AWeber vs Mailchimp: Free Plan Room and Where Prices Cross

The short answer: if you are building a list from nothing and want to pass 250 people before you pay anyone, AWeber gives more room: its free plan holds 500 subscribers and 3,000 emails a month, against 250 contacts and 500 sends on Mailchimp Free (AWeber free plan, Mailchimp plans article, checked on 26 October 2026). Once you pay, Mailchimp is cheaper only at the smallest size, $13 against $15 for 500; from 1,000 to 25,000 subscribers AWeber matches or beats it on monthly billing, with Lite at $60 a month for 5,000 subscribers against $75 for Mailchimp Essentials (AWeber pricing, Mailchimp pricing).

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AWeber is built for one person or a small team sending newsletters, automations and simple sales pages, and its paid Plus plan stops counting users, lists and automations altogether. Mailchimp sells three paid tiers with seat and audience caps on each, plus store connections that AWeber's pricing page does not try to match. Most of this decision is arithmetic.

Count these before you move a list:

1. How long the free plan lasts you. For example, a list that grows by 40 people a week fills Mailchimp Free in 250 / 40 = 6.25 weeks and AWeber Free in 500 / 40 = 12.5 weeks. AWeber's free plan has no time limit; what runs out is room.
2. What your current count includes. Mailchimp counts subscribed, unsubscribed and non-subscribed contacts, while archived ones do not count, per its plans article. Archive the people you no longer mail before you price either tool, or you will pay a tier for them.
3. How many people and lists. AWeber Lite gives 3 users and 1 list, and Plus makes both unlimited; Mailchimp gives 3 seats and 3 audiences on Essentials, 5 and 5 on Standard (AWeber pricing, Mailchimp pricing).
4. What you will judge it by. Pick one number from the first month, such as the share of new subscribers who click an email in their first week, and read it in whichever tool you choose.

The paid plans, limit by limit

Read on the AWeber pricing page, the Mailchimp pricing page and Mailchimp's plans article.

What separates them in practice

Room before the first invoice

AWeber's free plan adds one landing page and one automation, carries AWeber branding on every send and has no time limit (free plan page). Mailchimp's free plan includes one audience and one seat, and if you pass 250 contacts it holds all sending, tests included, until you upgrade or trim the list (plans article). For a creator in the first months, AWeber's ceiling is twice as high.

Ceilings on the plan you pay for

Here the two designs differ more than the prices. AWeber's Lite plan is tight, with one list, three automations and one custom segment; Plus removes every one of those caps. Mailchimp's Standard keeps a cap on seats and audiences but lifts the four-step limit on flows. A team of six that shares one account fits AWeber Plus and not Mailchimp Standard, which leaves Premium at $350 a month as Mailchimp's next step (Mailchimp pricing).

Where the AI sits

AWeber lists an MCP connection in the ChatGPT app directory and Claude's connector directory, included on all plans and usable on every ChatGPT plan including Free (AWeber MCP page). Mailchimp includes generative AI at no added cost on Standard and Premium and leaves it off Essentials, according to its plan table.

The monthly bill side by side

Monthly billing in USD, checked on 26 October 2026 on the AWeber pricing page and the Mailchimp pricing page. For Mailchimp, the 1,000 row shows its 501 to 1,500 contact band and the 2,500 row its 1,501 to 2,500 band.

AWeber's annual billing lowers Lite at 500 subscribers to $12.50 a month and Plus to $20, per its pricing page. Mailchimp's page offers 15% off for 12 months from 10,000 contacts.

Start on the free plans

Both free plans are enough to make the decision. Open AWeber Free, import a test segment of your list, and build the welcome email and the one automation it allows; do the same on Mailchimp Free if your list is under 250. AWeber's support menu lists a free account migration service, so moving a larger list does not need a paid consultant (AWeber pricing page).

One thing to read with care. AWeber's MCP page carries a table comparing its connection with Brevo, Constant Contact, GetResponse, Kit, Klaviyo and Mailchimp, verified by AWeber on 3 September 2026, in which AWeber's own row has a tick in every column and no caveat, and Mailchimp's carries a warning sign under "official MCP" and a cross under automations (AWeber MCP page). A vendor's comparison table is marked by the vendor. Check each rival's row on the rival's own documentation.

One task handed to an agent, with a draft at the end

AWeber's connection lets ChatGPT or Claude read your email results, break a workflow down message by message to show where engagement drops, and write a new email in the voice of your top-performing sends, which it saves to AWeber as a draft for you to review, schedule and send (AWeber MCP page). In practice: the agent finds that message three of your welcome series loses the most readers and drafts a replacement. You read the draft against your offer and your facts, fix what is wrong, and schedule it yourself. The agent never decides what goes out.

Choose AWeber if you need

• Free room for a growing list: 500 subscribers, and 3,000 emails a month to send to them.
• An unlimited number of users, lists and automations on one paid plan.
• The lower or equal monthly price anywhere from 1,000 to 25,000 subscribers, per the table above and the AWeber pricing page.

Choose Mailchimp if you need

• The cheapest paid start at 500 contacts or fewer: Essentials at $13 a month on the pricing page.
• Store data from Shopify, WooCommerce or Magento in your emails, through Mailchimp's free store connections.
• A path to very large lists: Premium stores up to 200,000 contacts, per the plans article.

FAQ

Do AWeber's free emails carry its logo?

Yes. The free plan page says free sends carry AWeber branding, and both paid plans include removing it.

What happens when Mailchimp Free passes 250 contacts?

Sending stops, tests included, until you upgrade or reduce the total; you can still edit emails and collect new contacts, per Mailchimp's plans article.

Can AWeber's AI connection send an email by itself?

The MCP page describes emails written through ChatGPT or Claude being saved as drafts in AWeber, ready for you to review, schedule and send. It also lets the assistant add subscribers, change tags and build segments, so connect it with the account you would trust with your list.