beehiiv vs Mailchimp

Which costs less at your list size?

Your list size and the AI writer decide it. Up to 2,500 subscribers, beehiiv Free costs nothing. From 2,501 to 15,000, Mailchimp Essentials costs less than beehiiv Lite: at 15,000 it is $180 against $199. Above 15,000, Essentials rises to $230 and beehiiv Lite stays at $199.

With AI on both, Mailchimp Standard costs less up to 10,000: $135 against $139 at 10,000. From 10,001 to 50,000, beehiiv Lite costs less, starting at $199 against $230 at 15,000 (Mailchimp’s price list, beehiiv pricing data).

The table shows each tool’s cheapest plan at 500, 2,500, 10,000 and 50,000 contacts. The 1,000 and 15,000 figures in the text come from the same price lists. Both bill in size steps (beehiiv says subscribers, Mailchimp says contacts), and a list one past a step pays for the next one.

At 1,000 contacts, Mailchimp Essentials costs $26.50 a month (Mailchimp’s price list). On beehiiv that size costs nothing, since Free covers 2,500.

At 50,000, the order reverses: beehiiv Lite costs $299 against $385 for Mailchimp Essentials (beehiiv pricing). Paying beehiiv for a year cuts that to $249 a month. Mailchimp publishes no yearly price.

Mailchimp’s pricing page also shows a 50% discount on Standard for the first 12 months. The figures here use list prices, which is what you pay from month 13.

Who counts on the bill

Mailchimp counts subscribed, non-subscribed and unsubscribed contacts towards your limit (Mailchimp help centre).

How contacts are counted

Subscribed, unsubscribed, and non-subscribed contacts are included in your contact count.

Archived, cleaned, and deleted contacts don’t count toward your contact total or the price of your marketing plan.

Archived and deleted contacts do not count. So a list that has lost a few thousand readers keeps paying for them until you archive them.

On beehiiv, the bill follows unique email addresses subscribed to a publication. Its pricing page does not say whether unsubscribed or bounced addresses count.

Sending caps differ too. Every beehiiv plan sends without a monthly limit. Mailchimp Essentials allows 10 sends per contact a month, Standard 12 and Premium 15, and going over adds overage charges (Mailchimp pricing). A daily newsletter to 1,000 people passes the Essentials cap of 15,000 sends by mid-month.

Best Email Marketing Software 2026 (All 10 Ranked by What They Actually Bill You For)Terry Bay

Which plan includes the AI writer?

On Mailchimp, generative AI starts on Standard and is “Not included” on Essentials or Free.

How to Create AI Generated Emails in Mailchimp in 2026How to Hub

On beehiiv, the in-editor AI starts on Lite; Free gets “limited AI usage” and an AI website builder.

Neither vendor publishes how much AI use a plan includes. beehiiv labels it “Elevated” on Lite and “5x Lite” on Pro. Mailchimp lists predictive segments on Standard and Premium only, in a footnote on its pricing page.

The rest of beehiiv’s AI list leans to publishing. On Lite, outside AI assistants can edit your publication through beehiiv’s MCP connector, a link that lets them act inside your account. Pro adds a tool that turns podcast episodes into newsletters (beehiiv pricing data).

What each one takes from paid subscriptions

On Lite and above, beehiiv takes 0% of paid subscription revenue. You pay Stripe’s card fee of 2.9% plus 30 cents a payment, per beehiiv’s pricing FAQ. Paid subscriptions, the ad network and paid recommendations all start on Lite, at $59 a month for up to 1,000 subscribers (beehiiv pricing).

Mailchimp’s marketing pricing page lists no paid subscriptions or newsletter ad network on any plan (read 1 November 2026). If you charge readers, beehiiv is built for it and Mailchimp is not.

Does either one train AI on your list?

Mailchimp’s terms allow it. Section 30 of its Standard Terms of Use (10 October 2025) says: “We may use your Inputs and Outputs, including Customer Data, for machine learning purposes in order to develop and improve the AI Model” (Mailchimp terms). It points to preferences in account settings without saying they switch training off.

Standard Terms of Use, 30

We may use your Inputs and Outputs, including Customer Data, for machine learning purposes in order to develop and improve the AI Model, the Services, and similar products and features, and you instruct us to process Customer Data for such purposes.

The beehiiv terms (6 October 2026) say nothing about training models on your content. Section 3 lets it compile anonymised statistics from your content (beehiiv terms).

Terms of Use, 3 (Aggregated Statistics)

You acknowledge that beehiiv may compile Aggregated Statistics based on your Content (as defined below). You agree that beehiiv may: (i) make Aggregated Statistics publicly available in compliance with applicable law; and (ii) use Aggregated Statistics to the extent and in the manner permitted under applicable law; provided, that such Aggregated Statistics do not identify you or Your Users.

Its pricing table lists “No-training / zero-retention” in the Enterprise column, the custom-priced plan.

The AI training guide for email tools reads the same clauses for every tool in the section.

What beehiiv and Mailchimp users report

The beehiiv sample is 19 public reviews. Six of 19 praise an editor beginners can use without technical skill (Trustpilot review, second Trustpilot review). Three of 19 report price rises, one a month after joining (Trustpilot review, second Trustpilot review).

Mailchimp’s readable sample is thin: 5 Reddit posts, most with their bodies removed. One poster calls its list-size pricing a “subscriber tax” in a post promoting a rival (Reddit). One commenter finds it cheaper than Brevo for a simple sign-up flow (Reddit).

Moving a list from Mailchimp to beehiiv

A beehiiv support guide covers the move on every plan, Free included (beehiiv support). You export the audience from Mailchimp as a CSV file and upload it under Settings, Subscribers Import. Tags and custom fields map across in the same step.

The guide suggests leaving out contacts with a Mailchimp member rating of 1 or 2 for your first two to four weeks. Doing so helps keep your emails out of spam folders.

By default, beehiiv records the import date as each sign-up date. Support can add the original dates after the import.

Past campaigns move separately: beehiiv’s content import tool lists Mailchimp as a source (beehiiv content import).

The guide has you recreate embedded sign-up forms in beehiiv and rebuild Mailchimp automations with beehiiv Automations. Automations start on Lite.

If neither fits

A creator who wants a free plan with automations can compare beehiiv vs Kit. A writer weighing a cut of paid subscriptions against a monthly fee has beehiiv vs Substack.

Leaving Mailchimp for a cheaper store or business tool? Mailchimp vs MailerLite and the Mailchimp alternatives price the options at your list size. Full tier tables sit on beehiiv pricing and Mailchimp pricing, and the AI email marketing hub routes every job.

Questions buyers ask about beehiiv vs Mailchimp

Is beehiiv cheaper than Mailchimp?

Up to 2,500 subscribers, yes: beehiiv Free costs nothing. From 2,501 to 15,000, Mailchimp Essentials costs less on monthly billing. At 50,000, beehiiv Lite costs less than Mailchimp Essentials.

Can you sell paid subscriptions on Mailchimp?

Its marketing pricing page lists no paid subscription feature. beehiiv sells them from Lite and takes 0% of the revenue before Stripe’s fee.

Does beehiiv’s free plan include AI?

It includes “limited AI usage” and an AI website builder. The AI writer inside the editor starts on Lite, per the beehiiv pricing page.

More email tool comparisons sit together in the AI email marketing hub →