Mailchimp pricing and review
Mailchimp is an email marketing platform with a drag-and-drop campaign builder, templates, audience segmentation, automation flows and popup forms. It offers a Free plan for up to 250 contacts, paid plans that scale by contact count, and a Marketing API.
- Starts at
- $13 a month
- Free plan
- Yes
- Skills needed
- No code
By StackZen desk. Prices checked 20 October 2026.How we check prices
Mailchimp plans and limits
As listed by the vendor on 20 October 2026, in US dollars.
Free
Free
- Up to 250 contacts
- 500 sends a month, 250 a day
- 1 user, 1 audience, popup forms
Essentials
$13 a month
- Up to 500 contacts, 10x contact limit in monthly sends
- 3 users, 3 audiences, automation flows up to 4 steps
- Email scheduling, Mailchimp branding removed, 24/7 email and chat support
- Promotional price for the first 12 months; the regular rate is not published
Standard
$20 a month
- 500 contacts, 12x contact limit in monthly sends
- 5 users, 5 audiences, up to 200 automation flows
- Custom reports, dynamic content, branded templates
- Promotional price for the first 12 months; the regular rate is not published
Premium
$350 a month
- 10,000 contacts, up to 150,000 sends a month
- Unlimited users and audiences, Enterprise SSO
- Phone and priority support, 4 onboarding sessions
- Promotional price for the first 12 months; the regular rate is not published
Is Mailchimp right for you?
Good for
- Newsletters and promotional campaigns for small lists
- Welcome and follow-up automations for small businesses
- Audience segmentation and campaign reporting
- Collecting sign-ups with popup forms and landing pages
Skip it if
- You need multi-branch automations on a low budget, since Essentials allows only 4-step flows without branching
- You need to email more than 250 contacts for free, as the Free plan stops at 250 contacts
- You need a predictable bill and cannot absorb contact-count overages
Pros and cons
Pros
- Free plan with a campaign builder, popup forms and 300+ integrations
- Four plans let you step up from basic campaigns to branching automations and custom reports
- Paid plans do not pause sending when you pass a contact or send limit; overage is billed instead
- Pay As You Go option with Essentials features for occasional senders
Cons
- The Free plan caps you at 250 contacts, 500 sends a month and 250 a day, and pauses sending when you exceed them
- Essentials limits automation flows to 4 steps with no branching, has no custom reports and only limited A/B testing and advanced reporting
- Price rises with contact count and overage rates are not published on the pricing page
- Advertised starting prices carry a 50% first-12-months discount, and the regular price is not shown
Questions
Does Mailchimp have a free plan?
Yes. Free includes up to 250 contacts and 500 sends a month, with a daily limit of 250, plus 1 user and 1 audience. Automation flows are a preview only, email scheduling is not included, and Mailchimp branding stays on your emails. If you exceed the contact or send limit, a hold is placed on sending live and test emails, though you can still edit and collect contacts. Support by email covers the first 30 days.
How much does Mailchimp cost?
Mailchimp's pricing page lists Essentials from $13 a month and Standard from $20 a month at the entry tier of up to 500 contacts, and Premium at $350 a month. Each of these is marked as 50% off for the first 12 months, and the page does not show the regular price after the discount. Price rises with contact count, so use the contact selector on the pricing page for your own list.
What happens if I exceed my contact or send limit?
On paid plans Mailchimp does not interrupt service when your contact total goes above your limit mid-cycle; an additional fee is added to your bill instead. For a permanent increase, move to a higher tier. Each email sent to one contact counts as one send, and test and transactional emails count towards the monthly send limit.
Which contacts count towards my plan?
Subscribed, unsubscribed and non-subscribed contacts all count. Archived, cleaned and deleted contacts do not count towards the total or the price.
What are the automation limits by plan?
Free offers only a preview of automation flows. Essentials allows single-email automations and flows of up to 4 steps, without multiple starting points or branching. Standard and Premium allow up to 200 flows with multiple starting points and branching.
Does Mailchimp have an API?
Yes. The Marketing API is version 3.0 and accepts either an API key or OAuth for authentication, and Mailchimp also documents a Transactional API. The plan table does not state API access per plan, so check Mailchimp's documentation if you plan to build on a lower tier.
Is there a pay-as-you-go option?
Yes. Instead of a monthly fee you buy email credits as needed, and Mailchimp's help centre says it includes the same features as the Essentials plan.
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