Many online projects are still driven by emails today. Even though we have countless more communication options, billions of electronic messages are exchanged daily, with this trend looking strong in the forthcoming years.
Bulk messaging is especially valuable for online marketers. Over 80% of experts in the field still heavily rely on email marketing to achieve the goals of their brand. To simplify and automate that process to the maximum, marketers employ a variety of tools and services.
One such solution is MailWizz
What is MailWizz?
MailWizz is a self-hosted software for email marketing purposes. Developed and released back in 2013, this all-in-one solution seems to have it all figured out. MailWizz comes with a user-friendly dashboard that allows account admins to send mass emails, monitor surveys, manage users and user groups, the works.
If you are running an ecommerce shop, you can also take advantage of additional SaaS features that help with orders, currencies, taxation, payment methods, and many more.
The developers offer MailWizz in two different licensing plans – Regular (at $79) and Extended (at $295). Both include professional support for six months after purchase.
MailWizz Advantages
MailWizz is one of the top user choices when it comes to bulk email messaging on a VPS. The application flaunts an impressive architecture, which brings about more than a few benefits:
- Great Feature Variety – MailWizz aims to be a one-stop-shop when it comes to email marketing needs, so the developers have put extra focus on integrating a ton of features and functionalities. Easy list management, stylish templates, blacklist monitoring, two-factor authentication, and advanced SPF/DKIM settings are just a few of the in-built extras that come with the app.
- Easy Email Management – the MailWizz dashboard is very comprehensive, with access to numerous helpful reports and settings for fine-tuning the email platform. The learning curve here is pretty low, and even the novice users won’t take much time to understand what is what.
- Detailed Reports – speaking of reports, MailWizz analyzes countless factors behind the scenes and delivers the collected info straight into your dashboard. Watch over your subscribers, mailing lists, and campaigns to learn what might be hindering your email efforts. MailWizz also tracks and provides information about all recent activity on your website.
- API for Integrations – the ability to integrate with various third-party tools is always highly valued when it comes to any type of software. The MailWizz API is useful in a number of ways, even helping you allow/block certain IP addresses or entire IP ranges.
- Monetization Tools – MailWizz’s SaaS platform is the go-to solution for entrepreneurs and marketers looking to monetize their projects. It is available with the Extended License option and covers pretty much anything – payment gateways, orders, promo codes, currencies, taxes, and many more.
- GDPR Compliant – if you are looking to securely store sensitive customer information on your own servers – GDPR compliance is a must. MailWizz has all the needed certifications to allow keeping and operating with user data for the purposes of the app.
MailWizz Disadvantages
Looking to get an unbiased overview of MailWizz, one cannot help but notice a few disadvantages down the road:
- Heaven for Spammers – any tool for bulk email messaging can potentially turn into a spamming weapon if it falls into the wrong hands. Unfortunately, MailWizz is no exception. The self-hosted email marketing tool has been known to be involved in many spam campaigns and blacklisted services.
- Limited Support – while its licensing gives you access to future updates, MailWizz’s support only lasts for six months after purchase (12 if you pay more). And that doesn’t even include assistance via live chat or phone. The only option MW gives you is to submit a written support request and wait for its resolution.
- A Bit Expensive – the MailWizz licensing fees are not that steep at first glance, but competitive solutions might be able to offer something better price-wise. Popular tools like MailChimp even support freemium accounts where you can get a good taste of the service without paying a dime.
How to Install MailWizz?
As MailWizz is a self-hosted platform, you would need to install it on your virtual private server. The steps are pretty straightforward:
- Purchase the MailWizz license of your choice.
- Unzip the archive you’ll receive.
- Inside, you will find a folder named Latest. Upload it to your hosting account, either in the root folder or a subfolder of your choice.
- Direct your browser to the correct installation path, for example:
http://www.yourdomain.com/install/index.php
- Follow the steps and remove the installation folder once done.
- Launch MailWizz
Finding a MailWizz VPS Hosting Provider
MailWizz does not burden you with excessive system requirements. In fact, you only need an Apache/Nginx web server with Linux, PHP, and MySQL. What makes it best suited for a VPS hosting solution, though, are the cron jobs you will inevitably have to set up. Such recurring events take their toll on your server resources, especially in a shared environment.
So, how do we find the right VPS host? A few things to watch out for:
- Server resources – make sure you have enough CPU, RAM, disk space, and bandwidth to handle the email traffic you intend to generate with MailWizz. Check if there are any limits on the outgoing emails and if your project can fit within them. A dedicated IP address is a must if you want to avoid bad reputation and blacklisting.
- Scalability – as your email lists grow, you would need more and more system resources to handle all the emails coming from and going to your server. A scalable VPS plan will guarantee you always have enough CPU and RAM for a smooth email operation.
- Support – more often than not, you will need extra assistance along the way. While hosting representatives can rarely help with third-party software like MailWizz, they can always assist with server-side issues and optimizations. Make sure to opt-in for a managed VPS plan if you feel you’ll need more hands-on support.
- Price – naturally, you have to look for virtual servers that fit within your allocated budget. You can find specific email hosting plans if you are only looking to utilize MailWizz without running a website. Still, for optimized performance and feature-cost ratio, a VPS solution would prove unmatched.
ScalaHosting and MailWizz
In our long experience, ScalaHosting has noticed that many spammers utilize bulk email messaging tools to reach as many addresses as possible in a short period of time. Unfortunately, that gives a bad reputation to all responsible clients of such software.
That being said, Scala fully allows the MailWizz installation and usage on all hosting plans – shared, VPS, reseller, etc. The app only requires a Linux environment with PHP/MySQL and cron jobs activated.
To mitigate the possible damages in a shared environment, ScalaHosting applies some limitations on the outgoing emails you can send per hour. Even with the Advanced plan, you cannot really send more than 750 messages/hour.
Of course, all bets are off with a virtual private server. You are the sole user of your VPS instance, so you can utilize all its system resources for the needs of MailWizz. Not to mention that you get a free dedicated IP regardless of the chosen plan.
Conclusion
You should now know more about MailWizz, its possibilities, and how you can easily install it on your VPS. So, what do you think about this all-in-one email marketing software? Do you feel it can give a much-needed boost to your marketing campaigns and help you maximize your ROI?
Contact the ScalaHosting Team and check out your hosting opportunities for MailWizz today.
FAQ
Q: What do I need to use MailWizz?
A: MailWizz doesn’t have any excessive system requirements for installation. In fact, you only need an Apache server (version 2.x or higher) with PHP (5.2 or higher), MySQL (5.4 or higher), and access to cron jobs. That makes MailWizz suitable for practically any type of Linux hosting.
Q: Is MailWizz free?
A: MailWizz does not offer a free version at the moment. You can purchase the email marketing tool from the official website with two types of licenses – Regular and Extended. The Regular one comes at $79, while the Extended plan is fixed at $295. There are extra fees if you wish to extend your MailWizz support service from six to twelve months.
Q: Can I host MailWizz on a shared server?
A: There is nothing too specific in the MailWizz requirements that might prevent you from hosting MailWizz on a shared server. Still, before you pick a plan, check with your provider about their email limitations to ensure they’re not too low for your needs. You can also re-confirm that you have full access to cron jobs and find out if there are any specific caps on their usage.
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