Mailchimp or Klaviyo: which should you pick?

General marketing vs store-first email. Free plans, pricing basis, automation and transactional email from each vendor's pricing page, plus who should pick which.

Mailchimp free emails: 500/mo; Mailchimp free emails
Klaviyo free emails: 500/mo; Klaviyo free emails
Lumail free emails: 3,000/mo; Lumail free emails

TL;DR

The free plans are almost identical: 250 contacts or active profiles and 500 emails a month. Klaviyo is built for stores, with Shopify-triggered flows, SMS and revenue attribution, from $20 a month. Mailchimp is the general-purpose suite with website plans and a large integration ecosystem. Store owners usually want Klaviyo; everyone else, Mailchimp.

Mailchimp vs Klaviyo side by side

Every Mailchimp and Klaviyo cell comes from the vendor's public pricing page, verified on August 17, 2026. Lumail is the third column, as the alternative.

Mailchimp vs Klaviyo comparison with Lumail
	Mailchimp	Klaviyo	Lumail (alternative)
Free plan	250 contacts and 500 sends/month	250 active profiles and 500 emails/month	$0, 3,000 emails/month
Paid from	Varies by plan and contact tier	$20/month	$20/month, 40,000 included, then $0.60/1,000
Pricing basis	Plan plus contact tier and monthly send allowance	Active profiles plus emails sent; SMS and other channels billed separately	Unlimited subscribers; pricing follows email volume
Automation	Welcome automation on Free; broader journeys on paid plans	Visual flows with store, segment, and date triggers and up to 20 branches	Graph workflows with triggers, branches, goals, exits, and A/B paths
AI and developer access	Built-in marketing AI and integrations	Built-in AI agents, a remote MCP server, and ChatGPT and Claude apps	ChatGPT OAuth, MCP, skills, CLI, SDK, REST API, and visual editor
Transactional email	Available through Mailchimp Transactional add-on	Paid accounts only; flow emails need Klaviyo approval to count as transactional	Included through API, SMTP, SDK, CLI, and agent tools
Publishing	Landing pages, forms, and website plans	Signup forms, subscribe pages, and landing pages	Capture pages and custom web domains; not a general website builder
Best for	Teams that want one established suite for multiple marketing channels	Ecommerce brands, especially on Shopify, that want store-triggered email and SMS	Teams that want campaigns, workflows and transactional email priced by volume

Choose Mailchimp if

You are not primarily an online store
You want website plans and landing pages in one suite
You rely on Mailchimp's integration ecosystem

Choose Klaviyo if

You sell on Shopify and need cart, post-purchase and product flows
You want SMS, WhatsApp or push in the same automation as email
You want Klaviyo's customer data and revenue attribution

Where Lumail fits

Both bill on contacts or active profiles. If you keep a large customer list but email a slice of it, pricing by emails sent is usually lower.

Lumail prices by emails sent, with unlimited subscribers on every plan: $0 for 3,000 emails a month, Premium at $20 a month for 40,000 emails then $0.60 per 1,000, and Business at $200 a month for 400,000 emails then $0.40 per 1,000. Campaigns, graph workflows and transactional email (API and SMTP) live in one account, and agents can run it through MCP, the CLI or the SDK.

Read the full Lumail vs Mailchimp and Lumail vs Klaviyo breakdowns, or the long-form Mailchimp and Klaviyo articles.

Start for free See Lumail pricing

Sources

Mailchimp pricing plans, verified on August 17, 2026
Klaviyo pricing, verified on August 17, 2026

Frequently asked questions

Is Klaviyo better than Mailchimp for Shopify?

For most Shopify stores, yes. Klaviyo flows use store, segment and date triggers with up to 20 branches, and it adds SMS and revenue attribution.

Which free plan is bigger, Klaviyo or Mailchimp?

They are about the same: Klaviyo Free is 250 active profiles and 500 emails a month; Mailchimp Free is 250 contacts and 500 sends a month.

Do Mailchimp and Klaviyo include transactional email?

Mailchimp: Available through Mailchimp Transactional add-on. Klaviyo: Paid accounts only; flow emails need Klaviyo approval to count as transactional.

Is there an alternative to Mailchimp and Klaviyo that prices by emails sent?

Lumail. It is $0 for 3,000 emails a month, then $20 a month for 40,000 emails and $0.60 per extra 1,000, with unlimited subscribers on every plan. Campaigns, workflows and transactional email share one account.

Where do these numbers come from?

From each vendor's public pricing page (Mailchimp pricing plans and Klaviyo pricing), last verified on August 17, 2026. Prices change, so confirm on the vendor's page before you buy.

Keep comparing

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3,000 emails a month free. Unlimited subscribers on every plan. Campaigns, automations and transactional email on one domain.

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