How much does Mailchimp cost in 2026?

Essentials, up to 500 contacts: $13 a month on annual billing; Standard, up to 500 contacts: $20 a month on annual billing; Standard, up to 2,500 contacts: $60 a month on annual billing; Standard, up to 5,000 contacts: $100 a month on annual billing. Up to 250 contacts and 500 emails a month. Checked October 26, 2026.

What is a cheaper alternative to Mailchimp?

Sender (Free for up to 2,500 subscribers and 15,000 emails a month), MailerLite (Free up to 250 subscribers; Comfort from $12/mo for 500, $33 for 2,500), Brevo (Free: 300 emails a day; Starter from $9/mo), Listmonk (Free to self-host; Amazon SES sends cost $0.10 per 1,000 emails). A free home for a small list, but check its automation limits before you move.

Email marketing and newsletters

Should you build your own Mailchimp?

Q: Should you build your own Mailchimp?

Buy it. You can build signup forms and send through an email API. But then deliverability, bounce and complaint handling, unsubscribe compliance (CAN-SPAM, GDPR) and list hygiene are all on you. At 500 contacts, Mailchimp is about $13 a month. If price is the problem, switch to a cheaper email tool instead of building one.

Buy it. Sending email is easy. Getting it into the inbox isn’t.

BUY

Short answer

You can build signup forms and send through an email API. But then deliverability, bounce and complaint handling, unsubscribe compliance (CAN-SPAM, GDPR) and list hygiene are all on you. At 500 contacts, Mailchimp is about $13 a month. If price is the problem, switch to a cheaper email tool instead of building one.

Buy for 3 years: $468
Build and run for 3 years: $2,095
Verdict: BUY

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Cheaper options

FreeSenderFree for up to 2,500 subscribers and 15,000 emails a monthA free home for a small list, but check its automation limits before you move.CheaperMailerLiteFree up to 250 subscribers; Comfort from $12/mo for 500, $33 for 2,500A similar editor and automations for about the same price at 500 contacts, and 45% less than Mailchimp Standard at 2,500.CheaperBrevoFree: 300 emails a day; Starter from $9/moPriced by emails sent rather than contacts, so a large list you rarely email stays cheap.Open sourceListmonkFree to self-host; Amazon SES sends cost $0.10 per 1,000 emailsA newsletter manager you host yourself, which hands deliverability and server upkeep back to you.

Mailchimp pricing in 2026

Plan	Billed yearly	Billed monthly
Essentials, up to 500 contacts Typical	$13/mo	–
Standard, up to 500 contacts	$20/mo	–
Standard, up to 2,500 contacts	$60/mo	–
Standard, up to 5,000 contacts	$100/mo	–

Free plan: Up to 250 contacts and 500 emails a month

Paying too much? The Free plan covers a list under 250 contacts. Essentials at $13 is enough if you send newsletters without long automations, since Standard adds longer automation flows and AI features.

Billed monthly, read in USD on Mailchimp’s pricing page at each contact tier. Mailchimp offers annual billing only through sales, for Standard and Premium at 10,000+ contacts. Premium starts at $350 a month. Checked October 26, 2026.

Run your own numbers

Defaults are a typical small team at $30/hour. Change anything.

If you buy Mailchimp

Plan

If you build it

Your time, $ per hour

Hours to build

Upkeep, hours per month

Hosting and services, $ per month

Buy

$468

Build

$2,095

Buying is about $1,627 cheaper over 3 years.

3-year totals. Building includes your time, upkeep, running costs and one month of an AI app builder ($25). Change any number to match your situation.

What you’d build

Signup forms that write to your own contacts table
Sending through an email API (e.g. Amazon SES or Resend)
Unsubscribe links, a suppression list, and bounce and complaint webhooks
Templates and a basic send scheduler

Our estimate for an email-sending API at modest volume.

What you’d give up

Sending infrastructure with an established reputation
A drag-and-drop editor and template library
Automations, segments and A/B tests
Open and click reports

Risks the price doesn’t show

DeliverabilityHigh

A new sending setup lands in spam easily.

ComplianceHigh

Unsubscribes and consent records are legal requirements.

BouncesMedium

Ignoring bounces and complaints gets your domain blocked.

When the verdict flips

Switch to HYBRID if you only send transactional email (receipts, password resets). That belongs in your app through an email API anyway.

Sources

Mailchimp pricing

Build hours are our estimates for one person using an AI app builder. How we score. Spotted a wrong price? Tell us on X @BuildictHQ.

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Kit

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SWITCH

Switch to MailerLite. At 1,000 subscribers it costs $17.10 a month against Kit’s $33.

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