Klaviyo is an email, SMS and WhatsApp marketing platform that uses a store's customer data (orders, viewed products, carts) to send automated messages and campaigns. As of October 2026 it is free up to 250 active profiles, and the email plan starts at about $20 a month for 500 profiles, then rises with the number of contacts.
Below you'll find how the Shopify connection works, which flows to set up first, the cost per profile tier, the line items that never appear on the price list, and the alternatives. Prices come from the official pricing page as of October 2026, in dollars: check them again before you decide.
What is Klaviyo and how does it work with Shopify?
Klaviyo combines a database of your customers with the tools to write to them, and what sets it apart from a newsletter program is the first half. Every person is a profile, and events pile up on each profile: viewed a product, added to cart, started checkout, placed an order.
With Shopify the connection is a native integration: Klaviyo imports customers, orders and the catalog, and keeps receiving events in real time. On that data you build segments ("bought at least twice in the past year", "viewed rings but never ordered") that update on their own.
Campaigns are one-off sends to a list or a segment, like the weekly newsletter. Flows are automated sequences that start from an event and run without any manual work. Flows tend to give the steadiest results, because they reach people right after they showed interest.
Which flows should every store have?
Before campaigns, it's worth setting up these flows:
- Welcome: starts at signup; 2-3 emails introducing the store and the reason to buy there.
- Abandoned checkout: first email within an hour, up to three in total.
- Abandoned cart and browse abandonment: more relaxed timing and a lighter tone for people who only looked.
- Post-purchase: thank-you, usage instructions, then a review request or reorder prompt.
- Win-back: for people who haven't bought for longer than their usual purchase cycle.
Every recovery flow needs the profile filter "Placed Order zero times since starting this flow", so that anyone who buys after the first email doesn't get the rest. Timing and step-by-step setup are in the guide to the abandoned cart flow in Klaviyo.
Two examples of first emails, for generic stores:
Subject: Welcome, here's where to start
Hi Emily, thanks for signing up. We make sterling silver jewelry by hand, in small batches: when a style sells out, it often doesn't come back. Below are the three most popular styles this month, with insured shipping.
[See the most popular]
Subject: Your magnesium is on its way: how to take it
Hi Daniel, your order has shipped. For the first few weeks, follow the dose on the label, always at the same time of day. In three weeks we'll write to ask how it's going and, if you need it, to offer a reorder.
[Read the quick guide]
How much does Klaviyo cost as of October 2026?
The price depends on active profiles, meaning the contacts who can receive marketing email; every plan includes monthly sends equal to ten times the profiles in the tier. The free plan covers 250 active profiles, 500 emails and $5 of mobile messaging a month, with email support only during the first 60 days. The email plan prices published by Klaviyo:
| Active profiles | Approximate monthly cost | Emails included per month | What makes sense at this size |
|---|---|---|---|
| up to 250 | free | 500 | Connect Shopify, turn on welcome and abandoned checkout |
| 251-500 | about $20 | 5,000 | Complete the recovery flows, newsletter every 1-2 weeks |
| 501-1,000 | about $30 | 10,000 | Add post-purchase and buyer / non-buyer segments |
| 1,501-2,500 | about $60 | 25,000 | Win-back and segment campaigns |
| 3,501-5,000 | about $100 | 50,000 | Sunset flow and periodic suppression of inactive profiles |
| 6,501-10,000 | about $150 | 100,000 | Consider SMS or WhatsApp on narrow segments |
| 20,001-25,000 | about $400 | 250,000 | Treat active profiles as a budget line |
| 45,001-50,000 | about $720 | 500,000 | Review tier, inactive profiles and channels every quarter |
Between 10,000 and 15,000 profiles the price rises by about $25 for every 500 contacts, from about $150 to about $350 a month: that's where cleaning out inactive profiles starts to show up on the bill.
What costs don't show up on the price list?
Profiles grow on their own. With Shopify connected, people who leave their email at checkout without subscribing to the newsletter also enter Klaviyo, and they can count as active profiles. If you exceed your tier, Klaviyo may move you to the next one from the following billing cycle. Suppressed profiles don't count: Klaviyo itself suggests suppressing people who haven't opened or bought in a long time, after a final sunset flow.
SMS and WhatsApp are billed separately. You need a monthly mobile messaging plan plus a per-message cost, in dollars, that varies by channel and by the recipient's country, with carrier fees already included. Unused allowance doesn't roll over to the next month, and an SMS longer than 160 characters (70 if it contains an emoji) is split into several segments, each one billed.
The time it takes to write the content. This is the most underestimated item. The recovery flows alone, with three events and up to three emails each, add up to nine texts to write, translate and refresh; then come the other flows and the campaigns. Part of that work can be handed to tools connected to the flows: AchillesAI, for example, receives the abandonment events from Klaviyo flows and writes the text of each recovery email for the individual customer, while sending stays in Klaviyo.
How do SMS and WhatsApp work in Klaviyo?
Klaviyo sends SMS and WhatsApp messages from the same flows as email. SMS rates are listed by country, and for WhatsApp Klaviyo publishes its own rates for a set of countries: Italy, France, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands and the UK. In the US the usual mobile channel is SMS; in Europe and Latin America it is WhatsApp.
On WhatsApp, Meta sets the rules. You need a Meta Business account and a dedicated number, separate from your SMS number. Store messages use approved templates, which Meta bills by type (marketing, or service messages about an order) and by the recipient's country; replies inside a conversation the customer started aren't billed. Customer consent is always required. How to use it for abandoned carts is covered in the article on abandoned cart text messages: SMS and WhatsApp.
Who is Klaviyo right for, and who should skip it?
Klaviyo suits a Shopify store with steady traffic and products people reorder or give as gifts: the flows work on enough volume, and at about $30 a month for 1,000 profiles, a few recovered orders are enough to cover the plan. It suits less a store with a few hundred contacts, or one with no time to write and maintain flows: a platform that's configured but empty still costs money.
The most commonly considered alternatives, briefly:
- Shopify Email: already inside Shopify, with 10,000 free emails a month on the Basic, Grow, Advanced and Plus plans, then $1 per 1,000. Simpler automations.
- Mailchimp: built for email marketing in general, not only for ecommerce.
- Omnisend: built for ecommerce, with email and SMS in the same platform.
The most useful test is whether you will really use the data: if every message will be the same for everyone, a simpler tool is enough.
Where to start
Connect Shopify on the free plan or the first tier and turn on abandoned checkout and welcome first, since they work from day one. Create a segment of inactive profiles and a sunset flow right away, so active profiles grow with real customers. Before turning on SMS or WhatsApp, check the rates for the countries you sell to under Billing, and test on a single flow.
For strategy, read the abandoned cart recovery guide; for setup, the one on the abandoned cart flow in Klaviyo.
