Constant Contact

Constant Contact is worth it for small businesses that value phone support and simple guided email marketing. Mailchimp offers a free plan (up to 500 contacts, 1,000 emails/month) that Constant Contact lacks, and generally has more advanced automation and integrations on paid plans. Constant Contact's pricing is competitive at entry level but becomes expensive as your list grows. If you want hand-holding support and simple event marketing, Constant Contact. If you want a free start and more features, Mailchimp.

Constant Contact Core starts at $12/month for up to 500 contacts, scaling to $35/month at 2,500 contacts, $55/month at 5,000, and $95/month at 10,000. Plus plan starts at $45/month for 500 contacts. No free plan is available (only a 60-day free trial). Pricing is based on contact count, which can get expensive for large lists. Annual billing provides a discount over monthly.

Constant Contact is particularly popular with nonprofits — it offers a 30% nonprofit discount, has event management tools for fundraisers and volunteer coordination, and its simple interface works well for organizations with limited technical staff. Its email templates include nonprofit-specific designs, and the live phone support is valuable for teams without dedicated marketing staff. Mailchimp also offers nonprofit discounts (through TechSoup), so compare both for your specific list size.