Moosend vs Mailchimp: which one for a small list that sends often?
Moosend Pro is $7 a month at 500 contacts billed yearly; Mailchimp Essentials is $13 and its free plan stops at 500 sends. Costs, limits and switching.
The pick, in one paragraph
If your list is a few hundred contacts and you send a campaign every week, Moosend Pro is the cheaper paid plan on the numbers we could read. Moosend's pricing page shows Pro at $7 a month for 500 contacts on annual billing, with unlimited email sends, while Mailchimp's pricing page starts Essentials at $13 and Standard at $20 for the same list. Mailchimp's own Free plan is the better start only if you stay under 250 contacts and 500 sends a month. Both pages were read on 7 October 2026. One limit on this page: Moosend's contact selector was captured at 500 contacts only, so its prices for larger lists are not printed here.
A free plan against a free trial
The two vendors open the door differently. Moosend's page says "Discover Moosend for free" and describes a 30-day trial with no credit card; it does not offer a permanent free plan. Mailchimp keeps a plan at $0 for one audience of up to 250 contacts, limited to 500 sends a month and 250 a day, and it pauses sending when a limit is reached. It also offers a 14-day Standard trial.
Count what 500 sends really allow. Mailing a 250-person list weekly means about four sends, 1,000 emails, so the Free plan covers only two campaigns a month to a full 250-person list. A shop with 500 contacts and two campaigns a week, around nine sends and 4,500 emails a month, is a paid-plan customer on either vendor from the start.
What the Moosend Pro plan lists
On the capture, Pro is described as email marketing made simple, and the feature column lists unlimited email campaigns and sends, email marketing automation, landing pages, subscription forms and an SMTP server. Three rows are crossed out for Pro: transactional emails, SSO and SAML, and an account manager. The logo in the page header reads "By Constant Contact"; if that vendor is also on your shortlist, our Mailchimp vs Constant Contact page covers it against Mailchimp. The Moosend+ plan ("build a plan based on your needs") and Enterprise are named without prices in the capture.
Outside the contact plans, the page also lists email-credit packs: 350,000 credits for $350 and 500,000 for $500, which works out to $1 per 1,000 credits at both stops. The excerpt we read does not say how credits are consumed or whether they expire, so check that on the vendor's page before treating a pack as a substitute for the contact plan.
Mailchimp's four plans at 500 contacts
| Plan | Price at 500 contacts | Monthly sends | Seats and audiences | Automation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0, up to 250 contacts | 500, max 250 a day | 1 seat, 1 audience | Core features only |
| Essentials | $13 | 10 times contacts, 5,000 here | 3 seats, 3 audiences | Flows up to 4 steps |
| Standard | $20 ($10 for 12 months on the banner) | 12 times contacts, up to 6,000 here | 5 seats, 5 audiences | Up to 200 flows |
| Premium | $350 | 15 times contacts | Unlimited users and audiences | Up to 200 flows |
The price once the list is bigger
| Contacts | Moosend Pro | Mailchimp Standard | Mailchimp Standard, first 12 months |
|---|---|---|---|
| 500 | $7 on annual billing | $20 | $10 on the banner |
| 5,000 | Not read: choose the size in Moosend's selector | $100 (2,501 to 5,000 band) | $50 |
| 10,000 | Not read | $135 (5,001 to 10,000 band) | $67.50 |
| 25,000 | Not read | $310 (20,001 to 25,000 band) | $155 |
Mailchimp's first-12-months prices are promotional, with offer terms linked on its page. Its Standard plan sends up to 60,000 emails a month in the 2,501 to 5,000 band and up to 120,000 in the 5,001 to 10,000 band.
Twelve months for a 500-contact shop
Moosend Pro on annual billing is 12 x $7 = $84 for the year. Mailchimp Essentials at monthly billing is 12 x $13 = $156, which is $72 more. Mailchimp Standard is 12 x $20 = $240, which is $156 more, or 12 x $10 = $120 in the promotional year, still $36 above Moosend. Note the billing difference: the Moosend figure assumes you pay once for the year, while Mailchimp's readout is a monthly charge, so a shop that wants to cancel in month three is not comparing like with like.
The picture changes at 5,000 contacts. Mailchimp Standard is 12 x $100 = $1,200 a year, or 12 x $50 = $600 in the offer year. Before moving a list of that size, pick 5,000 in Moosend's selector and write the number down; the $7 at 500 contacts says little about it.
Moving the list between them
Mailchimp to Moosend. Export the audience with its status column and import only subscribed contacts, keeping unsubscribed and cleaned addresses as a suppression list. Set up SPF, DKIM and DMARC for the sending domain on the Moosend side first. Moosend Pro lists automation and subscription forms, so rebuild each Mailchimp flow and each signup form by hand; Mailchimp custom-coded templates will need re-creating in whatever editor Moosend offers. If you also send order or password-reset mail from Mailchimp's separate Transactional product, note that Pro shows transactional emails as not included.
Moosend to Mailchimp. Check which contact band the list falls in before the import, because a list of 2,600 contacts sits in the 2,501 to 5,000 band, listed at $100. If it is under 250 contacts, the Free plan keeps it at $0 but caps you at 500 sends. Plan seats too: Essentials includes three and Standard five. Moving across, keep the old tool active until one full campaign has gone out and its bounces and unsubscribes have been exported back into the suppression list. For other destinations, see the Mailchimp alternatives page.
Which one in your situation
A shop or newsletter with a few hundred contacts
Start on Moosend's 30-day trial and look at Pro's $7 plan, then compare it against Mailchimp Essentials at $13. If the list is under 250 and you mail twice a month, Mailchimp Free costs nothing.
A list in the thousands that needs automation
Price both at your exact size before choosing. Mailchimp Standard has a published list price, $100 at 5,000 contacts, while Moosend's price at that size has to come from its selector. Anyone on a tight budget should also read our low-budget picks.
A team that needs several seats or enterprise login
Mailchimp lists 5 seats on Standard and unlimited users with enterprise SSO on Premium at $350 for 500 contacts. Moosend's capture crosses out SSO and SAML on Pro; the higher Moosend plans were not priced.
Order confirmations and password resets
Neither marketing plan is the right place for them. Use a transactional service, as our transactional versus marketing note explains.
FAQ
Does Moosend have a free plan?
No permanent one. Its pricing page offers a 30-day free trial with no credit card, after which you choose a paid plan. Mailchimp has a free plan for up to 250 contacts and 500 sends a month.
How much is Moosend Pro?
The capture shows $7 a month at 500 contacts with the Annual tab selected and $9 struck through beside it. Prices for larger lists depend on the contact selector, which we did not read beyond 500.
Is Mailchimp Standard really half price for a year?
Its pricing page shows 50% off for 12 months, then the list price: $20 at 500 contacts, $100 at 5,000, $135 at 10,000. Offer terms are linked on the page and apply to it.
Which is better for automation?
Moosend lists email marketing automation on Pro. Mailchimp splits it by plan: flows of up to 4 steps on Essentials, up to 200 flows on Standard and Premium.