Klaviyo vs Mailchimp: Which Email Automation Service is Better?

Overview

Klaviyo and Mailchimp represent different approaches to email marketing. Klaviyo is built specifically for e-commerce, with deep integrations and features designed around selling products online. Mailchimp is a general-purpose platform that serves many business types adequately but excels at none specifically.

For e-commerce businesses, this comparison often comes down to whether Klaviyo's specialized features justify its higher price compared to Mailchimp's broader but shallower capabilities.

Key Differences

E-commerce Depth

Klaviyo was built for e-commerce from day one. Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, and Magento integrations are native and deep. Product catalog syncing, browse abandonment, back-in-stock alerts, and dynamic product recommendations all work seamlessly.

Mailchimp has e-commerce integrations, but they're not as comprehensive. Basic purchase tracking and abandoned cart work fine, but advanced features like browse abandonment or AI product recommendations either don't exist or require significant setup.

Revenue Attribution

Klaviyo shows revenue attribution on every campaign and automation. You see exactly how much money each email generates, with attributed revenue tracking across the customer journey. This makes ROI calculations straightforward.

Mailchimp has revenue tracking for e-commerce integrations but it's less prominent and detailed. Understanding which emails drive sales requires more effort.

Predictive Analytics

Klaviyo offers predictive analytics including expected date of next order, predicted customer lifetime value, and churn risk. These AI-powered insights enable proactive marketing based on predicted behavior.

Mailchimp lacks comparable predictive features. Analytics focus on historical data rather than forward-looking predictions.

SMS Integration

Klaviyo includes SMS as a native channel with unified flows, consent management, and coordinated messaging. Email and SMS work together in the same automation.

Mailchimp added SMS but it's less integrated. Managing multichannel campaigns requires more manual coordination.

Who Should Choose What

Choose Klaviyo if:

• E-commerce is your business model
• Revenue attribution and ROI tracking are priorities
• You want predictive analytics for customer behavior
• Integrated SMS marketing matters
• You need advanced product recommendations
• Deep Shopify or WooCommerce integration is essential

Choose Mailchimp if:

• You're not primarily an e-commerce business
• Budget is a primary constraint
• Ease of use is more important than depth
• Basic e-commerce features are sufficient
• You need website building or social posting features

Consider Sequenzy for SaaS

If you run a SaaS business rather than e-commerce, neither Klaviyo nor Mailchimp is ideal. Sequenzy at $19/mo offers what subscription businesses need: native Stripe integration, MRR tracking, AI workflow generation, and billing-based automation. For SaaS, it's the better choice.