Mailchimp review
Bottom line
Mailchimp is still the easiest way for a small business to send a good-looking newsletter and run basic automations, and the template, form and landing-page tools are polished. It is no longer the cheap option: contact-based pricing climbs quickly, the free plan is small, and the automation depth on Essentials is thin. Choose it for ease and ecommerce integrations; choose Brevo or MailerLite if price per contact is the priority.
What is Mailchimp?
Mailchimp is an email marketing platform with a drag-and-drop editor, hundreds of templates, audience segmentation and automated journeys. Landing pages, signup forms and basic SMS are included, and it connects to most e-commerce and CRM tools. Pricing is based on contact count, which is the main thing to watch as a list grows.
Who it's for
- Small businesses and nonprofits sending newsletters and promotions to a modest list
- Shopify, WooCommerce and Squarespace stores that want abandoned-cart and product-recommendation emails
- Teams without a designer who need templates and a drag-and-drop editor that just work
Who should look elsewhere
- Lists over ~20,000 contacts, where per-contact pricing gets expensive
- Businesses that need SMS, WhatsApp and transactional email on one bill (Brevo does this)
- Marketers who need multi-branch automation on the lower tiers
Typical uses
- Monthly newsletters with segmentation by purchase history
- Welcome series and abandoned-cart automations for online stores
- Landing pages and signup forms for lead capture
- Postcard and social ad campaigns from the same audience
Key features, tested
Email builder and templates
A drag-and-drop editor with a large template library, brand kit, and generative AI for copy and layouts. Emails render reliably across clients, and the creative assistant produces usable designs for people without a designer.
Automations and Customer Journeys
Essentials covers single-trigger automations (welcome, abandoned cart, re-engagement). Standard unlocks the Customer Journey Builder with branching logic, delays and conditions, which is where Mailchimp becomes a real marketing automation tool.
Audience management and segmentation
Tags, groups and behavioural segments; Standard adds predictive segmentation (likely-to-buy, customer lifetime value) using ecommerce data. One audience per account is the recommended model, which simplifies pricing.
Ecommerce integrations
Native connections to Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce and others pull order data into the audience for product recommendations, purchase-based segments and revenue reporting per campaign.
Forms, landing pages and reporting
Embedded and popup forms, hosted landing pages and a free domain for them. Reporting covers opens, clicks, revenue and comparative benchmarks by industry.
Screenshots
Mailchimp pricing 2026
Free
Up to 500 contacts and 1,000 sends a month with Mailchimp branding.
- 500 contacts
- 1,000 emails/month
- Basic templates
- Forms and landing pages
- Mailchimp branding
Essentials
Removes branding, adds scheduling, A/B testing and 24/7 email support.
- Remove Mailchimp branding
- A/B testing
- Scheduled sends
- Basic automations
- 24/7 email and chat support
Standard
Customer journeys, send-time optimisation, dynamic content and predictive segmentation.
- Customer Journey Builder
- Send-time optimisation
- Dynamic content
- Predictive segmentation
- Generative AI tools
Premium
Advanced segmentation, multivariate testing, phone support and unlimited seats.
- Unlimited seats and roles
- Multivariate testing
- Advanced segmentation
- Phone and priority support
- Dedicated onboarding
What the sticker price leaves out. Prices scale with contact count, and unsubscribed and non-subscribed contacts have historically counted toward the total. Monthly send limits apply per plan (for example 10x contacts on Essentials). Overages are billed automatically. Transactional email (Mailchimp Transactional) is a separate paid product.
Starting price is about average for Email Marketing tools we list (median $13/mo). Prices checked October 31, 2026; confirm on the vendor's pricing page before buying.
Email Marketing feature checklist 8 of 8
The features buyers in this category ask for most, and whether Mailchimp includes them on a plan you can actually buy. Percentages show how many email marketing buyers call each one essential.
Integrations, deployment and support
Integrations
Deployment
- Cloud / SaaS
- iOS app
- Android app
Support
- Email and chat (paid plans)
- Phone (Premium)
- Help center
- Onboarding specialist (Standard+)
Training
- Documentation
- Video tutorials
- Webinars
- Mailchimp Academy
Platforms
- Web
- iOS
- Android
Mailchimp pros and cons
Pros
- Easy editor and a huge template library
- Integrates with almost every e-commerce and CRM platform
- Free plan to get started
Cons
- Costs rise steeply as the contact list grows
- Free plan has become very limited
- Phone support only on the top tier
Mailchimp user reviews
No published reviews yet. Be the first.
Mailchimp alternatives and comparisons
Best for businesses with large lists that want to pay per email, not per contact
$9/mo · free plan
All Mailchimp alternatives · Best email marketing software 2026
Mailchimp FAQ
Is Mailchimp still free?
Yes, but the free plan is limited to 500 contacts and 1,000 sends per month, includes Mailchimp branding and offers email support for the first 30 days only.
How does Mailchimp pricing work?
You pay by plan tier and by the number of contacts in your audience. Each tier has a starting price at 500 contacts (Essentials $13, Standard $20) that rises in bands as your list grows, plus a monthly send cap.
Mailchimp or Brevo?
Mailchimp has the better editor, templates and ecommerce integrations. Brevo is cheaper for large lists because it prices by email volume rather than contacts, and it bundles SMS, WhatsApp, chat and a CRM.
Does Mailchimp integrate with QuickBooks?
Yes. Both are Intuit products, and the native integration syncs QuickBooks customers into a Mailchimp audience for targeted campaigns.
How much does Mailchimp cost?
Mailchimp has a free plan and paid plans start at $13/mo. Plans: Free (Free), Essentials ($13, /mo for 500 contacts), Standard ($20, /mo for 500 contacts), Premium ($350, /mo for 10,000 contacts).
What are the best alternatives to Mailchimp?
In Email Marketing, the closest alternatives we rate are Brevo (85/100). See the full list of Mailchimp alternatives for a side-by-side comparison.
How we reviewed Mailchimp
We score every product on four weighted criteria: ease of use (25%), features (30%), value (25%) and support (20%), from hands-on testing of the plans buyers can actually purchase, the vendor's published pricing and documentation, and verified user reviews. Vendors cannot pay for a higher score or a better rank; paid placements are labelled. This review was last updated on October 31, 2026. Read the full methodology.