Klaviyo

What is Klaviyo

Klaviyo is a marketing automation platform that focuses on email and SMS for e-commerce and DTC businesses. It centralizes customer profiles and event data to enable highly targeted campaigns, automated lifecycle flows, and revenue-focused reporting. The platform is designed to connect directly to commerce platforms, segment audiences in real time, and use behavior-driven triggers to send personalized messages.

Klaviyo is built around two core capabilities: a customer data layer that captures events and attributes, and an orchestration layer that uses that data to run campaigns and automations. Typical users include e-commerce merchants, digital marketing teams, growth teams at startups, and agencies that manage email and SMS programs for multiple brands. The product emphasizes integration with Shopify, Shopify Plus, BigCommerce, Magento, and other commerce platforms to simplify data collection and orchestration.

Klaviyo positions analytics and revenue reporting as first-class features: every campaign and flow can be directly attributed to revenue and conversion metrics. This makes it a common choice where teams need clear ROI from messaging, sophisticated segmentation by purchase or browsing behavior, and combined email+SMS journeys.

Klaviyo features

Klaviyo provides a set of features focused on customer data, messaging, and measurement. The most-used capabilities include:

• Customer profiles and unified data: Persistent profiles that consolidate purchase history, website events, email opens/clicks, SMS consent, and custom attributes so segments can be built with precise behavioral conditions.
• Segments and predictive analytics: Dynamic segments based on real-time events (e.g., purchased X in last 30 days, viewed product Y but didn’t purchase) and predictive models like lifetime value and churn risk to prioritize messaging.
• Automated flows and workflows: Pre-built and customizable flows for welcome series, cart abandonment, post-purchase, winback, and reactivation that trigger on events and support conditional splits.
• Email and SMS channels: Native support for email and SMS campaigns and flows, including templates, A/B testing, deliverability tools, and compliance features like consent management and opt-out handling.
• Personalization and template editor: Drag-and-drop email editor with merge tags, conditional content, and template blocks that reference profile and event data for deep personalization.
• Deliverability and sending controls: Tools for managing sending frequency, suppression lists, deliverability monitoring, and sender reputation features designed for high-volume senders.
• Reporting and revenue attribution: Revenue reporting that attributes sales to campaigns and flows, channel-level performance metrics, and cohort analysis to measure long-term value.
• Integrations and marketplace: Pre-built integrations for major commerce platforms, CRMs, payment processors, and analytics providers; a marketplace of apps and connectors.
• API and webhooks: REST API for programmatic management of lists, profiles, events, templates, and metrics; webhooks to capture real-time events.

What does klaviyo do?

Klaviyo collects behavioral and transactional data from a brand's website, store, and other systems to build profiles for each customer. It uses that data to create dynamic segments and trigger automated messaging via email and SMS. Teams use Klaviyo to run acquisition nurture sequences, cart recovery flows, post-purchase onboarding, and retention campaigns with measured revenue outcomes.

The platform lets marketers build multi-step customer journeys that adapt to customer actions — for example, sending an SMS reminder if an email goes unopened, or suppressing promotional messages for recently purchased customers. Klaviyo also exposes reporting that ties messages to revenue so teams can optimize based on dollars rather than open rates alone.

Klaviyo is commonly used to implement lifecycle marketing programs (welcome, onboarding, retention), cart and browse abandonment recovery, cross-sell and upsell campaigns, and audience-level reactivation. Its real-time segmentation and commerce integrations make it especially useful for brands that need event-driven automation and precise audience targeting.

Klaviyo pricing

Klaviyo offers these pricing plans:

• Free Plan: $0/month — core email and SMS features with limits on contacts and sends, full access to flows and segmentation for small lists
• Starter: $20/month starting point for small to mid-size lists (actual price scales by number of contacts and messages)
• Professional: pricing scales with list size and message volume; higher-tier sends, deliverability features, and dedicated support options are available at increased tiers
• Enterprise: custom pricing for large merchants requiring advanced deliverability, SLA, account services, and integrations

Klaviyo’s pricing is primarily contact-based and scales with the number of active contacts stored in the account and the volume of email and SMS messages sent. Typical accounts move from the Free Plan to paid tiers once they exceed the Free Plan contact threshold or need higher sending limits and premium features. Because pricing changes with contact counts, exact costs should be confirmed using Klaviyo’s contact-based pricing calculator.

Check Klaviyo's pricing tiers for the latest rates, contact brackets, and SMS credits, including enterprise options and partner program discounts.

How much is Klaviyo per month

Klaviyo starts at $0/month on the Free Plan for very small lists. Paid monthly costs increase with the number of contacts and SMS credits required, so most active merchants see monthly bills range from small starter amounts to several hundred dollars per month as subscriber counts grow. Monthly billing reflects the active contact count and messaging usage for that billing period.

Many merchants using Klaviyo for email and SMS pay a modest monthly fee at first and then scale into larger monthly plans as their lists grow. Klaviyo’s interface and pricing calculator make it straightforward to estimate monthly costs for specific contact volumes and sending frequency.

How much is Klaviyo per year

Klaviyo costs $0/year for the Free Plan. For paid customers, annual costs depend on monthly contact counts and message volumes; Klaviyo generally bills monthly but enterprise and partner arrangements may include annual contracts with custom pricing and service terms. Brands that negotiate enterprise agreements can often secure annual billing, dedicated support, and tailored SLAs.

For accurate annual estimates, calculate expected monthly spend across projected list growth and multiply by 12, or consult Klaviyo sales for enterprise pricing and possible annual discounts.

How much is Klaviyo in general

Klaviyo pricing ranges from $0 (free) to several hundred dollars per month or more depending on list size and SMS usage. Entry-level email-only usage is frequently inexpensive, while combined email+SMS for larger lists and higher throughput drives costs upward. Overall spend is driven by active contact counts, message frequency, and SMS credits.

Planning total cost should account for: Marketing costs: expected monthly emails and SMS sends, List management costs: cleanup and suppression to minimize billable contacts, and Service costs: agency or internal resource time to build flows and analyze results.

What is Klaviyo used for

Klaviyo is used to run data-driven email and SMS marketing programs that directly support ecommerce revenue and retention goals. Brands use it to automate lifecycle communications such as welcome series, cart abandonment recovery, post-purchase follow-ups, and win-back campaigns. Because Klaviyo centralizes event and purchase data, teams can create segments and campaigns that react to real-time behavior (for example, product views, cart adds, placed orders).

Common use cases include:

• Acquisition nurture: welcome series and onboarding flows that introduce new subscribers to a brand and drive first purchases.
• Cart and browse abandonment: multi-step recovery flows that combine email and SMS to recapture potential buyers.
• Post-purchase journeys: order confirmations, shipping updates, review requests, and replenishment reminders tailored to purchase history.
• Retention and lifecycle optimization: VIP programs, reactivation sequences, and cross-sell campaigns based on customer lifetime value and purchase frequency.

Operationally, Klaviyo is used to centralize customer data from commerce and analytics platforms, reduce reliance on manual exports, and enable marketers to test and iterate on messaging with measurable revenue attribution.

Pros and cons of Klaviyo

Pros:

• Strong commerce integrations that capture purchase and browsing data for accurate segmentation and triggers.
• Robust revenue attribution that links campaigns and flows to transactions, making ROI transparent.
• Native SMS and email support so teams can orchestrate multi-channel flows from one platform.
• Real-time segmentation and predictive analytics (LTV, churn risk) to prioritize audiences and personalize content.

Cons:

• Pricing scales with contact counts, which can become costly for brands with large contact lists if contacts are not properly segmented or suppressed.
• Some advanced features (dedicated deliverability support, enterprise SLAs) require moving to enterprise tiers with custom pricing.
• Learning curve for teams new to event-driven segmentation and flow design; ongoing management and optimization require dedicated resources.

Operational considerations:

• Proper list hygiene is essential to control costs and maintain deliverability — archival and suppression strategies should be part of onboarding.
• SMS compliance and regional regulations require careful setup and opt-in management; deliverability and consent features are available but need configuration.
• Integration maintenance (e.g., with Shopify, custom storefronts, or ERPs) is necessary to ensure data accuracy across profiles and events.

Klaviyo free trial

Klaviyo offers a Free Plan that functions as a permanent no-cost tier rather than a time-limited trial. The Free Plan provides basic access to email and SMS features with limits on the number of contacts and sends; it includes flows, segmentation, and access to templates and reporting. For many small merchants and new accounts, the Free Plan is sufficient to pilot welcome flows and basic campaigns without immediate spend.

The Free Plan is designed to let teams evaluate core functionality: tracking, lists, basic sends, and some automation flows. As lists grow or as brands need higher sending volumes, paid tiers are required. Upgrading is typically self-serve in the app and takes effect based on the active contact count and SMS usage.

For enterprises and high-volume senders, Klaviyo offers custom onboarding and migration assistance, which typically comes with a contract and scoped services. If you are evaluating Klaviyo at scale, request a demo or enterprise quote to understand implementation and deliverability services that are not part of the standard free experience.

Is Klaviyo free

Yes, Klaviyo offers a Free Plan that provides basic email and SMS capabilities with limits on active contacts and messages. The Free Plan is intended to let brands get started with flows and basic segmentation; as subscriber counts and message volume increase, teams generally move to paid tiers that scale with contacts and SMS usage.

Klaviyo API

Klaviyo exposes a RESTful API and developer documentation that support event ingestion, profile management, list and segment operations, campaign creation, and metrics retrieval. Developers can send server-side events (for example, purchase events, custom product views) to Klaviyo’s APIs to enrich profiles and trigger flows in real time. The API also supports programmatic management of lists, templates, and segments.

Klaviyo provides SDKs and libraries for common environments, plus examples for server-side and client-side event tracking. Webhooks can be configured to notify external systems of events like unsubscribe actions and campaign activity. For authenticated API access, Klaviyo uses API keys with scoped permissions and provides guidance for secure key management.

For technical teams, the developer documentation includes endpoints for catalog and product data, metrics and analytics exports, and bulk import/export of profiles. The API is commonly used to surface custom data points (e.g., subscription status, personalization attributes) that are not captured by standard integrations, and to drive personalized templates with dynamic variables.

See the Klaviyo developer documentation for full API reference, SDKs, rate limits, and sample code for event tracking and profile management.

10 Klaviyo alternatives

• Mailchimp — Popular all-in-one email platform with easy onboarding, templates, and a free tier; useful for small businesses and basic marketing automation.
• ActiveCampaign — Strong marketing automation and CRM features with advanced automation builder and sales CRM integration.
• Omnisend — E-commerce-focused email and SMS platform with built-in automation templates and cart recovery workflows.
• Iterable — Cross-channel growth marketing platform for enterprise teams with robust orchestration and personalization tools.
• Braze — Enterprise messaging platform focused on mobile-first apps and lifecycle engagement across channels.
• SendGrid — Transactional and marketing email platform with strong developer tools and scalable SMTP/API sending.
• Constant Contact — Small-business email marketing with simple templates and event-driven features, often chosen for straightforward newsletters.
• HubSpot Marketing Hub — Integrated marketing automation within a broader CRM platform; useful where marketing and sales alignment is needed.
• Sendinblue — Email and SMS marketing with transactional sending and marketing automation at competitive pricing for small to midsize businesses.
• Iterable — (listed above as enterprise alternative) — if you need multiple enterprise-grade orchestration options, Iterable is commonly compared with Klaviyo.

Paid alternatives to Klaviyo

• Mailchimp — Email marketing and automation with tiered plans; suitable for businesses that want simple audience management and templates.
• ActiveCampaign — Offers advanced automation and integrated CRM for businesses that need lead scoring and sales alignment.
• Iterable — Enterprise-level personalization and cross-channel orchestration for large teams that require advanced segmentation and orchestration.
• Braze — Focuses on in-app and mobile-first lifecycle engagement for app-heavy businesses and large enterprises.
• Omnisend — E-commerce-first platform with pre-built automation and multi-channel messaging for stores that need quick setup.
• HubSpot Marketing Hub — Combines marketing automation with CRM and enterprise marketing features for organizations that want a single vendor for inbound marketing.

Open source alternatives to Klaviyo

• Mautic — Open source marketing automation with email campaigns, forms, and contact management; good for teams that want self-hosting and deep customization.
• Mailtrain — Self-hosted newsletter and marketing platform built on Node.js; better suited for technical teams that want control over sending.
• Listmonk — High-performance, self-hosted newsletter and mailing list manager written in Go; focused on efficiency and customizability.
• Postal — Open source mail delivery platform designed for transactional and bulk sending when you control infrastructure and deliverability.

Frequently asked questions about Klaviyo

What is Klaviyo used for?

Klaviyo is used for email and SMS marketing with a focus on e-commerce. Brands use it to automate lifecycle messaging, run targeted campaigns based on customer behavior, and attribute revenue to marketing activities. It combines customer data, segmentation, and automation to support acquisition, retention, and growth programs.

Does Klaviyo integrate with Shopify?

Yes, Klaviyo has a native Shopify integration. The integration syncs customer profiles, order history, and real-time events from Shopify to Klaviyo so merchants can build flows like abandoned cart recovery and post-purchase sequences without custom engineering.

How much does Klaviyo cost per contact?

Klaviyo pricing is contact-based and starts at $0/month for the Free Plan. Paid costs scale with the number of active contacts and SMS volume; exact per-contact costs vary by bracket and should be checked in Klaviyo’s pricing calculator for accurate estimates.

Can Klaviyo send SMS and MMS messages?

Yes, Klaviyo supports SMS and MMS messaging alongside email. SMS functionality includes consent management, two-way messaging where supported, and combinable flows that use both channels to improve engagement.

Is Klaviyo suitable for large enterprises?

Yes, Klaviyo supports enterprise customers with custom plans. Enterprise offers typically include higher sending limits, dedicated support, deliverability consulting, and SLAs. Large organizations should contact Klaviyo sales for a tailored quote.

Does Klaviyo provide A/B testing?

Yes, Klaviyo supports A/B testing for campaigns and subject lines. Teams can test variants of subject lines, content, or send times and evaluate performance using Klaviyo’s reporting and revenue attribution to choose winning variants.

Can I import data from Shopify or CSV files into Klaviyo?

Yes, Klaviyo supports direct Shopify sync and CSV imports. You can import customer lists, historical order data, and events via CSV or use built-in connectors to keep data synchronized automatically.

How secure is Klaviyo with customer data?

Klaviyo maintains industry-standard security controls for data protection. The platform provides secure transmission, role-based access controls, and documentation on compliance; enterprise customers can request additional security and compliance information.

Does Klaviyo have a REST API for developers?

Yes, Klaviyo provides a REST API and SDKs for event tracking and profile management. Developers use the API to send server-side events, manage lists and segments, and retrieve metrics; full API details are available in the developer documentation.

Can Klaviyo track revenue from campaigns?

Yes, Klaviyo attributes revenue to campaigns and flows. Revenue attribution ties orders to messages and provides channel-level reporting so teams can measure the direct business impact of email and SMS activity.

Klaviyo careers

Klaviyo lists open positions and hiring information on its careers site and public job boards. Roles commonly available include engineering, product, marketing, customer success, and operations because Klaviyo is both a software provider and a support organization for merchants. Positions often emphasize experience with e-commerce, growth marketing, data engineering, and platform reliability.

Candidates typically find role descriptions, location options (remote or office-based), and benefits information on the careers page. The hiring process often includes technical interviews for engineering roles and case-based evaluations for product and marketing positions. Klaviyo also describes company culture, mission, and values that help applicants evaluate fit.

For people interested in working at Klaviyo, reviewing recent engineering blog posts, product announcements, and community contributions can provide insight into the technical stack and product priorities. Applicants may also benefit from understanding common e-commerce workflows and best practices for email and SMS deliverability.

Klaviyo affiliate

Klaviyo runs a partner ecosystem that includes agency partners, integration partners, and referral programs. Agencies and consultants can join Klaviyo’s partner program to receive training, co-marketing opportunities, and access to partner resources that help deliver services to merchants using Klaviyo. Referral incentives or partner commission structures are typically described in the partner program materials.

For affiliates and partners, Klaviyo provides certification and enablement resources to ensure consistent implementation and best practices. Partners who earn certifications are often listed in the Klaviyo partner directory where merchants search for qualified vendors. If you are an agency or consultant, joining the partner program gives you access to onboarding resources, technical guides, and potential leads.

To explore partner options, visit Klaviyo’s partner program pages and review the partner tiers and benefits; contacting Klaviyo’s partner team explains eligibility, referral terms, and co-selling arrangements.

Where to find Klaviyo reviews

You can find user reviews and independent evaluations of Klaviyo on major software review sites and community forums. Check the G2 Klaviyo reviews page, Capterra Klaviyo reviews, and TrustRadius Klaviyo reviews for aggregated user ratings, pros and cons from customers, and examples of how teams use the platform in production.

In addition to review sites, e-commerce forums, agency blogs, and case studies published by Klaviyo provide real-world examples of implementations, migration notes, and ROI analysis. Reading multiple sources — review aggregators, technical blogs, and customer case studies — gives a balanced view of capabilities, support experiences, and operational considerations.

For enterprise-grade decisions, request references from Klaviyo and speak directly with similar-sized merchants to validate expected outcomes, implementation timelines, and total cost of ownership.