Why does every email tool still mess up plain text versions in 2025?

I was testing a campaign last week for a client in Denver, and Mailchimp auto generated a plain text version that had all the links still in HTML brackets. Looked like garbage on mobile. Spent 30 minutes manually cleaning it up. How are these big platforms still getting something so basic wrong? Anybody else just skip plain text and hope for the best?

2 comments

2 Comments

sarah8185d agoMost Upvoted

Skip the plain text option altogether and just HOPE the HTML renders ok, that's my strategy now. These companies brag about AI features but can't even strip brackets out of a link. Makes me wonder if anyone at these platforms actually sends emails themselves.

fiona9854d ago

Wait, you actually send emails with just the HTML and no plain text fallback? That's wild to me, I feel like half my emails go to spam or just glitch out on someone's old phone. Braver than me, I always worry the whole thing will show up as a broken mess of code on someone's screen.