2026 Review

Mailchimp

Email marketing platform with AI campaign creation, automations, and the biggest small-business install base.

MarketingFreemiumAPIMainstream68% positive

Facts checked Aug 6, 2026

About Mailchimp

Mailchimp, owned by Intuit since 2021, is the default email marketing platform for small businesses, now with AI woven throughout: generative campaign and copy creation, predictive segmentation, and automated customer journeys. The free plan was cut to 250 contacts and 500 sends/month in January 2026; paid plans start at $13/month (Essentials, 500 contacts), Standard is $20/month with the full AI feature set and a 14-day free trial, and Premium starts at $350/month. Prices climb with contact count.

At a glance

Founded: 2001
Headquarters: Atlanta, US
Users: 11M+ users (company claim)
Platforms: Web, iOS, Android

Integrates with

ShopifyCanvaQuickBooksSalesforceWordPressStripe

Main competitors

KlaviyoBrevoConstant ContactHubSpot

Best for

Email newslettersE-commerce campaignsMarketing automationAudience segmentationSmall-business marketing

Pros

Easiest on-ramp in email marketing — templates and AI do the heavy lifting
Free plan still exists for tiny lists (250 contacts)
Deep e-commerce and Intuit integrations, from Shopify to QuickBooks
14-day free trial of Standard with no card required

Cons

Free plan slashed to 250 contacts and 500 sends in January 2026
Contact-based pricing ramps fast — 10,000 contacts runs roughly $135/month on Standard
Trustpilot (2.6) is full of billing and account-suspension complaints
No annual-billing discount; only a 15% promo for 10,000+ contact accounts

Our verdict

Best for: Small businesses that want familiar, low-effort email marketing with AI assists and e-commerce hooks.

Skip if: Your list is large or e-commerce-heavy — Klaviyo or a cheaper contact-based rival often wins on price and depth.

Our review

Mailchimp's moat has never been power — it's familiarity. Millions of small businesses already know the editor, the audience model, and Freddie the winking chimp, and the AI layer leans into that: describe a campaign and it drafts the email, subject lines, and imagery, while predictive segmentation and send-time optimization quietly improve results on Standard and up. For a non-marketer sending a newsletter and a few automations, it remains the lowest-friction option in this directory.

The value story has been eroding. January 2026 cut the free plan to 250 contacts and 500 sends, contact-based pricing accelerates painfully as lists grow, and there's no annual discount to soften it. Meanwhile the review split is stark: 4.3 on G2 for the product, 2.6 on Trustpilot for billing and account-suspension experiences. E-commerce brands that outgrow the basics consistently defect to Klaviyo, and HubSpot's free CRM undercuts it for teams that want more than email.

Verdict: still the right starting point for small-business email marketing, and the AI features genuinely reduce effort. Just re-price it against Brevo or Klaviyo the moment your list clears a few thousand contacts.

What reviewers elsewhere say

68% positive — Loved for ease of use and templates; billing disputes, account suspensions, and the shrinking free plan drive the negative reviews.

G2 4.3 out of 5Trustpilot 2.6 out of 5 (1,345 reviews)Capterra 4.4 out of 5

Sentiment estimated from reviews on G2, Trustpilot, Capterra, as of Aug 2026. Third-party scores are point-in-time snapshots. We don't host user reviews.

Key features

AI campaign creator drafts emails, subject lines, and images from a prompt
Customer Journey Builder for multi-step automations (Standard and up)
Predictive segmentation and send-time optimization (Standard and up)
300+ integrations including Shopify, Canva, and QuickBooks
Landing pages, sign-up forms, and SMS marketing add-on in supported countries
Reporting with revenue attribution for e-commerce stores

How to use Mailchimp

Sign up free (250 contacts) or start the 14-day Standard trial.
Import your contact list and connect your store or website.
Describe your campaign to the AI creator, then adjust the generated email and subject lines.
Set up automations in Customer Journey Builder — welcome series, abandoned carts, re-engagement.
Watch reports for opens, clicks, and revenue, and let predictive segmentation refine your sends.

Pricing

Deal: 15% off for 12 months on plans with 10,000+ contacts

Free$0

250 contacts, 500 sends/month, 1 audience, Mailchimp branding on emails.

Essentials$13/mo

At 500 contacts; 5,000 sends/month, A/B testing, scheduling. Price scales with list size.

Standard$20/mo

At 500 contacts; 6,000 sends/month, full AI and automation suite. 14-day free trial.

Premium$350/mo

Includes 10,000 contacts; 150,000 sends/month, unlimited seats, phone and priority support.

Pricing verified August 2026 · prices as listed by the vendor; check the official site for current offers.

Try Mailchimp

Frequently asked questions

What is Mailchimp?

Mailchimp is an email and marketing automation platform owned by Intuit, known for its ease of use. It now includes AI-generated campaigns, predictive segmentation, automated customer journeys, landing pages, and SMS add-ons.

How much does Mailchimp cost?

The free plan covers 250 contacts and 500 sends/month. Essentials starts at $13/month and Standard at $20/month for 500 contacts, with prices rising as your list grows; Premium starts at $350/month with 10,000 contacts. Standard has a 14-day free trial.

Is Mailchimp still free?

Yes, but the free plan shrank in January 2026 to 250 contacts and 500 email sends per month, with Mailchimp branding and no multi-step automations. It suits very small or new lists only.

Does Mailchimp have an API?

Yes — the Mailchimp Marketing API manages audiences, campaigns, and automations, and the Transactional API (Mandrill) handles one-to-one emails like receipts and password resets.

Mailchimp vs Klaviyo — which should I choose?

Choose Mailchimp for simplicity, price at small list sizes, and general small-business marketing. Choose Klaviyo if you run a serious e-commerce store and want deeper data-driven flows and segmentation.