Thrive Leads vs. Bloom

Before we dig deeper into the more specific features of the two plugins, read the general comparison.

Thrive Leads offers more than twice as many opt-in form types as Bloom. But does it really matter?

For really badass marketing and conversion, it does.

Here are some of the highlights:​

Two-Step Opt-In

With the two-step opt-in form feature, called ThriveBox, you can add a lightbox to an image, a piece of text or a button.

This way the lightbox only appears after clicking on the element, which allows to add opt-in forms without cluttering your website. You're asking for a micro-commitment (a click) before showing the opt-in form. This results in better conversion rate.​ Read more about ThriveBox here. 

Multiple States

Thrive Leads lets you add multiple states to the same opt-in form.

For example, the first state contains a question or statement with a button that leads you to the next state with the subscribe form. Or, multiple buttons that take you to different opt-in forms without redirect to a new page.

This way your visitors can segment themselves by clicking on the button they are most interested in, so they will only be shown the related sign-up form.

The multiple states option also allows you to display the thank you message on the last state of the form.

When you use a thank you state, you don't have to redirect your visitors to another page after they signed up, so they can get back to what they were doing before the opt-in form appeared. More about multiple choice opt-in forms here. 

Yes/No Form Type

With the Yes/No Form type, you can set up a form that has a message and two buttons - one that agrees with the message and leads to a subscribe form, and one that refuses it. Clicking that button closes the form with no further action.

This is part of the multiple states feature.

PHP Insert

If you're more of a developer-minded user, you can insert the PHP shortcode of the opt-in forms anywhere on you website. 

This gives you full flexibility to place the form literally wherever you like.

The primary goal of an opt-in form is to convert more website visitors into leads and customers and the more conversion optimized the form, the higher the conversion rate going to be.

Bloom can't be purchased individually, only as part of the Elegant Themes package. Because of this, we're comparing with the full Thrive Themes membership suite.

Both packages give you access to all the plugins and themes - not only to the existing ones, but also to those that will only be released in the future. 

​Elegant Themes is a better option if you're trying to trim cost, although the package offers less: a content builder, a list building plugin, a social media tool and premium themes.

Thrive Themes on the other hand has 8 plugin​s at the moment. On top of what the Elegant Themes package has to offer, you also get plugins to build quizzes, capture and display testimonials, optimize your headlines, organize your widgets and add evergreen scarcity and limited time offers as well.

​Thrive Leads can be purchased separately (starting at $67 for 1 license), therefore you don't need to purchase a whole suite of themes and different plugins if all you need is a list building tool.

How much flexibility do Bloom and Thrive Leads give you when it comes to building the forms, setting up the targeting precisely, and customizing the way you want to display the opt-ins?

Below you can find a list of all the trigger and targeting options that Bloom and Thrive Leads offers.

At first glance, both plugins seem powerful. How do they compare if we dig even deeper and have a look at the more advanced features?

Looking at the table above, Thrive Leads has more advanced features.

Although Thrive Leads integrates with more email marketing services, Bloom can also be connected to the more advanced tools. What really sets Thrive Leads apart is the integration with other services, like social media accounts, webinars or email delivery services. 

We detailed some of the listed features in case you're unsure what you can use them for:

Asset Delivery

The asset delivery feature allows you to automatically send download links to your subscribers.

This way you can associate one or more downloadable files with your opt-in form and deliver them to the new lead without having to set up multiple thank you pages. More information here. 

SmartLinks

SmartLinks allows you to hide your opt-in forms for subscribers or even to show a different call to action. This comes in handy when you're sending your list a link to a post or page.

With SmartLinks, when your subscribers click on the link, they won't see the opt-in forms that would normally be there, but the 'already subscribed' state of the form, or nothing at all! Learn more about this here. 

Signup Segue / One Click Signup

When you need your existing subscribers to sign up again e.g. to a webinar, you don't need to send them through an opt-in form again.

Instead, with Signup Segue, your leads can simply click on a link and it registers them straight away.

Saving few unnecessary steps for your leads can increase your conversion rate significantly. Learn more about this feature here. 

SmartExit+

​SmartExit+ is an exit intent trigger that only appears if the user leaves your site before your other trigger (e.g. show the form after 10 seconds) couldn't take action yet. More information about this feature here.

Keep Track Of Your Subscribers

​Bloom's unique feature shows you the number of subscribers on your mailing list right on the Bloom dashboard without having to log in to your autoresponder, which can save you some time.

Besides, you can see how many new subscribers you got on your mailing list in a week. Bloom allows you to keep track of as many mailing lists as you want.