Mailchimp advertises $0/month. Counting its 4 documented recurring fees, an illustrative monthly estimate is $113/month. This data has not yet been compared with the vendor's pricing page, so confirm current prices before buying. Vendor pricing page (mailchimp.com).
Email marketing platform with automation. Free for 500 contacts, then contact-based pricing creates a gotcha — you pay for unsubscribed and inactive contacts too.
Advertised Price
$0
/month
Estimated Monthly Cost
$113
/month (illustrative scenario)
Vs. Advertised
—
no comparable advertised price
Pricing Data
Pricing check date not recorded
Prices change often — confirm on the vendor's site before buying.
What the pricing page doesn't tell you
Mailchimp counts unsubscribed and non-subscribed contacts toward your billing limit. A list of 10K with 3K unsubscribes still bills for 10K contacts. Must manually archive to reduce count.
Trigger: unsubscribedContacts > 0
+$30/mo
Pricing jumps dramatically: 500 contacts = $13.99/mo, 2,500 = $45/mo, 10K = $100/mo, 50K = $350/mo. Each tier increase is non-linear and much steeper than competitors.
Trigger: contacts > 2500
+$50/mo
Over-limit sends cost extra as email credits. Standard plan allows 12x your contact limit per month. Exceeding requires purchasing credit blocks at roughly $0.02-$0.03 per email.
Trigger: emailSends > limit
+$20 per use
Free and Essentials include only basic automations. Customer journeys with branching, A/B testing, and advanced triggers require Standard ($13.99+/mo) or Premium ($350+/mo).
Trigger: automations > basic
+$13/mo
| Plan | Monthly | Annual (per mo) | Key Limits | Overage Rules |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Free | $0 | $0 |
| No overages |
Essentials | $13 | $13 |
|
|
StandardPOPULAR | $20 | $20 |
|
|
Premium | $350 | $350 |
|
|
Mailchimp's free plan allows 500 contacts and 1,000 sends/mo. Standard at $13.99/mo for 500 contacts sounds reasonable, but pricing scales steeply with contacts. At 10K contacts, Standard costs $100/mo. At 50K, $350/mo. Worse: unsubscribed contacts count toward your limit unless you manually archive them.
Mailchimpoffers a free plan, but with significant restrictions. Here's exactly what you get — and what forces you to upgrade.
⚠️ When you'll need to upgrade:
Most teams outgrow the free plan within 1-3 months. The first paid tier (Essentials) costs $13/mo.
Compare cheaper options in Email & Marketing ranked by true cost, not advertised price.
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