Mailchimp vs Constant Contact for Nonprofits (2026)
Free plan vs event tools — which fits your nonprofit?
16
Features Compared
4
Key Differences
4
User Reviews
10
FAQs Answered
Mailchimp has a free plan (500 contacts, 1,000 emails/month) and a 15% TechSoup nonprofit discount. Constant Contact offers a stronger 30% discount but no free tier and removed its free plan in 2023. Both charge for unsubscribed contacts. Groupmail costs $15/month flat with unlimited contacts and no discount paperwork.
Platform Overview
See how each platform compares
Mailchimp
Full-featured marketing platform
Mailchimp is a full marketing platform — email, landing pages, social ads, and basic CRM. Originally built for small businesses, it offers a free plan up to 500 contacts and a wide template library. It works for nonprofits but charges for unsubscribed contacts and the nonprofit discount is modest at 15%.
Constant Contact
Email and events platform
Constant Contact is an email and events platform targeting small organisations. It offers the strongest nonprofit discount of any major platform (30% via TechSoup) and built-in event management for galas and fundraisers. The tradeoff: no free plan since 2023, higher base prices, and the same unsubscribed-contact billing as Mailchimp.
Key Differences
Free plan
Mailchimp winsMailchimp offers a free plan for up to 500 contacts and 1,000 emails per month — workable for small nonprofits getting started. Constant Contact removed its free plan in 2023. If you have fewer than 500 active contacts and no budget, Mailchimp is the only option of the two.
Nonprofit discount
Constant Contact winsConstant Contact offers a 30% discount to verified 501(c)(3) organisations and 20% to general nonprofits via TechSoup. Mailchimp offers only 15%. On a Standard plan at 2,500 contacts (~$45/mo for Mailchimp, ~$55/mo for Constant Contact), the Constant Contact discount saves $16.50/mo vs Mailchimp's $6.75/mo — making Constant Contact cheaper after applying discounts.
Charging for unsubscribed contacts
Groupmail winsBoth Mailchimp and Constant Contact count unsubscribed contacts toward your billing tier. A nonprofit that has been collecting emails for 10 years may have 6,000 unsubscribes sitting on a list of 4,000 active contacts — you pay the 10,000-contact tier rate. Groupmail never charges for unsubscribed contacts.
Price at 5,000 active contacts
Groupmail winsAt 5,000 contacts: Mailchimp Standard is ~$75/mo (before 15% discount: ~$64/mo). Constant Contact Standard is ~$65/mo (before 30% discount: ~$45/mo). Groupmail Community is $15/mo regardless of contact count. Even Constant Contact's best discount doesn't get close.
Feature Comparison
16 features · pricing verified May 7, 2026
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| Feature | Mailchimp | Constant Contact | Groupmail |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing | |||
| Free plan | 500 contacts, 1,000 emails/mo | None (removed 2023) | 500 contacts, 1,000 emails/mo |
| Price at 2,500 contacts | ~$45/mo (Standard) | ~$55/mo (Standard) | $15/mo (unlimited contacts) |
| Price at 10,000 contacts | ~$100/mo (Standard) | ~$95/mo (Standard) | $15/mo (unlimited contacts) |
| Unlimited contacts | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Charges for unsubscribed contacts | Yes | Yes | No |
| Nonprofit discount | 15% via TechSoup | 30% via TechSoup | Community-First pricing, no application |
| Email Features | |||
| Drag-and-drop editor | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ |
| Email automation | Standard+ plans | Standard+ plans | ✗ |
| A/B testing | Standard+ plans | Premium plan only | ✗ |
| Reporting & analytics | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Extra Tools | |||
| Event management | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ |
| Landing pages | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ |
| Support & Compliance | |||
| Human support (all plans) | ✗ | Phone & chat (paid plans) | Every plan, including free |
| Volunteer handover support | ✗ | ✗ | Included (Continuity plan) |
| GDPR compliant | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| EU data storage | ✗ | ✗ | Ireland (EU by default) |
Pricing at 10,000 Contacts
All prices USD · verified May 7, 2026
Constant Contact
$95/mo
Standard plan, 10,000 contacts
~$66/mo after 30% nonprofit discount
Groupmail
$15/mo
Community plan, unlimited contacts
Same price at 1,000 or 100,000 contacts
Pros & Cons
Mailchimp
Pros
- Free plan up to 500 contacts / 1,000 emails per month
- Intuitive drag-and-drop email editor
- Landing pages and signup forms included
- Strong automation on Standard plans and above
- 300+ integrations including Salesforce, Stripe, and Eventbrite
- Detailed campaign analytics with click maps and audience growth tracking
Cons
- Counts unsubscribed contacts toward billing tier
- 15% nonprofit discount via TechSoup — requires verification
- No phone support — email and chat only
- No event management — relies on Eventbrite integration
- Price climbs steeply above 2,500 contacts
- Dashboard has grown cluttered with marketing features most nonprofits never use
Constant Contact
Pros
- 30% nonprofit discount — best available from a major platform
- Built-in event management (registrations, ticketing, payments)
- Phone and chat support on paid plans
- Simple interface — easy for non-technical volunteer coordinators
- Strong email deliverability track record
- Social posting tools included on all paid plans
Cons
- No free plan since 2023
- Counts unsubscribed contacts toward billing tier
- Higher base prices than Mailchimp before discounts
- Limited automation on Standard plan
- TechSoup verification required — can take days
- Template editor is less flexible than Mailchimp's for custom designs
What others say
Verified third-party reviews and resources for further reading.
Which Should You Choose?
Choose Mailchimp if…
- →Nonprofits with fewer than 500 active contacts and zero budget
- →Organizations that need landing pages alongside email
- →Teams already invested in the Mailchimp/Google/Salesforce ecosystem
- →Grant-funded programs that need detailed campaign analytics for reporting
- →Nonprofits using multiple SaaS tools that need native integrations
Choose Constant Contact if…
- →Nonprofits that run events (galas, auctions, fundraising dinners)
- →Organisations that qualify for the 30% TechSoup 501(c)(3) discount
- →Teams that need phone support and have a budget
- →Nonprofits with non-technical volunteer coordinators who need a simpler interface
- →Organizations that combine email marketing with event registration and ticketing
A third option
Neither was built for nonprofits.
Both platforms were designed for marketers with budgets and automation funnels. Groupmail has been built for organisations like yours since 1996.
Flat $15/month pricing
Unlimited contacts, no TechSoup application, no waiting period. Same price at 500 contacts or 50,000.
No penalty for unsubscribes
Unsubscribed and inactive contacts never count toward your billing limit — ever.
Volunteer handover included
Annual handover call when your coordinator changes (Continuity plan, $29/mo). Built for the reality of nonprofit staffing.
User Reviews
“We outgrew the free plan and the jump to paid was steep. At 3,000 contacts we're paying $50/month and still getting charged for people who unsubscribed years ago. The interface has gotten more complex too — half our volunteers can't figure out the new campaign builder.”
Sarah K.
Communications Manager, Community Foundation
“Mailchimp's free plan got us started when we had zero budget. The templates are solid and the reporting is better than anything else we tried. Once we passed 500 contacts the cost started adding up, but the integrations with our donor database keep us here for now.”
David M.
Executive Director, Regional Arts Council
“The event management feature is what sold us. We run four fundraising galas a year and handling registrations, tickets, and follow-up emails from one platform saves our team hours. The 30% nonprofit discount helps with the cost, but I wish they hadn't removed the free plan.”
Michelle R.
Event Coordinator, Youth Services Nonprofit
“We've been on Constant Contact for six years but the price keeps going up. We have 8,000 contacts but probably 3,000 of those are old unsubscribes we can't afford to pay for. Support is helpful when you can reach them, but the basic plan feels limited for what we pay.”
James T.
Membership Director, Historical Society
Frequently Asked Questions
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Mailchimp vs Constant Contact: Full Overview
Mailchimp and Constant Contact are the two most compared email marketing platforms in the nonprofit sector. Both were built for small businesses and later added nonprofit features — but neither was designed specifically for community organizations.
Mailchimp launched in 2001 as an email marketing tool for small businesses. It has since grown into a full marketing platform with landing pages, social ads, CRM features, and automation workflows. Intuit acquired Mailchimp in 2021 for $12 billion. Its free plan (500 contacts, 1,000 emails per month) remains its strongest draw for cash-strapped nonprofits.
Constant Contact has been in the email space since 1995. It focuses on simplicity and added event management tools that are genuinely useful for nonprofits running fundraisers and galas. Its 30% nonprofit discount through TechSoup is the best among major platforms. However, it removed its free plan in 2023, which eliminated the zero-budget entry point.
Core Email Features Compared
Both platforms include the essential email features nonprofits need: drag-and-drop editors, contact management, signup forms, basic analytics, and scheduling. The differences appear in depth and pricing tier.
Mailchimp gates its most useful features behind higher plans. Email automation requires Standard ($20/month at 500 contacts) or higher. A/B testing, send-time optimization, and advanced segmentation are also Standard-tier. The free plan includes only basic email sends and limited templates.
Constant Contact takes a similar approach but with fewer tiers. Its Standard plan includes basic automation, contact segmentation, and social posting. Event management is available on all paid plans — a genuine differentiator. A/B subject-line testing requires Premium, their most expensive tier.
For nonprofits sending monthly newsletters and occasional fundraising appeals, both platforms provide more features than most organizations will use. The question is rarely about feature gaps — it is about what you will actually pay for the features you need.
Where Mailchimp Adds Value for Nonprofits
Mailchimp's strongest case for nonprofits starts with its free plan. For small organizations with fewer than 500 active contacts and no marketing budget, Mailchimp is the only major platform offering a free entry point since Constant Contact removed its free tier in 2023.
Beyond the free plan, Mailchimp's integration ecosystem is its second advantage. With over 300 native integrations — including Salesforce, Stripe, Eventbrite, WordPress, and Google Analytics — nonprofits using multiple tools can connect their systems without third-party middleware.
Mailchimp's reporting is also more detailed than Constant Contact's. Campaign analytics include click maps, purchase tracking (if connected to e-commerce), and audience growth charts. For nonprofits filing grant reports that require engagement metrics, Mailchimp provides more granular data out of the box.
The tradeoff is complexity. Mailchimp's dashboard has grown cluttered as Intuit has added marketing features most nonprofits will never use.
Where Constant Contact Adds Value for Nonprofits
Constant Contact's clearest advantage for nonprofits is its built-in event management. Nonprofits that run galas, fundraising dinners, auctions, community workshops, or recurring meetings can create event pages, manage registrations, collect payments, and send follow-up emails — all without leaving the platform.
The 30% nonprofit discount through TechSoup is the most generous among major email platforms. While the base prices are higher than Mailchimp's, the discount brings Constant Contact's cost below Mailchimp's after the 15% Mailchimp discount at most contact tiers above 2,500.
Constant Contact also offers phone support on paid plans — unusual in the email platform space. For nonprofits with non-technical staff or volunteer coordinators who need guidance, being able to call a real person is a meaningful differentiator.
The tradeoff: no free plan, higher base prices, and limited automation compared to Mailchimp's Standard tier and above.
Free Plan Comparison
The free plan question is straightforward: Mailchimp has one, Constant Contact does not.
Mailchimp's free plan includes 500 contacts and 1,000 email sends per month. It includes the drag-and-drop editor, basic templates, and signup forms. It does not include automation, A/B testing, or scheduled sending. There is also a daily sending limit of 500 emails, which means you cannot email your entire list in a single send until you hit the paid tier.
Constant Contact offered a 60-day free trial (not a permanent free plan) and removed even that in some markets. For nonprofits with zero budget, Constant Contact is not an option.
Groupmail also offers a free plan at the same 500-contact, 1,000-email limits. The key difference: when you outgrow the free tier, Groupmail's paid plan is $15/month for unlimited contacts — compared to Mailchimp's tiered pricing that scales with your list size.
Migration Considerations
Switching email platforms is straightforward but requires planning. Both Mailchimp and Constant Contact allow CSV export of contacts including email addresses, names, tags, and custom fields. Neither exports email campaign history or automation workflows.
If moving from Mailchimp to Constant Contact (or vice versa), expect to rebuild your email templates, recreate any automations, and re-import your contact list. Plan for 2-4 hours of setup time for a typical nonprofit account.
If considering Groupmail as an alternative to either platform, the migration is simpler: export your contacts from Mailchimp or Constant Contact as a CSV, import into Groupmail, and start sending. There are no automations to recreate because Groupmail focuses on email sends rather than marketing workflows. Groupmail also offers migration assistance on the Continuity plan ($29/month).
One critical note: both Mailchimp and Constant Contact charge for unsubscribed contacts. When you export, export only active subscribers to avoid paying for dead contacts on any new platform.
Deliverability Track Records
Email deliverability — the percentage of emails that reach the inbox rather than spam — matters more than features for nonprofit communication. A beautifully designed email is worthless if it lands in spam.
Both Mailchimp and Constant Contact maintain strong deliverability reputations. Industry tests consistently place both platforms in the 85-95% inbox placement range, though results vary by list quality, content, and sender reputation.
Mailchimp enforces stricter list hygiene and will suspend accounts with high bounce rates or spam complaints. Constant Contact is somewhat more lenient but still monitors sender reputation actively.
Groupmail handles deliverability through managed email delivery — the platform manages the technical infrastructure (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) and sending reputation on behalf of each organization. This means nonprofits do not need to configure DNS records or monitor deliverability metrics themselves. For organizations without a technical team, managed delivery removes a category of problems entirely.
For Nonprofits Specifically
Neither Mailchimp nor Constant Contact was built for nonprofits. Both were built for small businesses and later added nonprofit discounts as a customer acquisition strategy. The platforms reflect this: dashboards filled with e-commerce metrics, conversion tracking, ad management, and marketing automation that most community organizations will never use.
The core problem for nonprofits is not features — it is cost structure. Both Mailchimp and Constant Contact charge based on total contacts, including people who have unsubscribed. A nonprofit that has been collecting emails for a decade may have 5,000 active members and 8,000 historical unsubscribes sitting on the same list. Both platforms will bill at the 13,000-contact tier.
For nonprofits where volunteers rotate every 1-2 years, account transitions are another pain point. Neither Mailchimp nor Constant Contact offers transition support — the outgoing coordinator hands over login credentials and hopes the new person can figure out the platform.
Groupmail was built for exactly this scenario: organizations with members (not customers), volunteer-led teams, and tight budgets. Flat pricing ($15/month, unlimited contacts), no charge for unsubscribes, and annual handover calls for coordinator transitions.
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