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MailChimp has the best free subscription plan of any email marketing service provider out there. Along with the long list of features including unlimited image hosting, Google Analytics and the integration with hundreds of apps, MailChimp is an excellent choice for beginners or those who have limited funding.
However, based on numerous customer reviews we’ve found, you may want to look elsewhere for more advanced features. Here, we give you the information you need to make the best decision about whether MailChimp is right for you.
Article Overview
- Pros & Cons
- Key Features
- MailChimp Price
- How To Use Facebook Ads With MailChimp (With Video)
- Customer Feedback
- Is MailChimp Right For You?
MailChimp Review
Pros
- Free for up to 2,000 subscribers
- Knowledge base includes animated videos and screenshots
- MailChimp’s HTML templates are easy to use, and you can use their WYSIWYG editor to customize your own designs
- An Inbox Inspector add-on that lets you generate over 25 screenshots of your email in all major email applications, as well as live tests from all the major ISPs to see if spam filters are triggered
- Track where your sign-ups originated, which will help you optimize your opt-out prevention methods
- Hundreds of integrations, including Google Analytics
- Sign-up forms can be customized and embedded anywhere
- Straightforward contact list management and easy import of contacts via cvs file
- Internal surveys
- Automation feature makes autoresponding, segmentation and triggering easy
Cons
- Customer complaints about their Acceptable Use Policy
- No phone support and live chat often has long wait times
- Many advanced features only available with Pro plan (starting at $199 per month)
- Importing of contact lists could be easier
- Importing templates from existing website graphics would be a great add-on
- Slow to refresh and can be slow when the site is busy
- Segmentation is very limited with free plan
- Fewer templates than other email marketing services
Other Pros
- Automatically removes old/incorrect email addresses that bounce to keep lists healthy
- Automation included in all plans for no cost
- Allows attachments
Key Features
MailChimp has many features that appeal to email marketers including its new automation feature and the capability to set up a multi-user account. MailChimp Coupon Scanner is also available through the merge tags, and this feature allows store owners to send QR code coupons to their subscribers.
- Ecommerce integrations (Shopify, Magento, WooCommerce, BigCommerce)
- Drag and drop designer
- Collaboration style workflow capabilities like multi-user accounts and adding comments inside the editor
- Marketing automation
- Advanced reporting features
- Google Analytics integrations
- Social sharing with Twitter and Facebook
- API documentation
- Free automation for all plans
MailChimp Price
MailChimp offers the best free plan for the price, number of subscribers/emails sent, and variety of features than any other email marketing service. They also provide monthly pricing and pay as you go fees for those who need more than what you can do with the free plan.
Forever Free Plan
One of the great things about MailChimp is their Forever Free plan. You get up to 2,000 subscribers and 12,000 emails you can send each month, no credit card required. It’s great for low-volume senders, beginners or nonprofits who don’t have the budget for more. For only $10/month you can get more features including automation, delivery by time-zone, chat support and more.
Monthly Subscriptions
With MailChimp’s monthly subscriptions you pay per number of contacts, but you get an unlimited number of emails you can send each month.
| Number of Contacts | Price Per Month for Growing Business | Price Per Month with Pro |
|---|---|---|
| 1,001-1,500 | $20 | $219 |
| 1,501-2,000 | $25 | $224 |
| 2,001-2,500 | $30 | $229 |
| 2,501-2,600 | $35 | $234 |
| 2,601-2,700 | $40 | $239 |
| 2,700+ | Use its online calculator | Use its online calculator |
Pay As You Go Plan
MailChimp gives you the option of buying packages of email credits, which you use like postage stamps. These can be a great option if you’re on the free plan but occasionally need to send more emails than the 12,000 limit.
| Number of Credits | Price |
|---|---|
| 5,000 | $150 |
| 10,000 | $200 |
| 25,000 | $250 |
| 50,000 | $500 |
| 75,000 | $750 |
| 200,000 | $1,000 |
| 375,000 | $1,875 |
| 2,000,000 | $2,500 |
Pro
You can add Pro to your plan for $199 per month. Pro provides analytics tools to help grow your business.
What Are Users Saying About MailChimp?
We scoured the web to find out how real users rate MailChimp. Here are some of the reviews we’ve found to give you an overall picture of MailChimp, from the customers’ perspectives.
Positive Reviews
As most of the platform and software that I use for my business, I use MailChimp also for my clients. MailChimp offers you a clean and simple look of his dashboard, focusing all your attention to creating and sending out your emails. There are a lot of templates avaible that you can easily customize with colors or specific dispositions. The drag and drop interface also helps you a lot in the building of your newsletter. – Norina M., G2Crowd 3/3/2018
I use MailChimp for both internal and external newsletter. It is a great tool to monitor engagement, create customized templates, and advertising for a larger reach. It is also more cost effective than our print / mail publications. It is used mostly by our marketing team. – Hilda A., TrustRadius 1/31/2018
Negative Reviews
Sometimes it’s hard to get MailChimp’s templates to do exactly what you want. Would love more variety. Would love templates that offer more unique actions, such as gif backgrounds, in-mail videos, polls, etc. More interactive emails would be awesome. – Jenny B., G2Crowd 3/2/2018
I implemented MailChimp as an alternative to Vertical Response and other email services I have used. We used it for regular ecommerce newsletters for my web business. MailChimp is terrible – I’ll never use it again. – Verified User, TrustRadius 9/21/2017
Want To Use Facebook Ads?
A stat from HubSpot in 2016 states that in the past 2 years, content consumption on Facebook has increased 57%. So, what are you waiting for? You can use Facebook ads with MailChimp. Just watch the video below for a brief overview.
Is MailChimp The Email Marketing Service For You?
If you’re just starting out with email marketing, first check out our all-inclusive guide, and then you’ll probably want to check out MailChimp’s Forever Free plan. Its monthly paid subscriptions are competitively priced.
However, if you’re a larger business or just need more advanced features, you may want to look elsewhere. It comes down to your specific needs. See how MailChimp compares to the competition with our email marketing service comparison.
What do you think about MailChimp?
