Klaviyo vs ActiveCampaign
Email Marketing pricing comparison · 2026
Klaviyo pricing ranges from $0–$150/month, while ActiveCampaign ranges from $15–$145/month. Klaviyo is typically 43% more affordable, though your actual cost depends on tier and team size.
Klaviyo and ActiveCampaign are both powerful marketing automation platforms, but they are optimized for very different use cases. Klaviyo is purpose-built for e-commerce, offering deep native integrations with Shopify, WooCommerce, and BigCommerce, along with predictive analytics for customer lifetime value and product recommendations. ActiveCampaign is a more general-purpose automation platform with a built-in CRM, making it popular with B2B companies, agencies, and service businesses. Klaviyo starts free for up to 250 contacts with paid plans from $20/month, while ActiveCampaign begins at $15/month with no free tier. Choosing between them depends largely on whether your business is e-commerce-focused or needs broader CRM and sales automation capabilities.
Plan-by-Plan Pricing
| Plan | Klaviyo | ActiveCampaign |
|---|---|---|
| Free | Free /month | $15 /month |
| $20 /month | $49 /month | |
| Email + SMS | $35 /month | $79 /month |
| Enterprise | Custom | $145 /month |
Cost at Scale
Total cost of ownership — licenses, implementation, and hidden costs included.
Klaviyo
5 scenariosActiveCampaign
3 scenariosMarket Intelligence
Klaviyo
- Median annual cost
- $1,188
- Based on
- 88 deals
ActiveCampaign
- Median annual cost
- $10,548
- Average negotiated discount
- 20%
Contract Terms
| Term | Klaviyo | ActiveCampaign |
|---|---|---|
| Auto-renewal | Yes | Yes |
| Cancellation | Can be cancelled anytime based on monthly billing | Must cancel before renewal date; refund window is 30 days from charge |
| Minimum commitment | Month-to-month with no long-term contract required | Monthly or annual billing available |
| Price escalation | No published schedule but users report mid-contract price increases and automatic tier upgrades. February 2025 saw a major billing model change from usage-based to subscriber-based pricing, resulting in 50-400% cost increases for some customers. | Year-over-year price increases of 25-35% reported by multiple long-term customers. One user documented costs rising from $2,700 to $4,700 over three years. |
| Can downgrade | Yes | Yes |
Our Verdict
Choose Klaviyo if you run an e-commerce store on Shopify, WooCommerce, or BigCommerce and want best-in-class product-focused automation, including abandoned cart flows, post-purchase sequences, predictive analytics, and native SMS marketing. Klaviyo's deep e-commerce integrations and revenue attribution make it the clear winner for online retail brands.
Choose ActiveCampaign if you need a versatile marketing automation platform with built-in CRM and sales automation, especially for B2B, SaaS, or service-based businesses. ActiveCampaign's visual automation builder, lead scoring, deal pipelines, and broader integration ecosystem make it ideal for companies that need marketing and sales tightly connected in one platform.
Frequently Asked Questions
01 Is Klaviyo or ActiveCampaign better for e-commerce?
Klaviyo is significantly better for e-commerce. It offers native Shopify and WooCommerce integrations that automatically sync purchase history, browsing behavior, and product catalogs. Klaviyo provides predictive analytics for customer lifetime value, churn risk, and next purchase date, plus pre-built e-commerce flows like abandoned cart, browse abandonment, and post-purchase sequences. ActiveCampaign has e-commerce integrations but they are less deep and require more manual configuration.
02 How does Klaviyo pricing compare to ActiveCampaign?
At small scales, ActiveCampaign is slightly cheaper - starting at $15/month for 1,000 contacts versus Klaviyo's $20/month for 500 contacts. At 10,000 contacts, Klaviyo costs approximately $150/month while ActiveCampaign Plus costs about $174/month. Klaviyo includes a free tier for up to 250 contacts, while ActiveCampaign only offers a 14-day trial. Klaviyo's pricing is purely contact-based, while ActiveCampaign also gates features by plan tier.
03 Can I use ActiveCampaign instead of Klaviyo for my Shopify store?
Yes, ActiveCampaign integrates with Shopify, but the integration is not as deep as Klaviyo's native connection. ActiveCampaign lacks Klaviyo's product recommendation engine, predictive analytics for e-commerce metrics, and pre-built product-focused email templates. However, ActiveCampaign offers a built-in CRM and more flexible automation builder, which can be valuable if your Shopify store also has a B2B sales component or complex lead nurturing needs.