How do MailChimp credits work? MailChimp’s Pay As You Go credits explained.

MailChimp credits (known as Pay As You Go credits) work the same as a paid account, except you are paying per email that you send. MailChimp’s monthly paid accounts charge a flat rate per month, like $10 or $15 a month. MailChimp’s Pay As You Go credits only get used when you send an email.

Confused as to which MailChimp account is best for you? This article will show you how MailChimp credits work and how to figure out if MailChimp’s Pay As You Go credits are the best fit for you.

MailChimp does not pay me to write about them or their services. I use MailChimp. I like MailChimp. I encourage my clients to use MailChimp. I write these articles as a way to help make MailChimp easier to understand and as a way to increase my expertise.
Researching email marketing software? CLICK HERE to download a free cheat sheet comparing the top email marketing providers!

MailChimp credits explained:

MailChimp’s credits are great for people who want the features of a monthly paid plan but they don’t send a lot of emails, so they don’t want to pay the monthly flat fee.

How many MailChimp credits are used per email?

One. Each email uses one MailChimp email credit.

MailChimp pricing for Pay As You Go credits:

The more MailChimp email credits you buy at one time, the less expensive each MailChimp email credit costs.

Example MailChimp credits pricing:

If you purchase 300 email credits, you will spend $9.00, which equals $0.03 per email.

If you purchase 10,000 email credits, you will spend $200, which equals $0.02 per email.

If you purchase 25,000 email credits, you will spend $250, which equals $0.01 per email.

MailChimp Pay As You Go credits compared to MailChimp monthly plans:

So who should purchase MailChimp email credits and who should go with a monthly plan?

MailChimp’s paid accounts begin at $10.00 a month. For $10.00 a month, you can have up to 500 subscribers on your list.

Let’s say that you have 200 subscribers on your list and you email them twice a month. That’s 400 emails. You would be able to send 400 emails for $10.00 a month with a monthly paid plan. If you were to purchase 400 email credits, it would cost $12.00. In this scenario, MailChimp’s monthly paid plan is the less expensive way to go.

Let’s say you only send 200 emails a month. With MailChimp’s Pay As You Go credits, the most you’d pay per credit would be $0.03, which equals $6.00. In this case, MailChimp’s Pay As You Go credits would be a better deal for you.

MailChimp Pay As You Go calculator.

You’ll need to do a little calculating to figure out if MailChimp credits are better for you than the MailChimp monthly plan. Here’s how to calculate what’s right for you:

First, you’ll need to know:

1. How many emails you will send
2. How frequently you will send them
   • Per week
   • Per month
   • Per quarter

Next, you’ll need to calculate:

1. How much your email credits will cost you (we’ll go through how in a moment)
2. Figure out how much a monthly account will cost you
3. Compare which is more affordable.

Now let’s walk through this with an actual example:

1. Determine how many emails you will send
   In this example, we’ll say you will send 1,000 emails.
2. Determine how frequently you will send them
   Let’s say that you will send the emails once per quarter.
3. Figure out how much your email credits will cost you.
   1. Go to MailChimp’s online calculator: https://mailchimp.com/pricing/growing-business/
   2. Below the grid showing you how much your monthly subscription will cost is a button labeled “Pay as you go.” Click that button.
      
   3. Enter how many credits you wish to purchase and you’ll find your cost.
      In our example, 1,000 email credits will cost $30.
4. Figure out how much a monthly account will cost you
   1. Return to MaiilChimp’s online calculator: https://mailchimp.com/pricing/growing-business/
   2. Below the grid, make sure “Monthly” is highlighted.
      
   3. Type in how many subscribers you have on your list and you’ll see how much your subscription will cost per month.
      In this example, we’ll say you have 1,000 subscribers.
      Your monthly MailChimp plan will cost $15.00
5. Compare which is more affordable over the period of time you’ll be sending the emails.
   Pay As You Go cost:
   In this case, if you send 1,000 emails once a quarter or every three months, 1,000 email credits will cost you $30.
   Monthly account cost:
   If you had a subscriber list of 1,000 and had a monthly plan, you would pay $15.00 a month, which equals $45 a quarter.
   In this case, the MailChimp monthly plan would be $15 more for each quarter to send 1,000 emails than it would cost for 1,000 MailChimp Pay As You Go email credits.

Still want to know more about the MailChimp Pas As You Go Plan? Here’re all the details at MailChimp’s website.
Researching email marketing software? CLICK HERE to download a free cheat sheet comparing the top email marketing providers!