Mailchimp
Mailchimp is an email and marketing automation platform now with Analytics AI and a Claude connector. Plans run free to $350/month, priced by contacts.
About Mailchimp
Mailchimp is an email marketing and marketing automation platform, owned by Intuit, that lets businesses build audiences, send campaigns, and automate customer journeys across email and SMS. It started as a simple email sender and has grown into a broader marketing suite with built-in analytics and AI content tools.
What is Mailchimp (2026 update)
Mailchimp lets you manage a contact list, design campaigns with a drag-and-drop editor or AI-generated drafts, automate follow-up sequences, and track performance through built-in reporting. Pricing is based on how many contacts sit in your audience rather than how many emails you actually send, which is a key detail to plan around before committing to a tier.
What is new in 2026
Mailchimp launched Analytics AI in 2026, which automatically analyzes campaign performance, audience behavior, and revenue outcomes and returns written, conversational explanations instead of requiring marketers to build their own dashboards, and it has since been extended to cover multivariate testing results. Mailchimp also added a Claude Connector, so Standard and Premium plan users can generate email and SMS campaigns using either Claude or ChatGPT as the underlying AI model. Other February and May 2026 updates expanded site and tracking pixel support to Wix and WooCommerce alongside Shopify, and added SMS age-gating for compliance. As of January 2026, the free plan’s limits were also tightened to 250 contacts and 500 monthly emails, down from the previous 500 contacts and 1,000 sends.
Key features
- Analytics AI for automatic, plain-language campaign and revenue analysis
- Claude and ChatGPT connectors for AI-assisted campaign drafting
- Drag-and-drop email builder plus AI newsletter content generation on all plans
- Marketing automation journeys triggered by customer behavior
- Ecommerce integrations with Shopify, WooCommerce, and Wix
- SMS marketing with built-in age-gating for compliance
Pricing in 2026
Mailchimp bills by contact count across four tiers, so the same plan gets more expensive as your list grows even if your send volume stays flat. Prices below reflect the starting cost at low contact counts, actual cost rises with your audience size.
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Free | Free | Up to 250 contacts, 500 monthly emails, basic campaign tools |
| Essentials | From $13/month (500 contacts) | 5,000 monthly sends, basic automation, A/B testing |
| Standard | From $20/month (500 contacts) | Send Time Optimization, Delivery by Time Zone, Claude/ChatGPT campaign generation |
| Premium | From $350/month (up to 10,000 contacts) | Advanced segmentation, multivariate testing with Analytics AI, priority support |
Who should use it
Mailchimp fits small to mid-sized businesses and ecommerce sellers that want one platform for email, SMS, basic automation, and reporting without stitching together separate tools. It is a weaker fit for fast-growing lists on a tight budget, since the contact-based pricing model means cost climbs steadily as your audience grows, independent of how often you actually email them.
Limitations and alternatives
The most common complaint is that Mailchimp charges for total contacts stored, sent to or not, which can make costs rise faster than expected for list-heavy businesses, and the January 2026 free-plan cut to 250 contacts makes the entry tier less useful for testing at scale. For alternatives, Klaviyo is a common pick for ecommerce brands wanting deeper Shopify-native segmentation, ActiveCampaign leans further into automation workflows for a similar price range, and Brevo (formerly Sendinblue) prices by email volume rather than contact count, which can be cheaper for large but infrequently emailed lists. Check the official pricing page for exact tier costs at your contact count before switching plans.
Frequently asked questions
How does Mailchimp pricing work in 2026?
Mailchimp bills based on how many contacts are in your audience, not how many emails you send, and the price for each tier rises as your contact count grows.
What is Mailchimp's Analytics AI?
Analytics AI is a 2026 feature that automatically analyzes campaign performance, audience behavior, and revenue outcomes, returning written explanations instead of requiring you to build your own reports, and it now covers multivariate testing too.
Can I use Claude or ChatGPT inside Mailchimp?
Yes, Mailchimp added a Claude Connector alongside its existing ChatGPT integration in 2026, letting Standard and Premium plan users generate email and SMS campaigns with either AI model.
How much does the Mailchimp free plan include now?
As of January 2026, the free plan covers up to 250 contacts and 500 monthly emails, reduced from the previous limit of 500 contacts and 1,000 sends.
Information last verified: September 2026.
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