Moosend vs Mailchimp: Budget Email Marketing Compared 2026
Moosend vs Mailchimp compared on starting price, cost at 500 to 25,000 contacts, free options, send limits, integrations and migration steps.
The short answer
For a paid list of roughly 500 to 25,000 contacts where monthly cost is the main concern, Moosend is the better pick. Its Pro plan starts at $9 a month on monthly billing, or $7 a month billed annually, at 500 contacts. At 10,000 contacts the Pro price is $88 a month on monthly billing, or $70 a month billed annually. Mailchimp's listed band for 5,001 to 10,000 contacts is $135 a month, so on a list of that size Moosend costs $47 less each month on the monthly plan.
Mailchimp is the better pick in two situations. The first is a very small list that needs to run for free: its Free plan covers up to 250 contacts and 500 sends a month. The second is a team that depends on a wide set of native integrations and a large body of existing guides and third-party tutorials. Moosend has no free plan, only a 30-day trial that does not require a credit card.
The prices in this article are the figures shown on each vendor's pricing page on 7 October 2026. Both vendors price by contact count, and both change their numbers from time to time, so confirm the figure for your own contact count on the pricing page before you commit. The pages are Moosend pricing and Mailchimp pricing.
How the two tools compare at a glance
The table below summarises the main points for a buyer deciding between the two. It does not rank the products with a score. It shows what each one is built around and where it is most likely to get in your way.
| Tool | Best for | Entry price (plan and billing) | Key limitation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Moosend | Paid senders with 500 to 25,000 contacts who want the lowest monthly cost per contact | Pro at 500 contacts: $9 a month billed monthly, or $7 a month billed annually | No free plan; a 30-day trial with no credit card required |
| Mailchimp | Very small lists that start free, and teams that need many native integrations | Free plan: $0 for up to 250 contacts; Essentials at 500 contacts: $13 a month billed monthly | Price rises steeply with contact count; the 500-contact Standard price is $20 a month |
What each tool is built around
Both products are contact-based email platforms. You pay according to how many people are on your list, and the plan you select determines which features and send volumes you can use. That shared structure means the comparison comes down to three things: how the price climbs as the list grows, what the free or trial option lets you test, and whether the tools you already use connect to the platform without extra work.
Moosend
Moosend is built for marketers who want a straightforward email platform without paying for a large suite of extras. Its pricing page lists Pro plans by contact count, with a separate option for buying email credits. For a small business or a single marketer, that means you can start at a low contact band and move up as the list grows, without first committing to a large annual contract.
Moosend's strongest case is cost per contact at mid-sized lists. Its Pro price at 10,000 contacts is $88 a month on monthly billing and $70 a month on annual billing. At 25,000 contacts the figures are $160 and $128. For a list of 10,000, the difference between the two billing views adds up over a year: the annual option costs $840 over twelve months, against $1,056 on monthly billing, a saving of $216.
Moosend's clearest weakness is that it has no free plan. You get a 30-day trial that does not ask for a card. That is useful for testing your templates, your import process and your first automations, but it is not an ongoing free tier. If your list is small and you need to keep sending after a trial without paying, Mailchimp is the better fit. Moosend also generally offers fewer native connectors than Mailchimp, so check whether your website builder, shop platform and CRM connect directly before you sign up.
Full details are on the Moosend pricing page. Check there which features are included at each contact count, since feature availability can depend on the plan.
Mailchimp
Mailchimp is the more established brand, and its main advantage is breadth. Its Free plan lets a very small list send email at no cost: one audience, up to 250 contacts, up to 500 sends a month and a maximum of 250 sends per day. That allowance is the reason many small businesses start with Mailchimp. It makes it easy to prototype a welcome series or a monthly newsletter before paying anything.
The trade-off is cost at scale. Mailchimp's listed bands rise quickly. The 2,501 to 5,000 contact band is $100 a month and covers up to 60,000 emails a month. The 5,001 to 10,000 band is $135 a month with up to 120,000 emails. The 10,001 to 15,000 band is $230 a month with up to 180,000 emails. Beyond that range the pricing page does not show a price, so larger lists need to request a quote.
Mailchimp's integration catalogue is its clearest strength. If your business runs on a mix of e-commerce, membership, event and CRM tools, a connector for each is more likely to exist than with most rivals. For a team that wants to avoid building custom sync work, that has real value. Mailchimp also has a large community of third-party tutorials, which helps when you are learning the product or hiring someone who already knows it.
The limitations are the price curve described above and the fact that the lower-cost entry points come with limits on what you can do. Check the Mailchimp pricing page for the features included at the plan you are considering, because automation and advanced reporting can depend on the tier.
Cost at realistic list sizes
The table below shows the monthly price for each tool at five common list sizes. Each row names the plan or contact band the figure applies to. Where a vendor's pricing page does not show a price for a size, the table says "pricing on request" rather than estimating. Moosend's column shows both billing views.
| Contacts | Moosend Pro (monthly / annual billing) | Mailchimp (plan or band as listed) | Mailchimp emails per month in the band |
|---|---|---|---|
| 500 | $9 / $7 | $13 (Essentials, monthly billing); $20 (Standard) | Up to 6,000 at the Standard 500-contact selector |
| 1,000 | $16 / $13 | Pricing on request | Pricing on request |
| 5,000 | $48 / $38 | $100 (contact band 2,501 to 5,000) | Up to 60,000 |
| 10,000 | $88 / $70 | $135 (contact band 5,001 to 10,000) | Up to 120,000 |
| 25,000 | $160 / $128 | Pricing on request | Pricing on request |
Two points stand out. First, Moosend's annual billing figure is lower than its monthly figure at every contact count, so if you are committed for the year, the second number in each Moosend cell is the relevant one. Second, Mailchimp's band price applies to the whole band, not to the exact number of contacts. A list of 5,001 contacts pays the 5,001 to 10,000 band price, so check where your list sits before you pick a plan.
Mailchimp's Essentials and Standard prices at 500 contacts differ by $7 a month. Standard includes more capability, so if you only need the lower tier, compare the Essentials row against Moosend.
Working out the annual cost
Annual figures are simple arithmetic on the monthly numbers, and they are worth checking before you choose a plan:
- Moosend Pro at 10,000 contacts, annual billing: 12 × $70 = $840 a year. Monthly billing: 12 × $88 = $1,056 a year.
- Moosend Pro at 5,000 contacts, annual billing: 12 × $38 = $456 a year. Monthly billing: 12 × $48 = $576 a year.
- Mailchimp at 10,000 contacts, using the 5,001 to 10,000 band on monthly billing: 12 × $135 = $1,620 a year.
- Mailchimp at 500 contacts, Essentials on monthly billing: 12 × $13 = $156 a year.
The gap is widest at mid-sized lists. At 10,000 contacts, Moosend on annual billing costs $780 less a year than Mailchimp's band price on monthly billing ($1,620 minus $840). The Mailchimp pricing page does not show an annual rate for these bands, so compare on monthly figures unless you can confirm an annual rate for your band on the pricing page.
Email credits
Moosend also sells email-credit packs. The pricing page lists 350,000 credits for $350 and 500,000 credits for $500. Credit packs are a separate purchase from the contact-based Pro plan. Before you buy one, check on the pricing page how credits combine with your contact count, because the two can work differently depending on how many emails you send.
Free plans, trials and the first month
The free options are the first thing many buyers compare, so it helps to be exact about what each one covers.
Mailchimp's Free plan includes one audience, up to 250 contacts, and up to 500 sends a month with a daily maximum of 250. A 14-day Standard trial is also offered, and the pricing page has at times shown a free-month Premium offer. If your list is under 250 contacts and your sending is light, the Free plan can cover a long stretch of basic sending, but read the current terms on the pricing page before you rely on it.
Moosend offers a 30-day free trial with no credit card required. There is no ongoing free plan. A trial is a good way to test your import, your sign-up form, your templates and your automations with real data. It is not a substitute for a free tier, so plan a budget from the first month if you choose Moosend.
Where each tool falls short for specific needs
Price is only one part of the decision. The points below are the ones buyers most often run into after signing up, and they are worth checking before you commit.
Integrations
Mailchimp generally has more native connectors than Moosend. If your stack includes a specific e-commerce platform, a membership tool or a niche CRM, look up that connector in each product's integration list before you decide. Where a native connector does not exist, you may need a middleware service or a custom API connection. That cost is not in either vendor's subscription price.
Template and design flexibility
Both tools provide email templates and a drag-and-drop editor. Mailchimp's larger community means more ready-made templates and more guides on customising them. If design variety matters to your brand, open both editors with a real template and build one email in each before you pay. Pay attention to how each editor handles your logo, your colours and your mobile layout.
Automation
Automation is a common reason to move up a plan. Check which automation features each tier includes, such as multi-step welcome series, date-based triggers and conditional branches. The feature you need may sit in a tier above the one that matches your contact count. Confirm the feature list for the tier you are considering, not only the headline price.
Deliverability and sending setup
Neither vendor can fix a poorly configured sending domain. Before you send at volume, set up your sending domain's authentication records (SPF, DKIM and DMARC) using the instructions each vendor provides. Then send a test campaign to a seed list of your own addresses across several inbox providers. This matters more than the choice between the two tools, because a list that lands in spam will not benefit from either platform's features.
Setup and migration checklist
If you already run one of these tools and are considering a switch, most of the work is in the list and the sending setup, not the templates. The checklist below covers the steps that most often cause problems.
| Step | What to do | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Count your contacts | Count active contacts and note which band they fall into on each vendor's pricing page | Mailchimp charges by band, so a few hundred contacts over a band limit can change the price |
| 2. Export from the old tool | Export contacts with their subscription status, tags, sign-up source and consent dates | Consent records show you can keep emailing each person and should travel with the list |
| 3. Export suppression lists | Export unsubscribes, bounces and complaints separately | Re-importing suppressed addresses as active contacts is a common cause of complaints |
| 4. Clean the list | Remove addresses that have bounced or never engaged, and merge duplicates | A cleaner list can keep you in a lower band and tends to improve inbox placement |
| 5. Set up the sending domain | Add the new vendor's SPF, DKIM and DMARC records to your domain's DNS and confirm they are active | Domains without authentication records are more likely to land in spam or be rejected |
| 6. Import and test | Import into a test audience, check field mapping, and send to seed addresses | Field mismatches and broken personalisation tags are easier to fix before the first live send |
| 7. Rebuild forms and automations | Recreate sign-up forms, welcome series and any triggered emails in the new tool | Automations do not transfer between platforms, so they must be rebuilt and tested |
| 8. Update the links | Update unsubscribe and preference links and any landing-page links that point to the old tool | Broken unsubscribe links are a compliance problem and a complaint trigger |
Keep the old account active for a short overlap period while you confirm that the new one is sending correctly. Cancel it only after the first few live campaigns have been delivered and the suppression list has been checked in the new platform.
How to choose
Use the decision table below to match your situation to a tool. Each row names the tool to start with and the reason, so you can see which trade-off you are accepting.
| If you need | Pick | Because |
|---|---|---|
| A free plan to start with a list under 250 contacts | Mailchimp | Its Free plan covers up to 250 contacts and 500 sends a month; Moosend has no free plan |
| The lowest monthly cost for 5,000 to 10,000 contacts | Moosend | Pro is $48 to $88 a month on monthly billing across that range, against $100 to $135 for Mailchimp's bands |
| Many native integrations with e-commerce and CRM tools | Mailchimp | Its integration catalogue is generally broader, so fewer connections need custom work |
| An annual budget you can commit to | Moosend | Annual billing lowers the Pro price at every contact count on the pricing page |
| A list over 15,000 contacts | Moosend for a published price; request a Mailchimp quote | Moosend lists Pro prices up to 100,000 contacts; Mailchimp's pricing page shows no price above its 10,001 to 15,000 band |
| A trial with no card before paying | Moosend | It has a 30-day trial with no credit card required; Mailchimp's trial is 14 days on Standard |
If you cannot decide between the two, run the same test on both. Import a sample of 500 contacts into each, build your most important automation and send one campaign to a seed list. Compare the setup time, the number of steps and any errors you hit. That practical test tells you more about daily fit than any feature table.
If neither tool suits your needs, the full list of marketing email tools on the home page covers other options and the trade-offs between them.
Frequently asked questions
Is Moosend cheaper than Mailchimp?
At most list sizes in the table above, yes. At 500 contacts, Moosend Pro starts at $9 a month on monthly billing, or $7 a month billed annually, while Mailchimp's Essentials plan is $13 a month on monthly billing. At 10,000 contacts, Moosend Pro is $88 a month on monthly billing or $70 billed annually, against $135 a month for Mailchimp's 5,001 to 10,000 contact band. Mailchimp is cheaper for the very smallest list because its Free plan costs nothing for up to 250 contacts.
Does Moosend have a free plan?
No. Moosend's pricing page lists a 30-day free trial that requires no credit card. Once the trial ends, you need a paid plan to keep sending. Mailchimp is the option with an ongoing free tier, covering up to 250 contacts and 500 sends a month.
Which tool has more integrations?
Mailchimp generally has the broader native integration catalogue. Check the specific tools you use in each vendor's integration list before you decide, because a connector that exists today may not be available in the plan you choose.
How much does Mailchimp cost for 10,000 contacts?
The Mailchimp pricing page shows $135 a month for the 5,001 to 10,000 contact band, which covers up to 120,000 emails a month. The figure applies to the whole band, so a list of 10,000 contacts pays the band price, not a price per contact.
Can I get a price for more than 15,000 contacts?
Moosend's pricing page shows Pro prices for contact counts up to 100,000. Mailchimp's pricing page does not show a price above its 10,001 to 15,000 contact band, so request a quote from Mailchimp if your list is larger than that. Compare the two on the same contact count and sending volume.
Can I move my list from Mailchimp to Moosend without losing consent records?
You can move the contacts if you export their subscription status and consent information along with the addresses, and keep those records with the list. Import unsubscribes and suppressed addresses as suppressions, not as active contacts, and confirm the import in a test audience before sending. Your own consent obligations depend on where your subscribers live, so check them before you import.
How often do these prices change?
Vendor prices can change without notice. The figures in this article are the ones shown on each pricing page on 7 October 2026. Before you buy, open both pricing pages and confirm the figure for your contact count and billing view. If the current page differs from this article, the vendor's page is the one to follow, and this article will be updated when its prices are next reviewed.