Mailchimp pricing
Mailchimp prices by contact bands. The figures here are its own euro estimates of a dollar price, and larger lists can get a discount for the first 12 months. Unsubscribed contacts count toward the limit until you archive them, so the bill does not fall on its own.
Price by list size
| Contacts | Essentials | Standard |
|---|---|---|
| 0–500 | €11.69 | €17.98 |
| 501–1,500 | €23.82 | €40.45 |
| 1,501–2,500 | €40.45 | €53.94 |
| 2,501–5,000 | €67.42 | €89.89 |
| 5,001–10,000 | €98.88 | €121.36 |
Mailchimp says its euro prices are estimates based on current exchange rates, and that the amount charged depends on the rate at payment. The exact base price is in US dollars: $13 on Essentials and $20 on Standard at 500 contacts on 5 November 2026. Essentials is the cheapest paid plan; Standard costs €17.98 / €40.45 / €53.94 / €89.89 / €121.36 at the same list sizes. These are the “Then, starts at” list prices. The price list offers a 14-day trial, and 15% off for 12 months from 10,000 contacts. The contact tiers are bands (501–1,500, 1,501–2,500, 2,501–5,000, 5,001–10,000), so the price does not rise evenly.
Fits
- A team whose integrations are already built around Mailchimp
Check before you buy
- Unsubscribed contacts count toward the limit
- Lists are processed in the United States under the Data Privacy Framework
- Add-on contact blocks are charged above the contact or send limit
What it costs over a year
| Contacts | Plan | A month | A year | Lowest of the seven |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 500 | Essentials | €11.69 | €140.28 | Systeme.io, Free |
| 1,000 | Essentials | €23.82 | €285.84 | Systeme.io, Free |
| 2,500 | Essentials | €40.45 | €485.40 | EmailOctopus, Free |
| 5,000 | Essentials | €67.42 | €809.04 | EmailOctopus, €26 |
| 10,000 | Essentials | €98.88 | €1,186.56 | Brevo, €28 |
Twelve times the monthly figure at two sends a month, before VAT. Paid plans billed in dollars are not ranked against euro prices.
The largest step comes between 5,000 and 10,000 contacts: €67.42 to €98.88 a month, or €377.52 more a year. Ranked by price, with free plans included and paid plans in dollars left out, Mailchimp is number 5 at 500, number 7 at 1,000, number 6 at 2,500, number 5 at 5,000, number 5 at 10,000 contacts. To see how this adds up as a list grows, use the three-year calculator.
Costs beyond the list price
- Above the contact or send limit, Mailchimp does not stop sending on paid plans. It adds a charge for extra add-on contact blocks to the monthly bill. Additional charges
- The bill follows the peak contact total in the billing period, so deleting contacts late in the month does not lower that month. Additional charges
- The size and price of an add-on block depend on your plan and tier, and are shown only when you are logged in. Additional charges
- On the free plan, sending is paused when the contact or send limit is exceeded. Price list
Moving away from Mailchimp
- Several tools here read Mailchimp accounts directly: MailerLite has an import tool, and ActiveCampaign has a migration agent for trial accounts. Their guides are linked on those pages. MailerLite guide
- EmailOctopus reads Mailchimp lists from an exported file, and its guide starts with domain verification. EmailOctopus guide
How contacts are counted
An unsubscribed contact counts toward the monthly limit, as do non-subscribers who ended up in the account by other routes. Archived, cleaned and deleted contacts do not count, so lowering the bill takes a separate step: the contacts have to be archived, not just allowed to unsubscribe. Read 5 September 2026. Read the rule.
Where the lists sit
Outside the EU. Contract with Intuit / The Rocket Science Group LLC, United States.
The data processing addendum allows processing “to and in the United States and anywhere else in the world”. The stated transfer basis is the EU–US Data Privacy Framework, with standard contractual clauses as a fallback. Nearly all listed sub-processors are in the United States.
Read 5 November 2026 from:
Common questions
What does Mailchimp cost for 2,500 contacts?
€40.45 a month on the Essentials plan, before VAT, with monthly billing. Read 5 November 2026.
Does Mailchimp have a free plan?
250 contacts, 500 emails/month (daily limit 250).
Where does Mailchimp store data?
Outside the EU. The data processing addendum allows processing “to and in the United States and anywhere else in the world”. The stated transfer basis is the EU–US Data Privacy Framework, with standard contractual clauses as a fallback. Nearly all listed sub-processors are in the United States.
What can Mailchimp cost on top of the plan?
Above the contact or send limit, Mailchimp does not stop sending on paid plans. It adds a charge for extra add-on contact blocks to the monthly bill.
How does Mailchimp count contacts?
An unsubscribed contact counts toward the monthly limit, as do non-subscribers who ended up in the account by other routes. Archived, cleaned and deleted contacts do not count, so lowering the bill takes a separate step: the contacts have to be archived, not just allowed to unsubscribe.
Reading log
Added to the comparison as a reference point. Prices read from the price list in euros; free plan 250 contacts and 500 emails/month.
Euro prices read 3.4% higher at all three sizes read in both rounds: Essentials €11.30 → €11.69 at 500 contacts, €39.11 → €40.45 at 2,500, €95.59 → €98.88 at 10,000. Mailchimp says its euro prices are exchange-rate estimates of a dollar price, so this need not be a price rise. We have no dollar reading from September to compare. The 1,000 and 5,000 contact bands were read for the first time.