Systeme.io vs Mailchimp — which should you choose?
The free plans differ eightfold and the data location is clear: 2,000 contacts in the EU against 250 contacts in the United States. Mailchimp’s answer is two things that are entirely unknown about Systeme.io.
Mailchimp is the best-known email tool on the market and Systeme.io an all-in-one package in which email is one part. They end up in the same consideration mainly when someone is on Mailchimp and wonders whether one tool would do with less. The comparison comes down to three things, and none of them is the monthly price.
The short answer
Choose Systeme.io if you sell a course or build funnels and want to start without paying anything. The free plan holds 2,000 contacts with no sending limit, and the data stays in the EU.
Choose Mailchimp if the integrations have already been built around it or if you want list checking inside the app: Mailchimp’s Omnivore checks imports automatically, while Systeme.io’s help page points to an external tool.
Note before choosing: Systeme.io lacks a published contact counting rule and list clean-up inside the app; at Mailchimp both can be read in the help pages.
2,000 contacts, unlimited sending. (ad) = ad link
Rounds from the data
Five points read from the source, not judged: price at three list sizes from the price list, data location from the privacy policy and deliverability features from the help pages. Equal values are a tie.
| Round | Systeme.io | Mailchimp | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price at 500 contacts / month | $17 | €11.30 | — (different currency, not compared) |
| Price at 2,500 contacts / month | $17 | €39.11 | — (different currency, not compared) |
| Price at 10,000 contacts / month | $47 | €95.59 | — (different currency, not compared) |
| Data in the EU | Yes | No | Systeme.io |
| Deliverability features from the help pages | 4/8 | 5/8 | Mailchimp |
Rounds: Systeme.io 1 – Mailchimp 1. The round count is not a grade: one round may matter more to you than all the others combined.
Comparison table
| Tool | Free plan | 500 contacts | 2,500 | 10,000 | GDPR settings | Data in the EU | English interface | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Systeme.io Our pickSee prices | 2,000 contacts, unlimited sending | $17 | $17 | $47 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Try (ad) |
| MailchimpSee prices | 250 contacts, 500 emails/month (daily limit 250) | €11.30 | €39.11 | €95.59 | Yes | No | Yes | Try |
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Prices exclude VAT, billed monthly unless stated otherwise.(ad) = ad link
- The price is the monthly price of the cheapest paid plan at that list size. The Free plan column shows when you do not have to pay.
Free plans: an eightfold difference
This is the clearest figure in the comparison, and it settles the choice more often than the paid plans’ prices do.
| On the free plan | Systeme.io | Mailchimp |
|---|---|---|
| Contacts | 2,000 | 250 |
| Emails per month | no limit | 500 |
| Daily limit | no | 250 emails |
| Also included | 3 funnels, 1 course, 1 automation rule | — |
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Free plan limits read from the services’ own price lists (Systeme.io, Mailchimp) on 3 September 2026.
The difference is not only in contact count. On Systeme.io’s free plan sending is not capped at all, so you can write to a 2,000-name list weekly without paying anything. Mailchimp’s monthly ceiling of 500 emails means two newsletters a month at a 250-name list. All seven side by side: free email marketing.
Paid plans — we give no price difference
Systeme.io’s price list is in dollars and Mailchimp’s in euros. Giving a single difference figure would need an exchange rate, which is on neither price list and changes daily. So the figures sit side by side in their own currencies.
| Tier | Systeme.io | Carries | Mailchimp | Carries |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | 0 | 2,000 contacts | 0 | 250 contacts |
| Cheapest paid | $17/mo | 5,000 contacts | €11.30/mo | 500 contacts |
| Mid tier | $47/mo | 10,000 contacts | €39.11/mo | 2,500 contacts |
| For a large list | $97/mo | unlimited | €95.59/mo | 10,000 contacts |
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Read from the price lists on 3 September 2026, monthly prices excluding VAT. The currencies differ, so the columns are not added together and no difference is given. Mailchimp’s figures are list prices after the first-year discount, and its contact tiers are bands: one subscriber over the edge moves the whole bill to the next tier.
Without a rate, what is comparable is the shape of the tiers. Systeme.io’s tiers carry clearly further at once: its cheapest paid plan covers 5,000 contacts, while Mailchimp’s cheapest covers 500.
Data location: the EU against the United States
Systeme.io is operated by Irish ITACWT Limited, and the data is in AWS’s Irish data centre and is not transferred outside the EU. Mailchimp is part of the US Intuit group, and the transfer outside the EU relies on the Data Privacy Framework and standard clauses. Both read from the services’ own privacy policies on 3 September 2026.
The transfer is not prohibited and using Mailchimp is not unlawful. The difference is in what you record in your own policy and how long the answer to a customer is. What to check and what to record: email marketing and GDPR.
A course platform against integrations
Systeme.io has sales funnels, landing pages, online courses and payment handling in the same price. If you sell a course and currently pay separately for a course platform, it replaces two subscriptions with one. Its tiers differ from each other in quantities (contacts, funnels, courses), not in features.
Mailchimp has over 300 integrations and the best-known name on the market. A ready connector exists for most e-commerce and publishing platforms, guides are plentiful, and finding someone who knows the tool is easier. If the integrations have already been built around it, they are the real price of the move — not the monthly fee.
Deliverability and the counting rule
We do not test deliverability ourselves. Below are two things: Tooltester’s 2017–2024 series as history — it ended in January 2024, and the source no longer stands behind its method — and eight points from the services’ own help pages, which are the current basis of this comparison.
| Tool | Latest | Average | Range | Spread (pp) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mailchimp | 89.5% | 87.6% | 81.6–95.5% | 13.9 |
| Systeme.io | No independent measurement | |||
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Tooltester ended the series with the January 2024 round and explained why in August 2026: seed lists proved unreliable and providers started optimising for them. The figures are therefore history, not a measurement of current deliverability.
Source: Tooltester deliverability test, 12 rounds 8/2017–1/2024. About 80 seed addresses, 28 providers, shared IP addresses. Average across all platforms in the latest round 83.1%. Average and range calculated from the published rounds.
Deliverability features from the help docs
Eight points read from each provider’s own help pages on 13 September 2026. This replaces percentages as a buying basis: a feature can be checked and dated, a seed-list result no longer can. Every cell links to the article it was read from.
| Tool | SPF/DKIM/DMARC records from the app | DMARC guidance | Bounces and complaints removed automatically | Deliverability meter in the app | Built-in list cleaning | Purchased lists banned | Dedicated IP and warm-up | Deliverability team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mailchimp | Yes | Yes | Yes | — | Yes | Yes | — | — |
| Systeme.io | Yes | Yes | Yes | — | No | Yes | No | — |
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Yes = the help page describes the feature. No = the help page says it is absent or points to an external tool. — = not found in the help pages; that does not mean the feature is absent.
As history: in Tooltester’s series Mailchimp’s average was 87.6% and its range the narrowest of the five we compare; Systeme.io was not in the series. The series ended in January 2024.
Read from the help pages, the difference is in one point: Mailchimp’s Omnivore checks every import and send automatically and blocks the send if the risk is too high. Systeme.io’s help page recommends an external checking tool. Neither help page describes a deliverability meter or a dedicated IP, and the basics are at both.
Most of deliverability is still the sender’s own responsibility — authentication, list quality and sending pace: what Gmail and Yahoo require of senders.
| Tool | Basis for the price | Does an unsubscribed contact count toward the limit | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mailchimp | Number of contacts | Yes | the provider’s own help page, read 5 September 2026 |
| Systeme.io | Number of contacts | Not read | the provider’s own help page |
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The rules are read from the providers’ own help pages. “Not read” means the rule could not be opened in the original source — we do not guess it in either direction.
- Mailchimp. An unsubscribed contact counts toward the monthly limit, as do non-subscribers who ended up in the account by other routes. Archived, cleaned and deleted contacts do not count, so lowering the bill takes a separate step: the contacts have to be archived, not just allowed to unsubscribe.
- Systeme.io. The plan limits are contact counts (free plan 2,000, Startup 5,000, Webinar 10,000). All nine contact-management articles in the help centre were read on 5 September 2026: none of them says which contact statuses count toward the plan limit. The guides advise cleaning the list, but the counting rule is not published. So we claim nothing either way until it can be read or has been asked from support.
A third option if you are leaving Mailchimp
If you are leaving Mailchimp because of price and do not need funnels, Systeme.io is unnecessarily heavy. EmailOctopus handles 2,500 subscribers for free and Brevo asks €28 a month for a 10,000-contact list, both with EU data. All directions and savings: Mailchimp alternatives.
Which one for you
Systeme.io
Email, automation, courses and sales funnels in one package
Best when: A beginner who also wants funnels and courses without separate tools
Not for you if: You need fine-grained segmentation or heavy reporting
Free plan: 2,000 contacts, unlimited sending · from $17/mo (500 contacts)
Start free — 2,000 contacts (ad) Read the review →
Good
- The free plan goes a long way: 2,000 contacts and unlimited sending
- List, automation, landing pages and courses in one price
- The price does not climb with contact count as steeply as at the competitors
- Irish company (ITACWT Limited); data in AWS’s Irish data centre and not transferred outside the EU
Bad
- The free plan includes one automation rule, one course and three funnels
- The rule for how contacts are counted is not published in the help centre
- Billed in dollars — the exchange rate comes on top
Mailchimp
The most expensive at a 2,500-contact list, and the data does not stay in the EU
Best when: A team that already uses Mailchimp and has built its integrations around it
Not for you if: You are starting now: the same money buys clearly more elsewhere
Free plan: 250 contacts, 500 emails/month (daily limit 250) · from €11.30/mo (500 contacts)
Start free — 250 contacts Read the review →
Good
- Over 300 integrations
- A well-known name with plenty of guides and people who know it
Bad
- The most expensive in the comparison: €39.11 at 2,500 contacts while Brevo asks €21
- Free plan of 250 contacts and 500 emails a month — in practice only for trying it out
- The price rises after the first-year discount
- Overage fees if the contact or sending limit is exceeded
- US Intuit group: the transfer outside the EU relies on the Data Privacy Framework