Klaviyo vs Mailchimp: Pricing, Features and Fit

Klaviyo and Mailchimp are often compared for email marketing, but they are built for different businesses. Klaviyo calls itself a B2C CRM and leans into online stores, with data, channels and AI agents in one platform. Mailchimp is a broad email and marketing tool for small businesses of every type, with a tiered plan ladder that adds automation, testing and predictive features as you move up. This comparison covers pricing, channels, automation, AI, integrations and the limits of each, using what each vendor publishes on its own site.

The short answer

• Choose Klaviyo for a store on Shopify or another ecommerce platform that wants several owned channels and personalization from one profile.
• Choose Mailchimp for general small business email, newsletters, landing pages and forms, with a low-feature Essentials tier to start.
• Choose either on the free plan if you have under 250 contacts and want to learn before you pay.

Klaviyo vs Mailchimp at a glance

Pricing and plans

Klaviyo pricing (as of October 2026)

Klaviyo prices by the number of active profiles you have and the products you include. The Free plan covers up to 250 active profiles and 500 emails a month, with $5 of mobile messages and $5 of Composer usage a month and email support for the first 60 days. At 500 active profiles the pricing page estimates the Email plan at $20 a month (5,000 emails a month, 350+ integrations, A/B testing) and the Marketing plan at $90 a month. Marketing adds mobile push and in-app messages, predictive analytics, social marketing tools and Customer Hub features such as onsite personalization, product recommendations, loyalty rewards and order tracking. Klaviyo also sells service, analytics and data products separately. See Klaviyo pricing.

Mailchimp pricing (as of October 2026)

Mailchimp has four plans. Free covers up to 250 contacts, a maximum of 500 sends a month or 250 a day, one seat and one audience. Essentials sets monthly sends at 10 times your contacts, allows flows of up to four steps and three seats, and goes up to 50,000 contacts. Standard raises sends to 12 times contacts, allows up to 200 flows, includes generative AI features at no extra cost and goes up to 100,000 contacts. Premium raises sends to 15 times contacts, adds unlimited seats and audiences, phone and priority support and custom plans for large lists. Mailchimp shows prices in your local currency, and in October 2026 its pricing page advertised 50% off paid plans for 12 months. See Mailchimp pricing.

Channels

Klaviyo lists email, SMS, RCS, mobile app marketing (push and in-app), WhatsApp and social marketing as channels on one platform, so a single profile can trigger messages across them. Mailchimp centers on email and adds landing pages, sign-up forms and social posting on every plan (pop-up forms are listed as a beta with limited availability), with social post scheduling and Google retargeting ads on Standard and Premium. SMS is an add-on to Mailchimp's paid plans in select countries, and MMS is limited to Standard and Premium for contacts in the US and Canada. If texting customers is central to your plan, compare SMS tools in our roundup of SMS marketing platforms.

Automation and segmentation

Both tools call their automations flows. Klaviyo builds flows and campaigns around profile and event data from your store, and its Marketing plan adds predictive analytics and segment performance reports. Mailchimp gives the Free plan a preview of flows, caps Essentials at four flow steps, and allows up to 200 flows with multiple starting points and branching on Standard and Premium. Segmentation follows the same ladder: Free and Essentials get basic segmentation, while Standard and Premium add advanced and predictive segmentation, behavioral targeting, customer lifetime value and purchase likelihood. If you need those features at Mailchimp, plan for Standard at minimum.

AI features

Klaviyo's AI centers on two agents. Composer audits and creates flows and campaigns from a prompt, with $5 of usage a month included on the free plan, and Customer Agent supports shoppers and sells using your data. Paid plans add generative AI for content, images and segments. Mailchimp includes generative AI features at no additional cost on Standard and Premium, a subject line helper and next best action on every plan, and Intuit Assist in beta for certain users on Premium, Standard and legacy plans in select countries, in English only. For a wider view of agent-style tools, see our list of AI marketing agents.

Integrations and data

Klaviyo advertises 350+ integrations through its app marketplace and offers APIs for custom data. Mailchimp lists 300+ integrations, with Shopify, WooCommerce, Canva, Zapier, Square, Wix, Squarespace, Stripe and Salesforce among its most popular. Mailchimp also sells transactional email as an add-on on Standard and Premium. In practice, Klaviyo is stronger when purchase and browsing events drive most of your messages, and Mailchimp is easier when your data is mostly a contact list plus form signups.

Limits of each

• Klaviyo: the jump from the Email plan to Marketing is large at small list sizes, and the platform is shaped around B2C commerce, so B2B and service businesses use less of it.
• Klaviyo: email support on the free plan covers only the first 60 days.
• Mailchimp: key features (advanced and predictive segmentation, dynamic content, send time optimization, multivariate testing) start at Standard.
• Mailchimp: SMS is a separate add-on available in select countries, and credits expire monthly.
• Mailchimp: free plan email support covers only the first 30 days.

Which should you choose

If most of your revenue comes from an online store and you want email, SMS and app messages working from the same customer data, Klaviyo is the better fit, and the Marketing plan is where its personalization features live. If you send newsletters, promotions and event updates for a local business, agency or creator brand and want a familiar editor, forms and landing pages, Mailchimp is the simpler choice, and Standard is the tier where its automation and predictive features become useful. Start both on free plans with a test list before you migrate.

Alternatives worth a look

If neither fits, read our head-to-heads of Klaviyo vs Omnisend for ecommerce and Klaviyo vs HubSpot for teams that also need a sales CRM, our list of Klaviyo alternatives, and our roundup of ecommerce marketing automation platforms.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Klaviyo better than Mailchimp for ecommerce?
For most online stores, yes. Klaviyo describes itself as a B2C CRM, and its Marketing plan adds mobile push and in-app messages, predictive analytics, onsite personalization, product recommendations and loyalty rewards to email. Mailchimp also connects to Shopify, WooCommerce and Square and offers predictive segments on Standard and Premium, but it is built as a general email and marketing tool for many kinds of small business.

Which has the better free plan?
They are close. Klaviyo's free plan covers up to 250 active profiles and 500 emails a month, plus $5 of mobile messages and $5 of Composer usage a month. Mailchimp's free plan covers up to 250 contacts with a maximum of 500 sends a month or 250 a day, one seat and one audience, and email support for the first 30 days.

How are Klaviyo and Mailchimp priced?
Klaviyo prices by active profiles and the products you add; at 500 active profiles its pricing page estimates the Email plan at $20 a month and the Marketing plan at $90 a month as of October 2026. Mailchimp prices Essentials, Standard and Premium by contact tier and shows the price in your local currency, so check its pricing page for your region.

Do both support SMS?
Yes, with differences. SMS is part of Klaviyo's platform, and its free plan includes $5 of mobile messages a month. Mailchimp sells SMS as an add-on to paid plans in select countries, and MMS only on Standard and Premium for US and Canada contacts.