Drip vs Mailchimp Comparison 2026
Drip has no free tier, starting at $39 a month, and bills on active people and send volume rather than contacts, tying automation specifically to ecommerce behaviour like a cart or a purchase. Mailchimp has a genuine free plan and Standard starts at $20 a month for 500 contacts, cheaper than Drip's entry point, though it bills on contact count regardless of how often you send, so a big list mailed rarely costs the same as one mailed daily. Mailchimp treats a purchase as one journey trigger among many rather than the whole focus.
Ecommerce email priced on active people
Email marketing with the longest integration list
At a glance
- Mailchimp starts cheaper, at $20.
- Only Mailchimp has a free tier.
Side by side
Drip | Mailchimp | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price (they differ) | From $39 | From $20 |
| Pricing model (they differ) | Free trial, then paid | Free plan, paid tiers |
| Free tier (they differ) | No | Yes |
| Billing | Monthly or annual | Monthly or annual |
| Free trial | 14 days | 14 days |
| API |
Drip
Ecommerce email priced on active people
Drip is an ecommerce marketing platform that bills on how many people are active in your account and how much you send, rather than on a feature ladder. Everybody gets everything, which removes the usual argument about which tier has automations. It is aimed at stores, so a writer with a plain newsletter is paying for behaviour tracking they will never wire up.
Our note
Single-plan pricing is the appeal and the risk: nothing is withheld, and the bill moves on its own as the list grows. Model it at twice your current list size before committing, because that is the number that will arrive.
Only on this side
- Covers digital products & storefronts
Mailchimp
Email marketing with the longest integration list
Mailchimp is the default nobody gets fired for picking, and the reason is that whatever else you run already connects to it. The editor and the reporting are fine rather than good. Its pricing counts contacts rather than sends, so a large list you mail once a month costs the same as one you mail daily, which is the wrong shape for most creators.
Why people weigh these two
- Mailchimp instead of Drip
- Mailchimp brings the longest integration list, a free tier and plans from $20, the generalist choice against machinery priced on active people.
- Drip instead of Mailchimp
- Drip prices on active contacts rather than the full list size, and is built specifically for ecommerce rather than general newsletters.
Which one should you pick
Pick Drip for a store whose automation should be built around carts and purchases first, with revenue attribution tying a sale back to the email that produced it. It costs more to start, $39 against Mailchimp's $20, and has no free tier, but nothing is withheld behind a higher plan the way Mailchimp gates some journeys.
Pick Mailchimp when the email tool needs to talk to a shop, a booking tool and a CRM that were all chosen before the newsletter existed, since a connector for almost everything already exists. Its free plan suits a list before it earns anything, but billing on contacts rather than sends is the wrong shape for a big list mailed only occasionally.
Common questions
- Which one is cheaper to start?
- Mailchimp, with a genuine free plan and Standard from $20 a month at 500 contacts. Drip has no free tier and starts at $39 a month, priced on active people and send volume rather than on contact count.
- Which pricing shape fits a list that is not mailed often?
- Mailchimp's does not: it bills on contacts regardless of how often you send, so a large list mailed rarely costs the same as one mailed daily, which Mailchimp's own materials call the wrong shape for most creators. Drip bills on active people and volume sent, which moves with actual usage instead.
- Does Mailchimp connect to more tools than Drip?
- By its own description, yes: whatever store, form or course platform is already in use, a Mailchimp connector likely exists. Drip's own materials focus on ecommerce platforms specifically rather than claiming the same breadth of integrations.
- Is either one built around ecommerce automation specifically?
- Drip is: its automation and revenue attribution are tuned to carts and purchases as the core trigger. Mailchimp treats a purchase as one of several journey triggers, alongside a tag or a link click, rather than the entire focus of the product.
Ratings are the average of reviews readers left. The facts are stated by each tool’s own listing and are not verified by CloutStack. How we make money.