---
title: "SendHQ vs Mailchimp for Newsletters: Price and Features"
description: A weekly newsletter to 10,000 subscribers costs $110 a month on Mailchimp and $19 on SendHQ (checked October 2026). Prices at every list size, what Mailchimp does better, and how to move your list.
canonical: https://sendhq.cc/compare/mailchimp
last-updated: 2026-10-29
updated: 2026-10-29
---
# SendHQ vs Mailchimp for newsletters

Mailchimp and SendHQ both send newsletters. They charge differently: Mailchimp prices by the number of subscribers you keep, and SendHQ prices by the emails you send.

[Start for $19 a month](https://sendhq.cc/app?plan=indie_hackers_marketing&price=19) [See SendHQ for newsletters](https://sendhq.cc/newsletter.md)

## Price at every list size

| Subscribers | Emails a month | Mailchimp | SendHQ | Difference |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1,000 | 4,334 | not listed | $19 Starter | – |
| 2,500 | 10,834 | $45† Essentials | $19 Starter | $26 less |
| 5,000 | 21,667 | $75† Essentials | $19 Starter | $56 less |
| 10,000 | 43,334 | $110† Essentials | $19 Starter | $91 less |
| 25,000 | 108,334 | $270† Essentials | $39 Scale | $231 less |

† Read from a dated third-party pricing table named in the sources, because the vendor's own page did not show list prices for every size. Confirm on the vendor's page before you buy.

Mailchimp fees: No paid-newsletter feature, so no transaction fee.

Mailchimp free plan: 250 contacts; 500 sends/month, max 250/day; sending paused if exceeded. SendHQ has no free plan.

## Where Mailchimp does more

- Marketing automation flows (up to 200 flows, branching and multiple starting points on Standard/Premium)
- Landing pages on every plan
- A/B testing (paid plans) and multivariate testing (Standard/Premium)
- SMS marketing and transactional email products
- Large ecommerce/CRM integration ecosystem

If any of these is central to how you grow, Mailchimp is likely the better fit, and that is fine.

## Where SendHQ fits better

- **You pay for what you send.** 50,000 emails for $19 a month, however many subscribers you keep between issues.
- **Your own domain and inbox.** Issues go out from your verified domain, and replies can land in a SendHQ inbox on that domain.
- **Built for developers and agents.** The same lists and broadcasts work from the REST API, the CLI and an MCP server for Claude, ChatGPT and Cursor.
- **Consent and guardrails built in.** Double opt-in forms, a consent basis on every import, automatic suppression and published pause rules.

## Moving from Mailchimp

1. Audience > Export audience > Export CSV (also per segment/tag/group). Arrives as a ZIP with one CSV per status (subscribed, unsubscribed, non-subscribed, cleaned). Downloads kept 30 days.
2. In SendHQ, add and verify your sending domain.
3. Create a list, then import the CSV with a consent basis such as "Subscribed to our newsletter on Mailchimp".
4. Write your issue with merge tags such as `{{first_name | there}}` and send it.

Mailchimp exports columns such as `Email Address`, `MEMBER_RATING`, `OPTIN_TIME`, `OPTIN_IP`, `CONFIRM_TIME`, `CONFIRM_IP`, `LATITUDE`, `LONGITUDE`. SendHQ needs an `email` column and reads `name`, or `first_name` and `last_name`; other columns become custom fields you can use in merge tags.

New workspaces start at 100 emails a day and ramp up with healthy sending, so a large list's first issues go out over a few days.

## Questions

**Is SendHQ cheaper than Mailchimp for a newsletter?**

For a weekly newsletter to 10,000 subscribers, Mailchimp lists $110 a month (Essentials) and SendHQ Starter Marketing is $19 a month for 50,000 emails, checked October 2026. SendHQ charges by emails sent, so the gap is largest for big lists sent weekly or less.

**How do I move my subscribers from Mailchimp to SendHQ?**

Audience > Export audience > Export CSV (also per segment/tag/group). Arrives as a ZIP with one CSV per status (subscribed, unsubscribed, non-subscribed, cleaned). Downloads kept 30 days. Then import the CSV into a SendHQ list with a consent basis such as 'Subscribed on our Mailchimp newsletter', verify your sending domain, and send.

**What does Mailchimp do that SendHQ does not?**

Marketing automation flows (up to 200 flows, branching and multiple starting points on Standard/Premium); Landing pages on every plan; A/B testing (paid plans) and multivariate testing (Standard/Premium); SMS marketing and transactional email products; Large ecommerce/CRM integration ecosystem.

**Will my first issue go out to the whole list at once?**

New SendHQ workspaces start at 100 emails a day and climb as healthy sending builds trust, up to 50,000 a day. A larger broadcast keeps sending as the limit allows, so plan the first issues of a large list over a few days.

## Sources

- [https://mailchimp.com/pricing/marketing/](https://mailchimp.com/pricing/marketing/)
- [https://mailchimp.com/pricing/marketing/compare-plans/](https://mailchimp.com/pricing/marketing/compare-plans/)
- [https://mailchimp.com/help/about-mailchimp-pricing-plans/](https://mailchimp.com/help/about-mailchimp-pricing-plans/)
- [https://mailchimp.com/help/view-export-contacts/](https://mailchimp.com/help/view-export-contacts/)
- [https://www.emailvendorselection.com/mailchimp-pricing/](https://www.emailvendorselection.com/mailchimp-pricing/)
- [https://blog.groupmail.io/mailchimp-pricing-2026/](https://blog.groupmail.io/mailchimp-pricing-2026/)
- [SendHQ pricing](https://sendhq.cc/pricing.md)

Checked 2026-10-29. Prices change; tell us at [/contact](https://sendhq.cc/contact.md) if one is out of date and we will correct it.