Mailchimp vs Sprout Social: Pricing Comparison (2026)
Mailchimp starts at $13/mo. Sprout Social starts at $249/mo. Mailchimp is $236/mo cheaper on the entry tier than Sprout Social.
See price history: Mailchimp · Sprout Social
The original email marketing platform for SMBs, now owned by Intuit ($12B acquisition, 2021). Distinctive for pricing per subscriber rather than per email sent — which surprises teams with large-but-inactive lists. Free tier up to 500 contacts. Paid tiers get expensive fast as your list grows ($350/mo Premium at 10K+ contacts). Losing SMB share to Beehiiv (creators) and Klaviyo (e-commerce) but still the default for non-technical marketers.
Social media management platform positioned as the modern, marketer-friendly alternative to Hootsuite — known for its polished UI + better analytics + Salesforce/Zendesk-tier support integrations. Distinctive for its Smart Inbox (unified message queue) and best-in-class reporting used by 34,000+ brands. Priced $199-$499/user/mo across Standard/Professional/Advanced tiers plus custom Enterprise. Public since 2019 (NASDAQ: SPT), $1.5B market cap. Acquired Tagger (influencer marketing) in 2023 and Repustate (AI/sentiment analysis) in 2022.
All plans compared
| # | Plan | Mailchimp monthly | Mailchimp annual | Sprout Social monthly | Sprout Social annual |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Free / Standard | 0 | — | 249 | 199 |
| 2 | Essentials / Professional | 13 | — | 399 | 299 |
| 3 | Standard / Advanced | 20 | — | 599 | 499 |
| 4 | Premium / Enterprise | 350 | — | custom | custom |
What each is best for
The original email marketing platform for SMBs, now owned by Intuit ($12B acquisition, 2021). Distinctive for pricing per subscriber rather than per email sent — which surprises teams with large-but-inactive lists. Free tier up to 500 contacts. Paid tiers get expensive fast as your list grows ($350/mo Premium at 10K+ contacts). Losing SMB share to Beehiiv (creators) and Klaviyo (e-commerce) but still the default for non-technical marketers.
Social media management platform positioned as the modern, marketer-friendly alternative to Hootsuite — known for its polished UI + better analytics + Salesforce/Zendesk-tier support integrations. Distinctive for its Smart Inbox (unified message queue) and best-in-class reporting used by 34,000+ brands. Priced $199-$499/user/mo across Standard/Professional/Advanced tiers plus custom Enterprise. Public since 2019 (NASDAQ: SPT), $1.5B market cap. Acquired Tagger (influencer marketing) in 2023 and Repustate (AI/sentiment analysis) in 2022.
At a glance
| Mailchimp | Sprout Social | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes | — |
| Entry price | $13/mo | $249/mo |
| Enterprise available | Yes | Yes |
| Pricing model | Per Usage | — |
| Last verified | July 28, 2026 | August 12, 2026 |
| Full pricing | View full pricing | View full pricing |
Pricing last verified August 12, 2026. Tracked daily.