Mailchimp Pricing in 2026: Plans, Costs & Is It Worth It?
Free plan for up to 500 contacts. Three paid tiers starting at ~$13/month. The catch: all paid plans scale in price based on contact count, so costs grow fast as your list grows.
Mailchimp pricing plans
| Plan | Price (500 contacts) | Key Features |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 1,000 emails/month, 1 audience, basic templates, limited automations, Mailchimp branding |
| Essentials | ~$13/mo | 3 audiences, email scheduling, A/B testing, remove Mailchimp branding, 24/7 email & chat support |
| Standard | ~$20/mo | Everything in Essentials plus marketing automations, retargeting ads, custom templates, advanced audience insights, send time optimization |
| Premium | ~$350/mo (10,000+) | Everything in Standard plus advanced segmentation, multivariate testing, phone support, unlimited audiences, dedicated onboarding |
Prices are approximate and based on publicly available information. Visit mailchimp.com/pricing for the latest numbers.
How pricing scales with contacts
Your monthly cost increases as your subscriber list grows:
| Contacts | Essentials | Standard |
|---|---|---|
| 500 | ~$13/mo | ~$20/mo |
| 2,500 | ~$45/mo | ~$60/mo |
| 10,000 | ~$100/mo | ~$135/mo |
| 25,000 | ~$230/mo | ~$270/mo |
| 50,000 | ~$350/mo | ~$410/mo |
Your costs can double or triple as your list grows, even if email volume stays the same. Brevo (formerly Sendinblue) charges by emails sent instead of contacts, which is often cheaper at scale.
What's included in all paid plans
- Remove Mailchimp branding from emails (not available on Free)
- Email scheduling to send at optimal times
- A/B testing for subject lines, content, and send times
- 24/7 email and chat support (Free plan has email-only for 30 days)
- 300+ integrations with e-commerce, CRM, and productivity tools
- Landing page builder for lead capture
- Basic reporting with open rates, click rates, and subscriber growth
Costs to watch for
- Contact-based scaling. Your bill grows automatically as subscribers join your list. A list of 10,000 contacts on Standard costs ~$135/month, nearly 7x the starting price.
- Overage charges. If you exceed your plan's monthly email send limit, Mailchimp charges per additional email rather than pausing delivery. Monitor your usage to avoid surprise bills.
- Pay for unsubscribed contacts. Mailchimp counts unsubscribed and non-subscribed contacts toward your contact limit unless you manually archive or delete them. Clean your list regularly.
- Automation requires Standard. The Free and Essentials plans have very basic automation. Meaningful marketing workflows (abandoned cart, behavior-based triggers) require Standard at minimum.
- Premium jump is steep. Going from Standard to Premium jumps from ~$135/month (10K contacts) to ~$350/month. The main additions are advanced segmentation and phone support.
Your newsletter has grown to 10,000 subscribers. You want marketing automations. What's the approximate monthly cost on Mailchimp?
Correct! Standard starts at ~$20/month for 500 contacts, but scales to approximately $135/month at 10,000 contacts. Marketing automations require at least the Standard plan.
Mailchimp's pricing scales with contacts. Standard at 10,000 contacts costs approximately $135/month. The $20/month price is only for 500 contacts, and Premium ($350/mo) is the top tier with advanced segmentation.
Is Mailchimp worth the price?
Mailchimp is worth it if you:
- Have a small subscriber list (under 2,500 contacts) where pricing stays reasonable
- Need an all-in-one marketing platform with landing pages and social posting
- Want extensive integrations with your existing tech stack
- Are an e-commerce store on Shopify or WooCommerce needing product recommendations
Mailchimp is probably not worth it if you:
- Have a large contact list where costs scale past your budget
- Need advanced marketing automation (ActiveCampaign is more capable)
- Want to send cold outreach emails (Mailchimp prohibits this)
- Are a content creator (Kit/ConvertKit is purpose-built for creators)
Cheaper alternatives
| Tool | Starting Price | Pricing Model | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| MailerLite | Free / ~$10/mo | Contact-based | Budget email marketing with clean UI |
| Brevo | Free / ~$25/mo | Email volume-based | Large lists (unlimited contacts on all plans) |
| Constant Contact | ~$12/mo | Contact-based | Small businesses and events |
| MentionAgent | $99/mo (flat) | Flat rate | Automated outreach (not marketing) |
For a full comparison, see our best Mailchimp alternatives.
You have 50,000 newsletter subscribers and want to reduce your email marketing costs. Which pricing model saves the most?
Correct! Brevo charges based on emails sent, not contacts stored. If you have a large list but moderate sending volume, Brevo can be significantly cheaper than Mailchimp's contact-based pricing.
Mailchimp charges based on contacts, so 50,000 subscribers means high costs regardless of how many emails you send. Brevo charges by email volume with unlimited contacts, which is often cheaper at scale.
You need to reach out to bloggers for link building, not send marketing emails. What should you use instead of Mailchimp?
Correct! Mailchimp is for marketing to opted-in subscribers. MentionAgent is built for outreach, it finds relevant blogs, looks up contacts, writes personalized pitches, and follows up automatically.
Mailchimp prohibits cold outreach. For link building, you need a tool designed for outreach, not marketing. MentionAgent ($99/mo) automates the entire process.
Need outreach, not newsletters?
MentionAgent automates prospect finding, contact lookup, personalized email writing, and follow-ups for $99/mo. No contact-based pricing, no overage charges.
Start Getting Mentioned For $99/moFrequently asked questions
How much does Mailchimp cost?
Mailchimp has a free plan for up to 500 contacts. Paid plans start at approximately $13/month (Essentials), $20/month (Standard), and $350/month (Premium for 10,000+ contacts). All paid plans scale in price based on your number of contacts.
Does Mailchimp have a free plan?
Yes. The free plan supports up to 500 contacts and 1,000 emails per month. It includes basic templates, 1 audience, and limited automations. Mailchimp branding is included in all emails on the free plan.
Is Mailchimp expensive?
It depends on your list size. For small lists (under 2,500 contacts), Mailchimp is affordable. At 10,000 contacts, Essentials costs approximately $100/month and Standard approximately $135/month. Alternatives like MailerLite and Brevo are cheaper at scale.
What is cheaper than Mailchimp?
MailerLite is free up to 1,000 subscribers with paid plans from approximately $10/month. Brevo charges by email volume (not contacts) and starts at approximately $25/month. Constant Contact starts at approximately $12/month. For outreach rather than marketing, MentionAgent is $99/month flat.