Popups play an integral role in the success of online businesses. It doesn’t matter if you have an ecommerce store, SaaS product, affiliate site, or even a personal blog. Every website needs popups to generate leads and sales.
But obviously, your business will only benefit from popups if you use them correctly. We already know that popups can be quite annoying. That’s why you need the right popup software to ensure your popups are beneficial, not destructive.
In this review, we’ll share the best popup software tools that fit the bill.
Table Of Contents
Why compare popup software tools
The market is full of popup software tools, but as you can imagine, only a handful of them have the features you need to accomplish your goals. It’s, therefore, critical to compare the options available to ensure you’re investing in a product that can actually take your business forward.
It’s vital to make that comparison with your needs in mind. A tool may have dozens of features and lack the one element your business needs. There’s also no point in investing in an expensive software solution with tons of features when you’re only going to use a handful of them. That doesn’t make financial sense, does it?
Something else you shouldn’t ignore is your future needs. Go for a popup software solution that can grow with your business. You may not require certain features now, but they may become critical in the future. It’s best to invest in a scalable software tool that can adapt to your changing needs. That’s way better than shopping for a new popup software solution every other year, right?
Then there’s the question of pricing. Popup software providers charge different prices depending on the features offered and other factors. Obviously, you want to go for a tool that gives you the best bang for your buck.
Most popup software tools also have several price tiers offering different capabilities. That’s nice and all but make sure even the lower price tiers have competitive features. For example, you shouldn’t have to sign up for the most expensive package to get an essential feature like A/B testing.
What you need to know before seeing results
Popups are incredibly effective for online marketing, but it’s highly unlikely that you will get the best results with your first popup. And no, the popup software isn’t to blame if your initial popups don’t generate the results you want. At least not if you invested in the right one.
What you’ll need to do is build different popups and run split tests (A/B testing). For example, you can create popups with different visuals to see which one gets better results. You could also change the offer or value proposition and see if that’ll do the trick.
Essentially, A/B testing is at the heart of successful popup campaigns. That’s why the feature is a must-have.
Ten best popup software
Without wasting any more of your time, here are the best popup software tools of 2022 (in no particular order):
1. Wisepops
Wisepops is one of the best popup builder software on the market today. The software solution has a 4.9-star rating on both Capterra and the Shopify app store. It’s not hard to see why so many website owners love the platform. It comes packed with all the features you need to create perfect popups that’ll scale your business.
Take the targeting and segmentation options, for example. With this feature, Wisepops makes it possible to customize campaigns and ensure popups show up at the perfect time.
For instance, you can set a trigger to show a popup when the user scrolls the page, clicks on a specific link, or hovers over a particular website element. You can even create a custom trigger!
You also get to choose which popups are shown to what type of audience. You can create audience segments based on device (desktop or mobile), traffic (source, channel, etc.), frequency (new website visitors vs. repeat visitors), browser, and location.
Wisepops can help you build popups for:
- App banners
- Targeted promotions
- Cross-selling
- Up-selling
- Cart abandonment surveys
- Mobile exit
The platform also offers 60 ready-to-use popup templates to get you started.
Wisepopsps has five packages. You can choose the appropriate package based on your website’s page views. The cheapest package is €40/mo for 100,000 page views. It has all core features, including unlimited campaigns, email & CRM integrations, chat support, A/B testing, and goal tracking.
Larger businesses can go with the high-tier Enterprise package, which costs €250/mo. In addition to the core features, you’ll receive onboarding and training.
Pros
- Intuitive drag-and-drop popup editor
- Popups are optimized for mobile devices
- Provides an impressive contextual targeting feature
- Powerful integrations with third-party platforms like Shopify, WordPress, Magento, GetResponse, HubSpot, Campaign Monitor, Zapier, etc.
Cons
- Onboarding and training is a premium feature available only in the most expensive package.
2. OptiMonk
OptiMonk is another well-rated popup maker. It’s specifically designed for ecommerce businesses that want to engage more visitors and make even more sales.
OptiMonk helps you create different popups to engage with users at different stages of the buyer’s journey. You can create popups targeting first-time site visitors, for example. Think smart welcome popups, conversational popups, win-a-gift popups, and lucky wheel popups.
You can also target engaged site visitors with shopping quiz popups, product recommender popups, smart popup recommenders, etc. Add to cart popups like dynamic free shipping bar, cart abandonment stopper, and seasonal offer popups are also very popular.
Other types of ecommerce popups available through OptiMonk include Thank You, Buy Again, and Checkout popups.
Perhaps the most impressive thing about OptiMonk is the personalization feature. This allows you to personalize every popup, hence increasing your conversion rates. For example, you can create a dynamic welcome back popup that mentions the customer’s name. It also offers dynamic product recommendations.
OptiMonk has five packages, including a free plan. However, we wouldn’t recommend the free plan unless you have a new store, and popups are not the biggest priority for you. That’s because the package has limited features, and it only supports a maximum of 15,000 page views.
Sign up for the cheapest paid package at $29/mo for more pageviews and additional features like A/B testing. You can also get in touch with OptiMonk for a custom package.
Pros
- 300+ pre-designed popup templates
- You can get started with a basic free plan
- It integrates with WooCommerce, BigCommerce, Shopify, HubSpot, and over 100 other platforms.
Cons
- At $29/mo, you only get 30,000 page views. That may seem cheap, but it gets expensive when you consider that a single visitor can trigger multiple page views.
3. Optinmonster
Optinmonster is a popular lead generation software. The software comes packed with tons of features to help you build a profitable business.
One of the standout features is behavior automation. The tool monitors visitors’ behavior to deploy your popups at the perfect time. For example, most first-time visitors won’t appreciate a promotional popup immediately after landing on your site. That’s honestly kind of rude. Optinmonster can help you avoid that by ensuring your popups appear only when the user has shown interest in your content.
The tool also lets you segment your visitors based on various attributes. You can then target each segment with unique popups that are likely to get the visitor’s attention.
Moreover, you can personalize popups for individual customers. For example, besides mentioning the customer’s name, you can also display a relevant offer or product for that particular customer.
Optinmonster also makes it very easy to run split tests. It lets you create multiple forms and popups, deploy them on your website, and track their performance. The platform will generate advanced analytics showing which of your clever ideas generates the most leads/customers.
Optinmonster is a great popup software for ecommerce and other online businesses. The paid plans start at $9/mo. This basic plan has most of the features you need, but it is capped at just 2,500 page views. The plan might be a good option for newer publishers. Otherwise, established businesses like marketing agencies will want to upgrade to the most expensive packages for more functionality.
Pros
- Supports cookie, geolocation, and onsite retargeting
- Accommodates various campaign types like a floating bar, lightbox popup, inline forms, countdown timer, coupon wheel opt-ins, etc.
- It comes with additional features like ad-block detection
- Features a user-friendly drag and drop builder
- It comes with various campaign triggers like an inactivity sensor, exit-intent technology, and scroll triggers.
Cons
- Optinmonster can get expensive
- Advanced reporting is available only in the most expensive package
- It takes time to learn your way around the tool
4. Sumo
Consider Sumo if you’re on the marketing lookout for a basic popup maker to grow your email list. This platform is so straightforward that it may actually come off as too basic.
For only $39 per month, you’ll be able to create fully customizable email opt-in forms, run A/B tests, and conduct advanced visitor targeting. And that’s the only paid plan available on Sumo. You can save $120 if you choose the annual billing option.
Sure, it does have a few ecommerce features to help you increase average order value, reduce cart abandonment and distribute discount codes. However, it’s not as robust as some of the other popup tools discussed above.
Besides the premium package, Sumo provides a free forever plan for online entrepreneurs with limited budgets. However, this plan comes with little else other than social media sharing and visitor targeting. Keep in mind that visitor targeting is different from advanced visitor targeting. A/B testing is also not available in the free forever package.
Sumo integrates with Shopify, WordPress, and Google Tag Manager.
Pros
- Very easy to use
- It comes with a free forever plan
- You get 1-on-1 onboarding even with the free plan, which is a nice touch.
Cons
- It’s a relatively basic popup plugin
- At around $39/mo, you can get way more performance with the other tools discussed above.
5. Poptin
With this intuitive popup software, you can create and deploy your popups in minutes. No coding skills are required.
The advanced drag and drop editor makes it easy for Poptin users to create customized popups and lead capture forms. You also get unlimited access to dozens of pre-designed templates to speed up the creation process. You can customize these templates, replacing images and other fine details to create engaging popups that convert. Plus, the editor makes it possible to maintain a consistent branding style.
Popups created with Poptin are optimized for mobile devices. That’s vital considering mobile gadgets are responsible for most of today’s internet traffic. The platform also allows you to create different types of popups for various campaigns. You can make lightbox popups, gamified popups, full-screen overlays, countdown popups, and slide-in popups. It also lets you create the top and bottom bars and social widgets.
Like other top popup builders, Poptin provides advanced targeting options based on multiple triggers. The triggers could include exit-intent, on-click, scrolling, time delay, etc.
Meanwhile, the traffic source is one of the more popular targeting options available. It allows you to deploy specific popups based on where the visitor is coming from. For example, you could display a particular popup for visitors from search engines and another for visitors from social media. You can also target customers based on their location and the page they’re viewing.
To ensure the popups don’t interfere with the user experience, Poptin allows you to control display frequency. Plus, you can choose to hide popups from converted site visitors.
Pros
- It integrates with dozens of tools, including CRM and email marketing software.
- You can get started with a free trial. No credit card is needed.
- It comes with a built-in autoresponder for automated “Welcome” and “Thank You” emails.
Cons
- The free plan supports only 1,000 visitors, which is pretty low.
- Poptin is quite expensive. The cheapest plan costs $59/mo.
- You can’t customize the preset backgrounds.
6. Omniconvert
Omniconvert is a feature-rich platform designed to provide ecommerce businesses with the tools they need to thrive. One of those tools is a popup builder.
Since Omniconvert is not a dedicated popup software, you won’t get as many popup-related features as other builders. However, it does provide the basics to help your online store convert more prospects. For instance, you can create popups to distribute promotional messages. You can also use popups to serve surveys.
Omniconvert may lack some advanced popup building features, but it is still a decent option. That’s particularly true for businesses that also want a conversion rate optimization (CRO) platform. Omniconvert helps you with conversion, customer retention, and audience building. It also has a powerful A/B testing tool and a vast knowledge base.
Unfortunately, this ecommerce suite comes at a hefty price. They do have a free plan, but it’s pretty basic. Meanwhile, the paid plans start at $99/mo or $83/mo for monthly and annual billing plans.
Pros
- It comes with powerful CRO tools
- It has a free package
- Powerful reporting and analytics
- Excellent at tracking customer behavior
Cons
- Not as brilliant at creating popups as some dedicated popup builders
- It’s expensive
- It has a bit of a learning curve
7. Justuno
Justuno utilizes AI to take personalization to the next level. It allows users to create highly personalized popups for higher conversion rates.
The software uses a proprietary visitor intelligence technology to achieve all that. The tech helps the tool collect and analyze billions of data points on your website visitors. It then creates a profile for each site visitor, tracking their behavior. From there, the exit-intent technology ensures every site visitor is served with the right popup at the right time.
The AI-powered conversion optimization platform has more than 80 advanced targeting rules. You can set popups to show up when a site visitor has scrolled through a certain percentage of the web page, for example. You can also target customers with specific popups based on the products in their carts. That’s very useful for up-selling and cross-selling.
Justuno is, without a doubt, a powerful popup software, but it couldn’t be higher up our list due to their package/pricing system. You only get two pricing options; the Essential package starting at $25/mo and Justuno Plus, which costs $399/mo.
Here‘s the deal-breaker, though: the AI-powered features are only available under the Plus package, which is very expensive for most businesses. Considering AI is the only difference between this and other popup builders, I would say Justuno is the most useful only if you can afford the Plus plan.
Pros
- Incredible AI features
- Great for various campaigns, including push notifications, tap-to-text, age verification, banners, etc.
Cons
- It’s costly
- It has a bit of a learning curve
8. Sleeknote
Sleeknote markets itself as a popup software that packs everything, from forms and slide-ins to sidebars and gamification, to help you turn site visitors into subscribers and customers. The popup builder also stands out because it packs all features on all plans. Yes, you read that right. The only difference between the packages is the number of visitors supported.
Basically, the Lite package costs €49/mo, but it has the same features as the top-of-the-line Premium package, which costs €369/mo. However, the latter supports up to 500,000 visitors, while the Lite plan gets you only 25,000 visitors per month.
In terms of features, Sleeknotes allows you to meet your prospects where they are in the customer journey. It lets you target first-time visitors, returning subscribers, and existing customers with unique popups.
Creating popups on Sleeknote is also reasonably easy. You can choose from 120+ templates. Plus, you don’t have to be a designer or developer to customize them. The drag and drop editor facilitates a seamless customization process.
You’ll also get more customization options with Sleeknote than other popup builders. For example, you can upload your own fonts. You can also add videos and HTML.
Another standout feature is the multistep campaign. The feature allows you to separate a form into multiple steps instead of creating one long form with many input fields. This can be vital in increasing signups.
Pros
- It makes it easy to create and track campaign goals. It also provides insights on how to improve your campaigns.
- All features are available on all plans
- Integrates with dozens of marketing tools
Cons
- Sleeknote is pretty expensive compared to other tools. The basic plan starts at €49/mo, which is around $53/mo.
9. Privy
Privy is an all-in-one platform offering a popup builder, an email marketing tool, and an SMS campaign solution. The features are actually integrated ingeniously to enhance your marketing efforts. For example, you can create an exit-intent popup to stop a visitor from abandoning their cart. The system can automatically send a cart abandonment email if the popup doesn’t work. Pretty cool, right?
Privy is also designed to target users at different stages of the sales funnel. You can create site visits, shop, add to cart, checkout, buy, and buy-again campaigns. You also have tons of templates to get you started.
The popup builder offers three packages, including a free plan. The free plan offers advanced targeting and unlimited popups. However, it only supports 100 email contacts. Paid plans start at $15 per month.
Pros
- Supports popup, email, and SMS campaigns
- It comes with a free plan
Cons
- It lacks side messages and fullscreen popups
- Limited reporting
- The editor could be better
10. GetResponse
GetResponse is a powerful all-in-one full marketing software, offering tools useful for every business. The list of all the insanely helpful tools GetResponse offers is quite extensive, and forms & popups are the newest (completely refreshed) addition.
You can create the automated popups, banners, and bars in a simple and intuitive drag-and-drop editor – either from scratch or using dozens of beautiful predesigned templates. There’s various formats to choose from and they’re all mobile optimized and super easy to embed.
You can choose how to trigger the popups by choosing from over 30 rules, which ensures they pop up at the very moment the user is most likely to convert. For even more precision, you can also control the popup’s start and end dates, as well as who, how, and when sees a particular popup.
If you use GetResponse for your marketing endeavors, these popups and signup/contact forms can be a part of large-scale, fully automated campaigns. I mean, it’s pretty nice to have your website, contact list, email campaigns, automation flows, etc. in one, easy-to-manage place. And the best part is, you can create your popup for free!
Learn more here: GetResponse Popup Creator
Pros
- Simple drag-and-drop editor
- Various formats and predesigned templates
- Intuitive and adjustable triggering rules
- You can create your first popup in the Free-Forever account
Cons
- The feature is still really fresh, so it’s not as robust as some of the other tools here. But, that means there’s always more to look forward to!
Best popup software buyer’s guide
To create the above list, we looked at several key features that a good popup builder should have. These features are:
An intuitive customization editor
Unless you want to spend extra cash on web developers or designers, ensure the popup tool has a user-friendly editor. All software tools we’ve covered have drag-and-drop editors. Some are easier to use than others, but they all get the job done pretty quickly.
Pre-made templates
Premade templates will help you create and launch your campaigns with ease. Therefore, make sure the tool you go for has a good selection of gorgeous templates. The templates should also be available for the different campaigns you want. For example, you should have different discount popups, exit-intent popups, and countdown timer popups templates.
The templates also need to be highly customizable. You should be able to change the image, text, color pallets, and so on. That gives you more design options to create compelling on-brand popups.
Advanced targeting features
Building gorgeous popups is not enough to get you the results you want. You’ll need a tool with advanced features to accomplish your goals.
The best popup software allows you to segment your visitors and target them with specific popups. They also let you analyze and utilize user behaviors to display popups perfectly.
For example, sending a popup immediately after a visitor lands on your site doesn’t make sense. A good popup tool will let you set a time delay or scroll trigger to time your popups better. Doing so helps you convert more site visitors.
A/B testing capabilities
A/B testing is at the core of successful campaigns. Only through these tests can you know which popups are actually making a difference.
Therefore, do not compromise on this feature. Pick the best popup software that supports advanced A/B tests.
Advanced reporting and analytics
Lastly, pick a popup builder that generates detailed analytics. This will help you monitor your campaign’s performance and shows you areas you could optimize to get better results.
The tool should also make it easy to download and share the reports with other people.
Bonus tip: ensure the popup software you pick integrates with all your other marketing tools seamlessly.
Related read: The Stigma is Gone: Forms and Popups Aren’t What They Used to Be
Conclusion
We will skip the part where others would tell you that the best popup builder software depends on your needs. Yes, that’s partly true. But all factors considered we would recommend Wisepops, especially to people looking for a fully-featured popup tool. Optinmonster is also a decent choice for such people. However, if you prefer something with a free plan, try out OptiMonk or Sumo.
But what if you want an all-in-one suite for your marketing campaigns. A platform that lets you keep track of all campaigns – from email, marketing automation, landing page, to even paid media – under one roof? That’s where GetResponse comes in.
With our solution, you’ll never have to jump between multiple platforms. We bring everything in one place, making it easier for you to see the big picture and make smarter decisions. Plus, you can access the popup builder and other premium tools for free.
Having said all that, which of these tools do you think aligns best with the needs and future goals of your business?