How to migrate from Mailchimp to Omnisend

June 1, 2025, marks an important date for customers of Mailchimp’s free plan. That’s when the free plan will no longer offer automated emails.

That means no automations at all, rather than a less generous limit. Customers won’t be able to alert customers that items are back in stock, or onboard new subscribers with a consistent welcome experience.

This is a significant blow for marketers who were using the free plan before reaching a point where they needed the features of a paid subscription, and who now may feel forced to either upgrade or find an alternative platform.

Omnisend’s free plan includes all of the standard features found on its paid plans, including automations, unlimited audience segments, and even 24/7 customer support. 

Read on to find out why automation should be part of every email marketer’s strategy, and how to migrate from Mailchimp to Omnisend.

Why you should use automated emails

Just how much are Mailchimp’s free users going to be missing by not having access to automations anymore?

To put it simply — a lot.

Omnisend’s 2025 ecommerce marketing report found that automated emails perform better than scheduled campaign emails across the board, with:

• 52% higher open rates
• 332% higher click rates
• 2,361% higher conversion rates

Automated emails are so effective that despite comprising just 2% of the total volume of sent emails, they drove 37% of all email-generated revenue. And of all orders generated by automated emails, 87% came from just three types: abandoned carts, welcome emails, and browse abandonment.

There are many more automated emails that you can choose to send, though. You can update customers when their order has shipped, let people know that an item they like is back in stock, request reviews or feedback, or increase average order values by cross-selling or upselling when customers make a purchase. You can even automate a humble birthday message, putting sales on autopilot by offering a birthday discount code to your subscribers.

In the following comparison table, you can see the stark difference in performance between automated emails and campaign emails:

How to migrate from Mailchimp to Omnisend in 2 steps

If you’d like to wield the power of automated emails but you’re not yet ready for a paid plan, we’ll give you the step-by-step tutorial on how to move from Mailchimp to Omnisend. With us, you can create the exact same automated emails and workflows as you could on our paid plans. To make the process easier, we offer a built-in integration with Mailchimp to help you migrate your data quickly.

Here are the two simple steps you need to take:

1. Integrate your ecommerce platform

Omnisend has pre-made integration with Shopify, BigCommerce, and WooCommerce, as well as the option to use direct API integration with other platforms like Big Cartel, Ecwid, and PrestaShop.

The easiest option is to download the Omnisend app from your platform’s app store, and follow the instructions. 

2. Migrate your Mailchimp contacts

Once your store is integrated with Omnisend, your contacts are automatically imported — including their orders, products, and carts. While that’s happening, you can start the process of migrating your Mailchimp contacts.

First, you need to go to your Mailchimp account and generate an API key. Then, in your Omnisend account, go to Audience and then Add contacts. You’ll then be able to select Mailchimp and paste your generated API key. Then click Continue.

Finally, you can send your imported contacts to a list by creating an automated segment or using a tag. 

Wrap up

As you can see, migrating from Mailchimp to Omnisend is straightforward, and our 24/7 award-winning support team is always available to help if you have any questions. 

Once you’ve made the switch, you’ll be able to create unlimited audience segments and incredibly powerful automated emails that save you time, make you more money, and let you get the full benefit of email marketing without feeling chained to your desk.