Everest (Return Path + 250ok) vs. WhatCounts

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Everest (Return Path + 250ok)
Score 10.0 out of 10
N/A
Everest is an integrated email success platform providing crucial insights and deliverability guidance so users can reach more people, increase engagement, and improve efficiencies of their email programs. Everest helps to improve email deliverability by getting complete visibility into email marketing metrics and sender reputation, understand the audience and deliver content that is timely, personalized, and functions flawlessly on any device, and get a holistic view of a company's…
$20
per month
WhatCounts
Score 4.0 out of 10
N/A
WhatCounts is a popularly-used, global enterprise level suite of email marketing tools from the company of the same name founded in 2000 and headquartered in Atlanta, GA. Their customers range from Costco, FoxNews.com, the Seattle Times, Red Lion Hotels, and number over a thousand. Central to the platform is... email. From that it handles advanced segmentation, customer lifecycle building and automation, and personalization. WhatCounts bills itself as a full service marketing agency with…N/A
Pricing
Everest (Return Path + 250ok)WhatCounts
Editions & Modules
Elements
$20
per month
Elements Plus
$525
per month
Professional
Custom Pricing
Enterprise
Custom Pricing
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Everest (Return Path + 250ok)WhatCounts
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Everest (Return Path + 250ok)WhatCounts
Considered Both Products
Everest (Return Path + 250ok)
Chose Everest (Return Path + 250ok)
Return Path is the most user-friendly and feature rich platform based on the alternatives that we have evaluated or used in the past.
Chose Everest (Return Path + 250ok)
Litmus does a great job of checking for specific things related to design or spam filtering, but the overall comprehensive approach that Everest (Return Path + 250ok) has by implementing seed listing, list validation, and pixel engagement offers a much stronger solution for …
Chose Everest (Return Path + 250ok)
I don't know of anything that has a patch on what ReturnPath—specifcially certification—offers elsewhere.
Chose Everest (Return Path + 250ok)
As a long-term Return Path client, we haven't ever used any competitor products as we always felt that what we were using was best-available. So when 250ok and Return Path were combined, the best of both is visible within the new Everest umbrella product, Validity Everest …
Chose Everest (Return Path + 250ok)
I looked into some other competitors before 250ok was brought out by Validity, but 250ok seemed like the best fit for the price and features included.
Chose Everest (Return Path + 250ok)
We have used both and they're both excellent systems. 250ok has the edge with reporting and function but Return Path has a bit more data when it comes to Sender Score data. Either is a really good system and I'd recommend either for those looking for a toolset to help resolve …
Chose Everest (Return Path + 250ok)
ReturnPath is best in the industry for managing email deliverability. There are other adequate competitive options, but ReturnPath can offer a custom solution for your brands.
Chose Everest (Return Path + 250ok)
Return Path came with our Salesforce Marketing Cloud implementation. We have not seriously looked at additional tools to complement or replace what we're getting through Return Path.
Chose Everest (Return Path + 250ok)
We have no experience with competitors in the 4 1/2 years I've been with the organization.
Chose Everest (Return Path + 250ok)
Like I said before, Return Path is really the budget bundle. You get a lot of service for how much you pay. Since I am currently at an early stage startup, we could not afford Litmus, so having Return Path is crucial. The partnership with SalesForce also allowed us to get it at …
Chose Everest (Return Path + 250ok)
It’s cheaper than its competitors and it has dmarc tracking.
Chose Everest (Return Path + 250ok)
After using Litmus for a few years, we enjoyed their feature set but were not pleased with price and feature changes. Email on Acid was a good choice for testing your email templates but didn't have enough features for email deliverability monitoring.

Between Return Path and …
Chose Everest (Return Path + 250ok)
250ok provides much greater insight into email deliverability, compared to email marketing platforms. Typically, email marketing platforms only provide you the following: open rate, clickthrough rate, spam complaints, and bounces. 250ok actually shows you where you're landing …
Chose Everest (Return Path + 250ok)
Return Path and 250ok are meant to do same things but in slightly different ways. Both use seed lists but RP uses panel data while 250ok uses engagement data. RP offers certification and is more expensive while 250ok is more affordable.
Chose Everest (Return Path + 250ok)
Return Path was the first solution that we looked into based on the native integration with Salesforce Marketing Cloud. That was the biggest selling point for us. We didn't do a lot of research on other products but 250ok was one we did look at but ultimately liked Return Path …
Chose Everest (Return Path + 250ok)
Goodmail is no longer available. eDataSource - competitive research of other competitors emails to analyze in one platform - comparable - more money.
Chose Everest (Return Path + 250ok)
We use Exact Target every day as well - While we use these 2 for different functions - both are great to have and essential to our team.
Chose Everest (Return Path + 250ok)
When reviewing competitors to do the audit and to give us insight into our deliverability, Return Path seemed to have a more strategic sense of the issue and they were able to dive deep to get to the root cause, whereas some of the competitors where diagnosing on the phone …
Chose Everest (Return Path + 250ok)
I used to host and manage email internally. I moved this into the cloud with an ExactTarget email marketing hub to manage all of the email being sent. The plus for Return Path is that the white listing features offered are not offered by other vendors or not to the same degree …
Chose Everest (Return Path + 250ok)
We looked at 250ok and Pivotal Veracity. Each has their own perks. Return Path has the best inbox monitoring by far but is the most expensive and that isn't even close. 250ok has the best blacklist monitoring capabilities and was the best priced but the inbox monitoring wasn't …
WhatCounts
Chose WhatCounts
We selected WhatCounts because it had the ability to help us manage our large list and gave us tools to help tailor our messages. In addition, WhatCounts had the ability to allow us to have an enterprise license but we could still have individual department accounts.
Features
Everest (Return Path + 250ok)WhatCounts
Email & Online Marketing
Comparison of Email & Online Marketing features of Product A and Product B
Everest (Return Path + 250ok)
6.1
Ratings
26% below category average
WhatCounts
9.8
Ratings
21% above category average
WYSIWYG email editor5.00 Ratings9.00 Ratings
Dynamic content5.30 Ratings00 Ratings
Ability to test dynamic content6.40 Ratings00 Ratings
Landing pages5.00 Ratings10.00 Ratings
A/B testing6.50 Ratings10.00 Ratings
Mobile optimization3.30 Ratings10.00 Ratings
Email deliverability reporting8.00 Ratings10.00 Ratings
List management7.00 Ratings10.00 Ratings
Triggered drip sequences8.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
Everest (Return Path + 250ok)
6.1
Ratings
23% below category average
WhatCounts
10.0
Ratings
26% above category average
Dashboards7.20 Ratings10.00 Ratings
Standard reports6.70 Ratings10.00 Ratings
Custom reports4.50 Ratings00 Ratings
Pre-Send Testing
Comparison of Pre-Send Testing features of Product A and Product B
Everest (Return Path + 250ok)
8.0
Ratings
0% above category average
WhatCounts
-
Ratings
URL Validation8.10 Ratings00 Ratings
Link Tracking6.70 Ratings00 Ratings
Image Validation7.60 Ratings00 Ratings
Inbox Display8.50 Ratings00 Ratings
Email Accessibility Tools7.50 Ratings00 Ratings
Spelling and Grammar Check7.80 Ratings00 Ratings
Spam Testing9.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Email Previews9.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Everest (Return Path + 250ok)WhatCounts
Small Businesses
Mad Mimi
Mad Mimi
Score 10.0 out of 10
Mad Mimi
Mad Mimi
Score 10.0 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
VerticalResponse
VerticalResponse
Score 10.0 out of 10
VerticalResponse
VerticalResponse
Score 10.0 out of 10
Enterprises
Emma by Marigold
Emma by Marigold
Score 9.4 out of 10
Emma by Marigold
Emma by Marigold
Score 9.4 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Everest (Return Path + 250ok)WhatCounts
Likelihood to Recommend
5.4
(0 ratings)
10.0
(0 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
8.2
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
7.3
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
9.1
(0 ratings)
10.0
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
8.2
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Everest (Return Path + 250ok)WhatCounts
Likelihood to Recommend
Every new or established brand should be using Everest. It doesn't matter what you're trying to say in your emails—if they're not reaching the inbox, no one is listening or reading. Everest gives you the insight you need to understand your inbox placement, reputation and so much more.
Read full review
How big is your email list? For the money WhatCounts allows us to manage a large list and gives us great tools. If you have a small list this product might be more than you need. How many emails do you want to send? WhatCounts charges by the email and of course you get a better price per email the more emails you send. If you will not be sending many emails or are sending to a small list WhatCounts might not be the right tool for you.
Read full review
Pros
  • Inbox placement data using seed list: It tells you about your inbox placements, spam, missing, and complaints. Very useful data that tells you that you are on the road!
  • Sender score for all I.Ps: Tells you quickly about your I.P score, helps you work fast as you know everything is fine, saves a lot of time.
  • Online support: Support from specialist, have an expert to guide in tough times to suggest options or to support your action strategy.
Read full review
  • We receive super customer service from a dedicated account representative.
  • The list management tools are easy to use and give us granular insight into what users are opening and where they are clicking.
  • The analytics give us a variety of ways to look at the types of devices being used to view our content and the ways our users interact with content. For example we can see that most opens are on mobile but if a reader wants to spend time clicking into more in depth content they move over to a desktop computer.
Read full review
Cons
  • A good tutorial on how to leverage it would be helpful. Navigating is easy, but there's a lot of information and it takes a while to understand what everything means.
  • The reporting feature is intimidating, creating anew one isn't as user-friendly as the rest of the interface.
  • I understand what seeds are, but for new users, a very basic tutorial on what they are and why they are used would be helpful. Right now you have to have a baseline understanding of them before using it.
Read full review
  • Some of the list management tools were hard to find at first but now I use them every month. If I could change one thing I would allow the account details filter window to show all the available slots with no scrolling and I would add a feature to set / reset all selections on the dropdowns.
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
Return Path helps us stay ahead of the curve and are a partner in helping us optimize our email program. They also keep us up-to-date on email laws and the changing ecosystem so that we are prepared and ready for changes, whether they're behavioral, legal or technology-driven. I definitely consider Return Path a necessary ingredient to sustaining a healthy email program.
Read full review
No answers on this topic
Usability
I find it fairly easy to use, though the interface is a bit clunky and I may be missing some revolutionary use because it's lost in the clutter.
Read full review
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Absolutely fantastic support. It runs circles around the competition. They regularly reach out and chat, even if it's just to see if there's any issues we need to discuss. They clearly want the business and don't forget you once you sign the contract which is an issue with other similar services.
Read full review
We have a great representative. She schedules regular calls with our team and helps us learn new ways to use the tool. We get great personal support. I know she has many other clients but I always feel like she has time for me and genuinely enjoys working with our team.
Read full review
Implementation Rating
I joined my company after the implementation was nearly complete. We used the Return Path tool as we slowly increased our send volume in Marketing Cloud to monitor IP reputation and inbox placement.
Read full review
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
Like I said before, Return Path is really the budget bundle. You get a lot of service for how much you pay. Since I am currently at an early stage startup, we could not afford Litmus, so having Return Path is crucial. The partnership with Salesforce also allowed us to get it at pretty low cost.
Read full review
We selected WhatCounts because it had the ability to help us manage our large list and gave us tools to help tailor our messages. In addition, WhatCounts had the ability to allow us to have an enterprise license but we could still have individual department accounts.
Read full review
Return on Investment
  • Return Path has helped me enable better email delivery for our global partners e.g. some of our applications that send email to consumers in Australia or Europe.
  • Some of the functions that we utilized with Return Path were proving to be costly based on what the business needs were for us. That is why we cut back on some of the services we utilized.
Read full review
  • We use WhatCounts as a communication tool to our external groups mainly families and alumni. In our case our main objective is to get these groups timely information. While some of our emails do have a call to action for example signing up for Family Weekend or a Reunion Weekend we don't use the tool to generate leads in the way many organizations use html email.
Read full review
ScreenShots

Everest (Return Path + 250ok) Screenshots

Screenshot of Inbox Placement
Understand inbox placement rates by mailbox provider.Screenshot of Competitive Intelligence
Get visibility into what your competitors are doing well, including subject lines, sending patterns, and more.Screenshot of Design Tests
Collaborate, design, and test your email content across devices and mail clients.Screenshot of Reputation Monitoring
Get the most visibility into your sender reputation.Screenshot of Engagement Metrics
Go beyond the basic data provided by your email service provider. Get a holistic look at all the engagement metrics matters to your email program.Screenshot of List Validation
Verify the addresses on your lists aren't dead, wrong, or dangerous before mailing them and protect your sender reputation.