Mailchimp

- Email builder is incredibly easy to use and offers lots of functionality that's easy to grasp with a quick learning curve
- Able to create social adverts, forms, landing pages and send direct mail all from your account - it's becoming more an all-in-one marketing platform than ever with new features and changes seemly every few months
- Strong integration support makes it easy to connect most commonly used services like Google Analytics, SurveyMonkey and eCom platforms like Shopify or WooCommerce
- Easy to understand reporting that clients are able to digest quickly
- It's free with limited features, but they're generally perfectly adequate for non-power users and a small database of fewer than 2000 people
- Customer support guides are aplenty - there's lots of literature on every topic and it's very comprehensive
- Erm, 'MailChimp Presents...' - they make their own original streamable documentary shows now - and it's actually decent!

- Automations are relatively basic when considering this as automation software - alternatives like ActiveCampaign are more robust in this area, especially when it comes to complex rules and automation flow visuals
- Lack of someone to speak to when things are going wrong - you're pretty much on your own with the guides available (perfectly fine when you're IT-savvy, not so much when you aren't!)

Mailchimp is easy to use and one of the best email marketing tool for brands. I like its user-friendliness and easy management system. It also gives weekly insights which is fabulus.

it can't be used for affiliate marketing

The fact that Mailchimp is free to start using is all they have going for them.

It's gotten a lot of people off the ground when it comes to email marketing. I do like how they have a plan that is completely free. They're also great about letting you export your contacts (as of a few months ago).

Their signup form builder is okay too, just don't expect it to integrate well with Wordpress.
(I had trouble getting the embedded form to actually work).

You can also segment your audience, but that's where the positives end for me.

The problem is: I'm pretty sure the free plan has been neutered over the years.

First off, you have to PAY if you want to SCHEDULE when to send your emails. I'm almost positive I used to be able to do that for free.

Second, because their service is free... it attracts low quality mailers. That ends up hurting deliverability rates for everyone using Mailchimp (Deliverability = how likely you are to end up in someone's "primary" email vs promotions or spam).

Third, their user interface is CONFUSING. I always had a ton of trouble navigating their system. I shouldn't need a tutorial to simply use your software. I shouldn't need to look up YouTube videos just to send a one off email to my list...

Not to mention Mailchimp was SLOWWWWW for me.

Before I go off on a rant, here's the cons:
1) There's no automation in the free plan.
2) Their paid plans are stupidly expensive for the lack of features you get (they suck you in for free and know it's going to be hard to switch email platforms - so most people settle and just pay more than they should for sub par features)
3) Poor deliverability (in my experience)
4) No spam checking built in
5) User interface is clunky and hard to navigate
6) They will likely deplatform affiliate mailers
7) You can't schedule when your emails send on the free plan
8) EXTREMELY limited campaign sequences in the free plan (it's basically worthless)