email marketing tools · Tool Face-Off

ActiveCampaign vs Klaviyo

Quick answer

Klaviyo dominates for e-commerce brands with its deep Shopify/WooCommerce DNA, while ActiveCampaign is the Swiss Army knife for service businesses needing serious CRM and automation chops.

ActiveCampaign
CRM-powered automation for businesses that sell with relationships
4.1
VS
Klaviyo
Revenue-obsessed email & SMS for e-commerce brands
3.9
Starting Price
~$15/mo (500 contacts, Starter)
Free up to 250 contacts, then ~$20/mo (500 contacts)
Free Plan
No (14-day trial only)
Yes — 250 contacts, 500 emails/mo
Contacts at $100/mo
~5,000 contacts
~3,500 contacts
Native CRM
Yes — full pipeline & deal tracking
No — basic profiles only
SMS Marketing
Yes (add-on, US/CA/UK/AU)
Yes — deeply native, 20+ countries
Shopify Integration
Available, limited revenue data
Deep native sync, real-time revenue tracking
Automation Triggers
100+ triggers including CRM events
E-commerce focused: carts, orders, browsing
Predictive Analytics
Basic (win probability, lead scoring)
Yes — CLV, churn risk, next order date
A/B Testing
Subject lines, content, send times
Subject lines, content, flows — more robust
Landing Pages
Yes — built-in builder
No native landing pages
Reporting
Solid campaign & automation reports
Revenue-attributed reporting per flow/campaign
Template Library
100+ templates
100+ templates, commerce-ready designs

ActiveCampaign

Support★★★★
Ease of Use★★★½
Pricing Value★★★½
Email Features★★★★½
Automation Power★★★★★
CRM & Sales Tools★★★★½
E-commerce Integration★★★½

Klaviyo

Support★★★½
Ease of Use★★★★
Pricing Value★★★☆☆
Email Features★★★★½
Automation Power★★★★½
CRM & Sales Tools★★½☆☆
E-commerce Integration★★★★★

Worth knowing

Klaviyo's name was coined to sound like a musical instrument — fitting for a tool that claims to play your customer data like a symphony. 🎹

If you want

You run a Shopify or WooCommerce store and live by revenue metrics

Klaviyo's native e-commerce data sync and revenue attribution make it the obvious choice for DTC brands.

→ Pick Klaviyo
If you want

You're a B2B or service business needing CRM + email in one place

ActiveCampaign's built-in CRM, deal pipelines, and deep automation make it a full sales-and-marketing stack.

→ Pick ActiveCampaign
If you want

You're just starting out and want to test for free

Klaviyo's free plan (250 contacts + SMS) lets you get real results before spending a dime.

→ Pick Klaviyo
If you want

You need complex multi-branch automations beyond e-commerce

ActiveCampaign's automation builder is more flexible and handles non-linear customer journeys better.

→ Pick ActiveCampaign
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