Omnisend vs Mailchimp: for Shopify automations on a free plan, start with Omnisend
If you want abandoned cart and welcome emails without paying, Omnisend's free plan is the better place to start. If Mailchimp already runs your list and flows well, you may have no reason to move. The two free plans share the same ceiling: 250 contacts and 500 emails a month. What differs is automation. On October 19, 2026, Mailchimp's pricing page listed no automations (flows) on Free, while Omnisend's pricing page lists automation workflows on its plans, Free included.
This comparison covers the five things that decide it for a Shopify store:
- Free plan limits
- Access to automated emails
- How each tool counts contacts and sends
- How each connects to Shopify
- What moving from Mailchimp takes
Every figure comes from the official pages listed at the end, checked October 19, 2026. For Omnisend's full plan breakdown, see our Omnisend pricing guide.
Free plans: same limits, different automation access
Compare free plans by what you can switch on, not by the headline number.
| Item | Omnisend Free | Mailchimp Free |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $0, no credit card needed | $0 |
| Contacts | 250 | 250 |
| Email sends | 500 a month | 500 a month or 250 a day |
| Automations | Workflows listed | Not included (Essentials and up) |
| Pop-ups | Check in your account | Popup Forms listed |
| Branding | Required on emails and forms | Mailchimp branding on emails |
| Support | 24/7 live chat and email | Email for the first 30 days |
Sources: Omnisend pricing, Omnisend plan guide, Mailchimp pricing.
On Omnisend you can upload more than 250 contacts, but each campaign goes to a segment of 250 or fewer. Mailchimp pauses sending when you reach a limit on Free. Neither plan means "email 500 subscribers": the cap is contacts and sends together.
For a newsletter-only store, the free plans are close, and you can choose on interface and habit. For a store that wants a welcome email and a cart reminder running on day one, automation access is the deciding line.
Automation: Mailchimp gates flows by plan, Omnisend lists workflows across plans
Look at the plan row for flows before you build anything. Mailchimp's pricing page shows Free with no automations, Essentials with up to 4 flow steps, and Standard and Premium with up to 200 flows each (checked October 19, 2026).
Mailchimp's abandoned cart flow is built under Automations. You choose the trigger "Abandons cart" or "Abandons cart with specific products", set a wait in hours, days or weeks, and can add up to 10 segment conditions for who enters. It needs a connected, supported store, and the help page says capabilities depend on your plan. (Mailchimp help, no update date shown)
Omnisend lists email, SMS and push workflows on every plan, with presets for welcome, abandoned cart and post-purchase follow-up. We walk through the build in our guides to abandoned cart emails and the welcome email.
Both pricing pages leave some gaps. Omnisend's page says Free includes all paid features in one place, yet its comparison table shows differences, so confirm the specific feature you need (product recommendations, send-time optimization) in your plan comparison before you rely on it. On AI tools, the page lists two on Standard and five on Pro.
Pricing: compare billable contacts and send multiples, in one currency
The entry price matters less than how many contacts you are billed for and how many sends you get per contact.
| Tool | Plan | Monthly email allowance |
|---|---|---|
| Omnisend | Standard (from $16/mo) | Billable contacts x 12 |
| Omnisend | Pro (from $59/mo) | Unlimited, subject to fair use |
| Mailchimp | Essentials | Contacts x 10 |
| Mailchimp | Standard | Contacts x 12 |
| Mailchimp | Premium | Contacts x 15 |
Mailchimp's paid prices step up with your contact tier (from 0 to 500 contacts up to 1,000,000+), Essentials and Standard come with a 14-day free trial, and the page can display prices in different currencies. Pick your own contact tier and compare the figures in the same currency rather than lining up a number from one site with another.
Omnisend is explicit about billing. You are billed for subscribers plus non-subscribers who receive automated messages, such as customers who checked out or abandoned a cart without opting in. Unsubscribed contacts are not billed, and your tier adjusts each billing cycle as your list grows. (Omnisend plan guide) Mailchimp's pricing page does not describe how non-subscribers are counted, so check the contact count and quote shown in your own account before you commit.
To compare fairly:
- Find your billable contact count
- Count monthly sends, splitting campaigns from automated emails
- Size a normal month and a sale month
- Compare regular prices, not first-period discounts
Omnisend offers 30% off the first three months when you pay three months up front (about $11.20 a month at Standard's entry tier), then returns to regular pricing. SMS is separate: for Pro plans started on or after May 4, 2026 it is bought as an SMS credits subscription. If you only need email, you can ignore SMS for now.
Shopify integration: both sync automatically, with different setup notes
Both tools pull products, customers and orders from Shopify. The differences are in what you do before and after connecting (checked October 19, 2026).
With Mailchimp, one Shopify store maps to one audience. Emails, names, order data and custom fields such as birthdays and phone numbers sync, and discount codes sync every few hours. Before connecting, pause existing welcome flows or classic automations on the audience, and after connecting, recreate any abandoned cart automation. (Mailchimp help, no update date shown)
With Omnisend, Shopify contacts sync email, phone, names, address, tags and subscription status. Orders and cart updates reach Omnisend within about 3 minutes, and profile updates within about an hour. Only people who opt in through Omnisend signup forms or the checkout marketing checkbox become subscribed. Customers who just ordered are added as non-subscribed: they can receive order-related automations but not campaigns. (Omnisend help)
One caution applies to Omnisend's sync: changing a contact's email or phone in Shopify first can create a duplicate profile, so update the identifier in Omnisend first. For organizing who gets what, see our guide to segmentation.
Moving from Mailchimp: contacts transfer, flows get rebuilt
Plan your migration around rebuilding automations, not importing contacts. Omnisend has built-in migration tools for Mailchimp and Klaviyo, so a CSV export isn't required, and subscription status and consent timestamps carry over. (Omnisend migration guide, checked October 19, 2026)
The documented steps:
- Export contacts, segments, automation content and templates from the old tool
- Connect your Shopify store
- Import subscribers and set their email subscription status
- Authenticate your sending domain with SPF, DKIM and DMARC (see our domain authentication guide)
- Rebuild automations in the workflow builder
- Rebuild templates, or import HTML
- Warm up sending gradually
Contact imports usually take 1 to 24 hours, and a full migration including workflows and testing can take up to 5 business days. Keep the old account active until you've verified everything. Accounts with more than 250 contacts can use Omnisend's free migration service.
Avoid sending twice: if both tools run a welcome email at once, the same customer gets two. Choose the switch-over day and turn off the Mailchimp automations in a set order.
Which to choose
Decide on whether you already run automations and how many contacts you have.
- New to automated email, 250 contacts or fewer: try Omnisend's free plan and build a welcome email and an abandoned cart flow
- On Mailchimp Free with newsletters only: when you need automations, price Mailchimp Essentials (check the flow step limit) against Omnisend using the same contacts and send count
- On a paid Mailchimp plan with stable flows: estimate the rebuild work, and if nothing is limiting you, stay
- Weighing other tools: see Omnisend vs Klaviyo, Omnisend vs Shopify Email, and GetResponse vs Omnisend
Pricing source · 2026-09-06
FAQ
What is the biggest difference between the Omnisend and Mailchimp free plans?
Automations. Mailchimp's Free plan doesn't include them; they start on Essentials. Omnisend lists workflows on its plans, Free included. Both cap you at 500 emails and 250 contacts.
Can I move my contacts from Mailchimp to Omnisend?
Yes, Omnisend has a built-in Mailchimp migration tool. Automations and templates need to be rebuilt.
Can I run both on free plans at once?
You can, as long as only one of them sends a given automated email, such as the welcome message. Otherwise the same customer receives it twice.
Which is cheaper?
It depends on your contact count, sends and features. Use the same currency and your own contact tier in each tool's quote, and compare regular prices.
Next step: build one welcome email on Omnisend's free plan
Sign up for Omnisend's free plan, connect Shopify, and build a single welcome email for new subscribers. If you have a running Mailchimp flow, note how long it takes to recreate the same one. If you don't, extend to an abandoned cart email next, within the 250-contact and 500-email limits.
Official sources checked (October 19, 2026)
