Sales Loves Marketing
Acquired by Intuit in November 2021; still sold under the Mailchimp name (Intuit Mailchimp).
- Best for
- Small businesses and e-commerce stores that want easy email campaigns and basic automation
- Starting price
- Starts at $13 per month
- Free plan
- ✓ Yes
- Free trial
- ✓ Yes
Mailchimp is an email marketing platform for small and mid-sized businesses. You use it to build a contact list, design and send email campaigns, and automate messages such as a welcome series. Intuit, the maker of QuickBooks, has owned it since November 2021.
Who is Mailchimp for?
Mailchimp is built for small businesses, online stores and marketers who want to send good-looking emails without a developer. It connects to more than 300 apps, including Shopify, WooCommerce, Salesforce and QuickBooks. B2B teams with long sales cycles and a CRM-led process often look at more sales-focused tools, covered at the end of this page.
What are Mailchimp's main features?
Email campaigns and templates
The drag-and-drop builder and pre-built templates let you create a campaign quickly. Higher plans add branded templates, custom-coded templates and dynamic content that changes by reader. You can A/B test subject lines and content, and schedule sends. Send time optimisation suggests when to send.
Automation flows
Flows send emails automatically based on triggers such as a sign-up, a date like a birthday, a purchase or an action in your app. A welcome series and a drip campaign are the classic examples. Essentials limits flows to four steps; Standard and Premium allow up to 200 flows. Read our guide to drip marketing for ideas.
Audience management and AI
Mailchimp includes a simple marketing CRM with tags, segments, sign-up forms and surveys. On Standard and Premium you get predictive segments and generative AI that drafts copy and subject lines.
SMS and transactional email
SMS marketing is a paid add-on in selected countries. Transactional email, the product formerly called Mandrill, sends order confirmations and other one-to-one messages through an API. It is priced separately. Our article on email deliverability explains why these messages need their own setup.
How much does Mailchimp cost?
Prices below were checked on Mailchimp's pricing page in US dollars on 1 November 2026 for the smallest contact tier. Prices rise with your number of contacts.
| Plan | Starting price | Main limits |
|---|---|---|
| Free | Free under 250 contacts | Core features only |
| Essentials | Starts at $13 per month | 3 seats, flows up to 4 steps |
| Standard | Starts at $20 per month | 5 seats, up to 200 flows, AI features |
| Premium | Starts at $350 per month | Unlimited seats, priority support |
Essentials and Standard come with a 14-day free trial. Sending pauses if you go over your contact or monthly send limit, and overages apply on paid plans. Nonprofits can ask for a 15% discount. Transactional email costs $20 per block of 25,000 emails for the first 20 blocks, on top of a marketing plan.
What do users say about Mailchimp?
On G2, Intuit Mailchimp Email Marketing holds 4.3 out of 5 from about 13,000 reviews. Reviewers most often praise its ease of use and its email marketing tools. The most common complaints are that it is expensive and that some features are limited. Its quality of support score on G2 (8.0 out of 10) is its lowest rating.
When should you choose an alternative?
- You need sales automation and a CRM together: look at ActiveCampaign or HubSpot.
- You send product-led, event-based emails from your app: see Customer.io.
- You want an all-in-one suite on a small budget: consider EngageBay.
- For B2B tactics, read our guide to email marketing for B2B businesses.
Key features
- Email builder and templates. Drag-and-drop email builder with pre-built and custom-coded templates.
- Marketing automation flows. Automated emails triggered by sign-ups, dates, purchases or behaviour, with up to 200 flows on Standard and Premium.
- Segmentation and personalisation. Tags, segments, predictive segments and dynamic content that changes per reader.
- Generative AI. AI help for writing copy and subject lines, included at no extra cost on Standard and Premium.
- SMS marketing. SMS campaigns as a paid add-on in selected countries.
- Transactional email. Order confirmations and other one-to-one emails sent by API, sold separately in blocks of 25,000 emails.
Mailchimp pricing
| Plan | Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Free | Free for under 250 contacts | Core features only; sending pauses if you pass the contact or send limit |
| Essentials | Starts at $13 per month | 3 seats, 3 audiences, sends up to 10 times your contact count per month, flows of up to 4 steps |
| Standard | Starts at $20 per month | 5 seats, 5 audiences, up to 200 automation flows, generative AI features, sends up to 12 times your contact count |
| Premium | Starts at $350 per month | Unlimited seats and audiences, phone and priority support, sends up to 15 times your contact count |
Mailchimp FAQ
Is Mailchimp free?
Mailchimp has a basic free plan for businesses with fewer than 250 contacts. Paid plans start with Essentials, and Essentials and Standard both come with a 14-day free trial.
How much does Mailchimp cost?
On 1 November 2026 the US pricing page listed Essentials from $13 per month and Standard from $20 per month for the smallest contact tier. Prices rise with the number of contacts. Premium started at $350 per month.
Who owns Mailchimp?
Intuit, the company behind QuickBooks, completed its acquisition of Mailchimp in November 2021. The product is still called Mailchimp.
Can Mailchimp send transactional emails?
Yes, through Mailchimp Transactional Email (formerly Mandrill). It is priced separately at $20 per block of 25,000 emails for the first 20 blocks, on top of a Mailchimp marketing plan.