Mailchimp used to be the obvious choice for email marketing. Simple, generous free plan, and it just worked. Then Intuit acquired it for $12 billion in 2021, and the platform slowly became something else: more expensive, more complex, more enterprise-focused. The free plan that once supported 2,000 subscribers now caps at 500. Pricing for growing lists has climbed aggressively. And the feature bloat — CRM, landing pages, social ads, websites — turned a clean email tool into a confused marketing suite.
I switched to MailPoet years ago because I run my newsletter on WordPress and wanted something that lived inside my existing workflow. But the email marketing landscape has genuine variety now, and the right choice depends entirely on your setup and goals.
Here are the alternatives I’ve evaluated and, in some cases, used personally.
Quick Comparison: Mailchimp vs the Alternatives
| Platform | Best For | Free Tier | Paid From | Key Strength |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MailPoet | WordPress site owners | Yes (1,000 subscribers) | ~$10/month | Lives inside WordPress |
| ConvertKit (Kit) | Creators and bloggers | Yes (10,000 subscribers) | $25/month | Creator-focused automation |
| Brevo (Sendinblue) | Budget-conscious senders | Yes (300 emails/day) | $9/month | Cheapest per-email pricing |
| ActiveCampaign | Advanced automation | No | $29/month | Most powerful automation builder |
| Buttondown | Simple newsletters | Yes (100 subscribers) | $9/month | Minimalist, writer-focused |
MailPoet — The WordPress-Native Option (What I Use)
MailPoet runs entirely inside WordPress. No external dashboard, no separate login, no syncing subscriber lists between platforms. Your email subscribers, your WordPress users, and your WooCommerce customers all live in the same database.
Why I switched from Mailchimp: I was maintaining two separate systems — Mailchimp for email, WordPress for content. Every time I published a post, I’d manually create a campaign in Mailchimp with the same content. MailPoet eliminated that duplication. I write in WordPress, set up the email in MailPoet (same admin panel), and send. The subscriber data stays in my database, not on a third-party server.
Key advantages over Mailchimp:
- No external platform — everything happens inside WordPress
- WooCommerce integration is native, not a paid add-on
- Free for up to 1,000 subscribers (Mailchimp: 500)
- You own your data — subscribers are in your WordPress database
- Post notification emails are automatic — publish a post, MailPoet sends the newsletter
- Simpler pricing as you grow
The trade-off: MailPoet only works with WordPress. If your site runs on Shopify, Squarespace, or anything else, it’s not an option. The automation features are also less sophisticated than Mailchimp’s or ActiveCampaign’s — it handles basic sequences well, but complex multi-branch automation isn’t its strength.
Best for: WordPress site owners who want email marketing that integrates seamlessly with their existing setup. If your site is on WordPress, this should be your first consideration.
ConvertKit (Kit) — Built for Creators
ConvertKit (recently rebranded to “Kit”) was built specifically for bloggers, YouTubers, podcasters, and independent creators. The entire platform is designed around the assumption that you’re one person building an audience.
Why ConvertKit over Mailchimp: The free plan supports up to 10,000 subscribers — twenty times Mailchimp’s limit. The automation builder is visual and intuitive, designed for sequences like “welcome series,” “launch sequence,” and “nurture campaigns” that creators actually use. Tagging is more flexible than Mailchimp’s list-based system.
Key advantages over Mailchimp:
- 10,000 subscriber free tier (Mailchimp: 500)
- Tag-based subscriber management — cleaner than Mailchimp’s lists
- Visual automation builder designed for creators
- Built-in landing pages and forms
- Commerce features for selling digital products directly
- Focused product — email marketing, not a marketing suite
The trade-off: ConvertKit’s email editor is intentionally simple — plain-text-forward design that works well for personal newsletters but looks basic if you want heavily designed templates. Paid plans start at $25/month for 1,000 subscribers, which is comparable to Mailchimp. The analytics are also less detailed than Mailchimp’s.
Best for: Independent creators, bloggers, and podcasters who want a purpose-built email platform with a generous free tier. Particularly strong if you sell digital products (courses, ebooks, memberships).
Brevo (Sendinblue) — The Budget Play
Brevo (formerly Sendinblue) takes a different pricing approach: instead of charging by subscriber count, it charges by email volume. Store unlimited contacts on every plan (including free), and pay based on how many emails you send.
Why Brevo over Mailchimp: If you have a large list but don’t email frequently, Brevo is dramatically cheaper. A list of 10,000 subscribers on Mailchimp costs roughly $100/month. On Brevo, storing those same 10,000 contacts is free — you only pay when you send. The Starter plan at $9/month gives you 5,000 emails per month.
Key advantages over Mailchimp:
- Unlimited contacts on all plans (Mailchimp charges by subscriber count)
- Pay-per-email pricing that suits infrequent senders
- Includes transactional email (order confirmations, password resets) alongside marketing
- SMS marketing built in
- Free plan: 300 emails/day, unlimited contacts
- Significantly cheaper at scale
The trade-off: The interface isn’t as polished as Mailchimp’s, and the template library is more limited. Automation is capable but less intuitive to set up. Deliverability has historically been a concern for some users, though Brevo has invested heavily in improving this.
Best for: Cost-conscious senders with large lists, businesses that need transactional + marketing email in one platform, and anyone frustrated by Mailchimp’s subscriber-based pricing.
ActiveCampaign — The Automation Powerhouse
ActiveCampaign is what Mailchimp would be if it focused exclusively on making automation as powerful as possible. The visual automation builder is the best in the industry, supporting complex multi-step workflows with conditional logic, split testing, and CRM integration.
Why ActiveCampaign over Mailchimp: If you’ve hit the limits of Mailchimp’s automation (and those limits are real), ActiveCampaign is the natural upgrade. You can build workflows that respond to user behavior across email, website visits, purchases, and CRM interactions. It’s the platform serious email marketers graduate to.
Key advantages over Mailchimp:
- Best-in-class automation builder — visual, flexible, deeply powerful
- Built-in CRM (no separate subscription needed)
- Advanced segmentation based on behavior and engagement
- Site tracking — trigger automations based on which pages someone visits
- Split testing within automation workflows
- Predictive sending — delivers emails when each subscriber is most likely to open
The trade-off: No free plan. Starts at $29/month for 1,000 contacts, which is more expensive than Mailchimp at small scale. The power comes with complexity — if you just want to send a monthly newsletter, ActiveCampaign is overkill.
Best for: Businesses with complex sales funnels, e-commerce companies that need behavior-based automation, and anyone who’s outgrown Mailchimp’s automation capabilities.
Buttondown — The Writer’s Tool
Buttondown is for people who just want to write and send. No drag-and-drop editor, no complex automation, no CRM. You write in Markdown, hit send, and your subscribers get a clean, well-formatted email. That’s it.
Why Buttondown over Mailchimp: If Mailchimp’s feature bloat is what drove you to look for alternatives, Buttondown is the antidote. The free plan handles 100 subscribers, paid starts at $9/month, and the entire product fits in a single browser tab.
Best for: Writers and publishers who want a minimal tool that does one thing well. Think Substack’s simplicity but with more control and without the platform lock-in.
Which Mailchimp Alternative Should You Choose?
If your site runs on WordPress: MailPoet. Native integration, no external platform needed.
If you’re a creator building an audience: ConvertKit (Kit). 10,000 subscriber free tier, creator-focused features.
If you have a large list and send infrequently: Brevo. Unlimited contacts, pay-per-email pricing.
If you need advanced automation: ActiveCampaign. The most powerful automation builder available.
If you just want to write and send: Buttondown. Minimalist by design.
For most small to medium WordPress sites — which is the core of my audience — I recommend MailPoet first. The WordPress integration eliminates an entire layer of complexity, and you own your subscriber data. If you’re not on WordPress, ConvertKit for creators or Brevo for budget-conscious senders are the strongest starting points.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did Mailchimp get so expensive?
Intuit’s 2021 acquisition shifted Mailchimp’s positioning toward enterprise and e-commerce. The free plan was cut from 2,000 to 500 subscribers. Pricing tiers were restructured. Features that used to be included (like automation) moved behind higher-tier paywalls. The product became more capable for large businesses but significantly less attractive for small lists and individual creators.
Can I migrate my Mailchimp subscribers to another platform?
Yes. All platforms listed here support CSV import, and most (ConvertKit, Brevo, ActiveCampaign) offer migration tools or assistance. Export your Mailchimp list as a CSV, import it into the new platform, and verify your subscribers. The process typically takes 30-60 minutes.
Which alternative has the best free plan?
ConvertKit (Kit) at 10,000 subscribers is the most generous by far. Brevo’s free plan offers unlimited contacts but limits you to 300 emails per day. MailPoet’s free plan covers 1,000 subscribers on WordPress. Mailchimp’s current free tier (500 subscribers) is the least competitive.
Is MailPoet good enough for serious email marketing?
For most WordPress sites, yes. MailPoet handles newsletters, post notifications, welcome sequences, and WooCommerce transactional emails well. Where it falls short is complex multi-branch automation — if you need “if subscriber clicked link A, wait 3 days, then check if they visited page B” workflows, ActiveCampaign is better. For 90% of small to medium WordPress sites, MailPoet covers everything you need.
Should I use Substack instead?
Substack is a publishing platform, not an email marketing tool. If you want to build a standalone paid newsletter business, Substack makes sense. If you have an existing website and want to add email marketing to it, the tools listed above are better choices. Substack also takes a 10% cut of paid subscriptions, which adds up quickly.
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