Alternatives
Mailchimp alternatives
Category: email
Looking for an alternative to Mailchimp? Here's our tested shortlist — same category, honest pricing, real trade-offs.
Why operators look for Mailchimp alternatives
Stores look for Mailchimp alternatives for a few consistent reasons in 2026: Mailchimp counts unsubscribed and non-subscribed contacts toward your plan limit (typically 20–40% billing bloat), its free tier was cut to 250 contacts and 500 sends a month in January 2026, and pricing escalates aggressively as your list grows. On Shopify specifically, Mailchimp is not Built-for-Shopify, so its ecommerce flows are shallower than tools built natively for the platform. The two alternatives below are both deeper on Shopify — and one of them is meaningfully cheaper for a small store.
What we'd recommend instead of Mailchimp
Omnisend
"Email and SMS Marketing for Ecommerce Businesses" — ecommerce-focused email & SMS automation built on feedback of 150,000+ brands.
The cost-and-simplicity pick. Built-for-Shopify, with ecommerce automation in the free tier — the genuine 'cheaper than Mailchimp' answer for stores under ~2,000 subscribers, plus fast 24/7 support.
8.8FreemiumFree tierLearn moreKlaviyo
"AI Email Marketing & SMS | B2C CRM" — the autonomous B2C CRM that unifies email, SMS, RCS, WhatsApp and push.
The depth-at-scale pick. Predictive analytics, deep segmentation, and a CDP-backed flow engine that earns its premium above ~$50K/mo revenue. Watch the active-profiles billing as your list grows.
8.4Pricing$20/moLearn more
Who picks which
Pick Omnisend if cost and simplicity are the priority — its free tier includes ecommerce automation that Mailchimp gates behind paid plans, making it the honest answer to 'cheaper than Mailchimp' for stores under ~2,000 subscribers. Pick Klaviyo if you're scaling past ~$50K/mo in revenue and will use predictive segmentation and a real CDP-backed flow engine. Both are Built-for-Shopify and sync deeper than Mailchimp; the split is cost-and-simplicity (Omnisend) versus depth-at-scale (Klaviyo).