Email marketing
Klaviyo vs Mailchimp
If you sell physical products through Shopify, WooCommerce or BigCommerce, Klaviyo is worth the premium — the flows and revenue reporting are built for it. For a newsletter, a service business or a blog, Mailchimp does the job for less.
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Klaviyo or Mailchimp — which should you use?
If you sell physical products through Shopify, WooCommerce or BigCommerce, Klaviyo is worth the premium — the flows and revenue reporting are built for it. For a newsletter, a service business or a blog, Mailchimp does the job for less. Klaviyo starts at From roughly $20/month at 500 contacts, scaling steeply (free tier: Free up to 250 contacts and a small monthly send allowance.); Mailchimp starts at Essentials from roughly $13/month (free tier: Free plan for small lists.). Prices are list prices and change, so check the vendor pages before buying.
Last updated 3 August 2026
Klaviyo's advantage is that it treats orders, products and browsing behaviour as first-class data. Segmenting by 'bought twice, hasn't ordered in 90 days, browsed category X' takes a minute.
Mailchimp added ecommerce features but the data model was built for lists and campaigns. It shows when you try to build anything conditional on purchase history.
Side by side
Klaviyo and Mailchimp in short.
Klaviyo
Ecommerce marketing platform with deep store integrations, flows and revenue attribution.
- Free
- Free up to 250 contacts and a small monthly send allowance.
- Paid from
- From roughly $20/month at 500 contacts, scaling steeply
Good at
- Pre-built flows — abandoned cart, browse abandonment, post-purchase — that generate revenue in week one
- Attributes revenue to individual emails and flows, so you can see what pays
- Segmentation on order history, product and predicted lifetime value
Weak at
- Expensive as your list grows; SMS is billed separately
- Overkill for anyone not selling products online
Mailchimp
General-purpose email marketing with good templates and broad integrations.
- Free
- Free plan for small lists.
- Paid from
- Essentials from roughly $13/month
Good at
- Cheaper at every comparable list size
- Better default templates and editor
- Fine for newsletters, events and service businesses
Weak at
- Ecommerce flows are shallow next to Klaviyo's
- Revenue reporting is basic
The differences
Where they actually diverge.
| Feature | Klaviyo | Mailchimp |
|---|---|---|
| Ecommerce flows | Deep, pre-built | Basic |
| Revenue attribution | Per email and flow | Limited |
| Cost at 10k contacts | Higher | Lower |
| SMS | Available, billed separately | Limited |
| Best for | Online stores | Newsletters and services |
Pick one
Which one fits you.
Choose Klaviyo if
- You run a store and email is a revenue channel, not an announcement channel
- You want to know which flow made which sale
- Segmenting by purchase behaviour matters
Choose Mailchimp if
- You don't sell products online
- Budget is the binding constraint
- You send one broadcast a month
When neither is the answer
Under about 500 contacts, either free plan is fine and the choice barely matters. Spend the energy on getting the list to 500 first.
Questions
Common questions.
How much revenue should ecommerce email drive?
Published industry benchmarks from ecommerce platforms typically put email at 15–25% of store revenue once flows are running. If yours is under 10%, the flows are the gap, not the platform.
Can I migrate from Mailchimp to Klaviyo?
Yes, Klaviyo has a guided importer for contacts and it reconnects to your store directly. Flows have to be rebuilt, which is a day of work for the standard five.
Prices are list prices published by each vendor and change often — check the linked pricing pages before you buy. We take no affiliate commission and nobody pays to appear here.
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