Mailchimp does many things well: modern email design, advanced automation, in-depth reporting, and multichannel marketing options.
But what if the features you need most are locked behind a higher pricing plan? Or if you find yourself spending more time figuring out the platform than engaging your customers? Then, it might be time to evaluate top Mailchimp alternatives that can help you grow your business—while staying within your budget.
In this guide, we’ll walk you through five best-in-class alternatives to Mailchimp, analyzing their strengths, weaknesses, and pricing. But first, let’s see why Mailchimp isn’t the right email marketing platform for all users.
Why Search for a Mailchimp Alternative?
We visited several review sites and forums to understand why some users are looking for a Mailchimp alternative. Here’s what we found:
- Lack of scalability: Mailchimp’s low tier may feel like an affordable option. But as businesses and their email lists grow, the platform’s pricing turns into a pain point. Users have to pay for inactive or unsubscribed contacts, too, which further increases costs.
- Limited access to features] Mailchimp has a generous free plan that’s ideal for users with simple needs. However, even paid plan customers can’t access the platform’s full functionality since some tools are reserved for the highest tier.
- Poor customer support experience: Mailchimp’s customers mention slow response times as a main issue when contacting support. Plus, the level of support depends on the plan. For instance, free plan users only get email support for the first 30 days, and there’s no phone support unless you’re on the Premium plan.
- Hard-to-grasp functionality: Users report that, as Mailchimp started to prioritize the CRM functionality, its interface became difficult to navigate. There are a lot of features available, but you could get lost trying to implement them. We also tested some features ourselves and didn’t find them as user-friendly as we’d hoped for (e.g., the form builder).
Do any of these pain points sound familiar? Then, let’s check the best email platforms to use instead of Mailchimp:
1. Moosend
Moosend is an email marketing tool designed with simplicity, yet with core capabilities like built-in email templates, list management, and AI functionality.
Beyond email, it’s also effective autoresponder software. It offers an intuitive automation editor, a library of prebuilt customizable workflows (including transactional emails), and the ability to add conditional logic to your automations. All at a fraction of the price and with a minimal learning curve.
Where Moosend outperforms Mailchimp:
Moosend charges you $9/month for 500 subscribers and unlimited emails. You also get customizable templates, real-time reporting, and AI-powered product recommendations. Whereas with Mailchimp, you’ll pay $13 for the Essentials plan, which doesn’t include custom-coded templates, generative AI features, or dynamic content creation. Also, unlike Mailchimp, Moosend doesn’t charge for inactive or duplicate contacts.
Pros:
- 130+ ready-made, responsive newsletter templates for every use case and industry
- A user-friendly editor with time-saving features like an AI Writer that helps you craft targeted emails in your preferred tone
- Flexible list management that lets you easily segment contacts, import them from various sources, and even predict their behavior using the Audience Discovery tool
- Signup form and landing page creators and built-in templates to boost your lead generation, even as a beginner with no coding experience
- A variety of free tools like the Refine subject line tester and a DMARC checker, plus an extensive knowledge base
Cons:
- Limited multichannel features, such as SMS marketing
Pricing: From $9/month, 30-day free trial available
2. Brevo
Brevo is a cost-effective marketing solution that helps you communicate with your audience through several touchpoints: email, SMS, WhatsApp, and push notifications. You can also create automation workflows for cross-channel marketing and get more leads with signup forms and landing pages.
Where Brevo outperforms Mailchimp:
If you’re not ready to commit to a paid plan, Brevo’s free version offers more compared to Mailchimp’s. For example, you can send transactional emails and SMS campaigns, access the workflow editor, and get email support. However, you won’t be able to access the landing page builder or A/B testing tools as a Brevo free plan user.
Pros:
- Pre-made eCommerce automated workflows, with the option to add conditional split steps
- A simple sales CRM to combine marketing and sales
- Meta Ads integration to sync data and build lookalike audiences for your paid ads
- Live chatbot functionality to create a branded chat widget and offer 24/7 customer support to visitors
Cons:
- No ready-made form templates
- Limited variety of email templates (48) compared to other tools on our list
Pricing: From $9/month, free plan available (with some limitations)
3. Constant Contact
Constant Contact provides users with essential tools for email creation, lead generation, and audience management. But that’s not all; the platform also gives marketers the chance to reach their audiences through text messaging and social media. Besides that, Constant Contact is known for its powerful event marketing suite.
Where Constant Contact outperforms Mailchimp:
Constant Contact offers a broader template library (more than 200 email templates compared to Mailchimp’s 130+). What’s most important is that Mailchimp (unlike Constant Contact) saves some of its best templates for the highest tier plan. Plus, certain features like list management are easier to use in Constant Contact.
Pros:
- An intuitive, drag-and-drop email editor with built-in content blocks, including RSVP buttons
- Unique tools to promote and manage all sorts of events directly from the platform
- An AI Content Generator to create copy for emails, text messages, and even turn email content into social media posts
- 300+ native integrations with survey tools, online payment apps, eCommerce platforms, and more
- Up to 30% discount for nonprofits (annual billing)
Cons:
- Some users report that automation feels basic with limited premade workflows and no option to combine conditions
Pricing: From $12/month, 14-days free trial available
4. Omnisend
Omnisend is an email marketing solution built for eCommerce businesses. It’s popular for its multichannel automation, combining email, SMS, push notifications, and paid ads. It comes at a reasonable price, too, which makes it an attractive alternative to Mailchimp.
Where Omnisend outperforms Mailchimp:
With Omnisend’s automation, you can use multiple channels (e.g., email, SMS, push notifications) within a single workflow. In contrast, Mailchimp offers SMS only as a paid add-on. Also, Omnisend includes unlimited web push notifications, even on low-tier plans.
Pros:
- All features, including 24/7 customer support, are available on all plans (with limitations, for instance in number of contacts or emails)
- 250+ professionally looking email templates for various industries and occasions
- A dedicated success manager with a fee of $400 (free for businesses on custom pricing) that gives you marketing advice on how to improve your campaigns
- Lifecycle stage map that dynamically segments your audience for targeted messaging
Cons:
- Some users report a steep learning curve and confusing interface
- Companies like B2B or SaaS may find the platform less useful due to its eCommerce-oriented tools
Pricing: From $16/month, free plan available (for up to 250 recipients and 500 monthly emails)
5. MailerLite
MailerLite is a reputable email service offering a suite of marketing tools beyond email, such as a website builder and digital selling options. While it’s especially helpful for creators looking to monetize a blog or newsletter, it’s also a good choice for online stores that want simple yet effective automations.
Where MailerLite outperforms Mailchimp:
Mailchimp charges based on the number of contacts and limits your monthly emails to 12x your contact number (Standard plan). On the other hand, MailerLite gives users unlimited emails on its Growing Business plan. It also includes unlimited email templates, websites, and landing pages, plus essential features like dynamic content.
Pros:
- Unlimited emails on paid plans
- User-friendly website builder with premade templates and a built-in image editor
- AI-powered writing assistant to create compelling subject lines, product descriptions, or even full emails
- Option to combine transactional emails with SMS marketing campaigns using the MailerSend product (different pricing)
- A free email verifier (although you do need to sign up to use it)
Cons:
- Not a good fit for users looking for sophisticated automation or a wide variety of prebuilt automation templates (just 15 available)
- Email templates aren’t as stylish as we’d like compared to other tools we’ve researched
Pricing: From $10/month, free plan available
Which Mailchimp Alternative Should You Use?
It depends on your requirements, business type, and resources. Sounds like a cliché, but it’s still true.
A creator focused on digital product sales could turn to MailerLite due to its monetization tools. Whereas for an online store owner, it would make sense to invest in an eCommerce-focused platform like Omnisend with multichannel automation and sales-focused features.
What about a small business or startup? In this case, Moosend is a best-in-class alternative to Mailchimp, ideal for budget-conscious marketers who want sophisticated features at a low price.
SMBs might also choose Constant Contact, along with nonprofits and event marketers who need multichannel marketing using one tool. Another option for multichannel marketing is Brevo, a cost-effective solution to engage customers across multiple touchpoints.
We’ve given you an overview of some of the best Mailchimp alternatives so now you can pick one or two and sign up for their free trial or version. Once you take them for a spin, you’ll be able to decide which tool earns your trust.