Mailchimp vs Campaign Monitor: what the extra $17 to $47 a month buys
At 5,000 contacts Campaign Monitor's Essentials plan is $117 a month against Mailchimp Standard's $100; at 10,000 it is $182 against $135. The premium buys unlimited sends in place of Mailchimp's 12-times-contacts cap, unlimited users on every plan, and a Premier tier with phone support from $171 at 500 contacts, where Mailchimp Premium starts at $350. Mailchimp answers with a permanent free plan and 50% first-year offers, while Campaign Monitor offers only a 30-day trial.
By Julian Pryor · Updated 7 Oct 2026
Short answer
Choose Mailchimp when the budget is tight at 2,500 to 10,000 contacts, you want a free tier to start on, or you can use its first-year discounts. Choose Campaign Monitor when several people or an agency team edit campaigns (no seat limits), you send heavily relative to list size, or you want phone support at a mid-range price. At the lowest tier the two are level: $13 a month at 500 contacts on Campaign Monitor Lite and on Mailchimp Essentials.
Price by contact count, monthly billing
Campaign Monitor's figures come from the contact selector on its pricing page, read at four stops on 7 October 2026. Mailchimp's come from its pricing page, where Standard is quoted per contact band. No Mailchimp readout was captured at exactly 2,500 contacts, so that row shows the neighbouring band.
| Contacts | Campaign Monitor Lite | Essentials | Premier | Mailchimp |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 500 | $13 | $31 | $171 | Essentials $13, Standard $20, Premium $350 |
| 2,500 | $47 | $74 | $182 | No readout; band 2,501 to 5,000 is $100 |
| 5,000 | $75 | $117 | $203 | Standard $100 |
| 10,000 | $117 | $182 | $300 | Standard $135 |
Annual billing takes about 10% off Campaign Monitor: Essentials at 10,000 contacts is $163.80 a month on the annual toggle. Mailchimp offers annual plans only for Standard and Premium accounts of 10,000 or more contacts, through sales. In Mailchimp's first year the 50% offers read $50 for the 2,501 to 5,000 band and $67.50 for 5,001 to 10,000, which would put Campaign Monitor Essentials $67 and $114.50 a month higher for twelve months. After that it is the $17 and $47 gap from the table, or $564 a year at 10,000 contacts.
Send ceilings and what they mean at 5,000 contacts
| Plan | Rule | Emails a month at 5,000 contacts |
|---|---|---|
| Campaign Monitor Lite | 5 times subscribers | 25,000 |
| Campaign Monitor Essentials and Premier | Unlimited sends | No cap listed |
| Mailchimp Essentials | 10 times contacts | 50,000 |
| Mailchimp Standard | 12 times contacts | 60,000 |
| Mailchimp Premium | 15 times contacts | 75,000 |
Campaign Monitor's Lite plan also lists automated emails as limited by the same send volume, so a welcome series draws from the 25,000. This makes Lite the cheaper plan at $75 only for lists mailed a few times a month. Anyone sending a weekly newsletter plus automations to 5,000 people will find the Lite allowance tight, and Essentials at $117 is the honest comparison.
Seats, templates and support
- Seats. Campaign Monitor lists unlimited users on every plan. Mailchimp's free plan includes 1 seat, Essentials 3, Standard 5 and Premium unlimited.
- Custom-coded templates. Campaign Monitor names them in its Lite plan. Mailchimp lets Essentials accounts create custom-coded templates but requires an upgrade to send them; Standard and Premium create and send.
- Support. Campaign Monitor's Essentials plan carries priority-level support and Premier adds phone support. Mailchimp's Standard plan is 24/7 email and chat, and phone support starts at Premium.
- Trial. Campaign Monitor: 30 days, 500 contacts, 500 emails. Mailchimp: a free plan for 250 contacts, and a 14-day Standard trial that sends up to 100 emails until you add a card.
Receipts, invoices and product events
Campaign Monitor's plan table includes transactional emails for actions such as invoices or account confirmation, counted against the volume of your subscriber tier, plus drip campaigns and pre-built journeys. Mailchimp's marketing plans include a Marketing Automation Flows builder; its Transactional product sits on a separate tab of the pricing page. Neither page describes billing-system triggers. A SaaS on Stripe or Paddle would still send trial-ending and failed-payment webhooks to its own server and call either tool's API from there. If the first emails to build are dunning and trial-end notices, see Loops vs Mailchimp.
Switching
- Export subscribers with their status and keep unsubscribed addresses flagged in the import.
- Copy any custom-coded templates first, since Mailchimp Essentials accounts cannot send them.
- Authenticate the sending domain in the new account while the old one keeps sending.
- Run one automation in each tool for a full cycle and compare delivered counts before cancelling.
Which to choose
- Mailchimp Standard for a 2,500 to 10,000 contact list with a limited budget, mailed up to 12 times per contact.
- Campaign Monitor Essentials for teams with many editors or heavy sending, accepting $17 to $47 a month more at these sizes.
- Campaign Monitor Premier for phone support at 500 to 2,500 contacts, where $171 to $182 undercuts Mailchimp Premium's $350 starting price.
Related reading: Constant Contact vs Campaign Monitor, Mailchimp vs Constant Contact, Mailchimp vs MailerLite, Customer.io vs Mailchimp and the comparison index.
Mailchimp vs Campaign Monitor: common questions
Is Campaign Monitor more expensive than Mailchimp?
For the comparable plans, yes. Campaign Monitor Essentials is $117 a month at 5,000 contacts and $182 at 10,000 on monthly billing; Mailchimp Standard is $100 for the 2,501 to 5,000 band and $135 for 5,001 to 10,000. That is $17 and $47 a month more. Campaign Monitor Lite is cheaper than Mailchimp Standard ($75 and $117) but caps sends at 5 times your subscribers. The order reverses at the top tier: Premier is $171 at 500 contacts against Mailchimp Premium's $350.
Does Campaign Monitor have a free plan?
No. Its pricing page offers a 30-day free trial limited to 500 contacts and 500 emails. Mailchimp has a standing free plan for up to 250 contacts and 500 sends a month, plus a 14-day trial of Standard.
What does "5x subscriber emails" on Lite mean?
Monthly sends are capped at five times your subscriber count. At 5,000 subscribers that is 25,000 emails, at 10,000 it is 50,000. Essentials and Premier list unlimited sends. For comparison, Mailchimp Standard allows 12 times your contacts, which is 60,000 and 120,000 at the same two sizes.
Can Campaign Monitor send receipts and account emails?
Its plan table lists transactional emails on every plan, described as emails sent on a subscriber action such as invoices or account confirmation, with volume limited to the subscriber tier. That means receipts share the allowance of the tier you buy. Mailchimp's pricing page treats Transactional as a separate tab and product.