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Most buyers should pick AWeber.
Pick AWeber if you want a free tier for 500 subscribers, built-in landing pages and ecommerce tools, or lower-cost unlimited users on Plus. Pick Mailchimp if a $0 entry point, AI-assisted campaigns, email and SMS, or behavioral audience data matters more. AWeber starts at $12.49/month billed annually ($15 monthly); Mailchimp’s paid Essentials offer is $13/month for 12 months, and its Free plan caps at 250 contacts and 500 monthly emails. Mailchimp’s advertised paid rates are promotional.
01Side by side
| AWeber | Mailchimp | |
|---|---|---|
| Paid starting price | $12.49/month annually; $15 monthly | $0 free; $13 Essentials promo |
| Free plan | Up to 500 subscribers | 250 contacts; 500 emails/month |
| Best for | Small businesses, bloggers and creators | Businesses wanting AI-assisted email and SMS |
| Core strength | Landing pages, ecommerce and web push | AI tools and behavioral audience data |
| Ease-of-use score | 7/10 | 6.5/10 |
| Audience data and segmentation | Custom segments; Stripe ecommerce | Behavioral data; predictive segmentation |
| Team and seat costs | Plus: unlimited users, $19.99/month annually | Unlimited users on Premium: $350/month promo |
| Support | Plus: priority 24/7 support | Essentials: 24/7 email and chat |
AWeber Choose AWeber if
- You need a free plan for up to 500 subscribers.
- You want landing pages, ecommerce pages and web push.
- You need unlimited users on Plus for $19.99 annually.
Mailchimp Choose Mailchimp if
- You want a free starting point, despite the 250-contact cap.
- You need AI-assisted email and SMS campaign tools.
- You value behavioral data and predictive segmentation.
02Pricing compared
AWeber’s free plan covers up to 500 subscribers. Its Lite plan starts at $12.49/month billed annually or $15/month billed monthly for 0–500 subscribers; that tier limits you to one list, three landing pages and three automations. Plus starts at $19.99/month annually or $30 monthly for the same subscriber band, with unlimited lists, landing pages, automations and users. Higher subscriber tiers cost more, and lists of 100,000 or more require custom pricing.
Mailchimp’s Free plan costs $0 but caps you at 250 contacts and 500 emails a month, with one seat and one audience. Essentials is advertised at $13/month for 12 months; Standard is $20 and Premium $350 on the same promotional basis. The pricing page says these are monthly rates billed for 12 months, and standard month-to-month rates may be higher after the promotion. Mailchimp also limits sends by plan.
03Features and depth
AWeber bundles email campaigns with pre-built automations, landing pages, signup forms, ecommerce pages and web push notifications. Its AI assistant helps draft subject lines and email copy. You can sell subscriptions and collect payments in more than 100 currencies through Stripe, but ecommerce sales carry a transaction fee: 1% on Lite or 0.6% on Plus. AWeber also says its team will migrate an account from another platform for free.
Mailchimp covers email and SMS campaigns, marketing automations and behavioral audience data, with AI-assisted marketing tools described on its homepage. Its plan caps matter: Essentials allows up to four automation flow steps, while Standard lists up to 200 automation flows. Premium adds A/B and multivariate testing, predictive segmentation, unlimited users and audiences, and phone and priority support. SMS is not included in Free; paid plans list SMS add-ons. The trade-off is breadth versus limits: AWeber’s Plus has unlimited automations and lists, while Mailchimp’s strongest testing and segmentation features sit on its $350/month promotional Premium plan.
04Ease of use and learning curve
Our review scores put AWeber slightly ahead on ease of use: 7 versus Mailchimp’s 6.5. That is a small difference, not proof that one is easier for every team. AWeber’s pre-built automations and ready-made landing pages may suit small businesses that want a guided starting point; Mailchimp offers more plan-dependent options, so check which features your workflow requires before moving.
For a switch, AWeber says account migration is free. Still, compare your existing list setup and automation needs against its plan limits: Lite has one list and three automations, while Plus removes those caps. Mailchimp’s Free plan allows one audience, and Essentials allows three. We’d map audiences, sends and automation steps before choosing.
Questions people ask
Why are people leaving Mailchimp?
The published review notes that ecommerce users on Reddit report moving toward Klaviyo and Omnisend. Cost and limits may also matter: Mailchimp Free caps users at 250 contacts and 500 monthly emails, while its advertised paid prices are promotional rates billed for 12 months. Those limits will not affect every account equally.
Who is Mailchimp's biggest competitor?
The published information does not identify a single biggest competitor or provide market-share data. AWeber is a direct alternative in this comparison, particularly for buyers looking for a free tier covering up to 500 subscribers, built-in landing pages or unlimited users and automations on Plus.
What are the top 3 email marketing tools?
The published material supports comparing AWeber and Mailchimp, but it does not establish an authoritative top-three ranking or enough details to name a third tool. For these two, AWeber scores better on value in the published reviews, while Mailchimp has AI-assisted tools and email and SMS campaigns.
Is AWeber a legit company?
The published material describes AWeber as an email marketing platform with free and paid plans, ecommerce tools and account migration. It does not independently verify the company’s legal status or reliability, so we can’t use these details alone to make a definitive legitimacy claim. Check current terms and support information before buying.