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Mailchimp Zapier integrationAutomate Mailchimp with Zapier.

The Mailchimp Zapier integration gives you 11 triggers, 16 actions and 4 searches to move subscribers, tags and campaigns without copy-paste. Three of those triggers fire instantly, the app works on the free plan, and each successful action costs one task.

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Overview

What the Mailchimp Zapier integration actually does for you

Connecting Mailchimp to Zapier means your audience reacts to events without you opening the dashboard. A signup, an unsubscribe, an opened email or a clicked link can start an automation, and that automation can add, tag, annotate or remove a contact, or send a campaign you already prepared.

Three outcomes cover most setups. First, contacts that sort themselves: a new subscriber lands, and Add Subscriber to Tag files them under the right tag before your welcome sequence starts. Second, a memory of what each person did: when someone clicks a specific link in a newsletter, Add Note to Subscriber or Create Custom Event writes it on their profile, so it sits on their profile. Third, reports that leave Mailchimp: Campaign Report and Click Report pull the numbers of a sent campaign so a later step can store or share them.

The biggest thing to know before you build: only three triggers are instant (New Subscriber, New Unsubscriber, New or Updated Subscriber). Every other one, including opens, clicks, new campaigns and store orders, is checked on a timer, every 15 minutes on the free plan. If speed matters, build on one of the three.

Now what Zapier does not do here. It does not write your SMS: Send SMS Campaign only fires a campaign you already set up inside Mailchimp. Link Clicked watches one link at a time, never every link of a campaign at once. And none of the triggers looks back: contacts that joined before the Zap was on stay where they are.

Comparing tools? The same app is covered on our Mailchimp Make integration and Mailchimp n8n integration pages, with the same structure, so you can line up what each one offers.

Vocabulary

Zapier words, explained in one minute

Seven terms come back on every line of this page. Here is what each one means in plain English.

Zap
The automation you build: one trigger, then one or more actions that run each time that trigger event happens.
Trigger
The Mailchimp event that starts the Zap. Once the Zap is switched on, Zapier waits for it.
Action
What the Zap does once it has started: the step that writes, sends or changes something in Mailchimp for you.
Task
What Zapier bills you for: one action completed successfully. The number on your plan counts these and nothing else.
Polling vs instant
A polling trigger is checked on a timer by Zapier. An instant one is reported by Mailchimp itself, the moment it happens.
Filter
A step that lets the Zap continue only when the incoming data meets your condition, and stops it quietly otherwise.
Search step
A step that looks up something that already exists, a subscriber or a tag, so later steps can reuse what it found.
Cost

What a Mailchimp Zap really costs

Mailchimp is not a premium app on Zapier, so it runs from the free plan. What you pay for is tasks, not checks.

  • Premium appNo, works on the free plan
  • Free plan100 tasks a month, two-step Zaps
  • Instant triggers3 of 11, no interval
  • What countsEach action that succeeds

The trigger never costs a task, however often Zapier looks. Each action that succeeds counts once, so a Zap that tags then annotates a contact uses two tasks per subscriber. A failed action is not counted. The free plan gives 100 tasks a month and unlimited Zaps, but only two steps per Zap: one trigger, one action. Add a filter, a search or a second action and you have a multi-step Zap, which needs a paid plan.

Connect

Connect your Mailchimp account in three steps

  1. 01

    Open your connections

    In Zapier, open the Apps page of your account and click + Add connection. A connection is your Mailchimp account linked once, then reused by every Zap step that talks to Mailchimp.

  2. 02

    Pick Mailchimp

    Type Mailchimp in the search box of the dialog, select it, then click Add connection. Right after, a new browser tab opens on the Mailchimp sign-in page.

  3. 03

    Sign in and grant access

    Log in with the Mailchimp account that owns the audiences you want to automate, then allow Zapier to access it. If the audience belongs to someone else, you need read or write rights on it first.

First Zap

Your first Zap: tag new subscribers from one source

GoalEvery new subscriber that meets your condition gets a tag and a note on their profile, the moment they join.

  1. 01

    Create the Zap

    Start a new Zap and pick Mailchimp as the trigger app and New Subscriber as the event. It is instant, so nothing waits on a timer.

  2. 02

    Choose the audience

    Select the audience to watch. Testing the trigger brings back the three most recent subscribers, so you map the next steps on a real contact.

  3. 03

    Add the filter

    Click the plus icon, choose Filter, then set the field, the rule and the value. Use a text rule on a text field, or the filter never passes.

  4. 04

    Tag the contact

    Add Add Subscriber to Tag, pick the same audience and the tag, and map the email address from the trigger. The contact is already subscribed, so the step succeeds.

  5. 05

    Leave a note

    Add Add Note to Subscriber and write where the contact came from. Test each step once and read what came back before going further.

  6. 06

    Publish

    Click Publish to switch the Zap on. It has a filter and two actions, so it needs a paid plan and uses two tasks per contact that passes.

Triggers

The 11 Mailchimp triggers

11 events start a Zap when something happens in Mailchimp, and 3 of them are instant: the app calls Zapier straight away, whatever your plan.

1

New Campaign

Polling trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when a new campaign is created or sent.”

Starts the Zap whenever a campaign appears in your account, whether it was just drafted or already sent. Handy for keeping a log of everything your team puts out.

How it fires
Zapier goes and looks at regular intervals, and how often depends on your plan: every 15 minutes on the free one
When to use it
you want a line in a shared calendar or a message to the content lead every time someone drafts a newsletter, so nobody sends two the same week.
Watch out
drafts count too, so expect the Zap to run before the campaign is final.
2

Email Opened

Polling trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when a recipient opens an email in a specific campaign.”

Watches one campaign you choose and runs each time a recipient opens it. Each open becomes a run you can act on.

How it fires
Zapier goes and looks at regular intervals, and how often depends on your plan: every 15 minutes on the free one
When to use it
a product launch email went out, and every reader who opens it should get a note on their profile for your sales follow-up.
Watch out
by default each subscriber counts once; an option makes reopens fire the Zap again, and each extra run can cost tasks.
4

New Audience

Polling trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when a new audience is added to your MailChimp accounts.”

Runs when a fresh audience shows up in your Mailchimp account. It concerns the list itself, not the people inside it.

How it fires
Zapier goes and looks at regular intervals, and how often depends on your plan: every 15 minutes on the free one
When to use it
you run separate audiences per client or per event, and the ops person wants a heads-up each time a new one is opened so the setup checklist starts on time.
Watch out
a check that finds nothing new costs no task, so a quiet Zap here costs nothing.
5

New Customer

Polling trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when a new customer is added to a selected store.”

Starts when a buyer is added to the store you connected to Mailchimp. It turns your e-commerce data into a starting point for other tools.

How it fires
Zapier goes and looks at regular intervals, and how often depends on your plan: every 15 minutes on the free one
When to use it
each first-time customer of your online shop should appear in your accounting or support tool without anyone retyping their details.
Watch out
you must pick a store, and Zapier advises keeping its list under 3,000 subscribers to avoid timeout errors.
6

New Subscriber

Instant trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when a new subscriber is added to an audience.”

Fires the moment a person joins the audience you choose. It is one of the three instant triggers of the app.

How it fires
the app tells Zapier the moment it happens, so the Zap starts right away, whatever your plan
When to use it
a webinar signup lands in Mailchimp and your sales rep should see the lead in their pipeline while the person still remembers registering.
Watch out
the audience is required. On the free plan, it starts the Zap right away, where the polling triggers wait for the next check.
7

New Order

Polling trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when a new order is created.”

Runs each time an order is created in the store linked to Mailchimp. Every purchase becomes an event you can push elsewhere.

How it fires
Zapier goes and looks at regular intervals, and how often depends on your plan: every 15 minutes on the free one
When to use it
the warehouse or the founder wants a message per order, or a row in a tracking sheet, without logging into the shop back office.
Watch out
orders placed before the Zap is published are never picked up; export them separately if you need history.
8

New Unsubscriber

Instant trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when any current subscriber unsubscribes from an audience.”

Starts as soon as a current subscriber leaves an audience. You learn about churn when it happens, not at the end of the month.

How it fires
the app tells Zapier the moment it happens, so the Zap starts right away, whatever your plan
When to use it
your CRM must stop sales sequences for anyone who opts out, so a rep never emails someone who just asked to be left alone.
Watch out
the audience is required, so pick the one to watch when you set up the trigger.
9

New SMS Campaign

Polling trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when a new SMS campaign is created.”

Fires when an SMS campaign is created in Mailchimp. It is the text-message twin of the email campaign trigger.

How it fires
Zapier goes and looks at regular intervals, and how often depends on your plan: every 15 minutes on the free one
When to use it
your compliance or brand person wants to review every SMS before it goes out, so each new draft should land in their inbox or task list.
Watch out
the Zap reacts to creation, not to sending; pair it with your own approval routine.
10

New Subscriber in Segment or Tag

Polling trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when a subscriber is added to a segment or tag within an audience.”

Each time a contact enters the segment or tag you pick inside an audience, this trigger starts the Zap. Your Mailchimp tagging becomes a switch that starts work elsewhere.

How it fires
Zapier goes and looks at regular intervals, and how often depends on your plan: every 15 minutes on the free one
When to use it
marketing tags a contact as a qualified lead, and that tag alone should create the deal in your CRM.
Watch out
both the audience and the segment or tag are required, and Zapier advises keeping that segment or tag under 1,000 subscribers to avoid timeout errors.
11

New or Updated Subscriber

Instant trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when a subscriber is added or updated in an audience.”

Catches two moments at once: someone joining an audience, and an existing contact changing. It catches profile edits that the plain new subscriber trigger misses.

How it fires
the app tells Zapier the moment it happens, so the Zap starts right away, whatever your plan
When to use it
a customer fixes their company name or phone in a preference form, and your CRM record should follow without a weekly export.
Watch out
if the same Zap then updates that contact with Add/Update Subscriber, it can set itself off again and loop.
Actions

The 16 Mailchimp actions

Mailchimp gives you 16 actions. For each one: what it does for you, when to reach for it, and what to watch out for.

1

Archive Subscriber

Action

In Zapier“Archives an existing subscriber.”

Moves an existing contact to the archive of the audience. The email address must be that of a contact in the audience.

When to use it
a customer closes their account in your app, and you want them archived in Mailchimp too.
Watch out
both the audience and the email address are required.
2

Create Campaign

Action

In Zapier“Creates a campaign draft.”

Prepares a campaign draft in Mailchimp. The audience, subject line and sender address are required; the campaign is not sent at this stage.

When to use it
each new blog post or product page should leave a ready-to-review draft for your editor.
3

Campaign Report

Action

In Zapier“Get report details for a specific sent campaign.”

Fetches the report of a campaign that has already been sent, so a later step can store or share the figures.

When to use it
you want the results of each newsletter copied into the team dashboard without screenshots.
Watch out
the campaign is required and must already be sent.
4

Click Report

Action

In Zapier“Get report details for a specific link clicks.”

Pulls the link click details of a given campaign. It answers which links people actually used. You get the detail per link, ready for a later step to store.

When to use it
the product team wants to see which feature links readers clicked in the last release email.
5

Create Tag

Action

In Zapier“Creates a new tag.”

Adds a new tag to the audience you choose, ready to be applied to contacts in later steps.

When to use it
every new product or trade show needs its own label, created as soon as it is listed elsewhere.
Watch out
a tag name is limited to 100 characters.
6

Create Custom Event

Action

In Zapier“Creates a custom event for an existing subscriber.”

Records a named event on an existing subscriber, something they did outside Mailchimp, so you can segment or automate on it later.

When to use it
a contact books a demo or finishes onboarding in another tool, and that milestone should live on their profile.
Watch out
the event name takes 2 to 30 characters: letters, numbers, underscores or hyphens.
7

Create Audience

Action

In Zapier“Creates a new audience in your MailChimp account.”

Opens a brand new audience in your account, without going through the Mailchimp setup screens.

When to use it
you spin up a separate list for each event or client and want it ready the moment the project is signed.
8

Add/Update Subscriber

Action

In Zapier“Add a new subscriber to an audience of your choosing. Can be used to update an existing subscriber too.”

Puts a contact in the audience you pick, or refreshes their details if they are already there. One step covers both cases.

When to use it
leads from a form or a checkout should reach Mailchimp without a CSV import.
Watch out
with Double Opt-In on, Mailchimp emails a confirmation first and the status you set is ignored; existing contacts cannot be set back to Pending.
9

Permanently Delete Member

Action

In Zapier“Deletes all personally identifiable information related to a member within an audience.”

Erases all personal information tied to a member of an audience. It works from the audience and the email address of that member.

When to use it
a data deletion request is logged in your support desk and Mailchimp should follow.
Watch out
both the audience and the email address are required. If you only want someone out of your sends, Archive Subscriber or Unsubscribe or Delete Contact also exist.
10

Unsubscribe or Delete Contact

Action

In Zapier“Unsubscribe or delete a contact by email address within an audience.”

Unsubscribes or deletes a contact by email address, within one audience. A single setting decides which of the two happens.

When to use it
an opt-out recorded in your CRM must reach Mailchimp too, so both tools agree.
Watch out
check the Delete Contact setting twice; set to True, it deletes rather than unsubscribes.
11

Remove Subscriber from Tag

Action

In Zapier“Removes a subscriber by email address from a tag within an audience.”

Takes a tag off a contact, identified by email, inside one audience. You pick the audience, the tag and the email address.

When to use it
a trial user converts to paid, and the trial tag should disappear so they stop getting conversion emails.
12

Send Campaign

Action

In Zapier“Sends a campaign to all subscribers in an audience, segment, or tag.”

Sends an existing campaign to everyone in its audience, segment or tag. You choose the campaign from a list or type its ID.

When to use it
a draft gets approved in your project tool and should go out right after, without someone clicking send in Mailchimp.
Watch out
the campaign is required: select it in the list or enter its Campaign ID by hand.
13

Send SMS Campaign

Action

In Zapier“Sends an SMS campaign to all subscribers in an audience or segment.”

Fires an SMS campaign at its audience or segment. The message, audience and segment are all set inside Mailchimp beforehand; Zapier only presses the button.

When to use it
a flash sale goes live in your shop and the prepared text should go out at that moment.
Watch out
without a campaign already configured in Mailchimp, there is nothing to pick here.
14

Add Note to Subscriber

Action

In Zapier“Adds a new note to an existing subscriber.”

Writes a free-text note on a contact who is already in the audience. Your team sees it on the profile next time they open it.

When to use it
a support ticket closes and the outcome should be visible to marketing before the next send.
15

Add Subscriber to Tag

Action

In Zapier“Add an email address to a tag within an audience. Note: the email address must already be subscribed to the audience, or this will fail.”

Puts a tag on a contact by email address, inside one audience. It is the quickest way to sort people automatically.

When to use it
buyers of a given product get a matching tag the moment the purchase is logged.
Watch out
the address must already be subscribed to that audience, or the step fails.
16

API Request (Beta)

Action

In Zapier“This is an advanced action which makes a raw HTTP request that includes this integration's authentication.”

Sends a raw request to Mailchimp with your connection already signed in. It covers what no ready-made action does, if someone on the team can read API docs.

When to use it
you need a Mailchimp feature that has no step of its own in the list above.
Watch out
it only reaches Mailchimp domains, and it is still in beta.
Searches

The 4 Mailchimp searches

4 search steps look for data that already exists in Mailchimp, so a later step can use it.

A search step finds something already in Mailchimp and hands it to the next steps. You will find them at the bottom of the Action event list, under SEARCH. Three settings decide what happens when the result is not the one you expect.

1

Find a Campaign

SearchFind or create

In Zapier“Finds an existing campaign.”

Looks up a campaign by its name, so a later step can send it or pull its report.

When to use it
your Zap knows the newsletter title but not its ID, and Send Campaign needs the exact campaign.
Watch out
the editor also lists Find or Create Campaign; it is this same search with the creation box ticked, not another operation.
2

Find Customer

Search

In Zapier“Finds a customer by an email address.”

Finds a buyer in a given store from their email address. Both the store and the email are required.

When to use it
a refund request arrives by email and you want to know whether the sender has really bought from you before replying.
3

Find Tag

SearchFind or create

In Zapier“Find a tag.”

Checks whether a tag exists in an audience, by its name, and returns it for the steps that follow.

When to use it
tag names come from another tool, and you want to reuse the tag if it is there.
Watch out
Find or Create Tag in the menu is this search with creation switched on, so a missing tag gets made on the fly.
4

Find a Subscriber

SearchFind or create

In Zapier“Searches for a new subscriber on your MailChimp audience.”

Finds a contact in your audience. An email address gives an exact match; a first or last name also works, but you get the first partial match only.

When to use it
before tagging or noting someone, make sure they exist.
Watch out
Find or Create Subscriber is the same search with creation ticked, so an unknown person gets added.

The three settings every search exposes

  1. Successful if no search results are found?
    Left on its default, a search that finds nothing stops the Zap and skips the steps that depended on it. Switch it on and the Zap carries on empty-handed.
  2. Create X if it doesn't exist yet?
    Ticking it turns the search into a find-or-create: the setting above disappears and the step asks for what it needs to create the missing item.
  3. If multiple search results are found?
    Three ways out when several items match: keep the first one, which is the default, stop the Zap, or hand all of them on at once.
When it breaks

When a Mailchimp Zap breaks

Two of the four Zapier help articles on Mailchimp are about the email address, and two triggers carry a size warning.

Zapier ties four help articles to Mailchimp, two of them about a single error each. Here are the cases worth knowing before you publish, with the general limits that apply to every Zap. For a step-by-step method, see our Zapier troubleshooting guide.

  • Invalid Resource: valid email address

    Zapier documents this Mailchimp error about the email address. Open the test of the failed step and read what was mapped into the email field.

  • Required field Subscriber Email is missing

    Zapier documents this error on Subscriber Email, a required field of Add/Update Subscriber. Open the step test and check what was mapped there.

  • Timeouts on big stores and tags

    Zapier advises keeping a store under 3,000 subscribers for New Customer, and a segment or tag under 1,000 for its trigger. Above that, timeout errors appear.

  • The Zap tags itself in a loop

    A Zap on New or Updated Subscriber that edits the same contact sets itself off again and again, and burns through your task count fast.

  • Old contacts are never picked up

    A Zap only reacts to what happens after it is switched on. Subscribers who joined earlier stay untouched; moving them is a separate job.

  • A bulk import holds the Zap

    Import thousands of contacts at once and the trigger may return a huge batch. Zapier's flood protection can then hold those runs back.
Need help

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FAQ

Mailchimp Zapier integration: your questions

01Is the Mailchimp Zapier integration free?
Yes, Mailchimp is not a premium app, so it works on the free Zapier plan. That plan gives you 100 tasks a month and unlimited Zaps, checked every 15 minutes. The catch is the size of each Zap: on free you get two steps, one trigger and one action. As soon as you add a filter, a search or a second action, the Zap becomes multi-step and needs a paid plan.
02How many tasks does a Mailchimp Zap use?
One task per action that succeeds, and nothing for the trigger. A Zap that adds a subscriber then tags them uses two tasks each time it runs. Searching for new data costs nothing either, however often Zapier checks. A step that fails is not counted. Watch the Email Opened trigger with reopens switched on, or a loop on New or Updated Subscriber: both can multiply runs, and every action inside those runs counts against your monthly total.
03Does Mailchimp trigger Zapier in real time?
Only for three triggers: New Subscriber, New Unsubscriber and New or Updated Subscriber. Mailchimp reports those to Zapier the moment they happen, on any plan. The other eight, including Email Opened, Link Clicked and New Order, are checked on a timer: every 15 minutes on the free plan, every 2 minutes on Professional, every minute on Team and Enterprise. If speed matters, build your Zap on one of the three instant ones.
04What does it take to connect Mailchimp to Zapier?
A Mailchimp account and a Zapier account, nothing else. You add the connection from the Apps page in Zapier, sign in to Mailchimp in the tab that opens, then grant access. If the audience you want to automate belongs to another user, you need read or write rights on it. Almost every step then asks you to pick an audience, so create your audiences and tags in Mailchimp before you build the Zap.
05Why does Add Subscriber to Tag fail on some contacts?
Because the email address must already be subscribed to that audience. The action only labels existing contacts; it does not create them. If your Zap starts from a form or a shop, add the person first with Add/Update Subscriber, then tag them. That makes the Zap multi-step, so it needs a paid plan. The step itself has three required fields: the audience, the tag, and the email address of a subscribed contact, mapped from an earlier step. If the tag does not exist yet, Create Tag or Find or Create Tag can make it first.
06What if the Mailchimp action you need is not in the list?
Look at API Request (Beta) first. It sends a request to Mailchimp with your connection already signed in, so it reaches features that have no ready-made step. It needs someone comfortable reading API documentation, and it only talks to Mailchimp domains. If even that is not enough, the same app is available on other automation tools. Before going there, check the 31 operations on this page: a find-or-create search or a tag action may cover what looked missing.
07Zapier, Make or n8n for Mailchimp?
It depends on what you value. Zapier gives you 31 ready-made Mailchimp operations, three instant triggers and a free plan limited to two-step Zaps. The Make and n8n pages for the same app describe what each one offers, with the same structure. Compare on three criteria: the operations you actually need, how runs are counted, and who will maintain the automation. None of the three wins on every count; the right pick follows from your own Zaps.
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