Klaviyo vs Mailchimp for Shopify: Pricing, Features and Which to Pick (2026)

The short answer: pick Klaviyo if you run a growing Shopify store and want the deepest store data, segments and channels, and you're fine paying more as your list grows. Pick Mailchimp if you mostly send newsletters, want the cheapest start and need phone support or a large template library. If you want email and texts at one published price with replies in one inbox, look at a third option, covered at the end.

Klaviyo and Mailchimp are the two names most Shopify stores look at first for email marketing. Both have a free plan, both send campaigns and automated flows, and both sell texting. They're built for different stores, though. Klaviyo is made for online stores that want deep data and many channels. Mailchimp is made for small businesses of every kind that mostly send email and want a low starting price.

Every fact below about Klaviyo or Mailchimp comes from their own pages, checked on October 19, 2026. Both companies also publish comparison pages about each other, and we note where each one makes a claim.

Both start free. Klaviyo's pricing page lists a free plan for up to 250 profiles with 500 emails a month. Mailchimp's Free plan covers 250 contacts and 500 emails a month, capped at 250 a day, and pauses sending if you go over.

Paid plans work differently. Klaviyo charges by active profiles: its Shopify App Store listing shows the Email plan at $20 a month for 251 to 500 contacts, and Klaviyo says it doesn't charge for inactive, opted-out profiles. Mailchimp sells three paid tiers, Essentials, Standard and Premium, starting at $13, $20 and $350 a month for the first 12 months, and each tier's price rises with your contacts. Mailchimp's pricing page also shows monthly send limits as a multiple of contacts: 10 times on Essentials, 12 times on Standard and 15 times on Premium.

Mailchimp's own comparison page says it can cost less than Klaviyo; Klaviyo's says it doesn't bill unreachable profiles. The honest way to compare is to put your real contact count into both pricing calculators, and to budget for how your list will grow over the next year.

Klaviyo sells texting as its own plan. Its App Store listing shows SMS from $15 a month for up to 1,250 SMS or MMS credits, with carrier fees included, and Klaviyo's SMS billing help article says each SMS in the US uses one credit, each MMS three, and long messages are billed per segment.

Mailchimp sells SMS as a $20-a-month add-on to its paid plans. Its SMS pricing page says you must submit an application and agree to terms before you can buy credits, unused credits expire every month, MMS is only on Standard and Premium for US and Canada contacts, and short codes cost extra and take 8 to 12 weeks.

If texting is central to your plan, Klaviyo has the more complete text product. If you only text now and then, Mailchimp's add-on may be enough.

Klaviyo is built around store data. Its listing describes syncing Shopify tags, catalog and coupons, product recommendations and predictive analytics, and its comparison page leans on segmentation and analytics. Mailchimp connects to Shopify too, and its comparison page cites more than 45 behavioral triggers for automations, but its strength is ease of use across many kinds of business rather than ecommerce depth.

For a Shopify store whose main email work is flows driven by browsing and buying, Klaviyo usually goes further. For a store that sends a weekly newsletter and a few automations, Mailchimp is often simpler.

Mailchimp's comparison page says every paid plan includes 24/7 live chat and email help, with phone support on Premium, and that Klaviyo's support is email-only unless you buy its enterprise package. Mailchimp is also known for its template library. Klaviyo's App Store listing mentions over 160 campaign templates.

• Choose Klaviyo if: you run a Shopify store that is growing, you want detailed segments and predictions from store data, you plan to text a lot or use channels like push, and you can absorb rising costs as your list grows.
• Choose Mailchimp if: you mostly send email, want the lowest starting price and a big template library, sell outside Shopify too, or want phone support on a top plan.
• Look elsewhere if: you want email and texts in one published price, segments that know about subscriptions and loyalty, or customer replies in the same place as your campaigns.

SmartyTap is Chargezen's email and text marketing. It includes emails and SMS credits/segments in every plan, with segments that use orders, engagement, subscriptions and loyalty; A/B tests that pick a winner; Smart Sending; quiet hours in each recipient's time zone; and welcome, abandoned checkout, browse abandonment, back-in-stock, birthday, after-purchase and win-back flows. Replies, chat and calls land in one inbox.

Where SmartyTap is behind: it has no free plan or free trial, no predicted customer lifetime value, no push, RCS or WhatsApp campaigns, and a much smaller integration list than either Klaviyo or Mailchimp. Its texts cost 2¢ per segment, which is not the lowest per-text rate on the market. Its edge is email: Starter includes 2,500 contacts for $20 a month.

SmartyTap Starter is $20 a month for 2,500 contacts, 25,000 emails and 250 SMS credits/segments. Pro is $199 a month (or $1,990 a year) for 25,000 contacts, 250,000 emails and 2,500 SMS credits/segments. One credit covers one segment and costs 2¢. New workspaces need a paid plan to send, and there's no free trial. See SmartyTap pricing.

See the full comparisons: SmartyTap vs Klaviyo and SmartyTap vs Mailchimp. Moving over? Switch from Klaviyo. Read next: Klaviyo alternatives, Mailchimp alternatives for Shopify and how much email and SMS marketing cost.

Klaviyo is usually the better fit for a growing Shopify store that wants deep store data, segments and texting. Mailchimp is often the better fit for a store that mostly sends newsletters and wants a lower starting price and phone support on its top plan.

At the entry level, yes: Mailchimp Essentials starts at $13 a month for the first 12 months, and Klaviyo's Email plan starts at $20 a month for 251 to 500 contacts (both checked October 19, 2026). Both prices rise with contacts and both bill texts separately, so compare at your own list size.

Yes. Klaviyo sells an SMS plan from $15 a month for up to 1,250 credits. Mailchimp sells an SMS add-on from $20 a month on paid plans, after an approved application, and unused credits expire monthly.

Yes. Export your contacts and unsubscribes as CSV files, import them with their consent status, connect Shopify, then rebuild your flows and templates. Warm up your sending in the new tool before your biggest campaigns.