Once upon a time in the early 2000s, Mailchimp was the go-to email marketing platform.
Everyone—from creators to businesses to marketing agencies—was using it. Today, it’s still one of the top email marketing platforms, with over 11 million users worldwide. But, just because it’s popular doesn’t mean it’s the perfect fit for you.
Thankfully, there are Mailchimp alternatives that could better suit your needs. After a week of researching these alternatives and learning from first-hand user experiences, we narrowed them down to the top 10 worth your time.
But before we get into the list, let’s take a closer look at Mailchimp’s features and why you may be considering looking elsewhere.
What is Mailchimp?
When Mailchimp launched in 2001, it was dedicated to providing email marketing services to small businesses. It had a user-friendly newsletter editor, an extensive template library, and good automation and analytics tools…and it still does.
But, over the years, Mailchimp has evolved to be more than just an email marketing platform. It also supports SMS marketing, social media scheduling, and ads management. These features are great - but they’ve impacted Mailchimp’s user-friendliness and pricing plans.
The interface feels overwhelming to new users who just need a simple email marketing tool. Also, the free plan is limited to 500 contacts and 1K monthly emails, which isn’t much for starters…you’ll most likely hit your limit before publishing your first newsletter.
Then there are the paid plans which start at $26.50/month for 1,500 contacts and “10 x Contacts” monthly emails. And if you want to unlock the full Mailchimp experience, this price steps up to $45/month.
Mailchimp has a responsive customer support team that is available 24/7. However, you only get 30 days of email support on the free plan. To unlock unlimited email and live chat support, you need to upgrade to a paid plan. And if you’re specifically looking for phone support, you need to get on Mailchimp’s Premium plan (aka their highest tier).
Mailchimp Alternatives at a Glance
If you want to get straight to the nitty-gritty and explore the features of 10 Mailchimp alternatives, check out this table. For a more in-depth exploration of these options, keep reading.
Best For | Key Features | Pricing | |
---|---|---|---|
Whop | Digital solopreneurs looking for an all-in-one platform to build an active and engaged community | Create, promote, and sell a wide range of digital products as a standalone item or bundle | Free to use + 3% commission fees per transaction |
Brevo | Managing multi-channel campaigns and communication | Reach customers via email, SMS, web push notifications, WhatsApp, and live chat | Free plan. Paid plans start at $9/month for unlimited contacts and 5K monthly emails |
MailerLite | Small businesses that need an affordable and feature-rich email marketing tool | A/B testing tool for emails, signup forms, landing pages, and automations | Free plan. Paid plans start at $15/month for 1K subscribers and unlimited monthly emails |
Flodesk | Creatives looking for a budget-friendly platform to design aesthetic emails | Aesthetic email templates with custom fonts | No free plan. Charges a flat fee of $38/month |
Constant Contact | Businesses that need an all-in-one digital marketing platform | Manage your emails, SMS campaigns, social posts, ads, and events from one dashboard | No free plan. The starter plan starts at $12/month for 500 contacts and "10 x Contacts" monthly emails |
ActiveCampaign | Executing advanced sales and marketing automations | Extensive automation and segmentation tools plus built-in CRM with lead scoring feature | No free plan. Paid plans start at $15/month for 1K contacts and "10 x Contacts" monthly emails. CRM tools have to be purchased as an add-on |
Klaviyo | Large ecommerce brands with complex needs | Segment users based on predictive insights like next order date and churn risk | Limited free plan. Email plan starts at $20/month for 500 contacts and 5K monthly emails |
Omnisend | Small to medium ecommerce businesses | Packs extensive ecommerce features under a user-friendly interface and affordable plans | Free plan with 24/7 support. Paid plans start at $16/month for 500 contacts and "12 x Contacts" monthly emails |
GetResponse | Running email and webinar marketing campaigns | Webinar management tools and analytics | Free plan. Starter plan starts at $19/month for 1K contacts and unlimited monthly emails |
Sender | Startups looking for a basic and low-cost solution | Intuitive email editor with countdown timers and customer reviews | Free plan with 24/7 support. Choose between the tiered monthly plans or the pay as you go email plan |
Top 10 Mailchimp Alternatives
Without further ado, here’s an in-depth breakdown of the top 10 Mailchimp alternatives on our list.
1. Whop: Best for Digital Solopreneurs Looking for an All-in-One Platform to Build an Active and Engaged Community
While Mailchimp is an email marketing platform that helps you promote your digital products, Whop is a platform that helps you host, manage, and accept payments for your digital products and services.
These digital products can be anything from courses, forums, and digital downloads, to events, Telegram groups, and Discord communities. You can offer these as a standalone product or put them together in a bundle for a one-time fee or subscription fee.
When you build a whop hub, you get to engage community members by hosting video calls, asking for their feedback, running giveaways, and more. Plus, you don't have to use all of these features in your whop - you can add and remove features (Whop apps) to suit your needs. And thanks to Whop’s Mailmodo integration, new customers who make a purchase from your Whop storefront will be added to your mailing list. This lets you communicate with customers about upcoming updates, product launches, and promotions.
Besides Mailmodo, you can connect with other email marketing tools via Whop’s Zapier integration. Just like setting up your Whop storefront, this process is easy-breezy.
Pros:
- A mobile app for you and your community
- User-friendly interface with dark mode option
- Market your products on Whop’s Marketplace*
- Boost conversions on your storefront by adding product details, FAQs, and customer reviews
Cons:
- Doesn’t have a built-in email marketing tool
Pricing:
Whop is completely free to use. You’ll only pay a 3% fee plus payment processing fees on each transaction. And if you’re looking for a dedicated support team and account manager, you can reach out for enterprise pricing.
*The Whop marketplace comes at a different fee, please apply to the marketplace to find out more
2. Brevo: Best for Managing Multi-Channel Campaigns and Communication
Like Mailchimp, Brevo (formerly Sendinblue) lets you set up email marketing, SMS campaigns, and transactional emails.
However, Brevo also supports communication across other channels like web push notifications, WhatsApp, live chat, and chatbot. And even better, it has a user-friendly interface that’s easy to navigate—you can access all these tools from the left navigation panel with a single click.
Brevo also has built-in CRM tools for tracking opportunities and closing deals. Create a custom sales pipeline and track every customer’s stage in this pipeline. When you’re ready to close them, you can share your booking page so your potential client can schedule a phone call or video call via Zoom, Google Meet, or Brevo’s own video calling platform.
Pros:
- Over 150 third-party integrations
- Run Facebook ads from your Brevo dashboard
- Access their 24/7 customer support team via email, live chat, or phone
Cons:
- Removing Brevo branding costs an additional $12/month
- Brevo’s landing page and A/B testing builders are only available on the Business and Enterprise plans
Pricing:
Brevo doesn’t charge based on the number of contacts you have. They only bill you for the number of emails you send.
On their free plan, you can only send 300 daily emails. The Starter and Business plans start at $9/month and $18/month for 5K monthly emails. Then there’s the Enterprise plan if you’re looking for personalized onboarding and customer support perks.
It’s important to note that Brevo bills you separately for using WhatsApp, SMS, web push notifications, and transactional emails.
3. MailerLite: Best for Small Businesses That Need an Affordable and Feature-Rich Email Marketing Tool
If you’re looking for a dedicated email marketing tool without all the bells and whistles, MailerLite might just be what you’re looking for. Its user-friendly interface makes it easy to find your way around in no time. But don’t be fooled, it still covers the core integrations, automations, segmentation, and analytics available in Mailchimp.
MailerLite stands out with its A/B testing toolset. It allows you to test different versions of your emails, signup forms, landing pages, and automations for higher conversions. All you have to do is create at least two versions of the assets you want to test and send it to a sample subscriber group for a specific time period. The winning content will automatically be shared with the rest of your subscribers.
Pros:
- Has a reputation for good email deliverability
- Add surveys and quizzes to your email campaigns
- Offers Mailersend, a paid service for sending transactional emails and SMS messages
Cons:
- Lacks advanced ecommerce automation triggers
- Live chat support is only available on the highest-paid plans
Pricing:
Brevo’s free plan gives you 1K subscribers and 12K monthly emails. The Growing Business and Advanced plans start at $15/month and $30/month for 1K subscribers and unlimited monthly emails. If you have over 100K subscribers, you’ll need to be on the Enterprise plan, which has custom pricing.
4. Flodesk: Best for Creatives Looking For a Budget-Friendly Platform to Design Aesthetic Emails
Flodesk is another tool that focuses on email marketing and nothing else, and it takes the simplicity and affordability of MailerLite to the next level. Flodesk has a super minimalist interface with a library of aesthetic templates to go with it. You can customize these templates with images, custom fonts, and Instagram feeds inside the intuitive drag-and drop email editor.
However, Flodesk lacks advanced automations, segmentation, and analytics. So if you have complex email needs, this isn’t the tool for you. But for creatives who just need a simple email platform to send on-brand campaigns, Flodesk is worth checking out.
Pros:
- Low learning curve
- Landing page builder
- Over 100 custom fonts
- Add your logo and brand colors so it’s easy to create on-brand assets
Cons:
- Email support only
- No A/B testing tool
- Limited native integrations
Pricing:
Flodesk doesn’t have a free plan or trial. However, you can unlock all of its email marketing features, unlimited contacts, and unlimited emails for a flat fee of $38/month. And if you want to unlock ecommerce features like sales pages, online payments, and payment processing, that’ll cost an additional $26/month, bringing the total to $64/month.
5. Constant Contact: Best for Businesses That Need an All-in-One Digital Marketing Platform
Constant Contact and Mailchimp are headed in the same direction—to be an all-in-one marketing platform for your emails, SMS campaigns, social posts, and ads.
But, Constant Contact takes it a step further with its event management tools. These let you create event registration forms, promote them via the built-in marketing channels, and accept payments via Stripe and Paypal. These are super helpful for running online classes and workshops.
Even though Constant Contact has more marketing tools than Mailchimp, it manages to still keep a user-friendly interface. This way, you can quickly get started with launching your email campaigns and events.
Pros:
- Over 300 email templates
- Website, landing page, and survey builders
- Schedule posts for Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn
- Live chat, email, and phone support available on all plans
Cons:
- You can only test subject lines with A/B testing
- A/B testing and CRM features aren’t on the starter plan
- Ad management is only available on the Premium plan
Pricing:
Constant Contact doesn’t have a free plan, only a free 14-day trial. The Lite, Standard, and Premium plans start at $12/month, $35/month, and $80/month for 500 contacts. Also, the monthly email sends on these plans are limited to “10 x Contacts”, “12 x Contacts”, and “15 x Contacts” respectively. If you exceed this limit, you’ll be billed at $0.002 per “extra email”.
Note that SMS marketing is only available to US customers and can be purchased as an add-on on any of the paid plans.
6. ActiveCampaign: Best for Executing Advanced Sales and Marketing Automations
ActiveCampaign is an email and SMS marketing automation platform. If you’re a medium to large business that has outgrown Mailchimp’s automation and segmentation features, this might just be the tool for you.
With ActiveCampaign, you get over 120 automation templates categorized under industries like software, media, and ecommerce. You can customize them with any of the 75+ automation triggers and actions to create complex multi-step workflows.
Then there’s the built-in CRM features that let you create and manage your sales pipeline, qualify leads with lead scoring, automate follow-ups, and close deals.
Pros:
- Over 900 native integrations
- A/B test email subject lines and content
- Adjust lead scores based on your contacts’ behaviors
- Segment contacts based on their details and behavior on your website and emails
Cons:
- Expensive plans
- Steep learning curve
- Advanced CRM features are only available as a paid add-on
Pricing:
There’s no free plan but they do offer a free 14-day trial. The Starter, Plus, Pro, and Enterprise plans start at $15/month, $49/month, $79/month, and $145/month for 1K contacts. The monthly emails on these plans are limited to“10 x Contacts” on the Starter and Plus plans, “12 x Contacts” on the Pro plan, and “15 x Contacts” on the Enterprise plan. To increase your email send limit, you’ll have to purchase the extra sends addon which starts at $5/month for 5,000 emails.
Note that you have to pay for the SMS add-on separately.
7. Klaviyo: Best for Large Ecommerce Brands with Complex Needs
Klaviyo is another email and SMS marketing platform, however, it's got more advanced features than Mailchimp for ecommerce brands. For example, besides adding new product arrivals and best sellers to your email campaigns, Klaviyo lets you add personalized product recommendations based on products a customer viewed, added to cart, or purchased.
Additionally, Klaviyo has a powerful predictive analytics tool that lets you forecast a customer’s next order date, average order value, and churn risk. And even better, you can segment customers based on these predictive insights and target them with personalized email and SMS campaigns.
Pros:
- Advanced ecommerce analytics
- Benchmark your campaign performance against industry peers
- Use A/B test tool to optimize email subject lines, content, and send times, as well as popup forms
Cons:
- Free plan is heavily limited
- Takes a while to learn its features
Pricing:
Klaviyo has three pricing tiers that unlock all features. The Free plan allows for 250 active profiles and 500 monthly emails. The Email plan starts at $20/month for 500 active profiles and 5K monthly emails. Finally, the Email and SMS plan starts at $35/month for 500 active profiles, 5K monthly emails, and 1,250 monthly SMS credits.
8. Omnisend: Best for Small to Medium Ecommerce Businesses
Omnisend is an omnichannel marketing platform for emails, SMS campaigns, and web push notifications. While Mailchimp and Omnisend have similar email editors, Omnisend stands out with its “Quick add” block that lets you reuse content blocks in multiple emails.
Omnisend also stands out with its unique “Wheel of Fortune” tool, which you can add to signup forms to encourage users to take a desired action and reward them with fun prizes.
Overall, Omnsiend has more ecommerce tools than Mailchimp, but it still lacks certain advanced features in Klaviyo. As a result, it’s generally easier to use and more affordable, making it the perfect fit for small ecommerce brands that want to start running marketing campaigns without much hassle.
Pros:
- Over 100 native integrations
- A/B test email subject lines, content, and sender name
- 24/7 live chat and email support on free and paid plans
- Add unique discounts in email campaigns for each customer
Cons:
- You need the Pro plan to send unlimited monthly emails
- Can’t A/B test popup forms
Pricing:
Omnisend’s three-tier pricing plan unlocks all features. The Free plan allows for 250 contacts, 500 monthly emails, and 500 monthly web push notifications. The Standard plan starts at $16/month for 500 contacts, “12 x Contacts” monthly emails, and unlimited web push notifications. The Pro plan, which starts at $59/month unlocks unlimited monthly emails and free SMS credits.
SMS credits are priced separately, starting at $10/month for 667 SMS sends.
9. GetResponse: Best for Running Email and Webinar Marketing Campaigns
GetResponse covers most of the advanced email automation and segmentation features in platforms like Mailchimp and ActiveCampaign. Besides this, it has hundreds of newsletter, landing page, website, and signup form templates.
The built-in webinar management tool differentiates GetResponse from the rest. Create live and on-demand webinars from your desktop or mobile, promote them with the built-in marketing tools, and accept payments via PayPal, Stripe, and Square. After the webinar, you recieve webinar analytics that include number of attendees and average attendance time.
Pros:
- Add live chat to your website
- Split test email subject lines and content
- 24/7 email and chat support on paid plans
- Manage Google and Facebook ads from your dashboard
Cons:
- Free and starter plans don’t have webinar features
- Phone support is only available on the MAX plan
Pricing:
GetResponse’s free plan unlocks 500 contacts and 2.5K monthly emails. The Email Marketing, Marketing Automation, and Ecommerce Marketing plans start at $19/month, $59/month, and $119/month for 1K contacts and unlimited monthly emails.
Then there’s the GetResponse MAX plan, which starts at $1,099/month. It unlocks premium features like SMS marketing, web push notifications, transactional emails, and priority support.
10. Sender: Best for Startups Looking for a Basic and Low-Cost Solution
Sender is one of the few email marketing tools that’s super easy to use with a generous free plan and affordable paid plans. While it covers features like a drag-and-drop email editor, sign up forms, and automations, it still lacks certain key features in Mailchimp.
For example, Sender doesn’t have website and landing page builders. It also doesn’t have an A/B testing tool for optimizing your emails, signup forms, and automations. If you’re on a tight budget and these limitations aren’t an issue, Sender might be a fit for you.
Pros:
- Extensive options for customizing the behavior of popup forms
- Add countdown timers and customer reviews to your emails (Pro plan)
- Get automation, segmentation, and 24/7 chat support on free and paid plans
Cons:
- Free and starter plans don’t support transactional emails
- Phone support is only available on Enterprise plan
Pricing:
Sender’s Free plan has 2.5K subscribers and 15K monthly emails. The Standard plan starts at $19/month for 2.5K subscribers and 30K monthly emails and the Professional plan starts at $35/month for 2.5K subscribers and 60K monthly emails. Plus, there’s an Enterprise plan with custom pricing that unlocks unlimited emails.
For those who don’t send regular emails, Sender has an alternative “pay as you go” email plan for you. It starts at $29/month for unlimited contacts and 5K emails that never expire.
Which Mailchimp Alternative is Best for You?
Yes, Mailchimp is a good email marketing platform but no, it might not be the best fit for your business. Hopefully, our curated list of the best Mailchimp alternatives has given you better clarity on the best tool for your needs. And if you’re still unsure, most of these tools offer a free plan or trial, so you can take them for a test drive.
For example, Whop’s free plan is available to everyone. Get access to all features to see if it’s the right fit for you, without paying a single dime.
Creating an Online Business? Build it with Whop
Email marketing is just one aspect of building an online business. Besides that, you’ll need a reliable platform to grow your income streams.
Whop lets you build, manage, and monetize access to your digital products and services with ease, whilst also engaging with your community. Let Whop handle the heavy lifting so you can focus on making strategic decisions that move your business forward.
Get started with Whop for free today.