Mailchimp vs Constant Contact
Mailchimp or Constant Contact? Here is how they compare on price, free plan, platforms and the jobs each does best, from each vendor's own pages.
| Compared on | Visit | Visit |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Intuit's email and SMS marketing platform, free for 250 contacts, with AI writing on Standard and Premium | Email, SMS and social marketing for small businesses, priced by contacts, with live phone and chat support |
| Free plan | Yes | No |
| Cheapest paid plan | $13/mo (Essentials)Mailchimp pricing | $10.20/mo billed annually (Lite)Constant Contact pricing |
| What it covers | Starting price for the 0-500 contacts tier; email sends up to 10x the contact count (5,000 a month at 500 contacts); 3 user seats. The price rises with the contact tier, up to $385/month for 50,000 contacts. Overages are billed if contact or send limits are exceeded. Annual plans exist only for Standard and Premium at 10,000+ contacts, through sales. | For 0-500 contacts; email sends up to 10x contacts; 1 user. $10.20/mo when prepaid for 12 months. Sends over the allowance cost $0.002 each. The price rises with the contact tier ($25.50/mo prepaid at 501-1,000 contacts). |
| Free trial | 14-day free trial of Essentials or Standard (payment details required at sign-up); a 1-month Premium trial for qualified new customers through sales | Free trial with no credit card required (length not stated on the pricing page); 30-day money-back guarantee |
| Platforms | Web, iOS, Android, API | Web, iOS, Android |
| Integrations (vendor's figure) | 300+ integrations including Shopify, WooCommerce, Canva, Zapier, Square, Stripe and Salesforce | 300+ integrations including Google, Microsoft, Facebook, Canva, LinkedIn, Vimeo, Zapier, Shopify and Eventbrite |
| Open source | No | No |
| Made by | The Rocket Science Group LLC d/b/a Mailchimp (part of Intuit) | Constant Contact, Inc. |
Choose Mailchimp if…
- You want a free plan: Constant Contact does not have one.
- You need an API to build on.
- The job is small businesses sending regular newsletters to a few thousand contacts.
- The job is ecommerce stores that want automated flows tied to Shopify or WooCommerce data.
Choose Constant Contact if…
- Price matters: its cheapest paid plan is $10.20/mo against $13/mo.
- The job is small businesses and nonprofits that want live phone and chat support.
- The job is promoting events with registration and payments alongside email.
Still weighing it up?
If neither is quite right, Mailchimp and Constant Contact are also compared with their other rivals: Mailchimp vs Klaviyo, Mailchimp vs Brevo and Mailchimp vs MailerLite.
What Mailchimp does
- Drag-and-drop email builder with pre-built and branded templates; custom-coded templates can be sent on Standard and Premium
- Marketing Automation Flows: up to 4 steps per flow on Essentials, up to 200 steps with branching and multiple starting points on Standard and Premium
- Signup forms, pop-up forms, landing pages and surveys on every plan
- Tags and segmentation, with predictive segments, customer lifetime value and purchase likelihood on Standard and Premium
- Intuit Assist generative AI: Write with AI in the email editor, plus send time and send day optimization (Standard and Premium)
- Subject line helper and suggested next actions on every plan
Watch out for
- The free plan stops at 250 contacts and 500 sends a month, with no automation flows or scheduling
- Essentials automation flows are limited to 4 steps; generative AI features need Standard or Premium
- Overage charges apply on paid plans when contact or send limits are exceeded
What Constant Contact does
- Drag-and-drop email editor with templates, BrandKit and an AI copy generator on every plan
- AI tools that turn prompts into emails, texts and social posts, with an AI campaign builder on Standard and Premium
- Automation templates: 1 on Lite, 3 on Standard, unlimited plus custom automations on Premium
- Social posting to Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn, with scheduling from Standard
- SMS marketing for US customers (included on Premium, an add-on on Lite and Standard)
- Event registration, product sales and payments
Watch out for
- No free plan; a free trial and a 30-day money-back guarantee instead
- Lite has 1 user, 1 automation template and no email scheduling
- Custom automations and dynamic content need Premium
Questions
Is Mailchimp or Constant Contact cheaper?
On published entry prices, Constant Contact is cheaper: $13/mo (Essentials) for Mailchimp against $10.20/mo billed annually (Lite) for Constant Contact. What each plan includes differs, so compare the limits too.
Do Mailchimp and Constant Contact have free plans?
Mailchimp does; Constant Contact does not, though it offers a free trial with no credit card required (length not stated on the pricing page); 30-day money-back guarantee.