The world's most popular email marketing platform — now with AI-generated campaigns, predictive segmentation and a website builder for small businesses
💰 Free up to 500 contacts · Essentials from $13/mo · 🆓 Yes — free plan · 👥 Small businesses, e-commerce stores and non-profits
Mailchimp is the world's most recognised email marketing platform — used by over 13 million businesses to send newsletters, automated campaigns and transactional emails. Its AI Campaign Generator produces complete email campaigns from a brief, its predictive segmentation identifies contacts most likely to purchase and its website builder lets small businesses create a web presence alongside their email list. Mailchimp's brand recognition and extensive tutorial library make it the default starting point for businesses new to email marketing.
Who is it for?
Small businesses, non-profits, bloggers and marketers who need straightforward email marketing with a recognisable, well-supported platform. Mailchimp's free plan for 500 contacts is generous for getting started — though power users often upgrade to Klaviyo for e-commerce or ActiveCampaign for automation.
Key Features
📧
Email Campaigns
Drag-and-drop email builder with 100+ templates — professional campaigns without design skills.
🤖
AI Campaign Generator
Describe your campaign and AI generates subject line, content and design — full email in minutes.
🎯
Predictive Segmentation
AI predicts purchase likelihood and churn risk — segment your list by predicted behaviour.
🔄
Automation
Pre-built automations for welcome series, abandoned cart and post-purchase — set up in minutes.
🌐
Website Builder
Free website and landing page builder — host your business online alongside your email list.
📊
Analytics
Open rates, click rates, revenue attribution and audience insights — understand what works.
Pros & Cons
What we like
Free plan for up to 500 contacts is genuinely useful
Most widely known email platform — huge tutorial community
AI campaign generator is impressive for quick campaigns
Website builder adds value for small businesses
Predictive segmentation available on paid plans
Strong e-commerce integrations
Watch out for
More expensive than ConvertKit at scale for creators
Klaviyo is significantly better for e-commerce email
Automation features less powerful than ActiveCampaign
Mailchimp's free plan supports up to 500 contacts and 1,000 email sends per month. Essentials plans from $13/month increase contact and send limits, add A/B testing and remove Mailchimp branding from emails.
Klaviyo is the better choice for e-commerce businesses — its Shopify integration, revenue attribution and automated flows are far superior. Mailchimp is better for general small business email marketing, non-profits and businesses that aren't primarily e-commerce. For Shopify stores, Klaviyo wins decisively; for everyone else, Mailchimp's ease of use and free plan are hard to beat.