Mailchimp vs Substack
A side-by-side comparison of Mailchimp and Substack — two options for brand, content & community. Pricing, features, and honest pros and cons.
Category
Brand, Content & Community
Brand, Content & Community
Rating
4.1 / 5
4.3 / 5
Pricing
Freemium / from ~$13/mo
Free (10% of paid revenue)
Best for
Firms wanting the safe, familiar email marketing choice
Investors building an audience through consistent writing
Key features
- Email campaign builder with template library
- Audience segmentation and tagging
- Customer journey automation
- Landing pages and signup forms
- AI-assisted subject lines and content
- Email newsletter publishing and hosting
- Paid subscription infrastructure built in
- Cross-publication recommendation network
- Podcast, video and Notes formats
- Simple analytics on opens and growth
Pros
- Everyone on the team has used it before
- Strong deliverability reputation
- Automation depth beyond basic newsletter tools
- Zero cost and zero maintenance to start
- Recommendations deliver organic subscriber growth
- Reader network effects favor consistent publishers
Cons
- Pricing climbs steeply with contact count
- Contact-based billing counts even unsubscribed profiles on some tiers
- Limited design control versus owned websites
- 10% fee stings if paid subscriptions get large
- Audience relationship partly mediated by the platform