Klaviyo vs Mailchimp: which suits an Australian online store?
Klaviyo vs Mailchimp, priced side by side from 500 to 50,000 contacts, plus what automated flows in Klaviyo do for the stores we run. Which one fits your business.
If you run an online store and want automated emails to do a big share of the selling, Klaviyo is usually the better fit. If you are not selling online and mostly send a newsletter to a small list, Mailchimp's cheaper plans can be enough. On price, the two are close up to about 5,000 contacts, and Klaviyo costs more above 10,000.
One thing to know up front: every email programme we run is built in Klaviyo. So the prices below are taken straight from both companies' pricing pages, and the results are from stores we run, with the dates on them.
Running a Shopify store?
See how we set up and run Klaviyo for online stores across Australia.
Klaviyo vs Mailchimp prices, side by side
These are the monthly list prices on 10/11/2026, before any introductory offers. Klaviyo only shows its prices in US dollars, so Mailchimp is shown in US dollars too, to compare like with like.
| Contacts | Klaviyo Email | Mailchimp Essentials | Mailchimp Standard |
|---|---|---|---|
| 500 | US$20 | US$13 | US$20 |
| 1,000 | US$30 | US$26.50 | US$45 |
| 2,500 | US$60 | US$45 | US$60 |
| 5,000 | US$100 | US$75 | US$100 |
| 10,000 | US$150 | US$110 | US$135 |
| 25,000 | US$400 | US$270 | US$310 |
| 50,000 | US$720 | US$385 | US$450 |
Read from klaviyo.com/au/pricing and mailchimp.com/pricing/marketing on 10/11/2026. Monthly list prices before offers. Mailchimp prices by contact band, so 1,000 contacts is its 501 to 1,500 band. Klaviyo counts active profiles, which its pricing page describes as any contact you can market to.
Three things stand out. At 2,500 and 5,000 contacts, Klaviyo's Email plan and Mailchimp Standard cost exactly the same. At 1,000 contacts, Klaviyo is cheaper than Mailchimp Standard. Past 10,000 contacts the gap opens up, and at 50,000 Klaviyo is US$270 a month more than Mailchimp Standard.
Mailchimp Essentials is the cheapest at every list size, but its pricing page lists automations as "up to 4 flow steps", against up to 200 flows on Standard. For a store, that limit is where the saving goes, because flows are where most of the email revenue comes from (more on that below).
In Australian dollars, Mailchimp Standard was A$29.34 a month at up to 500 contacts, A$146.68 at 2,501 to 5,000 and A$198.01 at 5,001 to 10,000 on the same day. Klaviyo bills in US dollars, so its price in Australian dollars moves with the exchange rate.
Free plans
Both have one. Klaviyo's free plan covers up to 250 active profiles and 500 emails a month. Mailchimp is free under 250 contacts. They are useful for trying the tools, not for running a store's email, because a list that is growing passes 250 quickly.
What the difference buys: automated flows
For an online store, the price table is only half the decision. The bigger question is how much of your email revenue can come from automated flows: the welcome, abandoned checkout, post-purchase and win-back emails that send on their own when a customer does something. Klaviyo connects to Shopify, so customers who opt in at checkout land in the right list automatically, and every order feeds the segments and flows.
That is the case for paying for a store-focused platform. A small share of sends doing more than half the work only happens when the flows are built properly and fed by the store's data. These are results from the Klaviyo accounts we run, as published on our Klaviyo agency page:
- Fridgy, flows. Automated flows are 7.3% of what gets sent and 55.7% of the orders email brings in, twelve months to 17/08/2026.
- Fridgy, welcome series. 1.7x Klaviyo's average flow order rate, twelve months to 29/10/2026, and orders from email up 120% on the year before.
- Lupin Gold. 27% of online revenue came from email, twelve months to 28/10/2026, and its campaign order rate was 1.8x Klaviyo's average, twelve months to 29/10/2026.
The Fridgy figures and how they were measured are in the Fridgy case study. Which flows to build first, and in what order, is covered in our Klaviyo setup guide.
When Mailchimp is the better pick
- You are not selling online. If your email is a monthly newsletter for a service business, you do not need store data feeding flows, and Mailchimp is simple to run.
- Your list is small and the budget is tight. Essentials is the cheapest plan in the table at every size. If a basic welcome email is all the automation you need, it does the job.
- Your list is large and campaigns do the work. Past 10,000 contacts Mailchimp Standard costs less each month. If most of your revenue comes from campaigns rather than flows, that saving is real.
When Klaviyo is the better pick
- You sell through Shopify. The Shopify connection is what lets checkout opt-ins, orders and browsing feed straight into segments and flows.
- You want flows to carry sales. Welcome, abandoned checkout, post-purchase and win-back flows are where a store's email earns most, as the Fridgy numbers show.
- You want to know how you compare. The Fridgy and Lupin Gold results above are measured against Klaviyo's own averages, which shows whether a flow or campaign is pulling its weight.
- You plan to add SMS. Both sell SMS as an add-on, but in Klaviyo it runs from the same account and the same segments as email. More on that on our SMS marketing page.
What it costs to have it run for you
The platform price is only part of the cost. Someone still has to build the flows, plan and write the campaigns, and keep the sending healthy. Our email marketing starts at $800 including GST, billed every 4 weeks, then is custom quoted to what you need. The full breakdown, including when you do not need an agency yet, is in what email marketing costs in Perth.
If you are already on Klaviyo and want a second opinion, our email marketing page explains how we review an existing account before changing anything.
Common questions
Is Klaviyo more expensive than Mailchimp?
At small and mid-sized lists the list prices are close. On 10/11/2026 Klaviyo's Email plan and Mailchimp's Standard plan were both US$60 a month at 2,500 contacts and US$100 at 5,000, and Klaviyo was cheaper at 1,000 (US$30 against US$45). Above 10,000 contacts Klaviyo costs more: US$400 against US$310 at 25,000. Mailchimp's Essentials plan is the cheapest of the three at every size, but it limits automations to four steps.
Is Klaviyo better than Mailchimp for a Shopify store?
For most online stores, yes. Klaviyo connects to Shopify, so customers who opt in at checkout land in the right list and every order feeds the segments and flows. That is what lets automated flows carry sales: for Fridgy, flows are 7.3% of what gets sent and bring in 55.7% of the orders email generates. If you are not selling online and mainly send a newsletter, Mailchimp can be the simpler, cheaper choice.
Do Klaviyo and Mailchimp have free plans?
Yes. Klaviyo's free plan covers up to 250 active profiles and 500 emails a month. Mailchimp is free under 250 contacts. Both are fine for testing, but a store that is growing its list will outgrow either quickly.
Can I send SMS from Klaviyo and Mailchimp?
Both sell SMS as an add-on to their email plans, so it is an extra cost on top of the prices in this post. In Klaviyo, SMS runs from the same account as email and uses the same lists, segments and flow triggers.
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