Substack vs. Mailchimp: Which email platform is better?

Explore the key differences between Substack and Mailchimp, comparing features to help you decide the best platform for your newsletter needs.

Navigating the world of email marketing can be daunting, with options like Substack for newsletters and Mailchimp for comprehensive campaigns.

Which suits your needs? Explore our in-depth comparison of Substack vs. Mailchimp to find the right fit.

Dive into the details below to make an informed decision.

Substack vs. Mailchimp: At a Glance

Criteria	Substack	Mailchimp	Winner
SMB Guide’s Rating	5.6/10	8/10	Mailchimp
Marketing Automation Capabilities	None	Basic automation	Mailchimp
Email Builder	Limited	Intuitive, easy-to-use	Mailchimp
Personalization & Customization	Very limited	Basic personalization	Mailchimp
Campaign Performance Tracking	Basic	Standard metrics	Mailchimp
Email Deliverability	✅	✅	Mailchimp
List Management	Relies solely on segmentation	Simple lists	Mailchimp
A/B Testing	❌	✅	Mailchimp
Advanced Reporting & Insights	Basic reports	Basic reports	Mailchimp
Compliance & Security	✅	✅	Tie
User Experience and User Interface	Simple but laggy	User-friendly interface	Mailchimp
Integrations and Compatibility	Limited integrations	300+ integrations	Mailchimp
Customer Support	Email only	Limited support	Mailchimp
Pricing	Free	Free – $1,600/mo	Substack
Scalability	✅	✅	Mailchimp

Substack: Key Features, Pros, Cons, and Pricing

Substack allows writers of all skill levels to create and publish email newsletters. It’s a free service, but writers can charge a fee to subscribers.

It is a fairly simple platform, especially compared to other email marketing solutions.

Pros & Cons

Pricing

Substack is free for everyone. Writers who charge a subscription fee to access content will pay 10% of those fees to Substack for use of the platform.

Mailchimp: Key Features, Pros, Cons, & Pricing

Mailchimp is a versatile email marketing platform designed to help businesses effectively create, manage, and analyze email campaigns.

It provides tools for designing eye-catching emails, automating marketing efforts, and segmenting mailing lists for targeted communication.

With detailed analytics, Mailchimp enables users to track engagement and optimize their strategies, making it an ideal choice for small businesses and larger enterprises looking to enhance their marketing efforts.

Pros & Cons

Pricing

Mailchimp offers multiple plans to accommodate changing business needs as you scale. Pricing is as follows:

• Free Plan: Limited to 500 contacts and basic email templates.
• Essentials Plan: Starts at $13/month/500 contacts. 
• Standard Plan: Starts at $20/month/500 contacts, up to $800/month/100,000 contacts
• Premium Plan: Starts at $350/month/10,000 contacts, $1,600/month/200,000 contacts, custom pricing for additional contacts.

Marketing Automation Capabilities

Substack doesn’t offer marketing automation, so by default, Mailchimp wins here. All you can do with Substack is schedule posts. You cannot automate email sequences or craft complex workflows.

Mailchimp, on the other hand, supports complex automation with conditional logic. Triggers include behavioral, lifecycle, and transactional.

You can also take advantage of cross-channel automation. Dynamic content options ensure high personalization across automated workflows.

✅ Winner: Mailchimp

Email Builder

Substack focuses on simplicity. It’s highly similar to the WordPresss editor. Once you publish content, you can email it to your subscribers.

It lacks a lot of features and customization options found in most email marketing platforms.

Mailchimp offers a drag-and-drop email editor, HTML editor, and countless templates to help you easily design professional-quality emails.

You don’t need technical expertise to work with it, but you can use the HTML option if you want more control.

✅ Winner: Mailchimp

Personalization & Customization

Substack allows you to edit basic elements like header and logo, but you’re out of luck with more advanced options like HTML and CSS.

You cannot use dynamic content or personalize the subscriber experience. The focus is on content creation rather than presentation.

Mailchimp supports dynamic content insertion based on recipient attributes, including user behavior and versatile merge tags, ensuring all recipients get highly personalized and targeted messaging.

✅ Winner: Mailchimp

Campaign Performance Tracking

With Substack, you can access metrics such as open rates, click-through rates, and subscriber growth over time. However, if you need more detailed information or hope to use it to gain more advanced insights, this isn’t the tool for you.

Mailchimp offers comprehensive metrics tracking and detailed, real-time reporting.

With it, you can set and track campaign goals, conduct split tests, and integrate with third-party platforms, including Google Analytics.

✅ Winner: Mailchimp

Email Deliverability

A quick search online reveals many users are concerned about Substack’s email deliverability. Many people seem to subscribe to Substack channels and do not receive emails. Mailchimp boasts high deliverability rates.

✅ Winner: Mailchimp

List Management

Substack offers straightforward tools, with a focus on simplicity and engagement. You can segment your list based on preferences, engagement levels, or subscription status.

Mailchimp offers more advanced list management features and control.

Mailchimp includes tools to clean and maintain your email list, such as removing duplicate subscribers and managing inactive ones.

✅ Winner: Mailchimp

A/B Testing

Mailchimp wins here because A/B testing is available on the platform. You can’t conduct split tests with Substack at all.

✅ Winner: Mailchimp

Advanced Reporting & Insights

Substack doesn’t offer advanced reporting. It offers basic metrics, and that alone means Mailchimp wins here.

Mailchimp offers detailed reporting on segmented email campaigns, and the integration with Google Analytics allows for even more comprehensive reporting. This, along with Mailchimp’s predictive analytics, make it the clear winner in this area.

✅ Winner: Mailchimp

Compliance and Security

Both Substack and Mailchimp offer GDPR compliance and strong security measures to protect your account and data.

✅ Winner: Tie

User Interface and User Experience

Though Substack’s user interface is built on simplicity, the repeated errors I experienced during my testing for the Substack review meant that Mailchimp wins here, too.

The user experience suffered greatly, when the browser continually crashes throughout my tests.

Mailchimp has a lot more features, which could easily overwhelm someone new to email marketing.

That said, they have a ton of support documentation and tutorials to help guide you through how to make the most of the platform.

✅ Winner: Mailchimp

Integrations and Compatibility

Mailchimp offers extensive third-party integrations, supporting a wide range of tools such as e-commerce platforms, CRM systems, and social media channels, making it highly compatible with various business needs.

This vast connectivity allows businesses to streamline operations and enhance marketing strategies.

Substack focuses on simplicity and direct subscriber engagement, offering fewer integrations. It primarily caters to writers and creators who prefer a straightforward approach without the need for complex tool connectivity.

✅ Winner: Mailchimp

Customer Support

Mailchimp offers comprehensive customer support, including live chat, email, and phone assistance, alongside a robust help center and community forums for user engagement and troubleshooting. 

Substack provides more limited support, primarily through email and a help center designed to assist users in navigating its platform.

✅ Winner: Mailchimp

Pricing

Substack is free for writers unless they choose to charge a subscription fee. In that case, Substack takes 10% of the subscription revenue.

Mailchimp provides a variety of pricing plans tailored to meet the evolving needs of businesses as they grow. The Free Plan allows for up to 500 contacts and includes basic email templates, serving as a cost-effective solution for startups. 

The Essentials Plan, starting at $13 per month for 500 contacts, offers additional features for those ready to expand their outreach. 

For more comprehensive needs, the Standard Plan begins at $20 per month for 500 contacts and scales up to $800 per month for 100,000 contacts, offering advanced capabilities.

At the premium level, the Premium Plan starts at $350 per month for 10,000 contacts, reaching $1,600 per month for 200,000 contacts, with custom pricing available for even larger volumes.

✅ Winner: Substack

Scalability

There don’t seem to be any real limits to scaling Substack, but as you become more popular, you may find that you need additional features that Substack doesn’t offer.

Mailchimp scales to a large number of subscribers, with plans offering additional features as you grow. Not only this, but it also offers more integrations, which makes it easier to keep in your workflow as you scale and add more tools to your business.

✅ Winner: Mailchimp

Standout Features of Substack

Emphasis on content creation

Substack is designed to allow writers to focus on producing and distributing high-quality content without the distraction of complex marketing tools.

This emphasis helps creators concentrate on their content, making it ideal for those who prioritize writing over marketing.

Direct monetization options

Substack empowers writers with direct monetization capabilities, enabling them to charge subscriptions for their newsletters or offer paid content.

Unlike Mailchimp, which lacks native monetization features, Substack provides a straightforward way for creators to earn directly from their audience engagement.

Standout Features of Mailchimp

Comprehensive marketing automation tools

Mailchimp offers robust marketing automation tools that enable businesses to streamline their marketing efforts.

These tools include automated email sequences, customer journey builder, and behavior-based triggers, allowing marketers to create sophisticated campaigns that engage customers at various stages of their journey.

This level of automation is not available in Substack, which focuses more on content delivery rather than marketing complexity.

Advanced analytics and reporting

Mailchimp provides advanced analytics and reporting features that help businesses track the performance of their marketing campaigns in detail.

Users can access insights into open rates, click-through rates, and customer demographics, enabling data-driven decision-making.

This analytical depth is not a primary focus in Substack, which offers simpler metrics geared towards content consumption rather than business-focused analytics.

Substack vs. Mailchimp: SMB Guide’s Verdict

If you’re a business seeking to enhance your marketing efforts, Mailchimp’s extensive features will provide the tools you need to succeed.

Alternatively, if you’re a content creator aiming to monetize your writing and build a dedicated community, Substack offers simplicity and support to achieve your goals.

Sign up and test both platforms to discover which aligns best with your personal or professional objectives.