Cllavio vs Mailchimp
Choosing between Cllavio and Mailchimp comes down to what you actually value: inbox-first deliverability and a clean API, or a big all-in-one marketing suite with websites, CRM, and more.
Best fit for Cllavio
Indie SaaS products, lean ecommerce teams, and technical founders who care most about deliverability, transparent email pricing, and a simple workflow for campaigns + API.
Best fit for Mailchimp
Marketing teams that want an all-in-one suite with landing pages, basic CRM, ads, and social tools, and who are okay with a more complex pricing model.
TL;DR – When to pick each
Choose Cllavio if…
- You send serious volume and care about inbox placement.
- You want simple, transparent plans (API and Campaigns) with clear included volume.
- You need a real email API / SMTP relay alongside campaigns.
- You're a founder, dev, or lean team that hates bloated UIs and surprise overages.
Choose Mailchimp if…
- You want a broad marketing suite (email, landing pages, simple CRM, basic automation) under one roof.
- You're okay with more knobs, more menus, and a heavier UI.
- You care less about a developer-first API and more about drag-and-drop marketing tools.
Core comparison
| Area | Cllavio | Mailchimp |
|---|---|---|
| Product focus | Email marketing and email API only. Built for sending: campaigns + transactional email, with inbox-first defaults. | All-in-one marketing platform with email, landing pages, basic CRM, and automations. |
| Pricing model | Simple, volume-based plans for API and Campaigns. Free tiers, then predictable monthly email + contact limits. | Multiple plans, add-ons, and contact tiers. Pricing can grow quickly as your list and features grow. |
| Deliverability | Inbox-first posture with warmup guidance, bounce protections, and clear visibility into sending health. | Battle-tested infrastructure, but shared IPs and mixed senders mean deliverability quality can vary by account hygiene. |
| Developer experience | REST email API and SMTP relay are first-class citizens. Clear endpoints, modern JSON payloads, and simple auth. | APIs available but not the core focus. Stronger on marketer-facing flows than dev workflows. |
| UI & speed | Lean UI focused on campaigns, lists, and sending. Minimal clicks from login to send. | Mature UI with many sections and toggles. Powerful but can feel heavy for simple use cases. |
| Automation | Automations focused on lifecycle and production use cases: sequences, triggers, and webhooks you can reason about. | Broader range of templates, journeys, and visual editors for marketing teams. |
| Migration | Designed for switching from providers like Mailchimp: straightforward CSV imports, domain setup help, and warmup plans. | Import tools are available, but less focused on helping you leave for a more API-centric provider. |
| Ownership & support | Founder-led, with direct accountability and email support tuned for teams that are actively sending and shipping. | Larger organization with standard support queues and help center flows. |
Why teams move from Mailchimp to Cllavio
1. Pricing that doesn't fight you as you grow
With Cllavio, you know exactly how many emails and contacts are included in each plan—for both API and Campaigns. No guessing, no surprise bills when you cross an arbitrary threshold.
If you're sending regular product emails, account updates, and marketing campaigns, this clarity matters more than another drag-and-drop builder theme.
2. Inbox-first deliverability
Cllavio ships with SPF, DKIM, and DMARC checks, warmup help, bounce monitoring, and clear analytics to keep your sender reputation healthy.
You get practical guardrails instead of a black box. If bounce rate spikes, we pause and tell you why—before you burn a domain.
3. Campaigns and API under one roof
Many teams end up with Mailchimp for campaigns and a separate provider for transactional email. Cllavio gives you both in one place, on one bill.
Marketing and product teams work off the same sending infrastructure, domains, and analytics.
4. Built by someone who actually fought deliverability
Cllavio is founder-built, with real-world experience fighting spam folders and pricing games. The product reflects that: fewer distractions, more focus on sending clean, consistent email.
If something breaks, the person accountable actually uses and builds the platform—not a distant support layer.
When Mailchimp might still be better for you
- You want an all-in-one marketing hub with landing pages, basic CRM, ads, and social campaigns in a single tool.
- You have a non-technical marketing team that prefers a heavyweight visual journey builder over a leaner workflow.
- Email is one channel among many, and you're okay trading some simplicity and API focus for more breadth.
In those cases, Cllavio may feel "too focused"—and that's by design. We're here for teams that see email as infrastructure, not just another marketing checkbox.
How to move from Mailchimp to Cllavio in one afternoon
- Export your lists and tags. Export subscribers, including engagement fields if available.
- Connect and verify your domain. In Cllavio, go to Settings → Domains, add your sending domain, and publish the DNS records for SPF, DKIM, and DMARC.
- Import contacts via CSV. Use the CSV importer in Cllavio campaigns. Map your fields like email, first_name, and subscription status.
- Rebuild key campaigns. Recreate your core flows: onboarding, newsletters, product updates, and any revenue-critical sequences.
- Warm up with partial traffic first. Start with a subset of your most engaged subscribers before sending to your full list.
- Switch API traffic. Point your app's transactional email (signups, invoices, alerts) to the Cllavio Email API or SMTP relay.
If you have edge cases (multiple brands, complex automations, or tight SLAs), we can help you plan the rollout.
Ready to test Cllavio against your current Mailchimp setup?
Create a free account, connect your domain, and send a few campaigns side by side. Watch deliverability, speed, and the actual workflow—not just feature lists.