Following the launch of MailPoet 3 in September 2017, work on the previous MailPoet 2 plugin has been limited to security updates and maintenance of the cron service (used for scheduling email sending). But the time has now come to say goodbye to our old friend, and on July 31, 2022, we will be discontinuing the MailPoet 2 service completely.
This means that the cron service will be retired (which may result in emails being unable to be sent in a timely manner), licenses will no longer be available to purchase or renew, security updates will cease, and no customer support will be made available for this service.
All MailPoet 2 users are encouraged to migrate to MailPoet 3 at their earliest convenience – take a look at our MailPoet 2 to MailPoet 3 migration guide for full details on how to do this.
What does this mean for MailPoet 2 license holders?
If you’re a MailPoet 2 user, you should’ve received an email from us explaining the next steps. If you haven’t seen the email, or if you need further assistance, please reach out to our support team.
Existing license holders have a few options:
- Migrate over to the MailPoet 3 service by requesting customer support credit any remaining MailPoet 2 license time towards purchasing a MailPoet 3 plan
- Continue using MailPoet 2 for the remaining duration of your existing license, with the understanding that as of July 31, 2022, email sending could be interrupted and no support will be available (see the next section of this post for more information)
- Cease using MailPoet’s services altogether, and request a refund for any remaining time left on your existing MailPoet 2 license.
If you decide to move to MailPoet 3, we strongly recommend starting the migration process as soon as possible in order to avoid any disruption to your email service. Our friendly support team is also on hand to assist with this if you do happen to require any help.
How does MailPoet 3 differ from MailPoet 2?
We’ve put together a comparison table detailing the full feature list of each plugin so that you can see exactly what the differences are.
In a nutshell, you can expect a modern and more powerful email marketing solution. Key features include a drag-and-drop email builder, powerful list segmentation options, a Gutenberg-powered form editor, pre-designed email and form templates, WooCommerce-specific functionality, and, of course, the MailPoet Sending Service.
You can find the minimum and recommended requirements for using MailPoet 3 in this Knowledge Base article.
What will happen if I continue using MailPoet 2 after July 31, 2022?
As there will no longer be any support, maintenance, updates, or cron service to make sure that MailPoet 2 is functioning properly and securely, we strongly recommend users migrate to MailPoet 3. MailPoet 3 is being actively improved upon and supported, and offers a far superior experience.
However, if you were to continue using MailPoet 2 after its retirement date of July 31, 2022, you have the following three options to send emails following the shut down of the cron service:
- Hit ‘Send’ manually on all of your email campaigns – the ‘Schedule’ function will no longer work, meaning any automated emails you have set up will no longer be sent automatically.
- If your website receives a consistently high volume of traffic (we suggest ~1,000 visits per day for minimal interference) WP-Cron will trigger the sending of your scheduled emails. However, as the success of this method relies on there being visitors on your website at the time your emails are scheduled to send, sending cannot be guaranteed.
- You set up your own cron service using these instructions.
While it is still possible to use MailPoet 2 using one of these options, we do not recommend doing so. Using an unsupported and out-of-date plugin can pose a security risk, and in the long term, could cause a number of problems with the functionality of your website.
If you have any questions or concerns about the retirement of MailPoet 2, please contact our Support team who will be happy to assist you.