Email review
Mailchimp
The grandfather of email marketing. Still works, still has the integrations, but the pricing has gotten steep and the UX has not kept up.
Last hands-on test:
Two weeks on the Standard tier with a real 1,800-subscriber list. Tested broadcasts, the welcome automation, the new AI subject-line tool, and the export flow.
At a glance
- Pricing
- Free up to 500 contacts; Essentials from $13/mo; Standard from $20/mo
- Category
- Last hands-on test
- Best for
- Tiny lists with no growth ambition, or businesses already deeply integrated everywhere with Mailchimp who would rather not migrate.
Disclosure: Some links on this page are affiliate links. I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend tools I've used and would happily suggest to a friend.
Benchmarks
How Mailchimp actually scores.
Five axes that matter for a one-person business. Each score is editorial, 1–10, higher is better. A tool that maxes every axis doesn't exist; the shape of the chart is the signal.
- Price
- Value for a one-person budget
- Solo fit
- Built with solo operators in mind
- Learning curve
- How fast a beginner gets useful work done
- Lock-in
- How easy it is to leave (high = easy)
- Support
- Quality and responsiveness of help
Scores are set by the editor after hands-on use and revised as the tool evolves. They're not paid for and don't change based on affiliate partnerships.
The case for
- Brand recognition: every CMS, e-commerce platform, and form builder integrates with it
- Free tier covers up to 500 contacts, fine for testing
- Lots of templates and a familiar editor if you used it years ago
The case against
- Pricing climbs aggressively past 500 contacts: 1,500 contacts is roughly $30/mo Essentials
- Counts unsubscribed contacts toward your tier limit (yes, really)
- UX feels dated next to Beehiiv, Kit, or even Substack
- Deliverability has slipped in recent independent reviews
- Automations require Standard tier, which jumps the price further
What Mailchimp gets right
Brand recognition. If you have ever signed up for an email list, there is a 60% chance it was sent through Mailchimp. Almost every website builder, e-commerce platform, and form tool has a native integration. If you ask a friend to recommend an email tool, this is the name they remember.
The free tier is also still real: up to 500 contacts, basic sending. For a side project, a tiny membership, or someone who sends one email a month, that is plenty.
Where it loses
The pricing curve. Past 500 contacts, the Essentials plan kicks in at $13/mo, and that is for 500 contacts. By 1,500 contacts you are at roughly $30/mo on Essentials. By 5,000 contacts, Essentials is around $75/mo. For comparison, Beehiiv is free up to 2,500 subscribers, and Kit is free up to 10,000.
The contact-counting rules are also infamous. Mailchimp counts everyone in your audience toward your tier, including unsubscribed contacts and bounces, unless you actively archive them. Most users do not realise this until they get billed. There is a way to clean it up but it is hidden.
The product itself has aged. The editor still has the warm yellow-and-black aesthetic of mid-2010s SaaS. Modern competitors feel ten years newer. Email automations require the Standard plan, which jumps you to $20/mo+, and the visual builder is less flexible than Kit's.
Independent deliverability tests over the last year or two have consistently shown Mailchimp scoring lower than Kit, Beehiiv, MailerLite, and Postmark for transactional. That is not a fatal flaw, but it is not a selling point either.
When it still makes sense
- You are already using it everywhere and the migration cost is real.
- You have a list under 500 contacts that you do not expect to grow.
- You need an integration that only Mailchimp supports (rare in 2026, but it happens).
What to use instead
For most one-person businesses today:
- Beehiiv if you are publishing a newsletter for content monetisation.
- Kit if you have a digital product or course and want sequences and tags.
- Buttondown or Postmark Newsletters if you want a developer-shaped, simpler tool.
Verdict
If you already use it and it works, do not migrate just for the sake of it. If you are choosing a new email tool today, look elsewhere first. Mailchimp is the safe-but-mediocre option in a category that has moved on.
Related reading: our complete email marketing setup guide for one-person businesses.
Bottom line
Ready to try Mailchimp?
Tiny lists with no growth ambition, or businesses already deeply integrated everywhere with Mailchimp who would rather not migrate.
Disclosure: Some links on this page are affiliate links. I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend tools I've used and would happily suggest to a friend.
Compare Mailchimp with the alternatives
Side-by-side reviews of the other Email tools we've covered.
2.5/5 vs 3.5/5 · Free up to 2,500 subscribers; paid plans from $39/mo
Mailchimp vs Kit (formerly ConvertKit)
2.5/5 vs 3.5/5 · Free up to 10,000 subscribers; Creator $25/mo; Creator Pro $50/mo
2.5/5 vs 3.5/5 · Free for up to 1,000 subscribers and 12k emails/mo. Growing Business from $9/mo
2.5/5 vs 3.5/5 · Free to start. Substack takes 10% of paid subscription revenue + Stripe fees
Switching?
Migrating to or from Mailchimp
Step-by-step guides from the editor. Time estimates, deliverability check, and the things most people get wrong.
Living document
What did we miss about Mailchimp?
Every review evolves. Spot something wrong, missing, or out of date — drop a note. The most useful ones land in our monthly "Reader corrections" post, with credit if you're up for it.
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