Mailchimp for hotels and the affordable alternatives

Mailchimp is the name everyone knows, but for a B&B with a couple hundred addresses it's rarely the cheapest or simplest choice. There are alternatives that cost less per month and less hassle.

The problem

Say you have 6 rooms, a list of 300 guest addresses you've collected over years, and you want to send two seasonal emails per year plus an automatic welcome email after booking. Nothing complicated. Yet with Mailchimp you run into a few things.

The free starter version has gotten tighter in recent years. The number of contacts and emails per month is capped, and the automations you actually want, like a welcome email that goes out automatically, often sit in a paid package. Once your list grows you hit Mailchimp's ceiling quick, because they charge per contact. A list of 500 addresses costs more than one of 300, even if you only send two emails yearly.

Plus Mailchimp's interface is extensive. Great for a marketing team, often more than a busy B&B owner with half an hour in the evening needs. You pay for features you don't use and hunt forever for the button you do need.

Mailchimp isn't bad. It's just built for a bigger user than you are. For the basics an accommodation needs, a newsletter and a welcome email, there are tools that are cheaper and more direct.

One more thing owners underestimate: the pricing model itself. Mailchimp counts every address in your account, including addresses that never open mail or you imported two years ago. You pay for list size, not what you do with it. For an accommodation sending sparingly but building a decent list, that works against you. The bigger your list, the more you pay, regardless whether you send two or twelve emails yearly. That's backwards from how a B&B uses email: a growing list is good news, not a cost item.

Calculation example

Below four email tools side by side, judged on what matters for a small accommodation: price for a list of 200 to 500 contacts, what the free version can do, and ease of use for a small business. The amounts are indicative in euros per month. Rates differ by country, currency and timing, so always check current pricing from the provider before you decide.

What stands out. MailerLite and Brevo have a free starter version that often covers a small list completely, where Mailchimp pushes you to paid quicker. Brevo charges per sent email instead of per contact: if you have 500 addresses but only email twice yearly, that costs you little. Flodesk has fixed price no matter list size, and the prettiest ready-made templates, but no free version.

For most B&Bs this means: you probably don't need paid Mailchimp. A free or cheap MailerLite or Brevo account does what you ask.

One calculation makes it concrete. Say your list grows from 300 to 500 addresses because you ask every guest for permission to email. At Mailchimp that growth means higher monthly cost, even though you still send only two seasonal emails yearly. At Brevo almost nothing changes because there you pay per sent email: two emails to 500 people is 1,000 sends per year, well within free or cheap tiers. The difference over a year is easily a hundred euros, and that compounds yearly.

Stepwise plan

Start not with the tool, start with your goal. Pick in four steps.

1. Decide what you want to send. Only seasonal newsletter twice yearly? Or also automatic welcome email after booking and review request after departure? The more automation you want, the more the tool must be able to do. More on setup is in setting up a hotel newsletter.

2. Count your contacts and sending frequency. Big list you rarely mail: Brevo's pay-per-email model favors you. Small list you mail often: MailerLite's per-contact price is good. This determines which pricing model works in your favor.

3. Test the free version first. Create an account with MailerLite or Brevo, import 20 addresses and send a test email to yourself. Feel within half an hour whether the interface suits you, at no cost. The tool you actually use beats expensive ones you avoid because they feel clunky.

4. Choose paid only when you hit a limit. Don't do the opposite. Most small accommodations stay fine on free for years. A limit is like a daily sending cap you're hitting or an automation the free version can't do. Only then weigh the upgrade against what it delivers.

What you don't do during this choice: hunt for the tool with the most features. The winner is the tool you actually use. A cheap tool you open every month delivers more than expensive full-featured software you avoid because it feels too complicated. Budget an hour to set up an account and send your first email, not an afternoon.

Common mistakes

• Picking the most well-known name. Mailchimp is the most Googled, not the best fit for small accommodation. Brand recognition says nothing about price for your situation.
• Paying for features you don't use. Advanced segmentation, A/B testing and detailed reports sound good, but if you send two emails yearly, you're paying for air. Choose on what you actually do.
• Skipping the free version. Many owners jump straight to paid "to be safe". Try free first, hit a limit, then upgrade. That saves hundreds yearly.
• Thinking you're stuck with your first pick. You export addresses as file and move them to a new tool. Moving templates and automations takes work, but addresses you don't lose. Choose lighter than too heavy.
• Forgetting the welcome email. The email with highest return is the first one a guest gets. Whichever tool you pick, set that up first. What should be in it is in a welcome email that sells.

What you can do now

Mailchimp is a fine tool, just rarely the smartest first choice for a B&B or small hotel. For 200 to 500 contacts MailerLite and Brevo are almost always cheaper and simpler, and their free starter often covers a small list completely.

The first step is not picking the tool, but getting your guest addresses in a place built for it. How you collect and build that and why email is your least dependent channel is in the guide to email marketing for hotels. Want automations running without you having to think about them after? Email automation with n8n for hoteliers takes you further.

What direct guest contacts save you on OTA commission you calculate in the savings calculator. And if you'd rather not figure out email tool setup yourself, we help set it up for your accommodation at marketing for hotels.