We may earn a commission if you buy through links on this page. It never changes a score or a ranking. How we make money
Most buyers should pick ClickFunnels.
Choose ClickFunnels if your main job is building and monetizing funnels, stores, courses, and CRM workflows in one platform; its pricing page lists plans from $97 monthly or $81/month billed annually. Choose Mailchimp for lower-cost email and SMS marketing: it has a free tier and paid plans promoted from $13/month, though that Essentials offer runs for 12 months. The published reviews score ClickFunnels slightly higher overall, 6.1 to Mailchimp’s 5.7.
01Side by side
| ClickFunnels | Mailchimp | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $97 monthly, or $81/month billed annually | Free; paid plans promoted from $13/month |
| Free plan | No free plan listed | Free plan: 250 contacts, 500 monthly emails |
| Best for | Funnel-led sellers needing stores, courses, and CRM | Businesses focused on email, SMS, and automation |
| Core strength | Funnels, checkout, courses, and CRM in one platform | Email and SMS campaigns with audience segmentation |
| Learning curve | Review ease-of-use score: 5 | Review ease-of-use score: 6.5 |
| Integrations/data | CRM contacts; webhooks and full API on Scale | Behavioral data; predictive segmentation on Premium |
| Team/seat costs | 2 Launch team members at $97 monthly | 3 Essentials seats at $13 promotional monthly rate |
| Support | Priority and live chat start on Scale | 24/7 email and chat on Essentials |
ClickFunnels Choose ClickFunnels if
- Choose ClickFunnels if funnels are your main sales channel.
- Choose ClickFunnels if you need courses and CRM alongside checkout.
- Choose ClickFunnels if you value a higher overall review score.
Mailchimp Choose Mailchimp if
- Choose Mailchimp if you want a free entry plan.
- Choose Mailchimp if email and SMS are your main needs.
- Choose Mailchimp if lower starting costs and more entry seats matter.
02Pricing compared
Mailchimp is cheaper to start: its Free plan allows 250 contacts and up to 500 emails a month, but excludes SMS and limits email support to the first 30 days. Paid plans are promoted from $13/month for Essentials and $20/month for Standard; those prices apply for 12 months, and the pricing page notes month-to-month rates may be higher afterward. Standard includes up to 6,000 emails a month as shown on the page.
ClickFunnels has no free plan. Launch costs $97 monthly or $81/month on annual billing, with 10,000 contacts and 50,000 emails a month. Scale is $197 monthly or $164 annually; Optimize is $297 or $248. Dominate is annual-only at $5,997/year. If you need funnels, courses and CRM in the same product, that higher starting price buys a broader toolkit. For email-first use, Mailchimp costs less.
03Features and depth
ClickFunnels is built around selling through a funnel. Its homepage describes tools for sales funnels, stores, email campaigns, courses and CRM, including a drag-and-drop editor, checkout pages, A/B testing, contact and deal management, and marketing automations. It also supports courses, coaching, memberships and community areas. The plans impose contact and email limits: Launch includes 10,000 contacts and 50,000 emails a month, while Optimize includes 150,000 contacts and 750,000 emails a month.
Mailchimp is more focused on email and SMS marketing. Its listed tools include campaign creation, automations, behavioral audience data, segmentation and AI-assisted marketing. A/B and multivariate testing and predictive segmentation are Premium features, according to the pricing page. SMS is sold as an add-on, and Free does not include it. Standard includes generative AI features and up to 200 automation flows; Premium adds unlimited users and audiences. Pick based on the job: ClickFunnels combines selling infrastructure, while Mailchimp centers on marketing campaigns and audiences.
04Ease of use and learning curve
Our review scores give Mailchimp the edge for ease of use: 6.5 versus 5 for ClickFunnels. That fits the difference in scope. Mailchimp centers on campaigns, audiences and automations; ClickFunnels puts funnels, checkout, courses and CRM workflows in one platform. More functions can mean more decisions to configure, but the sources do not publish onboarding time or a learning-curve comparison.
Support differs by plan. ClickFunnels Launch lists standard support, while Scale and Optimize add priority and live chat; Dominate lists VIP support and private onboarding. Mailchimp Essentials lists 24/7 email and chat support, while Free support lasts only 30 days. Check the plan-level caps and support terms before switching.
Questions people ask
Is Mailchimp the best for email marketing?
The published information does not establish a single best option. Mailchimp offers email campaigns, automations, segmentation and testing, with a free tier and paid plans. ClickFunnels also includes email campaigns, but bundles them with funnels, checkout, courses and CRM. Choose based on whether email is the main job or one part of a broader sales setup.
Can you make money with ClickFunnels?
ClickFunnels provides tools for building sales funnels, stores, checkout pages, courses and marketing workflows, which can support an online business. Those features do not guarantee revenue. The published sources include no earnings data or results, so we cannot make a claim about how much users can make.
Does Russell Brunson own ClickFunnels?
The published published material describes ClickFunnels’ product and pricing but does not establish who owns the company or Russell Brunson’s current ownership status. We can’t confirm the answer from these sources; check ClickFunnels’ official company information or current corporate records.
What is the difference between Mailgun and Mailchimp?
The published material describes Mailchimp as an email and SMS marketing platform with campaigns, automations and audience segmentation. It does not provide information about Mailgun, so we can’t make a sourced comparison of their features, pricing or intended use.