Mailchimp is probably the best-known email marketing platform, and Klaviyo has become the favourite of online stores. If you are choosing between the two, the question is which fits your ecommerce growth better.
The main difference is that Klaviyo is an ecommerce specialist built on customer data. Mailchimp is a generalist marketing platform that works for many kinds of business.
What you need to know if you are in a hurry
If you do not have time to read it all, here is the summary:
Choose Klaviyo if you have an online store and want to make the most of your data: advanced flows, predictive analytics, fine segmentation and the deepest Shopify integration, with all those features available on any paid plan. It is a revenue engine built for ecommerce.
Choose Mailchimp if you want a generalist marketing platform, you value its template library, ecommerce is not your only focus, or you have a large list with simple usage and you prioritise list-price cost.
| Klaviyo | Mailchimp | |
|---|---|---|
| Focus | Ecommerce specialist (email/SMS + CDP) | Generalist marketing (all-in-one) |
| Founded | 2012, Boston | 2001, US (Intuit since 2021) |
| Billing | By active profiles (does not charge for suppressed ones) | By contacts, including unsubscribed ones |
| Features by plan | The same across all paid tiers | Tiered (Essentials / Standard / Premium) |
| Automation | Advanced flows, available on all plans | Multi-step only from Standard (200-point limit) |
| Segmentation | Advanced and predictive (CLV, churn risk) | Predictive and behaviour based (from Standard) |
| Shopify integration | The deepest (Shopify is a Klaviyo shareholder) | Broad, but general-purpose |
| Channels | Email, SMS, push and WhatsApp (credits) | Email (SMS and transactional as add-ons) |
| Revenue analytics | Attribution by flow and campaign, full history | Reports; history depending on plan |
| Free plan | 250 profiles, 500 emails, with its features | 250 contacts, 500 emails, no automation |
| Support | Email/chat (priority on higher tiers); free for 60 days | 24/7 on paid plans; on the free one, 30 days |
| Price (50k contacts) | ~$720/mo (active profiles only) | ~$450/mo (all contacts) |
Where they come from
Klaviyo: the ecommerce specialist
Klaviyo was founded in 2012 in Boston with a clear idea: to help stores use their own data. It started as an analytics tool and ended up building a CDP with an email and SMS engine on top. That obsession with data is what made it the reference in email marketing for ecommerce, with a Shopify integration no other tool matches (Shopify is a part-owner of Klaviyo).
Mailchimp: the generalist everyone knows
Mailchimp was founded in 2001 and grew huge as an email tool for small businesses of every kind. In 2021 Intuit bought it for $12 billion, and since then it has been a generalist marketing suite: email, landing pages, websites, ads and a light CRM. Its strong suit is the brand, the ease of starting and an enormous template library. Its natural ground is any business that wants to send campaigns, not just ecommerce.
The difference that changes everything
Here is the point that decides the comparison. Klaviyo is a vertical tool: it works the needs of a store in depth. Mailchimp, by contrast, is a horizontal tool: it covers many marketing needs for many types of company.
In practice, that shows in two things. The first, in the features: in Klaviyo, the advanced capabilities (flows, predictive segmentation, analytics) are the same on every paid plan, from the first one. In Mailchimp, multi-step automation and predictive segmentation unlock from the Standard plan, and features are tiered by level. The second, in the data: Klaviyo is built so every customer behaviour feeds the next communication; Mailchimp allows it, but it is not the centre of its product.
Automations and segmentation
On its own turf, Klaviyo is hard to beat. Its visual flows support advanced logic, and its predictive analytics calculates customer lifetime value, predicts when a customer is likely to buy again and identifies churn risk, all usable inside the flows. And it does not depend on the plan: it comes as standard.
Mailchimp offers multi-step automation and predictive and behavioural segmentation from the Standard plan, with a cap of 200 points per journey. It covers the needs of a generalist business well, but for the lifecycle of a store (cart, repeat purchase, recovery) Klaviyo takes the short route.
Shopify integration and data
If you sell on Shopify, this point matters. Klaviyo's integration with Shopify is the deepest on the market at the data level, which lets it segment and personalise with all the purchase behaviour in real time. Mailchimp integrates with Shopify and other platforms, but from its generalist logic, without that store-data depth.
Channels
Klaviyo brings together email, SMS, push and WhatsApp, all on the same customer database (SMS and WhatsApp work on separate credits). Mailchimp has email as its central channel; SMS is a paid add-on with credits that expire each month and only in some countries, and transactional email is another add-on. To coordinate several channels on the same data, Klaviyo makes it easier.
Pricing: how much and, above all, how they bill
Here it pays to be clear, because this is where the comparison is most misread. On list-price email and at the same number of contacts, Klaviyo and Mailchimp run very close on small and mid-sized lists, and on large lists Mailchimp is cheaper on paper.
Monthly price: Klaviyo vs Mailchimp
Klaviyo's Email plan vs Mailchimp's Standard plan, by number of contacts (USD/mo, email only, excluding SMS and add-ons).
Tap or slide your finger across the chart to see the amounts.
Indicative 2026 figures (Klaviyo Email plan, Mailchimp Standard plan, US, in dollars, excluding SMS and add-ons). Klaviyo bills active profiles only; Mailchimp counts all contacts, including unsubscribed ones. Check the current price for your real volume.
Why that price does not compare directly
Three nuances change the picture:
First, how they count contacts. Klaviyo bills only active profiles, the ones you can actually contact; the ones you suppress stop counting. Mailchimp charges every contact, including unsubscribed and non-subscribed ones, until you archive them by hand. On established lists, that usually means paying in Mailchimp for a share of people who no longer open anything.
Second, what the price includes. In Klaviyo, the advanced ecommerce features come on every paid plan. In Mailchimp, many are on Standard or Premium, and SMS and transactional email are paid separately, which pushes the real bill above the rate card.
Third, what each euro generates. The useful question in an ecommerce is not only "how much does it cost", but "how much does it help me sell". Klaviyo's data engine is built so every euro of platform works on revenue. That is why many stores pay more on purpose: because it pays off.
That said, if your usage is simple and your list is large, Mailchimp can come out cheaper on list price. It is only fair to acknowledge it.
Deliverability
Both reach the inbox well: with authenticated senders, they both operate at high, comparable delivery rates. Deliverability is not the factor that tips this decision; the focus and the data model are.
Support
Mailchimp offers 24/7 support on paid plans and limits it to 30 days on the free plan. Klaviyo provides support by email and chat, with priority response times on the higher tiers, and offers it for the first 60 days on the free plan. Both also have very extensive communities and training academies.
So which one do I choose?
Choose Klaviyo if: you have an online store and want to make the most of your data, build advanced flows, lean on predictive analytics and take advantage of the deepest Shopify integration, with all those features from the first paid plan. It is the option built to scale an ecommerce with judgement.
Choose Mailchimp if: you want a generalist marketing platform for several types of communication, you value its templates and its brand, ecommerce is not your only focus, or you have a large list with simple usage and prioritise list price.
And the tip we always give: think two years out, not just today. Changing email tool is not dramatic (contacts export, flows get rebuilt), but the analytics history and the tests do not migrate. Choose where you want to be, not just where you are.
How we see it at STRAT
We are a Klaviyo Agency Partner and know it inside out: we know what kind of store it performs for, how to build the flows that generate the most revenue and how to make the most of its analytics without overpaying (starting by billing only the profiles you actually work). We are not Mailchimp partners, so what we have told you about it is an honest analysis from the outside. For an ecommerce that wants to turn its data into revenue, Klaviyo is our default recommendation, and if you are coming from Mailchimp, that migration is exactly one of the areas where we support you.
Frequently asked questions
Klaviyo or Mailchimp, which is better for an ecommerce? For a store that wants to grow on its data, generally Klaviyo: advanced flows, predictive analytics and deep Shopify integration, available on all its paid plans. Mailchimp is generalist and many features key to ecommerce sit on Standard or higher.
Is Klaviyo more expensive than Mailchimp? On list-price email, on large lists Klaviyo usually comes out more expensive (at 50,000 contacts, around $720 against around $450 for Mailchimp Standard). But it is not a direct comparison: Klaviyo bills only active profiles and Mailchimp charges every contact, including unsubscribed ones, on top of charging separately for SMS and transactional.
What is the real difference between them? The focus. Klaviyo is an ecommerce specialist with a powerful data engine and its advanced features on every paid plan. Mailchimp is a generalist suite that tiers features by plan and treats ecommerce as one use case among many.
Which suits me if I am on Shopify? Both integrate with Shopify, but Klaviyo has the deepest data-level integration, since Shopify is a part-owner of Klaviyo. Mailchimp also connects, but from a more generalist logic.
Which free plan is better? Klaviyo's is more complete for a store: it includes its ecommerce features up to 250 profiles and 500 emails. Mailchimp's was cut back in 2026 to 250 contacts and 500 sends, with no automation.
Can I migrate from Mailchimp to Klaviyo? Yes. Contacts export and import without much trouble and the flows get rebuilt. What does not migrate is the analytics history and accumulated tests. At STRAT we support that migration.
If you have an online store and want to get everything Klaviyo offers, at STRAT we are a Klaviyo Partner agency and we build the email, SMS and automation strategy that moves your revenue, with flows that lift repeat purchase and reporting on what reaches your P&L.
