Constant Contact vs Mailchimp for Local Business

October 24, 2026·Nataliia· 7 min read All posts

Pick Mailchimp if you have a small list, send occasionally and want a free tier to start. Pick Constant Contact if you want a paid plan with a 30-day money-back guarantee (unverified, see Sources) and a plain rule for how you are charged. The real difference for a local shop is not features. It is how each company counts contacts and what happens when you go over a limit.

This comparison uses vendor pages and help centers that were opened on 24 October 2026. Constant Contact's own pricing page returned an access error (HTTP 403) to our fetcher, so its plan prices come from search-result excerpts of that page and are marked as unverified below. Check both pricing pages before you buy.

250→

Mailchimp Free contact limit

Mailchimp pricing page, 24 Oct 2026

$0.002→

Constant Contact overage per extra email

Constant Contact Billing FAQ

14 days→

Mailchimp trial on Essentials and Standard

Mailchimp pricing page, 24 Oct 2026

6 or 12 mo→

Constant Contact prepay options

Constant Contact Billing FAQ

Estimates for illustration; actual numbers vary.

What Does Each Platform Charge?

Mailchimp's pricing page lists four plans. Free costs $0 and allows 250 contacts, a maximum of 500 sends a month and 250 a day. Essentials and Standard scale by contact band, from 0 to 500 contacts up to 1,000,000 or more. Premium is built for large lists and costs $350 a month for 12 months at 10,000 or more contacts.

The page does not show a price for the 500-contact band without choosing a tier, so check it for your list size.

Constant Contact lists Lite, Standard and Premium. Search-result excerpts of its pricing page quote $12, $35 and $80 a month at 500 contacts on monthly billing, with a 30-day money-back guarantee. Treat those as secondary until you see them on the live page.

The Billing FAQ, which was opened directly, confirms that tiers rise with your contact count and that a 6 or 12 month prepayment lowers the monthly rate by 10% or 15%.

How Do the Sending Limits Compare?

Both companies cap monthly sends as a multiple of your contact tier. Mailchimp's help center sets Essentials at 10 times your contact limit, Standard at 12 times and Premium at 15 times. Constant Contact's Billing FAQ says its plans allow 10 to 24 times the highest contact count in your tier, depending on the plan.

For a café or salon sending four campaigns a month, either limit is far away. A list of 1,500 contacts and four sends a month needs 6,000 sends, well under both ceilings. The limit matters if you add automations, welcome series and event reminders on top of newsletters.

On Mailchimp Free the limit is hard: the pricing page says sending is paused if you pass the contact or send limit. On paid plans, service continues and you are charged for an add-on block. Constant Contact bills overage at $0.002 per email, added to the next month's bill.

How Does Each One Count Contacts?

This is where bills drift upward. Mailchimp's help center says subscribed, non-subscribed and unsubscribed contacts all count toward your contact limit. Cleaned, archived and deleted contacts do not. A list you never prune can push you into a higher band while half the people on it can no longer be emailed.

Constant Contact prices on the highest tier you have reached. If you move up a tier and then remove contacts, the FAQ says Billing can lower the tier once as a courtesy, but not if you have already sent emails at the higher tier.

Practical rule for both: clean the list before a big import, and archive inactive contacts on a schedule. Our guide to building a local email list from zero covers collecting addresses without buying lists.

What Are the Contract and Cancellation Terms?

Mailchimp advertises a 14-day free trial on Essentials and Standard and says you can cancel or downgrade at any time. Cancelling during the trial means no charge. Downgrades take effect at the end of the billing period. Annual billing for the largest Standard and Premium tiers goes through sales.

Constant Contact's Billing FAQ is blunter. Subscriptions renew monthly whether or not you use the account until you cancel online or by calling Billing. Prepayments are non-refundable, and unused prepaid credit is surrendered on cancellation. You keep access through the period you have paid for, and a cancelled account can be reactivated for at least 30 days before it enters the purge queue.

Automations, sign-up forms and integrations stop when the account closes. If a website form feeds your list, update it before you cancel.

Which Is Easier for a Local Shop?

Mailchimp has the free entry point and generative AI included on Standard and Premium at no extra cost. Standard also adds custom reports and dynamic content, and includes one onboarding session. Support on Free is email only for the first 30 days.

Constant Contact's pitch is guidance and support, and its money-back window lowers the risk of a first purchase. Our coffee shop email guide for Constant Contact and pet groomer version show typical setups for local shops.

If you outgrow both and need purchase-based automation for an online store, read Mailchimp vs Klaviyo. For list growth ideas, see email list building strategies.

Who Should Pick Which?

Use this rule, in order:

Under 250 contacts and under 500 sends a month: start on Mailchimp Free. Move up when sending pauses.
Between 250 and about 2,500 contacts, and you want to prepay for a lower rate: Constant Contact's prepay discount is clear, but it is non-refundable. Do it only after a month of sending.
A list with many unsubscribes or old addresses: Mailchimp will count them, so budget for a cleanup first.
You want to try before paying: Mailchimp's 14-day trial and Constant Contact's trial both avoid upfront cost. Constant Contact's own blog describes a 30-day no-card trial in search excerpts; confirm on signup.
You expect to add SMS: Mailchimp lists SMS as an add-on on Essentials and Standard. Confirm Constant Contact's SMS terms on its own page.

Worked Example: A 12-Month Prepay

All inputs are assumptions. A salon has 500 active contacts and plans to send four campaigns a month on Constant Contact Standard, quoted at $35 a month on monthly billing (unverified, from search excerpts).

	Monthly billing	12-month prepay
Monthly rate	$35	$29.75 (15% off)
12-month cost	$420	$357
Saving	none	$63
Refundable if you leave in month 3	stops billing	no, prepayment is non-refundable

The $63 saving only wins if you stay a full year. If the salon is not sure, the monthly plan costs $63 more per year in exchange for the freedom to leave. On Mailchimp the same salon would first check the tier price on the live page, then compare.

Do This Today

Export your list, remove bounced and unsubscribed addresses, and note the final count. That number decides which pricing tier you land in on either platform.

FAQ

Is Mailchimp really free?

The Free plan costs $0 but is limited to 250 contacts, 500 sends a month and 250 a day, with one audience and one seat. Sending pauses when you exceed a limit.

Does Mailchimp charge for unsubscribed contacts?

Unsubscribed contacts count toward your contact limit, according to Mailchimp's help center. Archive or delete them to stop counting them.

How does Constant Contact charge for going over my send limit?

Its Billing FAQ says overage is $0.002 per email, applied toward the next month's bill.

Can I get a refund on a Constant Contact prepayment?

The Billing FAQ says prepayments are non-refundable and unused prepaid credits are surrendered on cancellation.

Can I switch later?

Yes. Export your contacts as a CSV and import them to the new tool. Keep unsubscribe status when you do, so you do not email people who opted out.

Sources

Mailchimp: Marketing pricing (opened 24 Oct 2026)
Mailchimp Help: About Mailchimp pricing plans (opened 24 Oct 2026)
Mailchimp Help: About pricing tiers (opened 24 Oct 2026)
Constant Contact Community: Billing FAQ (opened 24 Oct 2026)
Constant Contact: Pricing (returned 403 to our fetcher; the $12, $35 and $80 figures and the 30-day guarantee are secondary, from search-result excerpts)

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Nataliia

Local marketing strategist with 10+ years at global agencies — OMD, Dentsu, GroupM, and BBDO. Now helping small businesses get the same data-driven edge. Based in Europe, working with clients in the US, UK, Australia, and beyond.

About Nataliia