Connecting a WordPress form to Mailchimp adds people to your audience the moment they send the form, with their name and email filled in. Any form can do it: a newsletter box, a contact form or a quote request with a keep me posted box. This guide is ideal for beginners and for teams who want their list to grow without copying emails by hand. We cover the API key, the audience, a consent box and a test, and it takes about 10 minutes in WordPress.
The short version
- Paste a Mailchimp API key into Echo Forms once.
- On each form’s Marketing tab, pick the audience and the email field.
- Add a consent checkbox and only add people who tick it.
- Send a test entry and check the contact in Mailchimp.
Why connect a form to Mailchimp instead of exporting?
Because exports go stale. A list you copy across once a month is always up to 30 days behind, and people who asked for news hear nothing until the next copy. A live connection adds each person within seconds of sending, while they still remember you. It also saves the 20 minutes a month the copying takes.
What do you need from Mailchimp?
An API key and the audience people should join. You make the key in your Mailchimp account under the API keys section, as described in Mailchimp’s own guide to API keys. Keys stay in your own site’s database, and a saved key is never shown again.
How to connect a WordPress form to Mailchimp, step by step
- In Mailchimp, create an API key and copy it.
- In Echo Forms, open Connections and paste it into the Mailchimp card.
- Add a Consent checkbox to your form, such as Send me the monthly newsletter.
- On the form’s Marketing tab, tick Add to a mailing list and choose Mailchimp.
- Pick the List / audience, the email field, and the first and last name fields.
- Set Only add people who tick to your consent checkbox.
- Send a test entry, ticking the box, and find yourself in the audience.
The send entries to your other tools guide shows the Marketing tab, and the connections guide covers the key.
Should everyone who sends the form be added?
Only the people who asked. Leave Only add people who tick on No box and everyone who sends the form joins, which is fine for a form that is clearly a newsletter sign-up. On a contact or quote form, add a consent box instead, because asking first is good manners and the law in many places. Our GDPR compliant forms guide explains consent in more detail.
Which other mailing lists work?
The same Marketing tab works with 13 services, all free in Echo Forms:
| Needs a key | Needs a sign-in once | Needs nothing |
|---|---|---|
| Mailchimp, Kit, MailerLite, Brevo, ActiveCampaign, GetResponse, SendGrid, Klaviyo, Drip, Campaign Monitor | AWeber, Constant Contact | MailPoet, on the same site |
A Mailchimp signup form built this way takes about 10 minutes and keeps your list fresh for years. We suggest a test entry each time you change the form, which takes under 2 minutes and catches a missed field early.
Grow your list from every form
Mailchimp and 12 other mailing lists connect for free in Echo Forms.
