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Most businesses start with Mailchimp because it is the name they know and it is easy. Many move to ActiveCampaign when their emails stop being newsletters and start being journeys: a welcome series that branches, a follow-up that depends on what someone clicked, a nudge to sales when a lead heats up.
So the question is not which tool is “better”, but whether your marketing needs that depth yet. Prices were read on both vendors’ pages on October 17, 2026.
Full disclosure: we make DoubleScale, a WordPress CRM with email marketing built in. It appears as short side notes and in its own section; the ActiveCampaign and Mailchimp details come from their own sites.
Pick Mailchimp if you mainly send newsletters and simple automations, want the friendliest editor, and your list is small to medium.
Pick ActiveCampaign if automation drives your revenue: branching journeys, lead scoring, site tracking and handing hot leads to sales.
ActiveCampaign vs Mailchimp at a glance
| ActiveCampaign | Mailchimp | DoubleScale | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Trial only | 250 contacts, 500 emails/mo | Free plugin, unlimited contacts |
| Paid from | $15/mo (1,000 contacts, annual) | $13/mo Essentials (500 contacts) | $99/yr per site |
| Automation | Very deep; Starter limited to 5 actions per automation | Up to 4-step flows on Essentials; branching on Standard | Nested conditions and goals (Pro) |
| A/B testing | Yes | Yes (Essentials and up) | No |
| Sales CRM | Deals and lead scoring on higher plans | No | Pipelines and lead scoring (Pro) |
Vendor pricing pages, October 17, 2026.
What each one costs as your list grows
ActiveCampaign starts at 1,000 contacts. Billed annually, Starter is $15 a month at 1,000, $39 at 2,500 and $149 at 10,000; Plus, which removes Starter’s five-action limit and adds landing pages, is $49, $95 and $189.
Mailchimp has a free plan for 250 contacts and 500 emails a month. Essentials is $13 a month at 500 contacts, $45 at 2,500 and $110 at 10,000; Standard, with branching journeys, is $20, $60 and $135. Unsubscribed contacts kept in your audience can count toward the limit.
| Contacts | ActiveCampaign Starter | ActiveCampaign Plus | Mailchimp Essentials | Mailchimp Standard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 500 | $180/yr (1,000 min.) | $588/yr (1,000 min.) | $156/yr | $240/yr |
| 2,500 | $468/yr | $1,140/yr | $540/yr | $720/yr |
| 10,000 | $1,788/yr | $2,268/yr | $1,320/yr | $1,620/yr |
ActiveCampaign billed annually; Mailchimp on monthly billing.
DoubleScale: $99 a year plus about $48 of Amazon SES sending for four campaigns a month to 10,000 contacts.
Our take: Mailchimp has the edge on price at every size; ActiveCampaign earns its premium only if you use the automation.
Who has the better automation?
ActiveCampaign, by a distance. Its builder branches on any data, waits until conditions are met, tracks site visits and events, scores leads and can split-test inside a journey. Mailchimp’s journeys are friendlier but shallower: up to four steps on Essentials, with branching and multiple starting points on Standard and above.
Our take: ActiveCampaign has the edge.
Looking elsewhere?Want ActiveCampaign’s power for less? See ActiveCampaign alternatives for small business.
Design, templates and ease
Mailchimp is the easier of the two: a polished drag-and-drop editor, many templates and onboarding that gets a beginner sending quickly. ActiveCampaign’s editor is capable, but most of its learning curve is in planning automations.
Our take: Mailchimp has the edge.
Looking elsewhere?Outgrowing Mailchimp? Read Mailchimp alternatives for small business.
Sales features
ActiveCampaign includes deals, pipelines and lead scoring as part of its sales CRM features on higher plans, so marketing can pass warm leads straight to sales. Mailchimp is a marketing tool and leaves sales to a separate CRM.
Our take: ActiveCampaign has the edge.
Runs your entire business
A third option: DoubleScale
If your list lives on a WordPress site and the per-contact bill keeps rising, DoubleScale runs email marketing and automation inside WordPress for a flat yearly price per site.
Its workflows support nested conditions and goals, Pro adds pipelines, lead scoring, SMS and WhatsApp, and the free plugin includes campaigns, proposals, invoices, bookings and a helpdesk.
Modular by design. Turn on only the modules you need from one Control Modules panel; everything else stays out of your way.
- Email campaigns
- Automations
- Sales pipelines
- Proposals & invoices
- Contracts
- Booking
- Helpdesk
- Forms
- Projects
- Tasks
Free on WordPress.org · Unlimited contacts · Pro from $99/yr per site
DoubleScale is the better pick if…
- Your list is past a few thousand contacts and still growing.
- Your best triggers happen on your WordPress or WooCommerce site.
- You want email and a CRM in one place without per-contact pricing.
Stick with the big platforms if…
- You need a hosted platform that works without a WordPress site.
- You rely on A/B testing, built-in email sending or a large app marketplace.
- You want the biggest community and the longest track record.
Head-to-head: DoubleScale vs ActiveCampaign and DoubleScale vs Mailchimp.
Disclosure: we make DoubleScale. The screens above are real, and every price for the other tools comes from their own pricing pages.
So, which should you choose?
| Your situation | Choose |
|---|---|
| Newsletters and simple welcome emails | Mailchimp |
| Small list, want to start free | Mailchimp Free |
| Branching journeys and lead scoring | ActiveCampaign Plus |
| Marketing hands leads to a sales team | ActiveCampaign |
| Growing list on WordPress, flat price | DoubleScale |
How we compared: every price was read on the vendor’s own pricing page on October 17, 2026 (USD). ActiveCampaign prices are for annual billing (1,000 contacts minimum); Mailchimp prices are monthly billing. Prices change often, so check the vendor’s page before you buy.
Questions people ask
Is ActiveCampaign better than Mailchimp?
For automation, yes. For simple newsletters and ease of use, Mailchimp is the better value.
Is Mailchimp cheaper than ActiveCampaign?
At most list sizes, yes: at 10,000 contacts Mailchimp Essentials is $1,320 a year against $1,788 for ActiveCampaign Starter.
Does ActiveCampaign have a free plan?
No, only a free trial. Mailchimp’s free plan covers 250 contacts and 500 emails a month.
Can I move from Mailchimp to ActiveCampaign?
Yes. Export your audience with tags as CSV and import it; then rebuild your automations, which is the larger job.
Is there a cheaper option for big lists?
If your site runs on WordPress, DoubleScale charges per site with unlimited contacts; sending through Amazon SES costs about $0.10 per 1,000 emails.
More head-to-head comparisons
- Mailchimp vs MailerLite
- Klaviyo vs Mailchimp
- Klaviyo vs Omnisend
- Omnisend vs Mailchimp
- ActiveCampaign vs Klaviyo
- Brevo vs Mailchimp
- ActiveCampaign vs MailerLite
Campaigns, sequences and workflows inside WordPress, plus a CRM for the rest of the business.
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Mohamed Magdy, Founder & CEO, DoubleScale
Mohamed Magdy is the founder and CEO of DoubleScale, the all-in-one CRM for WordPress. He writes about CRM, email marketing and automation for WordPress businesses.
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