Mailchimp Review 2020: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly...
Is Mailchimp right for you?
Mailchimp is a very well known and often used marketing automation tool. Some swear it is the best out there, while some say it is falling behind in modern times. So what is really the case? It is time for an honest and up-to-date review of Mailchimp, which will show you how the tool scores on all its different features. Also, this review will show you how Mailchimp stacks up against other tools. Want to know if Mailchimp is right for your business? Check out this Mailchimp review and find out if it's the right tool for you!
Our Review Score: 3.3/5
1) Email builder: 4.0/5/5
2) Email templates: 3.0/5
3) Form building: 3.0/5
4) Segmentation: 2.0/5
5) Automation: 1.5/5
6) Splittesting: 2.0/5
7) Integrations: 4.5/5
8) Reporting & tracking: 4.0/5
9) Support & Community: 3.0/5
10) Ease of use: 4.0/5
Mailchimp Review: Main Pro's and Con's
Main pro's
- Mailchimp's selection of email templates is very large
- Mailchimp's email templates are visually outstanding
- Easy to use drag & drop editor
- Detailed reporting
- Visually very appealing
- Great integrations of apps
- User friendly
- Very competitive pricing, but it gets pretty expensive once you get a lot of subscribers (especially considering the lack of good automation features, which you will need with a lot of subscribers)
Main con's
- Subscribers in multiple lists count multiple times for your monthly price.
- Mailchimp is still very list-based. Yes you can use tags, but only inside of lists, and lists are siloed. Basically this means your campaigns won't be as targeted as you would like them to be, without a big workaround.
- Mailchimp is too basic in setting up automations. With Mailchimp you can only build lineair automations. This limits your posibilities for advanced automation because you can't easily "branch off" 2 paths inside of 1 automation when something happens, like for example a, open/click/sale. You want to send some people down 1 path and some on another path. This is very difficult in mailchimp because of their "lineair path only" approach.
- They don't have a visual workflow builder for automations.
- The A/B-testing of Mailchimp is limited. You can splittest subject lines, content, send times and form names. But you can not splittest complete automations or individual emails inside of automations.
- Heavy penalties for sending affiliate marketing links, so if this is important to you - don't use Mailchimp. Not a con persé, but including it in this Mailchimp review just in case
Mailchimp Review Rating Details
How does Mailchimp score as a Marketing Automation tool? After doing extensive research, using the the tool for our own Marketing purposes, and seeing how the tool stacks up against other tools, we have constructed this Mailchimp review feature table to give you a clear overview of the most important features. Every rating is accompanied by a small summary.
| Feature | Score | Review |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Score | (3.3/5) | Mailchimp is a solid tool. It is easy to use, looks great visually, and probably the best tool when it comes to email templates. Also, their reporting is on point. When it comes to setting up automations, segmentation options, and A/B-testing, they are falling behind a little. |
1 – Email Builder | (4.0/5) | Mailchimp's editor is easy to use. With their drag & drop interface you can set up emails fast. |
2 – Email Templates | (4.0/5) | After this Mailchimp review we must say Mailchimp is the best tool when it comes to email templates. There is a great variety, the designs look nice and professional, and the editor is easy to use. |
3 – Form Builder | (3.0/5) | Mailchimp's form building is decent. A nice feature is that you can create pop-ups. |
4 – List Management & Segmentation | (2.0/5) | Mailchimp lacks behind in terms of tagging and segmentation. Mailchimp is still very list-based. Yes you can use tags, but only inside of lists, and lists are siloed. Basically this means your campaigns won't be as targeted as you would like them to be, without a big workaround. |
5 – Automation | (1.5/5) | Compared to other tools, Mailchimp is a bit too basic in the automation department. If you want people to be deleted from a sequence, for instance, because they already purchased a product, you have to manually delete them from the sequence. Also, Mailchimp is too basic in setting up automations. With Mailchimp you can only build lineair automations. This limits your posibilities for advanced automation because you can't easily "branch off" 2 paths inside of 1 automation when something happens, like for example a, open/click/sale. You want to send some people down 1 path and some on another path. This is very difficult in Mailchimp because of their "lineair path only" approach. |
6 – Splittesting | (2.0/5) | The A/B-testing of Mailchimp is limited. You can split-test subject lines, content, send times and form names. But you can not split-test complete automations or individual emails inside of automations. |
7 – Integrations | (4.5/5) | There is not an app (for as far as we know) that doesn't integrate with Mailchimp (that include Zapier as well, of course). |
8 – Reporting | (4.0/5) | It would deserve a 5 rating if Mailchimp didn't have restrictions based on the plan you have. All in all it is set up nice visually, and the amount of data you can collect is great! |
9 – Support & Community | (3.0/5) | The support we got during this Mailchimp review was solid. This include a ticket-based support system and live-chat. |
10 – Ease of use | (4.0/5) | You don't need much time to be able to use all features. It works pretty straight forward. |
11 – Value for money | (4.0/5) | Very competitive pricing, but it gets expensive once you get a lot of subscribers (especially considering the lack of good automation features, which you will need with a lot of subscribers). |
Mailchimp Pricing
Ofcourse we can not leave out pricing in this Mailchimp review. How much does it cost to use Mailchimp? Below you can find the prices based on the amount of contacts you need to manage.
We try to update the pricing as best we can in this Mailchimp review. However, the pricing as listed on this page might be differtent from the prices listed on the ESPs official site due to changes.
| 1.000 contacts | 10.000 contacts | 25.000 contacts | 50.000 contacts | 100.000 contacts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lite plan | Lite plan | Lite plan | Lite plan | Lite plan |
| $15/per month Free migration | $75/per month Free migration | $150/per month Free migration | $240/per month Free migration | $475/per month Free migration |
| 12K emails/month | Unlimited emails | Unlimited emails | Unlimited emails | Unlimited emails |
See all Mailchimp's plans
We try to update the pricing as best we can in this Mailchimp review. However, the pricing as listed on this page might be differtent from the prices listed on the ESPs official site due to changes.
Mailchimp Features (Marketing & Sales)
We've compiled some of the most important marketing and sales features for any email marketing automation software in this review in the table below. This is especially handy if you are a B2B organisation or an organisation with a salesteam, because you might need features like a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system included in your platform. Check it out:
Want to see which Email Marketing Service scores best? Check out our top-to-bottom Best Email service provider ranking overview.
| ActiveCampaign | AWeber | Constant Contact | ConvertKit | Drip | GetResponse | Mailchimp | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marketing Features | |||||||
| Native Conversion tracking | 🟢 | 🟢 | 🔴 | 🟢 | 🟢 | 🔴 | 🔴 |
| Web activity tracking | 🟢 | 🟢 | 🔴 | 🔴 | 🟢 | 🟢 | 🟢 |
| Splittesting Campaigns | 🟢 | 🟢 | 🟢 | 🟢 | 🟢 | 🟢 | 🟢 |
| Splittesting Automations | 🟢 | 🔴 | 🔴 | 🔴 | 🔴 | 🔴 | 🔴 |
| Dynamic Personalized Content | 🟢 | 🟢 | 🟢 | 🔴 | 🟢 | 🟢 | 🟢 |
| Multichannel Attribution | 🟢 | 🔴 | 🔴 | 🔴 | 🔴 | 🔴 | 🔴 |
| Site Messaging | 🟢 | 🔴 | 🔴 | 🔴 | 🔴 | 🔴 | 🔴 |
| Facebook Integrations | 🟢 | 🟢 | 🟢 | 🟢 | 🟢 | 🟢 | 🟢 |
| SMS Integrations | 🟢 | 🟢 | 🟢 | 🟢 | 🟢 | 🔴 | 🔴 |
| Webinar integrations | 🟢 | 🟢 | 🟢 | 🟢 | 🟢 | 🔴 | 🟢 |
| Native Landingpage builder | 🔴 | 🔴 | 🟢 | 🟢 | 🔴 | 🟢 | 🟢 |
| Native Shopping Cart | 🔴 | 🔴 | 🔴 | 🔴 | 🔴 | 🔴 | 🔴 |
| Sales & CRM Features | |||||||
| Leadscoring | 🟢 | 🔴 | 🟢 | 🔴 | 🟢 | 🟢 | 🔴 |
| Native CRM System | 🟢 | 🔴 | 🔴 | 🔴 | 🔴 | 🟢 | 🔴 |
| Task Management | 🟢 | 🔴 | 🔴 | 🔴 | 🔴 | 🔴 | 🔴 |
| Realtime Sales alerts | 🟢 | 🔴 | 🟢 | 🔴 | 🔴 | 🟢 | 🔴 |
| Gmail integration | 🟢 | 🟢 | 🟢 | 🟢 | 🟢 | 🟢 | 🔴 |
| Mobile App CRM | 🟢 | 🔴 | 🔴 | 🔴 | 🔴 | 🔴 | 🔴 |
| Create quotes & invoices | 🔴 | 🔴 | 🔴 | 🔴 | 🔴 | 🔴 | 🔴 |
Who is Mailchimp right for? It's great when...
#1 You need access to the best looking emails
There is a vast variety and selection of email templates, the designs look very attractive and professional, and the editor is very user friendly. In terms of setting up emails, Mailchimp is the best tool out there.
#2 You are looking for a free version
Mailchimp is one of the few tools that offers a free plan.
See also: Sales funnels | Book funnels | Challenge funnels | Ecommerce funnels | High ticket sales funnels | Lead funnels
#3 You need thorough reporting
Mailchimp's reporting is outstanding, with geo-tracking, social media, and Google Analytics integration. The amount of data you can gather is very comprehensive and varied.
It's not so great when...
#1 You need to set up advanced automations
Setting up and managing automations can be a bit difficult and unintuitive to do. The features are limited.
#2 You need advanced tagging & segmentation
You can not target people in terms of specific information, like what they signed up for, what they opted in for, links they clicked, or products they are interested in or likely to buy. You have to look by yourself which email address subscribed to what.
#3 You want to make use of affiliate marketing
That's because Mailchimp doesn't allow for using affiliate marketing on their platform.
Checkout Mailchimp here.
Mailchimp Alternatives
Mailchimp was one of the most popular marketing automation tools. Nowadays, there are users who are switching to other tools, since Mailchimp is lacking in some of the features. If this Mailchimp review did not convince you of Mailchimp, we have provided three alternative tools. See below if these tools better serve your marketing needs.
Alternative #1: ActiveCampaign
ActiveCampaign is a very effective tool, especially in setting up automations, A/B-testing, and list management. Here are some advantages of using ActiveCampaign over Mailchimp:
- With ActiveCampaign you have the best options when it comes to tagging and segmentation
- With ActiveCampaign setting up automations is easy with their visual workflow builder. ActiveCampaign offers many features.
- Mailchimp offers the best A/B-testing of all tools out there. You can basically splittest everything from titles, to email content, and even complete automations! And you get detailed reportings.
- ActiveCampaign also offers goal tracking, which means you can track conversions within ActiveCampaign.
Read ActiveCampaign vs Mailchimp
Read Full ActiveCampaign Review
Alternative #2: GetResonse
If you are looking for a good alternative for Mailchimp, then GetResponse may be a good option. It is a tool with great tagging and segmentation options. Here are some advantages of using GetResponse over Mailchimp:
- GetResponse has a better segmentation and tagging system
- GetResponse has more detailed results from A/B-testing
- With GetResponse you have better options when it comes to form building.
- With GetResponse you can set up landings pages as well.
- GetResponse has ROI tracking.
- Setting up automations is more advanced with GetResponse.
Alternative #3: Drip
Drip is a good tool with some outstanding features. We would especially recommend this tool for people working in ecommerce. Here are some advantages of using Drip over Mailchimp:
- Drip is the best tool when it comes to segmentation features.
- When it comes to setting up automations, Drip is more user friendly, easier to use, and works smoother and faster.
- Drip is specialized in ecommerce features.
- With Drip, you can customise the visibility and the behavior associated of your forms
Read Mailchimp vs Drip
Read Full Drip Review
Conclusion
Based on our Mailchimp review, we must conclude it is a decent tool if you just want to send newsletters. They have the best email templates, their reporting and tracking is outstanding, and it is visually very nicely set up. Also, it is user friendly and affordable. However, In regards to other features they are lacking behind a bit though. This is the case for setting up automations, tagging & segmentation, and A/B-testing. If you are serious about marketing and automation, there are better alternatives out there for you. But Mailchimp offers a free plan, so if you are still excited you can see for yourself if Mailchimp is the right tool for you!
Mailchimp User Reviews
Please leave your own Mailchimp review below. We are always looking for users to give their two cents on this software.
1) What you like about this software?
2) What you dislike about this software?
3) Who would you recommend it to? Who is it best for?
4) How did this software contribute to your business?
Be the first to leave a review.