AWeber and Constant Contact started in different eras and with different constraints. AWeber, founded in 1998, grew out of early online publishing needs around automated email follow-up. Constant Contact, founded in 1995, began with a mission to help smaller firms compete using email marketing.
Because AWeber was built around automated follow-up, it prioritizes repeatable sequence logic and list-level execution. This leads to a product shape that stays close to core email workflows, rather than sprawling into many adjacent modules. One visible result is its long-standing emphasis on “automated email follow-up” as a defining capability.
Because Constant Contact started with a broader “level the playing field” mission, it prioritizes packaging many related marketing tasks into one connected suite. This creates tradeoffs in depth per module, since expansion requires consistent conventions across tools. One concrete example is how its scope has grown from email into areas like events, surveys, and social, as described in its company story.
Those origin choices still influence what each platform optimizes for today. The next sections reflect how early priorities show up as practical differences and constraints.