Mailchimp vs Constant Contact: Which Email Marketing Tool Costs Less in 2026?
The two best-known small-business email platforms, both priced by contact count. Here is what each costs at every list size, and the billing rules that change the answer.
By Bill Belcamino · Last updated September 18, 2026 · Our methodologyResearched and fact-checked by the HelpCompare team
Choose Mailchimp if you want a free plan or have more than 500 contacts, where its monthly prices are lower at every tier we checked ($110 vs $120 at 10,000 contacts). Choose Constant Contact if you have 500 contacts or fewer ($12 vs $13), many unsubscribes (Mailchimp bills for them), or want Premium features from $80/mo instead of Mailchimp's $350.
Quick verdict: At 500 contacts Constant Contact Lite is a dollar cheaper ($12 vs $13 a month), but from 1,000 contacts up Mailchimp’s entry and mid-tier plans cost less on monthly billing at every size we checked — Essentials is $110 at 10,000 contacts against $120 for Constant Contact Lite. Two billing rules can flip that: Mailchimp counts unsubscribed contacts toward your bill, and Constant Contact takes up to 15% off if you prepay for a year. Mailchimp has a free plan; Constant Contact does not. At the top end, Constant Contact Premium ($80 at 500 contacts) is far cheaper than Mailchimp Premium ($350, which starts at 10,000 contacts).
It depends on list size. At up to 500 contacts, Constant Contact Lite ($12/mo) undercuts Mailchimp Essentials ($13/mo). From 501 contacts, Mailchimp is cheaper on monthly prices at every tier we checked: $26.50 vs $30 at 1,000 contacts, $45 vs $50 at 2,500, $75 vs $80 at 5,000 and $110 vs $120 at 10,000 on the entry plans, and Mailchimp Standard is cheaper than Constant Contact Standard at each of those sizes too. But Mailchimp bills on subscribed, unsubscribed and non-subscribed contacts, while Constant Contact bills on active contacts — so a list with many unsubscribes can cost more on Mailchimp than the headline suggests. Constant Contact’s annual prepay (up to 15% off) also narrows or reverses the gap.
Highest number of active contacts (unsubscribes are inactive)
Going over the send limit
Overage charges apply; service is not interrupted
$0.002 per extra email sent
SMS
Add-on from $20/mo; not on Free
500 messages/mo included on Premium; Lite and Standard from $10/mo; US only
AI tools
Generative AI included on Standard and Premium; not on Essentials or Free
AI copy generator on every plan; AI campaign builder from Standard
Verified September 18, 2026Prices recorded from each vendor’s own pricing page. See sources
Monthly list prices in USD from mailchimp.com/pricing/marketing and constantcontact.com/pricing, checked September 18, 2026. Constant Contact shows prepaid-annual prices by default; we compare month-to-month prices because Mailchimp publishes monthly prices only. Promotions are excluded.
Both platforms charge by the size of your contact list, but they draw the tier lines in different places and count different contacts. Mailchimp’s first tiers are 0–500, 501–1,500 and 1,501–2,500 contacts; Constant Contact’s are 0–500, 501–1,000 and 1,001–2,500. A 1,200-contact list lands in Mailchimp’s second tier but Constant Contact’s third.
The contact-counting trap
Mailchimp says subscribed, unsubscribed and non-subscribed contacts all count toward your plan; only archived, cleaned and deleted contacts do not. Constant Contact bills on active contacts and treats unsubscribes as inactive — but its tier is set by the highest number of active contacts you have had, and deleting contacts does not lower it. On Mailchimp, archiving unsubscribed contacts is how you keep the bill down.
Where each is stronger
Mailchimp includes more seats on its cheaper plans (3 on Essentials, 5 on Standard, against 1 and 3 on Constant Contact) and puts generative AI on Standard and Premium. Constant Contact gives its Premium plan a 24x send allowance, 500 SMS messages a month at no extra cost and unlimited users from $80 a month — while Mailchimp Premium starts at $350 because it includes 10,000 contacts.
Trials and free plans
Mailchimp has a permanent free plan for up to 250 contacts and 500 sends a month, and a 14-day trial of Standard or Essentials. Constant Contact has no free plan but offers a 30-day free trial with up to 100 sends and no card, plus a full refund within 30 days of signing up.
Cost calculator: what does your team actually pay?
Mailchimp
$0/mo
Constant Contact
$0/mo
Monthly list prices by contact tier, checked September 18, 2026. Mailchimp counts subscribed, unsubscribed and non-subscribed contacts; Constant Contact counts active contacts. Constant Contact prepay (up to 15% off) and promotions are not included. Mailchimp prices above 50,000 contacts and Constant Contact above 50,000 (Contact Sales) are not shown.
Choose Mailchimp if…
You want a free plan to start, your list is above 500 contacts, several people need seats on a budget plan, or you want generative AI tools included.
Choose Constant Contact if…
Your list has a lot of unsubscribes, you are at or under 500 contacts, you will prepay for a year, or you need Premium-level automation, SMS and unlimited users without paying $350 a month.
Total cost over time
Uses your selections above. Estimate excludes add-ons, overages, and negotiated discounts.
Ready to pick your email marketing platform?
Mailchimp has a free plan and Constant Contact a 30-day free trial — run a real campaign in each before you commit.
At 500 contacts Constant Contact Lite is cheaper ($12 vs $13 a month). From 501 contacts up, Mailchimp costs less on monthly billing at every tier we checked — for example $110 vs $120 at 10,000 contacts on the entry plans — unless many of your contacts are unsubscribed, which Mailchimp still bills for.
Does Constant Contact have a free plan?
No. Constant Contact is paid only, with a 30-day free trial that allows up to 100 email sends and does not need a card. Mailchimp has a free plan for up to 250 contacts and 500 sends a month.
Do unsubscribed contacts count toward my bill?
On Mailchimp, yes — subscribed, unsubscribed and non-subscribed contacts count; archived, cleaned and deleted contacts do not. Constant Contact bills on active contacts and treats unsubscribes as inactive, but your tier is based on the highest active count you have reached.
How many emails can I send?
Mailchimp allows 10x your contact count a month on Essentials, 12x on Standard and 15x on Premium. Constant Contact allows 10x on Lite, 12x on Standard and 24x on Premium, and charges $0.002 per email over the limit.
How many users are included?
Mailchimp: 3 seats on Essentials, 5 on Standard, unlimited on Premium. Constant Contact: 1 user on Lite, 3 on Standard, unlimited on Premium.
Can I move my list from Mailchimp to Constant Contact?
Yes. Constant Contact has a Mailchimp integration that imports contacts, tags and media assets; unsubscribed contacts must be exported from Mailchimp and imported manually. See our migration guides for both directions.
Migration Guides
Already decided? Here’s how to actually switch.
Step-by-step migration guides covering what transfers automatically, what doesn’t, and how to handle the gap — in both directions.
Every “best email marketing platform” listicle tells you why to buy. Here’s the other half: the specific conditions under which Mailchimp or Constant Contact is the wrong purchase for your team.
Mailchimp
✓
Buy Mailchimp if:
You want to start free and grow into a paid plan
Your list is above 500 contacts and you keep unsubscribes archived
Two to five people need logins on a budget plan
✕
Do NOT buy Mailchimp if:
Your list carries many unsubscribed contacts you cannot archive
You need Premium features but have far fewer than 10,000 contacts
You need SMS on the Free plan — it is not available
Constant Contact
✓
Buy Constant Contact if:
You have 500 contacts or fewer and want the lowest price
You will prepay a year to save up to 15%
You want Premium automation, SMS and unlimited users at a small list size
✕
Do NOT buy Constant Contact if:
You need a free plan
More than one person needs access on Lite
Your list shrinks often — deleting contacts does not lower your tier
Canonical data for the tools on this page
Every pricing fact, rating, AI billing model and switching guide we hold on each tool, on one page — with the date each figure was last verified.
Prices on this page were recorded from each vendor’s own pricing page on the date shown at the top of the page. Vendors change pricing often — check the live source before you buy.
Every figure is also in our open dataset (JSON and CSV, CC BY 4.0), with its source page and verification date. See how we research pricing.
About the author
Bill Belcamino
Founder and author, HelpCompare
Bill has worked in software and digital marketing for more than 20 years. He spent nine years as an engineer at HP, served as COO scaling a platform past 200,000 users, and ran Google’s $70M/year search syndication partnership at Alot.com. He has bought, trialled, integrated and cancelled more SaaS tools than he can count, and started HelpCompare because the real cost of switching tools is the part nobody covers.
“I’ve sat on both sides of the table: the agency recommending the tool and the client paying for it.”
Researched and fact-checked by the HelpCompare team. Pricing on this page was last verified on September 18, 2026. No paid sponsorships, no affiliate commissions.
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