Email Marketing · head to head
Attentive vs Loops
Attentive
Email Marketing
Enterprise SMS and email marketing for retail brands, sold on quarterly minimum spend commitments
- From
- On request
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Only Loops has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
- Each has a real cost: Attentive minimum spend commitments are use it or lose it: if quarterly usage falls short, the shortfall is invoiced anyway, which makes Attentive expensive for any brand whose sending is seasonal rather than even.; Loops free plan limited to 1000 subscribed contacts
- Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Attentive and Loops actually diverge.
Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Email Marketing).
What each one covers
Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.
Only in Attentive
- SMS-first journeys
- Two-tap sign-up units
- TCPA compliance tooling
- Email channel
- Revenue attribution
- Concierge
- Identity resolution
- Negotiated order form rates
Only in Loops
Nothing recorded that Attentive does not also cover.
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Attentive
- A direct-to-consumer brand where SMS is the primary revenue channel and needs cart abandonment triggered within minutes of a sessionnot Loops
- A retailer capturing in-store phone numbers at the till and needing TCPA-compliant consent records to go with themnot Loops
- A consumer brand running SMS and email from one audience so subscribers are not messaged twice for the same promotionnot Loops
- A high-volume merchant with predictable year-round send patterns that can commit to a quarterly minimum and negotiate rates down against itnot Loops
Loops
- Setting up lifecycle email from onboarding to winbacknot Attentive
- Consolidating product, marketing, and transactional emailsnot Attentive
- Designing email themes picked up automaticallynot Attentive
- Tracking revenue attribution to specific emailsnot Attentive
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Attentive
- Minimum spend commitments are use it or lose it: if quarterly usage falls short, the shortfall is invoiced anyway, which makes Attentive expensive for any brand whose sending is seasonal rather than even.
- No rates are published anywhere, so a buyer cannot benchmark a quote before entering a sales process, and the effective per message cost is only visible once an order form is drafted.
- Contracts commonly run six to twelve months, so a brand that finds performance disappointing after two months still owes the balance of the term.
- Total cost combines a platform fee, per message SMS and MMS charges and carrier pass-through fees, and MMS at two to five cents per message means image-heavy campaigns cost several times what the SMS rate suggests.
- It is priced and built for established consumer brands, and the entry commitment puts it out of reach of small merchants that Postscript and similar tools serve on usage-based plans with no floor.
Loops
- Free plan limited to 1000 subscribed contacts
- Free plan limited to 4000 sends per month
- Free plan includes Powered by Loops branding footer
- Paid plan pricing not publicly specified, requires using pricing calculator
Pricing, plan by plan
Attentive
On request- Attentive$undefined/year
- No public rate card; rates are set in an individual order form
- Platform fee plus per message SMS and MMS charges
- Contracts commonly six to twelve months
Loops
Free- FreeFree
- Up to 1000 subscribed contacts
- Up to 4000 sends per month
- Up to 10 emails per second
Which should you pick?
Choose Attentive if
- You need sms-first journeys.
- You work on Web, iOS, Android.
- You also want two-tap sign-up units.
Questions people ask
- Is Attentive or Loops better?
- Neither clearly leads. Attentive starts at On request and Loops at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Attentive or Loops?
- Loops has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Attentive and Free for Loops.
- Does Attentive or Loops run on more platforms?
- Attentive runs on Web, iOS, Android. Loops runs on Web.
- Can I use Loops for free?
- Yes. Loops has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Attentive starts at On request.
- What is Attentive best used for?
- Attentive is most often used for a direct-to-consumer brand where sms is the primary revenue channel and needs cart abandonment triggered within minutes of a session, a retailer capturing in-store phone numbers at the till and needing tcpa-compliant consent records to go with them, a consumer brand running sms and email from one audience so subscribers are not messaged twice for the same promotion, a high-volume merchant with predictable year-round send patterns that can commit to a quarterly minimum and negotiate rates down against it. Of those, a direct-to-consumer brand where sms is the primary revenue channel and needs cart abandonment triggered within minutes of a session and a retailer capturing in-store phone numbers at the till and needing tcpa-compliant consent records to go with them are not what Loops is typically brought in for.
- What can Attentive do that Loops cannot?
- Attentive covers SMS-first journeys, Two-tap sign-up units, TCPA compliance tooling, Email channel.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Attentive: How much does Attentive cost?
It does not publish rates. Costs are a platform fee plus per message charges set in your order form, with minimum spend commitments commonly around 2,000 to 3,000 USD per quarter.
Loops: Does Loops have a free plan?
Yes, Loops is free to start with no credit card required. The free plan supports up to 1000 subscribed contacts and up to 4000 sends per month, with up to 10 emails per second.
SourceAttentive: What happens if I do not use my minimum?
You are invoiced for the shortfall at the end of the quarter. Unused commitment is not carried forward.
Loops: What are the limitations of Loops' free plan?
The free plan includes all features but is limited to 1000 subscribed contacts and 4000 sends per month. The free plan displays a Powered by Loops footer in emails.
SourceAttentive: How long is the contract?
Typically six to twelve months, billed monthly or quarterly.
Loops: How much do Loops paid plans cost?
Loops paid plans use contact-based pricing, meaning costs scale with the number of subscribed contacts synced to Loops. Exact pricing requires using Loops' pricing calculator based on your subscriber count.
SourceAttentive: Does it do email as well as SMS?
Yes, with shared audiences and journeys, though the product was designed SMS-first and that remains its strength.
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