Mailchimp is the best-known name in email marketing — the platform many try first, and the one its rivals measure themselves against. It pairs email campaigns with a visual automation builder, landing pages, SMS as a paid add-on, and a large ecosystem of integrations.
This review is based on research of official documentation and reliable independent sources — not hands-on testing. We reviewed Mailchimp’s official pricing page and product pages in September 2026 and hedge every claim we couldn’t verify there; where the official pages left gaps, we say so plainly.
— Try Mailchimp free (up to 250 contacts).
Overview
Mailchimp is an all-in-one marketing platform built around email: campaigns, automations (branded as “Customer Journey Builder”), landing pages, popup forms, segmentation, and reporting. It sits in the same category as Brevo, Kit, and ActiveCampaign, but two structural traits define how it feels and costs.
First, pricing is contact-based. You pay for the number of contacts stored in your account, and the price rises as your list grows — including contacts that have unsubscribed, unless you archive them. That makes Mailchimp cheap for small lists and progressively expensive as your audience scales.
Second, the free plan is now narrow. Mailchimp’s free tier covers up to 250 contacts and 500 email sends per month (capped at 250 per day), with one audience, one user, mandatory Mailchimp branding, and no email scheduling. It’s a trial of the editor, not a working plan for a real list.
Key Features
Based on Mailchimp’s official pricing page and product documentation, here’s what the platform offers across its tiers.
Email campaigns. A drag-and-drop email editor with pre-built templates is included on all plans. Custom-coded templates and branded templates unlock on Standard and Premium. Monthly send limits scale with contacts: Essentials allows up to 10× your contact count, Standard up to 12×, and Premium up to 15× (Premium’s plan page cites up to 150,000 emails per month).
Customer Journey Builder. Mailchimp’s visual automation tool uses starting points (signup, purchase, tag added, abandoned cart), branching rules, delays, and actions like sending emails or updating tags. Per the official pricing comparison, the full multi-step builder with up to 200 flows is available on Standard and Premium; Essentials is limited to up to 4 flow steps; the free plan doesn’t include automations at all. Pre-built journey templates (welcome series, abandoned cart, post-purchase) are a Standard-and-up feature.
Segmentation and AI. Predictive segmentation (“likely to purchase” style groups) is gated to Standard and Premium. Generative AI features (Intuit Assist functionality, still in beta at the time we checked) are offered as a no-additional-cost add-on on Standard and Premium. Content Optimizer and Creative Assistant help with copy and design.
Landing pages and forms. Popup forms are included on every plan, including Free. Landing page tools, social ads, and postcard marketing are part of the broader marketing suite on paid tiers.
SMS marketing. SMS is available only as a paid add-on to paid plans, with credits purchased in monthly blocks that expire if unused. MMS is supported on Standard and Premium for US and Canada contacts. Pricing varies by country — check the official page.
Transactional email. Transactional emails (order confirmations, password resets) are handled through a separate transactional email add-on, not included in any base plan.
Integrations. The official pricing page states 300+ integrations are included on all plans, including Free.
Support. Free gets email support for the first 30 days only. Essentials and Standard include 24/7 email and chat support. Premium adds phone and priority support plus a dedicated onboarding specialist.
Pricing
Mailchimp offers four marketing plans — Free, Essentials, Standard, and Premium — plus a Pay As You Go option for infrequent senders who’d rather buy email credits than a recurring charge.
What we could confirm directly on Mailchimp’s official pricing page (September 2026):
- Free: $0/month, up to 250 contacts, 500 email sends per month (250/day cap), 1 audience, 1 user, Mailchimp branding required, no email scheduling, support limited to the first 30 days.
- Essentials: monthly sends up to 10× contact count, 3 seats, 3 audiences, up to 4 automation flow steps.
- Standard: monthly sends up to 12× contact count, 5 seats, 5 audiences, up to 200 automation flows. The official page promotes 15% off the Standard plan for 12 months in some offers.
- Premium: monthly sends up to 15× contact count (up to 150,000 emails/month shown on the page), unlimited seats and audiences, up to 200 flows, phone and priority support.
- Overages: if you exceed your contact or send limit, Mailchimp applies overage charges automatically — the page states campaigns won’t be paused as long as overages are paid on time, and your contact tier may be upgraded automatically during a trial if that becomes the more economical option.
- Trials: Essentials and Standard offer a 14-day free trial; Premium offers a one-month trial by contacting sales.
- Discounts: 15% for nonprofits and charities. Annual plans are available on Premium and Standard 10,000+ contact plans via sales.
- Billing quirk: Mailchimp counts unsubscribed and non-subscribed contacts toward your total unless you archive or delete them — so list hygiene directly affects your bill.
What we couldn’t confirm: the exact dollar prices per contact tier. Mailchimp’s pricing page runs a live calculator (JavaScript), so the static page didn’t expose headline dollar amounts, and third-party sources report conflicting figures. So we won’t quote starting prices here: plans scale by contacts — check the official pricing page for current figures at your list size.
Pros
- The most familiar platform in the category. Enormous template library, 300+ integrations, and widespread how-to content make it easy to learn and to connect to your stack.
- Strong automation on Standard and up. The Customer Journey Builder with up to 200 flows, branching, pre-built journey templates, and predictive segmentation is a serious automation tool — when you pay for the right tier.
- Generous send multiples on paid plans. 10–15× your contact count per month is plenty for most businesses; few senders hit the ceiling.
- All-in-one marketing extras. Landing pages, popup forms, social ads, postcards, and SMS under one roof reduce tool sprawl.
- Free trial on paid plans. 14 days on Essentials and Standard is enough to evaluate the real product.
Cons
- The free plan is very thin. 250 contacts, 500 sends a month, no scheduling, no automation, mandatory branding, and 30 days of support — most real businesses outgrow it in weeks.
- Contact-based billing punishes list growth. You pay more as your list grows regardless of how often you email them, and unsubscribed contacts count until archived.
- Headline prices aren’t visible without the calculator. You can’t quickly budget Mailchimp without interacting with their pricing tool — and overages apply automatically if you exceed limits.
- Key features are gated up. Real automation (multi-step journeys), predictive segmentation, send-time optimization, and transactional email all require Standard or above — or a separate add-on.
- Branding on the free plan. “Remove Mailchimp branding” is not available on Free at all.
Who It’s Best For
- Small businesses with modest lists who email regularly. If you have a few hundred to a few thousand contacts and send weekly, contact-based pricing works in your favor.
- Ecommerce stores on Standard. Abandoned-cart journeys, post-purchase flows, and predictive segmentation make the Standard tier a strong fit for online retail.
- Teams that value a big ecosystem. With 300+ integrations and near-universal name recognition, Mailchimp plugs into almost anything.
Who Should Skip It
- Large, quiet lists. If you have tens of thousands of contacts but email them rarely, contact-based billing works against you — a send-based platform like Brevo is structurally cheaper. See our Brevo vs Mailchimp comparison.
- Budget beginners. The free plan is too limited to run a real newsletter; Brevo’s free tier (300 sends/day) or Kit’s free plan (up to 10,000 subscribers) go much further. See our guide to the best email marketing software.
- Creators and newsletter-first publishers. Mailchimp is built for marketing teams, not individual creators; Kit’s tagging model and monetization tools fit that workflow better. See our Brevo vs Kit comparison for the creator angle.
- Anyone wanting transparent pricing. If you need to budget precisely without a live calculator — and want to avoid automatic overage billing — look elsewhere.
Alternatives
- Brevo — send-based billing (you pay for email volume, not contacts), a genuinely usable free plan, and built-in SMS. Better for large lists emailed infrequently. Read our Brevo review.
- Kit (formerly ConvertKit) — creator-focused, subscriber-based billing with unlimited emails, strong landing pages and forms, and built-in monetization (paid newsletters, digital products). Better for creators.
- ActiveCampaign — automation-first with a built-in CRM, contact-based billing, and a 14-day trial (no permanent free plan). Better for complex automation workflows.
Deliverability Note
Deliverability is mostly about your practices (list quality, authentication, engagement), not the platform — but the platform supplies the tools. Mailchimp includes analytics and segmentation on all plans; advanced deliverability tooling like dedicated sending infrastructure is reserved for higher tiers. If deliverability is a deciding factor, see our email deliverability guide for what actually moves the needle.
Final Verdict
Mailchimp remains the default choice for a reason: capable, deeply integrated, and genuinely strong automation on Standard and up. But the combination of contact-based billing, a thin free plan, and pricing that requires a live calculator to see makes it a weaker value than it used to be — especially for beginners and large-list senders.
Our recommendation: if you’re a small business that emails a small list regularly, Mailchimp on Essentials or Standard is a solid, safe pick. If you have a big list you email rarely, or you’re a creator building a newsletter, competitors like Brevo and Kit likely offer more for less money.
— Try Mailchimp free and compare plans on the official pricing page.
FAQ
Is Mailchimp free?
Mailchimp has a free plan ($0/month) for up to 250 contacts and 500 email sends per month. It’s quite limited — no scheduling, no automation, and mandatory Mailchimp branding — so treat it as a way to explore the platform rather than run a real list.
How does Mailchimp pricing work?
Mailchimp charges by the number of contacts in your account across four plans (Free, Essentials, Standard, Premium), plus overages if you exceed your contact or send limits. Unsubscribed contacts count toward your total unless archived. Exact prices require Mailchimp’s live pricing calculator — check the official pricing page.
Is Mailchimp good for small businesses?
Yes, for small businesses that email small lists regularly. The Essentials and Standard plans cover templates, A/B testing, scheduling, and support. Once your list grows into the tens of thousands, contact-based billing gets expensive — see our Brevo vs Mailchimp comparison for a cheaper alternative at scale.
Does Mailchimp include transactional email?
No. Transactional emails like order confirmations are sold as a separate add-on, not included in any base plan.
Is Mailchimp better than Brevo?
It depends on your profile. Mailchimp is better for small lists emailed often and for its larger integration ecosystem. Brevo is better for large lists emailed rarely, thanks to send-based billing and a far more generous free plan. See our full Brevo vs Mailchimp comparison and our Brevo review for details.
