Mailchimp

Mailchimp Review 2026: Pricing, Features, Automation, Pros and Cons

Mailchimp is one of the best-known email marketing platforms, but the product has expanded considerably beyond newsletters.

Today, Intuit Mailchimp combines email marketing, audience management, segmentation, marketing automation, SMS, forms, landing pages, ecommerce integrations, analytics, AI-assisted content, and transactional messaging.

Mailchimp was founded in Atlanta in 2001 by Ben Chestnut and Dan Kurzius and was acquired by Intuit in 2021.

For small businesses, its main attraction remains accessibility. A business can start with a free account, collect subscribers, design emails, send campaigns, and later move into automation, ecommerce, SMS, segmentation, and more sophisticated customer journeys.

The trade-off is pricing complexity.

Mailchimp charges according to both plan type and contact tier, and several of its strongest automation and personalization capabilities require Standard or Premium.

Mailchimp Pricing in 2026

Mailchimp currently caps the Free plan at 250 contacts with 500 monthly sends and a daily limit of 250 sends. Essentials can scale to 50,000 contacts, Standard to 100,000, and Premium to 200,000 before custom pricing is needed

Mailchimp currently offers four primary Marketing plans: Free, Essentials, Standard, and Premium.

Mailchimp Free

$0/month

The current Free plan includes:

• up to 250 contacts
• up to 500 email sends per month
• maximum 250 sends per day
• 1 audience
• 1 user seat
• limited templates
• basic reporting
• forms
• landing pages

The Free plan can work for testing Mailchimp or running a very small mailing list.

However, it is considerably more restricted than Mailchimp’s historical free offering.

If the account exceeds 250 contacts, Mailchimp places email sending on hold until the user upgrades or reduces the active contact count.

Mailchimp Essentials

Starts at $13/month for up to 500 contacts

Essentials is designed for businesses that send email regularly but do not need Mailchimp’s full automation and segmentation toolkit.

Current features include:

• up to 50,000 contacts
• monthly send limit equal to 10 times the contact limit
• 3 audiences
• 3 user seats
• all Mailchimp email templates
• scheduled emails
• A/B testing
• single-email automations
• automation flows with up to 4 steps
• SMS Marketing add-on
• 24/7 email and chat support

For a smaller newsletter or basic email marketing program, Essentials is often sufficient.

The main limitation is automation depth.

The four-step automation-flow limit can become restrictive once a business starts creating more sophisticated customer journeys.

Mailchimp Standard

Starts at $20/month for up to 500 contacts

Standard is the plan where Mailchimp becomes significantly more capable as a marketing automation platform.

Current Standard features include:

• up to 100,000 contacts
• monthly send limit equal to 12 times the contact limit
• 5 audiences
• 5 user seats
• expanded automation flows
• up to 200 flow steps
• advanced segmentation
• pre-built segments
• predictive segmentation
• behavioral targeting
• custom-coded email templates
• multivariate testing
• custom reports
• personalized onboarding
• SMS Marketing add-on
• 24/7 email and chat support

Standard is the plan we would shortlist for a growing ecommerce or marketing team that wants Mailchimp for more than basic newsletters.

Mailchimp Premium

Starts at $350/month for 10,000 contacts

Premium is intended for larger audiences and teams.

Current Premium limits include:

• base tier of 10,000 contacts
• up to 200,000 contacts on published plans
• 15x contact-limit monthly email sends
• unlimited audiences
• unlimited user seats
• extended onboarding
• priority support
• phone support
• screen-sharing support
• advanced permissions and team functionality

Organizations with more than 200,000 contacts can request custom pricing.

Premium is substantially more expensive than Standard, so it generally makes sense only when the larger contact capacity, team access, advanced support, and enterprise-oriented features justify the price.

Mailchimp Pricing Can Be More Complicated Than It Looks

Mailchimp pricing depends on stored contacts as well as sending volume.

Subscribed, unsubscribed and non-subscribed contacts can count toward the account’s contact limit.

Archived, cleaned and deleted contacts do not count.

If an account exceeds its selected contact or send limit, Mailchimp may charge for additional contact blocks.

This is important because a business can potentially pay for contacts that are not currently subscribed to marketing.

Regular list maintenance and archiving inactive contacts can therefore directly affect Mailchimp cost.

Mailchimp also offers Pay As You Go credits for businesses that send emails infrequently.

Pay As You Go currently provides features similar to Essentials, and unused credits expire after 12 months.

Email Builder and Templates

Mailchimp currently supports two email-building environments: the newer Email Builder and a legacy builder for existing eligible accounts.

The new Email Builder is now the default for most users.

It provides drag-and-drop content blocks for:

• text
• images
• videos
• buttons
• social links
• products
• product recommendations
• discounts
• payments
• surveys
• apps
• custom code
• layouts

Mailchimp says the newer builder provides more than 250 templates, while its legacy builder provides roughly 100.

The new builder is available for normal email campaigns, automation-flow emails, Campaign Manager touchpoints, A/B tests, and multivariate campaigns.

For most non-technical users, Mailchimp’s Email Builder remains one of the stronger reasons to consider the platform.

Marketing Automation Flows

Mailchimp’s modern automation system uses visual Marketing Automation Flows.

A flow can combine triggers, rules and actions to create multi-step customer journeys.

Current triggers include:

• email signup
• tag added
• audience-group changes
• contact-field changes
• page views
• link clicks
• email opens
• email-link activity
• birthdays
• dates
• ecommerce activity
• API events
• Zapier events
• review events
• SMS signup
• SMS keywords

Actions and rules can include:

• send email
• send SMS
• apply tags
• update contact
• unsubscribe contact
• webhooks
• time delays
• conditional splits
• percentage splits
• wait-for-trigger rules

Essentials supports automation flows with up to four steps.

Standard and higher plans support substantially more sophisticated flows, including up to 200 steps and multiple triggers.

This is one of the biggest differences between Essentials and Standard.

Ecommerce Automation

Mailchimp has developed a particularly strong ecommerce use case.

Businesses can connect ecommerce stores and use customer activity to trigger campaigns and automation.

Common workflows include:

• abandoned-cart reminders
• welcome series
• post-purchase messages
• customer win-back
• product recommendations
• VIP customer flows
• purchase follow-ups
• customer segmentation

Mailchimp currently integrates directly with Shopify and can use Shopify customer and purchase data inside marketing automation.

This makes Standard particularly relevant to ecommerce brands that want customer behavior to drive email automation.

Segmentation

Segmentation helps marketers avoid sending the same campaign to every contact.

Mailchimp can create segments based on:

• audience fields
• tags
• engagement
• ecommerce activity
• customer behavior
• interests
• integrations

Free and Essentials users can build segments with up to 10 conditions and simpler AND/OR logic.

Standard and Premium users gain the advanced segment builder with unlimited conditions and nested AND/OR logic.

Mailchimp also provides predictive and pre-built segments on higher plans.

A/B and Multivariate Testing

Mailchimp supports A/B testing from Essentials upward.

Users can test variables such as:

• subject line
• From name
• content
• send time

Mailchimp can test up to three variations in a standard A/B test.

Standard and higher plans provide multivariate testing for more complex experiments. Mailchimp currently supports up to eight variations in a multivariate campaign.

For teams sending enough volume to generate meaningful test results, this can be a useful optimization feature.

AI Features

Mailchimp increasingly uses AI across campaign creation, automation, segmentation and content workflows.

Current AI-related capabilities include:

• generative content assistance
• automation templates
• predictive segmentation
• behavioral targeting
• brand-aware content tools
• data-backed recommendations

Mailchimp is also deeply integrated into Intuit’s wider small-business ecosystem.

We would treat AI as a productivity feature rather than a reason by itself to choose Mailchimp.

The fundamentals still matter more: list management, automation, pricing, integrations and reporting.

SMS Marketing

Mailchimp also supports SMS marketing as a paid add-on for Essentials and higher plans.

SMS currently supports selected countries including the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, multiple European markets and Australia.

Businesses need to register their SMS program and purchase SMS credits.

In the United States and Canada, MMS requires Standard or Premium.

SMS actions can also be inserted into supported automation flows.

This allows marketers to combine email and SMS inside the same customer journey rather than operating the channels entirely separately.

Mailchimp Transactional

Mailchimp also provides transactional messaging for application-generated messages such as:

• password resets
• order confirmations
• payment confirmations
• shipping updates
• appointment reminders
• account notifications

The service was historically called Mandrill.

In 2025, Mailchimp renamed it Mailchimp Transactional to bring transactional messaging more clearly under the main Mailchimp brand.

Transactional Email is currently an add-on for Standard and Premium marketing plans.

Pricing uses blocks of 25,000 messages.

Current transactional email pricing begins at $20 per 25,000-email block, with lower per-block pricing at higher volume.

A dedicated IP currently costs an additional $29.95 per month.

New users can test transactional email with up to 500 sends to a verified domain.

This makes Mailchimp considerably broader than a pure newsletter service.

Deliverability and Domain Authentication

Mailchimp provides domain-authentication tools to help businesses configure legitimate sending infrastructure.

The current Mailchimp authentication process uses:

• DKIM
• DMARC

Mailchimp documentation currently instructs users to configure two CNAME records for DKIM and one TXT record for DMARC when authenticating a sending domain.

Mailchimp also supports automated authentication through Entri for compatible DNS providers.

Mailchimp publishes an average email delivery rate above 99%, but this is a vendor-level metric.

HowToBuySaaS has not independently benchmarked Mailchimp inbox placement against Mailjet, MailerLite, GetResponse and other email platforms, so we would not treat that number as an independent HTBS deliverability score.

Actual inbox placement also depends on sender reputation, authentication, list quality, engagement and campaign behavior.

Reporting and Analytics

Mailchimp provides reporting across campaigns and audience activity.

Depending on the plan, marketers can review metrics such as:

• sends
• deliveries
• opens
• clicks
• unsubscribes
• ecommerce activity
• automation performance
• audience growth
• campaign comparisons

Standard adds more customizable reporting and analytics capabilities.

Ecommerce integrations can also connect email performance with customer and purchase data.

Integrations

Mailchimp has one of the larger integration ecosystems among mainstream email-marketing platforms.

Current integrations include popular products such as:

• Shopify
• WooCommerce
• Canva
• Zapier
• Square
• Wix
• Squarespace
• Stripe
• Salesforce
• WordPress
• Facebook
• LinkedIn

Mailchimp currently promotes more than 300 integrations across its ecosystem.

For small businesses already using several SaaS tools, this breadth can reduce integration friction.

Customer Support

Support depends heavily on plan level.

Free

New Free accounts currently receive email support for the first 30 days.

After that, users rely mainly on Mailchimp Assistant and the help center.

Essentials and Standard

Both include 24/7 email and live-chat support.

Premium

Premium adds:

• priority support
• phone support
• screen-sharing assistance
• extended onboarding

This makes Mailchimp’s support structure comparatively strong at higher tiers, but Free users should not expect ongoing human email support.

Who Should Use Mailchimp?

Small Businesses

Mailchimp provides an accessible entry point for businesses starting with a small email list.

Ecommerce Brands

Shopify integration, segmentation, purchase data and automation make Mailchimp relevant to ecommerce lifecycle marketing.

Marketing Teams

Standard provides deeper automation, testing, segmentation, reporting and collaboration.

Creators and Newsletter Senders

Mailchimp remains useful for conventional newsletter workflows, though creators should compare pricing carefully as their audience grows.

Businesses Wanting Email and SMS Together

The SMS add-on and automation-flow integration can reduce the need to manage channels independently.

Businesses Needing Transactional Email

Mailchimp Transactional gives SaaS and ecommerce businesses a way to manage application email alongside marketing campaigns.

Mailchimp Pros

• Permanent Free plan
• Mature and easy-to-use email builder
• 250+ templates in the newer builder
• Strong audience-management tools
• A/B testing from Essentials
• Advanced automation on Standard
• Powerful segmentation
• Ecommerce automation
• Shopify integration
• SMS marketing add-on
• Transactional email add-on
• AI-assisted marketing features
• 300+ integrations
• Landing pages and forms
• 24/7 email and chat support on paid plans
• Phone support on Premium
• Large ecosystem and knowledge base

Mailchimp Cons

• Free plan now limited to only 250 contacts
• Free plan allows only 500 monthly sends
• Pricing rises as stored contact count grows
• Unsubscribed and non-subscribed contacts can still count toward billing
• Additional charges can apply when contact or send limits are exceeded
• Automation depth is limited on Essentials
• Standard is required for many advanced segmentation and automation features
• Premium starts at a high price
• Transactional email costs extra
• SMS costs extra
• Phone support requires Premium
• Pricing structure can become difficult to compare at larger audience sizes

Mailchimp vs Mailjet

Mailchimp is the broader marketing platform.

It provides deeper audience management, ecommerce workflows, segmentation, AI features, SMS and a larger integration ecosystem.

Mailjet has a stronger developer-first story at lower tiers because SMTP relay, APIs and transactional sending are central to its positioning.

Businesses focused primarily on marketing automation may prefer Mailchimp.

Businesses that need marketing email and transactional infrastructure tightly connected from the beginning should compare Mailjet carefully.

Mailchimp vs MailerLite

MailerLite generally emphasizes simplicity, newsletters, landing pages and accessible automation.

Mailchimp has a larger ecosystem and broader marketing feature set.

MailerLite may be more attractive to creators and smaller teams seeking simpler pricing.

Mailchimp becomes more compelling when advanced segmentation, ecommerce data, testing, SMS and a large integration ecosystem matter.

Mailchimp vs GetResponse

Both platforms provide email marketing and automation.

GetResponse additionally emphasizes webinars, funnels and broader lead-generation functionality.

Mailchimp has stronger brand recognition, a large integration ecosystem and deep ecommerce positioning.

The right choice depends on whether the organization wants an email-led marketing platform or a broader funnel and webinar stack.

Is Mailchimp Worth It in 2026?

Mailchimp remains one of the strongest general-purpose email marketing platforms for small and mid-sized businesses.

Its biggest advantages are ease of use, mature campaign creation, segmentation, ecommerce integrations, marketing automation and the ability to expand into SMS and transactional messaging.

The Free plan is useful for testing but is now too limited for many growing businesses because it supports only 250 contacts and 500 monthly sends.

Essentials is suitable for relatively straightforward email programs.

Standard is where Mailchimp becomes much more compelling because it unlocks deeper automation, advanced segmentation, multivariate testing, behavioral targeting and more sophisticated ecommerce marketing.

The main drawback is cost predictability.

Pricing rises with stored contacts, and unsubscribed or non-subscribed contacts can still count toward billing unless they are archived or removed.

For businesses that regularly maintain their audiences and genuinely use Mailchimp’s automation, ecommerce and segmentation capabilities, Standard can provide substantial value.

For simple newsletter sending, however, businesses should compare less complex alternatives before committing to Mailchimp’s higher contact tiers.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Mailchimp free?

Yes. Mailchimp currently offers a permanent Free plan supporting up to 250 contacts and 500 email sends per month, with a daily limit of 250 sends.

How much does Mailchimp cost?

Essentials currently starts at $13 per month for up to 500 contacts. Standard starts at $20 per month for up to 500 contacts, while Premium starts at $350 per month for 10,000 contacts.

Does Mailchimp charge for unsubscribed contacts?

Unsubscribed and non-subscribed contacts can count toward Mailchimp’s monthly contact limit. Archived, cleaned and deleted contacts do not count.

Does Mailchimp support automation?

Yes. Essentials includes automation flows with up to four steps, while Standard and higher plans support much more advanced automation flows with up to 200 steps.

Does Mailchimp support A/B testing?

Yes. A/B testing is available on Essentials and higher plans. Standard and higher plans also provide multivariate testing.

Does Mailchimp integrate with Shopify?

Yes. Mailchimp provides an official Shopify integration that can synchronize customer and purchase data for segmentation and automation.

Does Mailchimp support SMS marketing?

Yes. SMS Marketing is available as an add-on for Essentials and higher plans in supported countries.

Does Mailchimp provide transactional email?

Yes. Mailchimp Transactional, formerly Mandrill, is available as an add-on to Standard and Premium accounts.

Does Mailchimp offer phone support?

Phone support is currently included with Premium. Essentials and Standard receive 24/7 email and live-chat support.

Is Mailchimp good for ecommerce?

Yes. Mailchimp supports ecommerce integrations, purchase-based segmentation, product recommendations, abandoned-cart automation and behavioral customer journeys.

Is Mailchimp good for beginners?

Yes. Its visual email builder and Free plan make it easy to test, although businesses can outgrow the current 250-contact Free limit quickly.

Pricing and product information last verified: September 2026.