Mailchimp

Mailchimp was founded in 2001 by Ben Chestnut and Dan Kurzius. They started it as a side project within their web design agency because their clients kept asking for a way to send professional emails without needing a developer. For twenty years, they famously "bootstrapped" the company, meaning they never took a cent of venture capital money. This independence allowed them to focus entirely on the needs of small businesses rather than chasing quarterly targets for investors.

In 2021, the company made headlines when it was acquired by Intuit (the owners of QuickBooks and TurboTax) for a staggering $12 billion. This acquisition has led to a much deeper integration between your "marketing" data and your "financial" data. In 2026, this means Mailchimp can tell you exactly which email campaign generated the most actual profit in your QuickBooks account, creating a closed loop of business intelligence that was previously only available to giant corporations.

Mailchimp is the perfect fit for the Small Business Owner and E-commerce Founder who needs to look big without a big team. If you are running a Shopify or WooCommerce store, Mailchimp is essentially mandatory. It is for the person who values design and user experience but doesn't have the time to learn complex technical software.

It is also a favorite for Non-Profits and Content Creators. Because it offers a solid free tier and discounted rates for charities, it is the go-to for building community and keeping followers engaged. If you are a marketer who lives and dies by "numbers," the reporting and predictive analytics in Mailchimp provide enough depth to satisfy your data-driven needs while still keeping the daily work fast and enjoyable.

At its core, Mailchimp is a Customer Platform. It can manage your entire contact list (CRM), allowing you to tag people based on their interests or purchase history. Once your list is organized, you can use the Email Designer to create campaigns that look professional on both desktop and mobile. Its Automation engine is the real brain of the operation—it can send a "Welcome" email when someone signs up, a "Happy Birthday" discount, or a "We Miss You" note if a customer hasn't bought anything in three months.

In 2026, its Content Studio is a standout feature. It stores all your images and brand assets and uses AI to help you resize them for different platforms. You can also build Landing Pages to capture leads, run Retargeting Ads on Facebook and Instagram, and even send physical Postcards to your best customers' home addresses. It is designed to be the "central hub" where your brand voice lives and reaches your audience wherever they happen to be.

Mailchimp’s pricing has become quite complex in recent years as they move toward "Value-Based" billing. They offer four main tiers: Free, Essentials, Standard, and Premium. The Free plan is great for getting started, but it now has stricter limits on how many emails you can send per month. The Essentials Plan (~$13/mo) is where most people begin, as it removes the Mailchimp branding and adds A/B testing.

The Standard Plan (~$20/mo) is the one Mailchimp actually recommends for growth, as it includes the advanced "Customer Journey Builder" and predictive analytics. For massive companies with over 200,000 contacts, the Premium Plan (~$350/mo) provides high-level security and a dedicated account manager. The most important thing to remember is that you pay based on contact count. If your list grows from 500 to 5,000, your monthly bill will jump significantly, so it’s vital to keep your list "clean" of inactive users.

The biggest "red flag" with Mailchimp is the Price Scaling. They are often the most expensive option once your list becomes successful. Many businesses find that they start for free, but by the time they have 10,000 subscribers, they are paying $100+ per month. You should also be aware of their strict compliance. If you buy a list of emails (which you should never do) and get a high number of spam reports, Mailchimp will shut down your account instantly with very little room for appeal.

Lastly, pay attention to the Support Limits. Free users only get email support for the first 30 days. After that, you are on your own with their (admittedly excellent) help articles. If you want to be able to jump on a chat or a phone call when your campaign isn't sending, you must be on a paid tier.

If Mailchimp feels too expensive or too "busy," there are fantastic alternatives in 2026. MailerLite is the top choice for beginners who want a cleaner interface and a more generous free plan. For Shopify owners who want even deeper automation, Klaviyo is the industry leader, though it is even more expensive than Mailchimp.

• • ConvertKit: The absolute best for creators and bloggers who value simple, text-based emails and powerful "nurture" sequences.
• • ActiveCampaign: For businesses that need a full CRM and incredibly complex, multi-channel marketing automation.
• • Brevo (formerly Sendinblue): Great for transactional emails (receipts/updates) and SMS marketing on a budget.

• Do unsubscribed contacts count toward my bill? No. In 2026, Mailchimp only bills you for "Marketing Contacts"—the people you are actually eligible to send emails to. You should still archive old contacts to keep your account tidy.

• Can I use Mailchimp for free forever? Yes, as long as you stay under 500 contacts and stay within their monthly send limits. However, your emails will always have a "Mailchimp" badge at the bottom.

• Does Mailchimp have a mobile app? Yes, and it’s excellent. You can track your campaign stats, add new contacts on the fly, and even draft simple emails directly from your iPhone or Android device.

• Can I sell products directly through Mailchimp? Yes, they have a "Stores" feature that lets you build a simple e-commerce site directly on their platform, or you can use "Shoppable Landing Pages" to sell individual items.