Best Mailchimp Alternative in 2026
Mailchimp charges €339/month at 50k contacts. mailtani is €89 once: your own SES key, unlimited sends, full deliverability control, no recurring fees.
14-day free trial
Key takeaway
Mailchimp is a full marketing suite built for growth teams. mailtani is a focused email tool built for founders and indie hackers who want to own their infrastructure and pay once.
- Pricing model: per-contact monthly vs mailtani's €89 one-time
- At 50k contacts: $339/month on Standard vs €89 total, forever
- Mailchimp includes e-commerce, CRM, landing pages — mailtani does email only, but better
- mailtani suits founders and small SaaS teams; Mailchimp suits multi-channel marketing teams
Mailchimp's pricing is built around contact tiers. That works fine at small scale — but every tier jump is a new recurring bill, and counts include unsubscribed contacts unless you manually clean them.
- Costs scale aggressively: 50k contacts = $339/mo, 100k = $500+/mo
- Ghost billing: unsubscribed contacts inflate your count unless you manually archive
- No BYOS (bring your own SMTP): locked into their shared infrastructure
- Automations gated to Standard plan and above
- Free plan capped at 250 contacts after January 2026 cut
Mailchimp vs mailtani: At a Glance
| Features | Mailchimp | mailtani |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Monthly per contact | One-time €89 |
| Free plan | 250 contacts, 500 sends | 14-day trial |
| At 50k contacts | $339/month | €89 one-time |
| Ghost billing | Yes (counts unsubs) | No |
| Bring your own SMTP | No | Yes (SES, Resend, Mailtrap) |
| Email warmup | No | Yes |
| Inbox rotation | No | Yes |
| Automations on base plan | No (Standard+ only) | Yes |
What Is Mailchimp?
The most recognised email marketing platform in the world. One of the most expensive as your list grows.
Mailchimp launched in 2001 as a simple email tool for small businesses. Two decades later it is the most recognised name in email marketing. Acquired by Intuit in 2021, it has added landing pages, social ads, a basic CRM, and transactional email via Mandrill. For a generalist marketing team, it covers the full stack. For a founder who just needs reliable email, it is overbuilt and overpriced.
The billing model is the core issue. Mailchimp charges per contact and counts every contact in your audience: subscribed, unsubscribed, and bounced. A list that started with 5,000 active subscribers two years ago may now have 8,000 total contacts in Mailchimp because of inactive and unsubscribed records. Unless you manually archive them, you pay for all 8,000. This ghost billing silently inflates your bill month after month.
What Is mailtani?
A one-time purchase email platform for founders, indie hackers, and small SaaS teams.
At 50,000 contacts, Mailchimp Standard costs $339/month ($4,068/year). At 100,000 contacts, you are past $500/month. Automations are locked to Standard and above, meaning you cannot even run a basic welcome sequence on the Essentials plan. The free plan was cut in January 2026 to 250 contacts and 500 sends per month.
mailtani takes a different approach: pay €89 once and connect your own AWS SES, Resend, or Mailtrap account. AWS SES charges approximately $0.10 per 1,000 emails, so mailing 50,000 people costs about $5 vs Mailchimp's $339/month. You get broadcasts, sequences, warmup, and inbox rotation on your own dedicated sending infrastructure, with no tier restrictions and no recurring fees.
14-day free trial
Why Users Switch from Mailchimp
The common reasons teams move on.
- Ghost billing inflates your list silently: Mailchimp counts every contact in your audience — subscribed, unsubscribed, and bounced. Unless you manually archive them, you pay for all of them. A list that was 5k active subscribers two years ago can quietly balloon to 8k billable contacts while your actual reach stays flat.
- Every tier jump is a nasty surprise: Mailchimp pricing is structured as hard cliffs. Cross 50k contacts and your Standard plan jumps to $339/month. There is no grace period and no prorated warning. Founders report discovering the increase on their credit card statement, not in an email.
- Automations locked to Standard and above: You cannot run a basic welcome sequence on the Essentials plan. Any founder who wants drip campaigns or onboarding flows has to pay $20+/month minimum — for a feature that should be table stakes.
- Free plan gutted in January 2026: Mailchimp cut the free tier from 500 contacts and 1,000 sends/month down to 250 contacts and 500 sends. At that cap, the free plan is useful only for the earliest days of testing — not for running a real list.
- No way to use your own sending infrastructure: Mailchimp does not offer bring-your-own SMTP at any plan tier. Your sending reputation is pooled with every other Mailchimp user on the same shared IP range. You have no control over deliverability beyond what Mailchimp exposes in its dashboard.
14-day free trial
Mailchimp vs mailtani: Pricing
Mailchimp charges more as your list grows. mailtani charges once, regardless of list size.
| Plan / Scenario | Mailchimp | mailtani |
|---|---|---|
| Up to 500 contacts | $13/mo (Essentials) | €89 one-time |
| Up to 5k contacts | $75–100/mo | €89 one-time |
| Up to 50k contacts | $339/mo | €89 one-time |
| Up to 100k contacts | $500+/mo | €89 one-time |
| Year 1 cost (50k list) | $4,068 | €89 |
| Year 3 cost (50k list) | $12,204 | €89 |
| Bring your own SMTP | Not available | Included |
Prefer a lower start? Try the Yearly plan from €79/year — 14-day free trial included.
14-day free trial
Mailchimp vs mailtani: Feature Breakdown
See all mailtani features →| Feature | Mailchimp | mailtani |
|---|---|---|
| Unlimited contacts | ||
| Unlimited email sends | ||
| Bring your own SMTP (SES, Resend, Mailtrap) | ||
| Email warmup | ||
| Inbox rotation | ||
| No ghost billing (active contacts only) | ||
| One-time payment, no subscription | ||
| Full deliverability control (own IPs) | ||
| Email sequences / drip campaigns | ✓ Standard+ | |
| Broadcast campaigns | ||
| Contact tagging and segmentation | ||
| Signup forms | ||
| Open and click tracking | ||
| Unsubscribe handling | ||
| CSV contact import / export | ||
| Automations on free / base plan | ||
| A/B split testing | ✓ Standard+ | |
| E-commerce automation (cart abandonment, purchase flows) | ||
| Built-in CRM | ||
| Landing page builder | ||
| Social media ad management | ||
| Transactional email (Mandrill) | ||
| 300+ native third-party integrations | ||
| Free plan (ongoing) | ✓ 250 contacts |
What You Get With mailtani
The features founders and indie hackers actually use — on your own infrastructure, for a one-time payment.
Bring Your Own SMTP
Connect your own AWS SES, Resend, or Mailtrap account and send at infrastructure cost. Your sending reputation is entirely yours — not pooled with other users on shared IPs.
Email Warmup
Automatically ramps up your sending volume over 3–6 weeks, building genuine sender reputation with Gmail and Outlook. Set it once — mailtani handles the daily schedule without a separate tool.
Inbox Rotation
Distribute sends across multiple inboxes automatically to protect deliverability and scale volume without burning a single sending address. No manual scheduling required.
Sequences and Drip Campaigns
Build multi-step email sequences with conditions, delays, and branching logic. Welcome flows, onboarding drips, and re-engagement campaigns all run on the same builder.
One-Time Flat Pricing
Pay €89 once. No monthly fees, no per-contact tiers, no price increases as your list grows. Whether you have 500 or 500,000 subscribers, the cost is the same: done.
Full Deliverability Control
Sending reputation, IP addresses, authentication records, and SMTP credentials all belong to you. Diagnose and fix deliverability issues directly rather than waiting on platform support.
14-day free trial
Mailchimp vs mailtani: Pros & Cons
Mailchimp
Pros
- 300+ native integrations including Shopify, WooCommerce, and Canva
- Solid e-commerce automation flows (abandoned cart, post-purchase sequences)
- Landing page and social ad management alongside email
- Established brand with long-term reliability track record
- 14-day free trial with no credit card required
Cons
- Ghost billing: unsubscribed and bounced contacts inflate your list count
- 50k contacts costs $339/month on Standard ($4,068/year)
- Free plan capped at 250 contacts and 500 sends after January 2026 cut
- Automations locked behind the Standard plan upgrade
- No bring-your-own SMTP: locked to their shared sending infrastructure
mailtani
Pros
- One-time €89 payment: no recurring fees regardless of list size
- Bring your own AWS SES, Resend, or Mailtrap key (~€0.10/1,000 emails)
- Built-in email warmup and inbox rotation on every plan
- No ghost billing: unsubscribed contacts never inflate your count
- Full deliverability control on your own dedicated sending infrastructure
Cons
- No e-commerce automation: no cart abandonment flows, purchase triggers, or Shopify/WooCommerce integration
- No built-in CRM: you manage contacts as a flat list, not a pipeline with lead scoring or deal stages
- No landing page builder: you'll need a separate tool (Carrd, Framer, etc.) for signup pages
- No social media ad management: Mailchimp's Facebook/Instagram ad integration doesn't exist in mailtani
- Fewer integrations: mailtani connects via SMTP and API; Mailchimp has 300+ native app connections
- No free ongoing plan: Mailchimp has a free tier (capped at 250 contacts); mailtani offers a 14-day trial
Who Should Use Mailchimp vs mailtani?
What each product is built for and who it suits.
Optimised for multi-channel marketing teams.
Choose Mailchimp if...
- You run a Shopify or WooCommerce store and need deep e-commerce automation
- You rely on Mailchimp's 300+ native integrations with third-party tools
- You need social media ad management alongside email campaigns
- Your team uses Mailchimp's CRM and audience segmentation features heavily
Optimised for founders, indie hackers, and small SaaS teams.
Choose mailtani if...
- You are a founder, indie hacker, or small SaaS team that wants flat email costs
- Your Mailchimp bill grows every time your list does
- You are paying for unsubscribed or bounced contacts you cannot use
- You want sequences, warmup, and inbox rotation without upgrading to Standard
- You want to own your sending infrastructure with SES, Resend, or Mailtrap
14-day free trial
See How mailtani Compares
Mailchimp vs the Competition
What You Get with mailtani
How Founders Use mailtani
Ready to Switch from Mailchimp?
14-day free trial. No charge until the trial ends — cancel anytime. Connect your SES key and send your first campaign today.
€89 lifetime No monthly fees