- Choose by business model: Klaviyo for ecommerce stores, HubSpot for sales-led businesses with a pipeline, Mailchimp for straightforward newsletters and small lists.
- All three price mainly by the size of your list, but they count it differently, so model your own numbers on each pricing page.
- HubSpot lets you mark which contacts are marketing contacts, and only those count towards the billable marketing tier.
- Klaviyo's free plan covers up to 250 active profiles; paid tiers grow with active profiles and sends.
- Switching later is possible but costs time: plan the data you need, the automations you will rebuild and the domain authentication from the start.
Which email platform should you choose: HubSpot, Klaviyo or Mailchimp?
Choose by how your business makes money. Klaviyo suits ecommerce stores that want email and SMS driven by browsing and purchase data. HubSpot suits sales-led and service businesses that need email tied to a CRM, deal pipeline and sales team. Mailchimp suits businesses that mainly send newsletters and simple automations to a modest list. All three are capable tools. The expensive mistake is picking one for its brand and then fighting it for years because it does not fit how you sell.
Our email marketing team works with all three. Here is how we help clients decide.
How does your business model decide?
| If your business is mainly | Usually the best fit | Why |
|---|---|---|
| An online store | Klaviyo | Deep store data, product-based flows, email and SMS together |
| Leads, quotes and a sales team | HubSpot | CRM, deal stages, sales tools and email in one system |
| Newsletters and announcements | Mailchimp | Simple setup, familiar editor, wide integrations |
| A store plus a B2B sales team | Klaviyo and HubSpot | Each does its own job, with a careful sync between them |
When is Klaviyo the right choice?
Klaviyo is built around ecommerce data. It receives events such as product views, carts, checkouts and orders from platforms like Shopify, and uses them to trigger flows and build segments by what people buy and browse. That makes welcome series, abandoned checkout and winback flows straightforward to build and measure. Our guide to the first five Klaviyo flows for Shopify shows what that looks like in practice. Klaviyo also handles SMS and other channels in the same place.
When is HubSpot the right choice?
HubSpot is a CRM first. Email lives alongside contacts, companies, deals, tasks, meetings and service tickets, so marketing and sales see the same history. It suits businesses where a lead becomes a conversation and then a quote: agencies, software companies, professional services, manufacturers and B2B suppliers. Lead scoring, deal pipelines and sales sequences matter more to them than product-level ecommerce data. If your website also runs on HubSpot, forms, smart content and reporting connect closely; our HubSpot CMS team builds those sites.
When is Mailchimp enough?
For many small businesses, a regular newsletter, a welcome email and a few simple automations are all they need. Mailchimp offers a familiar editor, templates, sign-up forms and integrations with common tools, and it has a free plan for getting started. As needs grow toward detailed ecommerce segmentation or a full sales pipeline, the specialised platforms usually pull ahead.
Who will run it every day?
A platform is only as good as the person who uses it. HubSpot rewards a team that keeps CRM data tidy and follows up on leads. Klaviyo rewards someone who watches flow performance and tests offers. Mailchimp rewards consistency more than complexity. Be honest about the time and skills you have, and choose the tool your team will use well every week.
How do the pricing models differ?
All three price mainly by the size of your audience, but they count it differently, and prices change often, so model your own numbers on each official pricing page:
- HubSpot separates marketing contacts from other contacts. Its guide to marketing contacts explains that you can choose which contacts are marketing contacts and only pay for the contacts you want to market to; those count towards your billable contact tier.
- Klaviyo prices by active profiles and sending volume. Its pricing page lists a free plan for up to 250 active profiles, with paid tiers above that.
- Mailchimp prices plans by number of contacts and plan level, as shown on its pricing page, with a free plan for small lists.
Compare the cost at your list size today and at the size you expect in two years, and remember that a cleaner list is cheaper on every platform.
Which integrations matter most?
Check how each platform connects to the systems you already rely on: your store, booking tool, CRM, accounting software and website forms. A native integration that syncs the data you actually use beats a long list of logos. Where native options fall short, our workflow automation team connects platforms with tools such as Make or n8n, or through each platform's API.
What data should you plan before choosing?
- Which events should trigger emails: sign-ups, purchases, bookings, form submissions, deal stage changes.
- Which properties you segment by: location, interests, order history, company size, lifecycle stage.
- Where consent is recorded and how unsubscribes sync between systems.
- Which system is the source of truth for each piece of customer data.
Writing this down first makes the platform choice clearer and the setup faster.
Does the platform affect deliverability?
Less than most people think. Reaching the inbox depends on authenticating your sending domain, mailing only people who opted in, removing inactive contacts and keeping complaints low. Gmail and Yahoo set clear rules for senders, which our guide to SPF, DKIM, DMARC and the sender requirements explains. Whichever platform you choose, set this up before the first campaign.
What does switching platforms involve?
- Export contacts with consent status, tags and properties, including unsubscribed and bounced contacts so they stay suppressed.
- Rebuild forms, segments and automations, and test each trigger.
- Authenticate the sending domain on the new platform.
- Warm up sending gradually rather than mailing the whole list on day one.
- Keep the old account until the new one has run smoothly for a few weeks.
How should you make the final decision?
List your must-have features, model the price at today's and next year's list size, check the integrations you need, and try a free plan or trial with real data. Ask who will run the platform day to day: the best tool is the one your team will actually use well.
Frequently asked questions
Can we use Klaviyo and HubSpot together?
Yes, and many businesses with both an online store and a sales team do. Klaviyo handles ecommerce email and SMS, while HubSpot manages leads, deals and service. The key is deciding which system owns each contact property and syncing only what each needs, so data does not overwrite itself.
Is Mailchimp good enough for an online store?
For a small store with simple needs, it can be. Mailchimp connects to common ecommerce platforms and supports basic automations. As a store grows and wants detailed segmentation by purchase behaviour, product recommendations and many triggered flows, ecommerce-focused tools such as Klaviyo usually fit better.
Which platform has the best deliverability?
Deliverability depends far more on your own practices than on the platform: authenticating your domain, sending to people who opted in, removing inactive contacts and keeping complaint rates low. All three platforms provide the tools to do this well, and all three suffer if a sender ignores those basics.
Do we lose our subscribers if we switch platforms?
No, as long as you export them properly. Export contacts with their consent status, tags and key properties, and import them with consent preserved. Unsubscribed and bounced contacts must stay suppressed on the new platform, so include them in the export and mark them correctly.
How long does a move between platforms take?
A small list with a few automations can move in days. Larger accounts with many segments, flows, forms and integrations take several weeks, because each automation must be rebuilt and tested. Run both platforms in parallel briefly and warm up the new sending gradually.
Last updated