Independent head-to-head
Klaviyo vs Mailchimp
Both are on our shortlist, and most people only need one. Here is where each genuinely wins.
Which fits your work better: Klaviyo or Mailchimp?
Klaviyo suits e-commerce brands whose flows genuinely need order and catalogue data — abandoned cart, post-purchase, win-back sequences built on real purchase behaviour. Mailchimp suits local service businesses and small teams that need a straightforward newsletter and basic automated sequences, not deep behavioural automation. Mailchimp is cheaper to start with ($13/month against $20/month), so price alone favours it.
Klaviyo
Email Marketing ToolsEmail and SMS built around e-commerce order data, not generic list-building.
Mailchimp
Email Marketing ToolsThe default choice for newsletters — increasingly outgrown by anyone doing real automation.
Decision view
Compare what changes the answer
| Decision factor | Klaviyo$20/mo | Mailchimp$13/mo |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $20/mo | $13/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | None | None |
| Best for | E-commerce brands whose flows genuinely need order and catalogue data — abandoned cart, post-purchase, win-back sequences built on real purchase behaviour. | Local service businesses and small teams that need a straightforward newsletter and basic automated sequences, not deep behavioural automation. |
| Not for | Service businesses and agencies without a transactional store — the e-commerce-specific triggers are dead weight if there's no product catalogue driving them. | Agencies managing multiple client accounts with serious automation needs — the flow builder and reporting both feel thin once ActiveCampaign becomes the comparison. |
Shared answers are dimmed so trade-offs stay visible.
Plan comparison
Published plans as recorded on each vendor’s pricing page on its verification date. Limits and add-ons differ between vendors, so compare at your own volume.
Klaviyo
| Plan | Monthly | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Free | Free | 250 profiles, 500 emails/month, 60 days of support access |
| $20 | From this price at ~500 profiles; scales with profile count (~$30 at 1,000, ~$150 at 10,000) | |
| Email + SMS | $35 | Adds SMS credits; roughly $15/month more than the Email plan at each profile tier |
Mailchimp
| Plan | Monthly | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Free | Free | 250 contacts, 500 sends/month or 250/day |
| Essentials | $13 | Introductory rate for 12 months at 500 contacts; scales with list size and reverts to standard pricing after |
| Standard | $20 | Same intro-rate caveat; up to 200 automation flows, generative AI |
| Premium | $350 | Same intro-rate caveat; up to 150,000 emails/month, phone support |
Where Klaviyo wins
- Order- and catalogue-triggered flows are genuinely deeper than general-purpose email tools manage
- SMS and email share one contact profile instead of being bolted-on separate systems
- Predictive segmentation (churn risk, next-order date) is a real differentiator for retention work
Where Mailchimp wins
- Free tier is genuinely usable for a small list, not just a trial disguised as free
- Template library and drag-and-drop editor are the easiest entry point for a non-technical client to self-manage later
- Broad integration ecosystem means it rarely blocks a client's existing stack
Klaviyo or Mailchimp?
Klaviyo suits e-commerce brands whose flows genuinely need order and catalogue data — abandoned cart, post-purchase, win-back sequences built on real purchase behaviour. Mailchimp suits local service businesses and small teams that need a straightforward newsletter and basic automated sequences, not deep behavioural automation. Mailchimp is cheaper to start with ($13/month against $20/month), so price alone favours it.
E-commerce brands whose flows genuinely need order and catalogue data — abandoned cart, post-purchase, win-back sequences built on real purchase behaviour.
Local service businesses and small teams that need a straightforward newsletter and basic automated sequences, not deep behavioural automation.
What decides it
- Entry price
- Klaviyo starts at $20/month; Mailchimp at $13/month. Compare the plan that matches your real usage, not the entry tier.
- Trial
- Klaviyo offers a free plan; Mailchimp offers a free plan.
- What each gives up
- Klaviyo: billing on total active profiles, including cold and suppressed contacts since 2025, front-loads cost onto list hygiene. Mailchimp: the advertised price is a 12-month introductory rate — the real ongoing cost is higher and easy to miss when quoting a client.