Mailchimp Review | What It Does, Pricing, Alternatives, My Verdict
EMAIL MARKETING · TOOL REVIEW

Mailchimp

★★★★★

The name everybody knows and no longer the tool I would choose. Priced above its competition on reputation.

CATEGORY
Email platform
PRICE
Free / Paid
MY RATING
3 / 5
LINK TYPE
Affiliate
BEST FOR
Teams who need the most familiar option

What it is

Mailchimp is the best-known email marketing platform, offering campaigns, automation, landing pages, forms and basic CRM features.

It defined the category and its pricing has drifted well above comparable tools while its feature advantage has disappeared.

I still use it where a client is already established on it and moving would cost more than staying, and I would not start a new list here.

What it does

Campaign building with a polished editor and a large template library, which remains genuinely good.

Automation covers welcome series, abandoned cart and behavioural triggers, though the better journey features sit in higher tiers.

Landing pages, forms, surveys and a basic contact management layer are included.

Its integration library is the largest in the category, which matters if you depend on connections to niche software.

Who it's for

01Businesses already established on it with working automations.
02Teams where familiarity across staff matters.
03Companies needing an unusual integration only Mailchimp supports.
04Organisations whose agencies and contractors all know it.
05Anyone valuing the polished editor above price.

Features

Polished campaign editor
The best template library in the category.
Automation
Welcome, behavioural and abandoned cart journeys.
Landing pages and forms
Included across tiers.
Largest integration library
Connects to more software than any rival.
Reporting
Solid campaign and revenue reporting.
Basic audience management
Light CRM features.

Pros and cons

PROS
Most polished editor and template library.
Largest integration ecosystem.
Everybody in your team probably knows it.
Reliable deliverability infrastructure.
Extensive documentation and tutorials.
CONS
Considerably more expensive than equivalent platforms.
Counts unsubscribed contacts toward your limit on some plans.
Free tier substantially reduced over the years.
Automation weaker than ActiveCampaign at higher prices.
No longer better than cheaper rivals at anything but polish.

Pricing

PLAN WHAT YOU GET WORTH IT FOR
Free Very limited contacts and monthly sends. Testing only.
Essentials Basic automation and support. Small lists, though rivals cost less.
Standard Better automation and journeys. The tier most businesses land on.
Premium Advanced segmentation and reporting. Larger operations.

Priced by contacts with tier restrictions, and typically the most expensive of the mainstream options at any given list size. Check how your plan counts unsubscribed contacts.

MY RECOMMENDED PLAN

None for a new list. If you are already on it and everything works, the Standard tier is the sensible place to sit while you decide whether migrating is worth the effort.

Alternatives

MailerLite
Roughly half the price with comparable capability. My default recommendation.
Kit
Better for creators and content-led email.
Klaviyo
The e-commerce answer.
Brevo
Cheaper for large lists mailed occasionally.

My verdict

Mailchimp built this category and no longer leads it. The editor is the nicest and the integration library the largest, and neither justifies paying roughly double MailerLite for the same job.

If you are already on it with working automations and a trained team, staying is defensible. Migration costs real time and introduces risk, and the saving may not cover it.

For a new list, I would not start here. MailerLite for value, Kit for creators, Klaviyo for stores. Mailchimp's remaining advantage is that everybody has heard of it.

Try Mailchimp →

Who should use it

01Businesses already established on it and working well.
02Teams where staff familiarity matters most.
03Companies needing an integration only Mailchimp offers.
04Anyone who values the editor above the price difference.

Who should avoid it

01Anyone starting a new list.
02Budget-conscious small businesses.
03Creators, better served by Kit.
04E-commerce stores, better served by Klaviyo.

Affiliate disclosure

Some links on this page are affiliate links. If you buy through one, I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you, and it never changes the price you pay. It also does not decide what appears on this page: I recommend tools with no affiliate programme just as readily, and leave off tools with generous ones when they do not deserve the space.

All recommended tools Last reviewed September 2026