TL;DR
- Mailchimp:
- $13-350/mo. Per-contact monthly (charges for dormant contacts).
- FairMail:
- $0.001-0.003/email. No subscription. Full features from day one.
- The markup:
- Mailchimp's pricing is a 35x markup over infrastructure cost ($0.0001/email).
A Mailchimp alternative that charges what it costs.
Mailchimp charges $13-350/mo. The infrastructure to run email marketing — servers, APIs, storage, delivery — costs roughly $0.0001/email. FairMail charges $0.001-0.003/email. No subscription. No seat limits. No annual contract.
Why people leave Mailchimp
Charges for unsubscribed and inactive contacts
Dramatic price jumps as list grows
Free tier was gutted in 2023
Overage charges are punitive
FairMail vs Mailchimp
| FairMail | Mailchimp | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Pay per use | Per-contact monthly (charges for dormant contacts) |
| Price | $0.001-0.003/email | $13-350/mo |
| Free tier | Free actions included | 500 contacts, 1,000 sends/month |
| Contract | None | Annual billing typical |
| Zero-usage month | $0 | Still charged |
| Feature gating | All features included | Features locked by tier |
| Infrastructure cost | $0.0001/email | 35x markup |
What it actually costs to run
The infrastructure cost for email marketing — servers, APIs, storage, delivery — is roughly $0.0001/email. Mailchimp charges $13-350/mo. That's a 35x markup.
Fair charges $0.001-0.003/email — cost plus a small margin.
When to choose which
Choose Mailchimp if
Beginners wanting an all-in-one marketing platform with templates
Choose FairMail if
You want email marketing without a subscription. FairMail charges $0.001-0.003/email. Use a lot? Pay a little more. Use nothing? Pay nothing. All features included from the first use.
Where Mailchimp gets expensive
- Per-contact pricing penalizes list growth
- Dormant contacts still cost money
Switch from Mailchimp. Keep the features. Lose the subscription.
FairMail — $0.001-0.003/email. No subscription. No seat pricing. No annual contract. Your first actions are free.
Related comparisons
Fair is the anti-subscription. 13 tools, one account, pay for what you use.