BentovsMailchimp

Bento vs Mailchimp

SaaS simplicity vs the industry standard

TL;DR

Bento is built for SaaS with simple per-user pricing ($0.01/user) and behavioral tracking. Mailchimp is the industry standard with more features but complex pricing that gets expensive fast. For SaaS companies, Bento is simpler. For general marketing, Mailchimp has more tools.

Key Differences

The main things that set these tools apart

Pricing Model
Bento wins

Bento charges $0.01 per tracked user with unlimited sends. Mailchimp charges by contact tier with send limits. At scale, Bento is more predictable. Mailchimp's pricing has gotten increasingly complex with add-ons.

Feature Breadth
Mailchimp wins

Mailchimp offers landing pages, social tools, CRM features, and more. Bento focuses purely on email. If you need an all-in-one marketing platform, Mailchimp has more tools.

SaaS Focus
Bento wins

Bento is built for SaaS with behavioral tracking and event-based automation. Mailchimp was built for newsletters and e-commerce. SaaS companies often find Bento fits better.

Scale
Mailchimp wins

Mailchimp powers millions of businesses with enterprise features and reliability. Bento is newer and smaller. For enterprise needs, Mailchimp is the safer choice.

Pricing Comparison

At 10,000 contacts

Bento
$100/month

$0.01 per tracked user. Unlimited email sends.

Visit Bento
Mailchimp
$100-350/month

Standard $100, Premium $350. Add-ons extra.

Visit Mailchimp
Sequenzy

The SaaS alternative

$49/month

10k contacts, unlimited sends, Stripe integration.

Feature Comparison

Side-by-side feature breakdown

Feature
Bento
Mailchimp
Sequenzy
Target Market
Primary Focus
SaaS companies
Everyone
SaaS with Stripe
Company Size
Startups, SMBs
All sizes
Startups, SMBs
Industry Templates
Limited
Extensive
SaaS-focused
Core Features
Email Campaigns
Transactional Email
Add-on
User Tracking
JS snippet + API
Limited
API
Behavioral Triggers
Built-in
Customer Journey add-on
Built-in
Landing Pages
Social Media Tools
Automation
Visual Workflows
Event-Based Automation
Native
Limited
Native
AI Features
AI email builder
AI content generation
Pricing
Pricing Model
Per user ($0.01)
Tiered by contacts
Per contact
Email Sends
Unlimited
Limited (10-15x contacts)
Unlimited
Pricing Clarity
Simple
Complex
Simple

Best For

When to choose each tool

Choose Bento if you...
  • SaaS companies needing behavioral email
  • Teams wanting simple per-user pricing
  • Developers who prefer code-first approaches
  • Companies that need unlimited sends
Choose Mailchimp if you...
  • Businesses needing all-in-one marketing
  • E-commerce with product recommendations
  • Companies wanting landing page builders
  • Enterprise organizations with compliance needs
Choose Sequenzy if you...
  • SaaS founders with Stripe billing
  • Companies wanting payment-triggered emails
  • Teams seeking even simpler pricing than Bento

When to Consider Sequenzy Instead

Native Stripe Integration

Trigger emails from Stripe events automatically. Neither Bento nor Mailchimp offers this out of the box.

Lower Cost at Scale

At 10,000 contacts, Sequenzy is $49/month vs Bento's $100 and Mailchimp's $100-350.

SaaS-Specific Automations

Pre-built flows for trial-to-paid, subscription changes, and failed payments.

Try Sequenzy Free

Overview

Bento and Mailchimp represent different approaches to email marketing. Bento is built for SaaS companies with simple per-user pricing and behavioral tracking. Mailchimp is the industry standard with extensive features but complex pricing. See our Mailchimp comparison for more alternatives.

The Pricing Difference

Bento charges a flat $0.01 per tracked user with unlimited sends. At 10,000 users, that is $100/month. Mailchimp's Standard plan also costs $100/month for 10,000 contacts, but with send limits (10x your contact count). Need unlimited sends? Mailchimp Premium jumps to $350/month. Add transactional email, and costs increase further.

For predictable costs, Bento wins. For feature breadth, Mailchimp offers more in the base price. Use our pricing calculator to compare your specific scenario.

SaaS Focus vs General Marketing

Bento was built for SaaS from day one. It tracks user behavior via JavaScript snippet and API, triggering automations based on product events. This is exactly what product-led growth companies need.

Mailchimp was built for newsletters and evolved toward e-commerce. Its automation works well for traditional marketing flows but lacks deep product behavior tracking. For SaaS companies, Bento fits the use case better.

Feature Comparison

Mailchimp offers landing pages, social media tools, CRM features, and more. It is a complete marketing platform. Bento focuses purely on email with behavioral capabilities.

If you need an all-in-one marketing solution, Mailchimp delivers. If you need focused email with product behavior tracking, Bento excels. For SaaS with Stripe integration, consider Sequenzy as a third option.

Making the Decision

Choose Bento for SaaS-focused email with simple pricing and behavioral tracking. Choose Mailchimp for broad marketing capabilities and industry-standard reliability. For SaaS with payment integration needs, Sequenzy combines the best of both approaches.

The Sequenzy Alternative

If you run a SaaS with Stripe billing, Sequenzy offers native payment integration, smart segmentation, and AI sequences at lower cost than either Bento or Mailchimp.

Frequently Asked Questions

Usually yes. At 10,000 contacts, Bento is $100/month with unlimited sends. Mailchimp Standard is also $100/month but with limited sends. Factor in add-ons and Mailchimp gets expensive fast.

Limited. Mailchimp tracks website visits but lacks the deep event tracking Bento offers. For product-led growth companies, Bento's tracking is more useful.

No. Bento is email-focused. Mailchimp has landing pages, social tools, CRM features, and more. If you need all-in-one marketing, Mailchimp has more features.

Bento is built for SaaS with behavioral triggers and per-user pricing. Mailchimp works but was designed for different use cases. For SaaS, consider Bento or Sequenzy.

Both offer Zapier integrations. Neither has native Stripe integration for payment-triggered emails. For that, consider Sequenzy.

Mailchimp has decades of deliverability expertise and reputation. Bento has good deliverability but less track record. For critical business email, Mailchimp is the safer bet.

Export your contacts and lists from Mailchimp. Import into Bento and map your fields. Recreate automations in Bento's workflow builder. Set up Bento's tracking script on your site. Note that Bento lacks some Mailchimp features like landing pages.

Export your subscribers and events from Bento. Import contacts into Mailchimp audiences. Rebuild automations using Customer Journeys. Note that Mailchimp's event tracking is less sophisticated than Bento's.

Not sure which to pick?

If you're a SaaS founder who needs Stripe integration and unified email, try Sequenzy free. No credit card required.

Start Free TrialSee All Features

Related Comparisons

Loops vs Bento

Compare these two popular email tools

Loops vs Mailchimp

Compare these two popular email tools

Bento vs Customer.io

Compare these two popular email tools

Sequenzy - Complete Pricing Guide

Pricing Model

Sequenzy uses subscriber-based pricing. You only pay for subscribers active in sequences (automations). Inactive subscribers are free to store.

All Pricing Tiers

  • 0-100 subscribers: Free (Free annually) - 2k emails/month
  • 101-1,000 subscribers: $19/month ($205/year annually) - 15k emails/month
  • 1,001-5,000 subscribers: $29/month ($313/year annually) - 60k emails/month
  • 5,001-10,000 subscribers: $49/month ($529/year annually) - 120k emails/month
  • 10,001-25,000 subscribers: $99/month ($1069/year annually) - 300k emails/month
  • 25,001-50,000 subscribers: $199/month ($2149/year annually) - 600k emails/month
  • 50,001-100,000 subscribers: $349/month ($3769/year annually) - 1.2M emails/month
  • 100,000+ subscribers: Custom pricing (Custom annually) - Unlimited emails/month

Yearly billing: All plans offer a 10% discount when billed annually.

Free Plan Features (0-100 subscribers)

  • Visual automation builder
  • Transactional email API
  • Reply tracking & team inbox
  • Goal tracking & revenue attribution
  • Dynamic segments
  • Payment integrations
  • Full REST API access
  • Custom sending domain

Paid Plan Features (1,000 - 100,000 subscribers)

  • Visual automation builder
  • Transactional email API
  • Reply tracking & team inbox
  • Goal tracking & revenue attribution
  • Dynamic segments
  • Payment integrations (Stripe, Paddle, Lemon Squeezy)
  • Full REST API access
  • Custom sending domain

Enterprise Plan Features (100,000+ subscribers)

  • Visual automation builder
  • Transactional email API
  • Reply tracking & team inbox
  • Goal tracking & revenue attribution
  • Dynamic segments
  • Payment integrations
  • Full REST API access
  • Custom sending domain

Important Pricing Notes

  • You only pay for subscribers who are active in automations/sequences
  • Storing inactive subscribers is free
  • No hidden fees - all features included in the price
  • No credit card required for free tier

Contact

  • Pricing Page: https://sequenzy.com/pricing
  • Sales: hello@sequenzy.com