Marketing
Mailchimp
Email marketing.
What it is
Mailchimp has evolved from a simple newsletter tool into a complete 'Marketing Automation' giant. Its drag-and-drop editor allows anyone to create professional campaigns. However, its real power lies in automated email sequences triggered by user behavior and advanced audience segmentation. With AI tools like 'Creative Assistant,' it can even auto-generate visuals that match your brand style, ensuring you send the right message to the right person at the right time.
Mailchimp pricing
Mailchimp publishes 4 plans. Paid tiers start at $13/mo, and a free tier is listed alongside them.
| Plan | Price | What the vendor’s page says |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0/mo | Free: 250 contacts, 500 sends/month (250/day), 1 seat |
| Essentials | $13/mo | Essentials from $13/month (0–500 contacts): 10x contacts sends, 3 seats, 14-day trial |
| Standard | $20/mo | Standard from $20/month: 12x sends, 5 seats, 14-day trial |
| Premium | $350/mo | Premium from $350/month: 15x sends, unlimited seats |
Prices read from the vendor's own pricing page on 2026-09-08. Vendors change plans without notice — check the source before you budget. Source Price verification log.
Does Mailchimp work with…
People also compare Mailchimp with…
Key features
Customer Journeys
Intelligent automation maps that change based on your customers' behavior.
Predictive Analytics
Use AI to predict which customers are most likely to purchase again.
Creative Assistant
Get design suggestions that automatically use your brand's colors and logos.
Content Optimizer
Receive text and layout suggestions to improve your email open and click rates.
Strengths and trade-offs
What works well
- Ease of Entry: The most user-friendly interface for starting with email marketing.
- Ready Templates: Includes hundreds of professional designs for every industry.
- AI Support: Benefit from an AI assistant for design and copywriting advice.
- Huge Integration: Speaks directly with Shopify, WordPress, and hundreds of other apps.
Where it falls short
- Price Hikes: Costs rise quite aggressively as your subscriber list grows.
- Advanced Automation: May not be as deep as ActiveCampaign for very complex funnels.
- Free Tier Shrinkage: Sending limits on the free plan have been reduced in recent years.
Who it is for
E-commerce Brands, Bloggers, and Small Marketing Teams.
Pick it or skip it
Pick Mailchimp if
- Very small lists: up to 250 contacts and 500 sends a month on Free with 1 seat
- Small businesses starting on Essentials at $13/month for 500 contacts with 3 seats and 10x sends
- Marketing teams that want templates, automations and reporting in one familiar product
Skip it if
- Your list grows fast — prices step up with contact count, and the listed prices are for 0–500 contacts
- You need more than 5 seats without Premium, which starts at $350/month
- You mainly send transactional email; Mailchimp's marketing plans are priced for campaigns
Our verdict
The go-to choice for those seeking a reliable, stylish, and popular email marketing solution.
Closest alternatives we track
Same category, ordered by verified starting price.
Frequently asked questions
- How much does Mailchimp cost?
- Mailchimp publishes 4 plans: Free at $0/mo, Essentials at $13/mo, Standard at $20/mo, Premium at $350/mo. Every figure is read from the vendor's own pricing page; the pricing section above shows the source sentence for each tier.
- Who is Mailchimp best for?
- E-commerce Brands, Bloggers, and Small Marketing Teams.
- What are the main drawbacks of Mailchimp?
- The trade-offs we noted: Price Hikes: Costs rise quite aggressively as your subscriber list grows.; Advanced Automation: May not be as deep as ActiveCampaign for very complex funnels.; Free Tier Shrinkage: Sending limits on the free plan have been reduced in recent years..
- When should you not use Mailchimp?
- Skip Mailchimp if: Your list grows fast — prices step up with contact count, and the listed prices are for 0–500 contacts; You need more than 5 seats without Premium, which starts at $350/month; You mainly send transactional email; Mailchimp's marketing plans are priced for campaigns.
What we checked
- Public APIOffers a documented API you can build against.Yes
- Mobile appHas a native app for iOS or Android, not just a mobile website.Yes
- Open source / self-hostableSource is open and the tool can be run on your own infrastructure.No
- SSO (SAML)Supports SAML single sign-on on at least one plan.Yes
“Not checked” means exactly that — we have not verified it, and we do not guess.
Evidence and freshness
Status: Vendor pricing page verifiedReviewed: 2026-09-08
- Mailchimp — Marketing pricing ↗
Checked 2026-09-08 · Supports: Free: 250 contacts, 500 sends/month (250/day), 1 seat, Essentials from $13/month (0–500 contacts): 10x contacts sends, 3 seats, 14-day trial, Standard from $20/month: 12x sends, 5 seats, 14-day trial, Premium from $350/month: 15x sends, unlimited seats, 15% discount for 12 months on 10,000+ contacts
Limit: Vendor pricing page was reviewed by an editor on this date; this record is not a ToolCompare benchmark. Prices and limits change.
Compare Mailchimp with alternatives
Tools that do the same job as Mailchimp
Same job, different pricing. Verified starting price first.
More Marketing tools: see the full Marketing category
Work at Mailchimp? Embed the verified-pricing badge
We read this pricing from Mailchimp’s own pricing page on 2026-09-08. The badge says that and nothing more: no rating, no payment. How the badge works
HTML
<a href="https://toolcompare.net/tools/mailchimp" title="Mailchimp pricing on ToolCompare"><img src="https://toolcompare.net/api/badge/mailchimp" alt="Mailchimp pricing verified by ToolCompare" width="291" height="28"></a>Markdown (README, docs)
[](https://toolcompare.net/tools/mailchimp)