Mailchimp

What is Mailchimp

Mailchimp is one of the oldest and broadest-known email marketing platforms, born in 2001 and acquired by Intuit in 2021. It bundles email, SMS, marketing automation, a light CRM, and landing-page builders into one product positioned at small and mid-size businesses. For B2C brands not on Shopify, it’s frequently the first ESP a brand uses.

Where Mailchimp fits in 2026

The product has stagnated relative to e-commerce-native competitors. Klaviyo dominates the Shopify market because its predictive analytics and segment-by-product features are deeper. ActiveCampaign is generally preferred for automation flexibility. Mailchimp’s strengths are brand familiarity, broad template library, and integration breadth, its API connects to nearly every SaaS tool out there.

For e-commerce brands above ~50k subscribers, the migration cost to Klaviyo or ActiveCampaign usually pays back within a quarter. For mid-market services businesses, SaaS companies, and content publishers, Mailchimp remains a reasonable default.

FAQ about Mailchimp

How much does Mailchimp cost?

Mailchimp plans are Free, Essentials at $13/month, Standard at $20/month, and Premium at $350/month. The free plan was cut to 250 contacts and 500 monthly sends in February 2026, and automation is now stripped from the free tier.

Who owns Mailchimp?

Intuit acquired Mailchimp for $12 billion in 2021. Since the acquisition, the platform has raised prices or reduced free plan limits almost every year, which has pushed many SMB users to alternatives like MailerLite and Brevo.

What are the best Mailchimp alternatives?

For Shopify and DTC stores, Klaviyo and Omnisend are the standard picks. For budget SMBs, MailerLite and Brevo cost roughly half of Mailchimp at every tier with comparable features. Sender and EmailOctopus offer more generous free plans.

Is Mailchimp good for Shopify?

Mailchimp lost direct Shopify integration in 2019 over a data-sharing dispute and only restored it via a less-deep connector. Klaviyo and Omnisend have significantly tighter Shopify data sync, which is why DTC brands usually pick them instead.

How to use Mailchimp?

Sign up at https://mailchimp.com, import contacts or connect your store, and use templates to send your first campaign. Most small businesses are sending email within an hour.

Why choose Mailchimp?

Mailchimp bundles email, automation, basic CRM, and landing pages for small businesses that want a single all-in-one tool rather than a stack.

How does Mailchimp work?

You build audiences, design email and automation flows in the editor, and send through Mailchimp’s deliverability infrastructure with reporting on opens, clicks, and revenue.

Is Mailchimp free?

Yes, Mailchimp has a free plan up to 500 contacts. Paid plans add automation, segmentation, and higher sending volumes.

How to learn Mailchimp?

Mailchimp maintains an academy, documentation, and tutorial videos at https://mailchimp.com. Their YouTube channel covers email marketing fundamentals.

What are Mailchimp reviews?

Mailchimp is rated 4.3 on G2 with 18,303 reviews. See https://www.g2.com/products/mailchimp/reviews for detailed feedback.

Does Mailchimp have an API?

Yes, Mailchimp provides a REST API for audiences, campaigns, and transactional emails. Documentation is at https://mailchimp.com/developer.

Does Mailchimp have a trial or a demo?

Mailchimp has a free plan you can start with immediately. Paid plans are billed monthly without a separate trial.

Does Mailchimp have AI?

Yes, Mailchimp’s AI is powered by Intuit Assist. Write with AI drafts campaign copy, send-time and send-day optimization picks the best time per subscriber, and pre-built marketing flows use generative AI to create multi-step campaigns with predicted attributes for segmentation.

Mailchimp pricing

Mailchimp is free. Plans are organised as Essentials $13 · Standard $20 · Premium $350. See the full Mailchimp pricing page for current tiers and any add-ons.