Mailchimp Pricing (April 2026)
How much does Mailchimp cost?
Mailchimp offers a free plan with paid tiers starting at Free/mo.
All Plans
Standard
- 500 contacts
- 6000 emails/month
- Automations
- A/B testing
Mailchimp Pricing Breakdown
Mailchimp's pricing structure has become one of its most criticized aspects, with costs escalating rapidly as your contact list grows. The platform uses a contact-based pricing model that counts all email addresses in your account, including unsubscribed contacts and duplicates across different audiences.
Free Plan
The free tier supports up to 500 contacts and 1,000 monthly email sends, with a 250-email daily limit. You'll get basic templates, simple signup forms, and single-step automations like welcome emails. However, you can't schedule emails for later sending, access A/B testing, or remove Mailchimp branding. Email support is available only for the first 30 days, after which you're limited to self-service help articles.
Essentials Plan
Starting at $13 monthly for 500 contacts, the Essentials plan removes Mailchimp branding and adds email scheduling, A/B testing, and basic automation workflows limited to four steps. You'll get 24/7 email and chat support, plus access to more templates. However, you're still missing advanced segmentation, custom templates, and behavioral targeting features that many businesses need.
Standard Plan
At $20 monthly for 500 contacts, the Standard plan unlocks most essential features including unlimited automation steps, behavioral targeting, custom templates, and send-time optimization. You'll also get predictive segmentation and dynamic content capabilities. This plan scales to $135 for 10,000 contacts and $450 for 50,000 contacts, making it expensive for growing lists.
Premium Plan
The Premium tier starts at $350 monthly for 10,000+ contacts and includes phone support, multivariate testing, unlimited users, and advanced segmentation. While expensive, it's often the only viable option for businesses needing full functionality at scale.
Hidden costs include SMS credits ($20+ monthly), transactional email overages, and automatic billing for contact limit exceeded. The duplicate contact charging means you could pay 2-3 times for the same subscriber across different audience lists, significantly inflating costs compared to competitors like MailerLite or Brevo that offer unlimited sends and don't charge for duplicates.
Feature Breakdown by Plan
| Feature | Free | Essentials | Standard | Premium |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 500 contacts | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ |
| 1000 emails/month | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Basic templates | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| 5000 emails/month | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Email templates | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| 6000 emails/month | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ |
| Automations | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ |
| A/B testing | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ |
| Unlimited contacts | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Unlimited emails | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Advanced segmentation | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
Team Cost Calculator
Estimated monthly costs based on team size (price per user × team members):
| Team Size | Essentials | Standard | Premium |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 users | $65/mo | $100/mo | $1,750/mo |
| 10 users | $130/mo | $200/mo | $3,500/mo |
| 25 users | $325/mo | $500/mo | $8,750/mo |
| 50 users | $650/mo | $1,000/mo | $17,500/mo |
Is Mailchimp Worth It?
The free plan lets you test core functionality before committing.
Paid plans range from $13/mo (Essentials) to $350/mo (Premium). Most users pick the Standard plan.
Best for: Small businesses, Beginners, Ecommerce. Keep in mind: expensive at scale.
Mailchimp Pros & Cons
- Easy to use
- Great free tier
- All-in-one features
- Good templates
- Strong integrations
- Expensive at scale
- Limited automation on free
- Pricing by contacts
- Support limited on lower tiers