Constant Contact and Mailchimp both sit in the small business email marketing space, but the documented facts point to different strengths. Constant Contact…
| Constant Contact | Mailchimp | |
|---|---|---|
| Primary category | Email Marketing | Email Marketing |
| Rating | Not documented | Not documented |
| Pricing model | Subscription (tiered by contact list size) | Freemium |
| Starting price | $12/month (Lite plan, 500 contacts) | Free (paid plans start around $13/month, price scales with contacts) |
| Free plan | Not documented | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | Not documented |
| Platforms | Web, iOS, Android | Not documented |
| Team collaboration | Not documented | Not documented |
| AI features | Yes | Yes |
| Public API | Yes | Not documented |
Free plan availability
Constant Contact: No permanent free plan, only a time-limited free trial before a paid subscription is required
Mailchimp: Permanent Free plan covering up to 250 contacts and 500 sends per month
Teams that want to test a platform indefinitely at zero cost need a real free tier, not a trial with an expiration date
Published starting price
Constant Contact: Starting price disclosed as from $12 per month for the Lite plan at 500 contacts
Mailchimp: Starting paid price not specified in the documented data, only that pricing is contact-based
A clearly published entry price makes budgeting and comparison shopping easier before signing up
Company longevity
Constant Contact: Founded in 1995 and headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts, a long-established vendor
Mailchimp: Founding year and headquarters not specified in the documented data
Some buyers weigh a vendor's track record and stability when choosing a long-term marketing platform
Automation flexibility
Constant Contact: Trigger-based automated paths described as pre-set journeys, explicitly documented as less flexible than dedicated automation platforms for complex, multi-branch flows
Mailchimp: Automation depth beyond general marketing automation is not detailed in the documented data
Teams with complex, branching customer journeys need to know whether a tool can handle that complexity natively
Bundled marketing channels
Constant Contact: Documented features bundle SMS, social media posting, ad management, event marketing, and surveys alongside email in one dashboard
Mailchimp: Documented feature list covers SMS marketing and AI content tools, with no bundled social, ad management, event, or survey tools mentioned
Consolidating marketing channels into one tool reduces the number of separate subscriptions and logins a team manages
E-commerce integration depth
Constant Contact: Shopify and WooCommerce integrations power abandoned-cart emails, product recommendation blocks, and purchase-based segmentation
Mailchimp: E-commerce integration depth is not detailed in the documented data
Online store owners rely on abandoned-cart and purchase-based automation to recover revenue
AI content generation
Constant Contact: AI writing tool available on paid plans, drafting subject lines, email copy, and social captions from a text prompt
Mailchimp: AI-assisted content tools listed among core features, without plan-tier detail in the documented data
AI drafting tools can speed up campaign creation for teams without dedicated copywriters
Support tier structure
Constant Contact: Documented support spans phone, live chat, a community forum, and coaching webinars, described as broader than many competitors
Mailchimp: Phone support and a dedicated onboarding specialist are documented specifically as Premium tier benefits
Knowing whether higher-touch support requires the top-priced plan affects total cost of getting real human help
Pricing growth risk
Constant Contact: Documented con states pricing scales steeply with contact list size
Mailchimp: Documented con states contact-based pricing can rise significantly as a list grows, even without using more features
Both platforms carry the same underlying risk that a growing subscriber list drives costs up regardless of feature usage
Multilingual interface support
Constant Contact: Documented con states an account can only operate in one interface and content language at a time
Mailchimp: Not documented in the available data
Teams running campaigns in multiple languages need to know if a single account can natively support that workflow
| Feature | Constant Contact | Mailchimp |
|---|---|---|
| Permanent free plan | Unavailable | Available |
| Published entry-level paid price | Available | Not documented |
| Price scales with contact list size | Available | Available |
| Nonprofit discount pricing | Available | Not documented |
| Feature | Constant Contact | Mailchimp |
|---|---|---|
| Drag-and-drop email builder | Available | Not documented |
| Pre-built template library | Available | Not documented |
| Feature | Constant Contact | Mailchimp |
|---|---|---|
| Trigger-based marketing automation | Available | Not documented |
| List segmentation and tagging | Available | Not documented |
| Feature | Constant Contact | Mailchimp |
|---|---|---|
| SMS marketing | Available | Available |
| Social media posting and ad management | Available | Not documented |
| Feature | Constant Contact | Mailchimp |
|---|---|---|
| Shopify and WooCommerce integrations | Available | Not documented |
| Abandoned-cart email automation | Available | Not documented |
| Feature | Constant Contact | Mailchimp |
|---|---|---|
| Event registration and ticketing tools | Available | Not documented |
| Built-in surveys and polls | Available | Not documented |
| A/B testing and performance reporting | Available | Not documented |
| Feature | Constant Contact | Mailchimp |
|---|---|---|
| AI content generation tool | Available | Available |
| Feature | Constant Contact | Mailchimp |
|---|---|---|
| Phone support | Available | Limited |
| Dedicated onboarding specialist | Not documented | Limited |
| Live chat and community forum | Available | Not documented |
Starting price reflects the lowest paid tier, not the full cost for every team size or usage level.
Pros
Cons
Pros
Cons
Mailchimp is cheaper to start with because it offers a permanent free plan for up to 250 contacts and 500 sends per month, while Constant Contact has no free plan and starts at $12 per month for its Lite tier; beyond the free tier, both platforms scale price with contact list size, and Mailchimp's exact paid starting price is not specified in the documented data.
Yes, Mailchimp's Free plan supports up to 250 contacts and 500 sends per month, whereas Constant Contact only offers a time-limited free trial before requiring a paid subscription.
Constant Contact has documented e-commerce features including Shopify and WooCommerce integrations, abandoned-cart emails, and purchase-based segmentation, while Mailchimp's e-commerce integration depth is not detailed in the available data, so online sellers should verify Mailchimp's current commerce features directly before choosing.
Yes, both platforms document SMS marketing as part of their feature sets, allowing text campaigns alongside email.
Both document some form of AI content assistance, Constant Contact offers a paid-plan AI writing tool for subject lines, email copy, and social captions, and Mailchimp lists AI-assisted content tools among its core features, but the provided data does not specify which produces better output, so this comes down to hands-on testing.
Neither is confirmed as best for complex automation from the available data alone, Constant Contact's automation is explicitly documented as pre-set trigger-based paths that are less flexible than dedicated platforms like ActiveCampaign or HubSpot for multi-branch journeys, while Mailchimp's automation depth is not detailed here, so teams needing complex flows should evaluate both directly.
Read the full Constant Contact review · Read the full Mailchimp review