MailerLite vs Mailchimp: Automations per Dollar by Plan

The short answer: if you want working automations on a small budget, MailerLite gives more for each dollar at every list size: for 5,000 subscribers its Comfort plan is $49 a month and runs 50 automations of up to 100 steps, against $75 for Mailchimp Essentials, whose flows stop at 4 steps (MailerLite pricing, Mailchimp pricing, monthly billing, checked on 26 October 2026). Mailchimp is the pick when a Magento or PrestaShop store, an SMS add-on or a list heading past 100,000 is part of the plan.

Disclosure: I may earn a commission through some links on this site. It does not change what this page says.

MailerLite sells two paid plans that differ mainly in volume: Comfort rations emails, automations and seats, and Power removes those limits. Mailchimp sells three tiers that differ in features, so the cheap one is also the limited one. That design difference matters more than any single price.

Line them up before you choose:

1. Work out your monthly sends. For example, three emails a week to 5,000 subscribers is 5,000 x 13 = 65,000 a month. That is over MailerLite Comfort's 50,000 and Mailchimp Standard's 60,000, so it means MailerLite Power at $69 with unlimited emails or Mailchimp Premium at $350 (MailerLite pricing, Mailchimp pricing).
2. List the automations you run today and count their steps. MailerLite's free plan allows 3 active automations of up to 5 steps and Comfort 50 of up to 100; Mailchimp's Essentials allows flows of up to 4 steps (MailerLite pricing, Mailchimp pricing).
3. Count the logins. MailerLite Comfort has 3 seats and Power unlimited; Mailchimp Essentials 3 and Standard 5, per the same two pages.
4. Set the measure for the welcome automation. Share of new subscribers who click at least once in their first two weeks. Note it from your current tool before you move, so the new one has something to beat.

At 5,000 subscribers

Read on the MailerLite pricing page and the Mailchimp pricing page, monthly billing in USD.

What separates them

Automations on the cheaper plan

The gap is widest at the bottom. For $49 at 5,000 subscribers, MailerLite Comfort runs 50 active automations of up to 100 steps each (pricing); for $75, Mailchimp Essentials runs single-email automations and flows of up to 4 steps (plans article). A welcome series with a branch for buyers fits the first and not the second.

Sending often

MailerLite Power lists unlimited monthly emails, from $25 for 500 subscribers to $489 for 100,000 (pricing). Mailchimp's sends rise with the tier, 10, 12 and 15 times your contacts, with overage beyond (pricing). A daily or near-daily sender should compare Power with Premium, not Comfort with Essentials.

What Mailchimp keeps

Mailchimp connects Magento, Adobe Commerce, PrestaShop and Lightspeed as well as Shopify and WooCommerce (store guide); MailerLite's comparison table names Shopify, WooCommerce and Stripe. Mailchimp also sells an SMS add-on and a Premium plan that stores up to 200,000 contacts with phone support (plans article). MailerLite's page sends lists above 200,000 to its Enterprise team.

The monthly bill

Checked on 26 October 2026, monthly billing in USD, on the MailerLite pricing page and the Mailchimp pricing page. MailerLite's yearly billing takes 10% off, Comfort at 500 subscribers becoming $10.80 a month.

Where a Mailchimp band spans the row's number, the band price is shown: 501 to 1,500 contacts for the 1,000 row, 1,501 to 2,500 for the 2,500 row.

Rebuild one automation for free

MailerLite's free plan holds 250 subscribers, 2,500 emails a month, 2 seats and 3 automations of up to 5 steps; Mailchimp's holds 250 contacts, 500 sends and 1 seat (MailerLite pricing, Mailchimp plans article). Rebuild your welcome automation in MailerLite Free with a test group of subscribers, then use the 14-day trial, which needs no card, to try Comfort's limits on the real list.

MailerLite's pricing page opens by promising its whole feature set on any paid plan, and its own comparison table then caps Comfort at 50 automations, 10 forms, 10 sites and 3 seats. A headline is written to sell; the comparison table is where the limits live. Read the table.

An agent works in the account, a person approves the send

MailerLite's MCP server connects your account to Claude through its connector directory, to VS Code with GitHub Copilot, or to Cursor, and lets the assistant work with subscriber lists, campaigns and performance metrics when you ask it to (MCP guide). For Claude, the guide lists the Pro, Max, Team and Enterprise plans. One step of a monthly routine: the assistant reads last month's campaign results, groups subscribers who clicked twice or more into a segment and drafts the next campaign to them. A person checks the segment size and the draft in MailerLite, then sends it from there. On MailerLite's free plan, the comparison table marks MCP access as limited.

Choose MailerLite if

• You want multi-step automations without paying for a top tier.
• You send several times a week and want unlimited emails on Power.
• A small team needs more audiences and sites than Mailchimp's lower tiers allow.

Choose Mailchimp if

• Your store runs on Magento, Adobe Commerce, PrestaShop or Lightspeed.
• Text messages should sit in the same account as email.
• The list is heading past 100,000 and you want phone support on Premium, per the plans article.

FAQ

Which free plan sends more?

Both stop at 250 people, but MailerLite's allows 2,500 emails a month and 2 seats, against 500 sends and 1 seat on Mailchimp, per the MailerLite pricing page and Mailchimp's plans article.

Does MailerLite offer a trial of its paid plans?

Yes. Its pricing page offers 14 days with no credit card required. Mailchimp's trial of Essentials or Standard also runs 14 days.

How do I connect MailerLite to Claude?

In Claude, open Connectors, then Manage connectors, search for MailerLite, connect, choose the account and authorise the permissions, as set out in the MCP guide.