Mailchimp is hired to send newsletters and campaigns to a permission-based list. Replacing it is a real option, but the list is personal data and the consent and unsubscribe records have to travel with it. Below: the published plans, the replacement we verified, and the order of work for moving without breaking those records.
An email list is built over years: sign-up forms, event lists, customers added at checkout. It is easy to start and tedious to rebuild, so the list itself keeps the subscription alive.
The price also follows the list. As contacts grow the plan moves up a tier, and nobody decides that; it happens. Checking how many contacts have engaged in the past year shows whether a lower tier is one clean-up away.
What makes leaving feel risky is not sending. It is the consent records, the unsubscribes and the sending reputation. Those are the things to carry deliberately.
Only alternatives we have checked. An open-source project is listed with the license its repository reports, on the date shown; one whose license could not be read as a single standard id is not offered as open source. Read the license guide before running any of them.
| Alternative | Kind | License | Read from |
|---|---|---|---|
| listmonk | Open source | AGPL-3.0 | listmonk repositoryChecked Oct 25, 2026 |
Each feature below is what the product's own page or README says, linked to where we read it on the date shown. Pros and cons are limited to what those pages state and to what the path itself changes. We do not rank products on quality.
| Plan | Price as published | Includes | Read from |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mailchimp Free | $0 per month | Limit of 250 contacts; sends capped at 500 per month or 250 per day | Mailchimp marketing pricingChecked Oct 25, 2026 |
| Mailchimp Essentials | $13.00 per month for 12 months | Paid plan priced by contact tier; email sends listed as 10X contacts | Mailchimp marketing pricingChecked Oct 25, 2026 |
| Mailchimp Standard | $20.00 per month for 12 months | Paid plan priced by contact tier; up to 6,000 emails each month | Mailchimp marketing pricingChecked Oct 25, 2026 |
| Mailchimp Premium | $350.00 per month for 12 months | Paid plan priced by contact tier; unlimited users and audiences; up to 150,000 emails each month | Mailchimp marketing pricingChecked Oct 25, 2026 |
List prices as printed on the vendor's page on the checked date, in US dollars per month and excluding tax. The page prices paid plans per month for 12 months and varies them by contact count; the post-discount rate was not printed. Prices may differ at checkout.
Sending a newsletter is the small part of this job. The harder parts are the permission records, the unsubscribes and the reputation of the domain you send from. A replacement has to carry all three, not just the addresses.
If the list is small and the sends are occasional, a cheaper plan or a lower contact tier may do the job with no move at all. Moving only pays if the plan is large enough that the license outweighs the server, the upkeep and the hours.
Samples are made up and are not Mailchimp's prices. Type in the figures from your own invoice or order form.
The honest yearly cost of running open-source software yourself, set against the bill it replaces, with the seat count where it stops paying.
Paid seats against seats in use: what the idle ones cost a year, and what you save by right-sizing at renewal.
Arithmetic only, not tax, accounting or legal advice. Check the figures against your own order form.
Move the list and the permission records together, run both senders in parallel briefly, and cancel last.
Count the contacts by status (subscribed, unsubscribed, cleaned) and list every form, integration and automation that writes to or reads from the audience.
Export each status as its own file. Keep the field that records when and how each person joined, if you have it, and confirm the unsubscribed file is complete before anything else moves.
Import the unsubscribed and cleaned files into the new system first, as suppressed. Then import the subscribed list. Compare the counts by status on both sides.
Set up the sending domain with the records the new system asks for, and send a small test to your own addresses to confirm delivery and the unsubscribe link work.
Rebuild the automations that matter, one at a time. Point every sign-up form at the new list and confirm a test sign-up lands there.
Send the next real campaign from the new system to a segment first, then the rest. Keep the old account open and unused for a full cycle.
Keep a final export, end the plan inside the notice window, and keep the written confirmation.
Run the vendor report for QuickBooks Online or Xero, then open the free audit.
General information, not legal advice. See cancelling without penalties. Last reviewed Oct 25, 2026. Product names belong to their owners and are used only to identify them.
Send us the export and see which lines are worth a second look. A connected version is planned. Mailchimp is one of the lines worth a look.
Worked example. Type over it.
Result
| Self-hosting, per year | Amount |
|---|---|
| Hosting, backups, tooling | 720.00 |
| Admin and restore-test time | 2,640.00 |
| Total | 3,360.00 |
| One-off set-up (not in the yearly total) | 1,200.00 |
The saving holds only if the time is real. Price the admin hours at what that person's time costs the company, not at zero.
Worked example. Type over it.
Result
“In use” is your call: last sign-in in the past 30 or 90 days from the vendor's admin report. A seat for someone on leave is not idle.