Mailchimp costs $135 and Constant Contact $160 a month for 10,000 contacts; Mailchimp has stronger automation, Constant Contact better support.

Both look cheap on their pricing pages. The gap opens once your list grows and you want emails that react to what people do.

For 10,000 contacts, Mailchimp Standard costs $135 a month and Constant Contact Standard $160. Mailchimp's Standard plan lets automations branch on what each person does; Constant Contact keeps custom automations for Premium, at $275. Constant Contact answers with live phone support on every plan, plus events and social posting, and its top plan costs less than Mailchimp's.

Sources: Mailchimp plan comparison and Constant Contact pricing, read 27 October 2026. Tier prices: see the next section.

This is Mailchimp vs Constant Contact pricing at every list size.

Mailchimp's Essentials and Standard cost the same or less than Constant Contact's Lite and Standard from 5,000 contacts up. At the top it flips: Constant Contact Premium is $75 to $270 a month cheaper than Mailchimp Premium.

Monthly billing, US dollars, from independent breakdowns, since both vendors hide tiers behind a slider. Mailchimp: starting prices and the $385 Essentials price at 50,000 from its plan comparison; other tiers from Email Tool Tester (August 2026) and Email Vendor Selection (September 2026), which agree at every size both list (Automation Atlas lists lower Standard prices). The 1,000-contact row is Email Vendor Selection's 1,500 tier, which on Mailchimp's slider covers 501 to 1,500 contacts. Constant Contact: starting prices from constantcontact.com/pricing; tiers from Email Tool Tester (August 2026); Costbench (October 2026) agrees on the Lite and Premium prices it lists. Neither lists a 1,000-contact tier, so that row is left blank for Constant Contact.

These are the fees and rules that change the bill.

• Mailchimp bills for people who unsubscribed (Mailchimp help). Archived, cleaned and deleted contacts don't count, so archive unsubscribes to stay in a lower tier.

• Going over costs extra on both. Mailchimp bills overages automatically; Constant Contact charges $0.002 per extra email, or $2 per 1,000.

• Send allowances differ at the top. Both give 10x your contacts on the entry plan and 12x on Standard; Premium gives 15x on Mailchimp, 24x on Constant Contact.

• SMS is an add-on on both. Mailchimp sells expiring monthly credit blocks in select countries. Constant Contact's SMS is US only: from $10 a month on Lite and Standard, with 500 messages a month on Premium.

This is how their automation builders compare.

Sources: Mailchimp plan comparison and Constant Contact pricing, read 27 October 2026.

Mailchimp is stronger on the mid-tier plans: a welcome series that branches on opens and clicks needs Mailchimp Standard or Constant Contact Premium.

These are the differences in templates, editing and testing.

Sources: Mailchimp plan comparison, Mailchimp pricing, Constant Contact pricing and Constant Contact email templates, read 27 October 2026.

This is how deliverability and support compare.

Deliverability is close. In Email Tool Tester's latest published round (January 2024), Constant Contact placed 91.7% of test emails in the inbox and Mailchimp 89.5%, both above its 89% "excellent" line, and its method has since changed. In our view, authentication and list hygiene matter more.

Support is where Constant Contact clearly wins. Every plan includes live phone and chat support and one-to-one onboarding. Mailchimp gives Free 30 days of email support, Essentials and Standard 24/7 email and chat, and phone support on Premium only.

This is what reviewers say about each.

G2 rates them alike; Trustpilot doesn't, though both samples lean toward unhappy customers.

Mailchimp's Trustpilot complaints center on hard-to-reach support, locked accounts and charges after cancelling; praise goes to the interface. Constant Contact's Trustpilot complaints are mostly billing (price increases, charges after cancellation, refused refunds); reviewers praise its ease of use and patient support staff.

This is which one fits which business.

Neither tool wins the Constant Contact vs Mailchimp question outright. It comes down to whether you need automation or a person on the phone more.

Pick Mailchimp if you want branching automations without a top-tier plan, flows tied to an online store, more than three mid-tier seats, or a free start under 250 contacts.

Pick Constant Contact if you want phone support, events, social posting and ads in one tool, US texts included on Premium, or a 30% nonprofit discount for prepaying a year. Its Premium also costs less than Mailchimp's and sends more.

Move the sliders to see your yearly bill on both.

Static fallback at 10,000 contacts:

Constant Contact's prepaid figures assume its full "up to 15%".

Bonus: get the full welcome journey and a CRM for $52 a month at 10,000 contacts.

Both tools put a welcome series that reacts to what people do above the entry plan. Spreeflo Starter runs it at 10,000 marketing contacts and 100,000 emails, with a CRM on the same contact record.

1. Start on signup. A Spreeflo form (free, unlimited responses) with Map to contacts on triggers Form Submission; tick Only trigger for new contacts so returning subscribers aren't welcomed twice.

2. Send the welcome with Send Email, personalised with Liquid: Hi {{ contact.first_name | default: "there" }}.

3. Wait two days, then split with Check Email Activity (Link Clicked, Opened): clickers, openers who didn't click, everyone else.

4. Treat each branch differently. Clickers get Update Contact Attribute (stage Lead) and Create Task ("Call {{ contact.first_name }}", due in one business day). Openers get a short next-step email. Non-openers hit a Random Split testing two new subject lines.

5. Bring everyone back. A Merge, a five-day Time Delay, then Add Tag "newsletter".

Prices from Spreeflo's pricing, with no per-email overage. Honest trade-offs: no events, social posting, SMS or phone support, and Starter is one seat (a team should compare Professional). Migration from either tool is free while slots last.

See it in Spreeflo: the journey above runs in Starter's visual sequence builder. Try the journey builder, no login →

Build this in Spreeflo

Branching journeys, forms, segments and a CRM in one place, 2 to 3x more affordable than Mailchimp.

Start free, no card → · See Spreeflo vs Mailchimp · See Spreeflo vs Constant Contact

These are the questions people ask about Mailchimp vs Constant Contact.

Is Mailchimp better than Constant Contact?

Mailchimp is better for branching automations on a mid-tier plan, a free plan to start, or a lower bill on the entry and mid-tier plans at most list sizes. Constant Contact is better for live phone support on every plan, built-in event tools, or a cheaper top tier.

Is Mailchimp or Constant Contact cheaper?

On the entry and mid-tier plans, usually Mailchimp: at 10,000 contacts Essentials is $110 against Lite at $120, and Standard is $135 against $160. On the top plans, Constant Contact: Premium is $275 against $350.

Which is easier to use, Mailchimp or Constant Contact?

Both are built for non-technical users. Ease of use is Constant Contact's most-mentioned strength on G2, and Mailchimp's happy Trustpilot reviewers single out its interface. Constant Contact's phone support makes it easier to get unstuck.

Can I switch from Constant Contact to Mailchimp?

Yes. Export contacts as a CSV and upload to Mailchimp, which imports one marketing status at a time, so bring subscribed contacts in separately (unsubscribed ones count toward its bill). Automations and templates must be rebuilt.

Does Mailchimp or Constant Contact have a free plan?

Mailchimp does: up to 250 contacts and 500 emails a month (250 a day), with 30 days of email support. Constant Contact has a free trial with no credit card and a 30-day money-back guarantee on new plans.

Is Mailchimp or Constant Contact better for nonprofits?

Constant Contact's nonprofit discount is bigger: 20% off for six months prepaid or 30% for twelve, against Mailchimp's 15%. At 10,000 contacts, prepaid for twelve months, Constant Contact Standard comes to $112 a month against $114.75 for Mailchimp Standard. Its events and social tools also suit fundraising.

Read these next.

• Spreeflo vs Mailchimp, feature by feature

• Spreeflo vs Constant Contact, feature by feature

• Constant Contact pricing: every plan and what 10,000 contacts really cost

• Mailchimp alternatives

• Mailchimp vs Klaviyo: price, automation and which fits your store

• All Spreeflo comparisons and the price table

Sources

• Mailchimp marketing pricing, read 27 October 2026 (starting prices, 15% offers, overages, nonprofit discount, SMS credits, flows rename); contact bands read 28 October 2026

• Mailchimp plan comparison, read 27 October 2026 (seats, sends, automation, segmentation, testing, templates, support, $385 Essentials tier)

• Mailchimp: about pricing plans, read 27 October 2026 (which contacts count, overages)

• Mailchimp: import contacts, read 27 October 2026

• Constant Contact pricing page, read 27 October 2026 (starting prices, plan features, send limits, overage, SMS, discounts, support, trial)

• Constant Contact email templates, read 27 October 2026

• Email Tool Tester: Mailchimp pricing, August 2026, read 28 October 2026

• Email Vendor Selection: Mailchimp pricing, September 2026, read 28 October 2026

• Automation Atlas: Mailchimp pricing, July 2026, read 28 October 2026

• Email Tool Tester: Constant Contact pricing, August 2026, read 28 October 2026

• Costbench: Constant Contact pricing, verified October 2026, read 28 October 2026

• Email Tool Tester: email deliverability test, read 27 October 2026

• Mailchimp on G2, read 27 October 2026

• Constant Contact on G2, read 27 October 2026

• Mailchimp on Trustpilot, read 27 October 2026

• Constant Contact on Trustpilot, read 27 October 2026

• Spreeflo pricing, read 27 October 2026