Mailchimp Review (2026)
The household name — but is it still worth it?. Founded 2001. Our verdict for companies that need one vendor for everything — scored across ease of use, features, value and support.
Affiliate disclosure: Critingo is reader-supported. If you sign up through links on this page we may earn a commission — it costs you nothing extra and never changes our verdicts. We verify pricing and terms regularly, but they change often: always confirm on the vendor's site before buying.
Our score
Four factors, weighted equally. We adjust scores when vendors ship major changes.
| Mailchimp — our score: 3.6/5 | |
|---|---|
| Ease of use | |
| Features | |
| Value for money | |
| Support | |
Pricing
Always confirm on the vendor's site — this changes often and we flag stale data.
| Model | freemium |
| Free plan | Limited free plan (500 contacts, basic features) |
| Paid from | Paid typically from around $13/mo |
| Free trial | 14 days |
| Official pricing | https://mailchimp.com/pricing/ |
Pros & cons
- Brand everyone recognizes; huge integration library
- Decent free tier for tiny lists
- Broad feature set including ads and websites
- Pricing now expensive for what you get
- Killed its popular forever-free tier and support quality dropped
- Automation and design tools trail cheaper rivals
Best for
- Companies that need one vendor for everything
- Existing users with complex history in the tool
Feature checklist
| automation | ✓ Yes |
| signup forms | ✓ Yes |
| landing pages | ✓ Yes |
| paid subscriptions | ✗ No |
| ecommerce | ✓ Yes |
| analytics | ✓ Yes |
| api | ✓ Yes |
Lab notes
Automated check · 2026-10-31Findings from our test bench's automated checks of Mailchimp's public pages — facts and discrepancies only, no opinions. Human experiences live in the founder & user notes above.
| ✓ Pricing page reachable | HTTP 200 in 449ms |
| ✓ Free-plan claim on pricing page | page mentions: "Free plans at any time", "Free plan at any time", "Free plan" |
| ✓ Price strings visible on pricing page | "$20 /month", "$ 20", "$ 350", "$13 /month", "$ 13", "$ 0 /month" |
| ✓ Homepage reachable | HTTP 200 in 98ms |
Method: Automated HTTP checks of public marketing pages (no account usage). Vendors don't see these before publication. If something here looks wrong, the vendor's own page (linked above) is the source of truth.
Compare Mailchimp with alternatives
Same category, different trade-offs.
MailerLite
The best value all-rounder
AWeber
The veteran that's still competitive
Mailchimp: FAQ
Is Mailchimp free?
Yes — Mailchimp offers a free plan (free plan (500 contacts, basic features)). Paid plans add capacity and features.
How much does Mailchimp cost?
Paid typically from around $13/mo. Pricing usually scales with list size — see Mailchimp's official pricing page for today's numbers, as vendors change them several times a year.
Is Mailchimp worth it in 2026?
For companies that need one vendor for everything, yes — that's who it's built for. Our score: 3.6/5, based on ease of use, features, value and support. Read the breakdown below to see if your priorities match.
What are the best Mailchimp alternatives?
MailerLite, AWeber, EmailOctopus — see our full alternatives guide for the details.
Our verdict
Mailchimp scores 3.6/5 and is our pick for companies that need one vendor for everything. Its standout strengths: brand everyone recognizes; huge integration library and decent free tier for tiny lists. The main trade-offs: pricing now expensive for what you get.
How we score: four factors rated 1–5, averaged, based on the vendor's public pricing pages, documentation, changelog and user reports. An automated check visits the pricing page daily (see the test bench notes above); when a vendor changes materially, this page gets updated — check the "last updated" date above.How we review.