# Is Mailchimp Free? The 2026 Free Plan Explained > Is Mailchimp free? Yes, for up to 250 contacts and 500 emails a month. What the 2026 free plan includes, its limits, how paid plans work and alternatives. Canonical: https://www.cresca.xyz/blog/is-mailchimp-free Author: Lalit Kumar Jangid Published: 2026-11-05 Last updated: 2026-11-05 **Is Mailchimp free?** Yes, up to a point. Mailchimp's Free plan costs nothing for up to 250 contacts and lets you send up to 500 emails a month, with no more than 250 in a single day. It's enough to try email marketing on a small list, but it leaves out several features people expect, and sending pauses as soon as you go over a limit. This guide explains exactly what Mailchimp's free plan includes in 2026, what it doesn't, how the paid plans are priced, and what to look at if you outgrow it. *Every Mailchimp fact below comes from Mailchimp's own pricing and plan comparison pages, checked on November 5, 2026. Mailchimp changes its plans from time to time, so check its pricing page before you decide.* ## Is Mailchimp free? What the free plan includes Mailchimp's Free plan is a permanent plan, not a trial: you can stay on it as long as you stay within its limits. Here's what you get: | Free plan feature | Limit | | --- | --- | | Contacts | Up to 250 | | Emails you can send | Up to 500 a month, and no more than 250 a day | | Users | 1 seat | | Audiences (lists) | 1 | | Support | Email support for the first 30 days | | Basic reports, contact profiles, tags | Included | | Over a limit | Sending is paused until you're back under it or upgrade | For a hobby project, a personal newsletter or a test of how email works for your business, that can be enough. A list of 250 people who each get two emails a month fits inside it. ## What Mailchimp's free plan doesn't include The limits on contacts and sends are the obvious ones. The features that are missing matter just as much, because they're often why people sign up for an email tool in the first place: - **Generative AI features.** Mailchimp includes its generative AI features on the Standard and Premium plans only. They're not part of Free or Essentials. - **A/B testing.** Testing two subject lines or versions of an email starts on the Essentials plan. - **Marketing automation flows.** Automated sequences, such as a welcome series, are listed as not included in the Free plan's key features. - **Sending custom-coded templates.** On Free and Essentials you can create custom-coded templates, but you have to upgrade to send them. - **Transactional email.** Mailchimp's transactional email (receipts, password resets and other app email) is a paid add-on, available only with the Standard and Premium plans. - **Ongoing support.** Email support ends after your first 30 days on the Free plan. ## Is Mailchimp free forever? The Free plan doesn't expire. As long as you stay at or below 250 contacts and 500 emails a month (and 250 a day), you can keep using it without paying. The catch is growth: once your audience passes 250 contacts, or a send would take you over the email limit, sending is paused until you remove contacts or move to a paid plan. So the honest answer is: free forever for a very small list, and a starting point for anything bigger. ## Is Mailchimp free for nonprofits? The Free plan works the same way for nonprofits and charities as for anyone else: free up to 250 contacts and 500 emails a month. Most nonprofit lists, such as donors, volunteers and newsletter subscribers, grow past 250 contacts quickly, and at that point the paid plans apply. If you're a nonprofit, check Mailchimp's pricing page or ask its sales team whether any nonprofit offer is available when you sign up. ## How much does Mailchimp cost? How the paid plans work Mailchimp has three paid marketing plans: Essentials, Standard and Premium. The price of each depends on two things: the plan you choose and how many contacts you have. Mailchimp's pricing page shows the exact price for your contact count and region, so use its calculator for the number that applies to you. Here's how the plans differ, based on Mailchimp's own comparison table: | | Free | Essentials | Standard | Premium | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Monthly email sends | 500 (250 a day) | 10x your contacts | 12x your contacts | 15x your contacts | | Users | 1 | 3 | 5 | Unlimited | | Audiences | 1 | 3 | 5 | Unlimited | | Generative AI features | Not included | Not included | Included | Included | | A/B testing | Not included | Included | Included | Included | | Support | Email, first 30 days | 24/7 email and chat | 24/7 email and chat | Phone and priority | Three things to know about Mailchimp's pricing: - **Your bill grows with your list.** Every plan is priced by contact tier, so the price goes up as your audience grows, even if you send the same number of campaigns. - **Sends are a multiple of contacts.** On Essentials you can send 10 times your contact count each month; on Standard, 12 times. Mailchimp also notes that overages can apply above your plan's limits. - **Watch introductory offers.** When we checked, Mailchimp was advertising 50% off its Standard plan for the first 12 months. Note the price you'll pay after that period, so the second year isn't a surprise. If you also need to send app email, budget for the transactional add-on: Mailchimp prices it at $20 per block of 25,000 emails (for 1 to 20 blocks), on top of a Standard or Premium plan. ## When Mailchimp's free plan is enough, and when it isn't **The free plan is enough if:** - Your list is under 250 people and growing slowly. - You send one or two simple newsletters a month. - You don't need AI help, automation or A/B tests yet. - One person runs the email. **You'll outgrow it when:** - Your list passes 250 contacts, which happens fast with a signup form on a website. - You want an automated welcome email or sequence. - You want AI to help write or design emails. - A second person on your team needs access. - Your product needs to send receipts or password resets as well as newsletters. ## The best alternatives to Mailchimp's free plan ### 1\. Cresca: AI email marketing with the features Mailchimp keeps for paid plans If you're leaving Mailchimp's free plan because you need more than it gives you, Cresca is built around exactly the features that plan leaves out: - **AI that designs the whole email, on every plan.** Mailchimp keeps its generative AI for Standard and Premium. Cresca's AI agent is included from the Free plan up: describe a campaign in one sentence and it writes the copy, applies your logo and brand colour and lays out a complete email. It then checks the copy against your brief, so it can't invent a discount or a date you never gave it. - **Transactional email included, not an add-on.** Receipts, password resets and verification emails go through Cresca's transactional email API on every plan, from the same verified domain as your campaigns. On Mailchimp, that's a separate paid add-on for Standard and Premium only. - **One flat monthly price.** $29 a month for 5,000 contacts and 7,500 emails, $49 for 25,000 contacts and $99 for 55,000. No send limit tied to a multiple of your contacts, and no transactional blocks to buy on top. - **A real trial on a real campaign.** Cresca's Free plan gives you 30 days with 250 contacts, 1,000 emails (twice Mailchimp's free monthly sending) and 20 AI emails, with no credit card. It's a 30-day allowance for trying Cresca properly, not a permanent free plan. See the side-by-side comparison on our [Mailchimp alternative](https://www.cresca.xyz/mailchimp-alternative) page, or every plan on our [pricing page](https://www.cresca.xyz/pricing). ### Other free plans to compare From each provider's own pricing page, checked between October 29 and November 5, 2026: - **MailerLite:** free for up to 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails a month. - **Kit:** free for up to 10,000 subscribers. - **Klaviyo:** free for up to 250 active profiles and 500 email sends a month. - **Brevo:** a free tier with a daily sending allowance. When you compare, look past the free limits to what you'll pay once you grow: whether AI is included or kept for higher tiers, whether app email needs a second tool, and how the price changes as your list gets bigger. ## How to move off Mailchimp's free plan without losing your list Whether you upgrade or switch tools, your list is yours. If you decide to move: 1. **Export your audience** from Mailchimp as a CSV. Keep the columns you use for personalization, such as first name, and the tags you segment by. 2. **Leave out unsubscribed and cleaned contacts.** Importing people who unsubscribed, or addresses that bounced, hurts your sender reputation in the new tool. 3. **Set up your sending domain** in the new tool with SPF and DKIM before you send anything. Our guide to [SPF, DKIM and DMARC](https://www.cresca.xyz/blog/email-deliverability-spf-dkim-dmarc-done-right) walks through it. 4. **Import and map columns** to fields and tags in the new tool. 5. **Send a test to yourself,** then rebuild your next campaign and keep Mailchimp running until it has gone out. For a deeper look at choosing a tool, see our [buyer's guide to AI email marketing tools](https://www.cresca.xyz/blog/ai-email-marketing-tools). ## Frequently asked questions ### Is Mailchimp free? Yes, for small lists. Mailchimp's Free plan is free for up to 250 contacts and 500 emails a month, with a daily limit of 250 emails, one user and one audience. Sending pauses if you go over a limit. ### How many contacts can I have on Mailchimp for free? Up to 250 contacts on the Free plan. Above that you need one of the paid plans: Essentials, Standard or Premium, priced by contact count. ### Does Mailchimp's free plan include AI? No. Mailchimp includes its generative AI features on the Standard and Premium plans only, according to its plan comparison. ### Can I send transactional email on Mailchimp's free plan? No. Mailchimp's transactional email is an add-on for the Standard and Premium plans, priced in blocks of 25,000 emails. New transactional users can try a limited number of free sends to a verified domain. ### What happens when I go over Mailchimp's free limits? Mailchimp pauses sending when you go over the contact or email limit on the Free plan. To start sending again, remove contacts to get back under 250 or upgrade to a paid plan. ### What's the cheapest way to send email to more than 250 contacts? Compare the price at your contact count, the monthly email allowance, and which features are included rather than charged as add-ons. Cresca's Professional plan is $29 a month for 5,000 contacts and 7,500 emails, with the AI agent and the transactional email API included, so there's no second tool to pay for when your product also needs to send receipts and password resets. ## Try a different kind of email tool If you've outgrown Mailchimp's free plan and want AI that designs the whole email on every plan, **[try Cresca free for 30 days](https://app.cresca.xyz/signup)**, no credit card required. Import your Mailchimp export, write one sentence about your next campaign and see it built in your brand.