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The world's most popular email marketing platform for small businesses
Mailchimp invented the modern email marketing category and remains the most widely used platform globally with 11M+ active users. Its free plan is genuinely useful — 500 contacts and 1,000 emails/month with access to most core features. The template library and drag-and-drop builder make creating professional emails accessible to non-designers. However, Mailchimp has faced criticism for rising prices, aggressive contact counting (you pay for unsubscribed contacts), and an increasingly complex UI. For businesses under 2,000 contacts, Mailchimp is hard to beat. For larger lists, ConvertKit or ActiveCampaign often deliver better value and deliverability.
Small businesses, local businesses, early-stage startups, bloggers just starting
Creators needing advanced sequences, e-commerce needing deep behavioral automation
Drag-and-drop email designer with 100+ mobile-responsive templates and AI writing assistance
Contact tagging, segmentation, and predictive demographics to send the right message to the right person
Triggered email sequences for welcome series, abandoned cart, birthday emails, and re-engagement campaigns
Open rates, click maps, revenue attribution, and A/B testing across campaigns
Built-in landing page builder for list growth without needing a separate tool
Mailchimp is perfect for small businesses just getting started with email marketing. The free plan buys you time to validate your list before paying. Once you hit 2,000+ contacts or need advanced automation, evaluate ConvertKit (for creators) or ActiveCampaign (for e-commerce/B2B) — both offer better automation at similar prices.
Yes — Mailchimp's free plan includes 500 contacts and 1,000 email sends per month with no credit card required. You get basic templates, a landing page builder, and the core email editor. Paid plans start at $13/mo when you need more contacts or features.
Mailchimp counts all audience members toward your contact limit — including unsubscribes and people who never confirmed. This practice inflates your effective list cost significantly. You can archive these contacts manually, but it's a known pain point. ActiveCampaign and ConvertKit only charge for active contacts.
Mailchimp for small businesses and local businesses needing simple newsletters. ConvertKit for creators, bloggers, and course sellers who need advanced automations, tag-based segmentation, and better deliverability. ConvertKit's free plan goes to 1,000 subscribers vs Mailchimp's 500.