterra) with live chat and real human agents available 24/5
- +Built-in landing page builder with 87 templates, web forms, pop-ups, and SMS marketing included from Basic plan
- +Strong marketing automation with visual workflow builder, lead scoring, and A/B testing on Growth plan and above
Cons
- −Limited email editor widgets and somewhat outdated email template designs compared to modern competitors
- −Reporting module offers only basic analytics — lacks advanced custom reporting depth for data-driven teams
- −Per-user pricing model becomes expensive as teams scale beyond 5-10 users, especially on Growth and Pro plans
- −Occasional performance issues including slow page loads and intermittent bugs reported by users
- −Steep learning curve for advanced features — the breadth of the all-in-one platform can overwhelm new users
Loops: Pros & Cons
Pros
- +Clean Notion-style block editor with extremely fast email creation and minimal learning curve
- +Unified platform for both marketing and transactional emails eliminates need for separate services like SendGrid
- +Simple contact-based pricing with unlimited sends and no per-seat charges on all paid plans
- +Strong developer-focused API with direct integrations for Stripe, Supabase, Clerk, and webhook support
- +Founder-led customer support with direct access via live chat, email, and 1:1 Calendly calls
Cons
- −Limited automation logic — lacks advanced multi-branch workflows and conditional logic found in mature platforms
- −No built-in CRM or detailed contact history, requiring external tools for relationship management
- −Editor has reported bugs including no undo functionality, risking accidental content loss
- −Narrow SaaS-only focus makes it unsuitable for ecommerce, media, or non-tech industries
- −Very small integration ecosystem (24 native integrations) compared to competitors with hundreds
The Verdict
EngageBay and Loops are closely matched — both score within 0.1 points of each other in our overall rating. Your decision should come down to specific needs rather than overall quality.
| Criterion | Weight | EngageBay | Loops |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starting Price | 30% | $14.99/mo | $49/mo |
| Deliverability | 25% | 95% | 95% |
| Rating | 25% | 4.7/5 | 4.6/5 |
| Integrations | 10% | 30 | 24 |
| Free Tier | 10% | Yes | Yes |
Weights determine how much each criterion counts toward the final score. See full methodology
Choose EngageBay if…
- + You want lower starting costs ($14.99/mo)
- + You need SMS marketing
- + You need ecommerce integrations
- + You need built-in landing pages
Choose Loops if…
- + You're a saas startups
- + You're a developer first teams
- + Clean Notion-style block editor with extremely fast email creation and minimal learning curve