Alternative to
6 Alternatives to Mailchimp in 2026
People look past Mailchimp when its euro-denominated promo prices are hard to turn into a long-term budget, when the free and Essentials caps stop a growing list, or when Intuit's group-wide privacy statement is the only data policy they can find. Typical destinations are Brevo, GetResponse, ActiveCampaign, Klaviyo, Customer.io and HubSpot Marketing Hub.
Why people look for an alternative to Mailchimp
A price you cannot project past year one
The pricing page quotes Essentials, Standard and Premium as discounted monthly figures for the first 12 months, and the base price afterward was not shown in the page text we extracted. Overage and SMS credit rates were not shown either.
Caps that arrive before the list does
Free stops at 250 contacts and 500 emails a month, Essentials allows up to 4 automation flow steps and 3 users, and Standard allows 6,000 emails a month. We infer from these limits that growing lists outgrow a tier quickly.
Group-level privacy wording for AI
Mailchimp's privacy link leads to the Intuit statement, which says data may train Intuit's AI models and does not specifically address Mailchimp audience data. No Mailchimp trust page was opened, so this is our reading of the policy text, not a user report.
The best Mailchimp alternatives
- 1
Brevo is a French email and automation platform whose free plan sends up to 300 emails a day after account approval. Servers are stated to be in the EU with ISO 27001:2022, but automation starts at the Standard plan, not at Starter.
Switch if you want EU-hosted sending, a low entry price and SMS from the same account.
- 2
GetResponse is a Polish platform that publishes euro prices from 1,000 contacts: Starter 16, Marketer 54 and Creator 62 euros a month. Marketer and above list unlimited workflows with contact scoring, though Starter allows one workflow.
Switch if you want published prices in euros, webinars and unlimited workflows without calling sales.
- 3
ActiveCampaign offers branching multi-step automation on every plan, including Starter, and scales email sends at 10x to 15x the contact limit. Starter and Plus include one user seat, and landing pages and cross-channel messaging start at Plus.
Switch if you Switch if Mailchimp's 4-step flow limit on Essentials is the thing holding your automations back.
- 4
Klaviyo
Klaviyo is built for online stores, triggering messages from orders, carts and browsing behavior. Its free plan covers 250 active profiles and 500 emails a month, and paid prices sit behind a plan builder that we could not read in full.
Switch if you run a store and want flows triggered by purchase behavior instead of newsletter-style campaigns.
- 5
Customer.io
Customer.io messages users from app events and lists US and EU data centers on every plan. Essentials is $100 a month billed monthly for 5,000 profiles, and data warehouse destinations and custom roles wait for Premium.
Switch if you are a SaaS or app team sending from product events and need an EU data center.
- 6
HubSpot Marketing Hub puts email, automation and a shared CRM in one account, with Starter at a low per-seat price. Professional starts at $800 a month plus a $3,000 onboarding fee, and contacts cannot be downgraded mid-term.
Switch if you want one system for marketing and sales and can budget for the Professional step.
Before you switch away from Mailchimp
Before leaving Mailchimp, export your audiences with their tags, segments and unsubscribe status, since consent records must move with the contacts. Screenshot or document each automation flow, because flows rarely import and you will rebuild them. Note your current billing currency and the price you pay after the promotional 12 months, and compare that figure, not the promo, with each alternative. Warm up a new sending domain gradually to protect deliverability.
The full ranking of this category is in Best Marketing Automation Software in 2026.
Frequently asked questions
What does Mailchimp cost after the first 12 months?
The pricing page text we extracted in November 2026 showed euro figures for the first 12 months on its 10,000+ contacts offer, and did not show the base price afterward. Check your own account or ask Mailchimp for the renewal price before you compare it against any alternative's published number.
Does Mailchimp's free plan include automations?
No, our category research found the free plan has no automation flows, a 250-contact cap, and 500 emails a month or 250 a day. Sending pauses when limits are exceeded. Brevo and Klaviyo both offer free plans with their own caps, so compare daily and monthly send limits rather than contact counts alone.
Which Mailchimp alternative is best for an EU-based sender?
Brevo states EU servers and ISO 27001:2022, GetResponse is Polish and prices in euros, and Customer.io lists EU data centers on every plan. Mailchimp's own trust page was not opened, so check hosting and certifications directly with any vendor before moving subscriber data.
Will my Mailchimp automations transfer to another tool?
Usually not as built. Audiences, tags and segments export as files, but flows, templates and branching logic are vendor-specific. ActiveCampaign and GetResponse offer comparable multi-step workflows, so plan to recreate each flow and test it with a small segment before moving your whole list.