Overview

Ontraport and Mailchimp are in completely different categories. Mailchimp is the world's most popular email marketing platform — simple, affordable, and excellent at what it does. Ontraport is a full business platform that bundles CRM, email, payments, membership sites, and more. For our take on each, see our Ontraport comparison and Mailchimp comparison.

The Right Tool for the Right Job

If you need to send newsletters and run email campaigns, use Mailchimp. It has a better email editor, more templates, easier setup, and a free tier. There's no contest for basic email marketing. If you need CRM, payment processing, membership sites, and affiliate management alongside email, that's where Ontraport's all-in-one approach starts to make sense.

The Price Question

Mailchimp Standard at 10k contacts: $100/month. Ontraport Pro at 10k contacts: $297/month. That's a $2,364/year premium. The question is whether Ontraport's extra features justify it. If you'd otherwise pay for Stripe ($0), Teachable ($99/month), a CRM ($50/month), and an affiliate tool ($50/month), Ontraport at $297 is actually competitive.

The Sequenzy Alternative

If you're building a SaaS product, neither Mailchimp nor Ontraport is built for you. Sequenzy combines transactional and marketing email with Stripe integration at $49/month. No Mandrill add-on, no CRM complexity — just email that understands your subscription business.