Moosend vs Mailchimp for Startups: Prices, Free Plans and Costs at Each List Size

The short answer

For a startup that already has 500 or more contacts and wants the lowest monthly bill for a paid plan, Moosend is the better pick. Its Pro plan for 500 contacts costs $9 a month billed monthly, or $7 a month billed annually. At 5,000 contacts the monthly price is $48, against $100 a month for Mailchimp's 2,501 to 5,000 contact band. Mailchimp is the better choice for a list under 250 contacts that you want to keep free, and for teams whose tools depend on Mailchimp's own connectors.

The rest of this page explains where the two tools cross over, what each free option really allows, and how to decide if your list is growing fast or your send volume is high. All prices come from each vendor's public pricing page as checked on 7 October 2026. Prices can change, so confirm the current number before you buy.

How each tool charges

Both tools price mainly by contact count, which means the number of people on your list, not the number of emails you send. That matters for startups. A list of 5,000 people who receive one newsletter a month costs very differently from the same list receiving three automated messages a week, because the send allowance changes as the contact tier changes.

Moosend sells a Pro plan that is priced by contacts. The plan for 500 contacts includes unlimited emails. Moosend also sells email-credit packs, 350,000 credits for $350 and 500,000 credits for $500, which are listed separately from the contact-based tiers. Check the pricing page to see how credit packs combine with your plan before you assume they are included.

Mailchimp uses contact bands. Each band has a monthly price and a monthly email allowance. The 2,501 to 5,000 contact band includes up to 60,000 emails a month. The 5,001 to 10,000 band includes up to 120,000 emails a month. Mailchimp's Essentials plan starts at $13 a month for 500 contacts with monthly billing, and its Standard plan starts at $20 a month at the same 500-contact selector, with up to 6,000 emails a month at that size.

The practical rule: estimate your contact count for the next six months, then estimate how many emails you will send in a typical month. If the send number is far above the contact count, check whether the plan's email allowance will fit before you focus on the headline price.

Free plans and trials

Mailchimp is the only one of the two with a free plan. Its Free plan covers up to 250 contacts, one audience and up to 500 sends a month, with a daily maximum of 250 sends. That is useful for a pre-launch waitlist or a small founder newsletter. It is not enough for a product launch to a few thousand signups, because the contact cap is reached quickly.

Moosend has no free plan. It offers a 30-day free trial with no credit card required. That is enough time to import a real list, build one welcome sequence and send a test campaign, which is more informative than reading a feature page. Mailchimp also lists a 14-day Standard trial, and a free-month Premium offer is shown on its pricing page at the time of checking.

If you need a free tier with more room than Mailchimp's 250-contact cap, MailerLite's free plan covers up to 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails a month. Its paid Comfort plan starts at $12 a month billed monthly or $10.80 a month billed annually, for its 500-subscriber starting tier. Its Power plan starts at $25 a month billed monthly or $22.50 a month billed annually at the same tier. MailerLite is not one of the two tools in this comparison, but it is the obvious third check if neither Moosend nor Mailchimp fits.

Comparison at a glance

What it costs at each list size

The table below uses list-size points that a startup is likely to pass through: the free-plan ceiling, the first paid tier, and the common milestones of 1,000, 5,000, 10,000, 25,000, 50,000 and 100,000 contacts. Moosend figures show the monthly price and the price billed annually. Mailchimp figures show the monthly price for the band that contains that list size. Where the vendor's captured pricing does not give a figure for a size, the cell says so.

Two points stand out. First, the gap is small at 500 contacts, $9 against $13 for Mailchimp's cheapest paid plan, and it grows with the list. Second, Mailchimp's bands are wide. A list of 5,000 contacts sits in a band priced at $100, while the Moosend figure for the same list is $48 monthly. If your list is just over a band boundary, the Mailchimp price can be higher than the band price suggests, so check the band for your exact size on the pricing page.

Be careful with the annual comparison. Moosend's annual figure is the monthly price when billed yearly. It is a real saving, but it is a commitment. If your list may shrink or your startup may pivot in the next year, start on monthly billing and switch to annual once you know your size.

Moosend: where it fits a startup

Moosend is built around the contact-based subscription. For a startup that has moved past the free stage and wants a predictable monthly bill, that structure is easy to model. The Pro plan for 500 contacts includes unlimited emails, so a founder sending weekly updates, a short onboarding sequence and occasional launch announcements does not need to track a monthly send count at that size.

What it does well for startups. The price curve is the main advantage. At every size in the table above, Moosend's listed monthly price is below Mailchimp's, and the difference is widest in the 5,000 to 10,000 contact range that many early-stage companies reach within a year or two of launch. The 30-day trial with no card is also useful: you can import a real list and check deliverability and automation timing before you pay. Moosend also offers automation workflows, which is what most startups need first: a welcome series, an onboarding sequence and a re-engagement email to people who stopped opening.

Where it falls short. There is no free plan to stay on, so a company with a few hundred contacts has to pay from the start or move elsewhere. The credit packs are a separate purchase, so your total cost depends on whether you need them, and that is worth confirming before you sign up. Moosend's integration list is narrower than Mailchimp's large connector catalog, so check that your CRM, signup form and product tools connect before you commit. Finally, Moosend has a smaller user community, which means fewer third-party guides and templates to copy from.

Price. Pro for 500 contacts is $9 a month billed monthly or $7 a month billed annually. Pricing for larger lists is listed in the table above. See the vendor's pricing page for the current figures: Moosend pricing.

Mailchimp: where it fits a startup

Mailchimp is the better choice when the list is small enough to fit its free plan, or when the team already uses tools that connect to it directly. It has been a common choice for small businesses for a long time, which means most email-related tools offer a Mailchimp connection, and most freelancers and agencies know how to work in it.

What it does well for startups. The free plan is the main reason to start here. Up to 250 contacts and 500 sends a month is enough for a waitlist, a beta group or a founder newsletter for a few months. Mailchimp's connector catalog is one of its strengths. If your signup form, store, webinar tool or CRM has a native Mailchimp integration, setup is usually faster than building a custom connection. Mailchimp also offers a 14-day Standard trial, so you can test the paid features before you pay.

Where it falls short. Cost is the main issue. Mailchimp's band pricing means that a list of 5,000 contacts costs $100 a month, roughly twice the Moosend monthly figure for the same size. The free plan's limits are tight: 250 contacts and 500 sends a month, with no more than 250 sends in a day. A startup that outgrows the free plan usually outgrows it quickly, and the first paid step is the most noticeable. For many teams the question is not whether Mailchimp can do the job, but whether the price premium buys something they will use.

Price. The Free plan is $0 for up to 250 contacts. Essentials starts at $13 a month for 500 contacts with monthly billing, and Standard starts at $20 a month at the 500-contact selector. The 2,501 to 5,000 band is $100 a month. See the current figures on the vendor's page: Mailchimp pricing.

How to choose

Start with your contact count today and your realistic count in six months. Then answer three questions in order.

1. Are you under 250 contacts with a light send schedule? Mailchimp's free plan is the lowest-cost place to start. Set a reminder to review the plan when you approach 250 contacts, because the step to a paid plan is where the cost is most visible.

2. Are you between 500 and 10,000 contacts and planning regular sends? This is where the price gap is widest in the comparison. Moosend's Pro plan is the lower-cost option at every size listed, and its trial lets you verify the setup before you commit to a plan. Confirm that the integrations you need are available, because that is the main thing you give up.

3. Do you depend on a specific Mailchimp connector? If a tool you cannot replace only connects to Mailchimp, the cost of a switch may be higher than the monthly saving. In that case, price out Mailchimp at your exact band and compare it with the time and risk of moving the connection.

Two more checks are worth doing before you buy. First, confirm how each tool counts contacts. Duplicate records, unsubscribed people and people who have not engaged in months can all affect the bill, so clean the list first. Second, check whether you will need extra email volume. A list that is steady at 5,000 contacts but sends many messages a week may need more capacity than the contact tier alone implies.

Decision table

Migrating from one to the other

Moving a list is mostly about consent records and sending reputation, not about copying a file. A list that was built on clear opt-in is worth keeping. A list with old or unclear sources should be cleaned before the move, or the new tool's first sends will go to people who never asked for them. The checklist below covers the steps that most often go wrong.

During the switch, keep both accounts open for a short period and avoid sending the same campaign from both. Double sends are a common cause of complaints in the first week. Once the new tool has run for a full billing cycle without issues, cancel the old subscription and export a final copy of the records for your files.

Workflow advice for a startup list

The tool matters less than the sequence you send. For most early-stage products, three flows cover the bulk of value: a welcome message that explains the first useful action, a short onboarding sequence that walks new users through the same action, and a re-engagement message for people who stopped opening. Build these first in whichever tool you choose. A good sequence in Moosend or Mailchimp outperforms a complicated one in a tool you do not use well.

Keep the list segmented from the start. A founder newsletter, a product update list and a launch waitlist should not share a single audience if the people in them asked for different things. Segments also keep your contact count honest, because you can see which group is growing and whether it is still engaged.

Finally, review the bill every quarter. Contact counts drift upward as people sign up and never leave. Remove inactive contacts on a schedule, and note the band or tier you are in so the price does not change without your knowledge.

The bottom line

For most startups past the free stage, Moosend is the stronger value. Its Pro plan costs $9 a month at 500 contacts billed monthly, and the gap to Mailchimp widens at 5,000 and 10,000 contacts, where Moosend lists $48 and $88 a month against Mailchimp's $100 and $135. Mailchimp remains the sensible start for a list under 250 contacts because its free plan costs nothing, and it is the better fit when your stack relies on its connectors. Use the trial periods to test your own list, and check the vendor's pricing page for the current figure before you commit.

Frequently asked questions

Is Moosend cheaper than Mailchimp at every list size?

Not in every case. Mailchimp's Free plan is $0 for up to 250 contacts, which is lower than any Moosend price. From 500 contacts upward, the Moosend Pro figures in the table are below the Mailchimp figures where Mailchimp lists a price. For sizes where Mailchimp shows "pricing on request", compare the quotes you receive before you choose.

Does Moosend have a free plan?

No. Moosend offers a 30-day free trial that does not require a credit card. Once the trial ends you need a paid plan to keep sending.

What are the limits on Mailchimp's free plan?

The free plan covers up to 250 contacts and one audience, with up to 500 sends a month and no more than 250 sends in a single day. If your list grows past 250 contacts or your sends exceed the monthly allowance, you will need a paid plan.

Should I pay monthly or annually for Moosend?

Annual billing lowers the Pro price: $7 a month for the 500-contact plan billed annually, against $9 billed monthly. Choose annual only when you are confident your list size will stay in the same tier for the year. If your list is growing quickly, a monthly plan lets you move to the right tier without waiting.

Does Mailchimp have more integrations than Moosend?

Mailchimp has a large integration catalog, and most tools that serve small businesses offer a Mailchimp connection. Moosend's list is narrower. Check each tool you depend on, including signup forms, your CRM, your store and your analytics, before you choose.

How long is Mailchimp's trial?

Mailchimp lists a 14-day Standard trial. The pricing page also showed a free-month Premium offer at the time of checking, so read the current terms before you sign up.

Will moving from Mailchimp to Moosend cost me subscribers?

It can, if the move is careless. Export only contacts with a clear opt-in, authenticate your domain in the new tool before sending, and test with an engaged segment before you move the full list. A well-run switch keeps most engaged subscribers, while a rushed one can trigger complaints and bounces.

Can I use either tool for billing or product emails?

Both are built mainly for marketing campaigns and automations. If your main need is transactional messages triggered by product events, such as receipts or payment reminders, check each vendor's documentation for event triggers and transactional sending before you rely on either tool for that job.