Mailchimp vs Klaviyo: Which Email Marketing Platform Should You Use?

Mailchimp vs Klaviyo at a Glance

Both tools send email campaigns, build automations, and segment audiences. The difference is in who they are built for.

Mailchimp started as a newsletter tool and grew into a broad marketing platform. It covers email, landing pages, social media ads, postcards, and even a basic website builder. Its templates and drag-and-drop editor are straightforward, and its free plan is one of the most generous in the industry for general use.

Klaviyo was built from day one for ecommerce. Every feature (segmentation, automation, reporting) ties back to purchase behavior and revenue. It pulls in order data from Shopify or WooCommerce automatically and shows you exactly how much money each email campaign generated. If you do not sell products online, most of Klaviyo's best features are wasted on you.

What Mailchimp Does Best

Mailchimp wins on breadth. If you need email plus landing pages, social ads, a website, and basic CRM in one place, Mailchimp is the better deal. Here is where it leads:

• All-in-one platform. Email, landing pages, Facebook/Instagram ads, postcards, and a website builder under one login. Klaviyo does none of these outside email and SMS.
• Free plan generosity. Mailchimp's free plan supports up to 250 contacts with 500 sends per month, enough for a small newsletter to operate indefinitely at no cost. Klaviyo's free plan has the same contact limit but only 500 emails total per month, which many outgrow faster.
• Template library. Mailchimp has hundreds of pre-built templates for newsletters, events, and promotions. Klaviyo's template selection is smaller and more transaction-focused.
• Broader integration catalog. With 300+ integrations covering CRMs, event platforms, booking tools, and payment processors, Mailchimp plugs into more types of businesses than Klaviyo's ecommerce-focused stack.
• Lower entry price. The Essentials plan starts at $13/mo for 0-500 contacts: $7 less than Klaviyo's cheapest paid plan.

What Klaviyo Does Best

Klaviyo dominates when the primary goal is selling products. Its entire architecture assumes you have an online store and want to measure revenue per campaign. Here is where it pulls ahead:

• Revenue attribution. Klaviyo tells you exactly how many orders and dollars each email or flow generated. Mailchimp's reporting is campaign-level and lacks direct revenue attribution unless you set up ecommerce tracking separately.
• Ecommerce-native segmentation. Create segments based on what people bought, how much they spent, when they last ordered, or what they browsed. Mailchimp can do some of this but requires more manual setup.
• Predictive analytics. Klaviyo predicts customer lifetime value, churn risk, and next order date for each contact. Mailchimp does not offer predictive analytics at this level.
• Built-in SMS. SMS credits are included at every paid Klaviyo tier starting at $35/mo. Mailchimp charges SMS as a separate add-on, and you pay per message on top of your plan.
• Pre-built ecommerce flows. Abandoned cart, browse abandonment, win-back, and post-purchase flows come pre-configured and pull product images and pricing automatically. Mailchimp offers similar automations but they require more configuration.

Mailchimp vs Klaviyo Pricing Compared

Both platforms charge based on your contact count, and both offer free entry points. Mailchimp has four plan tiers; Klaviyo offers separate Email and Email+SMS tracks that scale with profile count. All prices below are for the smallest contact tier (0-500 contacts/profiles) in USD, verified on the official pricing pages on July 1, 2026.

Which One Should You Choose?

The decision turns on what kind of business you run.

Pick Mailchimp if

• You run a newsletter, blog, service business, nonprofit, or content site.
• You want landing pages and social ads alongside email, all in one platform.
• You need the lowest possible paid entry point ($13/mo vs $20/mo).
• You need a website builder bundled with your email tool.

Pick Klaviyo if

• You run an ecommerce store on Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, or Magento.
• Revenue per campaign is the metric you care about most.
• You want behavioral segmentation based on purchase history out of the box.
• SMS marketing matters to you and you prefer it bundled rather than as a paid add-on.

If you sell products online and rely on email to drive repeat purchases, Klaviyo is the sharper tool. If email is one piece of a broader marketing mix that includes ads, landing pages, and content, Mailchimp gives you more for your money.

Limitations to Know Before You Commit

Neither platform is perfect. Here are the honest catches for each.

Mailchimp's catches: The platform charges you for unsubscribed contacts: anyone in your audience counts toward your plan limit, even if they cannot receive email. SMS costs extra on top of your plan. Advanced ecommerce features like revenue tracking require manual setup and are not as polished as Klaviyo's. The jump from Standard ($20/mo) to Premium ($350/mo) is steep with no middle ground.

Klaviyo's catches: If you do not run an online store, most of what you pay for is irrelevant. The free plan's 500 emails per month is tight; a single campaign to a full 250-contact list burns through half your monthly allowance. Email support on the free plan only lasts 60 days. Klaviyo does not offer landing pages, websites, or social ad tools, so you will need separate tools for those.

At a glance

Mailchimp vs Klaviyo: Plan pricing for 0-500 contacts/profiles (USD, verified July 2026)

FAQ

Is Mailchimp or Klaviyo cheaper for small businesses?

Mailchimp is cheaper at the entry level: its Essentials plan starts at $13/mo versus Klaviyo's $20/mo Email plan. Both have free plans for up to 250 contacts, but Mailchimp's free plan gives you more flexibility for non-ecommerce use. For ecommerce stores with larger lists, Klaviyo's pricing scales more predictably since you do not pay for unsubscribed contacts.

Can I switch from Mailchimp to Klaviyo without losing my data?

Yes. Klaviyo provides a guided migration tool that imports your Mailchimp lists, segments, and unsubscribes. You will need to reconfigure your automations and templates since the two platforms use different builders. Historical campaign data does not transfer, so you will start fresh with reporting in Klaviyo.

Does Mailchimp work well for ecommerce, or should I just use Klaviyo?

Mailchimp can handle basic ecommerce email marketing. It integrates with Shopify, WooCommerce, and other store platforms, and supports abandoned cart emails and product recommendations on the Standard plan. But if ecommerce is your primary business model, Klaviyo's revenue attribution, predictive analytics, and pre-built purchase flows make it a meaningfully better fit. Mailchimp makes more sense if email is just one channel in a larger marketing strategy that includes ads and landing pages.

Related reading

Mailchimp tool review, Klaviyo tool review, best email marketing for WooCommerce, Radar

Sources

• Mailchimp plan comparison page (official)
• Klaviyo pricing page (official)