Home › Guides › Mailchimp to Klaviyo migration
Mailchimp to Klaviyo migration: steps, what syncs and cost
Last verified against official pricing pages · published 28 Oct 2026
Prices change often. Each price was checked on the platform's official pricing page on the date shown; plans, promos and taxes vary. Confirm on the official site before you buy. Not financial advice.
Klaviyo has a built-in Mailchimp integration: you paste a Mailchimp API key and it imports your audiences as Klaviyo lists, including unsubscribes and cleaned contacts, plus open, click and receive data from the last 90 days of campaigns. Tags, templates, forms and automations you move or rebuild yourself. On cost, 5,000 contacts with automations run $75/mo on Mailchimp (Essentials) and $100/mo on Klaviyo (Email).
Prices from Mailchimp and Klaviyo (checked 2026-10-27), monthly billing. Steps from Klaviyo's Mailchimp migration guide and Mailchimp's help center (checked 2026-10-28). Neither company has an affiliate deal with us.
Cost: Mailchimp vs Klaviyo
| Contacts / active profiles | Mailchimp | Klaviyo | Klaviyo minus Mailchimp |
|---|---|---|---|
| 500 | $13 (Essentials) | $20 (Email) | +$7 |
| 1,000 | $26.50 (Essentials) | $30 (Email) | +$3.50 |
| 2,500 | $45 (Essentials) | $60 (Email) | +$15 |
| 5,000 | $75 (Essentials) | $100 (Email) | +$25 |
| 10,000 | $110 (Essentials) | $150 (Email) | +$40 |
| 25,000 | $270 (Essentials) | $400 (Email) | +$130 |
Per month, monthly billing, cheapest plan with automations that covers the list at 4 emails per contact a month. Mailchimp Essentials limits automation flows to 4 steps; Standard lifts that. Mailchimp Free has no automation flows, so it isn't used here; it covers 250 contacts and 500 emails a month. Klaviyo Free covers 250 active profiles and 500 emails a month, with Klaviyo branding. Klaviyo's published email tiers go up to 150,000 profiles; above that it's talk to sales. SMS and other Klaviyo add-ons aren't included.
What each one counts. Mailchimp bills the contacts you store (peak total in the billing period; archived and cleaned contacts don't count). Klaviyo bills active profiles: everyone you can email, including shoppers who gave their address at checkout without opting in, while suppressed and unsubscribed profiles don't count. Because the integration brings your Mailchimp unsubscribes in as suppressed profiles, they shouldn't push up your Klaviyo tier. Connecting a store can, since its customers become profiles. Klaviyo moves you to a tier that covers your active profiles at the next billing cycle. More in every Klaviyo tier.
How often you send
Klaviyo's email tiers include 10 sends per profile a month; Mailchimp includes 10× contacts on Essentials, 12× on Standard and 15× on Premium. Same 5,000 contacts, different schedules:
| You send | Emails /month | Mailchimp | Klaviyo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly | 5,000 | $75 (Essentials) | $100 (Email) |
| Weekly | 20,000 | $75 (Essentials) | $100 (Email) |
| Twice a week | 40,000 | $75 (Essentials) | $100 (Email) |
| 3 times a week | 60,000 | $100 (Standard) | $130 (Email) |
| Daily | 150,000 | $180 (Essentials) | $350 (Email) |
Each platform's cheapest plan with automations whose published allowance covers the volume. Overage block prices aren't published, so we move to the tier or plan that includes the volume. Method: send limits.
Calculate your exact Mailchimp → Klaviyo switching cost → · Klaviyo vs Mailchimp compared · every Mailchimp tier
Before you start
- Shopify store connected to Mailchimp? Klaviyo's order is: connect your store to Klaviyo first, then disconnect Mailchimp from Shopify before connecting Mailchimp to Klaviyo. Klaviyo warns that leaving the old connection in place can send double opt-in emails to your existing list.
- Keep a backup export. In Mailchimp, export the audience as CSV (Mailchimp help). You need it for tags anyway, because the integration doesn't sync them.
- Create a Mailchimp API key just for Klaviyo (Mailchimp help). You can only see the full key right after creating it, so copy it somewhere safe.
- See also cleaning a list before switching.
Step by step: Klaviyo's Mailchimp integration
- Install it. In Klaviyo, open Integrations → Explore apps, search for Mailchimp, click the card, then Install.
- Connect. Paste the Mailchimp API key and click Connect to Mailchimp.
- Choose what to sync under Advanced: "Collect open and click data for Mailchimp campaigns", "Create Klaviyo lists from Mailchimp audiences", and optionally "Only sync contacts from specific audiences" with the audience IDs. If you limit audiences, include every audience you sent campaigns to, or that engagement data will be incomplete.
- Complete setup. The first (historical) sync imports the chosen audiences and, if engagement sync is on, the last 90 days of campaign data. After that, existing audiences sync every 30 minutes and new audiences and campaigns every 6 hours.
- Review before sending. Check subscription statuses and suppressions. If a contact that should be suppressed wasn't, export them from Mailchimp and upload them to Klaviyo's suppression list. Klaviyo also recommends suppressing contacts with a 1-star Mailchimp rating (Klaviyo help).
What syncs and what doesn't
- Syncs: contacts with names, emails, locations and Mailchimp ratings; unsubscribed and cleaned contacts; audiences as lists; opens, clicks and receives for "Sent" campaigns from the last 90 days (A/B-test campaigns excluded).
- Tags and custom audience fields don't sync. Export tagged contacts from Mailchimp, keep the email and tag columns, and import them into Klaviyo as custom properties. For a tag-only import, choose "Only import the consent in my file" so the upload doesn't apply bulk marketing consent (Klaviyo help).
- Campaigns don't sync, only their engagement data. Deleting a contact in Mailchimp after connecting doesn't delete it in Klaviyo.
- Templates, sign-up forms and automations are rebuilt. See below.
Templates and merge tags
Klaviyo recommends rebuilding templates in its drag-and-drop editor. Custom-coded Mailchimp templates can be exported as HTML (Mailchimp help); drag-and-drop templates can't be exported. Before importing the HTML (Content → Templates → Create → Import email template), swap Mailchimp's tags for Klaviyo's:
| Mailchimp | Klaviyo |
|---|---|
*|UNSUB|* | {% unsubscribe %} (inside an href: {% unsubscribe_link %}) |
*|UPDATE_PROFILE|* | {% manage_preferences %} (inside an href: {% manage_preferences_link %}) |
*|FNAME|* | {{ first_name }} |
*|LNAME|* | {{ last_name }} |
*|EMAIL|* | {{ email }} |
*|LIST:COMPANY|* | {{ organization.name }} |
*|MC:SUBJECT|*, *|MC_PREVIEW_TEXT|* | Set per email in Klaviyo's editor |
Klaviyo requires an unsubscribe link when importing a marketing template. An imported HTML template can only be changed by editing its HTML. Source: Klaviyo's Mailchimp guide.
Sending domain and deliverability
- Still sending from Mailchimp during the move? Give Klaviyo an unused sending subdomain. To reuse the same subdomain, stop sending from it in Mailchimp first and remove the conflicting DNS records.
- Warm-up: Klaviyo says new accounts and domains registered less than 30 days ago should plan to warm their sending. Your domain's reputation carries over, good or bad.
- DMARC: if your from-address domain has a DMARC policy, use a branded sending domain that aligns with it (Klaviyo help).
Sunsetting Mailchimp
- Forms: Mailchimp forms can't be redirected to Klaviyo. Rebuild them with Klaviyo's form builder and remove the Mailchimp embed code from your site. Watch your Mailchimp audiences for a few days: new sign-ups there mean a form was missed.
- Automations: rebuild them as Klaviyo flows, turn the flows on, then pause every Mailchimp automation so nobody gets emailed twice.
- Test a sign-up, an abandoned cart and the welcome series, and check the profile in Klaviyo.
- Remove the integration before cleaning up Mailchimp. Klaviyo warns that contacts you clean in Mailchimp while the integration is connected get suppressed in Klaviyo. Lists and profiles already synced stay in Klaviyo after you remove it.
- Downgrade or close Mailchimp around your billing date so you don't pay for both for another month.
Related: Klaviyo vs Mailchimp · Klaviyo pricing · Klaviyo Free plan · how much Mailchimp costs · Mailchimp to Brevo instead · Mailchimp to MailerLite · all Mailchimp alternatives
Sources
- Klaviyo help: How to migrate from Mailchimp (checked 2026-10-28)
- Klaviyo help: Migrate existing subscribers and unsubscribes and Migrate your branded sending domain (checked 2026-10-28)
- Mailchimp help: About API keys, View or export contacts, Export template HTML (checked 2026-10-28)
- Mailchimp pricing and Klaviyo pricing (checked 2026-10-27)
Tip: before you import, leave out unsubscribed and bounced contacts. Most platforms bill by list size, so a cleaner list can keep you on a lower tier. How to clean your list before switching
FAQ
Can Klaviyo import contacts directly from Mailchimp?
Yes. Klaviyo has a built-in Mailchimp integration (Integrations → Explore apps → Mailchimp → Install) that connects with a Mailchimp API key. It imports the audiences you choose as Klaviyo lists, including unsubscribed and cleaned contacts, keeps existing audiences in sync every 30 minutes, and can pull open, click and receive data for campaigns sent in the last 90 days.
What doesn't transfer from Mailchimp to Klaviyo?
Per Klaviyo's help article: Mailchimp tags and other custom audience fields don't sync (export them as a CSV and import them as custom properties), whole campaigns don't sync (only their opens, clicks and receives), drag-and-drop templates can't be exported from Mailchimp, sign-up forms can't be redirected, and automations have to be rebuilt as Klaviyo flows. Contacts you delete in Mailchimp after connecting are not deleted in Klaviyo.
Do Mailchimp unsubscribes carry over to Klaviyo?
Yes, through the integration: Klaviyo syncs unsubscribes and cleaned contacts and suppresses them. Klaviyo still asks you to review suppressions after the first sync, and to suppress contacts with a 1-star Mailchimp rating because sending to them can hurt deliverability.
How do Mailchimp merge tags map to Klaviyo?
From Klaviyo's table: *|FNAME|* becomes {{ first_name }}, *|LNAME|* becomes {{ last_name }}, *|EMAIL|* becomes {{ email }}, *|LIST:COMPANY|* becomes {{ organization.name }}, *|UNSUB|* becomes {% unsubscribe %} and *|UPDATE_PROFILE|* becomes {% manage_preferences %}. Inside an existing href, use {% unsubscribe_link %} or {% manage_preferences_link %}. Klaviyo requires an unsubscribe link when you import a marketing template.
Is Klaviyo more expensive than Mailchimp?
At 5,000 contacts with automations, Klaviyo costs $100/mo (Email) and Mailchimp $75/mo (Essentials), monthly billing, so more on Klaviyo. At 1,000 it is $30 vs $26.50 on Mailchimp, and at 10,000 $150 vs $110. Klaviyo counts active profiles (suppressed and unsubscribed profiles don't count); Mailchimp counts stored contacts except archived and cleaned ones.
Do I need to warm up my sending domain after moving to Klaviyo?
Klaviyo says new accounts and domains registered less than 30 days ago should plan to warm their sending infrastructure. Your domain's sender reputation carries over when you move it, so existing deliverability problems don't fix themselves by switching. If you still send from Mailchimp during the move, use an unused sending subdomain for Klaviyo.
Related guides: Mailchimp to MailerLite migration · Mailchimp to beehiiv migration · How much does Mailchimp cost? Per month, per year and per contact (2026) · Mailchimp Free plan limits (2026) · Nonprofit Email Marketing Discounts (2026) · Mailchimp price increase 2026 · Clean your email list before switching platforms (and pay less) · Mailchimp to Brevo migration · all guides
Comparisons: Klaviyo vs Mailchimp · Cheapest for 500, 1,000, 2,500, 5,000, 10,000, 25,000 subscribers
Get alerted when Mailchimp or Klaviyo change their pricing
We re-check Mailchimp's and Klaviyo's official pricing pages every week and email you the before/after numbers when a price, limit or fee changes. Plus one monthly cost report across all platforms. Free. What you get →
Recently flagged: Kit: 25% off the first year of Pro on annual billing (limited-time offer) (20 Oct 2026) · beehiiv renames plans and raises prices (Scale → Lite, Max → Pro) (1 Oct 2026)