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Marketing Automation

ActiveCampaign vs Klaviyo: Which Email Platform Fits Your Business in 2026?

ActiveCampaign is a CRM-and-automation platform for any business; Klaviyo is the e-commerce specialist, built around Shopify data and revenue attribution. Here is how their entry pricing and automation compare.

By Bill Belcamino · Last updated September 23, 2026 · Our methodologyResearched and fact-checked by the HelpCompare team
ActiveCampaign logoStarter — From $15/mo (1,000 contacts, 1 user)

ActiveCampaign

VS
Klaviyo logoEmail — From $20/mo (500 active profiles)

Klaviyo

Run the cost calculator Compare pricing tiers
ActiveCampaign vs KlaviyoVerified Sep 23, 2026
Bottom line Editorial assessment

Which is better, ActiveCampaign or Klaviyo?

Choose Klaviyo if you run an e-commerce store and want native purchase-event sync and revenue attribution; choose ActiveCampaign if you want marketing automation paired with a light CRM. ActiveCampaign Starter is $15/mo (1,000 contacts) versus Klaviyo Email's $20/mo (500 active profiles).

Quick verdict: ActiveCampaign’s Starter plan is $5 a month cheaper at the entry tier ($15 vs $20) and includes deeper marketing-automation logic and a built-in CRM, but caps out at 1 user. Klaviyo has no CRM ambitions — it is built specifically for e-commerce, syncing purchase and browsing events from Shopify to run flows like abandoned-browse and back-in-stock, with revenue tied to each send. Neither has a genuinely free plan at meaningful volume; Klaviyo’s free tier stretches further (250 profiles vs no free plan at all for ActiveCampaign, only a 14-day trial).
Verified data

ActiveCampaign vs Klaviyo: quick facts

At a glanceActiveCampaignKlaviyo
CategoryMarketing Automation
Entry priceStarter — From $15/mo (1,000 contacts, 1 user)Email — From $20/mo (500 active profiles)
Free planNo free plan — 14-day free trial, no card requiredFree — up to 250 active profiles, 500 emails/mo, $5 of mobile-message credit/mo

Is ActiveCampaign cheaper than Klaviyo?

ActiveCampaign, at the entry tier: $15/mo (1,000 contacts, 1 user) against Klaviyo’s $20/mo (500 active profiles). Klaviyo bills by “active profiles” — anyone reachable, whether or not you have emailed them recently — which can cost more than a simple contact count as your list grows; ActiveCampaign counts contacts more conventionally.

Verified data

ActiveCampaign vs Klaviyo at a glance

CategoryActiveCampaignKlaviyo
Entry priceStarter $15/mo (1,000 contacts, 1 user)Email $20/mo (500 active profiles)
Free planNone — 14-day trial only250 active profiles, 500 emails/mo, $5 SMS credit
Billing basisContactsActive profiles (anyone sendable, not just recent sends)
Built forGeneral business marketing and light CRM/salesE-commerce, especially Shopify-native stores
CRM includedYes, standard CRM & ecommerce integrations on StarterNo — contact and event data, not a sales CRM
Revenue attributionNot a core featureBuilt-in, tied to each flow and send
Contact migrationFree migration service on all plansNot a named service on the pricing page
Users included1 (Starter), 3 (Plus), 5 (Enterprise)Not seat-limited — billed by profile count

Verified September 23, 2026Prices recorded from each vendor’s own pricing page. See sources

Prices in USD from activecampaign.com/pricing and klaviyo.com/pricing, both checked September 23, 2026.

Editorial assessment

How they actually differ

Both run automated email sequences, but they are built for different kinds of businesses.

General marketing vs. e-commerce specialist

ActiveCampaign pairs email automation with a standard CRM and ecommerce integrations, aiming at any business that wants marketing and light sales tooling together. Klaviyo has no CRM layer at all — its entire model is built around syncing purchase and browsing events (natively from Shopify) to trigger flows like cart abandonment, browse abandonment and post-purchase follow-up, with revenue attributed back to each send.

What you are billed for

ActiveCampaign Starter counts 1,000 contacts and caps at 1 user — a real constraint for any team bigger than one person. Klaviyo bills on active profiles, which includes anyone reachable regardless of recent engagement, a billing quirk worth understanding before your list grows, since unengaged-but-subscribed profiles still count toward your tier.

Moving between them

ActiveCampaign advertises a free contact-migration service on every plan. Klaviyo’s pricing page references importing and syncing contact and activity data but does not name a dedicated migration tool the way ActiveCampaign does.

Editorial assessment

Pros & cons

ActiveCampaign

Pros

  • $5/mo cheaper at the entry tier
  • Standard CRM and ecommerce integrations included
  • Free contact migration service on every plan
  • Deep automation logic at this price point

Cons

  • No free plan, 14-day trial only
  • Starter caps at 1 user
  • Not built around e-commerce revenue attribution
  • Segmentation is “Limited” on Starter

Klaviyo

Pros

  • Genuine free plan up to 250 active profiles
  • Native Shopify sync and revenue attribution
  • Purpose-built e-commerce flows (browse/cart abandonment, back-in-stock)
  • Not seat-limited — pay for profile volume, not headcount

Cons

  • $5/mo more expensive at the entry tier
  • Bills on active profiles, which can inflate cost as your list grows
  • No CRM or sales-pipeline features
  • No named migration service on its pricing page
Verified data

Cost calculator: what does your team actually pay?

ActiveCampaign

 
$0/mo

Klaviyo

 
$0/mo
 

Both figures are each vendor’s flat entry-tier price (ActiveCampaign Starter up to 1,000 contacts; Klaviyo Email up to 500 active profiles) and do not scale with the number entered above. The price shown is each vendor’s entry-tier flat rate at its lowest contact tier; all three vendors raise the price as your contact or profile count grows past that tier — check each vendor’s own pricing page for your list size. Checked September 23, 2026.

Choose ActiveCampaign if…

You want marketing automation paired with a light CRM, your team is 1 person at the entry tier, and you are not running e-commerce-specific flows.

Choose Klaviyo if…

You run an e-commerce store, especially on Shopify, and want native revenue attribution and purchase-triggered flows.

Total cost over time

Uses your selections above. Estimate excludes add-ons, overages, and negotiated discounts.

Ready to pick your email marketing platform?

ActiveCampaign offers a 14-day trial; Klaviyo has a genuine free plan up to 250 profiles. Test a real automation flow in each before committing your list.

See ActiveCampaign pricing See Klaviyo pricing

Frequently Asked Questions

Is ActiveCampaign cheaper than Klaviyo?

At the entry tier, yes: $15/mo (1,000 contacts) against Klaviyo’s $20/mo (500 active profiles).

Which is better for e-commerce?

Klaviyo, if you run an online store — it syncs purchase and browsing events natively (especially from Shopify) and attributes revenue to each send, which ActiveCampaign does not do as a core feature.

Does ActiveCampaign include a CRM?

Yes — standard CRM and ecommerce integrations are included even on the Starter plan, though Starter is capped at 1 user.

What are “active profiles” on Klaviyo?

Anyone reachable in your account, whether or not they have opened a recent email — this can push your bill higher than a simple contact count as your list grows.

Migration Guides

Already decided? Here’s how to actually switch.

Step-by-step migration guides covering what transfers automatically, what doesn’t, and how to handle the gap — in both directions.

Switching from ActiveCampaign to Klaviyo Switching from Klaviyo to ActiveCampaign
Editorial assessment

When to Buy — and When to Walk Away

Every “best email marketing platform” listicle tells you why to buy. Here’s the other half: the specific conditions under which ActiveCampaign or Klaviyo is the wrong purchase for your team.

ActiveCampaign

Buy ActiveCampaign if:

  • You want automation paired with a light CRM
  • Your team is 1 person at the entry tier
  • You are not running e-commerce-specific flows

Do NOT buy ActiveCampaign if:

  • You run an online store and want native revenue attribution
  • You need more than 1 user on your entry plan
  • You want a genuinely free plan to start

Klaviyo

Buy Klaviyo if:

  • You run an e-commerce store, especially on Shopify
  • You want native purchase and browsing event sync
  • You want a real free plan to start on

Do NOT buy Klaviyo if:

  • You want a CRM or sales-pipeline layer built in
  • You are not running e-commerce-specific automation
  • You want the cheapest possible entry price

Canonical data for the tools on this page

Every pricing fact, rating, AI billing model and switching guide we hold on each tool, on one page, with the date each figure was last verified.

ActiveCampaignPricing, free plan, AI cost & every comparison›KlaviyoPricing, free plan, AI cost & every comparison›
ActiveCampaign vs KeapHead-to-head comparisonActiveCampaign vs MailchimpHead-to-head comparisonHubSpot vs KlaviyoHead-to-head comparisonKeap vs KlaviyoHead-to-head comparisonGoHighLevel vs ActiveCampaignHead-to-head comparisonActiveCampaign vs HubSpotHead-to-head comparison

Sources

Prices on this page were recorded from each vendor’s own pricing page on the date shown at the top of the page. Vendors change pricing often — check the live source before you buy.

Every figure is also in our open dataset (JSON and CSV, CC BY 4.0), with its source page and verification date. See how we research pricing.

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01 · CompareWhich tool fits your team, side by side.113 comparisons 02 · Price & approveSourced, dated pricing and a one-page brief for sign-off.Decision brief 03 · SwitchWhat moves, what you rebuild, what it costs.226 guides 04 · ShareDownload and cite the data. CC BY 4.0.Open data
Bill Belcamino, founder of HelpCompare
About the author

Bill Belcamino

Founder and author, HelpCompare

Engineer by training, operator by experience, marketer by choice. Bill spent nine years as an engineer at HP, was COO of Auctiva (the number one third-party selling platform on eBay, past 200,000 users) and ran Google’s $70M/year search syndication partnership at Alot.com. Then he spent 13 years building his own web properties with his own money at stake. He has bought, trialled, integrated and cancelled more SaaS tools than he can count, and started HelpCompare because the real cost of switching tools is the part nobody covers.

“I’ve sat on both sides of the table: the agency recommending the tool and the client paying for it.”

Researched and fact-checked by the HelpCompare team. Pricing on this page was last verified on September 23, 2026. No paid sponsorships, no affiliate commissions.

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