Consider Mailchimp when…
Shortlist Mailchimp when your business is not mainly an online shop and you want newsletters, forms, and landing pages in one small-business tool.
Explore Mailchimp alternativesFIND YOUR FIT
Mailchimp vs Klaviyo
Mailchimp vs Klaviyo: compare free plans, contact and active-profile billing, ecommerce flows, and SMS using each provider's official pages.
The decision in brief
Their free plans are the same size: 250 contacts or active profiles and 500 emails a month. The differences are focus and billing. Klaviyo is built around store data for ecommerce flows and bills by profiles you can email, while Mailchimp is a broader small-business tool whose contact total includes unsubscribed contacts.
A focused editorial selection based on the linked official documentation. Fit notes are our judgment, rather than firsthand benchmark results or a universal ranking. How we select and verify information.
Compare the working details
| Decision factor | Mailchimp | Klaviyo |
|---|---|---|
| Main focus | Newsletters and promotional email for small businesses and online shops, with automation and a wide range of integrations. | Ecommerce email and SMS driven by store data, such as abandoned cart, post-purchase, and win-back flows. |
| Working setup | Sign up, import or collect contacts into an audience, design an email from a template, then send a campaign or set up an automation flow. | Connect your store, such as Shopify or WooCommerce, add sign-up forms, then turn on prebuilt flows and send segmented campaigns. |
| Pricing model | A free plan covers 250 contacts and 500 sends a month, with a daily limit of 250. Essentials, Standard, and Premium are priced by contact tier, with a monthly send limit set as a multiple of your contact limit; Essentials and Standard have a 14-day trial. Pay As You Go email credits suit occasional senders. | A free plan covers 250 active profiles and 500 emails a month. Paid email plans are priced by active profiles, meaning contacts you can email; SMS and other products are added on. A custom plan covers more than 150,000 active profiles. |
| What to verify | Subscribed, unsubscribed, and non-subscribed contacts all count toward your contact total, so archive contacts you no longer email before choosing a tier. | Profiles added from orders and checkouts can count as active without an explicit opt-in; suppressing inactive profiles stops them counting toward your plan. |
Which belongs on your shortlist?
Consider Klaviyo when…
Shortlist Klaviyo when most of your revenue comes from an online store and you want abandoned cart, browse, and post-purchase flows driven by store data.
Run the same evaluation in both
- Connect the same test store or sample data to both and turn on an abandoned cart flow.
- Import a list that includes unsubscribed and never-opted-in test contacts, then compare the billable count in each.
- Price both for your expected list size in twelve months, adding SMS if you plan to use it.
Try the same task before you choose
Send one welcome series and newsletter
Use the same fictional list in each candidate. Import 40 rows of made-up contacts for 'Fernhill Pottery Studio', using addresses on a domain you control: 36 subscribed, 3 unsubscribed, and one row that repeats a subscribed address. New sign-ups should get a three-email welcome series, and subscribed contacts one newsletter. Never import a real customer list for a trial.
Every check starts as Not run. Record your own observations; these are evaluation criteria, rather than completed product tests. Your worksheet stays in this page and can be downloaded.
| Task and expected observation | Mailchimp | Klaviyo |
|---|---|---|
| Import the fictional list 39 unique contacts. The repeated row is merged, and the 3 unsubscribed contacts keep their status. | ||
| Check the billable contact count Record whether the 3 unsubscribed contacts count toward the plan price. | ||
| Authenticate a test sending domain The DNS records verify, and test emails reach an inbox you own rather than spam. | ||
| Add a sign-up form to a test page A new test sign-up is added with the right tag or group, and double opt-in works if you turn it on. | ||
| Build the three-email welcome series The new sign-up receives all three emails at the set delays. Note which plan includes this. | ||
| Send the newsletter to subscribed contacts None of the 3 unsubscribed contacts receive it, and the unsubscribe link works in one click. | ||
| Price the setup for 12 months Record the plan needed for these features and the cost at your list size now and in a year. |
0 of 14 checks have an observation. An observation does not imply a passed test.
Sources and check dates
Provider documentation supports the product and billing descriptions. Confirm current limits and terms before choosing a plan.
ShowMeYourSaaS also offers commercial product coverage. These guides follow our editorial selection criteria; placement is not a purchased ranking. Send a correction with the page and a supporting source.