How Contact Counting Works (It Varies by Platform)
Not all “contacts” are counted equally. The definition directly affects your bill.
- Mailchimp: Counts ALL contacts in your audience, including unsubscribed and non-subscribed contacts. A list of 5,000 with 1,000 unsubscribes? You pay for 5,000. This inflates bills by 20–40% for most users.
- Kit (ConvertKit): Counts active subscribers only. Unsubscribes and bounces do not count toward your limit. Much fairer.
- ActiveCampaign: Counts contacts on any list. Contacts on multiple lists count once. Unsubscribes can be excluded by archiving.
- Brevo: Does NOT charge by contacts at all. Brevo charges by emails sent. Unlimited contacts on every plan, including Free. This is the most generous model for large lists.
- beehiiv: Counts subscribers. Launch (free) caps at 2,500. Scale ($49/month) is unlimited. No contact counting games.
Cost Projections: 1K to 50K Contacts
| Platform & Plan | 1K | 5K | 10K | 25K | 50K |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mailchimp Standard | $20/mo | $75/mo | $110/mo | $230/mo | $385/mo |
| Kit Creator | $39/mo | $79/mo | $119/mo | $199/mo | $379/mo |
| ActiveCampaign Starter | $15/mo | $49/mo | $79/mo | $145/mo | $259/mo |
| Brevo Standard | $18/mo | $18/mo | $18/mo | $18/mo | $18/mo* |
| beehiiv Scale | $49/mo | $49/mo | $49/mo | $49/mo | $49/mo |
*Brevo Standard at $18/mo includes 5,000 emails/month. For 50K contacts, you'd need higher email volume which increases the plan price. The contact count itself is free.
At 25,000 contacts, Mailchimp Standard costs $230/month ($2,760/year). beehiiv Scale costs $49/month ($588/year). That's $2,172/year in savings — for unlimited subscribers with no contact-counting games.
The Mailchimp Contact Counting Trap
Mailchimp counts non-subscribed and unsubscribed contacts in your audience toward your billing limit. A typical list has 15–25% inactive or unsubscribed contacts that you can't send to but still pay for. At 10,000 contacts with 20% unsubscribes, you're paying for 2,000 contacts that provide zero value.
The fix:Regularly archive or delete unsubscribed contacts in Mailchimp. Go to Audience > Manage Contacts > Unsubscribed and archive them. This directly reduces your bill. Or switch to a platform that doesn't count them (Kit, beehiiv, Brevo).
The Alternative: Email-Volume Pricing
Brevo charges by emails sent, not contacts stored. You can have 100,000 contacts and pay $0 for storing them. You only pay based on how many emails you actually send. Brevo Free gives 300 emails/day (about 9,000/month). Starter at $9/month gives 5,000 emails/month. Standard at $18/month gives 5,000 emails/month with automation.
For businesses with large contact lists but low email frequency (agencies, consultants, event-based businesses), email-volume pricing saves significantly compared to contact-based pricing.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does Mailchimp count unsubscribes?
Revenue. Counting all contacts in the audience (including unsubscribes) inflates the billable count. Mailchimp's official position is that unsubscribed contacts are still stored and managed. The practical effect is you pay for people you can't email.
At what list size does contact-based pricing hurt most?
Above 5,000 contacts. Below that, most platforms are under $50/month regardless of model. Above 10,000, the gap between Mailchimp ($110/month) and beehiiv ($49/month) becomes significant. Above 25,000, flat-rate options save $1,000+/year.
Is Brevo's email-volume model always cheaper?
For large lists with moderate email frequency, yes. If you send daily emails to your entire list (high volume), Brevo's per-email pricing can catch up. At 50K contacts sending 4x/month = 200K emails, you'd need the Professional tier ($499/month). But for most use cases under 25K contacts, Brevo is cheaper than Mailchimp.