iContact Alternatives & Competitors

iContact competed primarily against Constant Contact and Microsoft List Builder in its early years, before Mailchimp became a significant market presence. Allis described a 2003 tactic in which iContact subscribed to approximately 100,000 Constant Contact customer newsletters by iterating through the platform's URL structure, then sent those contacts an offer for half-price service, which he credited with generating iContact's first 500 customers. Microsoft responded to a similar tactic targeting its List Builder product with a cease-and-desist letter from a law firm Allis identified as associated with Bill Gates's father. These figures about competitors reflect Allis's account of his own company's actions and are not confirmed figures about Constant Contact or Microsoft.

Allis noted that Marc Benioff of Salesforce approached iContact in 2009 with a $95 million acquisition offer before withdrawing and later acquiring ExactTarget. This is Allis's account of the interaction and is not a figure confirmed by Salesforce or Benioff.