Mailchimp Pricing 2026
Plans, hidden costs, and alternatives compared
Prices last confirmed on Oct 26, 2026 on mailchimp.com. Same data as Markdown or JSON.
Cite this data: Toolradar, Mailchimp pricing verified Oct 2026, toolradar.com/tools/mailchimp/pricing
Mailchimp starts at $13/month on the Essentials plan.
Verified Oct 2026 from the official pricing page.
Is Mailchimp worth the price?
Mailchimp was once the default email marketing tool for small businesses, and its free tier was legendary.
Not anymore. The Free plan now caps at 250 contacts and 500 emails/month, barely enough to test the platform.
The worst gotcha: ALL contacts count toward your bill, subscribed, unsubscribed, and non-subscribed. You pay for dead contacts unless you manually archive them.
For pure email marketing, cheaper alternatives (Brevo, Mailerlite, ConvertKit) send more emails to more contacts for less money. Mailchimp's advantage is its breadth: email + landing pages + ads + CRM + automations in one platform.
But at Mailchimp's current pricing, that bundling is increasingly hard to justify.
Pricing Plans
Free TrialFree
- Up to 250 contacts
- 500 email sends/month (250/day limit)
- 1 audience
- 1 seat
- Basic email templates
- Abandoned cart automation
- Landing pages
Essentials
$13/month
- Up to 50,000 contacts
- 10x contact limit monthly sends
- 3 audiences
- 3 seats
- Email and chat support 24/7
- A/B testing
- Single email automations and 4-step journeys
- Remove Mailchimp branding
- SMS add-on available
Standard
$20/month
- Up to 100,000 contacts
- 12x contact limit monthly sends
- 5 audiences
- 5 seats
- Advanced segmentation
- Dynamic content
- Custom-coded templates
- Behavioral targeting
- Comparative reporting
- Send-time optimization
- 14-day free trial available
Premium
$350/month
- Up to 200,000+ contacts (custom plans above)
- 15x contact limit monthly sends
- Unlimited audiences and seats
- Multivariate testing
- Predictive segmentation
- Phone and priority support
- Dedicated integration specialist
- Advanced analytics
Hidden Costs & Gotchas
ALL contacts count
subscribed, unsubscribed, non-subscribed, and 'cleaned' contacts all count toward your plan limit. You pay for contacts who unsubscribed last year unless you manually archive them. This inflates costs by 20-40% for most lists
Free plan is a demo
250 contacts and 500 emails/month is enough for about 2 sends to a tiny list. Any real business needs Essentials ($13+/mo) from day one
Monthly email send limits
Essentials gets 10x your contact count (500 contacts = 5,000 emails). Standard gets 12x. Premium gets 15x. Going over requires upgrading or paying overages
Intuit Mailchimp branding on all Free emails
the 'Sent via Mailchimp' footer only disappears on paid plans
Landing pages and ads features sound free but require paid plans for useful functionality: A/B testing, behavioral automations, and advanced analytics are Standard+
Mailchimp charges for contact-based add-ons
Website Builder is included but Transactional Email (Mandrill) is a separate $20/mo + per-email cost on top of your marketing plan
Which Plan Do You Need?
Email templates, A/B testing, basic automations, and 24/7 support. The minimum viable plan since the Free tier is too limited. Skip Free, go straight to Essentials.
Customer journey builder, send time optimization, behavioral targeting, and advanced audience insights. The plan where Mailchimp's automations become competitive.
Unlimited audiences, advanced segmentation, comparative reporting, and phone support. Only makes sense for sophisticated email programs sending to 50K+ contacts.
Overage & Usage Pricing
mandrill
$20/mo base + $0.20-0.80/1K transactional emails
contacts500
Essentials $13/mo, Standard $20/mo
contacts2500
Essentials $45/mo, Standard $60/mo
email Overage
Pay-as-you-go credits for sends beyond monthly limit
contacts10000
Essentials $110/mo, Standard $135/mo
contacts25000
Essentials $270/mo, Standard $310/mo
contacts50000
Essentials $385/mo, Standard $430/mo
monthly Vs Annual
Annual billing saves ~15% on all plans
How Mailchimp compares
4 of 6 direct competitors offer a free plan.
| Tool | Starting price | Free plan |
|---|---|---|
| Mailchimp | $13/month, billing unit not specified | Yes |
| Klaviyo | $20/month, billing unit not specified | Yes |
| ActiveCampaign | $15/month, billing unit not specified | No |
| HubSpot | $7/month, billing unit not specified | Yes |
| beehiiv | $43/month, billing unit not specified | Yes |
| Customer.io | $100/month, billing unit not specified | No |
| ConvertKit | $33/month, billing unit not specified | Yes |
Mailchimp Pricing FAQ
How much does Mailchimp cost?
Mailchimp starts at $13/month on the Essentials plan. It offers 3 paid tiers ranging from $13/month to $350/month. A free plan is also available.
Does Mailchimp have a free plan?
Yes. Mailchimp offers a free plan called "Free". It includes: Up to 250 contacts, 500 email sends/month (250/day limit), 1 audience.
Does Mailchimp offer a free trial?
Yes. Mailchimp offers a free trial.
What is the cheapest Mailchimp paid plan?
The cheapest paid plan for Mailchimp is "Essentials" at $13/month. Key features include: Up to 50,000 contacts, 10x contact limit monthly sends, 3 audiences.
What are alternatives to Mailchimp?
Alternatives to Mailchimp include Klaviyo, ActiveCampaign, HubSpot, beehiiv. Klaviyo starts at $20/month, billing unit not specified; ActiveCampaign starts at $15/month, billing unit not specified; HubSpot starts at $7/month, billing unit not specified.
Mailchimp alternatives
Direct competitors. Starting prices match the table above.
Sources
- Official Mailchimp pricing: mailchimp.com/pricing/ (verified Oct 2026)
- Cite this data: Toolradar, Mailchimp pricing verified Oct 2026, toolradar.com/tools/mailchimp/pricing
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