$44.50 /mo
saves $65.50 (60%)
Pro plan
Covers all 5 things you need.
Also has: automations.
Home / Newsletters / Mailchimp
Alternatives to Mailchimp
6 tools compared. Prices checked 2026-10-20.
Subscribers
What you need:
+ Add something you need
Click a tick to drop something you do not need. Prices and the list update to match.
What do these mean?
- Custom sending domain
- Send emails from your own address, like hello@yourdomain.com, instead of the vendor's.
- Signup forms
- Forms you can put on your own site so people can subscribe.
- Segmentation
- Send to part of your list, for example only people who clicked last time.
- Campaign analytics
- See opens, clicks and unsubscribes for each email you send.
- Subscriber export
- Download your whole subscriber list, so you are never locked in.
- Paid subscriptions
- Charge readers for a paid version of your newsletter.
- Recommendation network
- Other newsletters recommend yours to their readers, and you recommend theirs.
- Referral program
- Readers earn rewards for getting friends to subscribe.
- Ad network
- Earn money from ads or sponsors placed in your emails.
- Automations
- Emails that send themselves, such as a welcome series for new subscribers.
- A/B testing
- Try two subject lines on part of your list and send the winner to the rest.
- API access
- Connect your own code or other tools to the platform.
- Webhooks
- Get a message sent to your own system when something happens, like a new subscriber.
- AI agent access (MCP)
- Let AI tools such as Claude run the platform for you.
- Remove vendor branding
- Hide the vendor's logo from your emails and pages.
- Newsletter website
- A public page that archives your newsletters.
- Dynamic content
- Show different content to different readers in the same email.
You pay now
$110 /mo
Mailchimp Essentials, the cheapest plan with everything you need
5 of 6 alternatives cover what you need. The cheapest of those saves $65.50 (60%) a month.
Already left Mailchimp? Tell us where you went. It takes about ten seconds and is anonymous.
Visitors who say they use Mailchimp: none yet. Self-reported and never used for order.
Cover everything you need
$89 /mo
saves $21 (19%)
Comfort plan
Covers all 5 things you need.
Also has: paid subscriptions, automations, AI agent access (MCP).
$97 /mo
saves $13 (12%)
Standard plan · $79 + $18 add-ons
Covers all 5 things you need. Some are paid add-ons.
Also has: newsletter website.
Ghost
Open source
$105 /mo
saves $5 (5%)
Publisher plan
Covers all 5 things you need.
Also has: paid subscriptions, recommendation network, referral program.
$139 /mo
$29 more
Creator plan
Covers all 5 things you need.
Also has: paid subscriptions, recommendation network, referral program.
Cheaper, but missing things you need
MailCheap
New (under 3 months) · Open source
$39 /mo
saves $71 (65%)
Starter plan · 43,333 emails/mo
Covers 3 of 5 things you need.
Missing segmentation (not stated by the vendor), subscriber export (not stated by the vendor).
Also has: AI agent access (MCP), newsletter website.
Priced per email sent, not per subscriber, assuming one email a week.
One email a week to every subscriber (about 4.33 emails per subscriber per month). Monthly billing. Cheapest plan that covers the size. Test emails, welcome emails and confirmation emails are not counted, so tools that bill per email send may cost more in practice.
Compare in detail
Mailchimp and the 4 cheapest alternatives. ✓ included +$ paid add-on ~ partly ? not stated – not offered
| Feature | Mailchimp your tool | EmailOctopus | MailerLite | Buttondown | Ghost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly cost | |||||
| 1,000 subscribers | $26.50 | $0 | $19 | $27 | $35 |
| 5,000 subscribers | $75 | $31.50 | $49 | $47 | $75 |
| 10,000 subscribers | $110 | $44.50 | $89 | $97 | $105 |
| 50,000 subscribers | $385 | $178 | $319 | $337 | $249 |
| What you need | |||||
| Custom sending domain | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Signup forms | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Segmentation | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | +$9 | ✓ |
| Campaign analytics | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | +$9 | ✓ |
| Subscriber export | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Also useful | |||||
| Paid subscriptions | ? | ? | ✓ | +$9 | ✓ |
| Recommendation network | ? | ? | ? | ? | ✓ |
| Referral program | ? | ? | ? | ? | ✓ |
| Ad network | ? | ? | ? | ? | ✓ |
| Automations | ~ | ✓ | ✓ | +$29 | ~ |
| A/B testing | ✓ | ? | ✓ | ~ | ? |
| API access | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Webhooks | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| AI agent access (MCP) | ? | ? | ✓ | ? | ? |
| Remove vendor branding | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | +$79 | ✓ |
| Newsletter website | ~ | ~ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Dynamic content | ✓ | ? | ✓ | ? | ? |
Know a cheaper option we're missing, or see something wrong? Tell me and I'll check the vendor's page. suggest a tool →report a wrong price →
Switches are reported by visitors, shown as raw counts, and never affect the order. "None yet" means nobody has reported that switch yet.
"Not stated" means we found no statement either way on the vendor's own pages, not that the feature is missing. Cost is the cheapest plan that covers the size and everything you need. Each tool page lists its sources and the date each price was checked.