Both MailerLite and Mailchimp are solid email platforms. But they’ve diverged significantly over the past two years — and for most independent creators, bloggers, and small businesses, the right choice is now fairly clear.
Quick verdict
MailerLite wins for solopreneurs, bloggers, and small teams. Better pricing, cleaner automation builder, and a more intuitive interface. Mailchimp’s advantages kick in at enterprise scale — where its CRM integrations and advanced segmentation matter more than the price difference.
Pricing: the biggest difference
This is where MailerLite stands out most clearly.
- MailerLite free plan: 1,000 subscribers, 12,000 emails/month, full automation access
- Mailchimp free plan: 500 subscribers, 1,000 emails/month, no automation on free tier
- MailerLite at 5K subs: ~$19/mo (Growing Business plan)
- Mailchimp at 5K subs: ~$75/mo (Essentials plan)
- MailerLite at 25K subs: ~$59/mo
- Mailchimp at 25K subs: ~$270/mo
At scale, MailerLite is consistently 3–4x cheaper than Mailchimp for the same subscriber count. That difference is hard to justify unless you specifically need Mailchimp’s enterprise integrations.
Automation builder
Both platforms have visual automation builders. MailerLite’s is cleaner and more intuitive — you can build a multi-step welcome sequence in under 15 minutes without referring to documentation.
Mailchimp’s automation builder is powerful but bloated. The interface adds friction at every step — it’s clearly built for teams with dedicated email specialists, not solopreneurs who need to build fast.
Trigger options available in both platforms:
- Subscriber joins a group/segment
- Date-based triggers
- Link click triggers
- E-commerce purchase triggers
- Custom API triggers
MailerLite includes all of these on their paid plans. Mailchimp gates some triggers behind higher tiers.
Email templates and design
Mailchimp has more templates — hundreds versus MailerLite’s more curated library. But MailerLite’s templates are generally cleaner and more modern. Both offer drag-and-drop email editors that are genuinely easy to use.
MailerLite also includes landing page and website builder functionality in its core product, which Mailchimp also offers but prices higher.
Deliverability
Both platforms have strong deliverability. In independent testing by Email Tool Tester and others, MailerLite consistently scores 90%+ inbox placement rates — on par or slightly ahead of Mailchimp across Gmail, Outlook, and Apple Mail.
Integrations
Mailchimp has a broader native integration library — it’s been in the market longer and has more direct connections to third-party platforms. MailerLite covers all the major integrations (Zapier, WordPress, WooCommerce, Shopify, Stripe, Jotform) and uses Zapier for the long tail.
For most small businesses, MailerLite’s integration coverage is more than sufficient.
Who should use MailerLite
- Bloggers and content creators growing a list from scratch
- Small businesses with up to 50K subscribers
- Anyone who wants automation on a free or low-cost plan
- Solopreneurs who need to set up email sequences quickly and without friction
Who should use Mailchimp
- Enterprise teams with complex CRM and data integration needs
- Companies already deeply integrated with Mailchimp’s ecosystem
- Teams that need Mailchimp’s advanced audience segmentation and predictive analytics
Bottom line
If you’re building an email list as a blogger, creator, or small business owner, MailerLite is the clear choice. The free plan covers everything you need to start, and the paid plans are dramatically more affordable than Mailchimp as you scale. Start free with MailerLite here — no credit card required up to 1,000 subscribers.