Mailchimp excels as an all-in-one marketing platform with better automation and segmentation for small-to-medium businesses, while SendGrid is a specialized transactional email service built for developers and high-volume technical sending requiring superior deliverability and API flexibility.
Mailchimp vs SendGrid — Side-by-side comparison on A Versus B
All-in-one marketing platform offering email campaigns, automation, landing pages, and CRM features.
Enterprise email platform with extensive integrations, highest uptime guarantee, and 1M+ users.
Primary Use Case. Free Tier Monthly Sends. Starting Paid Price. Marketing Automation Workflows. API Rate Limit. Built-in Landing Pages. Deliverability Suite Included
Choose Mailchimp if you need an accessible, feature-rich marketing platform with automation, landing pages, and segmentation for growing e-commerce or SaaS businesses. Choose SendGrid if you're a developer-focused company sending high volumes of transactional emails, need enterprise-grade deliverability, or require programmatic control via API with minimal overhead.
Mailchimp: Yes (500 contacts) | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: 7 (moderate to high) | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: Sophisticated data-driven rules | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: Yes, varies by plan | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: Yes, with international expansion | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: Free on all plans | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: Not available | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: Basic (Customer Journey Builder) | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: A/B testing and design testing (free) | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: More extensive platform coverage | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: Basic contact management | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: Beginner-friendly | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: Limited (abandoned cart via integrations) | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: Yes - charges per contact/send overages | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: Comprehensive campaign performance and subscriber insights | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: Basic personalization features | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: Available but less intuitive setup | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: Full SMS suite with 2026 international expansion | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: Legacy interface, steep learning curve | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: Full native CRM platform integrated | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: Limited core features only | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: Extensive design variety and customization | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: Standard audience segmentation | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: Basic contact data syncing | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: No (API integration only) | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: Yes (added 2026, supports international markets) | SendGrid: N/A
Contact List Size Limit (Standard Pricing)
Mailchimp: Unlimited growth with pro-rated pricing | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: 1,000 emails/month | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: Capped by contact tier multipliers | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: 13 million users | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: Full CRM suite with advanced segmentation | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: Limited e-commerce via integrations | SendGrid: N/A
Price Scaling Factor at 5,000 Subscribers
Mailchimp: Steep 3-4x multiplier | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: Basic add-on CRM | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: Manual segmentation only | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: Email, basic social | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: Minimal (intuitive interface) | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: Standard quarterly updates | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: Yes, full CRM suite | SendGrid: No, basic contacts only
Mailchimp: Email, SMS, landing pages, ads | SendGrid: Email only
Mailchimp: Moderate, marketing-focused | SendGrid: Highly advanced, enterprise-grade
Mailchimp: 10-20 minutes | SendGrid: 60-120 minutes
Mailchimp: 300,000 (based on plan) | SendGrid: Unlimited (pay-per-use after quota)
Mailchimp: $13/month (Essentials) | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: $800/month (100,000 contacts) | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: Full-featured free plan | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: Yes (up to 500 contacts) | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: Modern and professional | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: Advanced automation included | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: Third-party integrations | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: Transactional email and small business | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: Yes (drag-and-drop, AI-assisted) | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: Full CRM with customer profiles | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: All paid plans | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: 500 (free) / 5,000 (paid) | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: 0.08 months (1 hour) | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: 3 (Salesforce, HubSpot, custom) | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: Behavioral segmentation only | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: 2/10 (simple) | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: Email-based, no SLA | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: $20 | SendGrid: $9.95 (or free 100k/month)
Mailchimp: Basic (list segmentation only) | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: ~5 basic automations | SendGrid: 4-5 basic trigger types
Mailchimp: No (Zapier third-party only) | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: 1 (beginner-friendly) | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: 500 free contacts | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: None (requires third-party solutions) | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: Unlimited (with 10k contacts max) | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: Not applicable (subscriber-based) | SendGrid: N/A
Starter Tier Monthly Cost (50k contacts)
Automation Workflow Steps (Free/Starter Tier)
Mailchimp: Unlimited (standard feature) | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: Unlimited (with pricing increase) | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: Limited basic sequences | SendGrid: Full (A/B testing, branching, delays)
Mailchimp: Phone support on paid plans only | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: 10 calls/second | SendGrid: 500 req/s
Mailchimp: 0% (you handle payments) | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: Advanced (conditional, behavioral triggers) | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: No (third-party required) | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: Yes (subject lines, send time) | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: Included in paid plans | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: 30+ (payment processor + Mailchimp config) | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: $0 (free tier) or $20 (Pro) | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: Not offered (email-focused) | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: 3 (email, SMS via paid add-on, social) | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: 0.5-2 hours (no code required) | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: Limited (up to 5-10 per plan tier) | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: $0.01-0.05 per SMS | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: 100+ templates | SendGrid: 70+ responsive templates
Mailchimp: $2–$7 (plan-dependent) | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: 0.5–1 hour (UI-based) | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: Advanced (subject, send time, content) | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: Manual review required | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: Full CRM with segmentation, tagging, custom fields | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: $200–$350 (based on tier) | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: $0.01 (SMS add-on) | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: 45+ countries | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: 100+ professional templates | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: 1 day (no-code signup) | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: 12M+ users (2025) | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: Unlimited steps | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: 1,000+ templates | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: No (paid add-on) | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: No (add-on only) | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: 0% (SaaS model) | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: 30-60 minutes | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: 20 (1K-contact plan) | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: 500+ templates including AI-generated | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: $20 additional per month | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: Advanced abandoned cart, product recommendations, dynamic pricing | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: Basic automation on free plan | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: Advanced AI copywriter with subject line optimization | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: Limited - basic integration support only | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: Advanced visual builder included | SendGrid: API-driven only
Mailchimp: 15-20 minutes | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: Free | SendGrid: $1.00 per 1K emails
Mailchimp: 500 contacts | SendGrid: 0 (100 emails/day only)
Mailchimp: List management only | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: Yes - iOS and Android | SendGrid: N/A
Mailchimp: Yes (drag-and-drop) | SendGrid: No
Mailchimp: Available at higher tiers | SendGrid: Built into enterprise plans
Mailchimp: N/A | SendGrid: 0 (trial only)
Mailchimp: N/A | SendGrid: Multiple continents (15+)
Mailchimp: N/A | SendGrid: Full suite included
Mailchimp: N/A | SendGrid: AI-assisted drag-and-drop
Mailchimp: N/A | SendGrid: 1 channel (Email)
Mailchimp: N/A | SendGrid: $25 for 50k emails
Mailchimp: N/A | SendGrid: 100+ countries
Mailchimp: N/A | SendGrid: 100-150ms average
Mailchimp: N/A | SendGrid: Yes, 24/7 with premium tiers
Mailchimp: N/A | SendGrid: Advanced drag-and-drop builder with presets
Mailchimp: N/A | SendGrid: Unlimited with proper infrastructure
Mailchimp: N/A | SendGrid: $29.95-$99.95 (bundled)
Mailchimp: N/A | SendGrid: Drag-and-drop visual editor
Mailchimp: N/A | SendGrid: 14,400 (varies by plan)
Mailchimp: N/A | SendGrid: Requires third-party integration
Mailchimp: N/A | SendGrid: 50+ generic templates
Mailchimp: N/A | SendGrid: Not advertised
Mailchimp: N/A | SendGrid: $29.95/month (Pro plan)
Mailchimp: N/A | SendGrid: 90 days (all tiers)
Mailchimp: N/A | SendGrid: 2-3 minutes (1-click)
Mailchimp: N/A | SendGrid: 25+ event types
Mailchimp: N/A | SendGrid: Unlimited at scale
How to choose between Mailchimp and SendGrid
Mailchimp vs SendGrid — Structured Comparison Data
Machine-readable comparison dataset for Mailchimp vs SendGrid. Contains 225 attribute comparisons, 5 FAQ pairs.
Mailchimp vs SendGrid — Attribute Category Vocabulary
Taxonomy of attribute categories used to classify comparison data for Mailchimp vs SendGrid.
Which is better for e-commerce businesses?
Mailchimp is better for most e-commerce businesses. Its free tier supports 12,000 emails/month (vs SendGrid's 3,000), includes built-in landing pages, offers advanced segmentation and automation, and integrates seamlessly with Shopify, WooCommerce, and other platforms. SendGrid is only preferable if you're sending 100k+ transactional emails monthly and need dedicated IP deliverability infrastructure.
SendGrid significantly outperforms Mailchimp for API workloads: 500 requests/second vs Mailchimp's 50 req/sec. SendGrid is engineered for developers building systems around email sending, while Mailchimp's API is designed to complement its UI-driven marketing tools rather than serve as the primary interface.
Can I use either for transactional emails?
Both support transactional emails, but differ in approach. Mailchimp requires templates and workflows through its UI. SendGrid excels at transactional sending with full API control, webhooks for real-time notifications, and enterprise compliance features. For mission-critical transactional emails (order confirmations, password resets), SendGrid is the stronger choice.
At small volumes (under 25k/month), Mailchimp's generous free tier ($0) beats SendGrid ($19.95/month). At high volumes (500k+/month), SendGrid's $0.09-0.15 per email pricing becomes more cost-effective than Mailchimp's contact-based tier system. For mid-market (50k-250k/month), costs are comparable but Mailchimp includes more marketing features.
Which is easier for non-technical users?
Mailchimp is significantly easier. It offers a visual campaign builder, automation workflows, landing page designer, and point-and-click segmentation—all designed for marketers without coding. SendGrid requires technical expertise for setup and is API-first; non-developers would struggle to get started without developer support.
How to Choose Between Mailchimp and SendGrid
Primary Use Case: Mailchimp has Marketing automation & campaigns, while SendGrid has Transactional & high-volume sending.
Free Tier Monthly Sends: Mailchimp has 12,000 emails/month, while SendGrid has 100 emails/day (3,000/month).
Starting Paid Price: Mailchimp has $20/month (500 contacts), while SendGrid has $19.95/month (40k emails).
Consider: Marketing Automation Workflows
Marketing Automation Workflows: Mailchimp has Advanced with 300+ integrations, while SendGrid has Limited, API-driven only.
API Rate Limit: Mailchimp has 50 requests/second, while SendGrid has 500 requests/second.
Built-in Landing Pages: Mailchimp has Yes, with drag-and-drop builder, while SendGrid has No, API-only.
Deliverability Suite Included: Mailchimp has Basic (A/B testing, IP warming), while SendGrid has Advanced (dedicated IPs, compliance tools).