How it worksPricingLog InSign Up Free

Klaviyo vs Mailchimp: real pricing, compared

Both vendors' own published rules, run against the same contacts and send volume, with the promo traps and bracket rules that a vendor's own pricing page does not put side by side.

Klaviyo checked September 4, 2026, Mailchimp checked September 4, 2026. Both vendors set their own prices and can change them any time.

Quick verdict

The short answer

Klaviyo, at 10,000 contacts$150/mo100,000 sends included, fixed to this bracket.
Mailchimp Essentials, same contacts$109/mo100,000 sends included on this plan.

At 10,000 contacts and 40,000 sends/mo, monthly list pricing. Neither figure is a promo.

Fit

Choose Klaviyo, or choose Mailchimp

Choose Klaviyo if
  • You want the largest ecommerce integration and agency ecosystem of the two.
  • Your list is small enough for the free plan (under 250 contacts) and you want an email specialist as you grow.
  • You send heavily and are fine with a single flat 10x sends-per-contact ratio.
Choose Mailchimp if
  • You want the lower list price at most contact counts we checked.
  • You also want landing pages, social ad management or direct-mail postcards in the same account.
  • You qualify for the "Save 15%" promo and are comfortable renegotiating before the 12 months lapse.
At a glance

Price at five workloads, no calculator required

Monthly list pricing, computed once for each fixed point below, not re-run interactively.

WorkloadKlaviyoMailchimp
1,000 contacts / 5,000 sends$30.00/mo$29.00/mo
5,000 contacts / 40,000 sends$100.00/mo$74.00/mo
10,000 contacts / 80,000 sends$150.00/mo$109.00/mo
25,000 contacts / 150,000 sends$400.00/mo$270.00/mo
50,000 contacts / 300,000 sends$720.00/mo$370.00/mo

Scroll the table sideways to see every vendor.

Mechanics

How each one actually prices

Klaviyo: one plan, one axis
A single "Marketing (Email)" plan, priced purely on active-profile brackets. Included sends are always about 10x the profile count; crossing a bracket ceiling auto-upgrades you to the next one.
Mailchimp: three plans, three multiples
Essentials, Standard and Premium each have their own contact ladder and their own included-sends multiple (10x, 12x and 15x respectively), so the cheapest plan at a given contact count is not always the cheapest at a different one.
Send allowances, side by side
At 10,000 contacts, Klaviyo includes 100,000 sends/mo; Mailchimp's Essentials includes 100,000/mo on the plan that wins on price at this contact count.
Verified differences

What is actually different, not marketing copy

Overage behaviour
Klaviyo does not publish a per-email overage rate; exceeding a bracket auto-upgrades the account. Mailchimp's plans use a per-unit overage model, but no per-unit rate is published in our data, so in practice the effect is the same: no way to pay per extra email at a stated rate.
Free plan
Both publish a free plan at 250 contacts and roughly 500 sends/mo. Neither free plan is a promo; both are the standing entry tier.
Billing interval
Our verified data covers monthly list pricing for both. Neither vendor's self-serve annual pricing (if any) is in the verified dataset behind this page, so this comparison does not claim one either way.
Read the fine print

Billing traps worth knowing before you commit

Mailchimp's "Save 15%" is a first-year, new-customer promo
It applies only at 10,000+ contacts, only for the first 12 months, only to new customers (or free customers within 90 days), and it ends immediately if your contact count drops below 10,000. Budget for the full list price from month 13.
Klaviyo auto-upgrades you across bracket lines
There is no published way to stay on a cheaper bracket once your profile count crosses its ceiling; the account moves to the next tier automatically.
Neither vendor publishes a downgrade path in our data
We could not verify a self-serve way to move back down a tier on either vendor from public pricing pages alone; confirm directly with the vendor before assuming your bill can fall as easily as it rises.
Best fit

By merchant type

Very small list, under 250 contacts
Either free plan works; there is no price difference to argue about yet.
Growing ecommerce brand wanting deep automation
Klaviyo's ecosystem and SMS depth are the more mature choice, at a higher list price.
Team that also needs landing pages or social ads
Mailchimp is the only one of the two that sells those in the same account.
Cost-sensitive list over 10,000 contacts
At this size Mailchimp's Essentials plan priced lower in our check ($109.00/mo vs Klaviyo's $150.00/mo), before weighing feature differences.
Calculator

Price both at your own numbers

Scoped to just Klaviyo and Mailchimp, so this stays a comparison between the two, not a wider pitch.

The multiplier buttons set sends relative to your contact count (4x means 4 emails a month per contact).

Billing basis

We use the audience number entered above as the billable contact, profile or subscriber count for each platform. Vendors define billable audiences differently, and a real count after migration can differ.

Estimated monthly cost by vendor for 10,000 contacts and 40,000 emails a month, monthly list pricing, cheapest first.
VendorEstimated pricePlanFits workloadPricing basisDetails
MailchimpLowest estimated costPromo availablePartially verified$109.00/moEssentialsFitsBy contacts
Klaviyo$150.00/moMarketing (Email)FitsBy contacts

Pricing is not feature equivalence. These estimates show what each platform charges for the workload you entered. Plans can include different automation, segmentation, SMS, support, ecommerce, and other features.

Curious how either compares against OnVoard specifically? Klaviyo vs OnVoard or Mailchimp vs OnVoard, or the wider Mailchimp alternatives page, both run the same numbers against OnVoard's Marketing Platform. Comparing more than these two? See every vendor at once in the full pricing calculator.

Methodology

How this page was built

Every price above comes from each vendor's own published, list-basis pricing (never a promotional price), matched to the exact billing interval requested. Nothing here is extrapolated beyond either vendor's own published ladder.

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Klaviyo or Mailchimp cheaper?

At 10,000 contacts and 40,000 sends/mo, Mailchimp's Essentials plan ($109.00/mo) prices below Klaviyo ($150.00/mo). That ranking is not fixed across every contact count; see the static examples and calculator above for other workloads.

Does Mailchimp's "Save 15%" promo change the cheapest answer?

No. The 15% discount only applies at 10,000+ contacts, for the first 12 months, to new customers (or free customers within 90 days), and it ends immediately if contacts drop below 10,000. It is real, but it is a promo, not the list price, so it is never used to decide which vendor is cheapest on this page.

What is the real difference between how they price?

Both price on active contact brackets, but the included-sends multiple differs: Klaviyo is a flat 10x across its whole ladder. Mailchimp's multiple changes by plan, from 10x on Essentials up to 15x on Premium, so the same contact count can include a different number of sends depending which Mailchimp plan you are on.

How was this page's pricing checked?

Both ladders were read directly off each vendor's own public pricing page and re-verified independently; see Sources below. Klaviyo was checked September 4, 2026, Mailchimp September 4, 2026.

See it against your own numbers.

Set your contacts and sends in the calculator above, or compare both against OnVoard below.