What does a Mailchimp to HubSpot migration involve?
A Mailchimp to HubSpot migration moves your audience, its fields, tags and groups, and your email templates into HubSpot, then rebuilds automations as workflows. The contacts move quickly. The work is carrying every unsubscribe and bounce across, deciding who becomes a marketing contact, and turning tags and groups into properties that segments can use.
This guide is for teams moving email marketing from Mailchimp to HubSpot, often at the same time as moving sales into the HubSpot CRM. It covers the mapping, the methods, the steps in order and what usually goes wrong.
How does Mailchimp data map to HubSpot?
Audience members become HubSpot contacts, and audience fields become contact properties. Each Mailchimp status needs its own treatment: subscribed contacts can become marketing contacts, while unsubscribed and cleaned contacts go in as opt-outs. Tags and groups become properties, segments become HubSpot segments, and automations are rebuilt as workflows.
| Mailchimp | HubSpot | What to decide |
|---|---|---|
| Audience (one or several) | Contacts in one database | Merge the same person across audiences |
| Audience fields and merge tags | Contact properties | Which fields are still filled in and used |
| Subscribed contacts | Contacts; marketing contacts if you will email them | Who you will actually email |
| Unsubscribed contacts | Opted out of all email | Import before the first send |
| Cleaned contacts (bounced) | Opted out, or not imported | Never email them again |
| Non-subscribed contacts | Non-marketing contacts | Whether they belong in the CRM at all |
| Groups | Checkbox properties | Clean the allowed values |
| Tags | Properties, lifecycle stages or nothing | Which tags still mean something |
| Segments | Active segments | Rebuild on clean properties |
| Email templates | Email templates | Review and test every recreated template |
| Marketing automation flows | Workflows | Rebuild, simplify or retire each one |
| Campaign reports | Not migrated | Keep the account export as an archive |
Write each row into a data migration mapping sheet before anything moves.
How do you keep unsubscribes and bounces intact?
Use the status files in Mailchimp's audience export. Import the unsubscribed and cleaned files with HubSpot's opt-out import before anything is sent, import subscribed contacts as the people you will email, and leave out anyone you have no reason to keep. Then connect and authenticate your sending domain before the first campaign.
- Opt-outs: HubSpot's opt-out import sets "Unsubscribed from all email" for each address. Addresses that are not contacts yet are not created and are not billed.
- Marketing contacts: only marketing contacts can receive marketing email, and they are what HubSpot bills by tier. Imported contacts are non-marketing by default.
- Sending domain: connect it in HubSpot with DKIM, SPF and DMARC records, available from Starter.
- First sends: start with your most engaged subscribers rather than the whole audience.
How do you migrate Mailchimp to HubSpot?
With HubSpot Smart Transfer for contacts and templates, or with a Mailchimp audience export imported through HubSpot's import tool. The export is often the better route for contacts, because its separate status files make opt-outs explicit. Many migrations use both: the export for contacts, Smart Transfer for templates.
HubSpot Smart Transfer
When we checked HubSpot's documentation in October 2026:
- Mailchimp contacts transfer to HubSpot contacts, and email templates transfer to HubSpot email templates.
- Templates are recreated in HubSpot using AI, and HubSpot says they may need review and testing.
- Only Super Admins can use it, it moves data one way into HubSpot, and custom field mappings need a Data Hub subscription.
HubSpot's documentation does not say how Mailchimp tags, groups or statuses transfer, so test on a sample and check opt-outs before you rely on it. Our Smart Transfer guide covers how the tool works.
Mailchimp audience export, then HubSpot import
Mailchimp exports an audience as a ZIP with separate CSV files for subscribed, unsubscribed, non-subscribed and cleaned contacts, including audience fields, tags, member rating and opt-in dates. Opens, clicks, signup source and purchase history are not included. A full account export also holds campaign HTML, reports and templates, and is worth keeping as an archive.
The Mailchimp integration is not a migration tool
HubSpot's Mailchimp integration sends contacts from non-HubSpot forms to a Mailchimp audience and can pull recent email activity. It is meant for running both tools side by side, not for moving off Mailchimp.
What are the steps, in order?
Export the account, audit audiences, tags and automations, design the HubSpot properties and segments, map fields, import opt-outs, import contacts, rebuild automations, then cut over with a small first send. In that order, problems show up in testing instead of in your subscribers' inboxes.
- 01 Export and auditAccount export, audiences, tags, flows
- 02 DesignProperties, lifecycle, segments
- 03 Protect consentOpt-outs, marketing contacts, domain
- 04 ImportContacts and templates, tested first
- 05 RebuildWorkflows and forms
- 06 Cut over and sendPause Mailchimp, small first send
- Export the account. Keep the full Mailchimp account export as an archive of campaigns and reports.
- Audit Mailchimp. Count contacts by status in each audience, and list fields, tags, groups, segments and automation flows.
- Decide what to keep. Which contacts are worth emailing, which tags and groups still matter, which flows still run for a reason.
- Design the HubSpot side. The properties that replace tags and groups, lifecycle stages, and the segments you will send to.
- Map every field, and merge people who appear in more than one audience.
- Protect consent. Import unsubscribed and cleaned contacts as opt-outs, and connect the sending domain.
- Import contacts on a sample first, then in full, setting marketing contacts deliberately.
- Transfer and test templates, then rebuild automation flows as HubSpot workflows and move signup forms to HubSpot.
- Cut over. Pause Mailchimp flows and scheduled campaigns, then import anyone who subscribed since the export.
- Validate and send. Compare counts, check opt-outs carried over, and start with a small send to engaged subscribers.
What usually goes wrong?
Unsubscribed or cleaned contacts imported as normal contacts, the whole audience set as marketing contacts, the same person duplicated from several audiences, tags dumped into one property, signup forms still feeding Mailchimp, and both tools emailing the same people. Each is cheap to prevent before cutover and expensive after.
- Lost opt-outs: import the unsubscribed and cleaned files first, not after a complaint.
- Bigger bill than expected: set marketing contacts deliberately, not for everyone.
- Forgotten forms: every Mailchimp signup form needs replacing, or new subscribers keep going to the old tool.
- Double sends: pause Mailchimp flows before HubSpot workflows go live.
Planning a move off Mailchimp? Bring your audience counts and automation list to a free 30-minute call and we will walk through scope.
Mailchimp migration checklist
Key takeaway: The contacts move in a day. What decides whether the move works is that every unsubscribe comes with you, only the right people become marketing contacts, and nothing is sent from two tools at once.
Frequently asked questions
Can HubSpot import contacts directly from Mailchimp?
Yes. HubSpot Smart Transfer supports Mailchimp and moves contacts and email templates into HubSpot. A Mailchimp audience export also imports cleanly with HubSpot's import tool, and it arrives as separate files for subscribed, unsubscribed, non-subscribed and cleaned contacts, which makes it easy to keep opt-outs intact.
How do we keep Mailchimp unsubscribes in HubSpot?
Import the unsubscribed and cleaned contacts from your Mailchimp export with HubSpot's opt-out import, before the first send. HubSpot marks those addresses as unsubscribed from all email. Addresses that are not already contacts are not created and do not count towards your billable contacts.
What happens to Mailchimp tags and groups in HubSpot?
They become contact properties, and segments filter on those properties. Groups are interests your subscribers chose, so they usually map to a checkbox property. Tags are internal labels that build up over time, so keep only the ones that drive decisions and archive the rest.
Do Mailchimp automations move to HubSpot?
No. Mailchimp marketing automation flows and classic automations are not part of Mailchimp's account export, so they have to be rebuilt as HubSpot workflows. List each flow, its trigger and its emails before you start, and pause them at cutover so contacts are not emailed twice.
Will moving from Mailchimp change what we pay for HubSpot?
It can. HubSpot bills marketing contacts, the contacts you can send marketing email to, by contact tier. Imported contacts are non-marketing by default, so set only the contacts you will actually email as marketing contacts rather than the whole audience.
Sources
HubSpot documentation behind the feature and tier notes above, checked October 2026. HubSpot changes features and tiers often, so check your own portal too.
- Supported apps for HubSpot Smart Transfer
- Transfer email templates from other apps using HubSpot Smart Transfer
- Use HubSpot's integration with Mailchimp
- Import opted-out contacts
- Understand marketing contacts
- Manage your email authentication
- Create segments
- View or Export Your Contacts (Mailchimp)
- Export and Back Up Account Data (Mailchimp)
- About Your Contacts (Mailchimp)