Pay Per Send vs Per Contact Email Pricing Calculator
Should you pay for list size or for emails sent? Compare Mailchimp-style contact billing with send/credit pricing.
What this calculator answers
Should you pay for contacts — or for emails you actually send?
Email tools bill in two common ways. This page estimates both for your list size and how often you mail, then shows which is cheaper — including live MailShrine credit pricing from /pricing.
Model A · Pay per contact
Mailchimp-style
You pay mainly for how many people you store. Sending more emails doesn’t always raise the bill much — but a big quiet list still costs.
Example: 10,000 contacts billed every month even if you only send once.
Model B · Pay per send / credits
Brevo-style & MailShrine
You pay mainly for emails that go out. Idle contacts don’t drive the bill the same way. MailShrine uses credits (1 credit ≈ 1 email).
Example: 10,000 contacts × 1 campaign ≈ 10,000 emails — you buy volume for that send.
Step 1 · Try a real-life setup
Pick an example, or type your own numbers below.
You keep 8,000 contacts but only mail twice a month (16,000 emails). Contact-based tools still charge for the full list. Send/credit tools mainly charge for the 16,000 emails.
8,000 people × 2 campaigns ≈ 16,000 emails this month
With 8,000 contacts, send/credit pricing often stays cheaper than Mailchimp-style contact billing if you send about 40 or fewer campaigns per month. Past that, compare the numbers — contact plans can catch up when you mail very often.
Step 2 · Estimated monthly cost
Cheapest for this setup: MailShrine (Pay with credits (≈ emails)) at $18.00/mo — about $117 less than Mailchimp-style per-contact.
Pay with credits (≈ emails)
$18.00/mo
1 credit ≈ 1 email. You buy packs or a monthly plan for the volume you actually send.
Value pack — 20,000 credits for $18 — lowest option on /pricing for this volume
Brevo-style
Pay per send
$69.00/mo
Bill follows how many emails go out this month more than idle contacts on the list.
Public send-volume tiers (educational estimate).
Mailchimp-style
Pay per contact
$135/mo
Bill is based mainly on how many people are on your list — even if you barely email them.
Mailchimp Standard public contact tiers (2026). List size drives the bill — not how often you send (within plan send limits).
Competitor figures are educational estimates from public marketing tiers. MailShrine uses the lowest real option for 16,000 emails on /pricing.
Match the billing model to how you actually send
Compare estimates with current MailShrine pricing. Competitor figures are estimates for planning.