{ "title": "Mailchimp Alternatives 2027: 11 Paid, Free & Open-Source", "url": "https://zekaiwork.com/alternatives/mailchimp/", "summary": "The best Mailchimp alternatives in 2027 are Klaviyo (best overall, $20/mo billed monthly), MailerLite (best free plan: 250 subscribers, 2,500 emails monthly) and Listmonk (best open source, AGPL-3.0). Mailchimp itself starts at $13/mo. Zekai checked these prices on vendor pages on 13 Nov 2026; 8 more are compared below, including 1 with a free plan and 5 open source.", "tool": { "name": "Mailchimp", "starting_price": "$13/mo", "free_plan": "250 contacts, 500 sends a month, 250 a day", "price_checked": "2026-11-13", "pricing_url": "https://mailchimp.com/pricing/marketing/" }, "task": "email marketing and newsletters", "prices_checked": "2026-11-13", "date_modified": "2026-11-13", "alternatives": [ { "name": "Klaviyo", "type": "Free plan + paid", "starting_price": "$20/mo billed monthly", "free_plan_limit": "250 active profiles, 500 emails a month", "best_for": "Online stores that want email, SMS and reviews", "difference": "Email is $20 for 500 active profiles and 5,000 emails; the free plan adds $5 of mobile messages, reviews for 50 orders and a Customer Hub alongside email.", "price_checked": "2026-11-13", "pricing_url": "https://www.klaviyo.com/pricing", "website": "https://www.klaviyo.com", "zekai_score": 9.2, "zekai_review": "https://zekaiwork.com/ai-tools/klaviyo/" }, { "name": "Brevo", "type": "Free plan + paid", "starting_price": "$9/mo billed monthly", "free_plan_limit": "Up to 300 emails a day", "best_for": "Daily sending cap instead of monthly sends", "difference": "Free plan sends up to 300 emails a day, against Mailchimp Free at 500 a month; Starter is $9 for 5,000 emails and SMS credit is sold separately.", "price_checked": "2026-11-13", "pricing_url": "https://www.brevo.com/pricing/", "website": "https://www.brevo.com" }, { "name": "MailerLite", "type": "Free plan + paid", "starting_price": "$12/mo billed monthly", "free_plan_limit": "250 subscribers, 2,500 emails a month, 2 seats", "best_for": "Free list with automations and landing page", "difference": "Free plan allows 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails a month with automations, a landing page and 2 user seats; Mailchimp Free caps at 250 contacts and 500 sends.", "price_checked": "2026-11-13", "pricing_url": "https://www.mailerlite.com/pricing", "website": "https://www.mailerlite.com" }, { "name": "GetResponse", "type": "Paid", "starting_price": "$19/mo billed monthly", "free_plan_limit": "No free plan", "best_for": "Email plus webinars and courses in one plan", "difference": "Starter gives unlimited monthly sends at 1,000 contacts, and Creator at $69 bundles webinars, a website builder and a course creator with up to 500 students.", "price_checked": "2026-11-13", "pricing_url": "https://www.getresponse.com/pricing", "website": "https://www.getresponse.com" }, { "name": "ActiveCampaign", "type": "Paid", "starting_price": "$15/mo billed yearly", "free_plan_limit": "No free plan", "best_for": "Multi-step automation on a small list", "difference": "Starter includes multi-step automation and 10,000 sends for 1,000 contacts; Plus adds cross-channel marketing and landing pages, and Pro adds predictive send times at each contact.", "price_checked": "2026-11-13", "pricing_url": "https://www.activecampaign.com/pricing", "website": "https://www.activecampaign.com", "zekai_score": 8.3, "zekai_review": "https://zekaiwork.com/ai-tools/activecampaign/" }, { "name": "Listmonk", "type": "Open source", "starting_price": "Free (self-hosted)", "free_plan_limit": "No limit (self-hosted)", "licence": "AGPL-3.0", "best_for": "Large newsletter lists on your own server", "difference": "Single Go binary backed by PostgreSQL that manages newsletters and mailing lists; you connect your own SMTP or email API, so sending costs come from that provider, not per-contact tiers.", "website": "https://listmonk.app/", "repository": "https://github.com/knadh/listmonk", "zekai_open_source_page": "https://zekaiwork.com/free-open-source/listmonk/", "commercial_use": "Yes; AGPL-3.0 means sharing changes if you run it as a service.", "runs_on": "Any server that runs Docker or a Go binary, plus PostgreSQL.", "setup": "moderate: Docker Compose plus PostgreSQL and an SMTP provider.", "github_stars": 24300, "stars_checked": "2026-11-13", "last_commit": "2026-11-11", "last_release": "2026-11-12", "zekai_score": 7.9, "zekai_review": "https://zekaiwork.com/free-open-source/listmonk/" }, { "name": "Mautic", "type": "Open source", "starting_price": "Free (self-hosted)", "free_plan_limit": "No limit (self-hosted)", "licence": "GPL-3.0", "best_for": "Full marketing automation with segments and campaigns", "difference": "Marketing automation suite covering email, social and more with a contact database; it installs with Composer on PHP, and the README says you must be comfortable on the command line.", "website": "https://www.mautic.org/", "repository": "https://github.com/mautic/mautic", "zekai_open_source_page": "https://zekaiwork.com/free-open-source/mautic/", "commercial_use": "Yes (GPL-3.0); distributed changes must stay GPL-3.0.", "runs_on": "Web server with PHP and a MySQL-compatible database.", "setup": "moderate: Composer install, database and web server configuration.", "github_stars": 11000, "stars_checked": "2026-11-13", "last_commit": "2026-11-13", "last_release": "2026-10-26", "zekai_score": 8, "zekai_review": "https://zekaiwork.com/free-open-source/mautic/" }, { "name": "Keila", "type": "Open source", "starting_price": "Free (self-hosted)", "free_plan_limit": "No limit (self-hosted)", "licence": "AGPL-3.0", "best_for": "Simple self-hosted newsletter tool", "difference": "Newsletter tool positioned as a Mailchimp and Sendinblue alternative; the Docker image sends through your own SMTP, AWS SES, Sendgrid, Mailgun or Postmark account.", "website": "https://www.keila.io", "repository": "https://github.com/pentacent/keila", "zekai_open_source_page": "https://zekaiwork.com/free-open-source/keila/", "commercial_use": "Yes; AGPL-3.0 means sharing changes if you run it as a service.", "runs_on": "Any host that runs Docker; needs a database and sending account.", "setup": "moderate: Docker image plus a database and an SMTP or SES account.", "github_stars": 2300, "stars_checked": "2026-11-13", "last_commit": "2026-11-13", "last_release": "2026-11-04", "zekai_score": 7.3, "zekai_review": "https://zekaiwork.com/free-open-source/keila/" }, { "name": "phpList", "type": "Open source", "starting_price": "Free (self-hosted)", "free_plan_limit": "No limit (self-hosted)", "licence": "AGPL-3.0", "best_for": "PHP newsletter manager with bounce handling", "difference": "Long-running PHP email manager with bounce processing, segmentation and plugins; a hosted phpList.com account exists if you do not want to run PHP and MySQL yourself.", "website": "https://www.phplist.org", "repository": "https://github.com/phpList/phplist3", "commercial_use": "Yes; AGPL-3.0 means sharing changes if you run it as a service.", "runs_on": "Web server with PHP and MySQL; Docker image available.", "setup": "moderate: Web server, PHP and MySQL setup; Docker image also available.", "github_stars": 883, "stars_checked": "2026-11-13", "last_commit": "2026-10-19", "last_release": "2026-08-09" }, { "name": "Dittofeed", "type": "Open source", "starting_price": "Free (self-hosted)", "free_plan_limit": "No limit (self-hosted)", "licence": "MIT", "best_for": "Automated journeys across email, SMS and push", "difference": "Sends broadcasts and automated journeys across email, mobile push, SMS, WhatsApp and Slack from one self-hosted platform; Mailchimp sells SMS as an add-on.", "website": "https://www.dittofeed.com", "repository": "https://github.com/dittofeed/dittofeed", "commercial_use": "Yes (MIT).", "runs_on": "Any host that runs Docker Compose.", "setup": "moderate: Docker Compose stack; message providers configured separately.", "github_stars": 3100, "stars_checked": "2026-11-13", "last_commit": "2026-10-12", "last_release": "2026-10-04" }, { "name": "BillionMail", "type": "Open source", "starting_price": "Free (self-hosted)", "free_plan_limit": "No limit (self-hosted)", "licence": "AGPL-3.0", "best_for": "One stack for mail server and campaigns", "difference": "Installs a full mail server with Roundcube webmail beside campaign sending, so it replaces a sending provider as well as Mailchimp; deliverability then rests on your own server.", "website": "https://github.com/BillionMail/BillionMail", "repository": "https://github.com/BillionMail/BillionMail", "commercial_use": "Yes; AGPL-3.0 means sharing changes if you run it as a service.", "runs_on": "Linux server with Docker; README gives no RAM figure.", "setup": "moderate: Install script or Docker Compose plus .env edits.", "github_stars": 16300, "stars_checked": "2026-11-13", "last_commit": "2026-06-11", "last_release": "2025-12-11" } ], "faq": [ { "q": "What is the best alternative to Mailchimp in 2027?", "a": "Klaviyo is the best overall Mailchimp alternative on this page ($20/mo billed monthly). For no cost, MailerLite has a free plan (250 subscribers, 2,500 emails a month, 2 seats). To self-host, Listmonk is open source (AGPL-3.0)." }, { "q": "Is there a free version of Mailchimp?", "a": "Yes. Mailchimp has a free plan: 250 contacts, 500 sends a month, 250 a day. Paid plans start at $13/mo, checked on 13 Nov 2026." }, { "q": "Is there a 100% free alternative to Mailchimp?", "a": "Yes. Listmonk, Mautic, Keila, phpList, Dittofeed, BillionMail are open source and free to self-host. Klaviyo, Brevo, MailerLite have a free plan with limits, shown in the table." }, { "q": "What is cheaper than Mailchimp?", "a": "Brevo starts at $9/mo billed monthly, against $13/mo for Mailchimp, as listed on each vendor's pricing page on 13 Nov 2026." }, { "q": "How much do Mailchimp alternatives cost for a team of 5?", "a": "If each of 5 people buys the entry paid plan, at the prices Zekai checked on 13 Nov 2026, the monthly cost is Brevo $45/mo, MailerLite $60/mo, ActiveCampaign $75/mo, against Mailchimp $65/mo for Mailchimp. Team and business plans can cost more per seat. The Zekai Cost Finder on this page recalculates for any team size." }, { "q": "Which is better, Klaviyo or Mailchimp?", "a": "Email is $20 for 500 active profiles and 5,000 emails; the free plan adds $5 of mobile messages, reviews for 50 orders and a Customer Hub alongside email. Choose Klaviyo if you sell online and want reviews, SMS credit and a customer hub in the same account as email. Stay with Mailchimp if you send plain newsletters and want the lowest-cost route for a very small list." }, { "q": "Why are people leaving Mailchimp?", "a": "The documented reasons are: Multivariate test audiences launched for Standard and Premium plans only, so multivariate experiments sit above the Essentials tier (16 Jun 2026); Enterprise single sign-on launched and is listed as available on Premium plans, which start at $350 a month on the pricing page (30 Sep 2026). Each is sourced in the section above." }, { "q": "Is there an open-source alternative to Mailchimp?", "a": "Yes. Listmonk, Mautic, Keila and phpList can be self-hosted. They have no licence fee but need a server, a database and an SMTP or email API provider." } ], "publisher": "Zekai (zekaiwork.com) — independently reviewed; prices read on vendor pages on the dates shown.", "licence": "Free to quote with a link to https://zekaiwork.com/alternatives/mailchimp/. Bulk copying or republishing the dataset is not permitted." }