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Mailchimp to Constant Contact migration: steps, what moves and cost
Last verified against official pricing pages · published 4 Nov 2026
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.
Constant Contact has a built-in Mailchimp integration: paste a Mailchimp API key and it migrates subscribed contacts with their tags, images and documents, and your email campaigns, no CSV needed. Unsubscribes, automations, sign-up forms and landing pages you move or rebuild yourself. On cost, 5,000 contacts with automations run $75/mo on Mailchimp (Essentials) and $80/mo on Constant Contact (Lite).
Prices from Mailchimp and Constant Contact (checked 2026-11-03), monthly billing. Steps from Constant Contact's Mailchimp migration release note, its knowledge base and Mailchimp's help center (checked 2026-11-04). Neither company has an affiliate deal with us.
Cost: Mailchimp vs Constant Contact
| Contacts | Mailchimp | Constant Contact | Constant Contact minus Mailchimp |
|---|---|---|---|
| 500 | $13 (Essentials) | $12 (Lite) | −$1 |
| 1,000 | $26.50 (Essentials) | $30 (Lite) | +$3.50 |
| 2,500 | $45 (Essentials) | $50 (Lite) | +$5 |
| 5,000 | $75 (Essentials) | $80 (Lite) | +$5 |
| 10,000 | $110 (Essentials) | $120 (Lite) | +$10 |
| 25,000 | $270 (Essentials) | $280 (Lite) | +$10 |
Per month, monthly billing, cheapest plan with automations that covers the list at 4 emails per contact a month. Mailchimp Essentials and Constant Contact Lite and Standard only include limited automations (Constant Contact Lite: 1 automation template, Standard: 3; custom automations need Premium). Constant Contact has no free plan; Mailchimp Free covers 250 contacts and 500 emails a month but has no automation flows, so it isn't used here. Constant Contact's published tiers go up to 50,000 contacts; above that it's contact sales.
What each one counts. Mailchimp bills the contacts you store (peak total in the billing period; archived and cleaned contacts don't count). Constant Contact bills your contact tier: the highest number of active email contacts in the billing period, and deleting contacts mid-period doesn't lower it (Constant Contact billing). Clean the list before you import, not after. More in every Constant Contact tier.
Paying up front. Constant Contact takes 15% off for 12 months prepaid and 10% for 6 months; nonprofits get 20% or 30%. See nonprofit discounts for both platforms after discount.
How often you send
Constant Contact includes 10× your contact tier in sends a month on Lite, 12× on Standard and 24× on Premium, and charges $2 per 1,000 emails above that. Mailchimp includes 10× contacts on Essentials, 12× on Standard and 15× on Premium. Same 5,000 contacts, different schedules:
| You send | Emails /month | Mailchimp | Constant Contact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly | 5,000 | $75 (Essentials) | $80 (Lite) |
| Weekly | 20,000 | $75 (Essentials) | $80 (Lite) |
| Twice a week | 40,000 | $75 (Essentials) | $80 (Lite) |
| 3 times a week | 60,000 | $100 (Standard) | $100 (Lite) |
| Daily | 150,000 | $180 (Essentials) | $180 (Lite) |
Each platform's cheapest plan with automations that covers the volume. For Constant Contact we add the published per-email overage when that's cheaper than moving up a tier or plan; Mailchimp's overage prices aren't published, so we price the Mailchimp tier or plan whose send limit covers the volume. Method: send limits.
Calculate your exact Mailchimp → Constant Contact switching cost → · Constant Contact vs Mailchimp compared · every Mailchimp tier
Before you start
- Keep a backup export of every Mailchimp audience as CSV (Mailchimp help). Mailchimp exports one audience at a time, as a zip.
- Clean first. Constant Contact's tier is set by the highest active contact count in the period, so remove contacts you won't email before importing. See cleaning a list before switching.
- Create a Mailchimp API key for the integration: profile icon → Account & billing → Extras → API keys → Create A Key. Use the API key, not the client key (Mailchimp help).
Step by step: Constant Contact's Mailchimp integration
- Connect. In Constant Contact, open Integrations, find the Mailchimp card and click Connect. Paste the API key and click Connect.
- Choose what to migrate. Click Migrate data and pick contacts, assets and/or campaigns, then tick the permission box.
- Start migration. Subscribed contacts arrive with their Mailchimp tags; images and documents land in your Library folders; campaigns arrive as emails. Constant Contact says imported Mailchimp emails can be edited with its drag-and-drop blocks.
- Import unsubscribes separately (next section). Do this before your first send.
Prefer CSV? Constant Contact's knowledge base also covers a manual route: export each Mailchimp audience, export tagged contacts per tag (add a tag column yourself), and import the files. Source: Constant Contact KB 7572.
Don't skip: unsubscribes
The integration doesn't transfer unsubscribed contacts. To avoid emailing people who already opted out:
- In Mailchimp, go to Audience → Segments → Create Segment, filter on Email Subscription Status = not subscribed, and save it.
- Open the segment, Export Segment → Export CSV, and download it. Repeat for every audience.
- In Constant Contact, enable Advanced Email Permissions and import the file as unsubscribed contacts. A tag alone doesn't mark anyone unsubscribed.
What moves and what doesn't
- Moves: subscribed contacts with tags, images and documents, Library folders, email campaigns.
- Doesn't move: unsubscribes, automations, SMS, products, landing pages and sign-up forms. Assets used in those still come across into a Library folder.
- Names change: a Mailchimp audience is just your Contacts in Constant Contact, Mailchimp groups become lists, embedded forms are inline sign-up forms, and instead of merge tags you use Insert → Contact Details (Constant Contact's switching guide).
Sunsetting Mailchimp
- Forms: rebuild them in Constant Contact and replace the Mailchimp embed code on your site. Watch your Mailchimp audience for a few days: new sign-ups there mean a form was missed.
- Automations: rebuild welcome and other series in Constant Contact, turn them on, then pause the Mailchimp ones so nobody gets emailed twice. Check your plan first: custom automations need Premium.
- Test a sign-up and a send to yourself, and check that an unsubscribed address is suppressed.
- Downgrade or close Mailchimp around your billing date so you don't pay for both for another month.
Related: Constant Contact vs Mailchimp · Constant Contact pricing · Is Constant Contact free? · how much Mailchimp costs · the other way: Constant Contact to Mailchimp · Mailchimp to Brevo instead · Mailchimp to MailerLite · all Mailchimp alternatives
Sources
- Constant Contact release note: Moving from Mailchimp? Skip the CSVs (checked 2026-11-04)
- Constant Contact KB 7572: Export subscribed and unsubscribed contacts from Mailchimp (updated May 22, 2026; checked 2026-11-04) and Switching to Constant Contact guide (PDF), used for terminology only
- Mailchimp help: About API keys and View or export contacts (checked 2026-11-04)
- Mailchimp pricing and Constant Contact pricing, How you're billed (checked 2026-11-03)
Tip: before you import, leave out unsubscribed and bounced contacts. Most platforms bill by list size, so a cleaner list can keep you on a lower tier. How to clean your list before switching
FAQ
Can Constant Contact import directly from Mailchimp?
Yes. Constant Contact has a Mailchimp integration: in Constant Contact go to Integrations, find the Mailchimp card, click Connect and paste a Mailchimp API key, then click Migrate data, pick contacts, assets and/or campaigns, tick the permission box and click Start migration. It brings over subscribed contacts with their tags, images and documents, Library folders and email campaigns.
What doesn't transfer from Mailchimp to Constant Contact?
Per Constant Contact's release note: automations, SMS, products, landing pages and sign-up forms don't move (images and documents from them still land in a Library folder). Per its knowledge base, the integration also doesn't transfer unsubscribed contacts; you export those from Mailchimp and import them into Constant Contact yourself.
How do I move Mailchimp unsubscribes to Constant Contact?
In Mailchimp, create a segment per audience with Email Subscription Status set to contacts that are not subscribed, export it as CSV, then in Constant Contact enable Advanced Email Permissions and import the file as unsubscribed contacts. Tagging them is not enough: a tag doesn't mark a contact as unsubscribed.
Is Constant Contact more expensive than Mailchimp?
At 5,000 contacts with automations, Constant Contact costs $80/mo (Lite) and Mailchimp $75/mo (Essentials), monthly billing, so more on Constant Contact. At 1,000 it is $30 vs $26.50, and at 10,000 $120 vs $110. Constant Contact has no free plan; Mailchimp Free covers 250 contacts without automation flows.
Do unsubscribed contacts count toward my Constant Contact bill?
Constant Contact bills by your contact tier: the highest number of active email contacts in the billing period. Unsubscribed contacts aren't active, so importing them to keep them suppressed shouldn't raise your tier. Deleting contacts during a billing period doesn't lower it.
Does Constant Contact give nonprofits a discount?
Yes. Constant Contact's billing terms give nonprofits 20% or 30% off, and anyone 15% off for paying 12 months up front or 10% for 6 months. See our nonprofit discounts guide for the after-discount cost next to Mailchimp's.
Related guides: Nonprofit Email Marketing Discounts (2026) · Newsletter platform refund policies (2026) · Mailchimp to MailerLite migration · Mailchimp to beehiiv migration · How much does Mailchimp cost? Per month, per year and per contact (2026) · Mailchimp Free plan limits (2026) · Mailchimp price increase 2026 · Clean your email list before switching platforms (and pay less) · all guides
Comparisons: Constant Contact vs Mailchimp · Cheapest for 500, 1,000, 2,500, 5,000, 10,000, 25,000 subscribers
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