15 Best Mailchimp Alternatives (Free & Paid) in 2026

Mailchimp's free plan has gone from 2,000 to 250 subscribers as of January 2026. Paid plans are up 30–33% since 2022. Features that used to be standard now require a plan upgrade.

If you're feeling the squeeze, you're not imagining it.

That said, Mailchimp isn't a bad tool. It's just become a specific tool for a specific size of business, and if you're here, it's probably not the right fit for you anymore.

This guide covers 15 alternatives across creators, ecommerce brands, small businesses, and marketing teams. Most platforms offer free trials or generous free plans, so you can test different platforms before migrating. By the end, you'll know exactly where to start.

Table of Contents

• Key Takeaways

• The 15 Best Mailchimp Alternatives in 2026

• Why Should You Look for a Mailchimp Alternative?

  • Price Hikes

  • Limited Automation and Segmentation Feature

  • Cluttered User Interface

• 1. Beehiiv: Best Mailchimp Alternative for Newsletter Creators

  • What Is beehiiv?

  • beehiiv's Key Features for Newsletter Creators

  • beehiiv Pricing

  • beehiiv vs. Mailchimp

• 2. ActiveCampaign: Best for Advanced Automation Flows

  • Pros and Cons of ActiveCampaign

  • ActiveCampaign Pricing

  • ActiveCampaign vs. Mailchimp

• MailerLite: Best Free Mailchimp Alternative

  • Pros and Cons of MailerLite

  • MailerLite Pricing

  • MailerLite vs. Mailchimp

• Brevo (Formerly Sendinblue): Best for Multi-Channel Marketing

  • Pros and Cons of Brevo

  • Brevo Pricing

  • Brevo vs. Mailchimp

• Klaviyo: Best Mailchimp Alternative for E-commerce

  • Pros and Cons of Klaviyo

  • Klaviyo Pricing

  • Klaviyo vs. Mailchimp

• GetResponse: Best For Marketing Funnel and Webinar Hosting

  • Pros and Cons of GetResponse

  • GetResponse Pricing

  • GetResponse vs. Mailchimp

• Constant Contact: Best for Non-Profit And Local Businesses

  • Pros and Cons of Constant Contact

  • Constant Contact Pricing

  • Constant Contact vs. Mailchimp

• Substack: Best Entry Point for Beginner Newsletter Writers

  • Pros and Cons of Substack

  • Substack Pricing

  • Substack vs. Mailchimp

• Ghost: Best for Writers Who Want Full Ownership

  • Pros and Cons of Ghost

  • Ghost Pricing

  • Ghost vs. Mailchimp

• Kit (formerly ConvertKit): Best for Content Monetization

  • Pros and Cons of Kit

  • Kit Pricing

  • Kit vs. Mailchimp

• HubSpot: Best for B2B With CRM at the Center

  • Pros and Cons of HubSpot

  • HubSpot Pricing

  • HubSpot vs. Mailchimp

• AWeber: Best for Simple, Reliable Newsletter Sending

  • Pros and Cons of AWeber

  • AWeber Pricing

  • AWeber vs. Mailchimp

• Omnisend: Best E-commerce Alternative with SMS + Email

  • Pros and Cons of Omnisend

  • Omnisend Pricing

  • Omnisend vs. Mailchimp

• Moosend: Best for Teams and Agencies on a Budget

  • Pros and Cons of Moosend

  • Moosend Pricing

  • Moosend vs. Mailchimp

• Medium: Best for Writers Without an Audience

  • Pros and Cons of Medium

  • Medium Pricing

  • Medium vs. Mailchimp

• How To Migrate From Mailchimp in 2026

  • How To Migrate From Mailchimp to beehiiv?

• FAQs on Mailchimp Alternatives

  • Is Mailchimp Still Worth It in 2026?

  • What Are the Best Mailchimp Alternatives?

  • What Are the Best Free Mailchimp Alternatives?

  • What Is the Cheapest Mailchimp Competitor?

  • How Hard Is It To Switch From Mailchimp?

• Final Verdict: Which Mailchimp Alternative Is Right for You?

Key Takeaways

• Mailchimp has raised prices by 30-33% since 2022 and cut the free plan's contact limit by 87.5% (from 2,000 to 250).

• For newsletter creators and independent publishers, beehiiv is the strongest Mailchimp alternative.

• For E-commerce brands, Klaviyo and Omnisend are better fits.

• For the best free Mailchimp alternative, beehiiv and Mailerlite stand out with up to 2,500 and 500 subscribers, respectively.

• For advanced automation, ActiveCampaign wins on capability but comes with a higher price tag.

• Switching from Mailchimp is easier as most platforms offer CSV import and several support direct migration.

The 15 Best Mailchimp Alternatives in 2026

Why Should You Look for a Mailchimp Alternative?

Mailchimp pricing increase, limited customer support, and basic marketing tools are among the top reasons users look for a Mailchimp alternative.

Price Hikes

Mailchimp's free plan limitations are most noticeable. The contact limit dropped from 2,000 to 250—a 75% cut—among the lowest offered by any email marketing platform.

At the same time, paid plan costs have increased 30–33% since 2022, roughly three times the rate of most competitors. The model charges on both contact count and sending volume, so costs compound as your list grows.

On G2, pricing is among the most-cited complaints, particularly from small businesses and early-stage creators. Mohsin S. describes Mailchimp's pricing policy as unjustifiable, and the numbers back that up.

Limited Automation and Segmentation Feature

Mailchimp handles simple sequences like welcome emails, tag-based triggers, and basic conditions smoothly.

But multi-step branching, deep behavioral logic, and complex journeys are difficult to build and slow to run. Stacking multiple segmentation conditions can cause the interface to lag, which makes it hard to trust what you've actually set up.

As a result, you end up sending broad campaigns instead of targeted ones. As your list grows, these limits directly affect opens, clicks, and revenue.

Cluttered User Interface

Mailchimp's user interface has inconsistent navigation, limited customization, and clunky updates that confuse even experienced users. Its automation settings, for example, are buried in multiple menu layers, requiring trial-and-error to locate.

1. Beehiiv: Best Mailchimp Alternative for Newsletter Creators

G2 Rating: 4.5/5

Best for: Newsletter-first creators, journalists, media brands, and anyone building an audience through content.

What Is beehiiv?

beehiiv is the newsletter platform most creators and business owners who take newsletters seriously eventually choose. It’s an all-in-one growth engine that combines newsletter tools, a no-code website builder, advanced analytics, and the industry's largest native Ad Network.

Despite being a powerful platform, beehiiv's interface is so user-friendly and simple to navigate, which is a big plus compared to Mailchimp's confusing interface.

It's also the only platform on this list with a built-in Ad Network, allowing you to earn revenue from sponsorships without sourcing advertisers yourself.

beehiiv's Key Features for Newsletter Creators

• Integrated website and newsletter builder: Create and publish on-brand website and newsletter

• Built-in Ad Network: Connect with high-quality advertisers and earn direct revenue

• Boosts: Pay to acquire subscribers or get paid for recommending other creators

• Paid subscriptions: Run paid newsletter with 0% platform commission (you only pay Stripe's standard processing fee)

• 3D analytics: Get real-time, in-depth website and subscriber-level engagement and behavioral data

• Digital products: Create and sell digital files, 1:1 coaching sessions, or gated assets

beehiiv Pricing

beehiiv offers a forever-free plan for up to 2,500 subscribers with no email send limit—something none of the platforms on this list offer. Paid plan starts at $34.40/mo with 100k subscriber limit, monetization tools, beehiiv AI, and A/B testing.

beehiiv vs. Mailchimp

Mailchimp's free plan now allows 250 contacts and 500 sends/mo. beehiiv's free plan gives you 2,500 subscribers with unlimited sends.

More importantly, Mailchimp is an email marketing tool. beehiiv is a newsletter and website builder with built-in earning. If your goal is to grow an audience and generate revenue from it, beehiiv is your best bet.

👉 Compare beehiiv vs. Mailchimp in depth

2. ActiveCampaign: Best for Advanced Automation Flows

G2 Rating: 4.4/5

Best for: B2B companies, agencies, and businesses where email automation directly drives revenue.

ActiveCampaign is a marketing automation platform known for its robust automation and marketing funnels, making it a great solution for e-commerce brands that want to run multiple drip campaigns. You can also run SMS campaigns and build pipelines with native tools or supported integrations.

Pros and Cons of ActiveCampaign

Pros

✅ Best-in-class automation builder with conditional logic, split testing, and multi-step workflows

✅ Built-in CRM with pipeline management

✅ 950+ pre-built automation recipes cut setup time

Cons

❌No free plan

❌Pricing scales aggressively with list size. Can get expensive past 5,000 contacts

❌Steep learning curve

ActiveCampaign Pricing

Pricing starts at $15/mo for 1,000 subscribers, with standard CRM & E-commerce integrations. Price increases with the size of your contact list and the number of advanced features. There’s also a 14-day free trial available.

ActiveCampaign vs. Mailchimp

ActiveCampaign outshines Mailchimp with superior automation depth, including AI-powered multi-path workflows, lead scoring, and 900+ templates, versus Mailchimp's limited flows. Compared to Mailchimp, ActiveCampaign offers more value for agencies and eCommerce, despite a slightly steeper UI curve.

MailerLite: Best Free Mailchimp Alternative

G2 Rating: 4.6/5

Best for: Bloggers, freelancers, and small businesses that need solid email marketing without complexity.

MailerLite is a cleaner and more economical alternative to Mailchimp. The platform includes a website builder, landing pages, signup forms, and basic automation, even on the free plan. You can also sell digital products, such as PDFs or lead magnets. But compared to beehiiv, the earning opportunities are extremely limited.

Pros and Cons of MailerLite

Pros

✅ Clean, intuitive editor that doesn't require a tutorial to navigate

✅ Reliable customer support, even on lower tiers

✅ Solid deliverability (92% inbox placement rate in independent testing)

Cons

❌Limited automation features 

❌Limited E-commerce support; Shopify/WooCommerce integrations exist but aren't as deep as Klaviyo or Omnisend

❌Reporting doesn't offer in-depth insights as beehiiv's 3D analytics.

MailerLite Pricing

The free plan is available for up to 500 subscribers with a 12,000 monthly email send limit. Premium pricing starts at $9/mo and includes unlimited monthly sends and a website and landing page builder.

MailerLite vs. Mailchimp

MailerLite is a budget-friendly Mailchimp alternative with a cleaner interface, unlimited sends across paid plans, and strong basics like drag-and-drop editing, automations, and popups. It’s ideal for creators and small teams who don’t want Mailchimp's complex setup and email send caps.

Brevo (Formerly Sendinblue): Best for Multi-Channel Marketing

G2 Rating: 4.5/5

Best for: Small businesses, startups, and B2B teams with large lists who want multi-channel reach.

Source

Brevo is a multi-channel platform that goes beyond email marketing. It covers SMS, WhatsApp marketing, live chat, and a built-in CRM all in one platform.

What really sets Brevo apart from Mailchimp is that it charges by email volume, not contact count. You can have 50,000 contacts in your account and pay nothing extra for storing them.

Pros and Cons of Brevo

Pros

✅ Volume-based pricing means large lists don't automatically mean large bills

✅ User-friendly, drag-and-drop editor

✅ No charges for unsubscribed contacts

Cons

❌Not purpose-built for any specific use case, so the features are not as advanced

❌The platform can feel overwhelming to new users

❌SMS and WhatsApp add-ons are billed separately based on volume and destination

Brevo Pricing

Brevo’s forever free plan lets you send up to 300 emails/day. SMS and additional emails are offered on a credit-based pricing plan. Paid plan starts from $8.08/mo with a 5,000 monthly email send limit, advanced segmentation, and email editor.

Brevo vs. Mailchimp

Brevo’s multi-channel focus (native SMS, WhatsApp, and chat), flexible list segmentation, and automation workflows available even on free/starter plans beat Mailchimp by a huge margin. It’s comparatively user-friendly, affordable, and offers higher deliverability (90%+ rates).

Klaviyo: Best Mailchimp Alternative for E-commerce

G2 Rating: 4.6/5

Best for: Shopify and WooCommerce store owners who want email-driven sales.

Klaviyo is built specifically for E-commerce from the ground up, and the difference from a general-purpose tool like Mailchimp is obvious the moment you connect your store. It pulls in product, customer, and order data to help you segment your audience by purchase history, browsing behavior, predicted lifetime value, and churn risk.

Pros and Cons of Klaviyo

Pros

✅ Native Shopify and WooCommerce integration

✅ Predictive analytics that help forecast customer lifetime value, churn risk, and next purchase date

✅ Solid E-commerce-native automation flows that work without heavy configuration

Cons

❌Gets expensive fast as your list grows

❌Can feel complex for small stores that don't have the data volume to make the segmentation worthwhile

❌Customer support quality varies at lower plan tiers.

Klaviyo Pricing

Klaviyo's pricing starts free for up to 250 active profiles and 500 monthly emails (plus 150 SMS credits), then scales by active contacts on Email ($20+/month) or Email+SMS ($35+/month) plans with auto-upgrades.

Klaviyo vs. Mailchimp

Klaviyo is the best Mailchimp alternative for E-commerce. It offers more in-depth analytics and native E-commerce integrations, making it a more convenient option.

GetResponse: Best For Marketing Funnel and Webinar Hosting

G2 Rating: 4.3/5

Best for: Course creators, coaches, and lead gen businesses where webinars are a core part of the funnel.

GetResponse occupies a specific niche most email platforms ignore entirely: it's the only tool on this list with native webinar hosting baked in alongside email automation, visual sales funnels, and landing pages.

If you're running a coaching business or any operation where webinars drive pipeline, GetResponse removes the need to stitch together Zoom, an ESP, and a landing page builder.

Pros and Cons of GetResponse

Pros

✅ Native webinar hosting (up to 1,000 attendees on higher plans)

✅ Visual funnel builder with conversion-focused landing pages included

✅ A/B testing available across email, landing pages, and subject lines

Cons

❌If you don't need webinars, the pricing doesn't make sense compared to simpler tools

❌Email builder is functional but not especially polished

❌Learning curve for the funnel builder if you haven't used visual flow tools before

GetResponse Pricing

You get a 14-day free trial on all four paid plans. Starter plan costs $15.58/mo with no email send cap, 1 automation workflow, landing page builder, and custom domain. More marketing automation costs $60+/mo for 1,000 contacts.

GetResponse vs. Mailchimp

If you want an email marketing software like MailChimp but without the overhead, choose GetResponse. It offers unlimited email sends, automations, and built-in sales funnels + webinars from day one. So, you get a complete workflow in one platform with pricing that makes sense.

Constant Contact: Best for Non-Profit And Local Businesses

G2 Rating: 4.2/5

Best for: Nonprofits, local businesses, and beginners who want ease of use and good support.

Constant Contact is one of the oldest email marketing tools in the market. The drag-and-drop editor, large template library, and comprehensive customer support make it a reasonable choice for small business owners who need email marketing to work without a learning curve. It also offers event management tools that most Mailchimp competitors don't.

Pros and Cons of Constant Contact

Pros

✅ Minimal learning curve

✅ Built-in event management (invitations, RSVP tracking, ticketing)

✅ Social media scheduling and posting included in most plans

Cons

❌No free plan

❌Basic automation compared to ActiveCampaign, Klaviyo, and MailerLite

❌No earning tools

Constant Contact Pricing

No free plan; Paid plan (Lite) starts from $8.40/mo for 500 subscribers with core email marketing and only one automation template. Pricing scales with contact count. At 5,000 subscribers, Lite runs $56/mo.

Constant Contact vs. Mailchimp

Mailchimp has a better free plan, while Constant Contact offers reliable customer support. For nonprofits and event-driven organizations specifically, Constant Contact's event management pulls ahead.

Substack: Best Entry Point for Beginner Newsletter Writers

G2 Rating: 4.5/5

Best for: Writers who want zero setup friction and built-in discoverability, and aren't yet generating subscription revenue.

Substack has done one thing exceptionally well: it lowered the barrier to starting a newsletter to essentially zero. Free forever if you stay free, built-in reader discovery, a community of existing subscribers browsing for new publications, and a publishing interface that gets out of your way.

For a first-time newsletter writer who wants to test whether there's an audience for their work without spending money or time on setup, Substack is the sensible entry point.

Pros and Cons of Substack

Pros

✅ Zero monthly fee to publish

✅ Built-in discovery through Substack’s recommendation network

✅ No technical knowledge required whatsoever

✅ Built-in comment and community features

Cons

❌Substack takes 10% of all subscription revenue

❌You don't fully own the subscriber relationship the way you do on beehiiv

❌Limited control over layout, branding, and design

Substack Pricing

Substack is free to use. If you charge for subscriptions, Substack takes 10% off the top, plus Stripe's standard payment processing fee (~2.9% + $0.30 per transaction).

Substack vs. Mailchimp

Substack is the go-to Mailchimp alternative for creators who want dead-simple publishing, built-in paid subscriptions, and organic discovery. Mailchimp is for marketing teams with advanced automations, segmentation, A/B testing, and ecommerce integrations, but it comes with high pricing and a cluttered UI.

Ghost: Best for Writers Who Want Full Ownership

G2 Rating: 4.1/5

Best for: Writers and journalists who want a self-hosted, SEO publication with easy membership management.

Ghost is an open-source all-in-one publishing platform that combines a website builder, email newsletter, and native paid memberships. You can self-host Ghost for free if you have the technical ability, or pay for Ghost Pro starting at $9/month for a managed setup.

Pros and Cons of Ghost

Pros

✅ True content ownership due to self-hosting

✅ Strong CMS with proper SEO support: canonical URLs, meta tags, structured data

✅ Developer-friendly: open-source with an active community and API access

✅ Works well as a standalone website, not just a newsletter tool

Cons

❌No built-in ad network, recommendation network, or growth tools

❌An email designer is more limited than dedicated ESPs

❌Not a good fit for non-technical users on the self-hosted version

Ghost Pricing

Ghost Pro starts at $15/mo for up to 1,000 members and includes a free custom domain, your own website, and an email newsletter. Pricing scales as the member size increases

Ghost vs. Mailchimp

The choice boils down to whether you're building a publication or running email marketing campaigns. Ghost is the right choice if you want a content-first website with newsletter capabilities and genuine data ownership. Mailchimp focuses solely on email with advanced automations and ecommerce flows, but offers no blogging, SEO tools, or monetization.

Kit (formerly ConvertKit): Best for Content Earning

G2 Rating: 4.4/5

Best for: Creators whose primary revenue comes from digital products, courses, or memberships.

Kit (formerly ConvertKit, rebranded in 2024) is the only other platform on this list, apart from beehiiv, that focuses on creators, specifically those selling digital products or services. You can design landing pages and forms to sell digital products, and run your website on its custom domains.

Pros and Cons of Kit

Pros

✅ Pre-made creator-focused landing pages and form templates

✅ Simple, uncluttered interface that prioritizes writing over configuration

✅ Strong third-party integration with tools like Teachable, Podia, and Kajabi

Cons

❌The email designer is minimal: mostly text-based with limited layout flexibility

❌Analytics are lighter than what you'd find on beehiiv

❌Limited growth or monetization tools apart from recommendations or digital products

Kit Pricing

Free for up to 1,000 subscribers with access to basic automation, digital products, and audience segmentation. Paid plan starts at $33/mo (14-day free trial) and includes unlimited email sequences, custom branding, integrations, and unlimited automation.

Kit vs. Mailchimp

Kit is one of the best Mailchimp alternatives for creators who want to sell digital products and services. Mailchimp doesn’t offer a native solution like Kit at such a competitive price.

HubSpot: Best for B2B With CRM at the Center

G2 Rating: 4.4/5

Best for: B2B companies where the sales-marketing handoff matters and the team already uses HubSpot's CRM.

HubSpot Email Marketing makes the most sense as part of HubSpot's broader CRM platform, not as a standalone email tool. If your sales team is already in HubSpot, the integration is genuinely powerful: campaign data, contact history, deal stages, and email engagement all live together without manual syncing.

Pros and Cons of HubSpot

Pros

✅ Email + CRM native integration 

✅ Strong reporting as it connects email performance to pipeline and revenue data

✅ 1,000+ native integrations

Cons

❌Steepest learning curve among the tools on this list

❌Overkill for anyone who doesn't need CRM integration or B2B marketing workflows

❌Email design capabilities are functional but not a standout feature

HubSpot Pricing

HubSpot's email marketing pricing starts at free (up to 1,000 contacts, 2,000 sends/month), but it increases quickly. Starters cost $20/month/seat for 1,000 contacts, and plans can reach $3,600/month for 10K contacts.

HubSpot vs. Mailchimp

Pick HubSpot when you have a big marketing team and need sales CRM, advanced lead scoring, and team workflows all connected. Its pricing only makes sense when you use it as an all-in-one platform. Mailchimp keeps things simple and affordable for straightforward emails without enterprise-level complexity.

AWeber: Best for Simple, Reliable Newsletter Sending

G2 Rating: 4.2/5

Best for: Small businesses and solo operators who need reliable, no-frills email marketing with reasonable pricing.

AWeber has been around since 1998 and has built its reputation by consistently doing the fundamentals well—clean interface, solid deliverability, straightforward pricing, and a free plan for up to 500 subscribers.

Pros and Cons of AWeber

Pros

✅ Strong AI writing assistant for subject lines and email drafts

✅ Good deliverability track record built over decades of operation

✅ Migration support available even on the free plan

Cons

❌Analytics offer basic insights compared to beehiiv’s in-depth web and email-based reports

❌No native SMS, push notifications, or multi-channel capabilities

❌No built-in audience growth or earning tools like beehiiv offers

AWeber Pricing

AWeber doesn’t offer a free plan, only a 14-day free trial. Its least expensive plan, Lite, costs $12.50 for 500 subscribers, 1 email list, and 3 landing pages, and allows up to 5k emails.

AWeber vs. Mailchimp

AWeber offers clearer, more predictable pricing, which is a core pain point for Mailchimp users. While Mailchimp has a better template library and more third-party integrations, AWeber genuinely wins in terms of pricing predictability and user-friendliness.

Omnisend: Best E-commerce Alternative With SMS + Email

G2 Rating: 4.6/5

Best for: New or small E-commerce brands that want email and SMS in one platform without a high price tag

Omnisend is purpose-built for E-commerce and offers essential tools to run and market your business. From emails, SMS, and website pop-ups, you get everything in one place. It also offers pre-built E-commerce-native automation for cart abandonment, post-purchase sequences, and win-back flows.

For smaller E-commerce brands that need Klaviyo-level thinking at a more accessible price, Omnisend is worth a serious look.

Pros and Cons of Omnisend

Pros

✅ Email + SMS + web push in one platform

✅ Native Shopify and WooCommerce integration with product picker and order-triggered flows

✅ Pre-built automation and email templates reduce setup time

Cons

❌SMS pricing can add up as it’s billed separately based on volume and destination

❌Advanced features like A/B testing are locked behind higher-tier plans

❌Reporting is strong for E-commerce, but limited for general email analytics

Omnisend Pricing

Omnisend’s free plan is available for only 250 contacts, 500 emails/month, 60 SMS, and automation access. Paid plan starts at $16/month with 3k emails per month, 500 contacts, and 24/7 support.

Omnisend vs. Mailchimp

Omnisend excels over Mailchimp with its purpose-built, E-commerce-focused,d advanced branching logic and pre-built flows on all plans, native SMS/push notifications, gamified popups, and dynamic product recommendations—all at a lower price than Mailchimp.

Moosend: Best for Teams and Agencies on a Budget

G2 Rating: 4.7/5

Best for: Small business teams and agencies managing email for multiple clients who need automation depth without premium pricing.

Moosend is the most underrated tool on this list, particularly for agencies. It offers more powerful automation and list segmentation capabilities than Mailchimp.

For example, one of Mailchimp’s biggest drawbacks is that you pay for duplicate contacts across different lists. With Moosend, you can create unlimited lists and segment your audience based on numerous filters.

Pros and Cons of Moosend

Pros

✅ Built-in templates make it easy to start designing

✅ Unlimited emails across all paid plans

✅ Landing page and subscription form builder included

Cons

❌No forever-free plan

❌The template library is smaller than the competitors

❌No native SMS. Relies on third-party integrations for text messaging

Moosend Pricing

Moosend offers only a 30-day free trial, not a free plan. Eventually, you’ll need to upgrade to a paid plan starting at $7/mo for 500 contacts, unlimited emails, and access to core features.

Moosend vs. Mailchimp

Moosend is a cheaper Mailchimp alternative offering unlimited emails on all paid plans (starting at $7/month), superior automation workflows, and a drag-and-drop builder. Mailchimp provides broader integrations, built-in CRM, and advanced A/B testing, but charges more ($13+/month) with send limits and a steeper learning curve on lower tiers.

Medium: Best for Writers Without an Audience

G2 Rating: 3.5/5

Best for: Writers who want to test a writing practice and get exposure to an existing readership.

Medium is quite different from the other platforms on this list. It's merely a publishing platform with a built-in reader base. You can’t send emails or run automated campaigns.

Medium offers a native text editor for writing and publishing posts that appear organically in other users' feeds. If you're a writer who wants to reach existing readers without first building a following, Medium's Partner Program gives you a path to earn from your writing based on engagement from Medium members.

Pros and Cons of Medium

Pros

✅ Zero cost to publish

✅ Partner Program pays writers based on member engagement with your content

✅ Good for SEO. Medium articles rank reasonably well in search

Cons

❌ You don't own your audience

❌Medium takes a significant share of Partner Program revenue

❌Customization is quite limited as it offers only a text-based editor

Medium Pricing

Medium is free to publish. The Partner Program pays writers a variable rate based on the time members spend reading. Medium charges readers $5–$15/month for a membership and shares a portion of those fees with Partner Program writers.

Medium vs. Mailchimp

Medium is not a direct Mailchimp competitor. It’s a publishing platform where you write to grow your audience organically. The only reason Medium is in this is that some creators and business owners consider it a starting point before committing to an email-first platform.

How To Migrate From Mailchimp in 2026

It’s easier to switch from Mailchimp than it looks.

In most cases, you’ll export your contacts, clean your email list, set up your new platform, import your CSV, reconnect your sending domain, and test everything before going live. If you have a large list, it’s smart to migrate gradually, starting with your most engaged subscribers.

How To Migrate From Mailchimp to beehiiv?

To migrate from Mailchimp to beehiiv, export your Mailchimp subscribers, clean up the CSV file, and import contacts into beehiiv. Many creators often complete the migration within an afternoon. You can also migrate content from Mailchimp to beehiiv.

beehiiv also keeps your publication history intact by allowing you to import your previous email content, so your archive doesn't disappear.

FAQs on Mailchimp Alternatives

Is Mailchimp Still Worth It in 2026?

For some businesses, yes. If you're already established on the platform with integrations you depend on and a list under 5,000 contacts, the switching cost may outweigh the savings. But for creators, growing ecommerce brands, and anyone hitting Mailchimp's automation limits, then probably not.

What Are the Best Mailchimp Alternatives?

It depends on your use case, budget, and goals. beehiiv offers the most generous free plan for newsletter creators and publishers. Klaviyo and Omnisend are best for E-ecommerce brands, while Substack, Ghost, and Medium are good options for beginner writers who want to build an audience for free.

What Are the Best Free Mailchimp Alternatives?

MailerLite (1,000 subscribers, 12,000 sends/month), beehiiv (2,500 subscribers, unlimited sends), and Brevo (unlimited contacts, 300 emails/day) all offer more generous free plans than Mailchimp's current 250-contact limit.

What Is the Cheapest Mailchimp Competitor?

For small lists, MailerLite is the closest Mailchimp competitor that costs $9/month. Brevo starts at $25/month but doesn't charge per contact — so for larger lists with lower send volume, it's often cheaper overall. Moosend starts at $9/month as well.

How Hard Is It To Switch From Mailchimp?

It is easier than you think, but the specific process might differ based on the platform you migrate to. Typically, you export your contacts as a CSV file, import them into the new platform, re-authenticate your domain, and run a test send.

Final Verdict: Which Mailchimp Alternative Is Right for You?

Before choosing, define what you actually need.

If you're running an E-commerce store and want email + SMS capabilities, go with Klaviyo or Omnisend. 

But, pick ActiveCampaign if you have the budget and want powerful automation.

And, if you’re just dipping your feet in the newsletter world, explore Substack, Medium, or Ghost.

If you're a newsletter creator or independent publisher, you can’t go wrong with beehiiv. It’s the strongest Mailchimp alternative by a huge margin.

beehiiv offers an integrated web and newsletter builder, native earnings, and a 0% commission model, which add up to a platform specifically designed for growth and revenue streams. Mailchimp wasn’t built for this. Try beehiiv for free today!