Best Newsletter Platforms

HomeCompare › ActiveCampaign vs Mailchimp

ActiveCampaign vs Mailchimp

ActiveCampaign: Marketing automation plus CRM. Mailchimp: Email and SMS marketing minus the learning curve. Same fact set for both, straight from each vendor's docs.

ActiveCampaign

Free tier
No free plan; 14-day free trial
Paid from
$15/mo (Starter, 1,000 contacts); contact-based · pricing page
Public API
Yes docs
MCP server
Yes · Official remote MCP server in developer docs
Best for
Marketing automation plus CRM
Website
https://www.activecampaign.com

Mailchimp

Free tier
Free plan, up to 500 contacts (500 sends/mo)
Paid from
$13/mo (Essentials, 500 contacts); scales with contact count · pricing page
Public API
Yes docs
MCP server
Yes · Official MCP for Transactional (Mandrill) in dev docs; Marketing API MCPs are community
Best for
Email and SMS marketing minus the learning curve
Website
https://mailchimp.com

Which one?

ActiveCampaign suits marketing automation plus crm. Mailchimp suits email and sms marketing minus the learning curve. Pricing changes; the fact tables above link both vendors' live pricing pages. For the rest of the field, see ActiveCampaign alternatives, Mailchimp alternatives, or the full table.