Honest comparison · prices checked September 2026
They sound like the same category. They aren't. Mailchimp is a megaphone: marketing campaigns broadcast to a list you own. BLAM8 is a worker: an agent that reads each customer email that arrives, replies in your voice, and books the job behind it. The honest version of this page is short: if you want to send email, use Mailchimp. If you want your email answered, that's BLAM8.
That's what Mailchimp is built for, and BLAM8 doesn't do any of it. No hard feelings: different job.
Mailchimp cannot do any of this, at any tier: it has no inbox. An inbound email is invisible to it.
Mailchimp prices from mailchimp.com/pricing (shown in GBP to UK visitors, at 500 contacts). Checked September 2026. Mailchimp charges by stored contact; BLAM8 charges by handled email.
| Mailchimp | BLAM8 | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Marketing platform: campaigns & journeys sent to a list | AI agent: answers inbound email and books the work |
| Replies to inbound customer email | No: there's no inbox in the product | Yes: drafted in your voice from your own knowledge, approval-first |
| Books appointments / jobs | No: its own feature was discontinued on 29 Feb 2024; third-party booking links only | Yes: books into the live diary with holds that can't double-book, on every plan. It never books a date or a time nobody chose |
| Pricing model | By stored contact, at 500 contacts: Free up to 250 contacts · Essentials £9.88/mo · Standard £15.20/mo (both after a 14-day free trial) · Premium £226.17/mo for 12 months, then £266.08 | By handled email: £39/mo (Starter, 300 emails), £99/mo (Pro, 750 emails) or £249/mo (Pro + Concierge, 750 emails) |
| Marketing campaigns & newsletters | Yes: its whole purpose | No |
| Grows into | Bigger lists, more sends | Quotes and invoices on every plan, the self-filling CRM on Pro, and the Concierge on Pro + Concierge. SMS and missed-call text-back are built and being tested; they switch on when testing is done |
Worth knowing: Mailchimp's free tier stops at 250 contacts, and you pay for the contacts you store. Reviewers often mention paying for contacts who've unsubscribed. BLAM8 isn't metered on contacts at all: the £39/mo plan reads every inbound email, drafts the reply and books the job.
A customer writes: "Hi, any chance someone could come out Thursday to take a look? Mornings are best for us."
Nothing happens. The email sits in your inbox, and Mailchimp never sees it. The customer might later receive your monthly newsletter.
A reply is drafted in your voice within moments, the Thursday-morning slot is held so you can't double-book, and the booking details are pinned to the thread. You approve; it's sent and in the diary. If you're on full-auto, you just see the booking.
No. Mailchimp is marketing software: it sends campaigns and automated journeys to a contact list you own. It has no inbox, so an inbound customer email ("can you fit us in Thursday?") is invisible to it at every price tier. If you need customer emails answered, you need an agent that reads inbound mail, such as BLAM8, which drafts replies in your voice from your own business knowledge.
Not any more. Mailchimp discontinued its Appointment Scheduling feature on 29 February 2024, describing it as underused, and now points customers at third-party booking-link tools. None of them read your email or book from the conversation. BLAM8 books jobs directly from the email thread against your live diary.
Only for the wrong reason to buy Mailchimp. If you want to send newsletters and campaigns to a list, use Mailchimp: BLAM8 doesn't do that. If you bought Mailchimp hoping your customer emails would get handled, that's the job BLAM8 does: every inbound email answered in your voice, booking details gathered, and the job booked into your diary in the same thread, on every plan.
They meter different things. Mailchimp charges by the contacts you store, and shows UK visitors GBP. At 500 contacts: Free covers up to 250 contacts, Essentials is £9.88/month and Standard £15.20/month, both after a 14-day free trial, and Premium is £226.17/month for the first 12 months, then £266.08. BLAM8 charges by the emails it handles: £39/month (Starter: replies, booking, diary, quotes and invoices, 300 emails), £99/month (Pro: adds the self-filling CRM, 750 emails) or £249/month (Pro + Concierge: adds the Concierge, 750 emails). Prices checked September 2026.
Yes, and plenty of businesses should: Mailchimp for the outbound marketing you choose to send, BLAM8 for the inbound email you already receive. They don't overlap, which is the whole point of this page.
Free 14-day trial of the full product, no card. Connect a mailbox in the morning and watch it draft on your real mail the same day.
Mailchimp is a trademark of The Rocket Science Group LLC (an Intuit company). BLAM8 is not affiliated with or endorsed by Mailchimp. Competitor details and prices were checked against public sources in September 2026 and may have changed — see Mailchimp's pricing page for current rates.
BLAM8 assistant