Mailchimp Pricing in 2026: Free to $135 Standard Bands
Mailchimp's ladder runs from a free plan (250 contacts, 500 monthly sends) through Essentials ($13/mo at 500 contacts), Standard ($20/mo at 500 contacts, $100 at 5,000, $135 at 10,000) — all priced per contact. Here's what each tier gates, where the overage traps sit, and when the famous monkey earns its bananas.
Verify live pricing: figures below reflect the official page at research time for the smallest contact tier. Confirm at mailchimp.com/pricing before purchasing.
TL;DR
- Free — $0: 250 contacts, 500 monthly sends, basic templates — a trial in all but name.
- Essentials $13/mo at 500 contacts: 5,000 sends, A/B testing basics, no Mailchimp badge.
- Standard $20/mo at 500 contacts: 6,000 sends, journeys, predictive segmentation, creative assistant — $100 at 5,000 contacts, $135 at 10,000.
- Premium for large lists: 10,000+ contacts, multivariate testing, dedicated onboarding — slide to your band on the vendor page.
- Model: per-contact pricing — every price above climbs steeply with list size.
The tiers, explained
Free — 250 contacts, 500 sends/month
Mailchimp's free plan covers 250 contacts and 500 monthly sends (capped at 250 sends a day), with basic templates, one audience, and the Mailchimp badge on every email. Support is limited to the first 30 days. Compared with Kit's free 10,000 subscribers or Brevo's 300 emails a day, this is the stingiest free tier among major tools — treat it as an evaluation sandbox for testing the editor and one automation, not as a home for a growing list.
Essentials — $13/month at 500 contacts
Essentials ($13/month for 500 contacts, monthly billing) raises limits to 5,000 monthly sends, removes the badge, and adds A/B testing basics, 3 seats, and 3 audiences. It's the minimum viable paid Mailchimp: fine for a small business sending a monthly newsletter with light testing. Creators hit its ceiling fast — only 4 customer-journey steps and no predictive segmentation — which makes it a stepping stone most senders cross within a year.
Standard — $20/month at 500 contacts
Standard ($20/month for 500 contacts with 6,000 sends, monthly billing) is the real product: full customer journeys with up to 200 flow steps, predictive segmentation, send-time optimization, the AI creative assistant, and dynamic content. Ecommerce sellers get abandoned-cart flows and product recommendations here. Most creators who stay with Mailchimp land on Standard — it contains everything the marketing promises, at a still-reasonable entry price that unfortunately scales hard with contacts: $100/mo in the 2,501–5,000 band and $135/mo at 5,001–10,000.
Premium — large lists, vendor slider pricing
Premium (aimed at 10,000+ contacts with high send allowances) adds multivariate testing, comparative reporting, unlimited seats, phone support, and dedicated onboarding. This is agency and mid-market territory — no solo creator should start here, and most should never arrive. If your list genuinely justifies a Premium-size invoice, you should be comparison-shopping ActiveCampaign (Starter $15/mo at 1,000 contacts) and Customer.io (Essentials $100/mo) rather than defaulting to the monkey — slide to your exact band on the vendor page first.
The per-contact traps: overages and scaling
| Contacts | Standard cost | What stings |
|---|---|---|
| 500 | $20/mo | Entry price looks cheap |
| 2,501–5,000 | $100/mo | 5× the entry for 10× the list |
| 5,001–10,000 | $135/mo | Unsubscribed contacts can still count |
| Larger bands | Slide on the vendor page | Volume tools cost a fraction |
Three Mailchimp-specific gotchas: unsubscribed and non-subscribed contacts count toward your billable total on some configurations, so archive ruthlessly; exceeding contact or send limits triggers automatic overage billing rather than paused sends; and key AI and automation features (predictive segments, multivariate tests) sit behind Standard and Premium gates. The famous brand is funded by this pricing engine — budget accordingly.
Mailchimp vs. the alternatives on price
Against budget rivals there is little contest on price: MailerLite Comfort ($12/mo at 500 subscribers) and Brevo Starter ($9/mo for 5,000 monthly emails) undercut equivalent Mailchimp tiers while offering friendlier free plans. A 5,000-contact list costs $100/mo on Mailchimp Standard against $12–$18 on those two — an $82+/mo gap that funds a lot of design compromise.
Mailchimp's honest advantages are template variety, brand familiarity, and ecommerce integrations — choose it when design polish and a 300+ app marketplace matter more than per-send economics, then prune contacts quarterly to contain the bill.
Cost scenarios
| Scenario | Estimated monthly cost | Plan |
|---|---|---|
| Solo creator — 250 contacts, 500 sends/mo | $0 | Free |
| Growing list — 5,000 contacts | $100/mo in the 2,501–5,000 band | Standard |
| Scaled list — 10,000 contacts | $135/mo in the 5,001–10,000 band (Premium varies by band — check the slider) | Standard or Premium |
These figures track the scaling table above at the smallest contacts-per-tier pricing — your exact invoice depends on the contact slider and how many records count as billable. Archive aggressively to hold the lower rungs.
Hidden fees & fine print
- Unsubscribed and non-subscribed contacts can count toward your billable total — archive quarterly or pay for ghosts.
- Exceeding contact or send limits triggers automatic overage billing rather than paused sends.
- Headline prices ($13/$20) apply only to the smallest contact tier — every list jump repricing applies on top.
- Predictive segmentation, send-time optimization, and deep journeys sit behind Standard; multivariate testing and phone support behind Premium.
- Free-plan support lasts only 30 days, and every email carries the Mailchimp badge until you reach Essentials.
Mailchimp pricing FAQs
What does Mailchimp Free actually include?
250 contacts, 500 monthly sends (250/day max), basic templates, one audience, and one seat — with the Mailchimp badge attached and support only for the first 30 days. Enough to evaluate the platform; not enough to grow on.
What's the real difference between Essentials ($13) and Standard ($20)?
Standard unlocks the automation that matters: full customer journeys (200 steps vs. 4), predictive segmentation, send-time optimization, dynamic content, and the creative assistant. Most creators skip Essentials or pass through it quickly — Standard is the tier the product tours actually demonstrate.
Do unsubscribed contacts count toward my bill?
Mailchimp's billable contact count can include unsubscribed and non-subscribed contacts depending on configuration — archived contacts don't count. Audit your audience quarterly and archive the dead weight; on per-contact pricing, hygiene is money.
When should I leave Mailchimp for a volume-priced tool?
When your bill is driven by free readers who never buy (lead magnets, big newsletters) rather than customers. Brevo's Starter at $9/mo for 5,000 monthly emails or Sender's Standard at $6.30/mo collapse that problem; many creators migrate around 2,000–5,000 contacts when the Mailchimp curve bends upward from $20 toward $100.
Does Mailchimp charge overage fees?
Yes — when you exceed contact or send limits, Mailchimp bills the overage automatically instead of stopping your sends. That keeps campaigns going but makes an unpruned audience expensive; set alerts near 80% of your allowance.
Why is my bill higher than the advertised $13 or $20?
Headline prices apply only to the smallest contact tier — the slider reprices as your list grows, and billable contacts can include unsubscribed records. Check your audience settings, then archive the dead weight before next cycle.
Where do I confirm current Mailchimp pricing?
On the official page at mailchimp.com/pricing. Use the contact slider for your exact list size — the headline $13/$20 figures apply only to the smallest tiers — and compare with our pricing hub.