Updated March 2026

Mailchimp vs Klaviyo

Mailchimp is a general-purpose email tool. Klaviyo is an ecommerce revenue engine. The architectural difference matters: Klaviyo ingests your entire Shopify catalogue, every customer's purchase history, browsing behaviour, and cart activity, then layers predictive analytics on top — estimated next order date, predicted lifetime value, churn risk score. Mailchimp can connect to Shopify and pull purchase data, but its core data model revolves around contacts and campaigns, not purchases and revenue. Klaviyo's customers attribute 30-40% of email revenue to automated flows. Pricing is tied up to 5K contacts; above that, Mailchimp is cheaper ($270/mo vs $400/mo at 25K). For ecommerce doing real revenue, Klaviyo justifies the premium. For newsletters and non-commerce email, Mailchimp — or better yet MailerLite — is more sensible.

Our pick: Klaviyo (7.5/10 vs 6.5/10)

Klaviyo wins 3 out of 6 categories. Mailchimp is better for: complete beginners who want the easiest interface and maximum third-party integrations.

Try Klaviyo

Mailchimp

6.5/10

Klaviyo

7.5/10

2/5

Automation

5/5

3/5

Deliverability

4/5

5/5

Ease of Use

2/5

5/5

Templates & Design

3/5

Analytics

5/5

2/5

Customer Support

2/5

At a Glance

Feature	Mailchimp	Klaviyo
Free Plan	Yes	Yes
Starting Price	$13/mo	$20/mo
Automation	2/5	5/5
Deliverability	3/5	4/5
Ease of Use	5/5	2/5
Templates & Design	5/5	3/5
Analytics	3/5	5/5
Customer Support	2/5	2/5
Overall	6.5/10	7.5/10

Pricing Comparison

Mailchimp

Free Plan

Paid plans from $13/mo

View Pricing

Klaviyo

Free Plan

Paid plans from $20/mo

View Pricing

Pros & Cons

Mailchimp

Genuinely intuitive interface — G2 rates ease of use 4.3/5, Capterra 4.4/5. The drag-and-drop builder has a shallow learning curve for basic campaigns

300+ third-party integrations — the largest ecosystem of any email tool. Nearly every SaaS product connects to Mailchimp natively

260+ professional templates on paid plans. The email builder produces clean, responsive emails that look good on mobile

Free plan has been systematically gutted: 2,000 contacts (pre-2021) → 500 (2023) → 250 (Jan 2026). Automations removed June 2025. A/B testing removed. Email scheduling removed. It is now effectively a demo, not a free plan

Charges for ALL contacts including unsubscribed and bounced — you pay for contacts who will never receive an email unless you manually archive each one. Most competitors only bill for active subscribers

Trustpilot: 2.7/5 with 67% one-star reviews. Support is widely despised — phone support only available on the $350+/month Premium plan. Below that, users report chatbots and generic responses

Full Mailchimp review →

Klaviyo

Market-leading ecommerce segmentation with nested conditions, real-time updates, and predicted metrics — no other ESP matches this for Shopify stores

Revenue attribution that shows clear ROI per campaign and per automation flow — users cite this as what justifies the premium price

Deepest Shopify integration available with real-time data sync, product feeds, and browse/cart abandonment triggers

Gets expensive fast: $150/mo at 10K contacts, $400/mo at 25K, $720/mo at 50K, $1,380/mo at 100K — significantly more than every competitor

February 2025 billing change: now charges for ALL active profiles including unengaged subscribers, spam signups, and abandoned checkout contacts. Widely viewed as a post-IPO revenue grab

Trustpilot rating of 1.9/5 from 348 reviews — the worst of any tool we reviewed. Support is slow, no phone option, and declining post-IPO as they chase enterprise clients

Full Klaviyo review →

The Bottom Line

Choose Mailchimp if: Complete beginners who want the easiest interface and maximum third-party integrations. Despite the lower overall score, it excels where it matters for its target audience.

Choose Klaviyo if: Shopify stores doing $500K+ in revenue that need serious segmentation and revenue attribution. It wins 3 of 6 categories.

Price comparison: Mailchimp starts at $13/mo (free plan available) vs Klaviyo at $20/mo (free plan available).

Who Should Pick Which?

Pick Mailchimp if…

You need a tool best for complete beginners who want the easiest interface and maximum third-party integrations
Genuinely intuitive interface — G2 rates ease of use 4.3/5, Capterra 4.4/5. The drag-and-drop builder has a shallow learning curve for basic campaigns
300+ third-party integrations — the largest ecosystem of any email tool. Nearly every SaaS product connects to Mailchimp natively

Try Mailchimp

Pick Klaviyo if…

You need a tool best for shopify stores doing $500k+ in revenue that need serious segmentation and revenue attribution
Market-leading ecommerce segmentation with nested conditions, real-time updates, and predicted metrics — no other ESP matches this for Shopify stores
Revenue attribution that shows clear ROI per campaign and per automation flow — users cite this as what justifies the premium price

Try Klaviyo

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Mailchimp vs MailerLite

Klaviyo vs MailerLite

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See our full ranking: Best Email Marketing Tools for Agencies

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Mailchimp

Klaviyo

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Mailchimp or Klaviyo better?

Klaviyo scores higher overall (7.5/10 vs 6.5/10). Klaviyo is best for shopify stores doing $500k+ in revenue that need serious segmentation and revenue attribution. Mailchimp is better if you need complete beginners who want the easiest interface and maximum third-party integrations.

Which is cheaper, Mailchimp or Klaviyo?

Mailchimp is cheaper, starting at $13/mo with a free plan. Klaviyo starts at $20/mo (also has a free plan).

What is Mailchimp best for?

Mailchimp is best for complete beginners who want the easiest interface and maximum third-party integrations. It scores highest in ease of use, templates & design.

How we compared these tools

We research every tool using real user reviews from Reddit, G2, Capterra, and Trustpilot — then verify current pricing and cross-reference independent deliverability data. No paid placements, no sponsored rankings.

Read our full methodologyLast updated: March 2026

Transparency note: We earn affiliate commissions from some tools on this page. This never influences our scores. Our methodology