Email marketing and newsletters · Comparison
beehiiv vs Mailchimp
2 products compared side by side: what you pay for with each one first, then the five access facts, entry prices, recorded plan limits and the bottom line of each review. The evidence note under the table says how each product was checked.
Side by side
| Metric | beehiiv | Mailchimp |
|---|---|---|
| What you're paying for | Built-in reachA newsletter business in one place: website, ad network, paid subscriptions, referrals and recommendations, with unlimited sends on every plan. | Easy to adoptAn all-round email marketing tool with forms, landing pages, automation flows and 300+ integrations, priced by how many contacts you store. |
| Overall score | 6.2 | 6.9Best |
| Free option | Free plan | Free plan |
| Card to start | No card needed | –Not measured |
| Getting access | Self-serve | Self-serve |
| Starter priceCheapest paid plan | $59/mo | $13/mo |
| Pricing model | Tiered | Tiered |
| Pricing page | Public prices | Public prices |
| Billing unit | Subscriber tier; unlimited sends | Contact tier, with a monthly email limit of 10 to 15 times the contacts |
| Free plan | 2,500 subscribers, unlimited sends, welcome email only | 250 contacts, 500 emails/mo (250 a day), no automation flows |
| Reference scenario (5,000 contacts, monthly) | $109/mo on Lite (up to 5,000 subscribers) | $100/mo on Standard (60,000 emails) |
| Annual billing | Up to 20% off ($95/mo for the scenario on Lite) | Through sales only (Premium, or Standard with 10,000+ contacts) |
| Automation on the cheapest paid plan | Lite: 10 live custom automations | Essentials: flows of up to 4 steps |
| Users on the scenario plan | 2 seats on Lite; 10 on Pro | 5 seats, 4 roles |
| SMS | Not offered | Add-on from Essentials in select countries; credits billed separately |
| Paid newsletters | From Lite, 0% take rate (Stripe fees apply) | Not offered |
| SOC 2 / ISO 27001 | SOC 2 Type 2 (since Jan 22, 2026); ISO 27001 not stated | SOC 2 reports (type not stated); ISO 27001 |
| Data location | United States (AWS) | United States |
| SSO | Enterprise only | Enterprise SSO on Premium |
| Contact export | Data exports on every plan | CSV export of audiences, segments, tags and groups |
| Bottom line | From its public pages, beehiiv is a newsletter business platform with unlimited sends and monetization from Lite, backed by a SOC 2 Type 2 report. Branding removal starts on Pro and team controls on Enterprise. | From its public pages, Mailchimp is a broad, familiar email marketing tool with landing pages on every plan and seats with roles on Standard. Multi-step automations start on Standard, overage prices are shown only in the account, and data stays in the US. |
Evidence: beehiiv: facts checked 2026-10-16 from its public sign-up and pricing pages, no completed hands-on run; Mailchimp: facts checked 2026-10-16 from its public sign-up and pricing pages, no completed hands-on run. Prices in USD as listed, excluding tax. "–" means not recorded.
When to pick each
In the words of each review, with the date its facts were checked.
From our beehiiv review
Checked Oct 16, 2026- Pick beehiiv when
- You publish a newsletter you want to monetize, with unlimited sends.
- Pick Mailchimp when
- You run marketing for a business and need 5 seats with roles, SMS and store integrations.
Entry price
Baseline: each product's cheapest paid plan, per month. Included usage differs, so read the line under each price.
- beehiivLite$59/mo1,000 subscribers; $49/mo billed yearly; $109/mo ($95 yearly) for up to 5,000 subscribers
- 10 live automations, A/B testing, publish to segments
- Ad network, paid subscriptions (0% take rate), referral program
- Custom domains, 5 custom pages, 3 webhooks
- 2 seats, 3 publications
- MailchimpLowest priceEssentials$13/mo500 contacts and 5,000 emails a month; $75 for 5,000 contacts (50,000 emails)
- 3 seats with 2 roles, 3 audiences
- Automation flows of up to 4 steps
- A/B testing, scheduling, no Mailchimp branding
- 24/7 email and chat support
Prices as listed on each pricing page, in USD per month, excluding tax. Observed: beehiiv 2026-10-16, Mailchimp 2026-10-16.
Which one fits
- If you need to start today without a sales call
- MailchimpSelf-serve sign-up; the highest score of the 2 self-serve products here (6.9/10).
- If you want to try it without entering a card
- beehiivFree plan, no card needed; scored 6.2/10.
- Lowest starter price
- Mailchimp$13/mo for the Essentials (500 contacts) plan.
- Highest overall score
- Mailchimp6.9/10 (Good). The review shows the score breakdown and the run behind it.
Picked by fixed rules from the table above, not by hand. How we score
Full reviews
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