Skip to content
Email marketing software · head to head

Mailchimp vs Klaviyo

Sebastiaan Smits By Sebastiaan Smits · Published October 8, 2026 · Updated October 8, 2026

Mailchimp is a general email platform with the largest integration catalog and an editor most marketers know. Klaviyo builds its segments and flows on store data such as orders and product views. Newsletter senders and mixed businesses stay with Mailchimp; established online stores that want revenue per message choose Klaviyo.

Side by side

MailchimpKlaviyo
What it isThe familiar email platform, now part of IntuitEcommerce email and SMS built on store data
Best forBusinesses wanting the widest integrationsEstablished online stores
HeadquartersUnited StatesUnited States
Pricing modelPer contact tier / monthPer active profile tier / month
PricingLimited free plan, then Essentials, Standard and Premium priced by audience contacts; overages apply above the plan limit.Free plan for small stores, then plans priced by active profiles, with SMS billed separately by credit.
Free optionFree planFree plan
List price
as listed on October 8, 2026		From 11.66 euros per month (Essentials, lowest contact tier), 17.95 euros (Standard), as displayed to a European visitorFree up to 250 profiles and 500 emails a month; paid prices not captured on this check
Place in our email marketing software ranking#4 of 13#5 of 13
Websitemailchimp.comklaviyo.com

Both are reviewed in full in Best Email Marketing Software in 2026. Position in that ranking can be paid for; the wording of a review or of this comparison cannot. Placement disclosure.

Which one to choose

Choose Mailchimp if

you send newsletters and campaigns, want email to plug into many other tools, and your list is not mainly built from store purchases.

Mailchimp, #4 in the ranking · Visit Mailchimp →

Choose Klaviyo if

you run an online store, want segments like bought twice but not in ninety days, and need revenue attributed to each message and flow.

Klaviyo, #5 in the ranking · Visit Klaviyo →

Where they differ

Use of store data

Klaviyo pulls orders, product views and cart events from the store and makes them usable in segments and flows without a developer. Mailchimp has ecommerce integrations, but its segmentation is built more around audience fields and campaign behavior. For a shop, Klaviyo gets more from the data.

Edge: Klaviyo

Breadth of integrations and familiarity

Mailchimp has the largest integration catalog in the category and an editor almost every marketer has used, which eases hiring and handover. Klaviyo's integrations are strongest around ecommerce platforms. For a company connecting email to many non-store tools, Mailchimp is the safer fit.

Edge: Mailchimp

Newsletters and content publishing

Klaviyo is poorly suited to B2B newsletters or publishing, and the product increasingly pushes toward a broader customer platform. Mailchimp's campaigns, templates and audience tools suit a regular newsletter, even though automation flows are capped at four steps on Essentials. For content senders, Mailchimp.

Edge: Mailchimp

How the free plans and bills work

Mailchimp's free plan, as shown to a European visitor, limits you to 250 contacts and 500 sends a month with no automation flows, and paid plans are priced by contacts; we also earlier recorded that unsubscribed contacts count until archived, which we could not re-verify here. Klaviyo's free plan allows 250 profiles and 500 emails a month; the page we fetched did not show paid prices, so we cannot compare them. Klaviyo bills SMS separately by region and carrier.

Edge: even

Tally: Mailchimp 2, Klaviyo 1, even 1.

When neither fits

Neither fits a small shop with thin margins or a sender who wants a low flat price for a growing list. MailerLite and Brevo cost less for newsletters, and Omnisend covers store automation more cheaply than Klaviyo.

See MailerLite, Brevo and Omnisend among the 13 products in Best Email Marketing Software in 2026.

Questions and answers

Do Mailchimp and Klaviyo have free plans?

Both. Mailchimp's free plan, as shown in euros, lists a limit of 250 contacts, 500 sends a month or 250 a day, one seat and no automation flows. Klaviyo's free plan lists up to 250 profiles and 500 emails a month, plus 5 dollars of mobile message credit.

Which is better for an online store?

Klaviyo, for most shops, because its segments and flows run on order, product and cart events. Mailchimp works for a store that mostly sends campaigns and newsletters and values its integrations. We have not benchmarked deliverability or revenue for either.

How does Mailchimp limit automations?

The Mailchimp pricing page lists up to 4 flow steps on Essentials and up to 200 flows on Standard, with unlimited flows on Premium. The free plan has no automation flows. Standard and Premium are the plans for anything beyond a short sequence.

What does Klaviyo cost for a larger list?

We could not verify this. The Klaviyo pricing page we fetched showed the free plan only and no paid tiers, so we do not quote a number. Our category review describes pricing as climbing with active profiles, and SMS as a separate charge.

Sources

Prices, plan limits and product facts on this page were checked against the vendors' own pages on October 8, 2026. Vendors change both without notice, so treat the figures as of that date.