Mailchimp pricing: plans, renewals and real cost

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How much is Mailchimp? On its US pricing page, checked 12 Nov 2026, the Free plan costs $0 for up to 250 contacts, Essentials starts at $13 a month, Standard at $20 a month, and Premium is listed at $350 a month for its 10,000-contact base tier. Those are starting prices for the smallest contact tier. Your real Mailchimp cost depends on how many contacts you store, and that includes people who have unsubscribed.

This page is desk research from Mailchimp's own pricing page and help docs, not an account test. Where Mailchimp's page only shows prices after you pick a contact count in a JavaScript selector, we say so instead of guessing.

Mailchimp plans and prices at a glance

Two things the table cannot show. First, the starting price covers only the 0 to 500 contact tier (10,000 for Premium). Mailchimp's selector has tiers from 501-1,500 all the way to 1,000,000+, and the price for each one loads in the browser, so we could not read it as text. Second, there is a separate offer: businesses with 10,000 or more contacts get 15% off for the first 12 months on Essentials, Standard or Premium.

To see what a list your size would cost on Mailchimp next to other platforms, the email marketing cost calculator lets you enter your contact count and compares monthly totals across nine platforms, marking which tiers we confirmed on official pages.

What the limits mean in practice

The send limit is a multiple of your contact limit, not of your actual list. On Standard at the 500-contact tier, the page says you can send up to 6,000 emails a month (500 x 12). On Premium at 10,000 contacts it says up to 150,000 (10,000 x 15). Essentials uses 10x.

Mailchimp's help article adds the storage caps: Essentials can hold up to 50,000 contacts, Standard up to 100,000, and Premium up to 200,000 before you move to a custom plan. Above 200,000 contacts, Mailchimp offers a high-volume plan through sales.

The feature gaps between plans matter more than the price gaps for some buyers:

• Automation: Free has none. Essentials allows flows of up to 4 steps. Standard and Premium allow up to 200 flows.
• Seats: 1 on Free, 3 on Essentials, 5 on Standard, unlimited on Premium.
• Custom-coded templates: you can create them on Free and Essentials but must upgrade to Standard to send them.
• Branded templates, custom reports and dynamic content: Standard and Premium only.
• Support: email and chat 24/7 on Essentials and Standard, phone and priority support on Premium.

What you pay in month 13

Mailchimp's plans are monthly by default, so there is no classic "intro price then renewal price" for small lists. The starting $13 and $20 prices are list prices, not first-year deals.

The exception is the 10,000+ contact offer. If you have that many contacts, the page offers 15% off your first 12 months. In month 13 the discount ends and you pay the normal price for your tier. Before you sign up, write down both the discounted figure and the undiscounted one shown for your tier, and budget for the higher one from month 13. The page also notes you keep the discount if you switch between Essentials, Standard and Premium during that year.

Annual plans are not listed on the self-serve page. Mailchimp says to call sales for custom pricing and annual plans on larger lists.

Hidden costs that raise the Mailchimp bill

Unsubscribed contacts still count. Mailchimp's help docs state that subscribed, non-subscribed and unsubscribed contacts all count toward your contact limit. A list of 500 people where 120 have unsubscribed is still 500 contacts for billing.

You are billed on the peak. Additional charges are based on "the peak contact total during your billing period". Import a list for one campaign, delete it a week later, and the peak still counts for that month.

Overages are automatic. If you go over your contact or send limit after the trial, Mailchimp bills extra add-on contact blocks rather than stopping your campaigns. The help article gives one example: on Standard, a block of 1,000 extra contacts includes 12,000 extra sends. The block price depends on your plan and tier and is only shown inside your account. On the Free plan, sending is paused instead.

The trial can move you up a tier. The pricing FAQ says that if your audience grows during the free trial to a point where another tier would be cheaper, Mailchimp may move you to that tier before billing starts.

Add-ons. SMS is a separate paid add-on in select countries, with monthly credits that do not roll over. Prices vary by country and are not on the main pricing page.

How to keep it down. Archived contacts do not count toward your billing tier, so archiving people who unsubscribed or never open is the main lever. Because billing uses the peak, archiving lowers future bills, not the current one. Accounts on a paid plan from before 15 May 2019 are on legacy pricing and are not affected by these additional charges.

Who each Mailchimp plan fits

Free fits a hobby list or a test of the editor. With 250 contacts, 500 sends a month and no automation, it runs out quickly once you send a weekly newsletter.

Essentials fits a small business sending regular newsletters to a few hundred contacts that needs scheduling, removal of Mailchimp branding and a basic welcome email. The 4-step automation cap is the limit you will hit first.

Standard fits shops and service businesses that want real automation (abandoned cart, multi-step welcome series), A/B testing, more seats and segmentation. At 500 contacts it costs only a few dollars more than Essentials for a much larger feature set.

Premium fits teams with 10,000+ contacts that need unlimited seats, phone support and onboarding help. At $350 a month as the starting point, compare it with sales-assisted plans elsewhere before committing.

Pay As You Go fits someone who sends a few campaigns a year. It has the same features as Essentials, but credits expire after 12 months.

If you are weighing Mailchimp against a specific rival, see Constant Contact vs Mailchimp or, for online stores, Mailchimp vs Klaviyo.

Cheaper alternatives to Mailchimp

Mailchimp is rarely the cheapest option at the same list size. Here are starting prices we verified on official pages on 10 Nov 2026:

• MailerLite: free plan for 250 subscribers; Comfort from $12 and Power from $25 a month at 500 subscribers. Full breakdown in MailerLite pricing.
• Omnisend: Standard from $16 a month at 500 contacts, built for e-commerce.
• HubSpot Marketing Hub Starter: $20 per seat a month with 1,000 marketing contacts, useful if you also want a CRM.
• Beehiiv: free Launch plan for up to 2,500 subscribers, aimed at newsletters rather than store marketing. See Beehiiv pricing.
• Brevo: another common switch for small senders; current plans and limits are in Brevo pricing.

For a wider list with limits side by side, read Mailchimp alternatives compared by price and limits, or go back to the email marketing software hub. If you are building a full small-business stack, our guide to the best AI SEO tools covers the next line in the budget.

FAQ

Why are people leaving Mailchimp?

The usual complaints are price and limits, and Mailchimp's own rules explain why. Starting prices cover only 500 contacts, unsubscribed contacts still count toward your tier, billing is based on your peak contact total, and the Free plan is capped at 250 contacts with no automation. Users with large, inactive lists often find platforms that charge by sends, or count only active subscribers, cost less.

Can I do email marketing for free?

Yes, for a small list. Mailchimp's Free plan allows 250 contacts and 500 sends a month, without automation and with Mailchimp branding. MailerLite's free plan also covers 250 subscribers, and Beehiiv's free Launch plan covers up to 2,500 subscribers for newsletters. Once you need automations or a larger list, expect to move to a paid plan on any of them.

What is the cheapest email marketing platform?

It depends on list size and how often you send. At 500 contacts, MailerLite Comfort starts at $12 a month versus $13 for Mailchimp Essentials, and free plans exist on MailerLite, Mailchimp and Beehiiv. For larger lists the gaps grow, so enter your contact count in our cost calculator to compare totals instead of starting prices.

Does Mailchimp charge for unsubscribed contacts?

Yes. Mailchimp's help center states that subscribed, non-subscribed and unsubscribed contacts all count toward your contact limit. Archived, cleaned and deleted contacts do not. To stop paying for people who left, archive them; because billing uses your peak contact total in the period, the saving shows up from the next billing period, not the current one.