Mailchimp

Mailchimp was the dominant email tool for small businesses. Still has the biggest user base. Has gotten more expensive and more cluttered.

Strengths

• Recognizable brand
• Broad integrations
• Free tier (with limits)

Weaknesses

• Deliverability reputation has slipped
• Pricier than alternatives at scale
• Overcomplicated UI

Best for

Very small businesses, simple newsletters. Migrate to specialist tools as you grow.

What to do with this

• Start on Mailchimp only if you have no technical help, it's the easiest to set up alone
• Plan to migrate once you cross 5-10K engaged subscribers, specialist tools produce materially better results at scale
• Export your list monthly as a backup, regardless of tool, tool lock-in is real and migrations require clean exports
• Use Mailchimp for the basics (welcome + broadcast), don't over-invest in complex flows you'll rebuild elsewhere
• When migrating, keep both tools running 30 days in parallel, abrupt cutover creates deliverability and data gaps