Cost verdict · PW-EMAIL-MAILCHIMP
The Mailchimp bill at 10,000 subscribers is $135/mo
The entry price is the draw; the bill at scale is what you keep paying. Mailchimp reads $26.50 a month at 1,000 subscribers and $135 a month at 10,000 — a 5.1× step, +409%. This record leads with that jump, because it is the cost the score weighs most. Every figure is a dated reading, never a live quote.
- In brief
- The 800-pound gorilla of email marketing. Intuit-owned Mailchimp dominates with easy automation and templates—but subscriber-based pricing means costs balloon fast as you grow.
- Free tier
- 250 contacts, 500 sends/mo — a fixed published cap, not a benchmark and not in the jump.
- Annual billing
- No meaningful annual discount on record.
Prices are monthly, in USD, read for the recorded Mailchimp file dated 2026-02-19. The 10,000-subscriber figure is the cost-at-scale the score weighs most. Confirm at Mailchimp before you buy.
- Composite
- 2.5/5
- Dimensions
- 7
- Source-backed
- 4
The basis Average · weights v1.0 · 3 dimensions need review · the scorecard is filed below
Folder A · Subscriber-tier ledger
What the monthly bill reads as the list grows
The recorded monthly cost at each subscriber tier on file: the free cap (a fixed published limit, not a benchmark), the 1,000-subscriber baseline, any labelled modeled mid-tier, and the 10,000-subscriber scaling reading — the ▲ jump between the two benchmarks is the one source-backed alert.
| Subscribers | Monthly | Plan | 1K → tier | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FreeRecorded-static cap | Free | Free | — | Recorded-static |
| 1,000Baseline benchmark | $26.50/mo | Standard | baseline | Source-backed |
| 5,000Modeled mid-tier | ≈ $52.50/mo | Standard (modeled) | — | Modeled |
| 10,000Scaling benchmark | $135/mo | Standard | +409% · 5.1× | Source-backed |
At the Standard tier, the list growing 10× takes the recorded monthly bill up $108.50/mo. This is the cost-at-scale the score weighs most.
Figures are monthly readings in USD. The free row is a fixed published cap; a modeled mid-tier (if shown) is derived, labelled, and never headline-eligible. Confirm current tiers and overage rules at Mailchimp before you buy.
Folder B · Plan ledger
Every published plan, monthly vs annual
The recorded plans on file for Mailchimp: the monthly list price, the annual-billed rate, and the saving between them. A custom / contact-sales plan is shown as such, never as a number.
| Plan | Monthly | Annual (per mo) | Saving | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free500 contacts, 1,000 emails/mo, 1 user | Free | Free | — | tire-kickers and side projects under 500 subs |
| Essentials500 contacts, 5,000 emails/mo, 3 users | $13/mo | $11.05/mo | 15% off | creators sending weekly newsletters to a small list |
| Standard500 contacts, 6,000 emails/mo, 5 users | $20/mo | $17/mo | 15% off | growing businesses ready for automation & A/B testing |
| Premium10,000+ contacts, 150,000 emails/mo, unlimited users | $350/mo | $297.50/mo | 15% off | enterprise teams with complex segmentation needs |
Annual rates are shown as the equivalent monthly figure; the saving is annual vs monthly × 12. Plans and limits change — confirm at Mailchimp before you buy.
Folder C · Provider scorecard How scores work ↗
Seven dimensions, each scored and sourced
Every dimension is scored 1–5 by the published rubric, carries the weight it holds in the composite, and shows the raw reading and whether it is source-backed. The cost dimensions lead; the scaling-cost row is marked as the increase. The composite is read whole, not recomputed here.
Score = 3 / 5 · oxblood row = the source-backed scaling cost
The starting monthly bill — context, not the verdict.
The monthly bill once the list reaches 10,000 — the cost that leads.
How far the list price has moved recently; lower score = more churn.
Sending headroom per dollar at the entry tier — a derived ratio.
Depth of built-in automation workflows — a feature count.
How cleanly your data exports if you leave — a feature count.
Folder D · Exposure & stability
Charges off the headline price, and how far the price has moved
Two filed sub-records: the costs that do not show on the plan price, and the recorded list-price churn over the last 24 months.
Hidden-cost exposure
1/5- You are billed for unsubscribed contacts who still sit on your list
- Crossing your contact limit auto-upgrades your plan and bills the overage
- AI features are a paid add-on, not included in the plan price
- Overage runs $6.50 per extra 1,000 contacts on record.
Price stability
1/5- List price moved about +42% over the last 24 months on record.
- 2024-03Free plan cut to 250 contacts from 500
- 2023-10Standard plan increased ~15%
Folder E · The catches
What the plan price does not tell you
Recorded notes filed against Mailchimp — the pricing mechanics and add-ons that move the real bill past the headline plan.
Subscriber-based pricing
Prices increase as your list grows. The base prices above are for 500 contacts. At 5,000 contacts, Standard jumps to $100/mo.
Monthly sends limit
Each plan has an email send limit. Overage charges apply if you exceed your monthly quota—typically $1 per 1,000 extra emails.
Feature gating
Advanced features like custom-coded templates, comparative reports, and phone support require Standard or Premium plans.
Remove Mailchimp branding
Free plan emails include Mailchimp branding in the footer. Paid plans remove it automatically.
Pay-as-you-go credits expire
If you use Pay As You Go instead of monthly billing, unused email credits expire after 12 months.
Folder F · Provenance
Where these figures came from — and what they don't promise
The figures on this record are dated readings of Mailchimp's published pricing, recorded 2026-02-19, in USD. Everything is labelled in place.
- Pricing source
- mailchimp.com/pricing ↗ · as read 2026-02-19
- Scaling pair
- $26.50/mo → $135/mo (+409%, 5.1×) — source-backed at both ends.
- Composite
- 2.5/5 · Average
What this record does not say
- Every figure is a dated reading, not a live or real-time quote.
- Prices here are monthly — the run-rate figures are monthly × 12, never an annual-plan price.
- A sentinel plan (custom / contact sales) is shown as such, never as a number, and is never part of the jump math.
- The scaling jump is only flagged in oxblood when both the 1,000- and 10,000-subscriber readings are source-backed and the bill genuinely steps up.
- Nothing here is source-backed-now, monitored, or promised-current. Confirm at the provider before you buy.
Open the provider's pricing
An outbound link to Mailchimp's own pricing. It never moves a recorded figure or a score on this record.
Outbound · not part of the record
The per-plan prices, subscriber-tier readings, dimension scores and composite are recorded values read from the Mailchimp file on 2026-02-19. The 10,000-subscriber scaling figure leads the record; the run-rate is the monthly reading × 12, a projection, not an annual-plan quote. Sentinel plans (custom / contact sales) are shown as such. File / reference numbers (PW-…) are labels. Nothing here is presented as live, source-backed-now, monitored, or promised-current. Confirm the current price at Mailchimp before you buy.