Mailchimp Transactional, still known as Mandrill, is sold as an add-on to a paid Mailchimp Standard or Premium plan, in blocks of 25,000 emails at $20 a block. Notix Pro is $15 a month on its own, includes 50,000 emails, adds an OTP API and a pre-send deliverability check, keeps one suppression list across transactional and marketing mail. Teams whose marketing lives in Mailchimp's audience tooling can keep it there and move only the transactional side.
Mailchimp's transactional pricing page sells email in blocks of 25,000 at $20 each, and the free allowance of 500 sends applies only once the account has a Standard or Premium Mailchimp plan. A team that only wants to send receipts pays for a marketing plan first and the blocks second.
A block is 25,000 emails whether you send 3,000 or 24,000. The per-block price falls from $20 to $18 at 21 blocks and to $10 past 160, so the pricing rewards very large senders and rounds everyone else up. Per-email metering on one invoice is the thing small teams ask for and do not get.
Mandrill has been sending transactional mail for a long time, and its SMTP, webhooks and client libraries for PHP, Node, Python and Ruby reflect that. What it does not do is generate and check a one-time code, test a message before it goes, or share a suppression list with the marketing side of the same account.
Every Mandrill figure was read from Mailchimp's own transactional pricing page on 2026-09-13; the date sits under the table. Where the page does not state something, the cell says so.
| Criterion | Mailchimp Transactional (Mandrill) | Notix |
|---|---|---|
| Free tier | Up to 500 free sends to a verified domain; needs a Mailchimp Standard or Premium plan | 5,000 emails a month, 200 a day, no card, no end date |
| Entry paid plan | $20 per block of 25,000 emails (1 to 20 blocks), on top of a Mailchimp plan | Pro $15 a month |
| Included on that plan | 25,000 emails per block; $18 a block from 21 blocks, down to $10 a block past 160; dedicated IP $29.95 a month | 50,000 emails, usage past that metered on the same invoice |
| SMTP relay | Yes | Yes, on every plan |
| SDKs | PHP, Node, Python, Ruby | TypeScript, Python, Go, PHP |
| Webhooks | Yes | Yes, signed, for email, contact and domain events |
| OTP / verification API | No | Yes, email and SMS codes |
| Deliverability check before sending | No | Yes, a pre-send check API |
| Billing outside USD | Not stated on the pricing page | USD by card; naira and shillings from a prepaid wallet |
| SLA | Not stated on the pricing page | 99.9% on Pro, credits on the pricing page |
| Prices and limits read from the vendors' own pages: mailchimp.com on 2026-09-13. Notix figures are from its own pricing page. | ||
If your marketing already runs on Mailchimp, Mandrill shares the account, the billing and the audience data, and that integration has no equivalent elsewhere. Its client libraries and SMTP are long established, a dedicated IP is a $29.95 a month add-on for teams that want their own reputation, and at very high volume the block price falls to $10 per 25,000, which is competitive. If any of those is the reason you are on Mandrill, this page is not for you.
Both send through a JSON API, both offer SMTP, both post webhooks for delivery events, and both verify a sending domain with DNS records you add once. Neither publishes an uptime commitment on its pricing page except Notix on Pro. For a plain transactional send the message shape is the same; the migration section shows how little changes.
5,000 emails a month and 200 a day, no card, no end date, and no other subscription. Pro is $15 for 50,000 emails, with usage past that metered on the same invoice at the rate on the pricing page.
One call sends a code by email or SMS, one call checks it. Expiry, attempts and rate limits are handled server-side. See OTP email.
Post the message and get back a verdict, a score and the findings that would block a send, before a recipient sees it.
Bounces and complaints suppress across transactional and marketing mail in one account, with contact books, campaigns and journeys included rather than sold as a separate product.
A prepaid wallet in NGN or KES, topped up locally. Pro is charged from the balance each month; no dollar card needed.
The message shape is the same: a from address, recipients, a subject and a body. Swap the client and the key, or the SMTP host, verify your domain, and the rest of your code stays.
// Before: your Mandrill client, whichever library you use.
// The message carries from, to, subject and html, and the API key
// comes from your Mailchimp account with a Standard or Premium plan.
const result = await mandrill.messages.send({
message: {
from_email: "receipts@acme.com",
to: [{ email: "customer@example.com" }],
subject: "Your receipt",
html: "<p>Thanks for your order.</p>",
},
});
import { Notix } from "notix-js";
const notix = new Notix(process.env.NOTIX_API_KEY);
const { data, error } = await notix.emails.send(
{
from: "receipts@acme.com",
to: "customer@example.com",
subject: "Your receipt",
html: "<p>Thanks for your order.</p>",
},
{ idempotencyKey: "order-48213-receipt" },
);
# Before
SMTP_HOST=<your Mandrill SMTP host>
SMTP_PORT=587
SMTP_USER=<your Mailchimp account>
SMTP_PASS=<Mandrill API key>
# After
SMTP_HOST=smtp.usenotix.dev
SMTP_PORT=465 # or 587 for STARTTLS
SMTP_USER=notix
SMTP_PASS=<your Notix API key>
Add the SPF, DKIM and DMARC records Notix gives you. They sit beside Mandrill's records, so both services can send while you switch. The quickstart walks through it.
Replace the Mandrill call with notix-js and the key in your environment, and add an idempotency key so a retried request never sends twice. Over SMTP, point your mailer at smtp.usenotix.dev on 465 or 587 with user notix and your API key as the password; the SMTP relay takes the message your mailer already builds.
Export Mandrill's rejected addresses, save them as a .csv or .txt with one address per line, and upload the file under Suppressions in the dashboard, so the first sends from Notix never reach an address that has already bounced or complained. Webhook URLs move last, once traffic has.
| Emails a month | Mandrill | Notix |
|---|---|---|
| 10,000 | 1 block, $20, plus a Mailchimp Standard or Premium plan | Pro, $15 (Free stops at 5,000) |
| 50,000 | 2 blocks, $40, plus the Mailchimp plan | Pro, $15 |
| 100,000 | 4 blocks, $80, plus the Mailchimp plan | Pro, $15 plus the 50,000 above the allowance, metered on the same invoice |
The Mandrill column is the block price alone; the Mailchimp plan it requires is extra and depends on your audience size, so the real gap is larger than the table shows. Notix keeps you on Pro at every volume and adds usage past 50,000 to the same invoice at the per-unit rate on the pricing page, where you can run the estimate for your own volume. Mandrill prices read on 2026-09-13.
Teams in Nigeria and Kenya fund a prepaid wallet in naira or shillings through local payment methods and Pro is charged from that balance each month, so nobody needs a dollar card that clears international charges. The free plan is the same everywhere. The local price per email is on the pricing page when you open it from either country, and every receipt is in the wallet currency.
A free plan with no card, and Pro at $15 a month for 50,000 emails. Only sent volume is metered.
AlternativesA free plan that does not end after 60 days, a suppression import, and an API you can move to in an afternoon.
AlternativesA SparkPost (Bird) alternative with a free tier that stays, an OTP API, a pre-send deliverability check and wallet billing in naira and shillings.
ProductPoint any framework's mailer at one host and port; the relay turns SMTP into the same tracked, suppressed send.
ProductOTPs, receipts and alerts with idempotency keys, a deliverability pre-check and a shared suppression list.
AlternativesHonest switch pages for the email APIs people move away from, with the vendor's own numbers and read dates.
5,000 emails a month on Free. When you outgrow it, Pro is $15 for 50,000, payable by card or from a naira or shilling wallet.