| Where | What you need |
|---|---|
| In MailChimp | A MailChimp account — generating the Marketing API key is self-service, available even on the “Free” plan. |
| In MailChimp (optional) | A Mandrill account (Mailchimp Transactional) ONLY if you want to send transactional emails — it’s a separate product and billing from your Marketing account, with its own key. |
| In Platform | Admin role to connect, activate actions or disconnect. Editor and Viewer roles can only see the connection’s status. |
Note — No external authorization process
MailChimp doesn’t require any review or approval process to generate a Marketing API key: you generate it yourself, in your own account, and paste it into Platform. No waiting.