The Best Exit Intent Popup Plugins for WordPress

Find the best exit intent popup plugins for your site based on your goals. Exit-intent popup plugins for WordPress are plentiful but not equal when trying to grow your email subscribers.

A few months ago, I went on the hunt for an exit-intent popup. Across mine and clients’ sites, I have tested a few for you. With Google’s announcement on intrusive interstitials, they have advised to remove popups on mobile.

Yes, it turns out Google hates popups on mobile just as much you do! And yes, you can still grow email subscribers without using popups.

My Criteria for the Best Exit Intent Popup Plugins

1. Integration with MailChimp, ConvertKit, and other primary ESPs for bloggers (I use three different programs across my sites).
2. I prefer two-step popup actions (note and sign up + thank you or redirect).
3. Flawless integration / easy setup / no PITA qualities or major conflicts with core plugins.
4. Analytics (with and without using Google goal conversions).
5. Affordable (obviously subjective, so I had multiple clients weigh in on the pricing component).

The 5 premium exit-intent programs I tested were: MailMunch, Ninja Popups, Optin Monster (I run this on one of my sites), PopupAlly PRO, and SumoMe. This is hardly an exhaustive list of the premium exit-intent popup options, however, I narrowed it down based on the above criteria before testing.

There are affiliate links in this article, which could mean I may receive a commission if you purchase something. To read more about boring, yet legally-compliant policies, see my full disclosure here.

Overall Recommendation: Best Exit-Intent Plugin

Ninja Popups ($25 one-time!)

Hands down, Ninja Popups was one of the best exit intent popup plugins I tested which met all of my criteria (and more). It was very easy to implement, the support was FANTASTIC, and the interface is very easy to use. There is even a $6 add-on you can purchase to get inline embedded forms, static bars, and other lead-building options.

I created a fully customized, two-step exit-intent popup in about 25 minutes. This popup is growing my ND Consulting email list and allows me to give a gift IMMEDIATELY to new subscribers. That is brilliant for building a relationship with a new subscriber, even if they don’t act on the offer!

Ninja Popups also provides analytics right in the WordPress dashboard for EACH popup you create. You can narrow it down by date like I’ve here (a 2 week period I was testing a new optin on a single page). This data is critical when you’re testing – it helped me take my conversion rate from 8.5% to 14%.

Design-Friendly Recommendation

PopupAlly PRO ($99): The customization is robust, as is the testing and upgradable webinar popup feature (additional cost). Many clients believe it is worth the price and should rank on the list of the best exit-intent popup plugins. If you fall in love with the interface (and you might), it’s a solid investment. The support team is amazing.

The embedded sign up form is something most of my clients crave and this makes it easy to implement without hiring someone to code it in.

Feature-Rich Recommendation

Optin Monster ($348/year): I do like this plugin but… A blogger is looking at hundreds per year in order to run exit-intent (and all the other fabulous features). Most of my clients, even those who understand the importance of building a list, do not want to spend that.

MailMunch ($160/year): This one doesn’t have as much customization as some other options out there, which is one of the reasons it didn’t win as one of the best intent plugins. What it does have is a suite of features that help with lead generation and capture. The price more than doubles to get the full feature set (silver to gold).

SumoMe’s List Builder ($348-$1,428/year): I have some clients who pay for some of SumoMe’s tools and their feedback has generally been good. After using the free version and trials, however, I can’t say it is worth the price.

How to Grow Email Subscribers on Mobile

Exit-intent plugins are amazing for converting, however, you cannot forget that even the best exit-intent plugins do NOT work on mobile.

Create an inline, embedded form to capture subscribers from your mobile traffic without penalties or popups. I had it done for $15 from Fiverr and it works perfectly. Inline, embedded forms adapt to mobile, tablets, and desktops easily and automatically. This is going to be some of the BEST money you spend on your site, especially if your traffic is primarily or significantly mobile!

My recommendation is not to rely on a plugin for inline embedded forms.

Summary

Depending on your goals and preferences, my recommendations for the best exit intent popup plugins for WordPress are PopupAlly, OptinMonster, and my favorite, Ninja Popups.

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