Drip vs Mailchimp: Specialist vs Generalist Drip Marketing
Comparing Drip and Mailchimp for drip email campaigns. Specialized e-commerce automation vs all-in-one marketing platform - which serves your drip needs better?
Overview
Drip and Mailchimp represent different approaches to drip email marketing. Drip specializes in e-commerce automation with sophisticated behavioral triggers and product-based drips. Mailchimp is the all-in-one marketing platform everyone knows, offering drip capabilities alongside broader marketing tools.
| Feature | Drip | Mailchimp |
|---|---|---|
| Focus | E-commerce drips | All-in-one marketing |
| Starting Price | $39/mo | $13/mo |
| E-commerce Depth | Specialized | Good |
| Drip Builder | Advanced visual | Customer Journeys |
| Behavioral Triggers | Extensive | Good |
| Product Recommendations | Built-in | Available |
| Website Builder | No | Yes |
| Social Media Tools | No | Yes |
Key Differences
Specialization vs Breadth
Drip does one thing exceptionally well - e-commerce drip automation. Every feature is designed around product-based email marketing. The tradeoff is you get nothing else.
Mailchimp offers drip campaigns alongside websites, social media, ads, postcards, and more. The drip capabilities are good but not as deep as Drip's specialized approach.
Drip Builder Sophistication
Drip's visual workflow builder handles complex conditional logic with ease. Multi-branch drips, sophisticated triggers based on purchase behavior, browse activity, and engagement patterns. It's built for power users.
Mailchimp's Customer Journey builder is approachable and improving, but doesn't match Drip's sophistication for complex e-commerce drip scenarios.
Pricing Comparison
| Contacts | Drip | Mailchimp (Standard) |
|---|---|---|
| 500 | $39/mo | $13/mo |
| 2,500 | $39/mo | $34/mo |
| 10,000 | $154/mo | $100/mo |
Mailchimp is more affordable at all levels, but you're comparing a specialist to a generalist.
Who Should Choose What
Choose Drip if:
- You run a serious e-commerce operation
- Complex behavioral drip campaigns are needed
- Product recommendations in emails matter
- E-commerce revenue attribution is important
- You want specialist-level drip automation
Choose Mailchimp if:
- You want one platform for multiple marketing needs
- Budget is a primary consideration
- Your drip needs are straightforward
- You value familiarity and ease of use
- You need landing pages, social, and website tools
For SaaS: Consider Sequenzy
Neither Drip nor Mailchimp is ideal for SaaS drip campaigns. Sequenzy offers native billing integration, AI drip generation, and MRR tracking designed specifically for subscription businesses at $19/mo.
The Bottom Line
Drip is worth the premium for e-commerce businesses serious about drip email automation. Mailchimp makes sense for businesses wanting good-enough drip capabilities within a broader marketing toolset at lower cost.