Is Mailchimp or Memberful better?

Neither clearly leads. Mailchimp starts at Free and Memberful at $49/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.

Which is cheaper, Mailchimp or Memberful?

Mailchimp has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Mailchimp and $49/month for Memberful.

Does Mailchimp or Memberful run on more platforms?

Mailchimp runs on Web, iOS, Android. Memberful runs on web, api.

Can I use Mailchimp for free?

Yes. Mailchimp has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Memberful starts at $49/month.

What is Mailchimp best used for?

Mailchimp is most often used for email newsletters, e-commerce marketing, lead generation, customer engagement. Of those, email newsletters and e-commerce marketing are not what Memberful is typically brought in for.

What can Mailchimp do that Memberful cannot?

Mailchimp covers Email campaigns, Marketing automation, Landing pages, Forms & popups. Memberful covers Membership checkout, Flexible subscriptions, Member management, Landing page builder.

E-commerce · head to head

Mailchimp vs Memberful

Mailchimp

E-commerce

Turn emails into revenue

From: Free
Rated: -

Full review Website

Memberful

E-commerce

Membership platform for creators to sell subscriptions, courses and gated content

From: $49/month
Rated: -

Full review Website

The short version

Only Mailchimp has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
Each has a real cost: Mailchimp the free plan allows 250 contacts and 500 sends a month, with a 250 daily cap; Memberful charges a 4.9% transaction fee on top of the flat monthly fee on the Standard plan.
They diverge on capability: Mailchimp covers Email campaigns, Memberful covers Membership checkout.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Mailchimp and Memberful actually diverge.

Attributes where Mailchimp and Memberful differ
Attribute	Mailchimp	Memberful
Starting price	Free	$49/month
Pricing model	Unknown	subscription
Free tier	Yes	No
Platforms	Web, iOS, Android	web, api
Founded	2001	2013

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (E-commerce).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Mailchimp

Email campaigns
Marketing automation
Landing pages
Forms & popups
Audience management
Content studio
Analytics
Social media

Only in Memberful

Membership checkout
Flexible subscriptions
Member management
Landing page builder
Dynamic paywalls
Third-party integrations

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Mailchimp

Email newslettersnot Memberful
E-commerce marketingnot Memberful
Lead generationnot Memberful
Customer engagementnot Memberful
Marketing automationnot Memberful

Memberful

Selling paid membership subscriptions from an existing websitenot Mailchimp
Gating podcast, newsletter or course content behind a paywallnot Mailchimp
Running a WordPress site with paid member-only contentnot Mailchimp
Offering one-time purchases alongside recurring membershipsnot Mailchimp

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Mailchimp

The free plan allows 250 contacts and 500 sends a month, with a 250 daily cap
Price is driven by contact count, so the list growing raises the bill regardless of how much you send
Send allowances are a multiple of contacts, 10x on Essentials and 12x on Standard, so a large list with heavy sending forces a tier change
Essentials allows 3 seats and Standard 5; unlimited seats need Premium at $350 a month
The headline $13 and $20 prices are for 500 contacts, not a flat rate

Memberful

Charges a 4.9% transaction fee on top of the flat monthly fee on the Standard plan.
Requires a separate Stripe account, adding setup complexity compared to all-in-one checkout platforms.
Lacks built-in course-hosting depth found in dedicated learning management platforms.
No free plan beyond the pre-launch trial period; charges begin once payments go live.

Pricing, plan by plan

Mailchimp

Free

FreeFree
- 250 contacts
- 500 sends per month
- Basic email campaigns
Essentials$13/month
- 500+ contacts
- Email campaigns
- Basic automation
Standard$20/month
- Advanced automation
- Segmentation
- Landing pages

Memberful

$49/month

Standard$49/month
- 4.9% transaction fee
- Full platform access
- Free until you go live
Enterprise$undefined/mo
- Custom volume-based rates
- Premium services and success management
- Dedicated migration support

Which should you pick?

Choose Mailchimp if

You need email campaigns.
You want to start without paying.
You work on Web, iOS, Android.
You also want marketing automation.

Mailchimp review

Choose Memberful if

You need membership checkout.
You work on web, api.
You also want flexible subscriptions.

Memberful review

Questions people ask

Is Mailchimp or Memberful better?: Neither clearly leads. Mailchimp starts at Free and Memberful at $49/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Mailchimp or Memberful?: Mailchimp has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Mailchimp and $49/month for Memberful.
Does Mailchimp or Memberful run on more platforms?: Mailchimp runs on Web, iOS, Android. Memberful runs on web, api.
Can I use Mailchimp for free?: Yes. Mailchimp has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Memberful starts at $49/month.
What is Mailchimp best used for?: Mailchimp is most often used for email newsletters, e-commerce marketing, lead generation, customer engagement. Of those, email newsletters and e-commerce marketing are not what Memberful is typically brought in for.
What can Mailchimp do that Memberful cannot?: Mailchimp covers Email campaigns, Marketing automation, Landing pages, Forms & popups. Memberful covers Membership checkout, Flexible subscriptions, Member management, Landing page builder.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Mailchimp: Does Mailchimp offer a free plan?

Yes, Mailchimp's free plan supports up to 250 contacts and 500 sends per month with a 250-per-day cap.

Source

Memberful: What does Memberful cost?

Memberful's Standard plan costs $49/month plus a 4.9% transaction fee, while larger organizations can get custom volume-based rates on the Enterprise plan.

Source

Mailchimp: What email features does Mailchimp include?

Mailchimp provides email campaign builder, automation sequences, segmentation, contact management, and A/B testing for email marketing.

Source

Memberful: Is there a free plan, and what are its limits?

Memberful can be used for free while setting up a membership site, with no charges incurred until the creator goes live and starts accepting payments.

Source

Mailchimp: Can Mailchimp integrate with e-commerce platforms?

Yes, Mailchimp integrates with Shopify, WooCommerce, Squarespace, and other e-commerce platforms for customer sync and abandoned cart automation.

Source

Memberful: What does Memberful integrate with?

Memberful integrates with WordPress, Mailchimp, Discord and Kit, among other tools, to connect membership data with existing sites and marketing systems.

Source

Mailchimp vs Memberful

Mailchimp

Memberful

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in Mailchimp

Only in Memberful

What people use each for

Mailchimp

Memberful

Where each one falls short

Mailchimp

Memberful

Pricing, plan by plan

Mailchimp

Memberful

Which should you pick?

Choose Mailchimp if

Choose Memberful if

Questions people ask

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Related pages

More on Mailchimp

More on Memberful

Keep looking

Other head to heads