Mailchimp’s pricing has gotten confusing. Between the free plan gutting, the tier restructuring, and the Intuit acquisition changing things behind the scenes, it’s hard to know what you actually get for what you pay in 2026.

📅 Pricing last verified: June 2026. We check and update pricing quarterly. If you notice a change, email us.

Let me break it down clearly: what each plan costs, what it includes, where the limits bite, and when you should just switch to something cheaper.

The Free Plan: What’s Left of It

Mailchimp’s free plan used to be generous. 2,000 contacts, 10,000 emails per month, basic automation. It was legitimately useful for small businesses getting started.

Those days are gone.

In 2026, the free plan gives you:

• 500 contacts (down from 2,000)
• 1,000 emails per month (down from 10,000)
• 1 audience (no segmentation across lists)
• Basic email templates
• Limited reporting
• Mailchimp branding on all emails
• No automation beyond single welcome emails
• No A/B testing
• Email support for 30 days only, then you’re on your own

That 500-contact limit is the killer. Most businesses hit it within weeks of actually collecting emails. Once you do, Mailchimp pushes you to upgrade: and the paid plans are no longer cheap.

The free plan still works for testing the platform or maintaining a very small personal newsletter. But for any real business use, you’ll outgrow it almost immediately.

Essentials Plan: The Entry Point

Essentials is where most small businesses land. Here’s what it costs based on contact count:

Contacts	Monthly Price
500	$13/mo
1,500	$30/mo
2,500	$45/mo
5,000	$69/mo
10,000	$100/mo
25,000	$170/mo
50,000	$270/mo

What Essentials adds over Free:

• Remove Mailchimp branding
• 3 audiences
• Email sends up to 10x your contact count
• A/B testing
• Basic automation (multi-step limited)
• 24/7 email and chat support
• All email templates

What Essentials does NOT include:

• Advanced automation (customer journeys)
• Send time optimization
• Predicted demographics
• Comparative reporting
• Advanced segmentation

For most businesses sending newsletters and basic campaigns, Essentials is sufficient. The limitation that hurts most is the basic automation: you can set up simple sequences but not complex branching journeys.

Standard Plan: The Sweet Spot?

Standard is what Mailchimp pushes hardest. It’s positioned as their “recommended” plan. Here’s pricing:

Contacts	Monthly Price
500	$20/mo
1,500	$46/mo
2,500	$60/mo
5,000	$100/mo
10,000	$135/mo
25,000	$230/mo
50,000	$350/mo

What Standard adds over Essentials:

• Advanced automation (Customer Journey Builder with branching)
• Send time optimization
• Predicted demographics
• 5 audiences
• Email sends up to 12x your contact count
• Retargeting ads
• Custom templates with code
• Comparative reporting
• Advanced segmentation

The Customer Journey Builder is the main reason to upgrade from Essentials. If you need sequences that branch based on behavior (clicked link → send this, didn’t click → send that), you need Standard.

Send time optimization is legitimately useful: Mailchimp analyzes when each subscriber opens emails and sends at their optimal time. It typically improves open rates by 10-20%.

Premium Plan: Enterprise Territory ($350/mo)

Premium starts at $350/month and is aimed at larger organizations:

• Unlimited audiences
• Multivariate testing (not just A/B but A/B/C/D)
• Advanced segmentation (unlimited conditions)
• Comparative reporting
• Phone support
• Dedicated onboarding
• Email sends up to 15x contact count

Honestly, most businesses that need Premium-level features would be better served by platforms designed for that scale: like ActiveCampaign, Klaviyo, or HubSpot. By the time you’re paying $350+/month for Mailchimp, competitors offer more sophisticated tools at similar or lower prices.

The Free Plan Gutting: What Happened

Let’s talk about the elephant in the room. Mailchimp systematically reduced their free plan over several years:

• 2019: 2,000 contacts, 10,000 emails/month, basic automation
• 2021: 2,000 contacts, reduced to 2,500 emails/month for new accounts
• 2022: Dropped to 500 contacts, 2,500 emails/month
• 2023: 500 contacts, 1,000 emails/month, removed automation
• 2024-2026: Same limits, further feature restrictions

The strategy is clear: get people started on free, let them build a list, then force them onto paid plans. It’s the same playbook every SaaS company uses, but Mailchimp’s reductions were more aggressive than most.

The result is that Mailchimp’s free plan is no longer a viable long-term option for any business. It’s a trial, not a tier.

Cheaper Alternatives Worth Considering

If Mailchimp’s pricing feels steep for what you get, you’re not wrong. Several competitors offer better value:

MailerLite: Free up to 1,000 subscribers with 12,000 emails/month. Paid plans start at $10/month for 500 subscribers with automation, landing pages, and no branding. At 10,000 subscribers, it’s $47/month versus Mailchimp’s $100-135.

Kit (formerly ConvertKit): Free up to 10,000 subscribers (limited features). Paid Creator plan at $29/month includes full automation. Built specifically for creators and bloggers. More expensive at scale but the free tier is vastly more generous.

Brevo (formerly Sendinblue): Pricing based on emails sent, not contacts. Unlimited contacts on all plans. Free plan includes 300 emails/day. Paid starts at $25/month for 20,000 emails/month. If you have a large list but don’t email frequently, Brevo is dramatically cheaper.

For a complete comparison of email platforms, check our best email marketing tools for creators guide. If you’re specifically in e-commerce, our Klaviyo vs Omnisend vs Mailchimp comparison covers that angle.

Considering ActiveCampaign as an alternative? See our ActiveCampaign pricing breakdown for a detailed comparison.

When Mailchimp Still Makes Sense

Despite the pricing complaints, Mailchimp isn’t always the wrong choice:

• You’re already on it and migration would disrupt workflows
• You need Intuit integrations (QuickBooks, TurboTax ecosystem)
• Your team knows it and retraining has a cost
• You use their website builder or landing pages heavily
• You’re on Essentials at under 2,500 contacts: the price is reasonable there

The platform works. The templates are good. The deliverability is solid. It’s just no longer the obvious default it once was, because competitors caught up on features while staying cheaper.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Mailchimp charge for unsubscribed contacts?

Yes: unsubscribed and non-subscribed contacts still count toward your contact limit on all paid plans. You need to manually archive or delete them to reduce your count. This catches many people off guard. Set a quarterly reminder to clean your list.

Can I use Mailchimp for free long-term?

Technically yes, if you stay under 500 contacts and 1,000 emails/month. But practically, any growing business will exceed these limits quickly. The free plan works for a personal blog with a small audience, not for business use.

What happens if I exceed my contact limit?

Mailchimp automatically upgrades you to the next pricing tier. If you’re on Essentials at 500 contacts and hit 501, you jump to the 1,500-contact tier pricing. There’s no grace period or warning: it’s immediate billing change. Monitor your count closely as you approach tier boundaries.

Is Mailchimp’s deliverability good?

Yes: Mailchimp consistently ranks in the top tier for email deliverability. Their infrastructure is mature, their compliance team actively manages sender reputation, and they aggressively police spammy accounts. Deliverability alone isn’t a reason to switch away.

Should I switch from Mailchimp to save money?

If you’re spending $60+/month and only using basic features (newsletters + simple automation), yes: MailerLite or Brevo will give you the same functionality for 40-60% less. If you use advanced automation, detailed segmentation, or Intuit integrations heavily, the switching cost may not be worth the savings.