If you're new to email marketing and want a powerful platform that's easy to begin with, Mailchimp has to be at the top of your priority list. You can instantly sign up for its free plan and build your first campaign. With step-by-step buttons on its dashboard, like importing or creating your contact list, connecting an integration, and importing your brand persona, your first round of emails or SMS campaign will be ready in no time.
Here, you can either start from scratch or use a campaign template. The drag-and-drop editor makes the entire setup process easy, though the free templates are pretty barebones unless you upgrade. The automation builder can trigger emails based on sign-ups, tags, events, or custom criteria you set. I tested both prebuilt and custom journeys, and while it takes a few minutes to learn the flow, it's flexible and powerful once you do. That said, Classic Automations were discontinued in mid-2025 by Mailchimp, so if you're coming back to the platform after a while, expect to rebuild from scratch and pay for something that used to be free.
Moreover, Mailchimp's dashboard actually recommends flows based on common goals like welcoming new contacts, sharing content with Meta leads, or sending birthday discounts. These flows save serious time for basic tasks like recovering abandoned carts or nurturing repeat buyers. The thing is, on the Free plan, you can preview them, but you'll need to upgrade to actually launch them. Still, it's nice to see what's possible before committing. Setting up a flow is visual, i.e., more drag-and-drop than techy, which makes it approachable, even if you've never done automation before. Once you understand how triggers and actions work together, you can build out surprisingly complex sequences.
Plans start free with 500 contacts, then scale based on list size. Paid plans include Essentials (from $13 per month), Standard (from $20 per month), and Premium (from $350 per month for 10,000+ contacts). So, if you're working with a small list, the Free or Essentials plan might be enough. You can also buy credits with a Pay As You Go plan if you send your emails occasionally. Free trials run for 14 days on Standard or Essentials, and nonprofits get a 15% discount.
Mailchimp features: Email + SMS campaign builder | Prebuilt automation flows | List segmentation and tagging | Signup forms and popups | Landing page builder | 250+ integrations | 14-day free trial on paid plans