Constant Contact's pricing page asks two questions before it shows a number: which plan, and how many contacts. Prices start at $12 a month for Lite, $35 for Standard and $80 for Premium when billed monthly, or $9, $26.25 and $60 a month when billed annually, which is a 25% saving. Each plan carries a send allowance tied to the contact count: 10 times your contacts on Lite, 12 times on Standard and 24 times on Premium, and the page notes that plan price depends on contacts and sends, with overage fees possible. Users step from 1 on Lite to 3 on Standard and unlimited on Premium, automation goes from a single template to three templates with an AI campaign builder and automatic resend to non-openers, and then to unlimited templates with custom and ecommerce automations on Premium. Premium also includes 500 SMS messages, while Lite and Standard can add messages starting at $10 a month for 1 to 500.
TL;DR
Constant Contact prices three plans by contact count: Lite $12 a month or $9 billed annually, Standard $35 or $26.25, Premium $80 or $60, with 10x, 12x and 24x monthly sends and 1, 3 and unlimited users. Mailchimp prices four: Free up to 250 contacts, Essentials $13, Standard $20 and Premium $350 a month for a 500-contact list. Both bills grow with your list; the difference is who you become as it grows, a small-business marketing suite or a general-purpose email platform.
Mailchimp runs a four-rung ladder against the same contact slider. Free is $0 for up to 250 contacts. Essentials starts at $13 a month for a 500-contact list and is described by the vendor as testing and scheduling features for sending the right content at the right time. Standard starts at $20 at the same contact count and is the plan Mailchimp labels best value, adding automations, personalisation and optimisation tools. Premium starts at $350 a month at 500 contacts and is aimed at teams, with advanced tools, unlimited contacts and priority support. A 14-day trial covers the paid plans, and Mailchimp promotes 15% off for lists of 10,000 contacts and above.
Reading the two side by side, Constant Contact is simpler and cheaper at the entry point for a small list, and it puts phone and chat support on every plan with live 1:1 onboarding. Mailchimp is cheaper in the middle, $13 and $20 against $12 and $35, but jumps hard at Premium, $350 against $80, and its free tier stops at 250 contacts rather than scaling. Both vendors are explicit that the number you see assumes a small list, so the honest move is to price your own contact count on both pages before choosing, and to check the send limits, because a plan that blocks sends at 10 times your contacts behaves differently from one at 24 times.
| Feature | Constant Contact | Mailchimp |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | No free plan listed; a trial starts the service | Free, $0 for up to 250 contacts |
| Entry paid plan | Lite, $12 a month or $9 billed annually | Essentials, $13 a month for a 500-contact list |
| Middle plan | Standard, $35 a month or $26.25 billed annually | Standard, $20 a month for a 500-contact list |
| Top plan | Premium, $80 a month or $60 billed annually | Premium, $350 a month for a 500-contact list |
| Users | 1 on Lite, 3 on Standard, unlimited on Premium | Team seats scale with plan, with priority support on Premium |
| Send allowance | 10x contacts on Lite, 12x on Standard, 24x on Premium | Send limits are tied to plan and contact count, with overage rules on the page |
| Automation | 1 template on Lite, 3 with AI campaign builder on Standard, unlimited custom and ecommerce on Premium | Automations, personalisation and optimisation tools from Standard upward |
| SMS | Premium includes 500 messages; add-ons start at $10 a month for 1 to 500 | SMS is sold alongside email plans where available |
| Support | Live phone and chat with marketing experts on all plans, dedicated team on Premium | Priority support on Premium, standard support below |
Pick Constant Contact if
Constant Contact is built for a small business owner who wants campaigns out and someone to call when they stall. Live phone and chat support and 1:1 onboarding come with every plan, the top tier is $80 a month or $60 billed annually with unlimited users and 500 SMS messages, and the automation ladder is explicit about what each tier unlocks. You accept that there is no free plan to live on and that list growth moves the price on every tier.
Pick Mailchimp if
Mailchimp gives you a list of up to 250 contacts for nothing, then $13 and $20 entry and middle tiers for a 500-contact list that undercut Constant Contact's Standard. It is the cheaper pair of rungs, and the platform is general enough for ecommerce automations and segmentation work. The ceiling is priced honestly: $350 a month for Premium at the same 500 contacts, so a team that wants advanced tools should compare that number against Constant Contact's $80 first.
No independent reviews, ratings or user quotes were collected for this pair. Both cards repeat claims from each vendor's own pricing pages, and Mailchimp's ROI figure is a vendor promotion rather than a measured result here.
Constant Contact's Lite at $12 a month, or $9 billed annually, sits just under Mailchimp's Essentials at $13 for 500 contacts, and Mailchimp's free plan is the only way to pay nothing, capped at 250 contacts. At the middle, Mailchimp's Standard at $20 is well under Constant Contact's Standard at $35, so the answer flips with the tier.
Mailchimp does: Free at $0 for up to 250 contacts. Constant Contact's pricing page shows a trial rather than a free tier, with Lite as the entry at $12 a month. If staying on free matters more than entry features, Mailchimp is the only option of the two.
Constant Contact publishes them: 10 times your contact count on Lite, 12 times on Standard and 24 times on Premium, with the page noting that overage fees may apply. Mailchimp ties send limits to plan and contact count as well, and its page warns that sending pauses if contact or send limits are exceeded. A heavy sender should price both at their own list size.
Constant Contact Premium is $80 a month, or $60 billed annually, with unlimited users, unlimited automation templates, custom and ecommerce automations and 500 SMS messages. Mailchimp Premium is $350 a month for a 500-contact list and is aimed at teams needing advanced tools, unlimited contacts and priority support. That is a $270 monthly gap at the same list size.
It saves 25%: Lite moves from $12 to $9 a month, Standard from $35 to $26.25 and Premium from $80 to $60. Over a year that is $36, $105 and $240 saved respectively, at the cost of committing to the platform for the term.
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