StackEvalifyEmail marketing · Desk research
Klaviyo vs Mailchimp: compare audience limits before choosing
Both vendors currently list a free email allowance of up to 250 audience records and 500 monthly sends. The important difference is how the audience count is defined: Klaviyo’s Email/Profile plan uses active profiles, while Mailchimp’s paid contact tiers also count unsubscribed and non-subscribed contacts. That can change the plan tier you need, so compare using your actual cleaned list and sending volume.
Source check: · Desk research only; StackEvalify has not run a hands-on product test for this comparison.
Quick take
Do not choose from a headline “starting at” price alone. First count the records each vendor will bill, your expected monthly sends, required users, and any separate products. Klaviyo can be worth pricing when a large share of your stored profiles are suppressed from email; Mailchimp’s tier calculation includes several contact statuses across the account. Verify the result in each vendor’s live calculator before moving a list or committing to a paid plan.
Published limits and billing model
Free email allowance
- Klaviyo
- Up to 250 active profiles and 500 email sends per month. Suppressed profiles do not count toward this email-plan limit.
- Mailchimp
- Up to 250 contacts and 500 email sends per month, with a separate maximum of 250 sends per day.
What counts toward the audience limit
- Klaviyo
- The Email/Profile plan is based on active profiles: people who can be emailed through Klaviyo. Suppressed email profiles are excluded from this limit.
- Mailchimp
- The paid contact tier covers contacts stored across all audiences. Subscribed, unsubscribed, and non-subscribed contacts count toward the limit.
How paid costs scale
- Klaviyo
- The Email/Profile plan price and included email capacity depend on active-profile count. Other Klaviyo products can have separate plans and usage limits.
- Mailchimp
- The selected marketing plan and maximum contact tier determine the base price and included monthly sends. The tier counts contacts across the account’s audiences.
Key free-plan constraints
- Klaviyo
- The free email plan is limited to the profile and send allowances above. Free email support is available for the first 60 days after signup.
- Mailchimp
- The free plan includes one seat and one audience. Sending is paused when the contact or send limit is exceeded.
These limits describe the vendors’ published US free plans at the source-check date. Paid prices can vary by contact/profile tier, country, currency, billing terms, and product selection. Confirm the amount and included send capacity displayed for your own account before purchase.
A practical way to choose
Price Klaviyo when…
You already have a sizeable stored list but many records are suppressed from email, or you need Klaviyo-specific data and workflows. Count active profiles and projected sends in its pricing flow; include the cost of any additional Klaviyo products you actually need.
Price Mailchimp when…
You want to keep using its account and audience setup, or its included seats, features, and send allowance fit your workflow. Count subscribed, unsubscribed, and non-subscribed contacts across every audience before selecting a tier.
- 1. Export a contact count. Separate subscribed, unsubscribed, non-subscribed, and suppressed records; remove duplicates and records you do not intend to retain.
- 2. Model sends, not just contacts. Add campaign and automation sends for a normal month and a peak month, then compare each plan’s included allowance.
- 3. Check migration constraints. Verify consent records, integrations, templates, automations, sender-domain setup, and data-export options before importing or switching.
Sources and method
This page summarizes vendor-published plan limits and billing definitions checked on 29 October 2026. It is desk research, not independent deliverability, usability, or revenue testing. Plans and limits can change; use the linked live pricing pages to confirm current terms.