Mailchimp monthly send limit: how sends are counted and when you pay extra
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On a monthly Mailchimp plan, the number of contacts you choose sets your pricing tier, and the tier sets both your contact limit and your sending limit (About Mailchimp Pricing Plans). That's why a send limit problem is usually a contact problem too.
What counts as a send
- Each email sent to an individual contact counts as 1 send, so 1 email sent to 500 contacts equals 500 sends (source).
- Test and transactional emails count toward your monthly sending limit (source).
Send limit by plan
| Plan | Monthly send limit |
|---|
| Free | 500 sends per month, daily limit of 250 (up to 250 contacts) |
| Essentials | 10 × your contact limit |
| Standard | 12 × your contact limit |
| Premium | 15 × your contact limit |
Source: About Mailchimp Pricing Plans. On the Free plan, going over the 250-contact limit puts a hold on sending live or test emails until you upgrade or reduce your contact total (same source).
What happens when you go over
- Mailchimp doesn't interrupt your service if you go over your monthly send limit; you see an additional charge on your bill (Change or Pause Your Marketing Plan).
- The charge is an add-on contact block, a smaller set of extra contacts and email sends. Mailchimp's example: on Standard the send limit is 12 times the contact limit, and the same formula applies to add-on blocks, so one block of 1,000 additional contacts includes 12,000 additional email sends (About Additional Charges). Block price depends on your plan and tier; when you're logged in and set your contact limit, Mailchimp shows it (same source).
- Upgrading your pricing tier mid-cycle gives you the higher send limit immediately, with an immediate charge for the difference between tiers (source).
Pay As You Go counts sends differently
- Instead of a monthly charge you buy email credits; each email sent to an individual contact costs one credit, and credits expire after 12 months (About the Pay As You Go Plan).
- Credits are used for any attempted send, including test emails, automations, and emails that bounced. Signup form response emails don't use credits (source).
Stay under the limit without paying for a bigger tier
- Send to segments. Mailchimp's own suggestion is to send targeted content to smaller segments instead of every subscribed contact in your audience (source).
- Archive inactive contacts. Mailchimp also suggests segmenting contacts who aren't interacting with your emails and archiving them (source). See archive inactive contacts.
- Check what's using your contact limit before you raise it. Unsubscribed and non-subscribed contacts can't receive marketing emails, yet both count toward your contact limit (About Your Contacts). If you're moving up a tier for more sends, know how many of the contacts you'd be paying for you can't email at all.
Export each audience and run AudienceTrim's free audit: it counts unsubscribed, non-subscribed and cross-audience duplicate contacts in your browser, so you can see what a lower contact total would look like. Nothing is uploaded.
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FAQ
Do test emails count toward Mailchimp's send limit? Yes. Test and transactional emails count toward your monthly sending limit.
What is the Mailchimp send limit on Standard? 12 times your contact limit. Essentials is 10 times and Premium is 15 times.
What happens if I go over my Mailchimp send limit? Mailchimp doesn't stop your sending on a paid monthly plan. It adds one or more add-on contact blocks to your bill.
How many emails can I send on the Mailchimp Free plan? 500 sends per month, with a daily send limit of 250.
Related guides
AudienceTrim isn't affiliated with Mailchimp or Intuit. Steps and facts are from Mailchimp's help center, accessed October 2026; check your own Billing page, since plans differ. Privacy · Terms