Is Mailchimp or Podbean better?

Neither clearly leads. Mailchimp starts at Free and Podbean at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.

Which is cheaper, Mailchimp or Podbean?

Mailchimp starts at Free and Podbean at Free.

Does Mailchimp or Podbean run on more platforms?

Mailchimp runs on Web, iOS, Android. Podbean runs on Web, Ios, Android.

Can I use Mailchimp for free?

Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.

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 Podbean is typically brought in for.

What can Mailchimp do that Podbean cannot?

Mailchimp covers Email campaigns, Marketing automation, Landing pages, Forms & popups. Podbean covers Unlimited hosting, Built-in monetization, Live streaming, Video podcasting. Both handle Social media.

E-commerce · head to head

Mailchimp vs Podbean

Mailchimp

E-commerce

Turn emails into revenue

From: Free
Rated: -

Full review Website

Podbean

Podcast & Audio Publishing

All-in-one podcast hosting with built-in monetization

From: Free
Rated: -

Full review Website

The short version

Each has a real cost: Mailchimp the free plan allows 250 contacts and 500 sends a month, with a 250 daily cap; Podbean upload allowance is monthly rather than cumulative, at 1 GB on the entry plan, so a heavy recording month is capped even with unlimited total storage
They diverge on capability: Mailchimp covers Email campaigns, Podbean covers Unlimited hosting.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Mailchimp and Podbean actually diverge.

Attributes where Mailchimp and Podbean differ
Attribute	Mailchimp	Podbean
Pricing model	Unknown	freemium
Category	E-commerce	Podcast & Audio Publishing
Founded	2001	2006

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), platforms (Web, iOS, Android), user rating (Not yet rated).

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
Shopify

Only in Podbean

Unlimited hosting
Built-in monetization
Live streaming
Video podcasting
Podcast app
Premium content
Apple Podcasts
Spotify

Both cover

Social media

What people use each for

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

Mailchimp

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

Podbean

Hosting and distributing a podcast with an RSS feed and playernot Mailchimp
Running multiple shows or a private internal podcastnot 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

Podbean

Upload allowance is monthly rather than cumulative, at 1 GB on the entry plan, so a heavy recording month is capped even with unlimited total storage
The Network plan at $99 a month meters bandwidth at 3 TB while cheaper plans are unmetered, so the middle tier is the only one with a bandwidth ceiling
Advanced analytics are excluded from every plan below Business
Private podcasting and live chat support are Business only
Team members are capped at 50 on Network despite being described as unlimited

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

Podbean

Free

BasicFree
- 5 hours total storage
- 100 GB bandwidth
- Basic analytics
Unlimited Audio$9/month
- Unlimited storage
- Unlimited bandwidth
- Advanced analytics
Unlimited Plus$29/month
- All audio features
- Video podcasting
- Live streaming
Business$99/month
- All features
- Team management
- Enterprise security

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 Podbean if

You need unlimited hosting.
You want to start without paying.
You work on Web, Ios, Android.
You also want built-in monetization.

Podbean review

Questions people ask

Is Mailchimp or Podbean better?: Neither clearly leads. Mailchimp starts at Free and Podbean at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Mailchimp or Podbean?: Mailchimp starts at Free and Podbean at Free.
Does Mailchimp or Podbean run on more platforms?: Mailchimp runs on Web, iOS, Android. Podbean runs on Web, Ios, Android.
Can I use Mailchimp for free?: Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
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 Podbean is typically brought in for.
What can Mailchimp do that Podbean cannot?: Mailchimp covers Email campaigns, Marketing automation, Landing pages, Forms & popups. Podbean covers Unlimited hosting, Built-in monetization, Live streaming, Video podcasting. Both handle Social media.

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

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

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

Mailchimp vs Podbean

Mailchimp

Podbean

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in Mailchimp

Only in Podbean

Both cover

What people use each for

Mailchimp

Podbean

Where each one falls short

Mailchimp

Podbean

Pricing, plan by plan

Mailchimp

Podbean

Which should you pick?

Choose Mailchimp if

Choose Podbean if

Questions people ask

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Related pages

More on Mailchimp

More on Podbean

Keep looking

Other head to heads