Email marketing and newsletters · Comparison
Kit vs Klaviyo vs Mailchimp
3 products compared side by side: what you pay for with each one first, then the five access facts, entry prices, recorded plan limits and the bottom line of each review. The evidence note under the table says how each product was checked.
Side by side
| Metric | Kit | Klaviyo | Mailchimp |
|---|---|---|---|
| What you're paying for | Built-in reachA newsletter and email platform for creators: free up to 10,000 subscribers, with paid newsletters, digital products and a recommendation network built in. | Saves engineering timeEmail marketing on top of a customer data platform: store and order data drive segments and flows, with SOC 2 Type II, SSO and MFA on paid plans. | Easy to adoptAn all-round email marketing tool with forms, landing pages, automation flows and 300+ integrations, priced by how many contacts you store. |
| Overall score | 6.8 | 7.4Best | 6.9 |
| Free option | Free plan | Free plan | Free plan |
| Card to start | –Not measured | –Not measured | –Not measured |
| Getting access | Self-serve | Self-serve | Self-serve |
| Starter priceCheapest paid plan | $39/mo | $20/mo | $13/mo |
| Pricing model | Tiered | Tiered | Tiered |
| Pricing page | Public prices | Public prices | Public prices |
| Billing unit | Confirmed subscriber tier; emails are not counted | Active profile tier, with a monthly email limit | Contact tier, with a monthly email limit of 10 to 15 times the contacts |
| Free plan | Up to 10,000 subscribers, unlimited broadcasts, no sequences or automations | 250 active profiles, 500 emails/mo, flows included | 250 contacts, 500 emails/mo (250 a day), no automation flows |
| Reference scenario (5,000 contacts, monthly) | $89/mo on Creator (3,001 to 5,000 subscribers) | $100/mo (3,501 to 5,000 active profiles, 50,000 emails) | $100/mo on Standard (60,000 emails) |
| Annual billing | 10 times the monthly price a year (about 17% off) | Not stated on the pricing page | Through sales only (Premium, or Standard with 10,000+ contacts) |
| Automation on the cheapest paid plan | Creator: unlimited visual automations and sequences | Flows on every plan | Essentials: flows of up to 4 steps |
| Users on the scenario plan | 2 users (Admin or Editor); unlimited on Pro | Not stated; custom roles on all plans | 5 seats, 4 roles |
| SMS | Listed on Creator; price not stated | Mobile messages billed by credits; $5 a month on the free plan | Add-on from Essentials in select countries; credits billed separately |
| Paid newsletters | Every plan; 3.5% + 30¢ per transaction | Not offered | Not offered |
| SOC 2 / ISO 27001 | Hosting providers' only (AWS, Cloudflare) | SOC 2 Type II; ISO 27001 and ISO 27017 | SOC 2 reports (type not stated); ISO 27001 |
| Data location | Not stated; transfers to the US under the DPF or SCCs | United States; Germany for new accounts (EU Residency) | United States |
| SSO | Not listed | SAML on any paid plan | Enterprise SSO on Premium |
| Contact export | CSV export of subscribers | CSV export of lists and segments | CSV export of audiences, segments, tags and groups |
| Bottom line | From its public pages, Kit is a creator-first platform with the largest free plan in this group and paid newsletters on every plan. Automations start on Creator, and its compliance file relies on its hosting providers. | From its public pages, Klaviyo pairs email and SMS with a customer data platform, with flows on the free plan and SOC 2 Type II, SSO and MFA on paid plans. Its user limit is not stated and its pages disagree on EU storage. | From its public pages, Mailchimp is a broad, familiar email marketing tool with landing pages on every plan and seats with roles on Standard. Multi-step automations start on Standard, overage prices are shown only in the account, and data stays in the US. |
Evidence: Kit: facts checked 2026-10-16 from its public sign-up and pricing pages, no completed hands-on run; Klaviyo: facts checked 2026-10-16 from its public sign-up and pricing pages, no completed hands-on run; Mailchimp: facts checked 2026-10-16 from its public sign-up and pricing pages, no completed hands-on run. Prices in USD as listed, excluding tax. "–" means not recorded.
When to pick each
In the words of each review, with the date its facts were checked.
From our Kit review
Checked Oct 16, 2026- Pick Kit when
- You run a creator newsletter, want paid subscriptions, or want to start free up to 10,000 subscribers.
- Pick Mailchimp when
- You need 5 seats with roles, ISO 27001 in the vendor’s name and integrations for a store.
From our Klaviyo review
Checked Oct 16, 2026- Pick Klaviyo when
- You want flows on the free plan, SSO on any paid plan and a SOC 2 Type II report, at the same $100 for 5,000 contacts.
- Pick Mailchimp when
- You want 5 seats with roles stated on the plan and landing pages free on every plan.
From our Mailchimp review
Checked Oct 16, 2026- Pick Mailchimp when
- You want 5 seats with roles, landing pages on every plan and annual or Premium options through sales.
- Pick Klaviyo when
- You want automations on the free plan, SAML SSO on any paid plan and a vendor SOC 2 Type II report, at the same $100 for 5,000 contacts.
From our Mailchimp review
Checked Oct 16, 2026- Pick Mailchimp when
- You want SMS add-ons, several roles and an ISO 27001 certificate in the vendor’s name.
- Pick Kit when
- You run a creator newsletter, want a free plan for up to 10,000 subscribers, or want to sell paid subscriptions.
Entry price
Baseline: each product's cheapest paid plan, per month. Included usage differs, so read the line under each price.
- KitCreator$39/mo1,000 subscribers; $33/mo billed yearly ($390); $89/mo for 3,001 to 5,000 subscribers
- Unlimited visual automations and email sequences
- Remove Kit branding, 2 users
- SMS marketing, RSS campaigns, 100+ apps
- 24/7 email and chat support
- KlaviyoEmail$20/mo251 to 500 active profiles, 5,000 emails a month; $100 for 3,501 to 5,000 profiles (50,000 emails)
- Flows, campaigns, A/B tests and segmentation
- No Klaviyo branding in emails and forms
- SAML SSO, custom roles, required MFA
- Email and chat support
- MailchimpLowest priceEssentials$13/mo500 contacts and 5,000 emails a month; $75 for 5,000 contacts (50,000 emails)
- 3 seats with 2 roles, 3 audiences
- Automation flows of up to 4 steps
- A/B testing, scheduling, no Mailchimp branding
- 24/7 email and chat support
Prices as listed on each pricing page, in USD per month, excluding tax. Observed: Kit 2026-10-16, Klaviyo 2026-10-16, Mailchimp 2026-10-16.
Which one fits
- If you need to start today without a sales call
- KlaviyoSelf-serve sign-up; the highest score of the 3 self-serve products here (7.4/10).
- Lowest starter price
- Mailchimp$13/mo for the Essentials (500 contacts) plan.
- Highest overall score
- Klaviyo7.4/10 (Good). The review shows the score breakdown and the run behind it.
Picked by fixed rules from the table above, not by hand. How we score
Full reviews
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