Mailchimp vs Constant Contact for Churches (2026)

Last updated: April 28, 2026

TL;DR: Neither Mailchimp nor Constant Contact is a great fit for churches. Mailchimp charges you for members who unsubscribe, and Constant Contact makes you call a phone number just to cancel your account. Groupmail offers unlimited contacts on every paid plan starting at $15/mo, human support, and a handover call when your church volunteer changes — which, if you run a church, you know happens constantly. If you need simple email for your congregation, skip both and start with Groupmail.

Most churches land on Mailchimp or Constant Contact because those are the names they know. But both platforms were built for marketers, not ministry. This guide compares them head-to-head on what actually matters to churches — simplicity, price, volunteer-friendliness — and introduces a better option most church admins haven't discovered yet.

Disclosure: We're the team behind Groupmail — simple email software for organizations since 1996. We'll be upfront about where we fit and honest about alternatives.

Why Does Your Church's Email Platform Choice Matter?

The wrong email tool wastes volunteer hours, inflates costs, and sends fewer updates to your congregation than a simpler alternative would.

Churches operate differently from businesses. Your "email team" is usually one volunteer — a church secretary, office manager, or pastor's spouse — who juggles dozens of other responsibilities. According to the M+R Benchmarks 2025 report, nonprofits and community organizations average a 9.7% annual unsubscribe rate. For a church with 2,000 members in their list, that means roughly 194 "zombie" contacts per year that Mailchimp would still count against your plan limit.

The platform you choose affects how quickly a new volunteer can take over when the current one moves on. It affects whether your weekly bulletin actually gets sent or sits in drafts because the interface was too confusing. And it affects whether your tithes go toward ministry or toward paying for contacts you cannot even email.

Tip: Before comparing features, ask one question: "Could a brand-new volunteer send our Sunday bulletin within 15 minutes of logging in?" If the answer is no, the tool is too complex for church use.

What Should Churches Look for in Email Software?

Churches need an email tool that any volunteer can learn in minutes, that does not penalize list growth, and that supports smooth handoffs between volunteers.

Church email needs are surprisingly specific. You are not running drip sequences or A/B testing subject lines. You are sending a weekly bulletin, occasional event announcements, and maybe a quarterly fundraising update. According to Nonprofit Tech for Good, 26% of nonprofits still cite "lack of staff expertise" as their top barrier to effective email communication. For churches relying on volunteers, that number is almost certainly higher.

Here is what to prioritize:

• Simplicity over features. A drag-and-drop editor with basic formatting beats a full marketing suite nobody uses.
• Unlimited contacts. Your membership list only grows. You should not pay more for adding new families.
• Volunteer handoff support. When your church secretary retires, the new person needs to get up to speed fast.
• Transparent cancellation. If you need to switch tools, you should not need to call a phone number during business hours.
• Honest pricing. No hidden charges for unsubscribed contacts or surprise auto-upgrades.

How Do Mailchimp and Constant Contact Compare for Churches?

Mailchimp offers a larger free tier ecosystem but charges for unsubscribed contacts, while Constant Contact provides phone support but requires a phone call to cancel — neither is ideal for churches.

Pricing last verified April 2026.

The table tells the story at a glance. Both Mailchimp and Constant Contact charge you based on how many contacts you store — including people who have unsubscribed. Both start cheap at small list sizes but escalate quickly as your church grows. Groupmail sidesteps this entirely with unlimited contacts on every paid plan.

For a more detailed look at Mailchimp alternatives across all organization types, see our guide to the Best Mailchimp Competitors for Organizations (2026).

1. Groupmail

Best for: Churches and community organizations that need any volunteer to send a bulletin in under 10 minutes Pricing: Free (500 contacts, 1,000 emails/mo) | Community $15/mo | Continuity $29/mo | Business $49/mo | All paid plans: unlimited contacts, 5,000 emails/mo Website: groupmail.io

Groupmail was built for exactly the kind of sending churches do — regular updates to a known list of members, not marketing to strangers. The editor is simple enough that a volunteer with no email experience can draft and send a Sunday bulletin in their first session. Over 100,000 organizations across 160 countries have used Groupmail since 1996, and the platform includes managed email delivery on all plans, meaning zero technical setup for your church IT volunteer (if you even have one).

What makes Groupmail particularly well-suited for churches is the Continuity plan's handover call. When your church secretary retires or your communications volunteer moves to another parish, Groupmail's team schedules a call with the new person to walk them through the account. No other email platform offers this. The Community plan at $15/mo requires no nonprofit discount application, no 501(c)(3) documentation, and no approval process — that is the standard price for community organizations.

Credit top-ups at $5 per 1,000 emails are available on all plans, including the Free tier, so a church that only sends heavy volume around Easter and Christmas can stay on the affordable Community plan year-round and top up when needed.

Pricing last verified April 2026. Visit groupmail.io/pricing for current rates.

What's missing: Groupmail does not offer complex automation sequences or a large integration library. If your church needs automated drip emails for a 12-week new member onboarding series, you will need a more feature-heavy tool. For most churches sending bulletins and announcements, this is not a limitation.

Key Takeaway: Groupmail gives churches unlimited contacts, a dead-simple editor, and volunteer handover support — the three things that actually matter when your "email team" changes every year or two.

2. Mailchimp

Best for: Churches that need advanced automation and already have a tech-savvy staff member Pricing: Free (250 contacts, 500 emails/mo) | Essentials from $13/mo | Standard from $20/mo | Premium from $350/mo Website: mailchimp.com

Mailchimp is the most recognized name in email, and many churches default to it simply because their volunteer has heard of it. The platform does offer a capable drag-and-drop editor, a template library, and detailed analytics. For churches with a paid communications director who knows their way around marketing tools, Mailchimp can work.

But the problems start with pricing. Mailchimp counts all contacts — subscribed, unsubscribed, and non-subscribed — toward your plan limit. The M+R Benchmarks 2025 report found that nonprofits average a 9.7% unsubscribe rate annually. A church with 2,000 members accumulates roughly 194 zombie contacts per year that still count against your bill. Mailchimp's free plan was gutted to just 250 contacts and 500 emails per month as of January 2026, making it essentially useless for any church larger than a house group.

Mailchimp holds a 2.8 out of 5 rating on Trustpilot from over 1,348 reviews. The BBB lists 73 complaints in the past three years. Their nonprofit discount is just 15% — the lowest among major competitors — and requires submitting a 501(c)(3) determination letter before purchasing a paid plan.

What's missing: Mailchimp's interface has grown increasingly complex over the years. Features like Customer Journeys, predictive demographics, and multivariate testing are powerful for marketers but create confusion for church volunteers who just need to send a weekly update. The Essentials plan at 500 contacts runs $13/mo, but a church with 1,500 contacts would pay roughly $45/mo on the Standard plan — three times Groupmail's Community plan for fewer features that churches actually use.

If you are currently on Mailchimp and considering a change, our How to Switch from Mailchimp: Migration Guide (2026) walks through the process step by step.

3. Constant Contact

Best for: Churches that want phone-based customer support and do not mind paying a premium for it Pricing: Lite $12/mo | Standard $35/mo | Premium $80/mo (at 500 contacts) — no free plan Website: constantcontact.com

Constant Contact has been a popular choice among churches for years, largely because it offers phone and chat support — something many volunteers value when they get stuck mid-send. The event management and survey tools built into the platform can also be useful for churches managing potlucks, retreats, and feedback forms.

However, Constant Contact eliminated its free plan entirely in 2025. The Lite plan starts at $12/mo for 500 contacts, but most churches will need the Standard plan at $35/mo to access features like email scheduling and contact segmentation. At 2,500 contacts, that price climbs further. The nonprofit discount of 20-30% requires a 6-12 month prepayment commitment, which many churches operating on annual budgets find restrictive.

The biggest red flag is cancellation. According to Constant Contact's own cancellation page, you must call 855-229-5506 during business hours (Mon-Fri, 8am-8pm ET) to cancel your account. Users report long hold times and aggressive retention pitches. Sitejabber rates Constant Contact just 1.3 out of 5 stars from 82 reviews, with 77% being one-star ratings and 0% positive in the last 12 months.

What's missing: No free plan means there is no way to try before you buy. The phone-only cancellation policy is a serious concern for churches that may need to switch tools if their budget changes mid-year. Groupmail offers one-click cancellation from within your account — no phone calls, no hold times, no retention agents.

How Do the Real Costs Compare for a Typical Church?

A church with 2,000 members pays roughly $45/mo on Mailchimp Standard, $35-55/mo on Constant Contact Standard, and $15/mo on Groupmail Community — with unlimited contacts.

Raw starting prices are misleading because Mailchimp and Constant Contact both use tiered contact pricing. Let us walk through what a mid-sized church of 2,000 members would actually pay.

Pricing last verified April 2026.

Even after applying their respective nonprofit discounts, both Mailchimp and Constant Contact cost more than Groupmail at the 2,000-member mark. And Groupmail's $15/mo does not change as your church grows to 3,000, 5,000, or 10,000 members — contacts are unlimited on every paid plan.

For churches exploring other options beyond these three, our roundup of 7 Best Mailchimp Alternatives in 2026 (Free & Paid) covers the full landscape.

What Happens When Your Church Volunteer Changes?

Volunteer turnover is the hidden cost of complex email tools — Groupmail is the only platform that offers a dedicated handover call to get your new person up to speed.

According to the Independent Sector, the average value of volunteer time in 2024 was $33.49 per hour. If a new church volunteer spends five hours learning Mailchimp's interface — navigating audiences, segments, tags, and Customer Journeys — that represents over $167 in lost volunteer value. With Constant Contact, the learning curve is slightly less steep, but you still lose hours to familiarization.

Groupmail's Continuity plan ($29/mo) includes an annual handover call specifically designed for this scenario. When your communications volunteer leaves, Groupmail's support team schedules a call with the replacement to walk through the account, explain how to send updates, and answer questions. No other email platform in this comparison offers anything similar.

Even on the Community plan at $15/mo, Groupmail's human support team responds to questions from real people — not chatbots. For a church office manager who emails support at 2pm asking "how do I add a new family to our list," that difference matters.

Can You Send Church Emails Without Either Mailchimp or Constant Contact?

Absolutely — many churches are discovering simpler, less expensive alternatives built specifically for community organizations rather than marketers.

The email software market has expanded significantly since Mailchimp and Constant Contact established themselves as defaults. You are no longer limited to tools designed for e-commerce stores and marketing teams. Our guide to Mailchimp Alternatives for Nonprofits: 7 Simpler Options (2026) covers several options worth considering.

The key shift is recognizing that churches are not running marketing operations. You are communicating with people who already know you and want to hear from you. That fundamental difference means you do not need:

• Automated welcome sequences for lead nurturing
• A/B testing for subject line optimization
• Detailed click heatmaps and engagement scoring
• Customer journey builders with conditional logic

What you do need is a simple editor, a reliable way to manage your member list, and the ability to send a clean-looking bulletin on Sunday morning. Groupmail was designed from the ground up for exactly this kind of sending.

If you want to explore your options further, our guide on How to Send a Newsletter Without Mailchimp (2026 Guide) walks through the complete process.

Which Email Tool Is Right for Your Church?

For most churches, Groupmail is the best fit — it is the simplest, the most affordable at scale, and the only tool with built-in volunteer handover support.

Choose Groupmail if your church wants unlimited contacts at a flat $15/mo, an editor any volunteer can learn in 10 minutes, and human support that includes a handover call when your volunteer changes. Groupmail manages email delivery on all plans, so there is no technical setup required.

Choose Mailchimp if your church has a paid communications director who specifically needs advanced automation, A/B testing, and deep analytics — and your budget can absorb the escalating contact-based pricing. Be aware that you will pay for unsubscribed contacts and that the free plan is now capped at 250 contacts.

Choose Constant Contact if phone-based support is your absolute top priority and you are comfortable with a 6-12 month prepayment commitment to access the nonprofit discount. Understand that you will need to call during business hours to cancel.

For most churches sending weekly bulletins and occasional announcements, Groupmail gives you everything you need without the marketing complexity, rising costs, or cancellation headaches.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Mailchimp or Constant Contact better for churches?

Neither is ideal for most churches. Mailchimp charges for unsubscribed contacts and has grown increasingly complex, while Constant Contact eliminated its free plan and requires a phone call to cancel. Both use tiered contact pricing that gets expensive as your church grows. Groupmail offers unlimited contacts on every paid plan starting at $15/mo, which makes it a better fit for churches that want simplicity and predictable costs.

Does Mailchimp offer a discount for churches?

Mailchimp offers a 15% nonprofit discount, but it requires submitting a 501(c)(3) determination letter before purchasing a paid plan. The discount cannot be applied retroactively. Even with the 15% discount, a church with 2,000 members would still pay roughly $38/mo on Mailchimp's Standard plan — more than double Groupmail's $15/mo Community plan, which requires no application or documentation.

Can I cancel Constant Contact online?

No. Constant Contact requires you to call 855-229-5506 during business hours (Monday through Friday, 8am to 8pm ET) to cancel your account. Users on review sites report long hold times and retention pitches designed to keep you from leaving. Groupmail offers one-click cancellation from within your account settings — no phone calls, no waiting on hold, no retention agents.

What happens when our church volunteer who manages email leaves?

This is one of the most overlooked problems in church communications. With Mailchimp or Constant Contact, the new volunteer inherits a complex interface and has to figure things out on their own or contact generic support. Groupmail's Continuity plan ($29/mo) includes an annual handover call where the support team walks the new person through the account. Even on the Community plan, Groupmail's human support team is available to help.

Why is Groupmail so affordable for nonprofits?

Groupmail uses Community-First pricing, which means $15/mo is the standard price for community organizations — not a discounted rate that requires applications or documentation. The platform keeps costs low by focusing on what churches and nonprofits actually need (simple sending, list management, basic reporting) rather than building expensive marketing automation features that community organizations never use. Every paid plan includes unlimited contacts, so your price never increases as your membership grows.

Ready to send your first update? Start free with Groupmail — set up in 10 minutes, no credit card required. Built for organizations, not marketers.