Looking for some Mailchimp alternatives to help you with email marketing (be it for ecommerce or your business overall)? Mailchimp may be one of the most well-known names in email marketing, but that doesn’t mean it’s the ideal option for you (I mean, people still like Pepsi, right?).
Plus, Mailchimp made a big change to its pricing for legacy customers in 2022, which might have you running for the exits after seeing the changes in your bill.
However, digging through the array of email marketing services out there is a waste of time. Some don’t do what you need, some are less functional at a higher price…it sucks.
To make your research a lot easier, we’ve gathered eight of the best Mailchimp alternatives in one place. As the title suggests, many of these are cheaper alternatives to Mailchimp, which can provide you with similar functionality for a lower price. However, we also included a couple that will cost a little more, but offer better functionality in key areas like automation and personalization.
Whatever your reasons are for looking up companies like Mailchimp, one of these alternatives should fit the bill. Let’s dive in…
Here’s the short version. In case you’re in a hurry and just want to get a recommendation:
Alternative | Cheaper than Mailchimp? * | Most unique feature vs Mailchimp | Free plan? | Price (paid plan starts at) |
---|---|---|---|---|
Brevo (Sendinblue) | ✅ | Clearer analytics & good WordPress plugin | ✅ | $8.08 per month |
Sendy | ✅ | No Monthly Fees | ❌ | $69 one-time + $0.10 per 1k emails sent |
AWeber | ✅ | Allows affiliate links | ✅ | $12.50 per month |
ConvertKit | ❌ | Automation | ✅ | $9.00 per month |
MailPoet | ✅ | WordPress plugin | ✅ | $8 per month |
Campaign Monitor | ❌ | Automation & personalization | ❌ | $9 per month |
Constant Contact | ❌ | Segmentation options for ecommerce | ❌ | $12.00 per month |
TinyLetter | ✅ | Simplicity & 100% free | ✅ | 100% free |
*The price depends on your usage. It might not be cheaper than Mailchimp in 100% of situations.
What makes for a good Mailchimp alternative?
So what makes something a good alternative to Mailchimp (for marketers, ecommerce, business owners, personal)? Well, first off, some people don’t like that their pricing plans are rather strict and can quickly escalate your spending if you go over the allowed quotas. Also, Mailchimp’s free plans limit your access to some features. For example, customer support is limited to the first 30 days and is via email only.
As we mentioned in the introduction, Mailchimp also raised its prices for legacy customers in 2022, which made a lot of long-time Mailchimp customers upset.
You’ll find other little gripes – like no custom unsubscribe page or poor A/B testing reporting. But for the most part, this is about finding tools that will do just as good a job for less money.
While there are some other great alternatives on the market, like GetResponse or Active Campaign, those end up being much more expensive in the end, so we decided not to feature them on this list.
As a reminder, Mailchimp’s free plan supports 500 contacts, with 2,500 sends per month and a daily limit of 500. Keep that in mind as we go through the alternatives!
Best Mailchimp alternatives that are either more functional or cheaper
Most of these email marketing services are cheaper Mailchimp alternatives, while we also included two options that offer more detailed functionality in key areas (but not a lower price).
1. Brevo (Sendinblue) (www.brevo.com)
Brevo’s free plan supports unlimited contacts, which is already a big upgrade. It’s not all good, though – there’s also a limit of 300 emails per day, which is lower than Mailchimp’s monthly limit. But if you have a lot of contacts that you email infrequently, you might come out ahead.
Additionally, Brevo has a really detailed WordPress plugin, so that’s another advantage over Mailchimp if you’re using WordPress.
Beyond that, we also think Brevo’s analytics are easier to understand (Brevo (Sendinblue) is what we use here at CodeinWP so we have firsthand experience).
Pricing
You can get started for free. From there, there are two main paid plans. The Starter, which costs $8.08 per month, and the Business, which starts at $65 per month. Both support up to 20,000 emails every month. The main differences between the two are that the Business plan offers some unique perks that you don’t get on the Starter plan.
Brevo also offers custom plans for enterprise solutions. Those start at $1,000 per month, but that’s not going to be relevant to most of you reading this article.
The important thing is that Brevo doesn’t limit the number of subscribers you can have on your email list. You can have peace of mind, knowing that Brevo won’t take a bigger piece of your pie as you continue to grow your business.
Features
- quickly create a campaign (intuitive email newsletter builder, HTML editor, dynamic fields, responsive emails)
- advanced segmentation and audience targeting (import files, dynamic lists, create forms)
- manage your subscriber data via a CRM (there’s also HubSpot syncing)
- SMTP features for transactional email
- SMS marketing and a landing page builder
- advanced analytics and tracking (real-time statistics, export data, list of openers and clickers)
- autoresponder campaigns to automate emails (welcome messages, birthday wishes)
- user-friendly website integration (APIs, WordPress, Magento, WooCommerce, Shopify, and Prestashop plugins)
- fast customer support
Use Brevo (Sendinblue) if you…
First, if you want a free Mailchimp alternative, Brevo is attractive because it lets you have unlimited contacts on the free plan (though it only lets you send 300 emails per day). The paid plans are also unique in that they charge based on how many emails you send, not how many subscribers you have.
Beyond that, we’ve found it to have better analytics than Mailchimp, and the Brevo WordPress plugin makes it easy to run email marketing campaigns from your dashboard. Then, the deliverability is nothing short of great.
2. Sendy (sendy.co)
The big benefit of Sendy is its price. Because it’s a self-hosted tool that you install on your own server, it’s able to undercut Mailchimp’s prices while still offering the most important features.
Once you install Sendy on your own server, you’ll connect to Amazon SES to send the actual emails, which costs just $0.0001 per email (maybe an easier way to look at that is $1 per 10,000 emails). Plus, there’s no cost for more subscribers, which makes it a great option for big lists.
Working with Sendy on an everyday basis is really easy. All you have to do is write as you normally would in a text-editor-like environment and then send your campaign out. After that, you get access to the most important stats.
Pricing
There’s a one-time payment to get the actual Sendy software – $69. After that, pay-as-you-go – $0.0001 per email.
Features
- multiple brands (manage multiple products and services)
- lists and subscribers (mass import/delete subscribers, custom fields, single/double opt-in, custom subscribe/unsubscribe confirmation page, thank you/goodbye emails, subscribe form or API to add users)
- send newsletters via Amazon SES
- advanced analytics and reports
- automatic bounce, complaint and unsubscribe handling (no manual post campaign cleanups)
- custom fields (create more personalized content for your clients)
- autoresponders
Use Sendy if you…
Have lots of subscribers and want to save money. Compared to some of the other companies like Mailchimp on this list, Sendy is probably the most unique, because there’s no cost per subscriber and the cost per email is very low.
This means the potential for savings is huge – especially if you’re planning to send a large number of emails. It might not be a completely free Mailchimp alternative, but it’s arguably the next best thing.
If you’re privacy conscious, that might be another reason to like Sendy because you’re able to keep everything on your server.
3. AWeber (www.aweber.com)
AWeber is a full-service email marketing platform that comes in just a little bit cheaper than Mailchimp. While there are a lot of similarities when it comes to features and pricing, one big difference is that AWeber lets you use affiliate links in your emails, while Mailchimp bans most affiliate links.
If you engage in a lot of affiliate marketing, that might be something to tip the scales in AWeber’s favor.
Pricing
Aweber offers a free plan for up to 500 subscribers. Premium Plans start at $12.50 per month with more features such as unlimited emails, split testing, email marketing automation, and more. Further tiers are $26.15 (up to 2,500 subscribers), $46.15 (up to 5,000 subscribers), and so on. All plans allow for unlimited email sends.
Features
- autoresponder functionality and drip campaigns
- list segmentation
- 6,000+ stock photos to use in your emails
- 700+ email templates and a drag-and-drop editor
- integrations with most popular services
- sign-up forms (also work as popups)
- unlimited landing pages
Use AWeber if you…
Are looking for something that’s a little bit cheaper than Mailchimp and will let you use affiliate links in the emails that you send.
4. ConvertKit (convertkit.com)
ConvertKit is an email marketing software targeted towards “creators”. “Creators” are bloggers, online course instructors, artists, etc.
If that’s you, then you’ll want to give it a look because ConvertKit has built their entire platform with creators in mind. Otherwise, you might want one of the other cheaper Mailchimp alternatives.
Some areas where ConvertKit excels is a really nice segmentation and email automation tool (it gives you a visual interface to make for a nice automation platform). ConvertKit also offers a cool feature that lets you create a paid newsletter, similar to Substack.
Pricing
ConvertKit offers a nice free forever plan that supports up to 300 subscribers.
Then, there are two premium plans – Creator and Creator Pro.
Creator starts at $9.00 for up to 300 subscribers and goes up from there. For example, 1,000 subscribers costs $25 per month and 3,000 subscribers costs $41 per month.
For advanced features like Facebook custom audiences, newsletter referral system and more, you’d have to move to the higher-tier Creator Pro plan, which starts at $25 per month for up to 300 subscribers and goes up from there.
All plans allow unlimited email sends.
Features
- email automation features and a visual workflow builder
- good-looking forms and customization features – you can then embed those forms on your site or share on social media
- easy segmentation/tagging system
- customizable email designs
- detailed subscriber management
- Facebook Lead Ads integration via Zapier
- integrates with third-party ecommerce platforms and online stores
- option to create paid newsletters like Substack
Use ConvertKit if you…
Are a creator who’s looking for an easy way to set up email automation workflows to connect with your audience. Compared to many of the other companies like Mailchimp, it’s not one of the cheaper Mailchimp alternatives, but it really shines on functionality. That’s the key differentiator here, and why you’d want to consider using it for your email marketing needs.
5. MailPoet (www.mailpoet.com)
The most unique thing about MailPoet is that it’s a WordPress plugin that lets you manage all your email marketing efforts from inside your WordPress dashboard. That makes it one of the best Mailchimp alternatives for WordPress users.
Its free plan only supports up to 1,000 subscribers, but it’s still a better value for a lot of people because you can send up to 5,000 emails per month to those 1,000 subscribers.
This assumes you’re using MailPoet’s dedicated email sending service*. You also have the option to use your own sending service, kind of like Sendy. If you do that, you can sign up for their cheapest paid plan – the Creator – at only $8 per month, billed monthly.
That plan supports up to 500 subscribers and allows you to send unlimited emails per month. It also comes with some other nice features, including priority support, subscriber segmentation, and advanced analytics.
If the Creator plan isn’t a good fit for your email marketing needs because you do want to use Mailpoet’s sending service, then you can purchase the Business plan, which starts at $10 per month, billed monthly.
The Business plan is nearly identical to the Creator plan, with the one added perk being the use of the MailPoet sending service.
*MailPoet’s sending service is designed to handle the demands of WordPress and sends your emails for you. It lets you send over 50,000 emails per hour, with unparalleled speed and performance, and over 99% uptime.
Pricing
Free for up to 1,000 subscribers with 5,000 emails per month. Then, you can either:
- Upgrade to the Business plan for $10 per month to get unlimited emails and other value-added features.
- Choose the entry-level Creator plan at $8 per month. This gives you all of the benefits of the Business plan but without access to Mailpoet’s sending service.
- Select the Agency plan if you need email marketing for many websites. It can be used on up to 50 sites with up to 500 subscribers per site, starting at $30 per month.
Features
- works inside your WordPress dashboard
- visual, drag-and-drop email editor
- sends your latest posts automatically
- autoresponders
- special WooCommerce integrations including abandoned cart emails and post-purchase follow-ups
- single and double opt-in
- over 70 themes (Photoshop files included)
- statistics and analytics (opens, clicks, unsubscribes)
- drag-and-drop subscription form designer
- newsletters ready for mobile devices
- list segmentation and organization in categories
Use MailPoet if you…
Landed here looking for companies like Mailchimp, but that let you do all of your email marketing work from inside your WordPress dashboard instead of an external site.
Additionally, it can also come out to be a lot cheaper than Mailchimp, especially if you have a lot of subscribers split across multiple websites.
In theory, if you owned 50 websites and all of them had no more than 500 subscribers, then you could send emails to 25,000 people for $30 a month. While it’s unlikely that someone would match that criteria exactly, it gives you an idea of the maximum theoretical value of their Agency plan.
6. Campaign Monitor (www.campaignmonitor.com)
Campaign Monitor is not one of the cheaper Mailchimp alternatives. But if you’re willing to pay a little more for detailed automation and personalization functionality, it’s certainly a viable alternative.
Campaign Monitor makes it very easy to personalize your emails. And you also get a great-looking automation flow builder that rivals ConvertKit. That, along with a well-designed interface, is why you might want to pay a little more for Campaign Monitor.
They also have a unique SMS sending feature. It’s an additional paid add-on that you can purchase on top of an existing email marketing plan. The caveat is that it’s only available to paying clients who want to send SMS text messages within the USA, UK, Australia or Canada. Despite the geo-limitations, it’s a nice optional tool that might come in handy, depending on your business needs.
Pricing
Campaign Monitor lets you create an account for free but requires a paid plan for more than 5 subscribers. Paid plans start at $9 per month and vary in price based on both features and number of subscribers.
Features
- visual “journey designer” helps you set up detailed automation flows
- detailed customer data on each subscriber, including an option to deliver emails at each individual subscriber’s optimal time
- dynamic segmentation
- easy personalization
- detailed analytics
- functional email builder tool
- optional SMS texting feature in select markets (and for additional cost)
Use Campaign Monitor if you…
Are focused on automation and personalization, though you will pay a little more for those advanced features.
7. Constant Contact (www.constantcontact.com)
Constant Contact is a robust email marketing platform that offers advanced features like list segmentation with ecommerce segmentation options, advanced analytics, and subject line A/B testing.
Constant Contact also offers a variety of more general marketing tools, including shoppable landing pages, management tools for Facebook and Instagram ads, and event management/ticket sales tools.
Members can even host their websites on the Constant Contact servers. That makes it more comprehensive than a lot of the other companies like Mailchimp featured on this list.
Pricing
Constant Contact offers two email plans and starts off at $12.00 per month for the Core plan. It supports email lists of up to 500 subscribers. The price gradually increases as your list grows, capping out at $300 a month for lists with between 45,001-50,000 subscribers.
If your email subscriber list is over 50K, you will automatically be bumped up to the Plus plan, and you’ll need to contact them to discuss pricing. This makes it one of the more expensive Mailchimp alternatives, but when you consider the sheer number of features it offers, the cost is quite reasonable.
You also don’t need to go over 50K email subscribers to unlock the full range of Constant Contact’s tools that come with the Plus plan. However, you will need to pay more.
The Plus plan starts at $45 per month for lists with up to 500 subscribers. The pricing for this plan can reach as high as $410 per month for email lists with 45,001-50,000 subscribers. As mentioned above, if you have a large email list that’s over 50K email subscribers, then you’ll need to reach out to their sales team to talk about pricing.
Features
- Up to five users on the Core plan and unlimited on the Plus plan
- Unlimited monthly emails*
- Advanced analytics
- Robust segmentation options including ecommerce segmentation
- Subject line A/B testing
- Landing pages
- Facebook & Instagram ad management and insights
- LogoMaker
- Marketing calendar
- Event management and marketing
- Website hosting for up to three sites
- Ecommerce tools for accepting payments and tracking sales
*Constant Contact’s email model isn’t truly unlimited, but for practical purposes, it will feel that way for most people. The fine print is that their packages have a monthly send limit of 24 times your total contacts and an overage fee of $0.002 per email.
Use Constant Contact if you…
Want an all-in-one solution that you can use to manage all of your marketing campaigns, not just your email marketing.
8. TinyLetter (tinyletter.com)
TinyLetter is technically a sub-project of Mailchimp’s, but it’s 100% free.
Why is it free? Well, because they’ve stripped out all the business features. It’s really just designed for regular people to send things like updates, digests, webinar invites, or other types of messages to their fans and friends.
If you’re not running a business, this is one of the best Mailchimp alternatives for you and a really cool email marketing solution. It’s the closest thing to truly free Mailchimp, since it’s both free, and it’s run by Mailchimp.
Pricing
Free
Features
- utterly simple
- lets you read replies, so you can continue the conversation
- very simple and personal sign-up process
- no templates – just a straightforward text editor
Use TinyLetter if you…
Are just looking for a simple way to stay in touch with fans. For example, TinyLetter is popular with artists and writers. It’s not a good option for businesses, though.
Summing up the Mailchimp alternatives out there
Mailchimp is a good email marketing service overall, and you can integrate it with your WordPress site pretty easily. But there are other companies like Mailchimp that will help you save money and get pretty much the same range of features – in some cases even more.
Which Mailchimp alternative is right for you?
Here’s our quick recommendation based on your needs:
- Brevo. Startups and small businesses that are just starting out with email. Also, businesses that want their email marketing tool to grow with them.
- Sendy. The cheapest tool here if you’re a heavy email sender.
- AWeber. A little cheaper and allows affiliate links.
- ConvertKit. Built for “creators” and has a nice visual automation flow tool.
- The MailPoet WordPress plugin. Works inside your WordPress dashboard and can be quite affordable.
Have any questions on which of these alternatives to Mailchimp is the right service provider for you? Or maybe you’re using something else that you’d like to share (like MailerLite, Omnisend or Moosend)? Let us know in the comments!
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Layout and presentation by Karol K.
Nice article. Although I think focus has been on evaluating low cost alternatives. Running a small business I can say that every penny matters but so does value. Unless a email provider is super expensive extra $20-$40 dollars don’t matter as long as I get better open rates and value.
Just checking this and I guess the prices have changed? I can see only a $25/m plan in SendinBlue after the free one.
Great article, but I’d like to add https://www.getresponse.com to the list. I believe it’s the best Mailchimp alternative.
I agree with you. ecommerce also should be a criteria. on the other hand, soundest doesn’t support Woocommerce. dropped.
What about SparkPost? They let you send 100k for free