saascosthub
methodology.doc
subscriber-tier.audit

Mailchimp Cost for 25,000 Contacts

Calculate your 12-month Mailchimp spend at 25,000 contacts versus modern flat-tier email tools.

[+] mailchimp-cost-for-25k-subscribers.window [*]

Brevo

Lowest

Starter / Business (Send-Volume)

$119 /mo

$1,428/yr bill

Base tier$119/mo
Paid cut (0%)$0/mo
beehiiv logo

beehiiv

Launch (Free) & Scale Plan

$119 /mo

$1,428/yr bill

Base tier$119/mo
Paid cut (0%)$0/mo
MailerLite logo

MailerLite

Growing Business Plan

$159 /mo

$1,908/yr bill

Base tier$159/mo
Paid cut (0%)$0/mo

Mailchimp

Standard Plan

$270 /mo

$3,240/yr bill

Base tier$270/mo
Paid cut (0%)$0/mo

tier_takeaway.note

Switching 25,000 contacts from Mailchimp ($270/mo) to Brevo or beehiiv ($119/mo) saves $151 every single month ($1,812/year).

Subscriber tier price curve (1,000 to 100,000 contacts)

Monthly base subscription rates as your email list grows—check steep bracket jumps before migrating.

[+] subscriber-brackets.table [*]
Platform 1,000 5,000 10,000 25,000 50,000 100,000
Mailchimp
$45/mo $100/mo $135/mo $270/mo $410/mo $800/mo
Brevo
$9/mo $29/mo $55/mo $119/mo $229/mo $449/mo
beehiiv logo
beehiiv
$0/mo $49/mo $79/mo $119/mo $199/mo $299/mo
MailerLite logo
MailerLite
$0/mo $39/mo $73/mo $159/mo $289/mo $550/mo

Mailchimp billing details

Best for: Legacy marketing teams already integrated with Mailchimp templates

Mailchimp bills you for unsubscribed and non-subscribed contacts stored in your audience unless you manually archive them.

Brevo billing details

Best for: Businesses with large contact lists that send 1–4 newsletters per month

Free tier allows unlimited contacts but caps sending at 300 emails/day; paid tiers charge strictly by monthly email volume.

beehiiv logo

beehiiv billing details

Best for: Media brands and paid newsletters scaling via ad network, boosts, and 0% subscription cuts

0% cut on paid memberships (only standard Stripe fees apply), making it thousands cheaper than Substack once paid subs grow.

MailerLite logo

MailerLite billing details

Best for: Small businesses and bloggers wanting clean automations at roughly half of Mailchimp rates

Free 1,000-subscriber tier caps monthly sends at 12,000 emails; Growing Business unlocks unlimited monthly emails.

Common questions

What is the cheapest email platform here at 25,000 subscribers?

At 25,000 contacts, Brevo costs $119.00/month compared to $270.00/month on Mailchimp—saving $1812/year.

Why do some email tools bill for unsubscribed contacts?

Audience-based tools like Mailchimp and Klaviyo count active or unarchived profiles toward your tier bracket, whereas send-volume tools like Brevo store contacts free and bill only for monthly emails sent.

When does Substack 10% become more expensive than beehiiv or Ghost?

Once gross paid subscription revenue crosses ~$490/month (49 subscribers paying $10/mo), Substack's 10% platform fee exceeds a flat $49/month beehiiv Scale subscription—and the gap widens with every new paid reader.