Email marketing platform. The free plan is now 250 contacts and 500 sends a month.
Sniffed 4d ago14 day free trialNo card needed#newsletter#email-marketing#email#campaigns#automation
Sending pauses when you pass the contact or send limit. Mailchimp is an established email marketing platform with a large template library and many integrations. Its pricing page lists a Free plan with 1 seat, 1 audience, up to 250 contacts and up to 500 sends a month with a 250-a-day cap. Sending pauses if you pass a limit. A Mailchimp post on Reddit says the free limits for current customers moved to these numbers on February 17, 2026, down from 500 contacts and 1,000 sends. Essentials starts at $13 a month and Standard at $20, both with a 14-day free trial. Third-party reviews describe strong templates and integrations, and criticize a small free plan, steep prices at larger lists and billing for unsubscribed contacts.
Free tier quotas
Contacts
Up to 250 contacts
Sends
Up to 500 sends a month, with a 250 a day cap
Seats and audiences
1 seat and 1 audience
Limits hit
Sending pauses if the contact or send limit is exceeded
Templates
Access to some pre-built templates only
Not on Free
Email scheduling, removing Mailchimp branding and automation flows are not included on Free, per the pricing page
Paid trial
Essentials and Standard offer a 14-day free trial
Last sniffed Oct 21, 2026. Always confirm on the official pricing page.
👍 Good boy
+Mailchimp has a large template library and a polished drag-and-drop editor, which reviewers keep returning to.
+Integrations are a main strength. Third-party reviews recommend it mainly for teams that need them.
+Essentials and Standard offer a 14-day free trial, so you can test automation before you pay.
+G2 summaries cited by third-party reviews list ease of use with 250 mentions and email marketing with 199.
+The pricing page lists the free-plan limits plainly, including the 250-a-day send cap.
👎 Watch out
−The free plan is small. 250 contacts and 500 sends a month means sending to one list twice is already near the cap.
−Free limits shrank. A Mailchimp post on Reddit says they moved to 250 contacts from February 17, 2026, and third-party reports say sends fell from 1,000 to 500.
−Third-party reviews say Mailchimp counts unsubscribed contacts toward your plan's contact limit.
−Prices rise quickly. One third-party table shows Essentials at $75 a month for 5,000 contacts.
−Free has no scheduling, no automation flows and no way to remove Mailchimp branding, per the pricing page.
−A third-party review reports Trustpilot at 2.5 from 1,513 reviews in September 2026. We did not check Trustpilot ourselves.
The catch
The free plan is a test drive. It caps at 250 contacts and 500 sends a month with a 250-a-day limit, and sending pauses when you pass either. It has no scheduling, no automation flows and Mailchimp branding stays in your emails.
The limits tightened on February 17, 2026, per a Mailchimp post on Reddit, from 500 contacts. Check the pricing page for the current numbers.
Paid plans start at $13 a month for 500 contacts but climb with list size. Third-party sources say Mailchimp bills for unsubscribed contacts, so clean your list.
The 14-day trial applies to Essentials and Standard, not the free plan. The pricing page does not state a card requirement or commercial-use terms for Free, so both are left as unknown.
What’s included
✓Email campaigns and newsletters
✓Pre-built templates (limited on Free)
✓Custom-coded templates on paid plans
✓Marketing automation flows on paid plans
✓Audience segmentation
✓Scheduling on paid plans
✓Custom reports on higher plans
✓Integrations
✓Generative AI features on Standard and Premium
Free tier value
Generosity
B
Estimated value
250 contacts and 500 sends a month free
Feature parity
Free: 250 contacts, 500 sends a month (250 a day), 1 seat, limited templates, no scheduling.
Starts at 500 contacts. Sends up to 10x your contact count, 3 seats, 3 audiences, automation flows up to 4 steps and 24/7 email and chat support. 14-day free trial.
Standard, from $20 per month
Sends up to 12x contacts, 5 seats, 5 audiences, up to 200 flow steps, branded templates and custom reports. 14-day free trial.
Premium, from $350 per month
Includes 10,000 contacts, sends up to 15x contacts, unlimited seats and audiences and enterprise SSO.
Common questions
Is Mailchimp free?
Yes, for up to 250 contacts and 500 sends a month with a 250-a-day cap.
What happens if I go over the free limits?
Sending is paused until you upgrade or reduce your contacts.
Do I get a free trial?
Essentials and Standard list a 14-day free trial.
Do unsubscribed contacts count?
Third-party reviews say yes. Check Mailchimp's help center for the current rule.
Change history
Checked October 22, 2026
Free-plan limits read from the Mailchimp pricing page. The February 2026 change from a Mailchimp Reddit post and third-party reviews. Card requirement and commercial use left as unknown.
