Teams look past Mailchimp when a small free list outgrows the free plan, when contact-based billing climbs with the audience, or when automation depth sits on a higher tier. Most go to MailerLite or Brevo for a cheaper general sender, to Kit or beehiiv for newsletters, and to Klaviyo or Omnisend for online stores.
Visibility in our rankings can be paid for. Payment moves a vendor's position within
the shortlist; it never adds a vendor, and it never changes a word of the review or of this page. How it works:
placement disclosure · editorial process.
What each alternative does differently
1. MailerLite
Straightforward newsletters, forms and automations at a fair price · Lithuania
A like-for-like newsletter and automation sender. The free plan allows 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails a month with 3 automations, and Comfort lifts that to 50 automations. Power removes limits on automations, landing pages and seats. Pricing follows subscriber count, as Mailchimp's follows contacts.
Switch from Mailchimp if you want the same newsletter and landing page scope with more automations on the entry paid plan.
Pricing: Free plan for small lists, then paid plans priced by subscriber count with automation and landing pages included. (free plan)
Full review: #1 of 13 in our ranking ·
Visit MailerLite →
2. Brevo
Send-volume pricing with transactional email and SMS built in · France
Sells across email, SMS and WhatsApp rather than email alone. The pricing page shows Free, Starter and Professional plans, with a daily sending cap on the free tier and messaging credits as a separate item. Billing is tied to message volume instead of the size of the audience.
Switch from Mailchimp if you send SMS or WhatsApp too and prefer paying for volume instead of contacts.
Pricing: Free plan with a daily sending cap, then paid plans priced mainly by monthly email volume; SMS and WhatsApp credits bought separately. (free plan)
Full review: #2 of 13 in our ranking ·
Visit Brevo →
3. Kit
Email platform for creators and newsletter businesses · United States
Built for creators who sell to an audience. The free plan covers up to 10,000 subscribers with forms, landing pages and broadcasts, while visual automations, sequences and SMS need Creator. Every plan lists free migration from other platforms, which suits a move away from Mailchimp.
Switch from Mailchimp if you run a creator newsletter and want a large free tier with migration help.
Pricing: Free newsletter plan, then paid plans priced by subscriber count; automations and integrations on paid tiers. (free plan)
Full review: #3 of 13 in our ranking ·
Visit Kit →
4. Klaviyo
Ecommerce email and SMS built on store data · United States
Aimed at online stores. The free plan is capped at 250 active profiles and 500 sends a month, and covers email and SMS editors, automations and segmentation. Billing counts active profiles, not every contact, and SMS usage draws on a separate credit allowance.
Switch from Mailchimp if you run an online store and want segmentation built on shopper behavior.
Pricing: Free plan for small stores, then plans priced by active profiles, with SMS billed separately by credit. (free plan)
Full review: #5 of 13 in our ranking ·
Visit Klaviyo →
5. Omnisend
Ecommerce email and SMS for smaller online stores · Lithuania
Commerce-focused with email, SMS and web push in one tool. The free plan allows 250 contacts and 500 emails a month. SMS is available from the Pro plan, priced per message by country and volume. All plans list free migration assistance.
Switch from Mailchimp if you sell online and want email, SMS and push from one account.
Pricing: Free plan for small stores, then plans priced by contact count, with SMS credits included on higher tiers. (free plan)
Full review: #7 of 13 in our ranking ·
Visit Omnisend →
6. GetResponse
Email, webinars and funnels from one platform · Poland
Bundles webinars, a course creator and landing pages with email. The pricing page shows no permanent free plan, only a 14-day trial. Starter allows one automation workflow, Marketer unlimited workflows, and Creator adds webinars and the course creator, so scope exceeds Mailchimp's.
Switch from Mailchimp if you also host webinars or sell courses and want them under one login.
Pricing: Free plan up to 500 contacts, then plans priced by list size, with webinars and the course creator on the Creator tier and above. (free plan)
Full review: #8 of 13 in our ranking ·
Visit GetResponse →
7. EmailOctopus
Low-cost newsletters without the extras · United Kingdom
A plain, low-cost sender. The free Starter plan allows 2,500 subscribers and 10,000 emails a month, with its own branding and 30-day report retention. Pro, listed from $9 a month billed annually, removes branding and adds unlimited forms. Fewer features than Mailchimp, and no SMS.
Switch from Mailchimp if you only need to send newsletters and want the lowest running cost.
Pricing: Generous free plan, then low-cost plans priced by subscriber count. (free plan)
Full review: #9 of 13 in our ranking ·
Visit EmailOctopus →
8. beehiiv
Newsletter publishing with growth and ad tools · United States
A newsletter publisher with a web archive, podcast and paid subscriptions, not a marketing suite. Free covers 2,500 subscribers with unlimited sends. Lite at $49 a month adds paid subscriptions at a 0 percent platform take rate, though card processing fees still apply.
Switch from Mailchimp if your list is a publication and you want to monetize it with paid tiers.
Pricing: Free plan up to a subscriber cap, then plans priced by subscriber count with monetization features on higher tiers. (free plan)
Full review: #10 of 13 in our ranking ·
Visit beehiiv →
9. ActiveCampaign
Email campaigns wrapped around a deep automation engine · United States
An automation and CRM product more than a newsletter tool. Starter limits automations to 5 actions, Plus removes that cap, and Pro adds email A/B testing and advanced segmentation. A 14-day trial is offered, and prices are generated per contact count, so we could not read fixed amounts.
Switch from Mailchimp if your problem is automation depth and sales follow-up, not newsletters.
Pricing: Published plans billed by contact band, with a low-cost Starter tier and the stronger automation and reporting reserved for Plus and above. (free trial)
Full review: #13 of 13 in our ranking ·
Visit ActiveCampaign →
10. AWeber
Veteran autoresponder with round-the-clock support · United States
A paid-only sender. Lite starts at $15 a month billed annually for 500 subscribers, with 3 automations and 3 landing pages. Plus unlocks unlimited automations and landing pages. A 14-day trial replaces the permanent free plan Mailchimp offers.
Switch from Mailchimp if you accept paying from the start and want unlimited automations on Plus.
Pricing: Plans priced by subscriber count, with trial access before paying. (free trial)
Full review: #11 of 13 in our ranking ·
Visit AWeber →
11. Campaign Monitor
Design-led email with agency client management · United States
Priced and packaged for agencies and brands. Plans listed are Lite, Essentials, Premier and Enterprise, with Premier adding phone support, advanced engagement segments and a website builder. Enterprise lists multi-brand management and SOC2 compliance. It has no entry plan as small as Mailchimp's free one.
Switch from Mailchimp if you manage several brands or clients and need team and compliance features.
Pricing: Plans priced by contact count, with client billing options for agencies. (free trial)
Full review: #12 of 13 in our ranking ·
Visit Campaign Monitor →
12. Constant Contact
Email with phone support for local businesses and nonprofits · United States
A US small-business sender, priced by contact tier like Mailchimp. The category file notes tiered plans and a trial but no permanent free plan. We could not load its pricing page, so plan names and amounts are unconfirmed here. Check the vendor page before comparing.
Switch from Mailchimp if you want a conventional contact-priced sender with no permanent free plan.
Pricing: Tiered plans priced by contact count; no permanent free plan, trial available. (free trial)
Full review: #6 of 13 in our ranking ·
Visit Constant Contact →
Questions and answers
Can I export my contacts from Mailchimp?
Yes, Mailchimp exports contacts as CSV files. Its help page says each export is tied to one audience, so contacts in several audiences are exported separately. The export also includes activity files for opens and clicks.
Is there a Mailchimp free plan I can fall back to?
Yes, the pricing page lists a Free plan at 250 contacts, 500 sends a month and 250 a day with one seat. It has no marketing automation, so a team using automations must replace those journeys.
Do Mailchimp prices rise as my list grows?
Yes, paid plans are priced by contact count and the pricing page states that overage charges apply above a plan's limit. The page also shows a 15 percent discount for the first 12 months on plans from 10,000 contacts.
Which alternatives offer a free plan?
MailerLite, Kit, Klaviyo, Omnisend, EmailOctopus and beehiiv list free plans on their own pricing pages, with different caps. GetResponse shows only a 14-day trial, and AWeber and ActiveCampaign also list trials.
Who owns Mailchimp?
Intuit owns Mailchimp, according to its pricing page. A buyer who wants a vendor outside a larger group can look at independent senders such as MailerLite, Kit or EmailOctopus.
Do I need to rebuild my automations?
Yes, plan to rebuild them. Mailchimp's exports cover contact and activity data as CSV, not automation flows, so journeys and forms are recreated in the new tool and tested before the old account is closed.
