Klaviyo vs Mailchimp
Klaviyo and Mailchimp are both email marketing tools. Klaviyo is aimed at E-commerce and small businesses, while Mailchimp is aimed at small businesses and creators. Mailchimp costs less, from $13/mo versus $20/mo for Klaviyo. Both have a free plan.
Email, SMS and customer data platform built for ecommerce brands
The best-known email marketing platform
| Pricing | Freemium · $20 | Freemium · $13 |
| Starting price | $20/mo | $13/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | 14 days |
| Built for | E-commerce, Small businesses, Agencies, Enterprise | Small businesses, Creators |
| Platforms | web, ios, android | web, ios, android |
| Country | US · 2012 | US · 2001 |
| Rating | — | — |
Choose Klaviyo if
Ecommerce brands, especially on Shopify, that want data-driven email and SMS automation with clear revenue attribution.
- Best-in-class ecommerce data integration, especially with Shopify
- Powerful segmentation and automation templates out of the box
- Clear revenue attribution makes ROI easy to prove
Look elsewhere if: Bloggers, B2B companies or very price-sensitive senders with large lists (Mailchimp, Brevo, Customer.io).
Choose Mailchimp if
Small businesses and e-commerce stores that want an easy, well-integrated email tool and send a few campaigns a month.
- Familiar, polished editor and huge template library
- Deep e-commerce integrations and revenue reporting
- Mature deliverability infrastructure
Look elsewhere if: Newsletter creators (Kit, beehiiv), high-volume senders on a budget (Brevo), or SaaS lifecycle messaging (Customer.io, Loops).
Klaviyo vs Mailchimp pricing
Klaviyo
- Free$0250 active profiles, 500 sends/mo, $5 mobile messages, $5 Composer
- Email$20/moFrom 500 active profiles; price scales with profile count
- Email + SMS$35/moFrom 500 profiles; includes monthly SMS/MMS credits
- Composer$20/moAI marketing agent add-on; $10 top-ups for extra usage
Mailchimp
- Free$0Up to 250 contacts, 1 audience
- Essentials$13/moStarting price; 14-day free trial, 3 audiences
- Standard$20/mo6,000 emails/mo; 14-day free trial, 5 audiences
- Premium$350/mo150,000 emails/mo, advanced tools, priority support
Klaviyo · Key features
- Real-time sync of orders, browsing and catalog data from Shopify and others
- Prebuilt flows for abandoned cart, browse abandonment and win-back
- Email, SMS, MMS, WhatsApp and mobile push in one platform
- Predictive analytics for customer lifetime value and churn risk
- Signup forms and pop-ups with A/B testing
- Composer AI agent that builds campaigns and flows from prompts
Cons
- Gets expensive as active profile counts grow
- SMS is limited to supported countries and priced per credit
- Learning curve for advanced segmentation and analytics
Mailchimp · Key features
- Drag-and-drop email builder with templates and brand kit
- Customer journeys (automation) with branching and triggers
- Audience segmentation, tags and predictive demographics
- Landing pages, signup forms, pop-ups and SMS marketing (US)
- Reporting with revenue attribution for connected stores
- Creative Assistant and generative AI for copy and images
Cons
- Contact-based pricing gets expensive fast; unsubscribed contacts can still count
- Free plan is now very limited
- Automation builder lags Klaviyo and ActiveCampaign
Klaviyo vs Mailchimp: FAQ
Which is cheaper, Klaviyo or Mailchimp?
Mailchimp starts at $13/mo and Klaviyo at $20/mo. Both prices are checked on the vendors' own pricing pages.
Do Klaviyo and Mailchimp have a free plan?
Yes, both Klaviyo and Mailchimp have a free plan; paid plans add more usage and features.