What's the difference between Klaviyo and Mailchimp?

Klaviyo is Marketing automation built specifically for e-commerce, publicly traded (KVYO), ~$10B market cap. Positioned as the alternative to Mailchimp for e-commerce brands that need behavioral segmentation and revenue attribution. Distinctive for tight Shopify integration and its "attributed revenue" reporting that lets marketers show ROI cleanly. Priced per subscribed profile starting free; scales aggressively past 10K contacts. Real cost bloat comes from SMS add-on and abandoned-cart flows, while Mailchimp is The original email marketing platform for SMBs, now owned by Intuit ($12B acquisition, 2021). Distinctive for pricing per subscriber rather than per email sent — which surprises teams with large-but-inactive lists. Free tier up to 500 contacts. Paid tiers get expensive fast as your list grows ($350/mo Premium at 10K+ contacts). Losing SMB share to Beehiiv (creators) and Klaviyo (e-commerce) but still the default for non-technical marketers. On price, mailchimp is cheaper on the entry tier at $13/mo vs $20/mo for Klaviyo. Both bill on a per usage model, so the tiers below compare directly.

Which costs less, Klaviyo or Mailchimp?

Mailchimp is cheaper on the entry tier at $13/mo vs $20/mo for Klaviyo.

Is Klaviyo or Mailchimp priced per seat or per usage?

Klaviyo bills purely on usage — Contacts. There is no fixed per-seat fee, so the monthly cost depends entirely on how much you consume. Mailchimp bills purely on usage — contacts. There is no fixed per-seat fee, so the monthly cost depends entirely on how much you consume.

Does Klaviyo have a free plan?

Yes, Klaviyo offers a free plan.

Does Mailchimp have a free plan?

Yes, Mailchimp offers a free plan.

How does Klaviyo pricing compare to Mailchimp for enterprise use?

Both Klaviyo and Mailchimp offer enterprise pricing on request, typically with custom quotes based on seats, usage, and support.

When were these prices last verified?

Pricing was last verified on September 17, 2026. SaaS Price Hub tracks vendor pricing pages daily.

Klaviyo vs Mailchimp — Pricing, Plans, and Verified Costs (2026)

TL;DR

Klaviyo starts at $20/mo. Mailchimp starts at $13/mo. Mailchimp is $7/mo cheaper on the entry tier than Klaviyo.

Both prices verified September 10, 2026

See price history: Klaviyo · Mailchimp

How pricing works

These two tools don't price the same way, so the headline numbers below aren't directly comparable until you plug in your own volume.

Klaviyo (Per Usage) — Klaviyo bills purely on usage — Contacts. There is no fixed per-seat fee, so the monthly cost depends entirely on how much you consume.
Mailchimp (Per Usage) — Mailchimp bills purely on usage — contacts. There is no fixed per-seat fee, so the monthly cost depends entirely on how much you consume.

Per-minute, per-credit and per-token rates exclude any downstream model, speech or telephony costs unless the vendor states otherwise.

Klaviyo

Marketing & Email

Starts at

$20/mo

Marketing automation built specifically for e-commerce, publicly traded (KVYO), ~$10B market cap. Positioned as the alternative to Mailchimp for e-commerce brands that need behavioral segmentation and revenue attribution. Distinctive for tight Shopify integration and its "attributed revenue" reporting that lets marketers show ROI cleanly. Priced per subscribed profile starting free; scales aggressively past 10K contacts. Real cost bloat comes from SMS add-on and abandoned-cart flows.

Visit website

Mailchimp

Marketing & Email

Starts at

$13/mo

The original email marketing platform for SMBs, now owned by Intuit ($12B acquisition, 2021). Distinctive for pricing per subscriber rather than per email sent — which surprises teams with large-but-inactive lists. Free tier up to 500 contacts. Paid tiers get expensive fast as your list grows ($350/mo Premium at 10K+ contacts). Losing SMB share to Beehiiv (creators) and Klaviyo (e-commerce) but still the default for non-technical marketers.

Visit website

All plans compared

Tier role	Plan	Klaviyo monthly	Klaviyo annual	Mailchimp monthly	Mailchimp annual
Free / starter	Free	Free	Free	Free	—
Entry paid	Email / Essentials	$20	—	$13	—
Mid tier	— / Standard	—	—	$20	—
Pro / power	Email + SMS / Premium	$35	—	$350	—

Tier names differ across vendors. Rows are aligned by tier role, not name. Full tier structures on each tool's page.

What each is best for

Klaviyo

Klaviyo is worth it if… e-commerce brands (Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento) that need product-triggered email + SMS flows — abandoned cart, browse abandonment, post-purchase, winback — with revenue attribution baked in. Free covers up to 250 subscribers; paid tiers scale by subscriber count with email + SMS bundled or separate.

Mailchimp

Mailchimp is worth it if… SMBs and solo creators who want email marketing + light e-commerce + landing pages — the household-name option with generous templates and easy setup. Free covers up to 500 contacts; Essentials adds automations; Standard adds journeys and A/B testing; Premium adds advanced segmentation.

Bottom line: Similar positioning, closer to a preference call than a strategic one.

Choose Klaviyo over Mailchimp if…

Choose Klaviyo if…

You want to pay only for actual usage (per usage, from $20/mo).
You match the profile Klaviyo is built for: e-commerce brands (Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento) that need product-triggered email + SMS flows — abandoned cart, browse abandonment, post-purchase, winback — with revenue attribution baked in.
You need a general-purpose marketing & email option rather than a vertical-specific one.

Choose Mailchimp if…

You want to pay only for actual usage (per usage, from $13/mo).
You match the profile Mailchimp is built for: SMBs and solo creators who want email marketing + light e-commerce + landing pages — the household-name option with generous templates and easy setup.
You need a general-purpose marketing & email option rather than a vertical-specific one.

At a glance

	Klaviyo	Mailchimp
Free plan	Yes	Yes
Entry price	$20/mo	$13/mo
Enterprise available	Yes	Yes
Pricing model	Per Usage	Per Usage
Last verified	September 10, 2026	September 17, 2026
Full pricing	View full pricing	View full pricing