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Email marketing comparison · Los Angeles, CA

Zoho Campaigns vs Mailchimp for US marketing teams

Same inbox, two very different ideas of where a subscriber goes next.

Mailchimp is the email tool many US marketers learned on: polished templates, a friendly journey builder and a huge list of store and app connections. Zoho Campaigns sends the same kind of newsletters and drips, but it lives next to Zoho CRM, so a click can reach a salesperson within minutes. We are a Zoho partner in Glendale. Below is where each one wins, including the parts where Mailchimp is simply better.

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Zoho Advanced PartnerZoho Campaigns consultants, Los Angeles area
You’ll talk to our founders, not a call center.300+ projects · serving US clients since 2025

Sample list0contacts

  • 0Opened, no click yet
  • 0Clicked a link
  • 0Joined this month
  • 0Quiet for 90+ days
Sample data. Both tools can split a list by what people opened and clicked.

01The short answer

So which one should a US team pick?

If email is the whole job and your team already loves Mailchimp, stay put. If email is supposed to feed sales, and your leads live (or will live) in Zoho CRM, Zoho Campaigns usually costs less per contact and removes the sync you would otherwise babysit.

CRM sync

Zoho Campaigns

Opens, clicks and unsubscribes flow straight back onto the Zoho CRM record.

Mailchimp

A connector carries activity to your CRM, and someone maintains its field map.

How billing works

Zoho Campaigns

You pay for contacts kept, with a lower rate when you commit yearly.

Mailchimp

Also billed by contacts kept, quoted per tier, so we check your list live.

Send limits

Zoho Campaigns

Paid plans carry no monthly cap, so extra sends leave the bill unchanged.

Mailchimp

Monthly sends are capped relative to how many contacts you hold.

Templates and design

Zoho Campaigns

A drag-and-drop editor with saved blocks covers most newsletters well.

Mailchimp

A deeper template library and a brand-color assistant add design polish.

02Job by job

Where does each tool lead, and where is it a tie?

Mailchimp leads on design, e-commerce depth and third-party apps. Zoho Campaigns leads on sending limits, price per contact and CRM data. Segments and reporting are close. Each card names the side its job leans toward.

  • Leans Mailchimp

    Email design and templates

    Zoho CampaignsDrag-and-drop editor, saved blocks and a solid template set.

    MailchimpA larger template library, plus a creative assistant that pulls in your brand colors.

  • Close, slight Mailchimp lean

    Automation and journeys

    Zoho CampaignsDrag-and-drop workflows, with branching and scoring on Professional.

    MailchimpA customer journey builder new marketers pick up fast, fuller on Standard and up.

  • About even

    Segments

    Zoho CampaignsRules on fields, tags, email activity and synced CRM fields.

    MailchimpRules on tags, activity and purchase data, with advanced segments on Premium.

  • Leans Zoho

    Connection to sales

    Zoho CampaignsNative two-way sync with Zoho CRM: lists go in, and opens, clicks and unsubscribes come back.

    MailchimpRuns through integrations with your CRM, each carrying its own field mapping to keep up.

  • Leans Zoho

    Sending limits

    Zoho CampaignsPaid plans send unlimited emails, so you pay for contacts only.

    MailchimpEvery plan caps monthly sends at a multiple of your contact count.

  • Leans Mailchimp

    Online store marketing

    Zoho CampaignsShopify and Zoho Commerce links, with an abandoned cart workflow on Professional.

    MailchimpDeep store connections, purchase-based automations and product blocks.

  • Leans Mailchimp

    Outside apps

    Zoho CampaignsZoho apps natively, plus Zoho Flow for tools that lack a built-in link.

    MailchimpOne of the largest app marketplaces of any email tool.

  • About even

    Built-in writing assistant

    Zoho CampaignsZia drafts subject lines and copy using AI (now also called SI, super intelligence).

    MailchimpAn AI / SI assistant for copy, design and send-time suggestions.

03US list prices

Zoho Campaigns vs Mailchimp pricing: how each one bills

Both price by how many contacts you keep, so there is no single per-user number. On Zoho Campaigns, 500 contacts on Standard cost $4 monthly, or $3 per month if you commit for a year. Mailchimp quotes each plan per contact tier, so we read its current number for your exact list together instead of guessing here.

Plan levelZoho Campaigns, 500 contactsZoho Campaigns, 10,000 contactsMailchimpWorth knowing
Free$0Forever Free, 6,000 emails a monthNoneFree stops at 2,000 contacts$0Free, up to 250 contacts, 1 seatZoho’s free list is eight times larger.
Entry$4Standard · $3 billed yearly$49Standard · $36.75 billed yearlyBy contact tierEssentials · 3 seatsA/B testing starts here on both. Only Mailchimp caps monthly sends.
Growth$6Professional · $4.50 billed yearly$81Professional · $60.75 billed yearlyBy contact tierStandard · 5 seatsWhere most growing teams land. Zoho adds scoring and fuller workflows.
TopNo fourth planProfessional is the top Zoho Campaigns planBy contact tierPremium · unlimited seatsPremium adds advanced segments and multivariate tests for big teams.

USD, before tax. Mailchimp moves its contact-tier prices and promotions often, so we check its live number for your list the same week you decide.

04Signup to sale

Follow one subscriber from a form to a signed deal

The difference shows up after the email is sent. A CRM-connected tool carries the click to sales on its own. A standalone tool can do the same, but only through a connector someone has to own.

  1. Day 1

    Signs up on your site

    The form entry joins a list and becomes a Zoho CRM lead in the same moment.

    She joins the Mailchimp audience with the form’s tags.

  2. Days 1 to 7

    Gets the welcome series

    A workflow sends three welcome emails, spaced by opens.

    A customer journey sends them. Mailchimp’s builder is a pleasure here.

  3. Day 9

    Clicks the pricing link

    The click syncs to her CRM lead and her score climbs.

    The click sits in Mailchimp reports until a connector pushes it over.

  4. Day 9

    A rep follows up

    The rep sees the click on the lead record and calls that afternoon.

    Someone exports a hot list, or keeps the sync mapping healthy.

  5. Day 30

    The deal closes

    Marking the deal won moves her to the customer list automatically.

    Her new status reaches Mailchimp through the integration or a CSV import.

  6. Quarter end

    You report on revenue

    CRM reports or Zoho Analytics tie the campaign to won deals.

    Mailchimp shows store revenue well. Deal revenue stays in the CRM.

Illustrative path with sample timing. Real setups vary with your forms, CRM and sales process.

05List sizer

Which plan would your list land on?

Drag to your contact count, then tick what you need. You see the Zoho Campaigns plan with its US list price and the Mailchimp plan you would need. Mailchimp’s price for that tier we check with you, because it changes by contact band.

People who log in to send
What you need
Zoho Campaigns billing

Zoho Campaigns

  1. Free
  2. Standard
  3. Professional

Standard

$23.25a month, billed yearly

A/B testing comes with Standard. Sends stay unlimited.

Mailchimp

  1. Free
  2. Essentials
  3. Standard
  4. Premium

Essentials

By tierpriced for 5,000 contacts

Up to 3 seats, with A/B testing. Monthly sends are capped by your contact count.

Zoho Campaigns Standard for 5,000 contacts: $279 a year.

Compare my real list on a call

Sample sizer. Zoho Campaigns numbers use the official US price (USD, pre-tax) of the smallest contact band that fits your count. Over 100,000 contacts both vendors price on request. Plan picks follow published plan features; edge cases get checked on the call.

06When to choose which

When is Mailchimp the better call?

More often than a Zoho partner might admit. Mailchimp wins for store-led brands, design-heavy teams and anyone whose CRM is not Zoho. Zoho Campaigns wins when the list is large, sends are frequent, or sales needs to see what marketing sees.

Stay with Mailchimp if

  • Your revenue comes from an online store and you lean on purchase-based flows and product blocks.
  • Your marketer builds a lot of visual emails and prizes the template library.
  • Your CRM is not Zoho and the current connector already works without fuss.
  • The list is small and the bill does not bother anyone yet.

Move to Zoho Campaigns if

  • You run Zoho CRM, Bigin or Zoho One and want clicks on the lead record.
  • You email often enough that send caps shape your calendar.
  • Your list has grown into the thousands and the monthly bill keeps climbing with it.
  • Sales asks “who clicked?” every Monday and nobody has a quick answer.

07Switch or connect

Leaving Mailchimp, or keeping it next to Zoho CRM?

Both paths work. If you switch, your audience, tags and opt-out history come across first, and nobody who unsubscribed hears from you again. If you stay, we connect Mailchimp to Zoho CRM and agree which fields sync and how often.

See how we plan a move to Zoho →Zoho Campaigns setup and support →

In Mailchimp

  • Audience
  • Tags and groups
  • Saved segments
  • Customer journeys
  • Unsubscribed and cleaned
  • Brand templates

In Zoho Campaigns

  • Mailing lists
  • Tags and list fields
  • Segments, rebuilt by rule
  • Workflows
  • Suppressed, imported first
  • Rebuilt in the editor

08From our client work

What happens when lead capture and CRM share one record?

Our published case studies show it. LendingUSA moved off Salesforce onto Zoho CRM with Forms and SalesIQ feeding it. myHHBS brings every lead source, in several languages, into one CRM. With clean lead data in place, email marketing has something solid to work from.

Read the case studies →

Named with each client’s permission. Their exact setups stay private, so the stories keep to the outline.

  • Zoho CRM
  • Zoho Forms
  • Zoho SalesIQ

09Zoho Campaigns vs Mailchimp questions

What marketers ask before they switch email tools

Short answers to the questions that come up when a Mailchimp invoice lands. Bring your contact count and last month’s send volume to a call and we can be specific.

Book a discovery callOpen the list sizer →

Is Zoho Campaigns cheaper than Mailchimp?

Often, but check your own tier. Zoho Campaigns Standard lists at $4 a month for 500 contacts and $49 for 10,000, less on a yearly plan, with unlimited sends. Mailchimp sets its price per contact band and runs promotions, so we put its live quote next to the Zoho number for your exact list.

How does Mailchimp price its plans?

Mailchimp has four plans: Free, Essentials, Standard and Premium. Free covers up to 250 contacts with one seat. The paid plans are priced by contact count, cap monthly sends at a multiple of your contacts, and include 3 seats, 5 seats and unlimited seats.

Does Zoho Campaigns limit how many emails we send?

Not on Standard or Professional, where you pay for contacts and send as often as you like. Forever Free allows 6,000 emails a month to a list of up to 2,000 contacts.

Is Mailchimp easier to use than Zoho Campaigns?

For a brand-new marketer, a little. Mailchimp’s templates and journey builder are very polished. Zoho Campaigns is just as capable for newsletters and drips, and teams that already use Zoho apps find its screens familiar within a week of training.

Can we keep Mailchimp and still use Zoho CRM?

Yes. Mailchimp can connect to Zoho CRM through an integration or Zoho Flow. We map which fields sync and which way, and set a schedule. The trade-off is one more connector to maintain, which goes away if email moves into Zoho Campaigns.

Will our unsubscribes and consent records survive a move from Mailchimp?

They must, and we load them first. Unsubscribed and cleaned contacts from Mailchimp arrive in Zoho Campaigns as suppressed before any active contact is imported, and consent fields come across with each record.

Which is better for a Shopify store?

Usually Mailchimp, if email is mostly about products and purchases. Its store connections and purchase-based automations are deep. Zoho Campaigns connects to Shopify too and has an abandoned cart workflow on Professional, which suits stores that also sell through a CRM.

Can Zoho Campaigns score leads for sales?

Yes, contact scoring is on the Professional plan. Opens, clicks and other activity raise a score, and with Zoho CRM sync that score sits on the lead record where reps sort their call list.

How does Elite Tech Global price a Mailchimp to Zoho Campaigns move?

The first call is free. The move itself is quoted once, as a fixed figure in a BRD you sign, alongside a send-day plan. A large account with many lists and journeys may need a paid scoping step first, quoted before it starts.

What is SI?

SI stands for super intelligence. In September 2026 a US executive order asked federal agencies to use “super intelligence” or “SI” in place of “artificial intelligence” in official communications. Most businesses still say AI, so we use both terms.

10Next steps

From “should we switch?” to a written plan

The first call is free and often ends with “keep Mailchimp”. When a move does make sense, we quote one fixed price and sign it off in a BRD naming every list, template and workflow in scope.

  1. Discovery callList size, send rhythm, CRM and what sales wants to see
  2. List health checkConsent, bounces, unsubscribes and duplicates counted
  3. ScopeWhich journeys, forms and templates move, and which retire
  4. Signed BRDA fixed price and a dated send-day plan, in writing

Want every phase after the BRD, from list import to first send? See how we work →

11Let’s talk

Tell us what you’re building. We’ll map the fix.

Book a free consultation with Elite Tech Global. We review your Zoho, AWS, Shopify or WordPress setup, show where AI / SI agents can save time, and agree the next step. If we work together, every requirement and a fixed price go into a signed BRD before the build starts.

Real people, one team. Led by co-founders Ikramul Karim and Khris Kakosimidi, and a 40+ member team across Zoho, AWS and AI.

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