Email Marketing
Mailchimp is an email and SMS marketing platform that combines campaign creation, marketing automations, audience segmentation, signup forms, and reporting analytics in one tool. It is one of the most recognized email marketing platforms for small businesses and ecommerce teams, and its pricing is built around contact count with a free tier at the bottom.
The value proposition is breadth plus ease: email and SMS campaigns, marketing automations, segmentation built on customer data, popup and embedded signup forms, and reporting analytics all live in one place, with 300+ integrations including Shopify, WooCommerce, Canva, Zapier, and Salesforce. That makes Mailchimp a reasonable default for teams that want one platform that connects to the rest of their stack, and reporting is part of the platform rather than an add-on.
On pricing, Mailchimp is transparent: the Free plan covers up to 250 contacts with a maximum of 500 email sends per month, and paid plans run at 50% off for the first 12 months: Essentials at $13/mo, Standard at $20/mo, and Premium at $350/mo, with a 14-day free trial of Standard. Compared with Brevo's $9/mo Starter and MailerLite's $10/mo Growing Business plan, Mailchimp's intro pricing is higher, but the free tier and its name recognition keep it the default for many small teams.
Mailchimp
Mailchimp is an email and SMS marketing platform that combines campaign creation, marketing automations, audience segmentation, signup forms, and reporting analytics in one tool. Best for: Small businesses and e-commerce teams running email and SMS marketing.
At a glance
| Category | Email Marketing |
| Starts at | $13/mo (Essentials, first 12 months at 50% off intro offer) |
| Pricing | Free plan at $0/mo (limit of 250 contacts, max 500 email sends/mo); paid plans at 50% off for the first 12 months: Essentials $13/mo, Standard $20/mo, Premium $350/mo, plus a 14-day free trial of Standard. |
| Best for | Small businesses and e-commerce teams running email and SMS marketing |
Key features
- Email and SMS marketing campaigns
- Marketing automations
- Audience segmentation tools built on customer data
- Popup and embedded signup forms for lead capture
- 300+ integrations including Shopify, WooCommerce, Canva, Zapier, and Salesforce
How does Mailchimp compare to Brevo and Klaviyo?
Brevo is the value alternative: paid plans start at $9/mo (Starter, from 5,000 emails per month, $8.08/mo billed yearly) versus Mailchimp's $13/mo Essentials intro rate, and Brevo's free forever plan requires no credit card where Mailchimp's free plan caps sends at 500 per month for up to 250 contacts. Brevo also bundles transactional email via SMTP and API plus a sales CRM, which Mailchimp does not include the same way.
Klaviyo targets the same ecommerce buyers but prices differently: its free plan covers 250 profiles and 500 email sends per month, and paid plans are calculated by contact count and channel usage rather than published as fixed tiers. Mailchimp's fixed tiers ($20/mo Standard, $350/mo Premium, both intro rates for 12 months) are easier to budget, while Klaviyo is built around real-time customer data for flows and segmentation.
Feature-wise, Mailchimp's 300+ integrations, including Shopify, WooCommerce, Canva, Zapier, and Salesforce, make it the easiest platform to connect to an existing stack. Brevo counters with SMTP relay and API access for transactional email, which Mailchimp does not bundle into marketing plans, plus a sales CRM with pipelines and live chat. Klaviyo counters with flows built on live order data and 350+ app integrations. The practical difference is breadth of connectors (Mailchimp) versus bundled channels and commerce data depth (Brevo and Klaviyo).
Who should use Mailchimp?
If you are a small business or ecommerce team that wants email and SMS marketing with forms, automations, and a broad integration catalog, Mailchimp is a fit because the platform is designed to be used without training and connects to Shopify, WooCommerce, and 300+ other tools. The free tier also lets very small teams start at $0 with up to 250 contacts and 500 email sends per month.
If your stack already runs on Shopify, WooCommerce, Canva, Zapier, or Salesforce, the pre-built connectors mean campaigns can be wired to store and customer data quickly, and the popup and embedded signup forms capture leads on any page.
Mailchimp is NOT ideal for high-volume transactional senders, where Brevo's SMTP and API pricing is built for that workload, or for teams that want a CRM-style pipeline inside the marketing tool, where ActiveCampaign goes further. Pricing also scales with contact count, so larger lists can move toward the $350/mo Premium tier at the intro rate.
Pricing
Free plan at $0/mo (limit of 250 contacts, max 500 email sends/mo); paid plans at 50% off for the first 12 months: Essentials $13/mo, Standard $20/mo, Premium $350/mo, plus a 14-day free trial of Standard. Confirm current terms on the vendor site before buying.
Alternatives
Worth comparing: Brevo, Mailerlite.
FAQ
Is Mailchimp free?
Yes. Mailchimp's Free plan covers up to 250 contacts with a maximum of 500 email sends per month. Beyond that, paid plans start at $13/mo (Essentials, 50% off for the first 12 months).
How much does Mailchimp cost?
Paid plans run at 50% off for the first 12 months: Essentials $13/mo, Standard $20/mo, Premium $350/mo. Prices were verified on Mailchimp's compare-plans page in August 2026.
Does Mailchimp have a free trial?
Yes, Mailchimp offers a 14-day free trial of Standard, and its Free plan is available indefinitely at $0 with no time limit.
Mailchimp vs Klaviyo: which is better?
Mailchimp publishes fixed tiers and a free plan, while Klaviyo prices via an interactive calculator by contact count and channel usage. Klaviyo is the stronger choice for ecommerce brands that want real-time order and customer data powering flows; Mailchimp is easier to budget and starts free.