Mailchimp alternatives 2026: the best tools for newsletters and email marketing
A Mailchimp alternative is a tool for newsletters and email marketing that replaces Mailchimp, usually because the price rises with the contact list, because the free level has shrunk or because the organization wants support in Swedish and data stored in Sweden or the EU. Here we compare Mailchimp with five alternatives, Swedish and international, tool by tool, and show how to move your lists if you decide to switch. One of the tools is our own.
How we made the comparison
We compared the tools on what matters when you switch from Mailchimp: what it costs for a normal Swedish contact list, how contacts are counted, whether there is a free level that is good for something, whether the support is in Swedish, where data is stored and whether the tool handles more channels than email.
Paloma is one of the tools in the comparison. It is our own platform, and that is why we write openly about where the others are stronger: Mailchimp has more ready-made integrations than all the others in the table, MailerLite has a more generous free level than we do, and Brevo is cheapest for anyone sending large volumes to few contacts. The information about the other tools was checked against the providers' own websites and help centers in September 2026. Prices in dollars apply to monthly payment and vary with the exchange rate.
This guide is general information and not a recommendation for your particular business. Needs differ; always double-check with the provider before you decide.
The quick version: which alternative suits whom?
You want support in Swedish and data in Sweden: Paloma, Get a Newsletter or Rule. All three are Swedish companies with support in Swedish. Paloma and Get a Newsletter store data in Sweden; Rule does not state the storage location on its pricing page.
You want newsletters, SMS, events and automation in the same tool: Paloma. Rule has email and SMS but no event management; Mailchimp has had SMS as an add-on since February 2026 but no event module.
You want a free level that is enough for a small newsletter: MailerLite (250 subscribers, 2,500 emails a month), Paloma (250 emails a month with no time limit) or Rule (250 contacts). Mailchimp's free level stops at 250 contacts and 500 emails a month.
You send a lot of email to few contacts: Brevo, which prices on volume instead of contacts and lets you have an unlimited number of contacts even on the free level.
You depend on a large ecosystem of integrations: stay with Mailchimp, or choose Rule, which states more than 100 integrations. Here Mailchimp is still strongest.
Mailchimp 2026: price, limits and what has changed
The free level has shrunk. Mailchimp Free today allows 250 contacts and 500 emails a month, at most 250 a day, with email support only for the first 30 days. If you exceed any of the limits, the sends are paused. A few years ago the limit was 2,000 contacts, which is why many Swedish associations and small businesses that started for free now pay.
You pay per contact, and unsubscribed contacts count too. Mailchimp's own help page states that subscribed, unsubscribed and non-subscribed contacts all count toward the plan's contact limit. Only cleaned, archived and deleted contacts are free. A list with 2,000 active subscribers and 800 unsubscribed contacts is therefore billed as 2,800 contacts, unless you archive manually.
The price levels. Essentials starts at 13 dollars a month for 500 contacts and is about 45 dollars at 2,500 contacts. Standard, which is required for multi-step automation flows, starts at 20 dollars and is about 60 dollars at 2,500 contacts and about 100 dollars at 5,000. Premium costs from 350 dollars a month. The send volume is limited to ten (Essentials) and twelve (Standard) times the number of contacts per month.
Data is stored in the USA. Mailchimp is owned by Intuit and states in its data processing agreement that customer data is transferred to and processed in the USA, based on the EU-U.S. data privacy framework with standard contractual clauses as a fallback. It is legal, but for the public sector and organizations with requirements for storage within Sweden or the EU, it is often the deciding reason to switch. Our guide on the GDPR for newsletters goes through what applies.
Support in English. Mailchimp has no Swedish-language support. Chat and email around the clock are included from Essentials, phone only on Premium.
SMS has been available in Sweden since February 2026, as a paid add-on from Essentials and up. Mailchimp still has no event management with registrations and check-in.
Comparison table
| Tool | Support | Free level | Starting price | Pricing model | Data | Channels |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mailchimp | English | 250 contacts, 500 emails/mo | From 13 dollars/mo | Per contact, unsubscribed contacts count | USA | SMS as an add-on, no events |
| Paloma | Swedish, phone from Act | 250 emails/mo, 80 participants, 5 SMS | From 95 SEK/mo | Per email sent, contacts free | Sweden | SMS, events, automation, surveys |
| MailerLite | English | 250 subscribers, 2,500 emails/mo | From 12 dollars/mo | Per active subscriber | EU | Forms, landing pages |
| Brevo | Six languages, not Swedish | 300 emails/day, contacts free | From 9 dollars/mo | Per email sent | See provider | SMS, chat, simple CRM |
| Get a Newsletter | Swedish | 100 contacts, 500 emails/mo | From 99 SEK/mo | Per contact, sends free | Sweden | SMS as an add-on, surveys |
| Rule | Swedish | 250 contacts | 595 SEK/mo (2,500 contacts) | Per contact, sends free | See provider | SMS and RCS, automation |
The information comes from each provider's own website and help center in September 2026 and may have changed. Dollar prices apply to monthly payment; the starting price is the lowest paid plan. Details per tool in the section below.
Mailchimp against the alternatives, one at a time
Mailchimp or Paloma
The biggest difference is in the pricing model. Mailchimp charges per contact, including unsubscribed contacts. Paloma charges per email sent a month and lets you have an unlimited number of contacts on all paid plans, so a growing list does not cost more until you actually send more. The Bas plan costs 95 SEK a month for 500 emails, Act from 395 SEK with phone support. The other difference is the platform: in Paloma's newsletter tool, newsletters, SMS, event registrations and automation flows share the same contact list, so an event invitation by email, an SMS reminder the day before and the follow-up afterward happen without exporting between systems. Data is stored in Sweden and the support team sits in Hedemora.
Choose Mailchimp if: you need ready-made integrations with a specific system such as Shopify, WooCommerce or an international CRM. Mailchimp's integration catalog is larger than Paloma's. Paloma's API is available today as an add-on service, and a new API included in all accounts is planned for December 2026, but ready-made connections are few.
Choose Paloma if: you want support in Swedish, data in Sweden, a price that does not follow the size of the list, or if you also organize events.
Mailchimp or MailerLite
MailerLite is the international alternative closest to Mailchimp in function, but it only counts active subscribers in the price; unsubscribed and bounced addresses are free. The free level is more generous (250 subscribers but 2,500 emails a month against Mailchimp's 500) and the paid plans start at 12 dollars. The data center is in the EU. The editor is simpler than Mailchimp's, which many see as an advantage.
Choose Mailchimp if: you need Mailchimp's reporting and breadth of integrations.
Choose MailerLite if: you want a cheaper, EU-based tool with the same basic features and can live with support in English.
Mailchimp or Brevo
Brevo, formerly Sendinblue, prices on the number of emails sent instead of contacts. The free level gives 300 emails a day with an unlimited number of contacts, and Starter starts at 9 dollars for 5,000 emails a month. That makes Brevo the cheapest alternative for anyone with a big list who sends rarely. Brevo has SMS, chat and a simpler CRM built in. Support is available in six languages, but not Swedish.
Choose Mailchimp if: you want the best-known platform and expect to integrate a lot.
Choose Brevo if: the list is big and the sends few, or if you want SMS without paying for a contact-based plan.
Mailchimp or Get a Newsletter
Get a Newsletter is the simplest Swedish alternative: a pure newsletter tool with support in Swedish, data on its own servers in Stockholm and unlimited sends on the paid plans. Start costs from 99 SEK a month for 500 contacts; the free level stops at 100 contacts. SMS is available as an add-on on paid plans. What is missing is event management and more advanced automation.
Choose Mailchimp if: you need multi-step automation and integrations.
Choose Get a Newsletter if: you want a simple Swedish tool for newsletters and nothing more.
Mailchimp or Rule
Rule is the Swedish platform closest to Mailchimp in ambition: email marketing, marketing automation, SMS and RCS in the same tool, with more than 100 integrations according to Rule itself. The free level gives 250 contacts; Professional costs 595 SEK a month for 2,500 contacts with unlimited sends and personal support in Swedish. Rule prices per contact, like Mailchimp, but only publishes the first price step openly.
Choose Mailchimp if: you have already built flows and integrations there and the price does not bother you.
Choose Rule if: you want Mailchimp's breadth with support in Swedish and SMS included. If you organize events, Rule lacks that part, and then Paloma is closer.
If you want to see more tools side by side, there is our comparison of newsletter tools for Swedish businesses, which also covers Ungapped and Apsis.
Which tool is easiest to use?
It depends on what you compare with. Mailchimp has grown into a marketing platform with campaigns, customer journeys, landing pages, a web shop and advertising in the same interface, and beginners often describe it as a lot to navigate. MailerLite and Get a Newsletter are simpler because they do fewer things. Paloma is in between: four modules, but each module has an editor built for communicators without a technical background, and you can start with just newsletters and add the rest later.
The best way to judge simplicity is to measure the time from sign-up to the first real test send. All six tools have a free level, so the test costs nothing but a morning. Expect the support to matter more than the interface the day something goes wrong.
Glossary: what you call X in Mailchimp is called Y in Paloma
What takes the longest when switching is rarely the technology but the words. Here are Mailchimp's terms and what the same thing is called in Paloma's Swedish interface, taken from Paloma's help center. The list also helps anyone who is new in the job and comes from Mailchimp.
| In Mailchimp | In Paloma | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Audience | Kontaktlista (contact list) | The group of contacts you send to. In Paloma you can have several contact lists at no extra cost. |
| Contact | Kontakt (contact) | A person in the list. The status subscribed corresponds to the registration status in Paloma. |
| Audience fields, merge fields | Kontaktfält (contact fields) | The details about each contact: first name, town, customer type and custom fields. |
| Tags, Groups, Segments | Filter and segmentation on contact fields | The way to select recipients. Paloma filters on the contact fields instead of tagging. |
| Merge tags, for example *|FNAME|* | Infoga kontaktfältsvärde (insert contact field value) | Personalization in the text, such as the first name in the greeting. |
| Campaign | Utskick (send) | A newsletter sent to a list on one occasion. |
| Template | Mall (template) | A saved layout to start from. In Paloma, templates are under Brev och mallar (letters and templates). |
| Content blocks | Innehållsmoduler (content modules) | The building blocks you drag into the newsletter: text, picture, button. |
| Send a test email, Preview | Snabbtest and Simulera en kontakt (quick test, simulate a contact) | A test send to your own inbox, and a preview of how a certain recipient sees the newsletter. |
| Customer Journey, Automations | A flow in marketing automation | Automatic series that start on an event. Built from nodes in Paloma. |
| Signup form, Embedded form | Prenumerationsformulär (subscription form) | The form on the website where new subscribers sign up. |
| Double opt-in | Dubbel opt-in (double opt-in) | A confirmation email before the contact is added. The same term in both. |
| Domain authentication | Sender domain with SPF and DKIM | The verification that gets the newsletters to the inbox from your own domain. |
| Reports | Statistics per send | Opens, clicks, bounces and unsubscribes. |
Paloma's terms according to the help center in September 2026. Mailchimp's terms according to their English interface.
How to switch from Mailchimp in five steps
Moving from Mailchimp takes an afternoon for most lists. What takes time is not the technology but deciding which contacts should come along.
Export the audience from Mailchimp
Go to Audience, All contacts and choose Export Audience. You get a CSV with the status per contact: subscribed, unsubscribed, cleaned. Also export your segments separately if you want to keep them.
Clean up before you import
Only import contacts with the status subscribed. Unsubscribed contacts must never come along to a new tool; it is both a GDPR requirement and a matter of deliverability. Check that you can show where the consent comes from.
Import and set up lists
Upload the CSV file in the new tool and map the columns: email, first name, last name and the fields you segment on. Rebuild the segments as lists or tags.
Verify the sender domain
Add SPF and DKIM records for your domain in the new tool before the first send, or you will end up in spam. Our guide on SPF and DKIM shows how.
Send a first, calm send
Start with your most engaged group and an ordinary newsletter. Do not close the Mailchimp account until you have seen that opens and clicks look normal in the new tool. Then delete the contacts in Mailchimp so that you do not pay for them another month.
Frequently asked questions about Mailchimp alternatives
What alternatives to Mailchimp are there?
The most common alternatives to Mailchimp for Swedish organizations are Paloma, Get a Newsletter and Rule (Swedish), and MailerLite and Brevo (international with data in the EU). Which one fits depends on whether you want support in Swedish, whether the list is growing and whether you need more channels than email.
What is the best alternative to Mailchimp in Sweden?
For anyone who wants support in Swedish and data in Sweden, Paloma, Get a Newsletter and Rule are the three candidates. Paloma is the only one of them with event management, Get a Newsletter is the simplest and Rule has the most integrations. If you just want a cheap international tool, MailerLite is the closest to Mailchimp in function.
Is Mailchimp free?
Mailchimp has a free level with 250 contacts and 500 emails a month, at most 250 a day, and support only for the first 30 days. If the limits are exceeded, the sends are paused. The paid plans start at 13 dollars a month for 500 contacts.
Does Mailchimp count unsubscribed contacts in the price?
Yes. According to Mailchimp's help center, subscribed, unsubscribed and non-subscribed contacts count toward the plan's contact limit. Only cleaned, archived and deleted contacts are free. If you want to lower the cost in Mailchimp, you need to archive unsubscribed contacts regularly. MailerLite only counts active subscribers; Paloma prices per email sent instead of per contact.
Where does Mailchimp store my data?
In the USA. Mailchimp's data processing agreement states that customer data is transferred to and processed in the USA, based on the EU-U.S. data privacy framework. For organizations with requirements for storage in Sweden or the EU, it is often the main reason to switch. Paloma and Get a Newsletter store in Sweden, MailerLite in the EU.
Can I move my contacts from Mailchimp?
Yes. Export the audience as a CSV from Mailchimp, remove everyone who does not have the status subscribed, and import the file in the new tool. Set up SPF and DKIM for your domain before the first send. The whole move normally takes an afternoon; see the steps above.
When should you switch from Mailchimp?
Three common occasions: when the invoice has increased because the list has grown, when you get requirements for data storage in Sweden or the EU, for example in a procurement, and when you need support in Swedish. Preferably switch between two campaign periods, so that there is time for a calm first send in the new tool.
Does Paloma have as many integrations as Mailchimp?
No. Mailchimp has more ready-made integrations than the other tools in the comparison. Paloma connects to other systems through an API and has few ready-made connections today. If you depend on a ready-made connection to a certain system, check that it exists before you switch.
Try Paloma as an alternative to Mailchimp
Newsletters, SMS, events and automation from the same contact list, with personal support and data in Sweden. The free account gives you 250 emails a month with no time limit, enough to move over a test list and make a first send before you pay anything.
Create a free accountThis guide compares Mailchimp with Swedish and international alternatives for newsletters and email marketing, and shows how to move your lists. If you want to go deeper, there are guides on email marketing, email sending software and newsletter templates among our guides.