{"id":91556,"date":"2025-11-27T15:47:00","date_gmt":"2025-11-27T14:47:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.emailvendorselection.com\/?p=91556"},"modified":"2025-12-08T13:18:49","modified_gmt":"2025-12-08T12:18:49","slug":"mailchimp-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.emailvendorselection.com\/mailchimp-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Mailchimp Review: Honest Pros & Cons from our Experience (2026)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Mailchimp is one of the most recognizable names in email marketing. And you can\u2019t argue it\u2019s still widely used.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But just how good is Mailchimp these days?  Because we are seeing lots of these customers starting on Mailchimp and then switching later on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, Mailchimp was one of the first to offer a free plan and a no-code email builder. For a long time, that attracted a huge amount of small senders. The free plan included a banner at the bottom of emails for others to sign up. I was one of their customers, and loved their free model and the quirky chimp brand. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But things change. I\u2019ve used 30+ email marketing tools over the years. Can I recommend Mailchimp?

In some ways, it still works. I think we consult for 5 to 10 brands from Mailchimp at any time. But with the likes of Brevo, Mailerlite, ActiveCampaign, and others alternatives<\/a>, my answer is simple. Mailchimp just isn\u2019t the best choice anymore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What I like about Mailchimp<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I was one of the Mailchimp<\/a> users won over by its freemium plan about 7 years ago. That plan is what made Mailchimp famous. It still has a free plan. But in the last few years, Mailchimp has been limiting the free plan more and more, to the point where it is now hardly usable (more on that later).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mailchimp was one of the first bulk email sending services to have a no-code HTML email builder. Now, it has a bit of everything: social, websites, and ads. Which is nice if you use them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/span>What has changed lately<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In 2021, Mailchimp was bought by accounting software giant Intuit. The new mother company sure made some changes.

Multiple price increases<\/strong>
The least popular changes have been the price increases. Since the Intuit takeover, prices have kept rising steadily. Particularly for larger lists. 5000 contacts cost you $100\/month now on the Standard plan.

Paying double for contacts<\/strong>
Mailchimp charges double or even more for contacts. If the same email address is added to more than one list, each time it is counted as an extra contact.

Charging for inactive contacts <\/strong>
Mailchimp will “clean” contacts from your lists if emails bounce, but Mailchimp still counts these cleaned contacts<\/a>, and you still have to pay for contacts you can\u2019t send to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"G2<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The free plan is limited<\/strong>
What I think is such a pity is that Intuit has apparently decided to undress the free version and step-by-step nudge everyone to paid. Mailchimp has been squeezing all the features from the free plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You used to have 2000 contacts, but now just 500 contacts. Features in the free plan are very basic. You no longer get automations, A\/B testing, and you can’t upload your own templates. And what makes it unusable for many you can’t even schedule an email to send out later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Capterra<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Uploading new lists is sometimes frustrating<\/strong>
Another change is how Mailchimp handles contact list imports. It\u2019s become very strict on uploading existing contacts. Of course, it needs to protect sender reputation and avoid spam. But getting a rejected list when you are a legit sender is very frustrating. Mailchimp then insists on sending a \u2018re-engagement\u2019 campaign to that uploaded list. For long-term contacts, this means sending an email they won\u2019t see as relevant. And it creates extra work for you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/span>Mailchimp Pricing and Plans: How Much Does It Cost?<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Contacts<\/strong><\/td>Mailchimp Standard<\/strong><\/td>Brevo Starter*<\/strong><\/td>MailerLite Growing Business<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
500<\/td>$20<\/td>$9<\/td>$10<\/td><\/tr>
1,500<\/td>$45<\/td>$17<\/td>$25<\/td><\/tr>
2,500<\/td>$60<\/td>$29<\/td>$25<\/td><\/tr>
5,000<\/td>$100<\/td>$29<\/td>$39<\/td><\/tr>
10,000<\/td>$135<\/td>$39<\/td>$73<\/td><\/tr>
25,000<\/td>$310<\/td>$69<\/td>$159<\/td><\/tr>
50,000<\/td>$450<\/td>–<\/td>$289<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

* Brevo has unlimited contacts. The price shown is based on 4 emails per contact month.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mailchimp prices are based on the number of contacts you have. And has sending limits. On the Standard plan, you can send 12x your contact limit per month, or you’ll need to pay extra. On Essentials, that is 10x. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Compare that to a service like MailerLite<\/a>, which doesn\u2019t have any send limits. Mailchimp also gets way more expensive the more contacts you have. Another difference is the number of users you can have per account. On Mailchimp Standard, you get 5 seats. On MailerLite\u2019s Advanced plan<\/a>, you get unlimited users.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A few email marketing services, like Brevo<\/a>, charge by emails sent instead. All Brevo plans<\/a> come with unlimited contacts. For larger lists, the difference compared to Mailchimp is huge. This difference in value is increased by the way Mailchimp \u2018double charges\u2019 for contacts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Feature-wise, Mailchimp\u2019s Standard plan includes the basic email marketing features. It\u2019s similar to Brevo Starter and MailerLite Growing Business. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Essentials is much more basic than Brevo Starter and MailerLite Growing Business. You get Mailchimp\u2019s email, form, and landing page builder. It misses out all advanced features for automation, reporting, and segmentation. Plus Mailchimp\u2019s AI Creative Assistant and Campaign Manager.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MailerLite\u2019s Growing Business plan<\/a> includes dynamic content for personalization. And you can also sell products. Brevo\u2019s Starter plan<\/a> includes transactional emails. These are paid-for extras in Mailchimp.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mailchimp\u2019s free plan now only includes 500 contacts and 1,000 emails a month. By comparison, Brevo\u2019s free plan<\/a> gives you unlimited contacts and 9,000 emails per month (300 emails a day). MailerLite\u2019s free plan<\/a> lets you have 1,000 contacts and send 12,000 emails a month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Find out all the details and compare Mailchimp\u2019s pricing to other tools in our complete Mailchimp pricing guide<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mailchimp Core Features<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  • Drag and drop email editor: <\/strong>Mailchimp has recently added a new email builder. It keeps the same drag-and-drop interface. But updates a few tools.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Email Templates: <\/strong>You get 260+ email templates with the new email builder. The designs are an upgrade on the old ones.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Automation: <\/strong>Mailchimp\u2019s Customer Journey Builder is easy to work with, but only has a few workflow templates.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Contact Management: <\/strong>Mailchimp goes beyond basic audience tracking and tagging. I like the predictive and behavioral targeting tools. You can also measure engagement across your channels and calculate conversion likelihood. <\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Other channels: <\/strong>Email marketing plans include social media posting and Google Ads retargeting. SMS campaigns are a paid-for add-on.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • AI Creative Assistant: <\/strong>Mailchimp\u2019s AI assistant helps you custom-build your own templates. It recommends content by analysing what your audience will find most engaging. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    <\/span>Mailchimp Pros and Cons<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    \n
    \n

    Pros:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \n
    • AI tools:<\/strong> Mailchimp has been quick to get on board with generative AI. It has email writing and design tools.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Contact Management: <\/strong>I like Mailchimp\u2019s advanced targeting and segmentation tools. You can use behavioral data to target emails precisely.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Integrations:<\/strong> Mailchimp has over 300 third-party integrations. This makes it really easy to connect Mailchimp to the apps you\u2019re already using.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
      \n
      \n

      Cons:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

        \n
      • It is expensive: <\/strong>Mailchimp is expensive these days. Especially for bigger lists. That isn\u2019t helped by how Mailchimp charges for double contacts.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • Navigation: <\/strong>Mailchimp isn\u2019t an easy platform to find your way around. There are lots of tools. Some of them are hidden in strange places. None of it is very clear, especially for new users.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • Customer Support: <\/strong>If there\u2019s one criticism of Mailchimp that crops up again and again, it\u2019s poor customer support. People get very frustrated by the quality of the chatbots. And how hard it is to speak to a person. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
        \"Capterra<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

        <\/span>Mailchimp Review Rating Details<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
        Ease of Use<\/strong>
        \"3.5<\/td>        		Mailchimp tools are generally user-friendly. But navigation between tools can be confusing. It\u2019s not always easy to find what you are looking for.<\/td><\/tr>
        Creating & Sending Newsletters<\/strong>
        \"4<\/td>        		Mailchimp\u2019s drag-and-drop email builder is great to use and beginner-friendly. The AI Creative Assistant helps with designs and content writing. And you get recommendations for the best content to use.<\/td><\/tr>
        Email Templates<\/strong>
        \"3.5<\/td>        		All paid plans include 260+ pre-made email templates with the new builder. The crossover with the old editor and templates is confusing.<\/td><\/tr>
        Marketing Automation<\/strong>
        \"3.5<\/td>        		The Customer Journey Builder provides a visual interface for building automated workflows. But workflow templates are very basic. And the navigation is inconsistent.<\/td><\/tr>
        List Management<\/strong>
        \"3.5<\/td>        		Mailchimp Audiences operate as completely separate lists. Counting the same email in different lists as a different contact is annoying. List cleaning is automatic and you can\u2019t send to any email that bounces too many times. Again, it\u2019s a pity you still pay for \u2018cleaned\u2019 contacts. Segmentation is a strength. It includes advanced behavioral targeting.<\/td><\/tr>
        Personalization<\/strong>
        \"3.5<\/td>        		Mailchimp has dynamic content and personalization. But personalization options are hard to find.<\/td><\/tr>
        Landing Pages & Forms<\/strong>
        \"2.5
        <\/td>        		Mailchimp\u2019s landing page and form options are tricky to find. There are several form-building tools. And they are not the easiest to use. It has only a few landing page templates, and all are very basic.<\/td><\/tr>
        Reporting & Analytics<\/strong>
        \"3.5<\/td>        		Analytics are accessible and detailed. There are lots of ways to refine and narrow down the data. But it\u2019s all based on standard email metrics.<\/td><\/tr>
        Customer Service<\/strong>
        \"2<\/td>        		Mailchimp says they have 24\/7 email and chat support on all paid plans. But support is a frequent source of complaints from users. They complain that it\u2019s hard to reach the support team and get solutions. This aligns with our testing.<\/td><\/tr>
        Deliverability<\/strong>
        \"3.5<\/td>        		Standard authentication tools for SPF, DKIM, and DMARC. We miss having deliverability reporting and list validation when importing contacts. Dedicated IPs for transactional emails cost $29.95\/month.<\/td><\/tr>
        Integrations & API<\/strong>\u2714\ufe0f<\/strong><\/td>Mailchimp has an excellent choice of 300+ app integrations. They include many big-name platforms.<\/td><\/tr>
        Interface Languages<\/strong><\/td>Mailchimp is available in 6 languages: English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, German, and Italian.<\/td><\/tr>
        Customer Satisfaction<\/strong>
        \"3.5<\/td>        		Mailchimp gets mixed reviews from customers. It is still very popular. But plenty of users are left dissatisfied with it. Especially for cost, navigation around all the features, and customer service.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n