If you sell online, your email tool should know what people bought, what they looked at and what they left in the cart. Mailchimp and Klaviyo both connect to your shop. The differences are in how deep that connection goes, how each one counts your list and how you get charged.
The facts below come from each vendor's own pages as of October 2026: the Mailchimp pricing page, the Klaviyo pricing page and both help centers. Prices are in US dollars and can differ by country.
The short verdict
- Pick Klaviyo if email and text messages are a main sales channel for your shop and you want flows based on orders, products and browsing.
- Pick Mailchimp if you sell a little alongside other work, send general newsletters as well, or want fixed prices per contact tier shown on the pricing page.
Free plans
The two free plans look alike:
- Mailchimp: up to 250 contacts, 500 emails a month with no more than 250 a day, 1 user. Automation flows are not included. Email support for the first 30 days.
- Klaviyo: up to 250 active profiles, 500 emails a month, $5 of mobile messages a month, basic segmentation and built-in reporting. Email support for the first 60 days.
For a shop, the gap is automation. An abandoned cart email is an automated flow, and Mailchimp's flows start on paid plans.
Paid plans and how you are charged
Mailchimp shows fixed prices by contact tier. For up to 500 contacts, Essentials is $13 a month and Standard is $20 a month. Essentials allows flows of up to 4 steps. Standard allows up to 200 flows. At the time of writing, Mailchimp offered 50% off for the first 12 months.
Klaviyo prices paid plans by your number of active profiles. The pricing page has an estimator that shows the cost for your list size.
Who counts toward your bill
This difference can matter more than the starting price.
Mailchimp counts subscribed, unsubscribed and non-subscribed contacts toward your limit, according to its help page on contacts. Shop customers who bought but never subscribed still count. Archived contacts do not.
Klaviyo's billing help page says billable profiles are active profiles that can receive at least one type of marketing. Suppressed, unsubscribed and deleted profiles generally do not count. If you go over your profile limit, Klaviyo moves you to a higher tier from the next billing cycle.
Connecting your Shopify store
Klaviyo. According to its Shopify setup guide, Klaviyo first syncs the last 90 days of store data, then your full history. New orders then sync in real time. It records events such as Placed Order and Ordered Product, and syncs your product catalog. You can use these to start flows and build segments, such as people who bought a certain product.
Mailchimp. The Mailchimp for Shopify app sends your customer and order data to Mailchimp. To build an abandoned cart flow, you pick an "abandons cart" trigger and Mailchimp adds a block showing the items left behind. You also need to switch on the app embed in your Shopify theme for cart tracking.
Text messages
Klaviyo's free plan includes $5 of mobile messages a month, and the amount you get depends on the region and provider. Mailchimp offers text messages as a paid add-on in some countries, and only on paid plans.
How to decide
- Count your profiles two ways. Count everyone in your store, then only people who can receive marketing. Price both tools with the right number.
- List the flows you need. For most shops, that is a welcome email, an abandoned cart email and a thank-you after the first order.
- Check your platform. Make sure your shop connects to the tool, and see which data it syncs.
- Think about text messages. If you plan to use them, check what each tool offers in your country.
- Run one flow on each. Build the same abandoned cart email in both and see which one you find easier.
The emails themselves matter as much as the tool. See welcome emails for new customers and how to write a product description. If you are still choosing where to sell, read Shopify vs Etsy.