M
Marcus T.
Marketing Manager · 11–50 employees
Jul 23, 2026
Good start, pricey finish
Great for launching quickly, but the bill kept climbing as the list grew.
Pros
Familiar, polished
Cons
Pricing model
Verified via Business email
Email Marketing Software
Mailchimp
All-in-one marketing platform
3.9 editor score4.0(1)0% recommend
Top Rated· 2026
From $13/moFree planCloud / SaaS · iOS & Android appsSince 2001
See it in action
How to Integrate Canva with Mailchimp for Email Design
Published by Intuit Mailchimp on YouTube · loads only when you press play
Our verdict
Editor score
3.9
Mailchimp is a competent, polished, well-integrated marketing platform that most people should still stop using once their list crosses a few thousand contacts. Nothing about the product is bad. The problem is what it costs relative to what you get at scale, and how much of the good material sits behind the Standard tier.
Where it wins. The template library and campaign editor are the most refined in the category — you can produce a genuinely handsome email without a designer. The integration surface is enormous; if you run Shopify, WooCommerce, Squarespace, or almost any CMS, a Mailchimp connector already exists and is maintained. The marketing CRM, landing pages, and social posting mean a very small business can run its whole funnel here without buying anything else.
Where it falls short. Pricing is charged on contacts including unsubscribed and non-subscribed profiles unless you actively prune, and it escalates steeply. Audiences are still fundamentally list-shaped, so the same person on two audiences is two contacts you pay for twice. The customer journey builder — the reason most people upgrade — is gated to Standard. Support quality on lower tiers is inconsistent, and deliverability, while acceptable, trails the specialists.
Our call. A reasonable first platform and a poor tenth one. If you are under 500 contacts the free plan is fine; if you are over 5,000 and sending seriously, price out ConvertKit or GetResponse before you renew.
Best for
Small businesses and retailers who want email, landing pages, and a light CRM in one polished suite and do not yet have a large list.
Key takeaways
- 1The most polished template and campaign editor in the category
- 2Free plan covers 500 contacts; paid starts around $13/mo
- 3Billed on total contacts, including ones who never opted in
- 4Customer journey builder is locked to the Standard tier and above
- 5Unmatched integration ecosystem across e-commerce and CMS platforms
- 6Cost per subscriber becomes uncompetitive above roughly 5,000 contacts
Mailchimp is still the name most people reach for first, and for a small business sending a monthly newsletter it remains a perfectly good answer. What has changed is the value equation: since the Intuit acquisition the useful features have drifted upward into Standard and Premium while the contact-based pricing keeps climbing, so the platform is at its most attractive at the start of a list and least attractive once that list is worth something.
What we like
- Best-in-class template library and editor
- Enormous, well-maintained integration ecosystem
- Marketing CRM, landing pages, and social in one place
- Reporting and benchmarking against industry averages
- Familiar enough that new hires need no training
Worth noting
- Gets expensive fast as the contact count grows
- Pays per contact even for unsubscribed profiles
- Journey builder gated behind Standard
- Support quality varies sharply by tier
Plans
Pricing
Free
Free
- Up to 500 contacts
- 1 audience
- Basic email templates
- Marketing CRM
- Creative Assistant
- Mailchimp branding on emails
Most popular
Essentials
$13 /mo
per month, from
- Everything in Free
- All email templates
- A/B testing
- Custom branding removed
- 24/7 email & chat support
- Basic automated sequences
Standard
$20 /mo
per month, from
- Everything in Essentials
- Customer Journey builder
- Send-time optimisation
- Behavioural targeting
- Predictive segmentation
- Custom-coded templates
Pricing verified Aug 13, 2026. Prices shown are billed annually where available and may change — always confirm on the vendor site.
Capabilities
Features
Automation
- Autoresponder sequences
- Behavioural triggersStandard and up
- Visual automation builderCustomer Journey builder — Standard and up
Audience
- Built-in CRMMarketing CRM on all plans
- Lead scoringContact rating, Standard and up
- Subscriber deduplicationThe same person on two audiences bills twice
- Tag-based segmentationTags exist, but audiences remain list-shaped
Content
- Drag-and-drop email editorThe most refined editor in the category
- Landing pages
- Signup forms & pop-ups
- Template libraryLargest and best-designed library available
Optimisation
- A/B testingEssentials and up; multivariate on Premium
- Send-time optimisationStandard and up
Channels
- SMS marketingPaid add-on, limited regions
- Social media posting
Monetisation
- Abandoned cart recoveryStandard and up, with a connected store
- Sell digital productsRequires a connected store
Analytics
- Revenue attributionWith e-commerce integration
Platform
- API access
- Zapier / no-code integrationsLargest integration catalogue in the category
From real users
Reviews
4.0
Based on 1 verified review
0%
would recommend
Ease of use
4.5
Features
4.0
Support
3.5
Value for money
3.5
5 ★
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Good to know
Frequently asked questions
Is Mailchimp still free?＋
Yes, up to 500 contacts with a monthly send limit and Mailchimp branding on your emails. It is enough to validate an idea but tight for an active newsletter — most people cross the threshold within a few months of real list building.
Why does my Mailchimp bill keep going up?＋
Mailchimp bills on total contacts in your audience, which by default includes unsubscribed and non-subscribed profiles. Archiving inactive contacts is the single most effective way to lower the bill, and it is not something the platform prompts you to do.
What is the difference between Essentials, Standard, and Premium?＋
Essentials adds all templates, A/B testing, and 24/7 support. Standard adds the customer journey builder, send-time optimisation, and behavioural targeting — this is the tier most people actually need. Premium adds advanced segmentation, multivariate testing, and phone support.
Does Mailchimp work well with Shopify and WooCommerce?＋
Yes. Both have maintained integrations that sync customers and orders and unlock abandoned-cart and product-retargeting automations. The Shopify relationship lapsed for several years and has since been restored, so older articles claiming otherwise are out of date.
How is Mailchimp's deliverability?＋
Acceptable but not leading. Shared sending infrastructure across a very large and mixed customer base means your reputation is partly influenced by other senders. Specialists like ConvertKit and Klaviyo measure better in like-for-like tests.
When should I leave Mailchimp?＋
When your contact count passes roughly 5,000 and email is a real revenue channel. At that point the per-contact cost, the list-based data model, and the deliverability gap all start to matter more than the polish of the editor.
Mailchimp
★ 4.0 · From $13/mo