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Comparison
beehiiv vs Mailchimp (2026): the rundown
One is built for newsletters you earn from, the other for businesses selling through email. Here's what each costs at 1,000 to 10,000 subscribers, what the free plans really cover, how you make money on each, and how much work switching is.
Researched from beehiiv's and Mailchimp's official pricing and help pages. Not hands-on tested.
Disclosure (#ad): We earn a commission if you sign up through links marked “paid link” (beehiiv), at no extra cost to you. Links marked “not a paid link” earn us nothing. Commissions never change a score or a fact on this page. How this works.
Mailchimp links on this page are marked “not a paid link”: we aren't in any Mailchimp program, and Mailchimp doesn't pay us. Which tool we recommend depends on what you're doing, not on who pays.
The short answer
beehiiv is built for people whose newsletter is the product: it gives you a website, a free plan up to 2,500 subscribers, and ways to earn from the list itself (paid subscriptions, an ad network, paid recommendations).[B1] Mailchimp is built for businesses that use email to sell something else, such as products from an online store: it connects to your shop for abandoned-cart emails and offers SMS as an add-on.[MC1][MC3]
On price it depends on what you need. If you just want to send a newsletter to fewer than 2,500 people, beehiiv's Free plan costs nothing, while Mailchimp's Free plan stops at 250 contacts.[B1][MC2] If you need automations, Mailchimp's cheapest paid plan costs less than beehiiv's at every list size we checked.[B1][MC1]
Our picks at a glance
beehiiv
Free up to 2,500 subscribers with unlimited sends. From Lite you can sell paid subscriptions (beehiiv takes 0%), join the Ad Network and earn from paid recommendations.[B1]
Free · Lite $59/mo, or ≈$49/mo billed yearly (1,000 subscribers, USD)
Mailchimp
Email tied to an online store: abandoned-cart emails for a connected store, an SMS add-on on paid plans, and the cheapest paid plan with automations at the list sizes we checked.[MC1][MC3]
Free to 250 contacts · Essentials $26.50/mo (501–1,500 contacts, USD)
The free plans compared
| beehiiv Free | Mailchimp Free | |
|---|---|---|
| List size | Up to 2,500 subscribers[B1] | Up to 250 contacts[MC2] |
| Email sends | Unlimited[B1] | 500 a month, no more than 250 a day[MC2] |
| Who counts | Unique email addresses subscribed to your publication[B1] | Subscribed, unsubscribed and non-subscribed contacts. Archived, cleaned and deleted contacts don't count[MC2] |
| Automations | No custom automations (a welcome email is included)[B1] | Not included[MC1] |
| Users | 1 team seat[B1] | 1 seat[MC2] |
| Remove the platform's branding | No (Pro and up)[B1] | No (Essentials and up)[MC1] |
| Also included | Website, podcast hosting (5,000 downloads a month), 1 digital product[B1], and community[B2] | Landing pages and forms, a limited choice of templates, basic reporting[MC2] |
| Support | Not listed for Free on the pricing page we read | Email support for the first 30 days[MC1] |
| If you go over | Upgrade to a paid plan[B1][B2] | Sending (including test emails) is put on hold until you upgrade or trim your contacts[MC2] |
Watch the counting rule. Mailchimp counts unsubscribed contacts toward your limit and your bill. Archiving them takes them off the count.[MC2] beehiiv counts subscribed addresses.[B1] So the same list can land in a different price tier on each platform.
What you'll pay at 1,000, 2,500, 5,000 and 10,000
Both price paid plans by list size. These are the prices each pricing page showed us at each size, in US dollars.[B1][MC1]
| List size | beehiiv Lite monthly · yearly (per month) | beehiiv Pro monthly · yearly (per month) | Mailchimp Essentials monthly | Mailchimp Standard monthly |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1,000 (Mailchimp tier 501–1,500) | $59 · $49 | $109 · $95 | $26.50 | $45 |
| 2,500 (1,501–2,500) | $79 · $69 (or beehiiv Free, $0) | $149 · $129 | $45 | $60 |
| 5,000 (2,501–5,000) | $109 · $95 | $199 · $169 | $75 | $100 |
| 10,000 (5,001–10,000) | $139 · $119 | $239 · $199 | $110* | $135* |
beehiiv: USD, from its pricing page slider with monthly and yearly billing, checked 1 Nov 2026.[B1] beehiiv says yearly billing saves up to 20%.[B1] Mailchimp: USD monthly “starts at” prices from its pricing page at the tier shown, checked 1 Nov 2026.[MC1] *At the 5,001–10,000 tier, Mailchimp's page also showed an offer of 15% off for the first 12 months for businesses with 10,000+ contacts ($93.50 Essentials, $114.75 Standard), then the list price. Offers end, so check before you count on it.[MC1] Mailchimp's Premium plan starts at $350 a month and includes 10,000 contacts.[MC1][MC2] Mailchimp also sells email credits on a Pay As You Go plan for infrequent senders, which we haven't priced here.[MC2]
Currency and GST. beehiiv shows US dollars, and we didn't find anything on its pricing page about GST for Australian buyers. Mailchimp showed us Australian-dollar prices too (for example Essentials A$37.98 and Standard A$64.50 at 501–1,500 contacts), but it says local-currency prices are indicative only and the price you're charged follows the USD exchange rate on your billing day.[MC1] Mailchimp's quoted prices don't include sales or other transaction-based taxes.[MC2] Check the final price, and whether GST is added, at checkout.
What the table tells you
- Under 2,500 people, beehiiv is cheapest if you don't need automations: Free costs $0 with unlimited sends. Mailchimp needs a paid plan past 250 contacts.[B1][MC2]
- If you need automations, Mailchimp Essentials is the cheaper ticket at every size we checked: $26.50 against beehiiv Lite's $59 (or ≈$49 yearly) at 1,000.[MC1][B1] But Essentials flows are limited to 4 steps; Standard goes up to 200 flows.[MC1] beehiiv Lite has 10 live custom automations, and Pro is unlimited.[B1]
- Sends are capped on Mailchimp, not on beehiiv. Essentials lets you send 10 times your contact limit a month, Standard 12 times and Premium 15 times. At the 501–1,500 tier that's 15,000 and 18,000 emails a month.[MC1][MC2] Every beehiiv plan has unlimited sends.[B1]
- Going over works differently. On a paid Mailchimp plan, going over your contact limit doesn't stop your service, but you're charged extra on your bill.[MC2] On beehiiv, each paid tier has an upper limit and past it you move to the next tier.[B2] Want your own beehiiv numbers month by month? Use our beehiiv pricing calculator.
Earning money from your list
| beehiiv | Mailchimp | |
|---|---|---|
| Paid newsletter subscriptions | Lite (1 paid tier) and Pro (unlimited tiers). beehiiv takes 0%; Stripe's 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction applies[B1] | Not found on the pricing page or plans help article we read[MC1][MC2] |
| Ad network | Lite and up[B1] | Not found on the pages we read |
| Paid recommendations | Lite and up[B1] | Not found on the pages we read |
| Sponsorship storefront | Pro and up[B1] | Not found on the pages we read |
| Digital products | Free: 1 product (one-time purchases). Lite: 3. Pro: unlimited. 0% platform fee[B1][B2] | Not found on the pages we read |
| Selling from an online store | Not covered on the pricing page | Abandoned-cart emails once you connect a supported store or a custom API 3.0 integration, sent 1, 6 or 24 hours after the cart is left (as an Automation Flow, or as a classic automation if your paid account already has one)[MC3] |
| SMS | Not found on the pricing page | Paid add-on in select countries, after an application. In Australia, only to +61 numbers[MC1] |
“Not found” means just that: we didn't see the feature on the official pages listed below, and we'd rather say so than guess. If a feature matters to you, check the vendor's own page before you choose.
Other differences that matter day to day
| beehiiv | Mailchimp | |
|---|---|---|
| Users on the entry paid plan | Lite: 2 team seats (Pro: 10)[B1] | Essentials: 3 seats (Standard: 5)[MC1] |
| Remove branding | Pro and up[B1] | Essentials and up[MC1] |
| Website for your posts | Included on every plan; custom domains from Lite[B1] | Landing pages and forms[MC2] |
| A/B testing | Lite and up[B1] | Essentials and up (multivariate on Standard)[MC2] |
| Support on the entry paid plan | 24/7 priority support is a Pro feature[B2] | 24/7 email and chat support on Essentials and Standard; phone on Premium[MC1] |
| Free trial | Lite and Pro, no card needed to start[B1] | 14 days of Essentials or Standard; you enter payment details when you sign up[MC1] |
Switching from Mailchimp to beehiiv: how much work?
Moderate, and mostly rebuilding rather than moving. beehiiv's own guide splits it into two jobs: your subscribers (a CSV export from Mailchimp, then an import with tag and custom-field mapping) and your past campaigns (beehiiv connects to your Mailchimp account and pulls them in, usually in 5–15 minutes).[B3] What takes longer:
- Old campaigns built in Mailchimp's legacy email builder don't import. Only New Email Builder campaigns (launched 2022) come across.[B3]
- Forms and automations are rebuilt by hand in beehiiv.[B3] beehiiv automations need Lite or above.[B1]
- Your export holds more than subscribers. Mailchimp exports can include subscribed, unsubscribed, non-subscribed and cleaned contacts, sometimes as separate CSVs in a ZIP file, and exports stay available for 30 days.[MC4] beehiiv asks you to confirm everyone you import knowingly opted in.[B3]
- Protect deliverability: beehiiv recommends leaving unengaged subscribers out of your first 2–4 weeks of sends.[B3]
The full step-by-step is in our Mailchimp to beehiiv migration guide.
Reading an older comparison? beehiiv renamed its plans
beehiiv's old Launch, Scale and Max plans are now Free, Lite and Pro (Enterprise stays Enterprise). The new pricing applies to new customers from 1 Oct 2026. Existing customers move at their first renewal on or after 1 Nov 2026: annual customers keep their current price until the term renews, and monthly customers get at least 30 days' notice.[B2] So if a review quotes “Scale” prices, it's out of date.
Choose beehiiv if…
- Your newsletter is the product, and you want to earn from paid subscriptions (0% beehiiv cut), ads or recommendations[B1]
- You have up to 2,500 readers and want to send as often as you like for free[B1]
- You want a website, podcast hosting and a community in the same account[B1]
Start on beehiiv Free(paid link: we may earn a commission)
Choose Mailchimp if…
- You sell from an online store and want abandoned-cart emails[MC3]
- You want the cheapest paid plan with automations at these list sizes[MC1]
- You want SMS alongside email, or 3+ users on the entry paid plan[MC1]
See Mailchimp's plans(not a paid link)
Weighing a third option? Our Kit review covers Kit, a creator-focused alternative to both, and our beehiiv review goes deeper on beehiiv on its own.
FAQ
Is beehiiv cheaper than Mailchimp?
Up to 2,500 subscribers, if you don't need automations, yes: beehiiv Free is $0 and Mailchimp's Free plan stops at 250 contacts.[B1][MC2] On paid plans, Mailchimp Essentials was cheaper than beehiiv Lite at every list size we checked, for example $26.50 vs $59 a month at 1,000 subscribers (USD, monthly billing).[MC1][B1]
Can I sell paid newsletter subscriptions with Mailchimp?
We didn't find paid newsletter subscriptions on Mailchimp's pricing page or its plans help article.[MC1][MC2] beehiiv offers them from Lite and takes 0% (Stripe fees apply).[B1]
Do unsubscribed contacts cost me money?
On Mailchimp, yes: unsubscribed contacts count toward your contact total. Archiving them takes them off.[MC2] beehiiv counts unique subscribed email addresses.[B1]
Is there an email sending limit?
beehiiv: no, every plan has unlimited sends.[B1] Mailchimp: Free allows 500 a month (250 a day); paid plans allow 10, 12 or 15 times your contact limit each month, depending on the plan.[MC2]
Can I move my old Mailchimp campaigns to beehiiv?
Yes, if they were built in Mailchimp's New Email Builder. Legacy-builder campaigns don't import and have to be recreated.[B3] See our migration guide.
Are the prices in Australian dollars?
beehiiv shows US dollars.[B1] Mailchimp can show AUD, but says local prices are indicative and you're charged at the USD exchange rate on your billing day. Its quoted prices exclude sales taxes.[MC1][MC2] Check whether GST is added at checkout.
Did The Rundowns test either platform?
No. This comparison summarises the official pricing and help pages linked below, as they read on 1 Nov 2026. We haven't measured deliverability or support, and we haven't repeated either company's own marketing statistics. If we test them hands-on, we'll say so on this page.
Ready to choose?
Newsletter-first: start on beehiiv Free (up to 2,500 subscribers, no card).[B1] This is a paid link: beehiiv pays us a commission if you later buy a paid plan, at no extra cost to you.
Start on beehiiv Free(paid link: we may earn a commission)
Shop-first: see Mailchimp's plans. This is a plain link: Mailchimp doesn't pay us.
See Mailchimp's plans(not a paid link)
Sources
- [B1] beehiiv, pricing page and “Compare features” table, read at every subscriber stop with monthly and yearly billing (USD): beehiiv.com/pricing (checked 1 Nov 2026)
- [B2] beehiiv blog, “beehiiv Launches New Plans and Pricing (October 2026)”, Tyler Denk, 1 Oct 2026: beehiiv.com/blog (checked 1 Nov 2026)
- [B3] beehiiv Knowledge Base, “How to migrate from Mailchimp to beehiiv” (updated 21 Nov 2025): beehiiv.com/support (checked 1 Nov 2026)
- [MC1] Mailchimp, Marketing plans pricing page, read at the 501–1,500, 1,501–2,500, 2,501–5,000 and 5,001–10,000 contact tiers in USD and AUD, plus its FAQ and disclaimers: mailchimp.com/pricing (checked 1 Nov 2026)
- [MC2] Mailchimp Help, “About Mailchimp Pricing Plans”: mailchimp.com/help (checked 1 Nov 2026)
- [MC3] Mailchimp Help, “Create a classic abandoned cart email”: mailchimp.com/help (checked 1 Nov 2026)
- [MC4] Mailchimp Help, “View or export contacts”: mailchimp.com/help (checked 1 Nov 2026)