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MailerSpark vs Mailchimp
Mailchimp is the default for newsletters. MailerSpark is dual-track — newsletters and cold outreach — with no per-email markup. Here's the honest breakdown.
| Feature | Mailchimp | MailerSpark |
|---|---|---|
| Newsletter campaigns | ✓ | ✓ |
| Cold outreach sequences | ✗ | ✓ (Growth+) |
| Unibox with AI reply classification | ✗ | ✓ (Growth+) |
| Connected inboxes (Gmail/365/IMAP) | Limited | ✓ |
| Inbox rotation + warmup | ✗ | ✓ (Growth+) |
| Residential proxy rotation | ✗ | ✓ (Growth+) |
| Drag-and-drop builder | ✓ | ✓ |
| Automations (visual workflows) | ✓ (paid add-on) | ✓ (Starter+) |
| A/B testing | ✓ (paid add-on) | ✓ (Starter+) |
| REST API | ✓ (paid add-on) | ✓ (Starter+) |
| Signed webhooks | ✓ (paid add-on) | ✓ (Growth+) |
| BYO SMTP / Amazon SES | Limited | ✓ |
| Self-hostable | ✗ | ✓ |
| Per-email pricing | Yes (above plan limits) | No — pay SES directly |
| Free plan | 500 contacts (deprecated in 2024) | 500 contacts, 1,000 emails/mo |
| Plans start at | $13/mo Essentials (no automations) | $19/mo Starter |
The honest take
Mailchimp is a mature product with deep integrations and a big ecosystem. Where it falls short: cold outreach, per-email pricing above plan limits, and self-hosting. MailerSpark covers the gaps by treating the two halves of outbound (newsletters and cold) as the same product.
If you only send newsletters, never need cold outreach, and you're happy with Mailchimp's pricing, the switch may not be worth it. If you do both — or you'd like to bring your own SMTP/SES and keep your email costs predictable — MailerSpark is the better fit.
Get started
Try MailerSpark on the free plan.
500 contacts, 1,000 emails, full feature set. No credit card.