Consider Mailchimp when…
Shortlist Mailchimp when you want to start free, need its wide range of integrations, or send rarely enough for Pay As You Go credits.
Explore Mailchimp alternativesFIND YOUR FIT
Mailchimp vs Constant Contact
Mailchimp vs Constant Contact: compare free plans and trials, contact-based pricing, send limits, automation, and support using official sources.
The decision in brief
Both price by contact count and set a monthly send limit as a multiple of your contacts, so the cost for your own list is the figure to compare. Mailchimp has a small free plan and Pay As You Go credits. Constant Contact has no free plan but offers a free trial, a 30-day money-back guarantee, and live phone and chat support on every plan, and it bundles social posting and event tools.
A focused editorial selection based on the linked official documentation. Fit notes are our judgment, rather than firsthand benchmark results or a universal ranking. How we select and verify information.
Compare the working details
| Decision factor | Mailchimp | Constant Contact |
|---|---|---|
| Main focus | Newsletters and promotional email for small businesses and online shops, with automation and a wide range of integrations. | Small-business newsletters, promotions, and events, with onboarding and human support included in every plan. |
| Working setup | Sign up, import or collect contacts into an audience, design an email from a template, then send a campaign or set up an automation flow. | Start a free trial, import contacts, pick an email template, then schedule campaigns and social posts from the same account. |
| Pricing model | A free plan covers 250 contacts and 500 sends a month, with a daily limit of 250. Essentials, Standard, and Premium are priced by contact tier, with a monthly send limit set as a multiple of your contact limit; Essentials and Standard have a 14-day trial. Pay As You Go email credits suit occasional senders. | There is no free plan. Lite, Standard, and Premium are priced by contact count, with monthly send limits of 10, 12, or 24 times your contacts, and extra sends are billed as overage. A free trial needs no credit card, and new plans have a 30-day money-back guarantee. |
| What to verify | Subscribed, unsubscribed, and non-subscribed contacts all count toward your contact total, so archive contacts you no longer email before choosing a tier. | Lite includes one automation template and Standard three; custom automations need Premium, so check which plan your welcome and follow-up emails require. |
Which belongs on your shortlist?
Consider Constant Contact when…
Shortlist Constant Contact when you want live phone help and onboarding from the start, or run events and social posts alongside your emails.
Run the same evaluation in both
- Import the same test list, including a few unsubscribed contacts, and note the contact total each tool bills for.
- Build a three-email welcome series in each and record which plan it needs.
- Price a year for your list size and usual sending, including any charges for going over the send limit.
Try the same task before you choose
Send one welcome series and newsletter
Use the same fictional list in each candidate. Import 40 rows of made-up contacts for 'Fernhill Pottery Studio', using addresses on a domain you control: 36 subscribed, 3 unsubscribed, and one row that repeats a subscribed address. New sign-ups should get a three-email welcome series, and subscribed contacts one newsletter. Never import a real customer list for a trial.
Every check starts as Not run. Record your own observations; these are evaluation criteria, rather than completed product tests. Your worksheet stays in this page and can be downloaded.
| Task and expected observation | Mailchimp | Constant Contact |
|---|---|---|
| Import the fictional list 39 unique contacts. The repeated row is merged, and the 3 unsubscribed contacts keep their status. | ||
| Check the billable contact count Record whether the 3 unsubscribed contacts count toward the plan price. | ||
| Authenticate a test sending domain The DNS records verify, and test emails reach an inbox you own rather than spam. | ||
| Add a sign-up form to a test page A new test sign-up is added with the right tag or group, and double opt-in works if you turn it on. | ||
| Build the three-email welcome series The new sign-up receives all three emails at the set delays. Note which plan includes this. | ||
| Send the newsletter to subscribed contacts None of the 3 unsubscribed contacts receive it, and the unsubscribe link works in one click. | ||
| Price the setup for 12 months Record the plan needed for these features and the cost at your list size now and in a year. |
0 of 14 checks have an observation. An observation does not imply a passed test.
Sources and check dates
Provider documentation supports the product and billing descriptions. Confirm current limits and terms before choosing a plan.
ShowMeYourSaaS also offers commercial product coverage. These guides follow our editorial selection criteria; placement is not a purchased ranking. Send a correction with the page and a supporting source.