Email is still a very powerful tool. A recent study shows that the return on investment for each dollar spent on email marketing is between $36 and $42 for most organizations. Nonprofits, in particular, generate an average of $2.63 in email-sourced revenue per subscriber per year. To put it differently, making a mistake in choosing the email marketing platform is not a small mistake – it’s a matter of donations, sales, and staff time.
In comparing Constant Contact with Mailchimp, this guide relies on vendor documentation, independent benchmarks, and the public reviews of nonprofits, financial advisors, local governments, cities, SMBs, and ecommerce brands. Besides, it is implied that some readers might already be using Salesforce, NetSuite, or similar systems, where integrations and data sync can slowly but surely become the costliest ones.
| Factor | Constant Contact | Mailchimp |
| Core focus | A socially responsible and easy-to-use email marketing software with features such as events, surveys, and simple websites. | An adaptable platform for email marketing with customer journeys, ads, and ecommerce. |
| Typical users | Nonprofits, associations, local governments, financial advisors, and small businesses. | Brands of merchants who sell their products online, SaaS, Online publishers, and multi-channel marketers. |
| Pricing model | Tiered by contacts and features – see pricing. | Number of contacts + features – Mailchimp pricing for Essentials, Standard, Premium, and free tier. |
| Standout strengths | Templates, phone support, event management, friendly UX, newsletter, and email campaign tools. | Marketing automation, segmentation, AI, customer journey builder, and detailed ecommerce reporting. |
| Where it can be frustrating | There are not so many advanced automated options; constantly interacting with fees and “which plan includes what” might cause some confusion. | It may feel complicated; the question of how much Mailchimp costs can go up rapidly with the list size and features. |
A quick way to think about Mailchimp vs Constant Contact:
This guide is a decision map rather than a feature checklist.
Additionally, you may use this as a detailed comparison of Constant Contact vs Mailchimp and any Mailchimp alternative or Constant Contact alternative that you might be considering.
Nonprofits depend on email quite a lot. One benchmark report of more than a thousand nonprofits revealed that email is the main source of fundraising, still generating on average $58 per 1,000 fundraising messages. It is therefore the central tool in digital fundraising plans.
In this situation:
Eventually, some organizations question whether a more advanced Mailchimp alternative could outperform both. However, for the majority of smaller nonprofits, Constant Contact vs Mailchimp is still their first big decision.
In industries with strict regulations, the factor that often determines the choice is not the design but the compliance:
That is the reason why some broker-dealers authorize Constant Contact but not Mailchimp. Advisors, therefore, give up on a few more advanced automation options to take a lower compliance risk. A typical Constant Contact review from this segment refers to:
Mailchimp may still be an option in a few companies, but the compliance department, rather than marketing, will usually be the one to decide on the Constant Contact vs Mailchimp matter.
Local governments and public agencies usually need:
Constant Contact is great at this because:
Mailchimp can still be used – particularly where there is a need for advanced segmentation – however, the additional framework around journeys and data may appear to be a bit much for communications teams that only require good email marketing services rather than a full marketing cloud.
Funnels are the main thing that decides the success or failure of ecommerce brands. Flows that are automated, like abandoned cart, post-purchase follow-ups, and product recommendations, are, a lot of times, for each sent message, far more profitable than broadcast campaigns.
In that world:
Where ecommerce is the chief source of income, you are most likely to consider Constant Contact either as a temporary stage or as a backup Mailchimp alternative for small side projects.
Coaches, course creators, and small businesses are typically in a situation where they have to choose between keeping things simple and growing their business:
Quite a few professionals in this niche finally decide to add a tool such as a dedicated funnel builder or a more powerful Mailchimp alternative, but the initial decision between Mailchimp and Constant Contact usually determines how much automation and segmentation will be considered as “normal” going forward.
Think about your first week:
In case your senders are not marketing professionals, the learning curve of Constant Contact vs Mailchimp will be more favorable to Constant Contact.
Both products have a visual drag-and-drop builder, but the user experience differs.
Constant Contact:
Mailchimp:
For very few users, these differences matter very little. On the other hand, for users who work extensively with the system, the system speed and editor comfort become two of the most important factors that affect their daily experience.
Constant Contact puts the focus on the number of templates and their relevance:
Mailchimp has fewer templates to choose from, but the basic layouts are more polished and work better with its brand kit and website builder tools. The main target for these is trendy designs that can be used not only for landing pages, ads, and email campaigns but also for the whole brand.
Both platforms support:
Studies based on commercial sources indicate that personalization has the potential to double the interest and the number of conversions. A well-planned personalization application in a tool of your choice will, in most cases, raise your results to a greater extent than simply changing template families.
Mobile opens were roughly 26% to 78% of total email opens, which is highly dependent on the audience and industry. Consequently, a mobile-ready design is absolutely necessary.
Both tools:
The difference between Constant Contact and Mailchimp editors will matter less to your design discipline and content choices, which will ultimately be the main drivers of your results.
Both Constant Contact and Mailchimp allow:
As an example, features such as constant contact import contacts are set up in a way that a non-technical person can transfer lists without the need for extensive IT support.
Constant Contact:
Mailchimp:
In case you have the intention to have several micro-audiences within one database, Mailchimp’s setup is more flexible over time.
For really small groups, Mailchimp works somewhat like a light CRM. It keeps customer data, allows custom fields, and tracks the behavior of each contact.
Constant Contact is mostly referred to as ‘just email,’ which is used on top of a real CRM. Some teams use it along with Salesforce or a donor system, thus depending on these tools for the full history while using it for broadcasts, reminders, and events.
If you are willing to have the email tool as your chief customer system, then Mailchimp (or a Mailchimp-heavy CRM alternative) would be the more suitable option.
Both are capable of:
Moreover, by integrating the two platforms correctly, they can also enable support for key flows such as abandoned cart and post-purchase follow-ups, which are very helpful for electronic commerce and online programs. These automated sequences are frequently the main drivers of additional revenue per subscriber compared to one-off email blasts.
Mailchimp’s customer journey builder:
Mailchimp has additional advanced automation features and detailed reports that become available as you upgrade from the Essentials to the Standard and Premium plan tiers. That is the point where the cost of Mailchimp and the overall Mailchimp pricing may become a question of a strategic budget rather than just a line item.
Automation is good, but less complicated and more user-friendly:
This amount of email automation is sufficient for the majority of nonprofits, advisors, and local orgs.
Advanced journeys are profitable when:
If the majority of your work is a monthly Constant Contact newsletter and a few reminder emails, then complicated journeys might increase your costs and risks without bringing you significant returns.
In this case, the choice between Constant Contact and Mailchimp would probably be in favor of the simpler tool or even a different solution altogether (cloud-style) if the budget is limited.
On both platforms, one can get the following:
Generally, Mailchimp gives more freedom for custom fields and changes in the look of the form, which is very helpful when forms are used for advanced segmentation. Constant Contact is making the process of creating forms quicker and more comfortable for people who are not experts.
You can create targeted landing pages with both Constant Contact and Mailchimp for:
In a few plans, Constant Contact’s website pricing bundles basic site tools with email and event management, whereas Mailchimp’s website builder is mainly about the tight integration with its journeys and segments.
Neither of them is a substitute for a full CMS, but both are ways to have less work when you want to have email campaigns, forms, and pages in one view.
Both tools facilitate:
The multi-channel scenario is getting more vibrant with the addition of sms marketing, but it is also getting more complicated to manage.
Constant Contact:
Mailchimp:
According to the research, personalization, segmentation, and timing can drastically raise the open and click rates. Mailchimp’s extensive test surface makes it more convenient to implement these results if your team has the time to come up with clear experiments.
Mailchimp includes:
These functionalities are usually more significant for worldwide lists or those who send large volumes. In the case of local or smaller lists, well-defined value propositions and great subject line selections are still the main factors that enhance performance.
To take the tests really value out of the tests of either tool:
Consider tests as continuous email marketing strategy experiments rather than one-off experiments.
Constant Contact and Mailchimp both report on:
Latest benchmark reports have average email open rates at about 40–42% and average click-through rates at around 2% across most industries, with nonprofits usually going a bit higher. These figures provide you with a reference point when reading your reports on any of the platforms.
Constant Contact’s reporting is structured to:
The company does not intend to use its reporting as a full analytics suite. Their main aim is to provide a very brief account of the question: “Were the Constant Contact newsletters and appeals effective?” without the need for other tools.
Mailchimp offers:
These deeper analytics transform the question “what does Mailchimp do for us?” into a quantifiable one instead of an assumption for teams that consider email as a primary profit source. The detail is also instrumental in explaining the transitions from Essentials to Standard and Premium plans, even when Mailchimp pricing increases.
Various sectors have different ways of implementing analytics:
The main thing is to be consistent with the review. In most cases, monthly and quarterly check-ins are more effective than annual audits.
Independent deliverability and ROI studies are still supporting email as a very reliable channel if it is used properly. The differences between Constant Contact and Mailchimp are less than the differences that can be found between good sender practices and bad ones.
Both vendors support:
If your lists are old or poorly consented, neither brand name will save you from the spam folder. If your lists are well-maintained, both can deliver reliably.
Research from both academia and the industry regarding email attention and personalization indicates that relevant content and timing are still the most important factors. By improving your segmentation, consent, and creative, you will make your email marketing better than if you were to switch vendors to chase small deliverability differences.
Both Constant Contact and Mailchimp connect to:
Constant Contact frequently promotes event management and easy stores as features that are included. Mailchimp informs about its extensive integration ecosystem and the capability to be the center of numerous digital marketing tools.
Such tools as Zapier, Make, or SyncApps:
This is very important if you already have “all the tools” set up, and what ESP just needs to be a part of that web and not replace it.
Deep, two-way synchronization is basically required when:
In such instances, the debate on Constant Contact vs Mailchimp should consider an in-depth examination of sync rules, field coverage, and the way each platform deals with contact management in the future.
Both tools have been upgraded with the support of AI:
According to the research, personalization and relevance can very well double open and click rates. However, AI will only be of help if it is used to implement a clear strategy.
Mailchimp and Constant Contact are enabling sms marketing for a few countries and plans, thus:
As for the budget, you should be adding SMS costs to the base Mailchimp or Constant Contact pricing when calculating your spending.
Where most of the biggest wins come from are in spite of all the new tools:
AI and SMS can be of great help, but only when they follow a firm groundwork.
In pricing conversations regarding Constant Contact and Mailchimp:
The main questions sound like:
Departments also compare Constant Contact to competitors and Constant Contact alternatives. That is, especially when list sizes push the higher tiers, or when the Mailchimp cost increases rapidly with automation and seats.
Nonprofits and small businesses are likely to enjoy the benefits of:
These discounts can alter the apparent winner in Mailchimp vs. Constant Contact comparisons once you have modeled the spend for 12–24 months.
A real cost review should feature:
To answer the questions of “how much does Mailchimp cost?” or “what do Constant Contact rates look like at scale?” one has to add all of these together, not just look at the headline price.
Constant Contact:
Mailchimp:
Support that is mostly sought through human interaction and guidance can often be a deciding factor for those who are in the process of choosing between Constant Contact and Mailchimp.
Constant Contact customers often say that the support team is:
Mailchimp users often praise:
Step one before engaging with any ESP is to know:
Having an exit strategy in place is just another everyday part of the software selection process.
Financial services and RIAs:
Firm-level policy may be the reason why Constant Contact is preferred over Mailchimp, even if Mailchimp’s advanced features look more attractive from a pure marketing point of view.
Public sector organizations and nonprofits:
Both platforms can support these requirements, but they need to be set up properly. CRM and case-management system integrations are more important than the logo on the login page.
Both tools support:
The extent of legal risk is more dependent on your policies, data retention, and list acquisition methods than on whether you choose Constant Contact or Mailchimp.
Between publicly available reviews and discussions:
These trends are reflected in numerous Constant Contact review records and third-party email marketing roundups.
Some of the common complaints are:
When users decide to look for Constant Contact alternatives or a new Mailchimp alternative, these are usually their pain points that have led to such a decision.
Power users and agencies normally do the following:
Some agencies also take the liberty to experiment with other Constant Contact-style platforms or more integrated suites when their clients outgrow basic ESPs.
When you have outgrown the features of Constant Contact vs Mailchimp and want to step up, you might think of:
These usually offer more complex customer journeys, integrated CRM, and more detailed reporting, but at the same time, they can also increase the price and complicate the usage.
When the budget is limited, small ESPs can be a solution both as a Mailchimp alternative and a Constant Contact alternative. They may take a step back in terms of ecosystem strength or advanced features, but they lower the expenses for simple newsletter-driven programs.
If you leave Constant Contact or Mailchimp:
Don’t look at migration as a weekend spare-time task; rather, treat it as a project.
When to choose Mailchimp is most often the case if you:
Typically, it makes sense to go with Constant Contact if you:
From this perspective, Constant Contact vs Mailchimp – and any other Constant Contact Mailchimp alternative you might be considering – is a well-structured, testable decision rather than a guessing game.
Your decision to pick either Constant Contact or Mailchimp would essentially depend on what your company values the most. Mailchimp provides better automation, segmentation, and reporting capabilities for teams that use data to drive their customer journeys.
On the other hand, Constant Contact brings ease, reliable customer support, and templates that assist non-marketers in quickly launching campaigns.
These two platforms have the potential to be successful when they are combined with clean lists, well-defined goals, and ongoing optimization. By experimenting with each tool with your audience and workflows, you will be able to make a firm decision in choosing the platform that is in line with your capacity, budget, and email strategy in the long run.
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