Cheap Mailchimp alternatives: the platforms that cost less, compared

Why people look for a Mailchimp alternative

For years Mailchimp was the default choice. For many small businesses it now costs more than it gives back, and the reasons we hear are always the same:

• The price climbs fast. Essentials starts at $13 a month for 500 contacts, but reaches $45 at 2,500 contacts and $110 at 10,000.
• Unsubscribed contacts count too. According to Mailchimp’s own help article, unsubscribed and non-subscribed contacts count towards your plan’s contact limit: your list “grows” even as people leave.
• Overages are billed automatically. On paid plans, if you go over your plan’s contacts, Mailchimp charges the difference without asking.
• The free plan is small. It covers 250 contacts and 500 emails a month, with Mailchimp’s branding at the bottom of every email.
• Dollars and US data. Prices are in dollars and the company is American (part of Intuit), which means a little extra GDPR homework, as we explain in our guide to European email marketing software.

Mailchimp alternatives compared, price by price

Here is the monthly price of the cheapest plan that lets you email your whole list, at each list size. Mailchimp is in the table with its Essentials plan. Where a price is not published you will see a dash: we do not guess.

From 1,000 to 25,000 contacts, Spedito costs less than all 12 platforms in this table (prices checked on 16 October 2026).

Over a year, moving from Mailchimp Essentials to Spedito saves you about €373 with 2,500 contacts, about €876 with 10,000 and about €2,298 with 25,000.

The best Mailchimp alternatives, one by one

There is no perfect alternative for everyone. These are the ones people pick most often when they leave Mailchimp, with what each does best:

• Spedito (Europe): the cheapest in the table at every list size, €5 a month for up to 1,000 contacts. Automations, forms and A/B tests on every plan, none of our branding in your emails even on the free plan, data in the EU, and every email translated into each customer’s language. For people who want to send newsletters without losing an afternoon to it.
• Brevo (France): charges for the emails you send rather than your contacts, and includes SMS and WhatsApp. Good value for big lists you rarely email. The free plan allows 300 emails a day. More in Brevo alternatives.
• EmailOctopus (UK): simple and cheap, $20 a month for 2,500 contacts. Free for up to 2,500 subscribers, with its branding in your emails.
• GetResponse (Poland): a suite with landing pages and, on higher plans, webinars. Its Starter plan costs $29 a month for 2,500 contacts.
• Zoho Campaigns: makes sense if you already use Zoho CRM. The Standard plan costs $15.30 a month for 2,500 contacts, paid yearly.
• MailerLite (Lithuania): an easy editor, plus websites and landing pages. Free for up to 250 subscribers, then from $12 a month for 500.
• Sender (Lithuania): the biggest free plan of the group, 2,500 subscribers and 15,000 emails a month, with its branding in your emails.

What you lose by leaving Mailchimp (and what you don’t)

Being honest means saying what Mailchimp has that others don’t:

• A huge number of integrations. Mailchimp connects to hundreds of services. Before switching, check the new platform has the ones you actually use: Spedito connects to Shopify, WooCommerce, Calendly, Typeform and Facebook and Instagram lead forms, with an API for the rest.
• Advanced features on the pricier plans. Standard and Premium add richer segmentation and reporting. If you don’t use them today, you won’t miss them.
• Emails you already designed. Templates saved in Mailchimp can’t be imported straight into other platforms: it is usually quicker to rebuild them from a new template, in a few minutes.

What you keep: your contacts, with anyone who unsubscribed staying unsubscribed, and your domain, which you verify again in a few minutes.

How to switch from Mailchimp in an afternoon

1. In Mailchimp, export your audience: you get a ZIP file with subscribed, unsubscribed and cleaned (bounced) contacts.
2. In Spedito, drop the ZIP into the import as it is: everyone lands with the right status, and unsubscribed people will not be emailed.
3. Verify your domain with the DNS records we show you, with instructions for your provider.
4. Recreate your signup form and welcome automation from the templates.
5. Send a test to yourself, then your first newsletter.
6. Only then cancel Mailchimp, before it renews, so you don’t pay for an extra month.

Frequently asked questions

Sources and laws cited

• Mailchimp, plan prices and limits
• Intuit Mailchimp, About Your Contacts (which contacts count towards the plan limit)