Mailchimp vs. MailerLite: Which Email Marketing Service is Right for You in 2024?

Xuchen Yao
Monday, Jan 22, 2024

Email marketing remains a powerhouse tool for businesses of all sizes. Whether you’re exploring email marketing jobs, seeking the best email marketing software, or looking for actionable email marketing tips, you will need to know about the best tool on the market. Today, we will compare two popular email marketing tools, Mailchimp and MailerLite for your considerations.

Overview of Mailchimp and MailerLite

Mailchimp: One of the most established email marketing platforms. Known for user-friendliness, strong template selection, and a wide range of integrations.

Choose Mailchimp if you:

Need the widest range of templates and design customization
Require in-depth analytics, reporting, and complex automations (and are willing to pay for - higher-tier plans)
Have a very large contact list

MailerLite: A rising competitor focused on simplicity, affordability, and essential features for streamlined email marketing.

Choose MailerLite if you:

Are a small business or just starting out
Prioritize affordability and ease of use
Need excellent support, even if you’re not paying right away

Mailchimp vs. MailerLite Email Marketing Service Comparison 2024

Pricing

Free Plans

Both platforms offer generous free plans.

Mailchimp: Up to 500 contacts, 1,000 emails/month (very limited features)
MailerLite: Up to 1,000 contacts, 12,000 emails/month (with more features)

Paid Plans

MailerLite generally offers more affordable pricing tiers, especially at lower subscriber counts. Mailchimp’s pricing can scale up quickly for larger contact lists.

Features

Templates: Mailchimp has a wider selection of pre-designed templates, plus a more advanced template builder. MailerLite provides a solid library of templates with a focus on ease of use.
Automation: Both have automation builders, but MailerLite’s automation is available even on the free plan. Mailchimp’s advanced automation features are unlocked on higher-tier plans.
List Management: MailerLite is often considered easier to use for managing subscribers, creating segments, and organizing your lists.
A/B Testing: Both platforms support A/B testing of subject lines, content, and send times to help optimization.

Deliverability

Both companies have strong reputations for deliverability (your emails reaching inboxes). MailerLite emphasizes helping users maintain good sending practices, a factor that directly impacts deliverability.

According to Email Deliverability June 2023, MailerLite has the best deliverability among all the emailing service products tested, although Mailchimp also performed very well in the deliverability test.

Analytics & Reporting

Mailchimp: Offers more advanced reporting, comparative data, and deeper insights on campaign performance, particularly on higher-priced plans.

MailerLite: Provides clear, user-friendly reporting of core metrics (opens, clicks, unsubscribes, etc.)

Customer Support

Mailchimp: Restricts support to paid plans. Premium plans include phone support.
MailerLite: Known for excellent 24/7 live chat and email support on all plans, including the free one.

Integrations

Mailchimp wins here, connecting with a vast number of apps and services. MailerLite has good core integrations but might fall short for very niche needs. After all, MailerLite is a younger product.

Brand Recognition

Mailchimp is the bigger name. This may be a factor if seeking a tool with immediate name recognition for clients, for instance.

YouTube Videos that Can Help You Get Started

You can do much more with SeaChat

No matter what you end up choosing for your email marketing service, SeaChat integrates well with the majority of email marketing platforms. You can collect the emails and leads from SeaChat AI agent and sync directly to your email marketing list.

Build and launch AI chat agent in 10 minutes. Multilingual support. Live agent transfer. Integrate with webchat, SMS, Line, CRM, Shopify, calendars, Twilio, ZenDesk, and phone calls. Email us for more details at seachat@seasalt.ai or book a demo.