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Mailchimp sending limits (2026): Free 500 a month and 250 a day, paid 10×/12×/15× contacts, and what overage costs
Last verified against official pricing pages · published 7 Nov 2026
All platforms side by side: email sending limits and overage rules for every platform.
Prices change often. Each price was checked on the platform's official pricing page on the date shown; plans, promos and taxes vary. Confirm on the official site before you buy. Not financial advice.
Short answer: Mailchimp's Free plan lets you send 500 emails a month, with a daily limit of 250, to up to 250 contacts. Paid plans give you a monthly send limit of 10× your contact limit on Essentials, 12× on Standard and 15× on Premium. That's about 2, 3 and 3–4 emails a week to your whole list. Going over on a paid plan doesn't stop your sends; Mailchimp adds add-on contact blocks to your bill, and it doesn't publish their prices.
From About Mailchimp pricing plans, About additional charges and About the Pay As You Go plan (checked 2026-11-07); prices and per-tier send limits from Mailchimp's pricing table (checked 2026-11-10). Mailchimp is not an affiliate of this site.
Monthly send limit at each list size
Mailchimp places you in a pricing tier by the contact limit you choose. That tier sets your price and your monthly sends. Each cell shows sends per month and the monthly price.
| Contacts | Essentials (10×) | Standard (12×) | Premium (15×) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 500 | 5,000 ($13/ | 6,000 ($20/ | 150,000 ($350/ |
| 1,500 | 15,000 ($26.50/ | 18,000 ($45/ | 150,000 ($350/ |
| 2,500 | 25,000 ($45/ | 30,000 ($60/ | 150,000 ($350/ |
| 5,000 | 50,000 ($75/ | 60,000 ($100/ | 150,000 ($350/ |
| 10,000 | 100,000 ($110/ | 120,000 ($135/ | 150,000 ($350/ |
| 25,000 | 250,000 ($270/ | 300,000 ($310/ | 375,000 ($620/ |
| 50,000 | 500,000 ($385/ | 600,000 ($450/ | 750,000 ($815/ |
| 100,000 | not sold | 1,200,000 ($800/ | 1,500,000 ($1,025/ |
Essentials stops at 50,000 contacts and Standard at 100,000. Premium starts at the 10,000 tier even for smaller lists and has published prices up to 200,000. Free: 250 contacts, 500 sends a month, 250 a day.
What counts as a send
- One email to one contact is one send. One campaign to 500 contacts uses 500 sends (help).
- Test and transactional emails count toward the monthly limit (help).
- On Pay As You Go, any attempted send uses a credit, including tests, automations, and emails that bounced or were stopped by compliance review. Signup form response emails don't (help).
- Contacts: subscribed, unsubscribed and non-subscribed contacts all count toward your contact total; archived, cleaned and deleted contacts don't (help).
What happens when you hit the limit
- Free: there's no overage billing. If you go over 250 contacts, Mailchimp puts a hold on sending live and test emails until you upgrade or reduce your contacts; you can still edit emails and collect contacts (help).
- Paid monthly plans: Mailchimp won't interrupt your service. Going over the contact or send limit adds one or more add-on contact blocks to that month's bill. Each block keeps the plan's send multiple; on Standard, 1,000 extra contacts include 12,000 extra sends (help). As long as overages are paid on time, campaigns aren't stopped (pricing FAQ).
- Block prices aren't public. Mailchimp shows them only after you log in and set a contact limit (help), so we don't guess them. If the extra sends are permanent, moving to the next tier removes the extra charges.
- Peak contacts: your bill uses the highest contact total during the billing period, even if it drops later (help).
What frequent sending costs at 5,000 contacts
Our calculator picks the cheapest plan and tier whose monthly allowance covers your sends (it moves you up a tier rather than guessing unpublished overage fees). Monthly billing, prices from each platform's own pricing page.
| How often | Sends/ | Mailchimp | MailerLite | Brevo | EmailOctopus |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weekly (4×) | 20,000 | $75 (Essentials) | $49 (Comfort) | $32 (Starter) | $31.50 (Pro) |
| 10× a month | 50,000 | $75 (Essentials) | $49 (Comfort) | $56 (Starter · 12,500 tier) | $31.50 (Pro) |
| 3× a week (13×) | 65,000 | $110 (Essentials · 10,000 tier) | $69 (Comfort · 8,000 tier) | $74 (Starter · 20,000 tier) | $38 (Pro · 7,500 tier) |
| Weekdays (22×) | 110,000 | $135 (Standard · 10,000 tier) | $69 (Power) | $179 (Standard · 37,500 tier) | $60 (Pro · 15,000 tier) |
| Daily (30×) | 150,000 | $180 (Essentials · 15,000 tier) | $69 (Power) | $179 (Standard · 37,500 tier) | $60 (Pro · 15,000 tier) |
Weekly, Mailchimp Essentials covers 5,000 contacts for $75/mo. Sending on weekdays moves it to $135/mo (Standard, 10,000 tier), and daily to $180/mo. For daily sending at this size, EmailOctopus is the cheapest of these four at $60/mo. Try your own numbers in the calculator.
Sending rarely: Pay As You Go
Instead of a monthly plan you can buy email credits: 1 credit per send, blocks from 5,000 credits, credits expire after 12 months, Essentials features included. Buying credits on Free moves you to Pay As You Go right away and unused Free sends don't carry over; buying on a paid plan stops monthly billing (help). Credit prices appear only in your account, and the plan isn't available in some currencies or regions.
Mailchimp API rate limits
If you send or sync through the Mailchimp Marketing API (an app, a store integration or your own code), a separate limit applies (Mailchimp developer docs, checked 2026-11-09):
- 10 simultaneous connections per user. The limit is shared by all your API keys and connected apps; it isn't per key.
- Going over returns an HTTP 429 error. At very high volumes you may get a 429 or 403 with no JSON body.
- Batch endpoint: at most 500 pending batch webhook events per user; a new batch request beyond that gets a 429.
- Timeout: API calls time out after 120 seconds.
- Mailchimp says the limit can't currently be raised for an individual customer, and that exceeding the limits can get API access disabled. It doesn't publish a requests-per-minute or per-day number.
These are API connection limits, not send limits: campaigns sent through the API are ordinary sends, so they use your plan's monthly send limit above. Mailchimp Transactional (formerly Mandrill) is a separate product with its own limits, not covered here.
Related: Mailchimp plans compared · Mailchimp Free plan limits · How much Mailchimp costs · Mailchimp pricing · Mailchimp alternatives · Mailchimp to MailerLite · Mailchimp to Brevo · Brevo sending limits · Mailjet sending limits · Constant Contact email limits
Sources
- Mailchimp help: About Mailchimp pricing plans (Free limits, send multiples, what counts as a send, Free contact hold; checked 2026-11-07)
- Mailchimp help: About additional charges (add-on contact blocks, peak contact total, ways to avoid charges; checked 2026-11-07)
- Mailchimp help: About the Pay As You Go plan (credits, expiry, block sizes; checked 2026-11-07)
- Mailchimp developer docs: Rate limits and timeouts (10 simultaneous connections, 429, batch webhook cap, 120-second timeout; checked 2026-11-09)
- Mailchimp plan comparison FAQ ("What happens if I hit the contact or sending limit?")
- Mailchimp pricing, MailerLite pricing, Brevo pricing, EmailOctopus pricing via our price data
FAQ
What is Mailchimp's sending limit?
It depends on the plan and your contact tier. Free: 500 sends a month with a daily limit of 250. Essentials: 10× your contact limit a month. Standard: 12×. Premium: 15× (Mailchimp help). So at 5,000 contacts that is 50,000 sends on Essentials and 60,000 on Standard. One email to 500 contacts counts as 500 sends.
What is the Mailchimp Free plan sending limit?
500 sends a month and no more than 250 a day, for up to 250 contacts (Mailchimp help). That is two emails a month to a full 250-contact list, and the daily cap means one email a day to at most 250 people. More: Mailchimp Free plan limits.
Does Mailchimp have a daily send limit?
Yes on Free: 250 sends a day (Mailchimp help). For Essentials, Standard and Premium, the help pages we checked describe only a monthly send limit (10×, 12× or 15× your contact limit); they don't list a daily cap.
What happens if I go over my Mailchimp send limit?
On a paid monthly plan Mailchimp doesn't stop sending. It bills an extra, smaller set of contacts called an add-on contact block, and each block carries the same send multiple, so on Standard 1,000 extra contacts include 12,000 extra sends (Mailchimp help). Mailchimp says it won't stop your campaigns or pause your account as long as you pay overages on time (pricing FAQ). Block prices are shown only inside your account, so we don't list them.
How much are Mailchimp overage charges?
Mailchimp doesn't publish add-on block prices on its public pages; it says the block price and size depend on your plan and tier and that you see them after logging in and setting your contact limit (Mailchimp help). What we can show is the next-tier price: at 5,000 contacts Essentials is $75/mo; sending to everyone 3× a week pushes our calculator to $110/mo (Essentials, 10,000 tier).
Do test emails count toward the Mailchimp send limit?
Yes. Mailchimp says test and transactional emails count toward your monthly sending limit (Mailchimp help). On Pay As You Go, credits are used for any attempted send, including tests, automations and emails that bounced, but not for signup form response emails (Mailchimp help).
How do I avoid Mailchimp overage charges?
Mailchimp's own suggestions: move to the contact tier that fits, archive contacts who don't engage (archived and cleaned contacts don't count), and send to smaller segments instead of your whole audience (Mailchimp help). Your bill uses the peak contact total in the billing period, so deleting contacts late in the month doesn't lower that month's bill.
Is Pay As You Go better if I send rarely?
It can be. Pay As You Go replaces the monthly plan with email credits (1 credit per send), credits expire after 12 months, blocks start at 5,000 credits, and you get Essentials features (Mailchimp help). Credit prices are shown only in your account and the plan isn't offered in every currency, so compare inside Mailchimp before switching.
What is the Mailchimp API rate limit?
Mailchimp's Marketing API allows 10 simultaneous connections per user, counted across all your API keys and apps, not per key. Going over returns an HTTP 429 error. Calls time out after 120 seconds, and the Batch endpoint allows at most 500 pending batch webhook events per user. Mailchimp says there's currently no way to raise the limit for one customer (Mailchimp developer docs). It doesn't publish a requests-per-minute number.
Related guides: How much does Mailchimp cost? Per month, per year and per contact (2026) · Mailchimp Free plan limits (2026) · Nonprofit Email Marketing Discounts (2026) · Newsletter platform refund policies (2026) · Mailchimp price increase 2026 · Mailchimp to MailerLite migration · Brevo Free plan limits (2026) · Clean your email list before switching platforms (and pay less) · all guides
Comparisons: Mailchimp vs MailerLite · Brevo vs MailerLite · Brevo vs Mailchimp · MailerLite vs EmailOctopus · EmailOctopus vs Mailchimp · EmailOctopus vs Brevo · Cheapest for 500, 1,000, 2,500, 5,000, 10,000, 25,000 subscribers
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