Mailchimp vs Drip Pricing (2026)
Compare / Mailchimp vs Drip
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Team size
25 seats

Mailchimp vs Drip

Marketing Automation pricing comparison · 2026

Mailchimp has a free plan, then $13–$350/mo, while Drip costs $39/mo. Mailchimp is typically 49% more affordable, though your actual cost depends on tier and team size.

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See pricing on each vendor's site
Above-the-fold path — each link opens the vendor's pricing page in a new tab.
Visit Mailchimp pricing
Free plan limits → Discount programs →
Visit Drip pricing
Free plan limits → Discount programs →
Compare
2 products · Marketing Automation
Side-by-side · live
Mailchimp
Mailchimp is one of the world's most popular email marketing and marketing automation plat
verified 1d ago
$240 $500
View pricing →
Drip
Drip is an e-commerce marketing automation platform designed specifically for online store
verified 1d ago
$240 $500
View pricing →
Annual license estimate
Mailchimp costs $228 less than Drip · 25 seats where applicable
Cheapest $240
Spread 49%
Estimated license cost
at 25 seats
List price × seats. Click a tier below to lock it.
Standard
$240/yr
year 1 license · flat plan price
1-2,500 people
$468/yr
year 1 license · flat plan price
What buyers actually pay
median, annual
Vendr deal-flow data. The real benchmark, not list price.
No Vendr data
—
Not in Vendr's deal flow
Median annual
$500/yr
Vendr · n=353
REF · 01

Sources & confidence

Every dollar amount and contract clause below traces back to a sourced fact. We don't manufacture composite scores.

Where this data comes from
Vendr · TrustRadius · Reddit · BBB · official docs
Sources 61 sourced facts
56 hidden-cost · 2 contract · 3 review platforms
Last verified 1d ago
Confidence High confidence
Sources 4 sourced facts
1 contract · Vendr median · 2 review platforms
Last verified 1d ago
Confidence Medium confidence
REF · 02

Plans at a glance

Every tier per product. Lock one to drive the cost row above and reveal a tier-specific outbound CTA.

Tier ladder
Click a tier to lock the cost row to it. Locking surfaces a tier-specific Visit CTA.
REF · 03

Hidden costs

Each cost is severity-ranked, with the dollar range quoted from its source (Vendr, Reddit, TrustRadius, BBB, official docs) — never our estimate.

Beyond the sticker
Severity-ranked, sourced
5 documented
  • Contact-Based Pricing Scales Quickly With List Growth
    20-50% of license costs
    9 sources
  • Advanced Features Locked Behind Higher-Tier Plans
    5-15% of license costs
    4 sources
  • Free Plan Forces Early Upgrades
    $13-$20/month
    2 sources
  • Reduced Support Quality on Lower Plans
    5-10% of license costs
    3 sources
  • Contact Count Inflation — Cleaned and Unsubscribed Contacts Still Billed
    10-30% of license costs
    1 source
No hidden costs documented
REF · 04

Contract terms

The fine print, surfaced. Green = buyer-friendly. Each clause backed by a quoted source.

Mailchimp
Drip
Auto-renewal
Yes
—
Cancellation
—
—
Commitment
✓ Monthly plans; Premium starts at $350/month (15% off the first 12 months for 10,000+ contacts)
✓ monthly or annual billing cycle
Price escalation
Users report price increase email notifications with blank old/new price fields; no published escalation schedule
—
Can downgrade
✓ Yes
—
Based on 3 verified sources (Vendr · TrustRadius · BBB)
REF · 05

What users say

Aggregated, with sample sizes. We use whichever review platform has data.

User reviews
TrustRadius · Trustpilot · G2
Trustpilot
1.4out of 5 (25)
Best for
Beginners learning email marketing with a very small list
Watch out
Account lockouts with no practical recovery — weeks without access, no phone support, and no escalation path
TrustRadius
9.2out of 5 (5)
Trustpilot
1out of 5 (1)
Best for
Small e-commerce stores
Watch out
Account management issues - trial expiration without warning caused loss of subscribers
Decide
Get a quote from each vendor
Each link opens the vendor's pricing page in a new tab.
Visit Mailchimp pricing
Free plan limits → Discount programs →
Visit Drip pricing
Free plan limits → Discount programs →
License cost is computed from publicly listed plans (real math, list price × seats). Median annual cost is from Vendr's deal flow when available — see source badges. Hidden costs and contract terms each cite their own sources. We do not invent composite scores.
Marketing Automation

Mailchimp

Free plan; paid $13–$350
/mo
4 plans · Free tier
Full pricing breakdown →
VS
Marketing Automation

Drip

$39
/mo
1 plan
Full pricing breakdown →

Mailchimp and Drip both operate in the marketing automation category. This page compares their list pricing.

Plan-by-Plan Pricing

Plan Mailchimp Drip
Free Free /month $39 /month
Essentials $13 /month —
Standard $20 /month —
Premium $350 /month —

Cost at Scale

Total cost of ownership — licenses, implementation, and hidden costs included.

Mailchimp

18 scenarios
$45/month ($540/year)
Small Business (2,500 Contacts)
Standard plan at 2,500 contact tier with 30,000 monthly sends
$230/month ($2,760/year)
Growing Business (25,000 Contacts)
Standard plan at 25,000 contact tier with 300,000 monthly sends
$0/month
Micro Business on Free Plan
See all 18 scenarios →

Drip

1 scenario
$39/month
Starter Setup

What Users Say

Mailchimp

Trustpilot
1.4out of 5 (25)
Top complaints
  • Account lockouts with no practical recovery — weeks without access, no phone support, and no escalation path
  • Billing continues after account closure or written cancellation confirmation
  • Pause feature automatically resumes billing after 6 months without warning

Drip

Trustpilot
1out of 5 (1)
TrustRadius
9.2out of 10 (5)
Top complaints
  • Account management issues - trial expiration without warning caused loss of subscribers
  • Needs more advanced automation and segmentation features
  • Limited integrations compared to competitors

Contract Terms

Term Mailchimp Drip
Auto-renewal Yes —
Cancellation — —
Minimum commitment Monthly plans; Premium starts at $350/month (15% off the first 12 months for 10,000+ contacts) monthly or annual billing cycle
Price escalation Users report price increase email notifications with blank old/new price fields; no published escalation schedule —
Can downgrade Yes —

Continue researching

Mailchimp

Drip

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