Are you looking for the most effective tools to grow your email list, reduce cart abandonment, and turn website visitors into customers? Not sure whether OptinMonster or OptiMonk is the right solution for you?

OptiMonk and OptinMonster are both tools that can help you lift sales and grow your email list. If you’re not familiar with their features, the similar names can make them difficult to tell apart.

But don’t make the mistake of assuming they’re the same.

In fact, there are some BIG differences between the two. Choosing the wrong tool can mean missing out on a ton of revenue.

To make sure you’re investing in the right tool and getting the results you need, we wrote an in-depth post to help you compare OptinMonster vs. OptiMonk.

That way, you can choose the software that will best suit your needs.

To help you navigate, we’ve also created a table of contents:

  1. Campaign Types and Templates Comparison
  2. Campaign Targeting Comparison
  3. Success Message Comparison
  4. Account Management Overview
  5. Documentation and Support Comparison
  6. Bottom Line: OptinMonster vs. OptiMonk

Ready? Let’s get started…

Campaign Types and Templates Comparison

Of course, the most essential feature of any lead generation software is the types of campaigns you can create.

What kinds of popups and other campaigns can you actually make with OptinMonster and OptiMonk?

Let’s take a look at OptiMonk first. OptiMonk allows you to create 4 different campaign types:

  • Fullscreen
  • Popup
  • Nanobar
  • Sidemessage (similar to OptinMonster’s Slide-In)

OptiMonk has 112 popup templates to choose from, as well as a blank option you can use to add your own code:

OptiMonk Popup Templates min

“Nanobars” are sticky bars that appear at the top or bottom of the browser, and stay there as the visitor scrolls. They are the same as OptinMonster’s floating bar campaigns.

OptiMonk has 30 templates for those, plus an option to code your own:

OptiMonk Nanobar templates

Then they have 29 “Sidemessage” templates. These campaigns actually don’t show up on your website’s sidebar. They are like sticky popups that appear off to the side of your page and stay there as the visitor scrolls down the page.

Again, if you’re familiar with OptinMonster’s Slide-In campaigns, they are similar to those (though taller in length):

OptiMonk Side message min

Finally, OptiMonk has “Fullscreen” campaigns with 40 templates to choose from.  Fullscreen campaigns are like regular popups, but they take over the entire screen:

OptiMonk Fullscreen Choose a Template

Now let’s take a look at your campaign choices in OptinMonster.

OptinMonster choose your campaign min

In the OptinMonster app, you choose from several different campaign types:

  • Popup: an effective and popular campaign that grabs attention
  • Fullscreen: a fullscreen campaign with a call to action that can’t be ignored
  • Slide-In: similar to OptiMonk’s “sidebar” campaigns, these slide in from the side of the browser
  • Floating Bar: sticky footer or header bars that stay in place as your visitors scroll
  • Inline: these embeddable campaigns can be placed within your site’s content or sidebar

But with these 5 types of campaigns, you can do so much more, such as:

  • Sidebar Forms
  • Content Lockers
  • Coupon Wheel Optins
  • Countdown Timers (static and dynamic)

OptinMonster Campaigns min

Each type works on any size screen (desktop, tablet, or mobile) and has plenty of beautifully designed templates to choose from.

OptinMonster has over 50 templates, each of which can be instantly turned into Yes/No campaigns (which we’ll look at more closely later). Here are just a few:

OptinMonster Templates

And here’s a quick look at some of OptinMonster’s designs for Floating Bars:

OptinMonster floating bar templates 1

As you can see, OptinMonster also offers quite a few powerful campaign types that aren’t available with OptiMonk. Let’s take a look at those…

2 Types of Inline Campaigns: In Your Content or In the Sidebar

Used correctly, popups are powerful tools for lead generation and conversion optimization.

But what happens when a visitor closes your popup? If they change their mind, how can they sign up for your email list?

Smart business owners will give them the option to subscribe even if they didn’t opt into the popup.

The best way to do this is by placing a static campaign on your website. You can do this either on the sidebar of your page or embedded directly in your content.

Let’s start with sidebar campaigns.

When you place a sidebar optin form on your site, you turn every page into a lead generation opportunity. Sidebar Forms look like this:

OptinMonster sidebar widget 1 min

Your users get to see the content on your website without any interruptions, and you get loads of email signups every month!

If you’re only using popups on your website, instead of a variety of campaigns, you could be missing out on hundreds of leads. In other words, Sidebar Forms (not offered by OptiMonk) are a great way of catching low hanging fruit.

The other type of sidebar not offered by OptiMonk is an Inline campaign embedded directly in your content. BlogTyrant uses an Inline campaign at the end of their post to boost signups:

BlogTyrant Inline Campaign min

Again, these are great because they’re static campaigns. That means they’re always on your page regardless of triggers and targets.

By using these static campaigns along with other dynamic ones (campaigns that open when a user scrolls 50% down your page, for example), you’re truly maximizing your conversion rates.

At OptinMonster, we give you all the tools you need to make sure you don’t miss out on any opportunity to convert visitors to subscribers and customers.

Two-Step Yes/No Optin Forms

You may have noticed that some campaigns above feature a signup form asking for an email, while others have simple buttons with no optin fields to fill in.

That’s because some of the forms, the ones with only buttons, are Yes/No campaigns. They add an additional step before asking for an email address to help increase your conversion rates:

OptinMonster YesNo Campaign 1

Now, you might think that adding an extra step to your campaign means lower conversions, but Yes/No campaigns have the opposite effect!

And that’s thanks to the Zeigarnik Effect, which suggests that people who begin an action are more likely to complete it. So a visitor who clicks the Yes button is more likely to continue the process and sign up for your email list.

It’s like how a good salesperson uses small talk to start the conversation rather than diving into the pitch. Because if they can get you talking first, you’re more likely to allow the conversation to continue.

Yes/No campaigns begin an engaging conversation with your cold traffic, which makes them more likely to become warm leads.

OptiMonk has a few popup templates that have Yes/No buttons (also called two-step or multi-step optins) that come with the default design. These are spread out through their templates, and you need to search for them manually to find them.

There’s no filtered option to pull them up quickly.

But with OptinMonster, you’re not limited like that. You can actually enable the Yes/No view for ANY campaign you choose with the simple click of a button.

Go to the Yes/No feature at the top of your campaign editor and click the toggle switch to Display a Yes/No View:

YesNo display in OptinMonster Editor

Boom. That’s it!

You now have an incredibly powerful Yes/No campaign ready to grow your email list. And this is an effective campaign to use.

A Yes/No optin like this one by Salt Strong converts 10% of of all visitors who comes to their website:

19 saltstrong optinmonster mobile optin slidein

And another one of our clients, ChinaImportalincreased conversions from 2% to 20% just by adding a Yes/No step to their optin form.

By clicking the toggle to enable a Yes/No campaign to any of our templates, you can see HUGE increases in your conversions.

If you’re serious about growing your business, you definitely don’t want to miss out on Yes/No campaigns.

Content Locker

There’s another feature that OptinMonster provides its users that isn’t available with OptiMonk: a Content Locking campaign.

Content Locking OptinMonster Editor

Content Locking campaigns are super powerful because they lock away your most valuable content until the visitor enters their email address. That means you can have regular content for casual browsers, and premium content for your subscribers.

And the best part is, you can add this function to any piece of content currently on your site. So if you have great content, you’ve already done the hardest part.

We’ve seen sites like TradingStrategyGuides get 11,000+ subscribers in just 1 month with 1 Content Locking campaign.

And Whole Whale converts a whopping 21.42% of all visitors with this obfuscating content locker:

OptinMonster Content Locker min 1

Like we said, it’s super powerful.

Content locking is another quick-win tool you’re going to want if you’re serious about building your email list.

Event Countdown Timer

Another important feature that’s worth a mention here is the countdown timer.

OptiMonk does have a countdown timer. You can enter how many hours and minutes the countdown timer starts with. But, the date or time is always fixed:

OptiMonk countdown timer min

OptinMonster also has a countdown timer you can add to any campaign using the drag and drop builder.

Countdown Timer Drag and Drop

You choose the length of the timer in days, hours, minutes, and seconds.

OptinMonster Countdown timer min

But what if you want your timer to count down to an event, like the end of a holiday sale?

Both OptinMonster and OptiMonk have that option, too. Which is really effective at creating a sense of urgency.

And when combined with OptinMonster’s campaign scheduling feature, this is an excellent tool for:

  • Boosting event registrations
  • Promoting holiday sales and special offers
  • Advertising webinars, conferences, and more

LifterLMS added a simple countdown timer like this to their pricing page and unlocked $23,700 in sales in just 5 months.

Ok, so both companies have countdown timers. So what?

OptinMonster pushes the concept further than OptiMonk by giving you the choice of also making your countdown timer dynamic:

Dynamic Countdown Timer

A dynamic countdown timer means that the date or time for your countdown isn’t fixed. It simply begins the first time your user sees a campaign.

So if you want each user to have a full 7 days to take advantage of a promotion, you can give all of your audience that unique experience. When one visitor comes on a Monday, they’ll get 7 days to claim their promotion.

And when another visitor comes on a Tuesday, they’ll also get a full 7 days to claim their promotion.

This is a remarkably useful tool at not only increasing your overall conversion rate but also improving your audience’s user experience (UX).

Plus, with our MonsterLinks™, you can easily use these dynamic (or static) countdown timers as part of a promotional email campaign, too.

Ok, so after you’ve designed your campaign, the next step is to decide who should see it.

Let’s take a look at some of OptiMonk vs. OptinMonster targeting features.

OptinMonster vs. OptiMonk Campaign Targeting Comparison

The more personalized your campaigns are for each visitor, the more conversions you’ll get.

So, what kind of targeting tools do OptinMonster and OptiMonk offer?

Both OptinMonster and OptiMonk offer powerful targeting options like:

But OptinMonster alone offers these more advanced features:

OptinMonster Targeting Options

Let’s take a closer look at how these targeting options can skyrocket your conversions and boost your revenue.

WordPress Category and Tag Targeting

If you’re using WordPress, this is another conversion-boosting trick you definitely want in your toolbox.

By targeting your campaigns based on the type of content a visitor is viewing, you’re giving them exactly what they’re interested in at the exact moment of interest.

Interest-based campaigns are incredibly high-converting, so don’t miss out on this feature!

And/Or and Multiple Rulesets

OptinMonster’s Display Rules are what make it such a robust conversion optimization and lead generation solution.

OptinMonster gives you full control over your campaign with the ability to add “and/or” conditions, plus multiple rulesets. Here’s how it works:

In one ruleset, you select all the triggers that you want for your campaign to appear. All the triggers you choose for that ruleset need to be fulfilled for it to appear.

For example, if you select “after 10 seconds” and “after scrolling 50% down the page,” the campaign will only trigger if the user has been on the page for 10 seconds AND scrolled 50%.

But you can also choose an “or” rule so that the campaign will appear if either condition is met.

optinmonster add or rule

But what if you wanted to display this campaign with different triggers on another page?

You could decide to show the campaign sooner, or have it triggered with Exit Intent® technology on a page that has a high bounce rate from organic searches.

To find those bounce rates, you simply need to check with Google Analytics. Then you can adjust your campaign’s rulesets to include Exit Intent® to keep time on page longer.

You can create as many separate rulesets (not just rules) as you need.

optinmonster rulesets

This gives you the flexibility to target multiple segments of your audience with one campaign.

OptiMonk, on the other hand, lets you add rules but not rulesets. They also only give you the “and” option, rather than the “and/or” conditions to your rules.

It’s a small difference that can have a significant impact on your overall conversion rates.

Now let’s shift gears and take a look at what happens after your visitors convert.

OptinMonster vs. OptiMonk Success Message Comparison

What do your visitors see after they submit their email address or click on one of your campaigns?

The moment after a visitor subscribes is a huge opportunity. That’s because they’ve already shown interest in what you have to offer, they’ve given you their email address, and they’re ready to take the next step.

With the right success message, you can take advantage of that opportunity to deepen your new relationship even more.

So, what kind of success message options do OptinMonster and OptiMonk give you so you can take advantage of this opportunity?

For most of their templates, OptiMonk allows you to edit the button text and decide whether the button should close the popup, redirect to another page, jump to a page, or call:

OptiMonk success page min

OptinMonster, on the other hand, gives you a few more advanced options.

You’re able to choose an action for every button or optin form in your campaigns, including:

  • Go to a view
  • Show a different campaign view
  • Redirect to a URL
  • Click to call
  • Close the page
  • Reload the page
  • Open in a new window

OptinMonster success page options min

For every campaign template with OptinMonster, there’s a matching success view. It’s also completely customizable with the drag and drop builder.

OptinMonster Success View editor min

You can easily customize your success view to:

  • Offer an immediate digital file download
  • Display a video to make a personal connection and give your visitors further instructions
  • Entice your new subscribers to like your Facebook page or follow you on Twitter
  • Instruct visitors to complete the double optin signup process and whitelist your emails

…and lots more

OptinMonster also offers a few more advanced options for making the most of your success messages:

  • Smart Success: Avoid annoying your visitors by providing smart subscriber recognition. This is a great way to recognize people who have already signed up for a previous offer so you can entice them with something new.
  • Success Tracking and Retargeting Scripts: Serve a Facebook ad pixel, AdWords pixel, or whatever script you want when users subscribe, so you can easily retarget warm leads and put your marketing strategy on auto-pilot.

This is a huge opportunity that you don’t want to miss out on.

Now that you’ve seen the options to create and customize your campaigns, let’s take a look at some details in how you manage your account.

OptinMonster vs. OptiMonk Account Management Overview

If you manage multiple websites or have clients you create campaigns for, then OptiMonk won’t make it easy for you.

You have the option to share your account only with other OptiMonk users. That means that ALL users and clients need to pay for separate OptiMonk accounts to access yours, even if they don’t need one.

This is the only way to share access to campaigns without giving them access to your login information, billing details, and more.

Or you can use their Agency Partnership to manage all of your clients’ accounts in one place. This will let you share campaigns and templates individually with each of your clients.

But that comes with a substantial fee with increases for site-wide traffic.

So unless you’re a professional agency looking to build campaigns for other businesses (instead of your own), this may not be the smartest choice.

On the other hand, OptinMonster offers Sub-Accounts with four levels of user roles. You can easily give access to your co-workers, clients, and others you work with:

OptinMonster Invite a User min

They don’t need to pay anything, and it’s secure: they only get access to what they need.

There are 4 different roles:

  • Viewer: Can view, but not make changes to, campaigns for a specific website(s)
  • Author: Can create, but not publish, campaigns for a particular website(s)
  • Manager: Can create and publish campaigns only for the assigned website(s)
  • Admin: Has full access and permissions for everything

User Role for OptinMonster min

This is an excellent feature for agencies, who can give each client access to their own campaigns while preserving the privacy of other clients.

There’s also an Activity Log so you can monitor every action taken on your account.

Finally, how easy is it to get started with OptinMonster vs. OptiMonk? Let’s take a look at the documentation and support available for each.

Documentation and Support Comparison

It’s important to have easy access to the information you need so you can get started as quickly as possible.

That means in-depth and easy-to-understand documentation and fast and helpful support.

Let’s see how OptinMonster vs. OptiMonk measures up.

OptiMonk Documentation and Support

OptiMonk has a resource section on their website that provides answers to their most common questions.

OptiMonk Help Center min

And here’s the honest truth about their resource section: they’ve made some significant improvements since the last time we visited.

Seriously, they’ve come a long way!

For most questions, they have full, straightforward answers. If you have further problems or need help, you’re still limited to email.

OptinMonster Documentation and Support

Ok, so let’s be clear. We’re very impressed with OptiMonk’s changes to their resource center but hardly intimidated.

OptinMonster’s documentation features 200+ articles that walk you through everything from creating your first campaign, to integrating with dozens of email services providers. Or from advanced lead generation techniques like setting up MonsterChains, to display campaigns based on your visitors’ response to other campaigns.

In other words, if you’ve got a question, we’ve got the answer somewhere on the site.

Plus, we have useful video tutorials on most of our documentation to visually show how to solve your problem. Videos are something that, as far as we can tell, aren’t the central part of OptiMonk’s support.

Here’s what most of our documentation pages looks like:

OptinMonster Documentation Page Examples

If your question isn’t answered in the documentation, you can open a private support ticket or email a support team member one-on-one.

Or you can now live chat with us during business hours in real-time.

OptinMonster support 2

Official support hours are Monday through Friday, 9 am–5 pm EST. Typically, tickets are responded to within 24 hours and even faster during official support hours.

Bottom Line: OptinMonster vs. OptiMonk

Look, here’s the deal: you can do a lot with both software.

But you can do more with OptinMonster.

Not only that, but our pricing is more approachable for small to medium-size businesses.

OptiMonk’s Essential package starts at $29/month. That gives you unlimited campaigns 1 domain, 25,000 page views (for your whole site), and A/B testing.

For the same price, you get OptinMonster’s Pro package with unlimited campaigns, A/B testing, 50,000 campaign views (regardless of your site’s traffic), content locking, device targeting, 3 domains, and so much more!

OptinMonster Pricing min 1

So, which lead generation and conversion optimization tool is the best choice for you?

If you…

  • Are serious about building a targeted email list
  • Need to reduce shopping cart abandonment and recover lost sales
  • Want to maximize your conversions and revenue

…then OptinMonster is the tool you need.

OptinMonster’s more powerful features like multiple Campaign Types, Content Locking, dynamic Countdown Timers, Device-Based Targeting, and more are incredibly useful for growing your email list, generating leads, and instantly lifting revenue.

Click here to get started with OptinMonster today.

VS.

OptinMonster OptiMonk
View All Features
Campaign Types
Lightbox Popups
Floating Bar
Slide-in Scroll Box
Mobile-Only Popups
Sidebar Campaigns
Inline / After Post Campaigns
Fullscreen Campaigns
Two-Step Yes/No Optins
limited
Content Locker
WordPress Widget
Campaign Customization
Professionally Designed Templates 99+ 20
Phone Field
Sound Effects
Campaign Targeting & Triggers
Exit-Intent®
Onsite Retargeting®
WordPress Tags & Categories
AdBlock Detection
Timezone Targeting
Cookie-based Targeting
Device-based Targeting
Success Message Customization
Success Message Editing
Smart Success Display for Subscribed Visitors
Success Tracking and Retargeting Scripts
Split Testing
Split Test Campaigns
Account Management
Sub-Accounts 4 user roles 2 user roles
Archive Campaigns
Recover Deleted Campaigns
Documentation
In-Depth Documentation
Video Tutorials

Outstanding OptinMonster Features

OptinMonster has everything you need to grow your email list. Here are the features that makes OptinMonster the most powerful customer acquisition & lead generation platform.
Create Beautiful Forms with OptinMonster Builder
Design and Customization
Design Beautiful Forms That are Proven to Convert
Start with our high-performing templates and make them yours. Our design builder gives you full control of the messaging and branding.
  • Mobile Friendly
  • Multiple Form Types
  • 400+ Pre-Made Templates
Targeting and Personalization
Show Personalized Messages at the Right Time with Behavior Automation
OptinMonster's powerful targeting and segmentation engine lets you show personalized messages based on user's behavior to maximize engagement, conversions, and sales.
  • Advanced Page Level Targeting
  • Custom Display Rules
  • Dynamic Text Replacement
OptinMonster A/B Testing Feature
Conversion Analytics
Easily A/B Test Your Ideas and Make Data-Driven Decisions
OptinMonster’s A/B testing feature helps you eliminate the guess work by letting you try different headlines, content, layouts, and styles to see what converts best.
  • Multivariate Testing
  • Built-in Conversion Analytics
  • Get the Stats that Matter

OptinMonster by the Numbers

4,652,757,939
Visitor Sessions Optimized
21.4 Billion
Optins Served
1+ Million
Sites Using OptinMonster
217 Million
Conversions