Mailchimp vs MailerLite for Startups: Which Is Cheaper at Each List Size?

The short answer

For most early-stage startups, MailerLite is the better pick on price. Its free plan covers up to 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails a month, and its Comfort plan starts at $12 a month for a 500-subscriber list, or $10.80 a month if you pay annually. Mailchimp is the better choice when you depend on a specific Mailchimp integration that your stack cannot replace, or when your team already runs its lifecycle emails there and switching would cost more than the price difference.

The rest of this guide sets out what each tool costs at realistic list sizes, where each free plan runs out, and how to decide without guessing. All prices are the published figures on each vendor's pricing page, checked on 7 October 2026. Where a vendor does not publish a figure for a list size, the table says "pricing on request" rather than estimating it.

How the two tools charge

The two products use different pricing logic, and that difference matters more than the headline price. Mailchimp prices by contact band. You move up a tier when your audience crosses a threshold, and each tier also sets a monthly send allowance. The starting tiers are 500 contacts, then 2,501 to 5,000, then 5,001 to 10,000, and so on. A list that grows from 2,500 to 2,600 contacts can therefore change your bill by a large step.

MailerLite also prices by subscriber count, but its paid plans are built around a monthly email allowance tied to the subscriber tier. On the 500-subscriber tier, the Comfort plan allows 10 times the subscriber ceiling in emails each month, which works out to 5,000 emails. The Power plan removes the monthly email cap for the same subscriber tier. For a startup that sends frequent newsletters to a small list, that structure can be cheaper than a plan that caps sends tightly.

Neither tool is a billing system. Both are marketing and automation platforms that you connect to your product and payment data through integrations or an API. If your emails need to react to trials, failed payments or plan changes, that is a question about integrations, not about the list-size price, and it is covered in its own section below.

Comparison at a glance

What each tool costs at real list sizes

The table below uses list sizes that match typical startup stages: a pre-launch waitlist, an early product with a few hundred users, a growing B2B list and a larger consumer audience. Only figures published by the vendors are shown. Where a tier is not priced for a given size, the cell says so.

Two points stand out. At 500 contacts, the cheapest paid Mailchimp plan costs $13 a month on Essentials and $20 a month on Standard, while MailerLite's Comfort plan costs $12 a month. On an annual basis, the Comfort plan costs $129.60 a year (12 × $10.80) against $144 a year when billed monthly, so the annual option saves $14.40 a year. Mailchimp's Essentials plan at $13 a month comes to $156 a year on monthly billing, and the table gives only the monthly price for it, so compare the two on the same billing view before you decide.

Above 500 subscribers, the published MailerLite figures in this guide stop, so you need the pricing page for the exact count you expect. That is a real gap if your list is likely to pass 2,500 within a year. Mailchimp's published tiers for 2,501 to 5,000 contacts ($100 a month) and 5,001 to 10,000 contacts ($135 a month) give you firm numbers to plan against. Ask MailerLite for the figure at your target size before you assume it is cheaper.

Mailchimp: where it earns its price

Mailchimp's strongest case for a startup is ecosystem reach. If your product, storefront, form tool or community platform already has a Mailchimp connector that works well, the cost of rebuilding that flow in another tool is real, and it can outweigh a $7 to $8 monthly difference at the 500-contact tier. Founders who have already set up signup forms, tagging and welcome series in Mailchimp often keep it for that reason alone.

Mailchimp also offers a 14-day trial of its Standard plan, which lets you test the paid features before you commit. If your team wants to evaluate workflows, segmentation and reporting on a real list before moving money, that trial is a practical advantage over a free-only test.

The weaknesses are about cost and limits. The free plan caps you at 250 contacts and 500 sends a month, and no more than 250 sends in a single day. A launch announcement to a 240-person waitlist uses almost half of the monthly send allowance in one go, and a second send in the same month has to wait. Once you are past 250 contacts, the paid price starts at $13 or $20 a month, and it rises by contact band. A startup that adds several hundred contacts in a month can move up a tier without meaning to.

Mailchimp is the right choice if you want the vendor with the longest track record in small-business email and your integrations depend on it. It is a harder sell if you are optimising for the lowest monthly bill at a small list.

MailerLite: where it saves money

MailerLite's advantage is a lower entry price with a generous free plan. Up to 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails a month is enough for a pre-launch list to send weekly updates, a founder newsletter and a small onboarding sequence without paying anything. Because the free plan allows 2,500 emails a month, the daily send limit that catches Mailchimp users on launch day is not the constraint here, though you should still check the pricing page for any sending rules that apply to your account.

The Comfort plan at $12 a month for 500 subscribers, with a monthly allowance of 5,000 emails, is the most direct cost advantage in this comparison. For a startup that sends two or three emails a week to a list of about 500 people, the allowance is comfortable. The Power plan at $25 a month (or $22.50 a month billed annually) removes the email cap entirely for the same subscriber tier, which suits teams that send heavy product updates or frequent digests.

The trade-offs are an incomplete public price ladder above 500 subscribers and an integration list that is narrower than Mailchimp's. If your signup flow, CRM or checkout tool has a first-party MailerLite connector, you are fine. If it only has a Mailchimp connector, you may need a middleware tool or a custom API setup, and that work has its own cost.

Free plans compared

Both free plans are useful for a pre-launch waitlist, but they limit you in different ways. Mailchimp's free plan is tighter on volume: 500 sends a month and a daily ceiling of 250. MailerLite's free plan is tighter on list size in relation to what you can send: 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails a month. A list of 200 people who receive one email a week uses about 800 sends a month, which fits both plans. A list of 240 people who receive daily updates fits MailerLite's free plan and does not fit Mailchimp's.

When your list passes 250 contacts or subscribers, both free plans end. The cheapest paid step is then $13 to $20 a month on Mailchimp and $12 a month on MailerLite's Comfort tier. If you expect to cross 250 within a few weeks, the free plan will not save you money for long, and the choice between the two should be based on the paid tier you will actually use.

Decision guide: which tool for which situation

Use the table below to match your situation to a pick. The "because" column names the specific reason, so you can check whether it applies to you.

How to choose in four steps

Start with the numbers you actually have, not the ones you hope to reach in a year. Count your current contacts and the number you expect to add in the next three months. Then count how many emails you plan to send each month, including welcome emails and automated sequences, because automations use send allowance too.

Next, check the integrations. List every tool that feeds your email list: signup forms, payment or checkout tools, your CRM, and any product database that triggers messages. For each one, confirm on the vendor's own integration page that a connector exists for the plan you intend to buy. Do not rely on a comparison page, including this one, for connector details.

Third, price the plan you will use for the next six months, not the cheapest plan on the page. If your list is 480 people today and you expect 600 in the next quarter, price the 600-contact case in both tools. For MailerLite that means asking for a quote above 500 subscribers. For Mailchimp, it means the $100 band starts at 2,501 contacts, so 600 is still in the $13 to $20 range on the 500-contact tier, and you should confirm the 500-contact selector covers you.

Finally, test the tool that is closest to your needs with a real but small list. Import a few hundred contacts, build your welcome series and send one campaign to a segment. The point is to find out whether the editor, the automation logic and the reporting work for the way your team thinks, not to judge the design.

Migration checklist if you are switching

Switching lists between email tools is less risky than it sounds, provided you treat consent and sending reputation as the things that matter most. Work through the steps in order. The table gives the main actions, the check for each one and the common mistake to avoid.

Keep the old account active, read-only, for at least a few weeks after the cutover. You will need its export history if a subscriber asks where they signed up, or if you need to compare engagement before and after the move.

Lifecycle and billing emails

Many founders choose an email tool for lifecycle messages: trial reminders, onboarding steps, payment problems and plan changes. Neither Mailchimp nor MailerLite is a billing system, so messages triggered by subscription events depend on how you feed the event data into the tool. Check three things before you commit. First, whether the tool can receive events from your billing provider through an integration or a webhook. Second, whether it can segment on plan name or subscription status, not only on list membership. Third, whether a message can link to a payment page that your billing provider hosts, so the customer can fix a failed card in one click.

If lifecycle emails are a core part of your product, put that requirement at the top of your shortlist and test it with a real billing event in a staging environment before you rely on it. If your lifecycle messages are simple, such as a welcome email and a trial-end reminder, either tool can handle them once the trigger is connected.

Pricing sources and dates

The prices in this guide come from the public pricing pages of Mailchimp and MailerLite, checked on 7 October 2026. Plan names, contact bands and send allowances change, so check the pricing page before you buy. This guide does not quote prices for list sizes the vendor has not published, and it does not estimate them. The figures that come from arithmetic are shown with the calculation, such as 12 × $10.80 for an annual Comfort plan.

Bottom line

For most early-stage startups on a budget, MailerLite is the better choice. Its free plan allows 2,500 emails a month to 250 subscribers, and its Comfort plan costs $12 a month for 500 subscribers, which is less than Mailchimp's $13 Essentials plan and $20 Standard plan at the same size. Mailchimp is the better choice when a specific integration or a trial of its paid plan matters more than the monthly difference, and when your list is likely to pass 2,500 contacts, where its published tiers give you firm numbers to plan with.

Start on the free plan of whichever tool fits your integrations. When your list passes 250 contacts or your sends approach the monthly limit, price the next tier at the size you expect in six months, and move only if the saving or the feature justifies the switch.

Frequently asked questions

Is MailerLite really cheaper than Mailchimp for a startup?

At 500 contacts, yes on the published figures. MailerLite's Comfort plan is $12 a month, or $10.80 a month billed annually. Mailchimp's Essentials plan is $13 a month and its Standard plan is $20 a month, both on monthly billing. The gap is small in dollars but larger when you compare the email allowance: Comfort includes up to 5,000 emails a month, while Mailchimp Standard at that tier includes up to 6,000.

Which free plan gives me more room to send?

MailerLite's free plan allows up to 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails a month. Mailchimp's free plan allows up to 250 contacts, 500 sends a month and no more than 250 sends in a day. If you send frequently to a small list, MailerLite's free plan gives more room. If you send one large announcement, check that the daily cap on Mailchimp does not hold up your launch.

What happens when my list grows past 250 contacts?

Both free plans end at 250. On Mailchimp the next published price is $13 a month on Essentials or $20 a month on Standard at the 500-contact tier. On MailerLite the cheapest published paid plan is Comfort at $12 a month for up to 500 subscribers. Plan for that step before your list reaches 250, not after.

Why does Mailchimp's price jump at certain list sizes?

Mailchimp prices by contact band. Its published tiers include 2,501 to 5,000 contacts at $100 a month with up to 60,000 emails a month, and 5,001 to 10,000 contacts at $135 a month with up to 120,000 emails a month. Crossing a band boundary moves you to the next tier, so a list that grows past a threshold can change the bill noticeably.

Can I get a published price for MailerLite above 500 subscribers?

Not in the figures used for this guide. The Power and Comfort prices shown here apply to the 500-subscriber tier, and larger tiers are listed as pricing on request. Check MailerLite's pricing page for the current figure at your size, or ask the vendor for a quote before you compare totals.

Can either tool send payment-failed or trial-ending emails?

Both can send messages triggered by events, but the event has to reach the tool first. That usually means an integration with your billing provider or a webhook from your product. Neither tool is a billing system, so confirm on the vendor's integration documentation that your billing provider's events can start a flow, and test one real event before you depend on it.

Should I switch tools now or wait?

Switch only if the current tool fails a requirement that matters to you: a missing integration, a send limit that blocks your launch, or a price that no longer fits your list size. Otherwise, use the free plan and wait until you hit a real limit. Migration takes time to do properly, and the consent and sending-reputation work in the checklist is easier to manage when your list is still small.