Mailchimp vs Recart: which fits your store?

Last verified 2026-08-29 some data medium/low confidence

Mailchimp and Recart 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 $200/mo); Mailchimp has a free tier, Recart does not. On the Shopify App Store, Mailchimp holds 4.8 ★ across 1,331 reviews and Recart holds 4.7 ★ across 447. Mailchimp: These reviews suggest the app fits Shopify merchants who want Mailchimp marketing capabilities and value hands-on support during setup, integration, and troubleshooting. Recart: These reviews suggest the app fits Shopify merchants that want a managed or strategy-supported SMS growth channel with popups, automations, and campaign optimization. — from tracked pricing and recent App Store review analysis.

How do Mailchimp and Recart compare?

	Mailchimp	Recart
App Store rating	4.8 ★ (1,331 reviews)	4.7 ★ (447 reviews)
Price from	free	$200/mo
Free tier	✓ yes	✗ no
Published plans	6	25
Data confidence	high	medium

App Store rating

Mailchimp 4.8 ★

Recart 4.7 ★

→ Mailchimp rates higher

Review volume

Mailchimp 1,331

Recart 447

→ Mailchimp has the larger base

What would you actually pay?

Mailchimp plans

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.

Recart plans

Plan	Monthly	Limits / notes
List Growth ($200, quarterly commitment)	$200	Unlimited subscribers; OneClick Opt-in included; $0.020 OneClick verification fee.
List Growth ($300, quarterly commitment)	$300	Unlimited subscribers; OneClick Opt-in included; $0.020 OneClick verification fee.
List Growth ($500, quarterly commitment)	$500	Unlimited subscribers; OneClick Opt-in included; $0.020 OneClick verification fee.
List Growth ($800, quarterly commitment)	$800	Unlimited subscribers; OneClick Opt-in included; $0.020 OneClick verification fee.
List Growth ($1,500, annual commitment)	—	Unlimited subscribers; OneClick Opt-in included; $0.020 OneClick verification fee.
List Growth ($2,000, annual commitment)	—	Unlimited subscribers; OneClick Opt-in included; $0.020 OneClick verification fee.
List Growth ($3,000, annual commitment)	—	Unlimited subscribers; OneClick Opt-in included; $0.020 OneClick verification fee.
List Growth (custom, annual commitment)	—	Unlimited subscribers; OneClick Opt-in included; $0.020 OneClick verification fee.
List Growth + SMS ($500, quarterly commitment)	$500	Unlimited subscribers; US SMS $0.0085 + carrier fees; US MMS $0.025 + carrier fees; OneClick verification fee included.
List Growth + SMS ($1,000, quarterly commitment)	$1000	Unlimited subscribers; US SMS $0.0075 + carrier fees; US MMS $0.018 + carrier fees; OneClick verification fee included.
List Growth + SMS ($2,250, annual commitment)	—	Unlimited subscribers; US SMS $0.0055 + carrier fees; US MMS $0.016 + carrier fees; OneClick verification fee included.
List Growth + SMS ($4,250, annual commitment)	—	Unlimited subscribers; US SMS $0.0050 + carrier fees; US MMS $0.015 + carrier fees; OneClick verification fee included.
List Growth + SMS (custom, annual commitment)	—	Unlimited subscribers; US SMS $0.0045 + carrier fees; US MMS $0.014 + carrier fees; OneClick verification fee included.
Starter (12 month)	—	23,000 SMS included at $0.0100/SMS plus $0.003 carrier fee; 8,795 MMS included at $0.0280/MMS plus $0.006 carrier fee; international SMS Australia & United Kingdom $0.054; unlimited active subscribers.
Pro (12 month)	—	41,583 SMS included at $0.0085/SMS plus $0.003 carrier fee; 15,354 MMS included at $0.0265/MMS plus $0.006 carrier fee; international SMS Australia & United Kingdom $0.051; unlimited active subscribers.
Scale (12 month)	—	100,000 SMS included at $0.0070/SMS plus $0.003 carrier fee; 33,300 MMS included at $0.0240/MMS plus $0.006 carrier fee; international SMS Australia & United Kingdom $0.048; unlimited active subscribers.
Enterprise (12 month)	—	SMS starting at $0.0045/SMS plus carrier fee; MMS starting at $0.0190/MMS plus carrier fee; international SMS custom; unlimited active subscribers.
Starter (6 month)	$319	23,000 SMS included at $0.0109/SMS plus $0.003 carrier fee; 8,795 MMS included at $0.0303/MMS plus $0.006 carrier fee; international SMS Australia & United Kingdom $0.054; unlimited active subscribers.
Pro (6 month)	$535	41,583 SMS included at $0.0099/SMS plus $0.003 carrier fee; 15,354 MMS included at $0.0288/MMS plus $0.006 carrier fee; international SMS Australia & United Kingdom $0.051; unlimited active subscribers.
Scale (6 month)	$1069	100,000 SMS included at $0.0077/SMS plus $0.003 carrier fee; 33,300 MMS included at $0.0261/MMS plus $0.006 carrier fee; international SMS Australia & United Kingdom $0.048; unlimited active subscribers.
Enterprise (6 month)	—	SMS starting at $0.0045/SMS plus carrier fee; MMS starting at $0.0190/MMS plus carrier fee; international SMS custom; unlimited active subscribers.
Starter (3 month)	$345	23,000 SMS included at $0.0120/SMS plus $0.003 carrier fee; 8,795 MMS included at $0.0332/MMS plus $0.006 carrier fee; international SMS Australia & United Kingdom $0.054; unlimited active subscribers.
Pro (3 month)	$565	41,583 SMS included at $0.0106/SMS plus $0.003 carrier fee; 15,354 MMS included at $0.0308/MMS plus $0.006 carrier fee; international SMS Australia & United Kingdom $0.051; unlimited active subscribers.
Scale (3 month)	$1149	100,000 SMS included at $0.0085/SMS plus $0.003 carrier fee; 33,300 MMS included at $0.0285/MMS plus $0.006 carrier fee; international SMS Australia & United Kingdom $0.048; unlimited active subscribers.
Enterprise (3 month)	—	SMS starting at $0.0045/SMS plus carrier fee; MMS starting at $0.0190/MMS plus carrier fee; international SMS custom; unlimited active subscribers.

Prices are shown in USD. Carrier fees are additional for SMS/MMS where indicated; average US carrier fees listed as $0.0045/SMS and $0.011/MMS, and rates shown apply to the 50 US states. International rates are also shown in USD for listed countries.

Verified 2026-07-16 from vendor pricing page.

What do merchants say about them?

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.

Recart

The identifiable reviews are mostly positive, with merchants frequently reporting strong SMS revenue, better opt-ins, and valuable strategic support. Negative reviews are fewer but detailed, centering on support breakdowns, billing disputes, platform bugs, and Facebook-related limitations in older use cases.

＋ Strategic support — Merchants often describe the team as responsive, hands-on, and useful for campaign planning, testing, implementation, and optimization advice.
＋ Revenue lift — Many reviewers report stronger sales, ROI, or SMS becoming a major revenue channel after adopting the app.
＋ Opt-in and list growth — Several merchants credit popups, signup flows, and testing support with materially improving subscriber growth and opt-in rates.
＋ Automation and campaign tools — Users value automated flows, segmentation, campaign templates, and prebuilt assets that reduce manual marketing work.

－ Support failures — Negative reviewers cite slow or absent support, poor communication, or unhelpful account management when issues arose.
－ Billing and pricing transparency — Some merchants complain about confusing charges, unexpected costs, disputed balances, or difficulty verifying usage and credits.
－ Platform reliability — Several complaints describe bugs, disconnected channels, missed campaigns, malfunctioning automations, or inconsistent message delivery.

Watch out: The main caveat is that merchants should clarify support scope, billing details, data access, and automation expectations before committing.

Synthesized from the 20 most recent App Store reviews (2026-07-16); themes paraphrased.

FAQ

Which is cheaper, Mailchimp or Recart?

Mailchimp starts lower at free, vs $200/mo for Recart (verified 2026-08-29).

Does Mailchimp or Recart have a free plan?

Mailchimp has a free tier; Recart does not publish one.

Which is rated higher on the Shopify App Store?

Mailchimp rates higher at 4.8 ★, vs 4.7 ★ — though both counts matter: Mailchimp has 1,331 reviews and Recart has 447.

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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