# Mailchimp Count audience records and price the automation and transactional tools you actually need. Canonical page: https://quillwell.com/guides/software/mailchimp/ Updated 2026-11-05 Publisher: Quillwell Guides (https://quillwell.com/guides/about/). Editorial standards: https://quillwell.com/guides/editorial/ ## The short answer - Mailchimp combines campaign tools with marketing automation flows. Check the plan against the journey you need, including branching and triggers. - [Free](https://mailchimp.com/help/about-mailchimp-pricing-plans/) includes 250 contacts and 500 monthly sends, with a 250 daily send limit. Paid plan limits and overages depend on the chosen tier. - [Transactional](https://mailchimp.com/help/add-or-remove-transactional-email/) is a separate paid add-on requiring Standard or higher, with monthly email blocks. ## Count records and preserve suppression [Mailchimp](https://mailchimp.com/help/about-your-contacts/) distinguishes subscribed, unsubscribed, non-subscribed and cleaned contacts. Its [pricing guide](https://mailchimp.com/help/about-mailchimp-pricing-plans/) excludes archived, cleaned and deleted contacts from the contact total. Include unsubscribed and non-subscribed records when estimating the audience; a marketing unsubscribe is not a deletion. Mailchimp notes that paid plans created before May 15, 2019 may follow different contact-limit rules; check legacy terms. [Audiences are separate](https://mailchimp.com/help/combine-audiences-csv-file/): duplicates, bounces and unsubscribes are not automatically visible across audiences. Before combining or migrating, export each audience and its statuses, including suppression records, and reconcile duplicates and permissions. [Mailchimp recommends backups](https://mailchimp.com/help/combine-audiences-primary-audience-uses-tags/) because some data is lost when audiences are combined. [Archiving](https://mailchimp.com/help/remove-inactive-contacts/) removes contacts from the current total but does not reduce a peak already recorded in the current billing period. Keep the records and permission evidence needed to prevent an accidental re-subscription. ## Price the actual flow [Mailchimp’s flow guide](https://mailchimp.com/help/about-customer-journeys/) lists conditional splits and up to three triggers on Standard or higher. It says Essentials supports up to four steps and Standard up to 200. A [separate conversion guide](https://mailchimp.com/help/change-classic-automation-customer-journey/) says Essentials has up to three steps. Confirm the current limit with Mailchimp for the intended account before buying. Map the trigger, waits, messages and branches of one real journey. Ask which plan supports every step and test entry, exit and repeat behavior with permitted sample records before enabling it. ## Separate marketing sends from transactional service Mailchimp offers some automation-based transactional messages within Marketing. Its [Transactional add-on guide](https://mailchimp.com/help/add-or-remove-transactional-email/) requires Standard or higher on a monthly plan; [transactional pricing](https://mailchimp.com/pricing/transactional-email/) also lists a legacy Monthly Plan and a limited free demo. Paid blocks contain 25,000 emails, are purchased each monthly cycle and expire without rollover. Confirm eligibility, integration and the quote for your account. List receipts, password resets and marketing messages separately. Check which system sends each, what happens when an allowance is exhausted and who owns its templates and suppression settings. ## Compare the alternatives Consider [Brevo](https://quillwell.com/guides/software/brevo/) if a send allowance paired with contact storage fits your volume, and [ActiveCampaign](https://quillwell.com/guides/software/activecampaign/) for a more involved automation evaluation. Compare the same stored contacts, monthly sends, workflow and transactional requirements across quotes. - [Mailchimp vs Brevo](https://quillwell.com/guides/compare/mailchimp-vs-brevo/) [Browse all software](https://quillwell.com/guides/software/) ## Common questions ### Does the Free plan have a daily limit? Yes. [Mailchimp](https://mailchimp.com/help/about-mailchimp-pricing-plans/) lists 250 sends per day and 500 per month, with up to 250 contacts. ### Are unsubscribed contacts free to retain? [Mailchimp](https://mailchimp.com/help/about-your-contacts/) counts unsubscribed and non-subscribed contacts toward plan limits. Archived, cleaned and deleted contacts are excluded. Older paid plans created before May 15, 2019 may have different contact-limit rules. ### Is transactional email included? Some transactional messages are supported by Marketing. The separate [Transactional add-on](https://mailchimp.com/help/add-or-remove-transactional-email/) requires Standard or higher monthly plans; [pricing](https://mailchimp.com/pricing/transactional-email/) also lists a legacy Monthly Plan and a limited free demo. Paid blocks are additional. ## Sources and scope We read the linked vendor pricing and documentation on November 5, 2026. Prices, plan limits and eligibility can change; confirm the terms for your account and region. We have not tested these products, sent messages or connected accounts. The suggested checks are evaluation steps, not results. Inclusion and corrections are free; sponsorship does not determine our conclusions. Editorial order is independent of paid placements. Quillwell LLC also builds Adswell, a paid-media product. Sponsorship never changes this page. [How we research](https://quillwell.com/guides/editorial/). ## Sources 9 vendor pages, checked November 5, 2026 [Mailchimp: About pricing plans](https://mailchimp.com/help/about-mailchimp-pricing-plans/) Checked 2026-11-05. Free limits, contact totals and excluded contact states. [Mailchimp: About your contacts](https://mailchimp.com/help/about-your-contacts/) Checked 2026-11-05. Contact marketing statuses and plan counting. [Mailchimp: Combine audiences from a CSV](https://mailchimp.com/help/combine-audiences-csv-file/) Checked 2026-11-05. Audience boundaries and duplicate and unsubscribe handling. [Mailchimp: Combine audiences using tags](https://mailchimp.com/help/combine-audiences-primary-audience-uses-tags/) Checked 2026-11-05. Export each audience before combining; some data is lost. [Mailchimp: Archive inactive contacts](https://mailchimp.com/help/remove-inactive-contacts/) Checked 2026-11-05. Archived contacts and billing period peak. [Mailchimp: About marketing automation flows](https://mailchimp.com/help/about-customer-journeys/) Checked 2026-11-05. Automation step, trigger and conditional split plan availability. [Mailchimp: Change a classic automation to a marketing automation flow](https://mailchimp.com/help/change-classic-automation-customer-journey/) Checked 2026-11-05. Alternative stated Essentials step limit. [Mailchimp: Add or remove Transactional](https://mailchimp.com/help/add-or-remove-transactional-email/) Checked 2026-11-05. Standard prerequisite and monthly transactional blocks. [Mailchimp: Transactional email pricing](https://mailchimp.com/pricing/transactional-email/) Checked 2026-11-05. Standard and Premium, legacy monthly plan eligibility and free demo. 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