Updated March 2026

Mailchimp vs AWeber

Mailchimp and AWeber are both legacy email marketing platforms, and both have frustrated users with recent pricing changes. Mailchimp gutted its free plan to 250 contacts and raised prices 20-30% post-Intuit acquisition. AWeber implemented 50-150% price hikes in 2024 that wiped out longtime loyalty. At 10,000 contacts, Mailchimp Standard runs approximately $110/month while AWeber Plus costs around $60/month — nearly half the price. But Mailchimp has far more integrations (300+ vs AWeber's limited ecosystem) and a more modern interface. AWeber's strengths are its 24/7 live support at every plan level and really straightforward pricing with no hidden overage charges. Honestly, both platforms feel increasingly dated — MailerLite does what both do at a fraction of the cost.

Our pick: Mailchimp (6.5/10 vs 6.2/10)

Mailchimp wins 3 out of 6 categories. AWeber is better for: non-technical beginners who value phone support and simplicity above all else, and digital product sellers who want built-in payment processing on landing pages.

Try Mailchimp

Mailchimp

6.5/10

AWeber

6.2/10

2/5

Automation

2/5

3/5

Deliverability

3/5

5/5

Ease of Use

4/5

5/5

Templates & Design

3/5

Analytics

2/5

Customer Support

5/5

At a Glance

Feature	Mailchimp	AWeber
Free Plan	Yes	Yes
Starting Price	$13/mo	$15/mo
Automation	2/5	2/5
Deliverability	3/5	3/5
Ease of Use	5/5	4/5
Templates & Design	5/5	3/5
Analytics	3/5	2/5
Customer Support	2/5	5/5
Overall	6.5/10	6.2/10

Pricing Comparison

Mailchimp

Free Plan

Paid plans from $13/mo

View Pricing

AWeber

Free Plan

Paid plans from $15/mo

View Pricing

Pros & Cons

Mailchimp

Genuinely intuitive interface — G2 rates ease of use 4.3/5, Capterra 4.4/5. The drag-and-drop builder has a shallow learning curve for basic campaigns

300+ third-party integrations — the largest ecosystem of any email tool. Nearly every SaaS product connects to Mailchimp natively

260+ professional templates on paid plans. The email builder produces clean, responsive emails that look good on mobile

Free plan has been systematically gutted: 2,000 contacts (pre-2021) → 500 (2023) → 250 (Jan 2026). Automations removed June 2025. A/B testing removed. Email scheduling removed. It is now effectively a demo, not a free plan

Charges for ALL contacts including unsubscribed and bounced — you pay for contacts who will never receive an email unless you manually archive each one. Most competitors only bill for active subscribers

Trustpilot: 2.8/5 with 67% one-star reviews. Support is widely despised — phone support only available on the $350+/month Premium plan. Below that, users report chatbots and generic responses

Full Mailchimp review →

AWeber

Customer support is consistently rated 4.5/5 on Capterra — 24/7 live chat and phone support (8AM-8PM EST). Phone support is rare in this space and really valuable for non-technical users

Smart Designer auto-generates branded email templates from your website URL — enter your domain and it pulls your colours, fonts, and logo. Clever and really time-saving for small businesses

Web push notifications built in — send browser notifications to re-engage visitors. Most email marketing competitors don't offer this at all

December 2024 price hike eliminated ALL grandfathered pricing and hit users with 50-150% increases. Real examples: users paying $29/month saw bills jump to $70+. One user with fewer than 1,000 subscribers went from legacy rate to $55/month overnight

Trustpilot rating of 2.5/5 with 33% one-star reviews — dominated by the price hike backlash and reports of list deletions in January 2025 shortly after the increase

Deliverability is mediocre — EmailToolTester ranked it 11th of 15 platforms at 83.1%. The claim of 'great deliverability' is outdated. MailerLite (94.41%) and ActiveCampaign (94.2%) significantly outperform it

Full AWeber review →

The Bottom Line

Choose Mailchimp if: Complete beginners who want the easiest interface and maximum third-party integrations. It wins 3 of 6 categories in our scoring.

Choose AWeber if: Non-technical beginners who value phone support and simplicity above all else, and digital product sellers who want built-in payment processing on landing pages. It offers better value for its specific use case.

Price comparison: Mailchimp starts at $13/mo (free plan available) vs AWeber at $15/mo (free plan available).

Who Should Pick Which?

Pick Mailchimp if…

You need a tool best for complete beginners who want the easiest interface and maximum third-party integrations
Genuinely intuitive interface — G2 rates ease of use 4.3/5, Capterra 4.4/5. The drag-and-drop builder has a shallow learning curve for basic campaigns
300+ third-party integrations — the largest ecosystem of any email tool. Nearly every SaaS product connects to Mailchimp natively

Try Mailchimp

Pick AWeber if…

You need a tool best for non-technical beginners who value phone support and simplicity above all else, and digital product sellers who want built-in payment processing on landing pages
Customer support is consistently rated 4.5/5 on Capterra — 24/7 live chat and phone support (8AM-8PM EST). Phone support is rare in this space and really valuable for non-technical users
Smart Designer auto-generates branded email templates from your website URL — enter your domain and it pulls your colours, fonts, and logo. Clever and really time-saving for small businesses

Try AWeber

Related Comparisons

Mailchimp vs ActiveCampaign

ActiveCampaign vs AWeber

Mailchimp vs Klaviyo

Klaviyo vs AWeber

Looking for more options?

See our full ranking: Best Email Marketing Tools for Beginners

Read Full Reviews

Mailchimp

AWeber

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Mailchimp or AWeber better?

Mailchimp scores higher overall (6.5/10 vs 6.2/10). Mailchimp is best for complete beginners who want the easiest interface and maximum third-party integrations. AWeber is better if you need non-technical beginners who value phone support and simplicity above all else, and digital product sellers who want built-in payment processing on landing pages.

Which is cheaper, Mailchimp or AWeber?

Mailchimp is cheaper, starting at $13/mo with a free plan. AWeber starts at $15/mo (also has a free plan).

What is Mailchimp best for?

Mailchimp is best for complete beginners who want the easiest interface and maximum third-party integrations. It scores highest in ease of use, templates & design.

How we compared these tools

We research every tool using real user reviews from Reddit, G2, Capterra, and Trustpilot — then verify current pricing and cross-reference independent deliverability data. No paid placements, no sponsored rankings.

Read our full methodologyLast updated: March 2026

Transparency note: We earn affiliate commissions from some tools on this page. This never influences our scores. Our methodology