Moosend vs Mailchimp: Better Value, Better Deliverability?

Moosend is one of the most underrated tools in email marketing. In our ratings it scores higher than Mailchimp (4.7 vs 4.3), and its entry plan costs less at the same contact count. Mailchimp still wins on name recognition because it got there first and spent heavily on marketing. Judged on features and price, Moosend comes out ahead for most small and mid-sized businesses.

That said, Mailchimp has a larger integration library and a free plan. Whether those advantages matter to you determines which is the right call.

Moosend at a Glance

Moosend is an email marketing platform aimed at small and mid-sized businesses. It has three plans: Pro, Moosend+ and Enterprise. Automation workflows, landing pages, subscription forms, an SMTP server and unlimited email sends are all part of Pro, with no add-on needed.

Moosend does not have a free plan. It offers a 30-day free trial with no credit card, covering unlimited sends for up to 1,000 contacts. Pro starts at $9/month for 500 contacts, and the price is set by a calculator that scales with contact count. Annual billing saves 20%, paying twice a year saves 15%, and nonprofits get an extra 25% off annual plans. No free plan is Moosend’s main structural disadvantage for anyone who wants to start at zero cost.

Mailchimp at a Glance

Mailchimp’s most valuable asset is its free plan: 250 contacts and 500 emails per month, capped at 250 per day, with 1 user and 1 audience. For a business that is genuinely just starting and sending infrequently, that is a real foothold at no cost. Mailchimp also lists 300+ integrations.

The friction shows up when you grow or need automation. The free plan does not include automation flows. Paid plans start at $13/month for 500 contacts (Essentials), which is already above Moosend’s $9/month at the same contact count. Mailchimp also offers a 14-day free trial of Standard or Essentials, with a 100-email send limit until you add a credit card.

Pricing

	Moosend	Mailchimp
Free plan	None (30-day trial, up to 1,000 contacts)	250 contacts, 500 emails/month, 250/day
Entry paid plan	Pro, $9/month (500 contacts)	Essentials, $13/month (500 contacts)
Next tier	Moosend+ (custom quote, add-ons)	Standard, $20/month (500 contacts)
Top tier	Enterprise (custom)	Premium, $350/month (10,000 contacts)
Email sends	Unlimited on all plans	Essentials 10x contacts, Standard 12x, Premium 15x
Annual billing	20% off	See Mailchimp’s pricing page

Moosend’s price above 500 contacts is set by an interactive calculator, so we do not publish per-tier figures for it. Mailchimp’s price also steps up with list size. At 500 contacts, Moosend Pro is $4/month cheaper than Mailchimp Essentials; for larger lists, run your own list size through both calculators before deciding. Mailchimp also charges for overages if you exceed a contact or send limit.

Automation

Moosend includes automation workflows on every paid plan, starting with Pro at $9/month. You can build onboarding sequences, lead nurture workflows, and win-back campaigns without a plan upgrade.

Mailchimp’s pricing page shows automation flows as not included on Free, up to 4 flow steps on Essentials, and up to 200 flows on Standard and Premium. If automation is central to your strategy, you will likely end up on Mailchimp Standard ($20/month at 500 contacts), at which point Moosend Pro is the cheaper option.

Transactional email works differently on each side. On Moosend it is an add-on for Pro and included in Moosend+, and the SMTP server comes with every plan. Mailchimp’s A/B testing arrives at Essentials, while multivariate testing, predictive segmentation and phone support are Premium features.

Deliverability

Our own deliverability scores put Moosend at 98% and Mailchimp at 96%. These are editorial estimates, not the result of an independent inbox-placement test, and your real results depend mostly on your list quality, sender authentication and content. A 2-point gap is a tiebreaker at most.

Whichever you pick, set up SPF, DKIM and DMARC. See our email deliverability guide for the checklist.

Templates and Editor

Both tools offer drag-and-drop editors with a reasonable template library. Mailchimp’s editor has improved in recent years and is well-regarded for ease of use. Moosend’s editor is capable but not quite as polished. If the editing experience is a major factor in your decision, Mailchimp edges ahead. If you’re working from custom designs anyway, it matters less.

Integrations

Mailchimp lists 300+ integrations. Moosend’s integrations page lists 80+. Both connect to WooCommerce, Salesforce and Zapier, and Moosend has a WordPress plugin for landing pages. Where Mailchimp’s broader library helps is with less common tools: niche CRMs, obscure e-commerce platforms, or enterprise software. Check your stack against Moosend’s integrations page before committing, since we could not find Shopify listed there.

Who Should Choose Moosend

Moosend is the better choice if you want automation without paying for an upgraded plan, or you’re migrating from Mailchimp and looking to reduce costs. It’s also worth evaluating if you’re starting with a list above 250 contacts: at that point Moosend’s pricing is competitive and you skip Mailchimp’s restrictive free tier entirely.

Who Should Choose Mailchimp

Mailchimp makes sense if you need a free plan with no expiry to get started or want the broadest possible integration ecosystem. It is also the lower-friction option if your team is already familiar with Mailchimp and migration costs exceed the savings.

Bottom Line

Moosend is the stronger tool for a sending-focused use case on entry pricing ($9/month vs $13/month at 500 contacts) and on automation at the starter tier (included on Pro, versus none on Mailchimp Free and up to 4 steps on Essentials). The only scenario where Mailchimp clearly wins is “I need a free plan with no time limit.” If you’re evaluating both from scratch, Moosend is the rational default unless you have a specific integration dependency on Mailchimp’s extended library.

Sources

1. Moosend Pricing — accessed 2026-10-05
2. Moosend Integrations — accessed 2026-10-05
3. Mailchimp Pricing — accessed 2026-10-05