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Email & SMS marketingComparison2026
Drip vs Mailchimp: which fits your store?
Last verified 2026-08-29 some data medium/low confidence
Drip and Mailchimp are both email & sms marketing tools compared here on pricing verified 2026-08-29, published plans, App Store standing, and themes from recent merchant reviews. Mailchimp starts cheaper (free vs $39/mo); both offer free tiers. On the Shopify App Store, Drip holds 4.6 ★ across 51 reviews and Mailchimp holds 4.8 ★ across 1,331. Drip: These reviews suggest the app fits Shopify merchants who want ecommerce-focused email automation with segmentation, guided setup, and responsive support. Mailchimp: These reviews suggest the app fits Shopify merchants who want Mailchimp marketing capabilities and value hands-on support during setup, integration, and troubleshooting. — from tracked pricing and recent App Store review analysis.
How do Drip and Mailchimp compare?
|  Drip |  Mailchimp |
|---|
| App Store rating | 4.6 ★ (51 reviews) | 4.8 ★ (1,331 reviews) |
| Price from | $39/mo | free |
| Free tier | ✓ yes | ✓ yes |
| Published plans | 3 | 6 |
| Data confidence | medium | high |
App Store rating Drip 4.6 ★
Mailchimp 4.8 ★
→ Mailchimp rates higher Review volume Drip 51
Mailchimp 1,331
→ Mailchimp has the larger base Detected on 3,797 tracked DTC storefronts Drip 3 brands
Mailchimp 196 brands
→ Mailchimp leads among brands we track What would you actually pay?
| Plan | Monthly | Limits / notes |
|---|
| Free Trial | — | 14 days, limited to 1-2,500 people. Unlimited email sends available after upgrade. |
| Starter | $39 | 1-2,500 people on list |
| Professional+ | $99 | Higher list sizes (specific limits not detailed in page text) |
Verified 2026-08-08 from vendor pricing page.
| Plan | Monthly | Limits / notes |
|---|
| Premium | $350 | Displayed configuration sends up to 150,000 emails/month; monthly sends generally 15× contacts; unlimited contacts, users, and audiences; overages apply; custom pricing available for larger contact lists. |
| Standard | $20 | Displayed configuration supports 0–500 contacts and up to 6,000 emails/month; monthly sends generally 12× contacts; 5 users, 5 audiences, and up to 200 automation flows; overages apply. |
| Essentials | $13 | Monthly sends up to 10× contacts; 3 users, 3 audiences, and up to 4 automation-flow steps; overages apply. |
| Free | $0 | Up to 250 contacts; maximum 500 email sends/month or 250/day; 1 user and 1 audience. Sending is paused when contact or email limits are exceeded. |
| Pay As You Go | — | Purchase email credits as needed instead of paying a recurring monthly or annual charge; intended for infrequent senders. |
| High-volume plan | — | Available for more than 200,000 contacts; custom Premium options are also available above 250,000 contacts. |
Displayed prices are in USD. The page also offers selectors for AUD, BRL, CAD, CHF, DKK, EUR, GBP, HKD, INR, JPY, MXN, NZD, SEK, SGD, and ZAR, but no prices in those currencies are shown.
Verified 2026-08-29 from vendor pricing page.
Which features does each include?
| Feature | Drip | Mailchimp |
|---|
| Email campaigns | ✓ | ✓ |
| SMS marketing | ✓ | ✓ paid |
| Automation flows | ✓ | ✓ paid |
| Segmentation | ✓ | ✓ |
| A/B testing | ✓ | ✓ |
| Forms & popups | ✓ | ✓ |
| Push notifications | — | ✗ |
| Transactional email | — | — |
| Template library | ✓ | ✓ paid |
| Analytics & reporting | ✓ | ✓ |
| AI features | ✓ | ✓ |
| Personalization | ✓ | ✓ |
| Deliverability tools | — | — |
| Review app integration | ✓ | ✓ |
| API access | ✓ | ✓ |
| Free plan | ✗ | ✓ |
Extracted from each vendor's App Store listing (2026-07-15);
"—" = not stated there. Verify tier availability on vendor pricing pages.
What do merchants say about them?
Drip
Sentiment in the identified reviews is strongly positive, with merchants most often praising ease of use, strong support, and flexible automation for ecommerce email marketing. Negative feedback is less common but centers on reliability failures, billing or pricing frustration, and support not resolving urgent problems quickly enough.
- ＋ Ease of use — Merchants often describe setup, campaign creation, and day-to-day use as straightforward, even when using more advanced email features.
- ＋ Helpful support — Many reviewers praise responsive, knowledgeable support, including chat help, training sessions, and openness to feedback.
- ＋ Automation and segmentation — Reviewers value the ability to build targeted workflows, customer journeys, post-purchase sequences, and segmented campaigns.
- ＋ Shopify integration — Several merchants say the Shopify connection works smoothly for syncing, signup forms, and store-specific email workflows.
- － Workflow reliability — A few negative reviews report emails or abandoned-cart automations not sending correctly, causing lost revenue or unusable campaigns.
- － Pricing and value concerns — One reviewer felt the app underperformed and objected to an unexpected price increase.
- － Support gaps on critical issues — Some complaints mention delayed or insufficient follow-up when the app was not working or billing continued despite access problems.
Watch out: The main caveat is that a small number of merchants report serious sending or workflow failures, so critical automations should be tested closely before relying on them.
Synthesized from the 20 most recent App Store
reviews (2026-07-15); themes paraphrased.
Mailchimp
Recent merchant sentiment is strongly positive, with reviews dominated by praise for support rather than detailed feature feedback. The clearest pattern is that merchants rely on support to resolve setup, syncing, integration, and workflow issues quickly and clearly.
- ＋ Helpful support — Merchants most often praise support agents for being useful, friendly, patient, and easy to work with.
- ＋ Issue resolution — Many reviews say support successfully fixed troubleshooting problems, including Shopify-Mailchimp syncing and integration issues.
- ＋ Clear guidance — Several merchants appreciated being walked through steps clearly across setup, templates, flows, and platform navigation.
- ＋ Fast responses — A smaller group highlights quick replies, immediate help, or prompt follow-up during support interactions.
- － Product pain points — One review separates praise for support from frustration with recurring issues in the Mailchimp-Shopify integration or app experience.
Watch out: The main caveat is that at least one merchant reports recurring app or integration pain points despite positive support experiences.
Synthesized from the 17 most recent App Store
reviews (2026-07-15); themes paraphrased.
FAQ
Which is cheaper, Drip or Mailchimp?
Mailchimp starts lower at free, vs $39/mo for Drip (verified 2026-08-29).
Does Drip or Mailchimp have a free plan?
Both offer free tiers.
Which is rated higher on the Shopify App Store?
Mailchimp rates higher at 4.8 ★, vs 4.6 ★ — though both counts matter: Drip has 51 reviews and Mailchimp has 1,331.
How we compare: pricing and plans are collected automatically
from vendor pages on a schedule and shown with verification dates; ratings come
from the Shopify App Store; merchant sentiment is synthesized from the most
recent App Store reviews (paraphrased, never quoted). We currently have no
affiliate relationship with either vendor. Found an error?
The data snapshot behind this page is dated — check the vendor's page for
same-day changes.
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