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ActiveCampaign vs Klaviyo
Side-by-side comparison of pricing, features, and trade-offs, and which one actually fits your team.
What each tool does
ActiveCampaign: ActiveCampaign is a customer experience automation platform combining email marketing, marketing automation, sales CRM, and messaging.
Klaviyo: Klaviyo is an ecommerce-focused email and SMS marketing platform built around deep Shopify integration.
ActiveCampaign vs Klaviyo at a glance
| ActiveCampaign | Klaviyo | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Subscription | Freemium |
| Starting price | Subscription $15/mo (Starter), $49/mo (Plus), $79/mo (Pro), $145/mo (Enterprise) | Freemium Free (250 contacts), from $20/mo based on contacts |
| Free tier | No | Yes |
| Category | marketing | marketing |
| Best for | SMB and mid-market teams relying on behavioral, data-driven email automation | Shopify store owners and ecommerce brands doing $500K+ in annual revenue |
| Top strength | Automation depth exceeds most email tools in its price range. | Pre-built flows pull product data directly from your store for abandoned cart recovery. |
| Main limitation | The CRM is thin out of the box, with pipeline features sold as add-ons. | The 2025 shift to billing by total active profiles frustrated many loyal users. |
| Full review | ActiveCampaign review → | Klaviyo review → |
What these prices mean in context
ActiveCampaign starts at $29/month and Klaviyo at $20/month. Across the 61 marketing tools we track and price ourselves, the median entry price is $29/month, spanning $2.50 to $500. ActiveCampaign sits exactly at that median; Klaviyo sits 31% below it.
Method: the lowest recurring monthly price quoted in our own review of each tool, read on 2026-09-30. Annual-only and enterprise quotes are excluded, as are figures above $2,000, which are contracts rather than entry prices. Categories with fewer than five priced tools are not reported.
Strengths & weaknesses
ActiveCampaign highlights
Pros- Automation depth: best-in-class for SMB and mid-market segments.
- CRM integrated: sales and marketing share one database.
- Multi-channel automation: email + SMS + on-site messaging.
- Strong ecosystem: 870+ integrations including Shopify, Salesforce, Stripe.
- ML features: send-time optimization and predictive content work well at scale.
- Steep learning curve: power comes with complexity.
- UI can feel cluttered: many features compete for screen space.
- Pricing climbs with contacts: large lists pay significantly more.
- CRM lighter than Salesforce: enterprise sales teams may want dedicated CRM.
Klaviyo highlights
Pros- Ecommerce-first design: Every feature is built with online stores in mind. Product feeds, order data, and browsing behavior are first-class citizens, not afterthoughts.
- Shopify integration depth: Real-time syncing, pre-built flows based on Shopify events, and native Shopify checkout integration. No other email platform matches this level of connection.
- Behavioral segmentation: The ability to segment based on purchase history, browsing behavior, predicted lifetime value, and engagement metrics is best-in-class.
- Revenue attribution: Clear reporting on exactly how much revenue each email, flow, and campaign generates. This makes ROI conversations with your team or clients easy.
- Pre-built flows library: Abandoned cart, welcome series, post-purchase, win-back, and more. All designed for ecommerce and ready to customize.
Which should you pick?
ActiveCampaign: ActiveCampaign is worth it for SMB and mid-market teams that will actually use branching automation and event-based triggers. It is overkill for simple newsletters and its CRM depth comes mostly through paid add-ons.
Klaviyo: Klaviyo suits growing ecommerce brands, especially on Shopify, that want deep behavioral segmentation and predictive analytics, but budget-conscious or pre-revenue stores should start with a cheaper platform.
Still unsure? Read the deep-dive reviews: ActiveCampaign and Klaviyo.
Sources
Prices and plan details come from each vendor's own pricing page, re-checked by the Toolradar pricing tracker.
- ActiveCampaign pricing, checked Sep 2026
- Klaviyo pricing, checked Sep 2026
Frequently asked questions
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