Mailchimp Pricing Plans: Detailed Costs, Features & Comparisons

Mailchimp is a prominent email marketing and automation platform designed to empower businesses in creating and distributing effective email campaigns. It provides three primary product offerings: the Marketing Platform, Websites, and Transactional Email, each with its own multi-tier pricing structure.

The Marketing Platform offers a range from a complimentary Free plan up to the comprehensive Premium plan at $350/month. Similarly, the Websites platform begins with a free option and extends to the Core plan for $10/month. Transactional Email services start at $20/month for 25,000 emails. This guide will delve into each plan, helping you understand how to select the best fit for your business needs.

Mailchimp Plans: A Quick Summary

• Marketing Platform Free: Ideal for individuals starting out, supporting 1 user, 1,000 emails, and up to 500 contacts. Includes 1 audience and 30 days of email support.
• Marketing Platform Essentials: Built for growing needs, featuring 3 users, 5,000 monthly emails, and 500 contacts. Unlocks 2 user-based roles.
• Marketing Platform Standard: Encompasses all Essentials features, providing 6,000 monthly email sends for 500 contacts, 5 users, 5 audiences, and generative AI capabilities.
• Marketing Platform Premium: The ultimate solution with all Standard features, plus unlimited users, 150,000 monthly email sends, 10,000 contacts, unlimited audiences, 5 user-based roles, and 4 personalized onboarding sessions.
• Websites Free: Offers 1 seat, unlimited pages, pre-designed layouts, free stock photography, and SSL certificates for building websites and online stores.
• Websites Core: Expands on the Free plan with 24/7 email and chat support, 3 users, and the option to connect a custom domain.
• Transactions Email: A flexible solution where you purchase email send blocks based on your volume. Each block costs $20 for 25,000 email sends.

How Much Does Mailchimp Cost?

Mailchimp’s services can range from $13 to $1600, depending on the chosen product and plan. The platform primarily offers three products: Marketing Platform, Websites, and Transactional Email.

The Marketing Platform offers various paid tiers: Essentials (starting at $13), Standard (starting at $20), and Premium (starting at $350).

The Free plan is an excellent starting point for individuals, allowing 1,000 emails for up to 500 contacts, with a single user and audience.

The Essentials plan begins with 5,000 emails for 500 contacts. It’s designed for users focused on sending newsletters, offering 3 seats and 3 audiences.

The Standard plan provides 6,000 emails for 500 contacts, catering to Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) seeking more personalized and optimized email campaigns. It includes all Essentials features, plus 5 seats, 5 audiences, enhanced reporting & analytics, and 4 user-based roles.

Mailchimp Premium is tailored for large teams with expanding contact lists. It offers unlimited emails for 10,000 contacts, priority support, unlimited users and audiences, and 5 personalized onboarding sessions with experts.

The Websites product features two pricing tiers: Free ($0) and Core ($10). The Core plan includes 3 seats, 24/7 email and chat support, and the ability to connect a custom domain.

Transactional Email uses a pricing model based on your estimated monthly send volume. You can purchase email in blocks, with each block containing 25,000 emails and costing $20. This price remains $20/block for up to 500,000 emails, then gradually decreases to $18/block for volumes exceeding 1 million emails. It’s worth noting that compared to platforms like SendGrid, Mailchimp’s transactional email service can be nearly 30% more expensive.

Generally, higher-priced Mailchimp plans unlock more advanced features, support a greater number of contacts, and allow for more users.

Mailchimp Marketing Platform Features

Mailchimp Marketing Platform Monthly Starting Prices

As your contact list grows, so does the cost, particularly with the Standard plan, which offers 12x email sends per contact. For example, if you require more than 50,000 emails monthly, you’ll need to opt for the Standard or Premium plan. After 100,000 contacts, only the Premium plan is available, providing 1.95 million monthly emails, priority support, and unlimited users and audiences.

Comparing Mailchimp Pricing with Alternatives

Mailchimp operates as a comprehensive email marketing service provider, integrating a website builder, eCommerce tools, and transactional email capabilities. To assess its value, let’s compare its pricing with similar services. For a deeper dive into features, you can explore our guide on Mailchimp alternatives.

Here’s how Mailchimp Standard’s monthly prices stack up against comparable plans from Moosend, MailerLite, GetResponse, and AWeber:

Mailchimp vs Moosend

Moosend offers two pricing plans: Pro and Enterprise. The Pro plan begins at $9/month, including unlimited emails, 500 contacts, 5 users, automation workflows, landing pages, and transactional emails.

Let’s compare the monthly prices of Mailchimp Standard with Moosend Pro:

Moosend is significantly more affordable, making it an excellent choice for startups and SMEs looking for a cost-effective solution without sacrificing essential features like A/B testing and marketing automation. For a detailed breakdown of features, refer to our Moosend review.

While Mailchimp Standard is pricier, it’s a suitable option for those who prioritize generative AI features or require personalized onboarding assistance.

Mailchimp vs MailerLite

MailerLite offers two main paid plans:

• Growing Business: Starting at $10/month for 500 subscribers
• Advanced: Starting at $20/month for 500 subscribers

Here’s how Mailchimp Standard’s monthly pricing compares to MailerLite’s Growing Business plan:

MailerLite is an excellent fit for small businesses seeking unlimited monthly emails, multiple websites, landing pages, or features like an unsubscribe page builder, unlimited templates, dynamic emails, and auto-resend campaigns. It includes 3 users and 24/7 email support. Discover more about its features, pros, cons, and pricing in our MailerLite review and MailerLite Pricing Guide, or compare tools in our Mailchimp vs MailerLite analysis.

Mailchimp Standard is a strong contender for businesses that value a generative AI assistant, 5 users, or the ability to manage 5 distinct email audiences.

Mailchimp vs GetResponse

GetResponse provides three main pricing plans:

• Email Marketing: From $19/month for 1,000 contacts
• Marketing Automation: From $59/month for 1,000 contacts
• E-commerce Marketing: From $119/month for 1,000 contacts 

Here’s how the monthly prices of Mailchimp Premium and GetResponse Marketing Automation compare:

GetResponse is generally considered a more advanced email marketing platform than Mailchimp. Its Email Marketing plan is ideal for marketers seeking advanced features such as paid ads, conversion funnels, and 24/7 support. It’s particularly well-suited for budget-conscious B2B and e-commerce businesses with large lists or those looking for a European provider. For an in-depth review of features, pros, and cons, read our GetResponse review. You can also explore a full rundown of all plans on GetResponse plans page.

Mailchimp’s Standard plan, while on the costlier side compared to GetResponse’s Marketing Automation, is beneficial for SMEs aiming to optimize and automate their email marketing. Key features include 5 user-based roles and up to 1.2 million monthly emails for 100,000 contacts.

Mailchimp vs AWeber

AWeber offers three paid plans:

• Lite: Starting at $14.99/month for 500 subscribers
• Plus: Starting at $29.99/month for 500 subscribers
• Unlimited: Starting at $899/month for unlimited subscribers

Here’s a comparison of monthly fees for Mailchimp Standard and AWeber Plus:

AWeber is often more affordable than Mailchimp Standard, offering unlimited monthly emails, subscribers, and users. This paid plan is ideal for businesses that wish to leverage autoresponders for automated emails and send newsletters at budget-friendly prices. Learn more about its features, pros, cons, and pricing in our AWeber review.

Mailchimp Standard is costlier and imposes limits on monthly email sends and the number of seats. However, this plan is advantageous for businesses requiring additional role-based access or add-ons like SMS marketing.

For more alternatives, explore our reviews of Sendinblue and Constant Contact. Alternatively, check out various email marketing platforms with CRM functionalities, many of which include lightweight CRM features suitable for small businesses.

Hidden Costs & Onboarding Fees

Mailchimp may incur some hidden costs, particularly concerning duplicate contacts. If the same email address appears in multiple audience lists, Mailchimp counts each instance as a separate contact and charges accordingly.

Additionally, Mailchimp has fewer contact tiers compared to its competitors, which can be disadvantageous for companies with smaller lists. For instance, if you have 8,000 contacts, Mailchimp charges you for the 10,000-contact tier. Competitors like Moosend and MailerLite offer more granular 8,000-contact tiers. The Premium plan, in particular, has no contact tier below 10,000, meaning its features will cost $350/month even if you only have 500 contacts.

Mailchimp Marketing Platform Pricing Tiers

The Marketing Essentials plan is well-suited for small teams requiring 3 users with 2 role-based accesses (admin and owner). It starts at $13/month for 500 contacts and 5,000 emails. Users can segment their lists with 3 audiences and design email campaigns using over 100 email templates. It allows for building up to 4 journey points per customer journey and A/B testing emails for optimal performance. Additionally, 24/7 email and chat support are provided.

Marketing Essentials Plan Pricing Tiers

The Marketing Standard plan is ideal for SMEs looking to send more than 6,000 monthly emails. It begins at $20/month for 500 contacts. This plan includes all Essentials features, plus 5 different audiences, 5 users, 4 role-based accesses (owner, admin, author, and viewer), and 200 automated customer journey points. The Standard plan also offers 1 personalized onboarding session with a Mailchimp expert, custom HTML template upload, predictive segmentation, content optimizer, advanced segmentation, comparative reporting, and a campaign manager.

Marketing Standard Pricing Tiers 

The Mailchimp Premium plan starts at $350/month for 10,000 contacts, providing 150,000 monthly emails and unlimited users. It includes all Standard features, along with unlimited audiences, priority phone support, an additional role-based access for Managers, and 4 personalized onboarding sessions.

Marketing Premium Pricing Tiers

Mailchimp Websites Pricing

Mailchimp Websites pricing begins at $10/month for the Core plan, which includes 3 users. This plan offers unlimited pages, a custom domain connection option, and 24/7 email & chat support.

Mailchimp Pay-as-you-go Pricing

Mailchimp’s pay-as-you-go model is an excellent option for teams with fluctuating monthly email volumes. With this model, each email sent consumes one credit, allowing you to pay only for the exact number of emails you send.

Credits are available in bundles, all of which are valid for 12 months from the date of purchase.

Mailchimp Add-ons & Extras

Mailchimp enhances its core offerings with additional services like Transactional Emails and SMS marketing, available as add-ons. Let’s explore their costs.

Mailchimp Transactional Email

Mailchimp Transactional Email pricing starts at $20 per block, with each block containing 25,000 emails. The price per block decreases with higher email volumes.

The cost remains $20/block for up to 20 blocks (500,000 emails). For volumes between 21 and 40 blocks (500,000 – 1 million emails/month), the price per block reduces to $18. This reduction continues for even larger volumes.

Here’s a breakdown of how much transactional emails cost in Mailchimp:

Mailchimp SMS Pricing

This add-on is available to US customers subscribed to Essentials, Standard, or Premium plans. It allows you to set up SMS and MMS messages for your opted-in SMS contacts within your Mailchimp audience. If you need to send SMS outside the US, explore other SMS marketing platforms, many of which offer global coverage.

To run SMS campaigns through Mailchimp, you’ll need SMS credits, which are purchased in bundles. The cost of 1 SMS varies between 1 to 3 credits, depending on the recipient’s carrier and your company’s Russell 3000 Index listing status.

Here’s a look at the cost of different SMS credit bundles:

To illustrate, here’s what 1,000 SMS messages might cost:

And the effective cost per SMS if you send 1,000 messages:

Mailchimp Discount for Nonprofits

Mailchimp extends a 15% discount to verified charities and nonprofit organizations. This discount applies to their core services but excludes third-party purchases made within the Mailchimp account. To apply, sign up for an account and then contact the Billing team with your username and a link to your organization’s website for verification.

Understanding Mailchimp Pricing: Products, Emails, Contacts, Seats, Roles

Mailchimp’s pricing model is primarily influenced by four key factors:

Products

Mailchimp offers three distinct products: the Marketing Platform, Websites, and Transactional Email. The Marketing Platform’s cost is determined by the number of contacts and features utilized. Website pricing is based on the number of seats and availability of 24/7 support. Transactional Email pricing depends directly on your monthly email send volume, ranging from $20 for up to 500,000 emails/month down to $10 for over 4 million emails/month. The chosen product is the most significant determinant of your Mailchimp cost.

Plans

The price of Mailchimp’s Marketing Platform varies significantly based on the feature set of each plan. The Essentials plan starts at $13 for 500 contacts, scaling up to $385 for 50,000 contacts. It supports 500,000 emails for 50,000 contacts, 3 users, 3 distinct audiences, and 2 role-based accesses.

The Standard plan begins at $20 for 500 contacts and can reach $800 for 100,000 contacts. It allows up to 10 emails/month per contact. This means 5,000 monthly emails for 500 contacts, 18,000 for 1,500 contacts, and so forth. The Standard plan also includes 5 users, 5 separate audiences, and 4 unique role-based accesses.

The Premium plan starts at $350 for 10,000 contacts and goes up to $1,600 for 200,000 contacts. For 10,000 contacts, you can send up to 150,000 monthly emails. This plan also provides unlimited users and audiences, alongside 5 unique role-based accesses.

Contacts

The Marketing Platform plans charge based on the total number of contacts stored in your account. Beyond your plan’s contact limit, you will be charged for overages across all Marketing Platform plans, with the exception of the Free plan, which pauses service if the email send limit is exceeded. The number of contacts is the third most crucial factor influencing your Mailchimp costs.

Here’s a breakdown of the monthly price of Marketing plans’ contact tiers:

Seats or Users

The number of users or “seats” you require directly impacts Mailchimp’s pricing, as each plan includes a set number of seats. For example, if you need 1 user, the Free plan suffices. For 3 seats, the Essentials plan, starting at $13, is necessary. For 5 seats, the Standard plan, beginning at $20, is required. The Premium pricing plan, starting at $350, offers unlimited seats, making it ideal for teams needing 6 or more users.

Is Mailchimp Really Free?

Yes, Mailchimp does offer a robust free plan. This plan includes support for up to 500 contacts, 1,000 emails per month, and allows 1 user. It also provides 30 days of email support. The free plan and its associated trials for Essentials and Standard are sufficient to thoroughly test Mailchimp’s functionalities.

With the Free plan, you gain access to basic pre-built email templates, essential forms & landing pages, and limited features of the Creative Assistant. Integration with over 300 platforms is also available. During your first 30 days, email support is provided to help you get started.

Which Mailchimp Pricing Plan Should You Pick?

Mailchimp offers four distinct plans: Free, Essentials, Standard, and Premium, each catering to different business sizes and needs.

The Free plan is perfectly suited for individuals embarking on their email marketing journey. It provides 1,000 monthly emails for 500 contacts, 1 user, 1 audience, and 30 days of email support. Basic email templates are included, but if you need more advanced designs, explore other Mailchimp email templates for broader options.

The Essentials plan starts at $13/month for 500 contacts, offering 5,000 monthly emails, and scales up to $385 for 50,000 contacts with 500,000 monthly emails. This plan is excellent for startups and small teams that require up to 3 users, 3 separate audiences, and 2 role-based accesses (owner and admin). Essentials also includes 24/7 email and chat support.

The Standard plan is designed for SMEs and growing enterprises. It starts at $20 for 500 contacts with 6,000 monthly emails and expands to $800 for 100,000 contacts, allowing for 1.2 million emails/month. This plan provides 5 users, 5 audiences, 4 user-based roles, and 1 personalized onboarding session with a specialist.

The Premium plan is tailored for larger businesses. It starts at $350 for 10,000 contacts with 150,000 monthly emails, going up to $1,600 for 200,000 contacts with 3 million emails/month. Premium unlocks priority phone support, unlimited users and audiences, 5 role-based accesses, and 4 personalized onboarding sessions with an expert.

Mailchimp Pricing FAQs