More than 300 billion emails are sent every day and this number is expected to reach 400 billion by 2022. This shows the power of email marketing and the importance of building an email list.

And to effectively grow your email list, you will need to rely on tools that will help you build a list seamlessly.

One such tool is OptinMonster. It is one of the first list building tools on the market and offers various features to help you display signup forms using different methods.

But the real question is:

Is OptinMonster still worth the hype and money?

There are many new list building tools that have proven to be useful. So where does OptinMonster stand in the list building tool market?

In this review, I will go over OptinMonster and its features. We will also look at how to create subscription forms using OptinMonster.

At the end of the review, we will come to the conclusion whether OptinMonster is worth it or not.

Let’s get started.

What is OptinMonster?
OptinMonster is a smart list builder plugin that helps you create beautiful signup forms using a visual editor without the need to code a form yourself.

You can connect your favorite email marketing service to OptinMonster and start collecting emails immediately.

OptinMonster offers different types of signup forms, such as pop-up forms, slides, floating bars, etc. We will discuss the different types of forms in OptinMonster in more detail later in the review.

This lead generation plugin also provides features to get the most out of your opt-in forms. This is evident in the advanced page-level targeting, custom display rules and dynamic text replacement.

You can create stunning forms with OptinMonster. There are over 100 predefined templates that you can use immediately. All these templates are mobile friendly.

This is just an overview of OptinMonster. Let’s take a look at some of the features of this list builder plugin.

OptinMonster Features
What makes OptinMonster such a great plugin for creating opt-in forms is the features provided. And the team behind this plugin continues to release new features to ensure that it offers everything to its customers.

With that said, here are the features of OptinMonster:

1. Drag and Drop Generator
   With OptinMonster’s drag and drop builder, you can visually create beautiful opt-in forms in minutes.

This builder makes it easy to create forms by simply dragging and dropping elements onto your form.

You can create an opt-in form from scratch using the drag-and-drop builder or use a pre-made template and modify it.

The best thing about OptinMonster is that the drag and drop generator also allows you to design mobile-friendly templates.

Other notable features of this drag-and-drop generator are that you can set custom success messages, create Yes/No forms, and choose from over 26 animations and effects for your registration form.

2. Campaign triggers
   It’s no secret that signup forms are annoying for users. But they still work. OptinMonster helps you display your opt-in form at the right time to the right user in a less intrusive way.

And this can be done by the different campaign triggers available in OptinMonster. You can choose from 6 different smart triggers to display your form at the right time.

These are:

Exit-Intent: with this trigger, your form will display when the user is about to leave your website. This helps convert your abandoned visitors into subscribers.
Scroll Trigger: Do you know how annoying it is to see a pop-up window in front of you when you open a website? You can solve this problem by using OptinMonster’s scroll trigger. With this smart trigger, your form will appear when the visitor has scrolled x% of your page.
2-Step Opt-in: With 2-Step Opt-in, you can convert any image or link into an opt-in form. Your form will be displayed when the visitor clicks on the link or image.
Inactivity sensor: this feature is not available in most list building plugins. This method can be used to convert your inactive visitors into subscribers. The form is displayed when the visitor is inactive on your website.
Timed display control: display your signup forms at the right time. This helps to increase your conversions.
Campaign scheduling: Another feature not available in many lead generation plugins. Campaign scheduling allows you to create email opt-in campaigns for specific times and dates.

3. Targeted campaigns
   A good list builder plugin has different features and templates to create opt-in forms. But a great list builder plugin has many advanced features so that you can try to convert every visitor to your website.

Targeted campaigns allow you to precisely target visitors to generate more subscribers. OptinMonster does this by:

Referrer detection: you can display targeted messages based on where the user is coming from.
Page-level targeting: Create customized campaigns for specific pages on your website.
On-Site Tracking Campaigns: With this feature, you can create onsite tracking campaigns for your site visitors based on their interactions.
On-site retargeting: Create special offers and promotions for returning visitors. This helps you increase conversions.
Geo-targeting: You may have seen many websites using this. And it’s very effective. OptinMonster allows you to create campaigns based on the location of visitors.
Cookie Retargeting: You can personalize your campaigns using cookie retargeting.
Device-based targeting: You can create unique campaigns for desktop, tablet and mobile devices.
AdBlock detection: With this, you can bypass ad blockers and ensure that your visitors receive your message.

4. Integrations
   OptinMonster integrates with various email marketing software and other tools to help you get the most out of your subscribers.

These integrations help you segment lists, where group subscribers based on their interests.

It also supports lead sharing to help you share your leads with joint ventures and co-marketing partners.

In a nutshell, you don’t have to worry about whether OptinMonster integrates with your email marketing tool.

5. Actionable information
   Statistics matter a lot when it comes to list building and OptinMonster has you covered. You can get actionable information about your campaigns and improve your lead generation strategy.

OptinMonster provides real-time behavioral automation that allows you to show relevant campaigns to your visitors based on their behavior.

You can also run A/B tests to discover which campaigns are generating conversions.

Another great feature of OptinMonster is Smart Success. With this feature, you can display new offers to visitors who have already opted in to your previous offers.

Finally, you can get all the statistics of your campaigns to help you improve your overall list building.

So here are the different features available in OptinMonster. Now let’s discuss the different types of opt-in forms you can create with OptinMonster.

Types of optin forms
There are 8 different types of forms you can create in OptinMonster. These forms are:

1. Lightbox pop-up window

The OptinMonster Lightbox pop-up allows you to create beautiful pop-ups that help you grow your mailing list.

There are many types of pop-up templates available or you can also start from a blank template.

You can set triggers for your pop-ups so that they appear at the right time without annoying your visitors.

2. Full screen welcome mat

Welcome mats have become very popular these days and you can create such full-screen welcome mats using OptinMonster.

You can control the timing of the welcome mat through different trigger options and also set display rules so that your welcome mat is displayed to the right people.

Many websites use welcome mats when people visit their website. OptinMonster allows you to display full-screen exit intent mats so that your visitors do not leave your website without signing up for your offer.

3. Sliding Scroll Box

A sliding scroll box is a less annoying way to ask visitors for their email address. You can design eye-catching scroll boxes using OptinMonster.

4. Floating bar

A floating bar is a sticky bar at the top of the page. Floating bars increase conversions and can help you easily expand your list.

There are many templates available for a floating bar in OptinMonster so you can create a bar that boosts your conversions.

5. Countdowns

Make your email list growth explode by using countdowns. You can evoke a sense of urgency in your visitors by using these opt-in forms.

OptinMonster allows you to create static or dynamic countdowns. A static countdown displays a universal deadline for all your visitors, while a dynamic countdown displays different deadlines for each visitor.

This way, you can customize your form and dramatically increase the growth of your list.

6. Online Forms

Inline forms are opt-in forms that can be integrated into your content. You can create inline forms using OptinMonster.

Just like other opt-in forms in OptinMonster, you can also define targeting rules for precise targeting. This will help to increase the number of registrations.

7. Content Locker

You can lock in your content with a content locker and see an increase in your conversions. With content lockers, you can lock any part of your content behind a signup form.

This boosts conversions and helps you grow your email list quickly. Another added benefit of using content lockers is that they increase content engagement.

Create an Optin form with OptinMonster
A great list builder plugin should not only have great features. It should be easy to use and simple.

Let’s see how to create an opt-in form with OptinMonster.

In your OptinMonster dashboard, you will see a button to create a campaign. Click on this button to start creating your opt-in form.

The next step is to select the campaign type. You can see the different types of campaigns available. Select the campaign you want, then choose a template.

For now, I have selected the pop-up campaign and this template :

Once you’ve chosen a template, you’ll need to give your campaign a name and select the website you want to load the campaign on. Click the Start Creation button to edit your campaign.

Now you will see the drag and drop generator where you can edit the template and settings of your campaign.

The opt-in settings tab in the sidebar allows you to edit your opt-in form settings. You can edit the columns of your form from the blocks tab.

Click on the display settings to define the modification of the cookie duration and other settings.

Now, click on the display rules tab at the top to set the display rules for the registration form. You can create many “AND” and “OR” rules.

Once you have defined your form design and display rules, go to the Integrations tab and connect your email marketing tool to OptinMonster.

Finally, there is an analytics tab where you can connect Google Analytics to get analytics on your form.

Finally, when your form is complete, click on the publish tab to publish it. You can embed the form in a variety of ways. If you are on WordPress, you can install the WordPress plugin OptinMonster and easily integrate forms. You can also use the embed code to embed your forms.

This is how you create a campaign in OptinMonster. As the tutorial shows, it is very easy to create a campaign in OptinMonster as it literally takes minutes!

Documentation and support
When it comes to documentation and support, OptinMonster takes all the necessary steps to ensure that its customers are happy and satisfied.

OptinMonster has a very brief documentation with over 200 articles to help you use the tool without any problems.

You can also send a ticket to the team for any assistance if needed.

Thus, it is safe to say that OptinMonster takes care of its customers in the best possible way.

OptinMonster pricing
Let’s finally address the elephant in the room. Yes, the price!

With so many impressive features, it’s obvious that OptinMonster would be priced in the hundreds of dollars.

This is not true.

The most basic plan of OptinMonster is free! In this plan, you can create up to 3 campaigns and collect 100 leads. This plan is very basic and is perfect for those who are just starting out or want to try OptinMonster.

OptinMonster Standard plan costs $29/month in which you can create unlimited campaigns, collect unlimited leads, integrations and get all the features of this tool. You can load 3 websites in this plan and the page view limit is 50,000.

This plan is the best OptinMonster plan for you if you are serious about list building. The highest plans cost $49/month and $29/month with additional features such as Adblock detection, behavioral automation, client logins and white labeling.

Here’s an overview of their pricing plan:

Pros and Cons of OptinMonster
Let’s discuss the pros and cons of OptinMonster.

Advantages:

Easy to use
Drag and drop generator
Precision targeting capabilities
Pre-designed templates
A/B testing
Ad block detection
Lead sharing
Behavioral automation
Disadvantages:

No automatic selection of winners for A/B testing.
No one-time payment, unlike many list building plugins.

Alternative to OptinMonster
If there is a good alternative to OptinMonster, then it is Thrive Leads. Thrive Leads is like OptinMonster with many features.

Thrive Leads also offers A/B testing, advanced reporting, mobile-friendly forms and also has a drag-and-drop editor.

When it comes to pricing, Thrive Leads might have a slight advantage over OptinMonster as it costs a one-time payment of $19 per month with all their other plugins.

Conclusion: is it worth the hype and the money?
In my opinion, OptinMonster is still worth it. New features are introduced very often and they offer a lot of functionality.

Not to mention that the tool is perfect if you want to manage clients as it gives you client connections.

The final verdict is that OptinMonster is worth the hype and the money and is definitely a great list building tool that you should choose if you are serious about growing your mailing list.