Email marketing and newsletters

Mailchimp vs MailerLite

Mailchimp prices by stored contacts, gates automation by plan and offers 300+ integrations; MailerLite gives every paid plan the full feature set, starts at $12 and lists $89 for 10,000 subscribers.

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The short answer

Both price by list size and both free plans stop at 250 contacts, but they allow different amounts: Mailchimp 500 sends a month with no scheduling or automation flows, MailerLite 2,500 emails and 3 automations of up to 5 steps.

On paid plans Mailchimp gates features by tier. Essentials starts at $13 (a 12-month offer price for 500 contacts) with flows of up to four steps; multi-step automation, up to 200 flows, needs Standard from $20. Unsubscribed contacts count toward the bill unless archived, and most tier prices are shown only in its calculator. MailerLite gives every paid plan the same features and publishes its table: Comfort starts at $12 and is $89 at 10,000 subscribers; Power starts at $25, is $129 at 10,000, and removes the caps on emails and automations.

Mailchimp’s case is its 300+ integrations and wide familiarity among agencies and freelancers. MailerLite is EU-based and includes a website and landing page builder.

Choose Mailchimp if

You depend on many third-party integrations
An agency or freelancer who already knows Mailchimp will run your email
You send rarely and want pay-as-you-go credits

Choose MailerLite if

You want published prices, such as $89 a month at 10,000 subscribers
You want full automation on the cheapest paid plan
You prefer an EU-based vendor with a built-in website builder

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Side by side

	Mailchimp	MailerLite
Stages	HobbyIndieStartupScale-upEnterprise	HobbyIndieStartupScale-upEnterprise
What it is	Email marketing platform	Email marketing platform
From	Essentials from $13/mo (500 contacts, 12-month offer price)	Comfort from $12/mo
Free tier	Up to 250 contacts, 500 sends a month (250 a day), 1 audience, 1 seat, Mailchimp branding, no scheduling and no automation flows	Up to 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails a month, 2 seats, 3 automations with 5 steps, 1 website and 1 landing page, 3 forms, limited API
Free plan	250 contacts, 500 sends/mo	250 subscribers, 2,500 emails/mo
10k contacts/mo	—	$89/mo (Comfort), $129/mo (Power)
Automations	Essentials: 4-step flows; Standard: up to 200 flows	Free 3, Comfort 50, Power unlimited
Landing pages	Yes, all plans	Free 1, Comfort 10, Power unlimited
Open source	No	No
Self-hostable	No	No
EU data residency	Not stated	Available
Compliance	Not stated	Not stated
Checked	28 Sept 2026	28 Sept 2026
Strengths	Very large integration catalogue and wide agency and freelancer familiarity Forms and landing pages available even on the free plan Standard plan offers up to 200 automation flows with branching Pay-as-you-go credits for infrequent senders	Paid plans share all features, so you only pay more for scale Built-in website and landing page builder EU-based company Low entry price for paid plans
Limitations	Free plan is capped at 250 contacts and 500 sends a month Essentials limits automation flows to 4 steps Unsubscribed and non-subscribed contacts count toward the billed contact total Headline prices are 12-month offers; full tier prices are only in the calculator	Free plan is limited to 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails a month Comfort caps monthly emails, automations and landing pages Transactional email needs the separate MailerSend product API and webhooks are limited on the free plan

Sources: Mailchimp pricing, MailerLite pricing. Full plans on each tool's page.

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Plans

Mailchimp

Free 250 contacts, 500 sends/mo, 1 seat	$0
Essentials 500 contacts at entry; sends 10x contacts; 3 seats; flows up to 4 steps; max 50,000 contacts ($385/mo tier)	From $13/mo
Standard 500 contacts at entry; sends 12x contacts; 5 seats; up to 200 flows; max 100,000 contacts ($800/mo tier)	From $20/mo
Premium 10,000 contacts at entry; sends 15x contacts; unlimited seats; phone support	From $350/mo

MailerLite

Free 250 subscribers, 2,500 emails/mo, 2 seats, 3 automations	$0
Comfort 500 subscribers at entry ($19 at 1,000, $89 at 10,000); emails 10x tier; 3 seats; 50 automations; 10 sites and landing pages	From $12/mo
Power 500 subscribers at entry ($39 at 1,000, $129 at 10,000); unlimited emails, seats, automations and landing pages	From $25/mo
Enterprise Above 200,000 subscribers; dedicated IP, SLA, custom DPA	Custom

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