Why Look for Klaviyo Alternatives?
Klaviyo is still one of the strongest email and SMS platforms for online stores. Its customer profiles pull in every order and browse, and its flows and segments use that data well. Most stores that look elsewhere do so for two documented reasons: the bill as the list grows, and the change to SMS pricing in July 2026.
1. Cost rises with active profiles, and it jumps above 10,000. Klaviyo bills the Email plan by active profiles, meaning contacts who can receive marketing, and moves you up a tier automatically as that number grows. On monthly billing (no annual price is shown), the listed prices are:
- 500 profiles: $20/month
- 5,000 profiles: $100/month
- 10,000 profiles: $150/month
- 15,000 profiles: $350/month
- 25,000 profiles: $400/month
- 50,000 profiles: $720/month
Up to 10,000 profiles, Klaviyo is priced close to Mailchimp and Omnisend. The step from $150 at 10,000 profiles to $350 at 15,000 is where it pulls ahead of most alternatives. A store adding a few thousand subscribers from a holiday giveaway can more than double its email bill without changing anything else.
2. SMS moved from credits to per-message dollar rates. Klaviyo replaced its credit-based mobile messaging plans with dollar-based per-message rates. New and free-plan accounts moved on July 13, 2026. Existing paid subscribers move on their first billing date after August 13, 2026. Carrier fees stay bundled into the rate, and Klaviyo added more than 70 new plan tiers. The catch for comparison shopping is that exact US per-message rates are shown only inside your account under Settings > Billing, not on the public pricing page. Several alternatives below publish their SMS rates openly.
3. Add-ons stack up. Composer, Klaviyo's AI agent, is $20/month. Reviews is free up to 50 orders a month, then $25/month for 250 orders and $90 for 1,000. Professional support starts at $500/month. Advanced attribution, RFM and CLV analysis, the data platform, Customer Hub and Helpdesk are separate products.
4. Small details. Free-plan support is email-only and ends after 60 days.
None of this makes Klaviyo a bad choice. It means the right question is what your list will look like in a year, and how much SMS you send.
Klaviyo review
What it is: Klaviyo calls itself a B2C CRM. In practice it is an email, SMS and push platform for online stores, built around a customer profile that holds each shopper's orders, browsing and message history.
Pricing: The free plan covers 250 active profiles and 500 email sends a month, plus $5 of mobile messages and $5 of Composer usage. The paid Email plan starts at $20/month for 500 active profiles and 5,000 sends, billed monthly. The send limit is about 10 times your profile count. Listed tiers include 1,000 profiles at $30, 2,500 at $60, 5,000 at $100, 10,000 at $150, 15,000 at $350, 25,000 at $400 and 50,000 at $720. Mobile messages (SMS, MMS, WhatsApp, RCS) are a separate usage-based purchase. A promotion takes $19 off the first month of the $20 plan for new paying customers through Nov 30, 2026.
Key features:
- Unified profiles and real-time segments on all-time data
- Flows for abandoned cart, browse abandonment, welcome and win-back
- Product recommendations in email, predictive analytics and dashboards
- Email, SMS, MMS, WhatsApp, RCS and push from one place
- 350+ integrations, including its own Shopify app and a WooCommerce plugin
Pros: The store data is the reason people choose Klaviyo. Segments and flows can use anything a shopper has done. Product recommendations and predictive analytics are on the standard Email plan, not locked behind an add-on.
Cons: The price step above 10,000 profiles, SMS rates you cannot see before signing up, and a long list of paid add-ons. There is no annual discount shown.
Who should use it: Stores under about 10,000 profiles, or larger stores whose email revenue clearly covers the bill, that use segments and flows heavily.
Who should avoid it: Stores with large, low-engagement lists, and SMS-heavy brands that want to compare published per-message rates before committing.
Omnisend review
What it is: An email, SMS and web push platform built for ecommerce, with pre-built automations for carts, welcomes, orders, shipping and post-purchase follow-up.
Pricing: Free for up to 250 contacts and 500 emails a month. Standard starts at $16/month for 500 contacts and Pro at $59/month for 2,500 contacts, both billed monthly. Prepaying three months gives 30% off those first three months. At 5,000 contacts, Standard is $81 and Pro is $90. At 10,000, Standard is $132 and Pro is $150. At 15,000, Standard is $207 and Pro is $348. Standard sends up to 12 times your contacts; Pro allows unlimited email under a fair-use cap of 60 times your list.
SMS: Since May 4, 2026, new accounts get SMS only on Pro, through a separate SMS Credits Subscription. Published US rates are $0.009 per SMS at $10 to $49.99 monthly spend, $0.0085 at $50 to $999.99, $0.008 at $1,000 to $9,999.99 and $0.007 at $10,000 or more. US MMS runs from $0.027 down to $0.021.
Key features:
- Pre-built ecommerce workflows, including cart abandonment on the free plan
- Email, SMS and web push in one workflow
- AI product recommender and dynamic content on Pro
- Facebook and Google audience sync
- Free migration and 24/7 chat and email support on all plans
Pros: It covers the flows most stores use on Klaviyo, publishes its SMS rates, and costs much less at 15,000 contacts on Standard.
Cons: Billable contacts include non-subscribers who received automated messages, such as buyers and cart abandoners without opt-in, so your bill can count more people than your subscriber list. SMS needs Pro. Legacy Pro, which bundled SMS credits equal to the plan price, retires on Oct 26, 2026, and the pricing page FAQ still describes the old bonus, so confirm current terms at signup.
Who should use it: Shopify and WooCommerce stores that want a close replacement for Klaviyo with clearer SMS pricing.
Who should avoid it: Stores that need Klaviyo's deeper data products, or stores that want SMS on a cheap email plan.
Mailchimp review
What it is: Intuit Mailchimp is an email and SMS platform for small and mid-size businesses, with automation flows, landing pages and ecommerce integrations.
Pricing: Free for 250 contacts and 500 sends a month. Monthly list prices: Essentials starts at $13 and Standard at $20 for 500 contacts. At 5,000 contacts, Essentials is $75 and Standard $100. At 10,000, Essentials is $110 and Standard $135. At 15,000, Standard is $230. Premium starts at $350/month for 10,000 contacts. Accounts with 10,000 or more contacts get 15% off the first 12 months. Annual plans are only available through sales. Paid plans charge overages when you pass contact or send limits.
SMS: A monthly credit block add-on from $20/month for 1,000 credits, up to $600 for 100,000. Unused credits expire each month, the add-on needs an application and approval, and MMS is only on Standard and Premium in the US and Canada.
Key features:
- Customer Journey builder with branching and multiple starting points on Standard
- Abandoned cart flows for connected stores
- Product recommendations on every plan
- Official Shopify app and WooCommerce plugin, plus 300+ integrations
- Send time optimization and dynamic content on Standard
Pros: A well-known tool with broad integrations, cheaper than Klaviyo from 10,000 contacts up, and product recommendations without an add-on.
Cons: Essentials limits flows to four steps, which is too tight for most store automations, so plan on Standard. SMS credits expire monthly.
Who should use it: Stores and small businesses that want a familiar tool and send mostly email.
Who should avoid it: SMS-heavy brands, and stores that want the deepest use of order data in segments.
Brevo review
What it is: Formerly Sendinblue, Brevo is an all-in-one marketing platform with email, SMS, WhatsApp, push, transactional messages, a sales CRM and live chat.
Pricing: Brevo prices by monthly email volume. The volume tier also sets how many contacts you can store: 500 at 5,000 emails, 1,500 at 10,000, 2,500 at 15,000, and up to 500,000 from 20,000 emails a month. Monthly prices on Standard, which has unlimited automation, are $18 for 5,000 emails, $35 for 10,000, $69 for 20,000, $97 for 50,000 and $139 for 100,000. Starter is cheaper ($32 for 20,000, $56 for 50,000) but limits automation to 2,000 contacts. Professional starts at $499/month for 150,000 emails. Yearly billing saves 10%.
SMS: Credits are bought separately in packs of 100. US pricing starts at $0.0109 per credit, but cost varies with message length, and Brevo's help center says some messages use multiple credits. Prepaid credits never expire.
Key features:
- Automation across email and SMS, unlimited from Standard
- Abandoned cart recovery on all plans, back-in-stock alerts from Starter
- Transactional email and SMS on all plans
- Shopify app and WooCommerce plugin
- Built-in sales CRM and live chat
Pros: For a store with a large list that emails it a few times a month, pricing by volume can cost far less than per-contact pricing. Prepaid SMS credits do not expire.
Cons: AI product recommendations, dynamic coupons and RFM or CLV scoring are on Professional, which starts at $499/month. Brevo's pages list two different prices for removing its logo on Starter ($9 and $12 a month), so check at signup.
Who should use it: Stores with big lists and modest send frequency, or stores that also want a simple CRM and chat.
Who should avoid it: Stores that rely on product recommendations and send often, since both push you toward Professional.
Drip review
What it is: An email marketing automation platform for Shopify, WooCommerce and BigCommerce stores, with segmentation, onsite popups and revenue attribution.
Pricing: One plan with every feature, billed monthly by active people. Up to 2,500 people is $39, 5,000 is $89, 10,000 is $154, 15,000 is $209, 25,000 is $369 and 50,000 is $699. There is no free plan, but there is a 14-day trial with no credit card; unlimited sends are not available during the trial. Free migration and personalized onboarding are included.
SMS: Drip SMS launched for US customers in August and September 2026. It is priced in monthly tiers by SMS-active subscribers and message segments, with no separate carrier fees and a dedicated number included. Tier prices are not shown on the pricing page, and senders must complete registration first.
Key features:
- Playbooks for welcome series, abandoned cart and win-back
- Dynamic segments from browsing and buying behavior
- Onsite popups and embedded forms
- Revenue attribution per email
- Back-in-stock alerts with a 90-day window
Pros: Simple pricing with no feature gates, and a much lower bill than Klaviyo above 10,000 people.
Cons: No free plan. Live chat support is only on plans of $99/month and up. SMS is new and its prices are not public. Accounts are limited to 50 workflows.
Who should use it: Stores that want one predictable price and an email-first tool.
Who should avoid it: Very small stores that want a free plan, and brands outside the US that need SMS.
ActiveCampaign review
What it is: An email marketing and automation platform priced by contacts. CRM pipelines, SMS, WhatsApp and transactional email are paid add-ons.
Pricing: No free plan; 14-day trial. Monthly prices at 5,000 contacts: Starter $99, Plus $179, Pro $259. At 10,000: Starter $189, Plus $239, Pro $469. Annual billing lowers these; Plus at 10,000 contacts is $2,268 a year, about $189 a month. Starter allows only 5 actions per automation, so most stores need Plus or higher. Premium ecommerce integrations (BigCommerce, Magento, Shopify Plus), site tracking and revenue attribution are on Pro. These prices come from ActiveCampaign's own price file, which its pricing page loads; live prices could differ slightly.
SMS: An add-on on Plus and higher. ActiveCampaign's price data shows packs from $21/month for 1,000 credits.
Key features:
- Visual automation builder with branches, goals, webhooks and date triggers
- Predictive sending and content, plus site tracking on Pro
- Contact scoring and advanced segmentation
- Shopify integration on all plans, with premium ecommerce integrations on Pro
- Optional CRM pipelines
Pros: The most flexible automation logic in this list, and it can run sales follow-up as well as store email.
Cons: The most expensive email option here at 5,000 and 10,000 contacts once you need Plus or Pro. Ecommerce features that Klaviyo includes, such as revenue attribution, need Pro.
Who should use it: Stores that also sell services, wholesale or B2B, and need branching nurture and sales automation.
Who should avoid it: Pure ecommerce brands looking to cut costs.
Postscript review
What it is: An SMS and MMS marketing platform built only for Shopify stores, with campaigns, flows, checkout opt-in and AI shopping assistant tools. Postscript announced an email product in September 2026; it is on a waitlist and has no published price yet.
Pricing: Not based on contacts. Starter has no base fee but a $49 monthly minimum spend, at $0.009 per SMS and $0.045 per MMS. Growth is $100/month at $0.008 per SMS and $0.03 per MMS. Professional is $500/month at $0.007 per SMS and $0.024 per MMS. Carrier fees are passed through at cost; Postscript lists the average US SMS carrier fee as $0.0033 and MMS as $0.00799. You are billed after sending, with no prepaid or expiring credits and no contract. New accounts get a $100 credit for the first 30 days.
Key features:
- SMS and MMS campaigns and flows on Shopify data
- Opt-in collection at checkout, landing pages, forms and keywords
- Revenue and ROI reporting, unlimited segments
- Offer Management for discounts
- Integrations with Klaviyo, Gorgias, Privy and Zapier
Pros: Clear per-message pricing, no expiring credits, and a Klaviyo integration, so you can keep Klaviyo for email and move only SMS.
Cons: Shopify only, SMS only for now, and the page does not explain how Starter's $49 minimum works with usage.
Who should use it: Shopify brands where SMS is a big line item and published rates matter.
Who should avoid it: Non-Shopify stores, or anyone who wants to replace Klaviyo's email too.
Head-to-Head: Monthly Cost at 5,000 and 10,000 Profiles
These are monthly list prices for email, at the plan a store would realistically use. SMS is not included.
| Tool | Plan | 5,000 contacts | 10,000 contacts | What is counted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Klaviyo | $100 | $150 | Active profiles | |
| Mailchimp | Essentials / Standard | $75 / $100 | $110 / $135 | Contacts |
| Omnisend | Standard / Pro | $81 / $90 | $132 / $150 | Billable contacts |
| Brevo | Standard | $69 | $97 | Emails sent (see note) |
| Drip | Single plan | $89 | $154 | Active people |
| ActiveCampaign | Plus / Pro | $179 / $259 | $239 / $469 | Contacts |
| Postscript | SMS only | n/a | n/a | Messages sent |
Brevo note: Brevo charges by email volume, so its cost depends on how often you send. The figures above assume four emails a month to the whole list: 20,000 emails at 5,000 contacts and 40,000 at 10,000, which falls in the 50,000-email tier. A store sending twice a week would need a larger tier.
What this shows: At 5,000 and 10,000 profiles, Klaviyo is not the expensive outlier. Mailchimp Standard, Omnisend Pro and Drip land within a few dollars of it. ActiveCampaign costs more. Brevo is cheapest if you send moderately.
Where the gap opens: Above 10,000, the listed prices split.
| Contacts | Klaviyo | Mailchimp Standard | Omnisend Standard | Omnisend Pro | Drip |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15,000 | $350 | $230 | $207 | $348 | $209 |
| 25,000 | $400 | $310 | $282 | $400 | $369 |
| 50,000 | $720 | $450 | $413 | $715 | $699 |
At 15,000 profiles, Klaviyo is about $140 a month more than Mailchimp Standard, Omnisend Standard or Drip. Omnisend Pro, the plan you need for SMS on Omnisend, tracks Klaviyo closely at every size here. So if SMS is part of the plan, Omnisend's savings come mostly from its published SMS rates, not the platform fee.
How the counting differs: Klaviyo bills active profiles, the contacts who can receive marketing. Omnisend bills subscribers plus non-subscribers who received automated messages. Drip bills active people. Mailchimp bills contacts and charges overages if you pass limits. Before comparing, check how many people each tool would count from your list, not just your subscriber number.
Head-to-Head: SMS Pricing After Klaviyo's July 2026 Change
Klaviyo's July 2026 change replaced credit-based SMS plans with per-message dollar rates. Carrier fees stay bundled, which makes the rate simpler to read once you have it. The problem is that you cannot see it until you have an account.
Here is what each tool publishes for US SMS:
| Tool | US SMS pricing (published) | Carrier fees | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Klaviyo | Per-message dollar rates, shown only in-account | Bundled into the rate | New and free accounts from July 13, 2026; existing paid accounts from the first bill after Aug 13, 2026 |
| Omnisend | $0.009 to $0.007 per SMS by monthly spend; MMS $0.027 to $0.021 | Not stated separately | Pro plan only for new accounts |
| Postscript | $0.009 (Starter), $0.008 (Growth), $0.007 (Professional) per SMS | Passed through at cost, average $0.0033 per SMS | $49 minimum on Starter; $100 and $500 platform fees on higher plans |
| Brevo | From $0.0109 per credit, packs of 100 | Not stated separately | Longer messages can use more than one credit; prepaid credits do not expire |
| Mailchimp | Monthly blocks from $20 for 1,000 credits | Not stated separately | Needs approval; unused credits expire monthly |
| ActiveCampaign | Packs from $21/month for 1,000 credits (price data) | Not stated separately | Plus plan or higher |
| Drip | Monthly tiers, prices not displayed | No hidden carrier fees, per Drip | US only, new in 2026 |
A worked example: A Shopify store sending 10,000 US SMS a month. These are estimates from the published rates, not quotes.
- Omnisend: 10,000 x $0.0085 = about $85, plus the Pro plan.
- Postscript Starter: 10,000 x ($0.009 + about $0.0033 average carrier fee) = about $123.
- Postscript Growth: $100 + 10,000 x ($0.008 + about $0.0033) = about $213.
- Klaviyo: check your in-account rate under Settings > Billing and multiply.
What to do: If you already use Klaviyo SMS, open your billing settings and note the per-message rate. Multiply by your last three months of sends. Compare that number with the published rates above. If the gap is large, you have two options: move everything to a tool like Omnisend, or keep Klaviyo email and move SMS to Postscript, which integrates with Klaviyo.
Head-to-Head: Ecommerce Flows and Store Integrations
Leaving Klaviyo only makes sense if the new tool can run the flows that earn your revenue.
Abandoned cart:
- Klaviyo: yes, plus browse abandonment.
- Omnisend: yes, even on the free plan.
- Brevo: yes, on all plans, with Shopify-specific cart and post-purchase flows.
- Drip: yes, as a pre-built playbook.
- Mailchimp: yes, with a connected store; Standard gives branching flows, while Essentials caps flows at four steps.
- ActiveCampaign: abandoned browse and ecommerce integrations, with premium ones on Pro.
- Postscript: cart, checkout and browse abandonment SMS through Shopper Automations, which is on the $699/month AI plan.
Product recommendations in email:
- Klaviyo: on the Email plan.
- Mailchimp: on all plans.
- Omnisend: AI recommender on Pro.
- Brevo: on Professional, from $499/month.
- ActiveCampaign: predictive content on Pro.
Store platforms:
- Klaviyo, Mailchimp, Omnisend and Brevo all have Shopify apps and WooCommerce plugins.
- Drip connects to Shopify, WooCommerce and BigCommerce.
- ActiveCampaign includes Shopify, with BigCommerce, Magento and Shopify Plus on Pro.
- Postscript is Shopify only.
Back-in-stock: Drip (90-day window) and Brevo (from Starter) list it as a feature.
Revenue attribution: Drip includes it on its single plan. ActiveCampaign has it on Pro. Klaviyo's advanced attribution is a paid add-on.
How to Choose: Decision Framework
Step 1: Project your list size 12 months out. If you will stay under 10,000 profiles, Klaviyo's email price is competitive, and switching mainly helps with SMS or add-on costs. If you will pass 15,000, the savings from Mailchimp Standard, Omnisend Standard or Drip are about $140 a month at that size and grow from there.
Step 2: Get your real Klaviyo SMS rate. Look it up in billing settings and compare it with the published rates in the SMS table. This one number often decides the switch.
Step 3: Decide whether you need SMS in the same tool.
- Yes: Omnisend Pro, or stay on Klaviyo.
- No, or you are happy to split tools: Mailchimp, Drip or Brevo for email, with Postscript for SMS on Shopify.
Step 4: List the add-ons you pay for. Reviews, Composer, support packages and data products. Some alternatives include similar features in the base plan, such as product recommendations on Mailchimp, or revenue attribution and back-in-stock on Drip.
Step 5: Count how each tool counts. Run your list through each tool's definition: active profiles, billable contacts, active people or email volume.
Step 6: Plan the move. Omnisend and Drip both offer free migration. Rebuild your top three revenue flows first, usually welcome, abandoned cart and post-purchase, and run them side by side before cutting over.
The Verdict: Final Recommendations
Omnisend is the best Klaviyo alternative for most stores. It covers the core ecommerce flows, includes abandoned cart on the free plan, publishes SMS rates, and offers free migration and 24/7 support. On Standard it costs $207/month at 15,000 contacts versus Klaviyo's $350. If you need SMS, you need Pro, which costs about the same as Klaviyo, so the saving comes from SMS rates.
Mailchimp is the pick for stores that want a familiar tool with strong integrations and product recommendations on every plan. Plan on Standard.
Brevo is the value pick for big lists that send a few times a month, since it charges by email volume.
Drip suits stores that want one price with every feature included, and it stays well below Klaviyo above 10,000 people.
ActiveCampaign is for stores that also run services or B2B sales and need branching automation and a CRM.
Postscript is the pick for Shopify brands that only want to move SMS, and it can sit alongside Klaviyo email.
Klaviyo is still the right choice if you are under about 10,000 profiles and use its store data deeply, or if your email revenue easily covers the higher tiers.
Conclusion
Most stores leave Klaviyo for two reasons. The listed email price more than doubles between 10,000 and 15,000 active profiles. And since July 2026, SMS rates are per message but visible only inside your account. Below 10,000 profiles, Klaviyo's email price is in line with Mailchimp, Omnisend and Drip, so the case for switching rests on SMS and add-ons.
Start with two numbers: your profile count a year from now, and your current per-message SMS rate. If you will pass 15,000 profiles, or your SMS rate is well above the published rates of Omnisend or Postscript, a switch can pay for itself. Rebuild your top revenue flows first, test them side by side, and then move the rest.
Marcus Williams