Mailchimp upgraded me to a paid plan?

Recently, a client of ours was surprised when their Mailchimp account was automatically upgraded to a paid plan. They had less than 2,000 subscribers (the maximum amount on a free plan), but were pushed into the paid plan tier.

Which contacts count toward Mailchimp billing?

• subscribed addresses
• unsubscribed addresses

On a free plan, you cannot have more than 2,000 subscribed + unsubscribed contacts. Cleaned and Archived contacts do not count toward billing of Mailchimp services.

Stay on the Mailchimp Free Plan

If you want to stay on the Free plan and keep a close eye on your audience, follow the steps below:

1. Look at your entire audience list
2. Sort the list by Email Marketing until Cleaned or Unsubscribed is first
3. Check the box next to Unsubscribed contacts
4. Click the Actions dropdown at the top, and select Archive
5. Once all Unsubscribed contacts have been Archived, head to your Account page
6. Downgrade your plan from the paid option back to the free option.

Archived contacts will be able to resubscribe and pick up where they left off. If your account reaches 2k or more again, you will be bumped back up into the paid plan. You will still be able to see the history and information of Archived contacts. Note: if you purchase credits while on the free plan, you will automatically be upgraded from the Free plan to the Pay-as-you-go plan.

Switch to a Pay-As-You-Go Plan

If you want to keep your contacts (or don't have enough unsubscribed contacts to get rid of), consider switching to the Pay-as-you-go plan.

1. Head to your Account page
2. Select the Billing dropdown near the top
3. Select Monthly Plan or Credits
4. Click the blue link " How many credits would you like to purchase?"
5. Then choose a credit number and purchase! 

This will automatically change your plan to a Pay-as-you-go and cancel the paid plan you were on. Mailchimp recommends making this switch closer to the end of your billing cycle to get the most out of your paid plan.

Is the Mailchimp Pay-As-You-Go plan worth it?

Some things to keep in mind with the Pay-as-you-go plan...

• 1 credit = 1 email address
• 1 email address ~ $0.03
• If you end up sending regular monthly emails to 2k addresses, the Pay-as-you-go plan will end up costing more like ~$64/month ($64 = 2,000 credits)
• You are always able to change your plan 
• The decision point for most clients is consistency and marketing plans. If you are expecting to be sending an email close to every month and are near that 2k limit, consider staying on the paid plan. Your list will grow naturally, and you may not have the time to micro-manage it.

We hope the above helps those of us who want to use Mailchimp to the max and are trying to determine the best budget for their email marketing! Best,

VNM Team

P.S. We recommend checking the current Mailchimp documentation or reaching out to us for any changes to procedures mentioned in this article.