Yes. MailChimp has worked well for me in my local business. I've used it for over three years. The basic concept is an excellent tool for business and I'll continue to use mailing lists and email newsletters.

I think I found an alternative to try. It's called. MailerLite - https://www.mailerlite.com/

I think it is very close to what I'm looking for in an email mailing list service. I'm planning on launching a new project in the next couple months and I think I'll use MailerLite for the email newsletter part. Haven't completely made up my mind on that, but I'm leaning towards it.