Mailchimp is the biggest email marketing platform on the planet — which means a ton of people try it, find it doesn’t quite meet their expectations, and then search for Mailchimp alternatives.
Yes, Mailchimp is huge. Yes, when you go to their website, they hit you with the one billion different things they can do. Yes, a lot of people — maybe even most people — use Mailchimp when they’re first getting started with email marketing.
But no, Mailchimp isn’t for everyone.
I’ve personally tested more than 60 email marketing, mail merge, and cold email platforms to find the best alternatives to Mailchimp.
And in this article, I’ll focus on alternatives that are strong in the areas where people are most frustrated with Mailchimp.
Mailchimp Alternatives: Table of Contents
- The Top 4 Complaints and Problems With Mailchimp
- 1. GMass – Best Mailchimp Alternative Overall
- 2. Moosend – Better Pricing for Larger Lists
- 3. YAMM – The Cheap Alternative When You Don’t Need to Do So Much
- 4. MailerLite – The Better Option for Support
- 5. ActiveCampaign – A Higher-End Option for Enterprise
- Mailchimp Alternatives: Conclusions and Next Steps
The Top 4 Complaints and Problems With Mailchimp
Based on my hands-on experience as well as a deep analysis of comments and reviews on Reddit, G2, and Capterra, here are the four biggest issues people have with Mailchimp — and likely one (or more) of the reasons why you’re here looking for alternatives.
The price starts low… then skyrockets when you have any volume of contacts or emails
When you’re just starting out and your list is small, Mailchimp is pretty cheap.
Their Essentials plan (which they completely bury, and don’t even include on their pricing page) is 500 contacts and 5,000 emails a month for $13. That feels nice and reasonable, and gets a lot of folks in the door.
But as you start growing your list or wanting to send more emails (or both) — the cost skyrockets.
I’m not being hyperbolic. Skyrockets is the only word to describe it. (And the skyrocketing has gotten even more skyrocket-y since Mailchimp was acquired.)
When you jump to a mere 1,500 contacts and 15,000 emails — both pretty low numbers — the price jumps to $26.50/month. At 5,000 contacts and 50,000 emails, you’re at $75/month.
And that’s just for their lowest level plan that’s stripped of a ton of features. (For instance, it has limited analytics, doesn’t include their segmentation features, doesn’t allow custom templates, doesn’t allow multi-step automations, and that’s just scratching the surface.)
The Standard and Premium plans jack up the prices even higher as you start to unlock all those features you saw promoted when you first signed up.
I talk to people weekly (if not almost daily) who are looking to switch away from Mailchimp because of the prices.
Surprisingly limited functionality (especially around automation)
Considering its pricing and its positioning in the email world, Mailchimp is still surprisingly limited on a lot of fairly standard functions.
The most common complaints I hear are:
- Limited types of automations
- Automations that are difficult to build, clunky, and unreliable
- Poor segmentation abilities
- Unreliable and confusing reporting
And beyond that, Mailchimp doesn’t allow for cold outreach and doesn’t work for mail merge campaigns or other popular types of mass emails.
So if you’re doing outreach or need mail merge, then you have to pay for another platform on top of Mailchimp.
Deliverability issues — and getting cut off over spam reports
Mailchimp sends your email through its own servers.
Because of its size, there are a lot of other people sharing those servers with you when you send through Mailchimp. Your sending reputation is, at least a little bit, affected by each and every one of those other Mailchimp users.
So even though Mailchimp does a pretty good job keeping up the deliverability of their servers — the complaints about customers’ emails going to spam are endless.
Plus, as the biggest email marketing company (owned by an even bigger company, in Intuit), if you start having your campaigns go to spam or you start getting spam complaints, Mailchimp may just cut you off completely.
Poor customer support
Mailchimp has a huge support infrastructure. However… even with all their support staff on hand, no one seems to be satisfied with the help they receive.
I did not use Mailchimp’s support when I tested the platform so I can’t speak to this issue personally.
But I can say from my observations, from studying their reviews, and from the emailers I speak with, the ratio of praise for their support to complaints about their support is wildly skewed toward complaints.
So which email platforms are a better fit?
Here are my recommendations for better fits based on my hands-on experience with Mailchimp and several dozen of its competitors.
1. GMass – Best Mailchimp Alternative Overall
People switch from Mailchimp to GMass on a daily basis. (I know this because I work with them to do it.)
On the surface, GMass might seem like a surprise pick. It’s not as similar to Mailchimp as some other email marketing software like ActiveCampaign or Brevo or the eCom-focused Klaviyo.
But GMass has some fundamentals that make it extremely attractive to many people leaving Mailchimp. Not everyone, as we’ll get into with the other Mailchimp alternative options on this list. But many.
Here’s why.
GMass gives you unlimited emails with every plan (yes, really)
I’m not naive, you’re not naive.
Price is, and always will be, a huge factor in people’s decision-making process.
And the area where GMass completely blows Mailchimp out of the water is on price (and value for the price).
GMass’s plans cost $25/mo, $35/mo, or $55/mo (or even less if you pay annually). And with all three plans, you get unlimited everything.
- Unlimited emails (here’s how)
- Unlimited contacts
- Unlimited campaigns
- Unlimited email verification
- Unlimited email tracking
- Unlimited sending domains
In the headline up there, I put “yes, really” because no one can believe it — especially not Mailchimp refugees who are used to seeing their costs balloon out of control the more they grow.
But it’s true. A year of GMass is often cheaper than a month at Mailchimp.
(What’s the catch? There really isn’t one, though I’ll cover more below on what Mailchimp can do that GMass doesn’t.)
Better easy-to-use functionality and way more flexibility
It’s far too easy to get lost in Mailchimp’s complex automation building system, or their software that’s jammed with a million features you don’t need (and that uses terms you aren’t quite sure about).
GMass is so much simpler than that.
GMass works inside Gmail, so sending campaigns isn’t all that different from sending your regular email.
You can create simple, plain-text auto follow-ups right in the settings box. Creating recurring automations is often a matter of one checkbox.
And because GMass has a native integration with Google Sheets, you can create any type of automation or campaign you want, incorporating the right info for the right mailing list.
Even beyond automations, GMass is just easier to use. There’s one settings box that takes care of your entire campaign. A/B testing is inline. Quick email polls take less than a minute to set up. Scheduling is intuitive.
Everything’s just a whole lot easier.
GMass has all the features you need for cold outreach
As I mentioned earlier, Mailchimp is for email marketing only.
GMass is a full-featured email marketing platform. But it’s also a cold outreach platform. And a mail merge and mass email platform.
So rather than learning, using, and paying for separate software to send all your various types of emails — you can consolidate that all with GMass.
If you send cold emails, GMass has everything you’re looking for, like inbox rotation (with unlimited sending domains), a great unified inbox, advanced SMTP incorporation, and all the extras like spintax and throttling.
If you want to use mail merge, GMass has advanced personalization features (that are still really easy to use) and can even send things like personalized images and attachments.
For multi-faceted emailers, GMass is a life saver (and serious cost saver).
GMass’s deliverability tools help you get to the inbox
Mailchimp sends through its own servers.
GMass sends through Gmail’s servers. Those just so happen to have some of the best deliverability in the world. And since GMass is approved by Google, GMass can send through the Gmail API for even more of a deliverability boost.
On top of that, GMass has a unique suite of deliverability tools that can really help you get to the inbox.
There’s unlimited email verification included on every plan.
GMass’s one-of-a-kind Spam Solver tool actually sends your campaigns to several test inboxes, gauges the inbox vs. spam rate, then helps you tweak your message until you’re maximizing deliverability.
And, unlike Mailchimp, with GMass you can embed images versus link to them on a separate server. That’s a nice deliverability boost and something Mailchimp literally can’t do.
So what does Mailchimp do that GMass doesn’t?
But yes, there are some things Mailchimp does that GMass does not.
The biggest is that Mailchimp has a drag-and-drop email designing tool — and a pretty sophisticated one at that.
GMass doesn’t offer that. So if you want your well-designed marketing email in GMass, you’ll have to use a third-party builder or import HTML. (Or use Google Workspace’s built-in HTML templates.)
Continuing on that building front, Mailchimp also has landing pages, website building, and pop-up forms, which GMass does not offer. Those aren’t actually email features, after all, they’re offshoots as Mailchimp continues to expand in size.
GMass also does not offer an SMS feature, which Mailchimp has as a paid add-on.
Beyond that, there are some other lesser-use features here and there that Mailchimp has (things like predicting demographics, some automation templates, send time optimization).
And GMass does not have live chat support, rather it’s email-based support. It’s usually quite fast, but not like Mailchimp’s speed. (Then again, since one of the common Mailchimp complaints was about the support, maybe the trade of speed for thoroughness is ok?)
Getting started with GMass
Again, GMass is the best Mailchimp alternative because it can do so much more of what you actually want and need — and without costing you a hidden fortune in the process.
Send unlimited emails and have unlimited contacts for one monthly price.
Create and send your campaigns inside Gmail in the most straightforward, easy-to-use way possible.
Send all types of emails, not just marketing ones — from cold outreach to mail merge.
And use GMass’s deliverability tools to more reliably hit the inbox.
You can try GMass for free with no credit card required.
To get started, download the Chrome extension. Then check out the GMass quickstart guide and you’ll be sending a campaign in a matter of minutes.
2. Moosend – Better Pricing for Larger Lists
Moosend is email marketing software in the same vein as Mailchimp — it doesn’t do other genres of email, like outreach, but rather focuses squarely on email marketing and automations.
While it’s not nearly as feature-rich or widely used as Mailchimp, it’s also not going to give you Mailchimp’s level of sticker shock.
Across the board, Moosend charges less than Mailchimp for larger lists. For instance, 5,000 contacts on Moosend’s Pro plan is $48/month and comes with unlimited emails; at Mailchimp that’s $75/month with a limit on emails.
It’s still more expensive and limited than GMass (or a few of the other alternatives we’ll cover), but it gives you much of what Mailchimp does: An email builder, landing pages, signup forms, and automated flows.
Get started with Moosend / prices start at $9/month for 500 subscribers
3. YAMM – The Cheap Alternative When You Don’t Need to Do So Much
If you want to send emails cheap — and I mean really cheap — your path may lead to Yet Another Mail Merge (or YAMM).
YAMM is just about the cheapest email platform out there, charging just $25 or $50 for the year.
Of course, with that price come endless tradeoffs. You’ll be missing about 95% of the features of Mailchimp. There are limits on emails, no automations, and no frills at all.
But if price is the only consideration, again, you should ground your pricing down here with YAMM and then work your way up. (Check out our YAMM alternatives for some help if you kinda like this bargain hunting direction but find YAMM is too bare-bones for you.)
Get started with YAMM / prices start at $25/year
4. MailerLite – The Better Option for Support
MailerLite is a more pared down version of Mailchimp.
Much like Moosend, MailerLite is cheaper than Mailchimp (here we’re talking $39 to $50 for 5,000 subscribers with unlimited emails). Like Mailchimp, it offers things like websites, landing pages, a drag-and-drop editor, and an automations builder.
But unlike Mailchimp, MailerLite tends to get pretty positive reviews about its support. So if you anticipate you’re going to have a lot of questions, you can sign up for the Advanced plan (which has live chat) and feel well taken care of.
MailerLite is email marketing only, so if you’re looking for a platform that can also do things like cold outreach and/or mail merge, you won’t find it here. But if you’re looking for a closer comp to Mailchimp just for email marketing with better support, this is one to look at.
Get started with MailerLite / plans start at $10/month for 500 subscribers
5. ActiveCampaign – A Higher-End Option for Enterprise
The four prior alternatives on this list have all been less expensive alternatives to Mailchimp. After all, since the top complaint about Mailchimp is the price, I figured it made sense to really zero in on that for alternatives.
But if you’re not as focused on price and you want to move from Mailchimp to something more enterprise-friendly, ActiveCampaign is a good alternative.
ActiveCampaign has more of a focus on pre-made and complex automations. It has more of a focus on CRM tools than Mailchimp.
It’s really made for companies with a strong email marketing focus who are ready to make big financial investments in that channel.
Get started with ActiveCampaign / plans start at $15/month for 1,000 contacts.
Mailchimp Alternatives: Conclusions and Next Steps
Mailchimp is, true to its name, the 800-pound primate of the email marketing industry. It has the most name recognition and (likely) the largest number of customers.
But it’s also a place where people start email marketing… before they graduate to other software that better fits their needs and budgets.
GMass is the best alternative to Mailchimp because it excels in the four areas where users have the most complaints about Mailchimp.
- GMass has one price for unlimited everything (emails, contacts, campaigns, and more) — versus Mailchimp where the prices skyrocket as your list grows.
- With GMass you can branch out beyond email marketing and use the software for cold outreach, mail merge, internal communications, and more; Mailchimp is email marketing only.
- Mailchimp sends through its own servers and users complain daily about deliverability. GMass sends through Gmail’s high-deliverability servers and has unique tools to help users reach the inbox. (99% of GMass users report the best deliverability they’ve ever had.)
- GMass provides more meticulous, personal support compared to Mailchimp.
To get started with GMass, just install the Chrome extension.
You’ll begin a free trial — no credit card required — and you can start testing out all the features that have led 300,000+ very happy customers to rely on GMass for email marketing, cold outreach, and more.
GMass is the only tool for marketing emails, cold emails, and mail merge — all inside Gmail. Tons of power but easy to learn and use.
TRY GMASS FOR FREE
Download Chrome extension - 30 second install!
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