Mailchimp vs phpList
Which one do AI engines recommend, and how do they differ on price, fit and features?
The short answer
Mailchimp is the stronger AI pick in Email Marketing: it has a visibility score of 45.4 versus 0.9 for phpList, and ranks ahead in 100% of the answers that name both.
Choose Mailchimp if…
- You want the brand AI engines rank higher (45.4 vs 0.9)
- AI answers describe it more positively (35% vs 0% positive)
- You need SOC 2 Type II or EU-US Data Privacy Framework coverage
- Easy to use, beginner-friendly
Choose phpList if…
No clear advantage in the published data.
AI visibility side by side
Latest weekly run · Nov 2
| Metric | Mailchimp | phpList |
|---|---|---|
| Visibility score | 45.4% | 0.9% |
| Change vs last week | New | New |
| Rank in Email Marketing | #1 | #34 |
| Share of voice | 9.6% | 0.3% |
| Mentions this run | 48 | 1 |
| Positive in AI answers | 35% | 0% |
The stronger value in each row is marked with a ✓.
Visibility score trend
Weekly runs over the last 60 days
Mailchimp 0pp · phpList 0pp over 0 weekly runs.
Engine by engine
Mailchimp leads on 3 of 3 engines
Head to head in AI answers
1 engine answers name both brands
| Prompt | Engine | Mailchimp | phpList |
|---|---|---|---|
| How do companies send and measure email campaigns without a dedicated tool? | AI Mode | #1 | #3 |
Features, pricing & fit
| Dimension | Mailchimp | phpList |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Usage-based | — |
| Entry price | Free; paid from $13 / mo | — |
| Free plan | Yes | — |
| Deployment | — | Installed on the customer's own server, with a hosted option through phpList.com |
| Integrations | 300+ | — |
| Compliance | SOC 2 Type II, EU-US Data Privacy Framework | — |
| Support | Phone and priority support on Premium, 24/7 email and chat support on Standard and Essentials, Email support for the first 30 days on Free, Guides and tutorials | Community documentation and forums on phplist.org, Professional support from experienced consultants and community members |
| Founded | 2001 | — |
| Headquarters | Atlanta, Georgia, United States | Marston Moretaine, Bedfordshire, UK |
| Employees | 1,001–5,000 | — |
| Funding | — | Bootstrapped |
| Best for | Growing businesses, including small businesses, retailers, nonprofits and creators that want email, SMS and automation in one platform | Community groups, small businesses and startups wanting a lean, low-cost choice, and large organisations that want to keep their data on their own servers |
Plans side by side
Mailchimp
phpList
Pricing not available.
Pros and cons
Themes from the AI answers that mention each brand
Mailchimp
- Easy to use, beginner-friendly
- Drag-and-drop email design and templates
- Most popular, widely recognised market leader
- Strongest overall general-purpose choice
- Free tier and broad integrations
- Tight free plan limits
- No standard annual billing discount
- Penalises cold lists
phpList
Profile in progress.
Data collected ·ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Mode·coverage 100%·next run
Cite as: SlateIndex, “Mailchimp vs phpList”, https://slateindex.ai/compare/mailchimp-vs-phplist, data of Nov 2, 2026. Licence: CC BY 4.0.