Inside this Article
Features
Ascend by Wix Is Fine for Beginners; Mailchimp Lets You Do Much More
When it comes to email marketing features, I prefer Mailchimp for its bigger design library and more complex automations.Email Templates
If you were hoping for a variety of email templates to choose from, Wix Ascend will disappoint you. The platform only has about 16 templates, and they all have similar designs. Mailchimp has 100+ templates, but most look outdated and probably aren’t the best way to advertise your business. Both pale in comparison to other services – for example, GetResponse offers 500+ attractive, modern templates.
Pro Tip: If you want a truly unique email template, you can hire a designer on Fiverr for as little as $5. Take a look for yourself.

Marketing Automations
Wix Ascend’s automated emails are pretty limited, with most options focusing on transactional rather than marketing workflows. That is, you can take actions like sending invoices to customers, but you can’t develop drip campaigns based on subscriber engagement, for example. I liked that Ascend let me automate welcome emails to new subscribers, but I’d prefer some more options. For example, the ability to send more targeted automations to specific subscriber groups or develop customized workflows would be helpful.

A/B Testing
Also known as split-testing, this feature lets you try out slightly different versions of your email campaigns. Since it helps you identify what works best for your list, A/B testing provides tons of value. Although every paid Mailchimp plan has split-testing, Wix Ascend doesn’t offer this feature with any of its plans. With Mailchimp, you can test up to three versions of the subject line, from name, send time, or campaign content, which is a decent variety of factors. You can also choose what percentage of subscribers should receive each version and tell Mailchimp whether you want it to determine the winning version by open rate, revenue, or click-through rate. Although I found Mailchimp’s A/B testing options to be pretty powerful, I wasn’t thrilled to see that I’d have to sign up to the highest-tier plan to access multivariate testing. To add this feature, the price would skyrocket from $17.00 to $0 per month. For comparison, you can test multiple variables with a paid Benchmark plan, which starts at $13.00 per month.Ease of Use
Wix Ascend Can Be Tricky to Navigate; Mailchimp Is a Breeze
When you first start using either Wix Ascend or Mailchimp, you can expect a steep learning curve. Personally, I found Mailchimp more intuitive overall. In my Ascend by Wix review, I found the platform a little challenging to navigate. You have to dig pretty deep into the Wix menu system to even find the email marketing platform, and that rings alarm bells. It’s also missing some important features, such as subscriber segmentation or a spam tester.





Reporting and Analytics
Mailchimp Offers Helpful Insights; Wix Ascend Only Covers the Basics
Although Wix Ascend and Mailchimp offer relatively simple reports, I liked Mailchimp’s better. Just be aware that while Mailchimp offers better reports than Ascend for all plans, you’ll need to upgrade to the (dramatically more expensive) premium plan to get advanced analytics. Ascend’s email analytics are very basic. You can only track the bare minimum – open rates, click-through rates (CTRs), and URLs clicked.



Pricing
Mailchimp Gets Expensive Quickly; Wix Ascend Stays Affordable
Both Mailchimp and Wix Ascend offer free and paid plans. But while Wix Ascend sets flat rates for its paid plans, Mailchimp charges based on how many contacts you have – so you could end up paying wildly different amounts for each platform.Here’s What You Get For Free
If you want to do more than just dabble in email marketing, the Free plan from Ascend by Wix isn’t going to work for you. It only allows you to set up two automations and send three email campaigns per month. Mailchimp’s Free plan offers slightly more, but it still has limitations that would be deal-breakers for advanced marketers. Unusually, compared to other email marketing services, there’s a cap on both email sends and contacts. You can send up to 10,000 emails per month, set up 1-step automations, and add up to 2,000 contacts. This might sound generous, but once you’ve outgrown it, Mailchimp’s pricing gets expensive, very quickly. Is it possible to get a more full-featured free email marketing plan? Definitely. The best free plan I’ve tried is Sendinblue’s. It lets you add unlimited contacts and gives you access to both advanced subscriber segmentation and a custom workflow editor. Sendinblue also has send-based pricing, so when you upgrade to a paid plan you only have to calculate the number of emails you plan to send.Here’s What You Get If You Pay
The biggest advantage of Wix Ascend’s paid plans is that they all let you add unlimited subscribers while charging you a flat rate. That means you don’t have to worry about a price increase every time you reach a new subscriber threshold. Here’s a quick breakdown of the three paid Ascend plans:- Basic: Create up to five email campaigns and seven two-step automations each month. Price: $10.00 per month
- Professional: Send up to 20 email campaigns and up to 20 10-step automations each month and add up to 5 team members. Price: $24.00 per month
- Unlimited: Design unlimited email campaigns and automations and collaborate with unlimited teammates. Price: $49 per month
- Essentials: Add up to 50,000 contacts, send up to 500,000 emails (10x the maximum contact count for your plan), create multi-step automations, and work with up to 3 team members. Starting price: $17.00 per month.
- Standard: Store as many as 100,000 contacts, send up to 1.2 million emails (12x the maximum contact count for your plan), and collaborate with up to 5 team members. Starting price: $14.99 per month.
- Premium: Send up to 3 million emails (15x the maximum contact count for your plan) to up to 200,000 contacts and work with unlimited teammates. Starting price: $0 per month.
Plan | Subscribers | Email Sends | Automations | Support | Monthly Price |
Ascend by Wix Basic | Unlimited | 5 campaigns | Up to 7 with two steps | 24/7 email and callback support | $10.00 |
Mailchimp Essentials | 500 | 5,000 emails per month | Multistep journeys | 24/7 email & chat support | $17.00 |
Sendinblue Free | Unlimited | 300 emails per day (approx. 9,000 emails per month) | Customizable multi-step journeys for up to 2,000 contacts | 24/7 email support | $0 |
Support
Wix Ascend Support Is Speedy to Respond; Mailchimp Lags Behind
Ascend and Mailchimp both have decent support. But you shouldn’t expect miracles from either platform. First, the bad news: Wix Ascend doesn’t offer any type of live chat or phone support, even with “VIP support” on the Unlimited plan. However, it does provide ticket support and a callback service, which is available 24/7 for English and Spanish speakers. I was pleasantly surprised by the email ticketing system – I received a helpful answer to my question about personalizing campaigns in about an hour. Live chat or phone support presumably would have been faster, but this resolution was pretty prompt.

It’s a Draw – and You’ll Be Better Off with Another Option Anyway
When you compare Mailchimp and Wix Ascend side by side, it’s ultimately a draw. Both platforms have advantages in some areas and shortcomings in others. If you’re looking for an affordable email marketing solution that integrates seamlessly with your Wix site and apps, I’d go with Ascend by Wix. Or, if you don’t mind paying extra, you could chooseMailchimp to access more comprehensive reporting and customizable automations. Should you consider another platform instead? If you really want email marketing to help you grow your business, I’d say yes. With a dedicated email marketing service like Sendinblue, you can leverage advanced segmentation and workflows. And if you want to integrate all your tools and truly automate your marketing and sales efforts, I’d recommend GetResponse.Ascend by Wix
Mailchimp
Sendinblue
Features
About 16 email templates, simple premade automations, 250+ app integrations
100+ email templates, premade & custom automations, 250+ app integrations
140+ email templates, 100+ app integrations, premade automations even on the free plan
Ease of Use
Steep learning curve but does have time-saving features
Intuitive platform with user-friendly interface and helpful prompts
Clear, user-friendly design suitable for beginners
Reporting
Ultra-basic reports with no option to upgrade
Basic reports with advanced options for the highest-tier plan
Basic reports on the key facts, advanced options on the Lite plan
Support
24/7 email and callback support
24/7 email support and chat support 24 hours a day Monday–Friday for all paid plans. Phone support for the highest-tier plan.
Email and phone support
Pricing
Free plan available; paid plans have low flat rates for unlimited contacts
Free plan available; paid plan pricing increases based on how many contacts you have
Free plan available, paid plan pricing increases based on email sends not contacts