If you’ve been in the “business online” space for more than a week, you’ve probably heard the name Mailchimp. It’s the happy chimp that practically invented easy email marketing.
But if you’re actually trying to grow a business, not just a newsletter, you may have noticed a different (hungrier) name being mentioned more and more in every Facebook group/forum: Systeme.io.
As a funnel builder on the daily, I’ve used both, paid the invoices, screamed at the drag and drop editors and yes, had funnels grow my subscriber base.
So the short answer? Mailchimp is an email tool. Systeme.io is a business engine.
Disclaimer: I’m an affiliate of Systeme.io and use the software myself. While my hope is that this post objectively compares the software features and price, I may lean more towards Systeme.io for exactly that reason: I use it personally.
Here is the honest, no fluff breakdown of which one deserves your credit card in 2025.
The Core Difference: Specialist vs. Generalist
Mailchimp is a specialist. They want to be the best email platform in the world. They have a powerful design editor, predictive AI segmentation and great integrations with e-commerce platforms like Shopify.
Systeme.io is a “generalist” marketing automation platform. It handles your whole funnel, not just the email sequence.
Pricing: The “Ouch” Factor
This is usually where the conversation stops with bootstrappers.
Mailchimp’s pricing model is cruel. The more your business grows, the more they charge you. And they don’t count a single “contact” just once. If you have 3,000 people on one list and 5,000 on another (total of 8,000 unique users), you have to pay for 8,000 on each list. That’s 16,000, “contacts” in Mailchimp terms, even though 5,000 of them are on both lists.
Systeme.io, on the other hand, is insanely affordable.
Look at the actual numbers when your business grows to 5,000 subscribers (the healthy average for a solopreneur):
The Math is Simple:
Systeme.io: $27/month. Unlimited emails, funnels, courses.
Mailchimp: $75 – $100/month just for the base “Essentials” plan. If you need to use automation workflows (Standard plan), you’re already at $100 a month.
That’s a $876 per year difference in price, for email only. Add the cost of a separate funnel builder (like ClickFunnels at $147/mo) to your Mailchimp plan, and the difference is enormous.
Feature Breakdown: What Do You Actually Get?
| Feature | Systeme.io (Free Plan) | Mailchimp (Free Plan) |
|---|---|---|
| Subscribers | Up to 2,000 | Up to 500 |
| Email Sends | Unlimited | 1,000 monthly limit |
| Sales Funnels | 3 Full Funnels | Landing pages only (basic) |
| Automation | Full Workflows | Single-step only |
| Course Hosting | 1 Course included | None |
| Affiliate Program | Run your own program | None |
The User Experience
Mailchimp’s strength is the design editor. It is polished, slick and idiot-proof. If you run a business where your brand is heavily dependent on well, beautiful, magazine-style newsletters with complex layouts, Mailchimp’s editor is slightly better.
Systeme.io’s strength is the funnel logic. Building a “Squeeze Page → Thank You Page → Email Sequence” flow in Systeme.io is intuitive. You can set up a rule like “When someone buys this course, tag them as “Customer”, stop the “Prospect” email campaign and grant access to the membership site”. You can duct-tape multiple tools together to make Mailchimp do something similar, but it’s not fun.
Who Should Use What?
Use Mailchimp if:
You run a dedicated e-commerce store (Shopify/WooCommerce) and require a deeper data integration.
You have a million dollars to throw around and put a premium on design templates and fickle little features.
You only need a newsletter and have no plans to sell digital products/courses directly.
Use Systeme.io
You are an affiliate marketer, course creator, coach, or just want to build sales funnels.
You want to build sales funnels (Upsells, Downsells, Order Bumps).
You are a bootstrapper who wants a “forever free” plan that actually lets you run a business (up to 2,000 contacts).
You want to host and manage your entire online business in a single tab.
Final Verdict
In 2025, for 90% of digital marketers and creators, the answer is simple: Systeme.io.
Why? Because it simply offers too much value to ignore. While Mailchimp is busy figuring out how to charge you more for every new subscriber, Systeme.io is giving you the tools to monetize those subscribers within a minute.
My advice? Give Systeme.io a shot with the free plan. They give you 2,000 “contacts” (potential customers) and unlimited emailing, which is more than enough to launch your first funnel and make your first $1,000 online.
Prices and features accurate as of late 2025. Always double check official pages as prices/features are likely to change.