Best for
Best for teams that want an email marketing platform with designed templates, automation and AI writing tools, and a Marketing API to connect their own data.
- Freelancers
- Small and mid-sized
- Enterprise
Email Marketing Comparison
Mailchimp vs. Zoho Campaigns
At a glance
At a glance
Best for
Best for teams already running Zoho who want email, SMS and WhatsApp campaigns synced to the same contact records.
- Freelancers
- Small and mid-sized
- Enterprise
Cataleo does not name a winner. Both statements come from the vendors themselves.
Full Comparison
| Criterion | Mailchimp | Zoho Campaigns |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | From $13 / month Essentials plan; the price scales with the number of contacts. | Not stated |
| Free trial | Free plan available for up to 500 contacts | Forever Free plan for up to 2,000 contacts, 6,000 emails a month and 5 users |
| API | Yes, a Marketing API for audiences, automations and data sync, plus more than 300 integrations | Yes, a developer API with token-based authentication, exchanging data as XML or JSON |
| Hosting | Cloud (SaaS) | Cloud (SaaS) |
| Campaign types | Yes, email newsletters and campaigns, with A/B testing and scheduling on paid plans | Email campaigns and newsletters, plus bulk SMS and WhatsApp campaigns from the same account with their own delivery dashboards |
| Automation and journeys | Yes, automation flows, up to 3 steps on Essentials and up to 200 flows on Standard and Premium | Yes, behaviour-triggered workflows for onboarding, nurture and abandoned cart; live workflows are editable without disrupting journeys in progress and contacts re-enroll as conditions change. Basic workflows from Standard, abandoned-cart workflows and frequency capping on Professional. |
| Segmentation and personalisation | Yes, segmentation and dynamic content, with predictive segmentation on Premium | Yes, basic segmentation on Standard and advanced segmentation on Professional combining several conditions with engagement criteria, plus dynamic content and send-time optimisation on Professional |
| Templates and editor | Yes, professionally designed templates and an editor, with custom-coded templates on Premium | Yes, a drag-and-drop template editor with images, text blocks, buttons and social icons; 120+ templates from the Standard plan |
| Deliverability and testing | Yes, A/B testing and scheduling on paid plans | Reports cover bounces and unsubscribes with minute-level delivery statistics and deferred-email statuses explaining why a message is queued. A/B testing from the Standard plan, and a dedicated IP as a yearly add-on. |
| Ecommerce and CRM data | Yes, audience data with tags and more than 300 integrations | Yes, Shopify and WooCommerce for purchase activity and abandoned-cart triggers, two-way sync with Zoho CRM, and connectors for Salesforce, HubSpot, SugarCRM, Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Bigin |
| Integrations and API | Yes, a Marketing API for audiences, automations and data sync | Yes, a developer API, plus integrations across the Zoho suite (CRM, Books, Desk, Commerce, Survey, Forms, Analytics, Flow), ecommerce and CRM systems, cloud storage and Zapier |
| AI features | Yes | Yes |
| Deployment | Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based | Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based |
| Support | more entries Email helpdesk, Chat, Phone | Email helpdesk |
| Onboarding | Not stated | Documentation and knowledge base |
| Company size | Freelancers, Small and mid-sized, Enterprise | Freelancers, Small and mid-sized, Enterprise |
| Integrations | Not stated | Zoho CRM, Zoho Books, Zoho Desk, Zoho Commerce, Zoho Survey, Zoho Forms, Zoho Analytics, Zoho Flow, Shopify, WooCommerce, Salesforce, HubSpot, SugarCRM, Microsoft Dynamics 365, Bigin, SurveyMonkey, Zapier |
Add a tool
Adds a column to the table, from the tools in this category.
Row where the values differ The small markers point at the lower number, the longer list or the stated feature. They describe the data, they are not a verdict.
The short version
Key Differences
- Free trial Mailchimp Free plan available for up to 500 contacts Zoho Campaigns Forever Free plan for up to 2,000 contacts, 6,000 emails a month and 5 users
- Support Mailchimp Email helpdesk, Chat, Phone Zoho Campaigns Email helpdesk
- API Mailchimp Yes, a Marketing API for audiences, automations and data sync, plus more than 300 integrations Zoho Campaigns Yes, a developer API with token-based authentication, exchanging data as XML or JSON
- Campaign types Mailchimp Yes, email newsletters and campaigns, with A/B testing and scheduling on paid plans Zoho Campaigns Email campaigns and newsletters, plus bulk SMS and WhatsApp campaigns from the same account with their own delivery dashboards
- Automation and journeys Mailchimp Yes, automation flows, up to 3 steps on Essentials and up to 200 flows on Standard and Premium Zoho Campaigns Yes, behaviour-triggered workflows for onboarding, nurture and abandoned cart; live workflows are editable without disrupting journeys in progress and contacts re-enroll as conditions change. Basic workflows from Standard, abandoned-cart workflows and frequency capping on Professional.
Every line is one datapoint from the table above, picked automatically. Nothing here is written text.
The trade-offs
Strengths and Limitations
Mailchimp
Strengths
- Generative AI writing and design tools on the Standard and Premium plans
- Marketing API with webhooks and OAuth 2 for audiences and automations
- More than 300 integrations
- Free plan for up to 500 contacts
Limitations
- Prices scale with the number of contacts
- Predictive segmentation and custom-coded templates are reserved for the top plans
Zoho Campaigns
Strengths
- Forever Free plan for up to 2,000 contacts and 6,000 emails a month with 5 users
- Priced by contact tier rather than per seat, with unlimited emails on the paid plans
- Two-way sync with Zoho CRM plus connectors for Salesforce, HubSpot, SugarCRM and Microsoft Dynamics 365
- Email, SMS and WhatsApp campaigns run from one account
Limitations
- Advanced segmentation, dynamic content, send-time optimisation and abandoned-cart workflows require the Professional plan
- SMS and WhatsApp are credit-based add-ons on top of the plan
- A dedicated IP is a separate yearly purchase
- The free plan is capped at 2,000 contacts and 6,000 emails a month
Plans
Pricing
Mailchimp
- Free $0 / month Up to 500 monthly sends and 250 contacts, with a limited set of templates.
- Essentials From $13 / month Designed templates, A/B testing, scheduling and up to 3 automation flow steps. Scales with contacts.
- Standard From $20 / month Adds AI writing and design tools and up to 200 automation flows. Scales with contacts.
- Premium From $350 / month Adds unlimited contacts and seats, predictive segmentation, phone and priority support and custom-coded templates.
Zoho Campaigns
- Forever Free Not stated Up to 2,000 contacts, 6,000 emails a month and 5 users, with templates, list management, 35 app integrations and basic reporting.
- Standard Not stated From 500 contacts up to 100,000, unlimited emails and 10 users. Adds basic segmentation, 120+ templates, A/B testing, attachments, basic workflows, advanced analytics and 40+ app integrations.
- Professional Not stated From 500 contacts up to 500,000, unlimited emails and 20+ users. Adds advanced segmentation, dynamic content, send-time optimisation, abandoned-cart workflows and frequency capping.
What users say
Review Scores · opens after launch
Mailchimp
- Ease of use
- Not rated yet
- User interface
- Not rated yet
- Onboarding
- Not rated yet
- Support and service
- Not rated yet
- Value for money
- Not rated yet
- Features
- Not rated yet
No reviews yet. Be the first to review this tool. Every review is checked for fairness before it appears, and the vendor cannot have one removed.
Zoho Campaigns
- Ease of use
- Not rated yet
- User interface
- Not rated yet
- Onboarding
- Not rated yet
- Support and service
- Not rated yet
- Value for money
- Not rated yet
- Features
- Not rated yet
No reviews yet. Be the first to review this tool. Every review is checked for fairness before it appears, and the vendor cannot have one removed.
Where this comes from
Where this comes from
Mailchimp https://mailchimp.com · checked against the official source on 2026-08-19
Zoho Campaigns https://www.zoho.com/campaigns/ · checked against the official source on 2026-09-12
This table lists factual criteria taken from information the vendors publish themselves. For how we put it together, see the methodology.