Klaviyo vs ActiveCampaign: Which is The Top Email Marketing Software For eCommerce?

Which email marketing platform you utilize as an eCommerce business owner may make a massive difference in terms of developing your company and expanding your target audience. 

There's not really one single “best” eCommerce email marketing software out there; instead, it's critical to find the right fit for your specific company. Below is a detailed comparison of Klaviyo vs. ActiveCampaign to help you decide which software is most likely to be successful for your organization.  

What Are Klaviyo & ActiveCampaign? 

Klaviyo and ActiveCampaign are both types of email marketing software for eCommerce businesses. While both of these solutions have some overlapping basic features, one may be better suited to certain types of businesses than the other. 

Klaviyo is a popular email marketing solution for eCommerce stores on platforms like Adobe Commerce (formerly Magento) or Shopify due to its ultra-easy integration with third-party applications. It also integrates smoothly with custom-designed websites and is a workable solution for both B2B and B2C companies. Its major goal is to assist users in accessing, analyzing, and storing behavioral and transactional information to enhance email marketing campaigns. Customers are currently limited to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. One of Klavioy’s key features is the abandoned cart workflow creator.

Considering 70% of customers abandon their cart this functionality is critical for eCommerce stores' bottom line. 

ActiveCampaign is a cloud-based email marketing tool for companies looking to engage and interact with the end-user. It does this by way of offering a multi-faceted solution for email marketing, CRM, and marketing automation. It also boasts more than 300+ third-party application integrations, making it a viable choice for many businesses. The organization now has over 145,000 customers in more than 170 countries. It also sets itself apart from standard CRM and email marketing solutions by including comprehensive customer assistance in its offerings. 

What Do Klaviyo & ActiveCampaign Do? 

Klaviyo provides strong email and SMS marketing technology that can be used for promotions, discounts, early customer access, welcome texts, and other notifications. Both Klaviyo and ActiveCampaign include comprehensive automation tool builders that may be used to design your desired automation. Klaviyo calls automation “flow,” which allows you to send emails and SMS messages according to contact activity, such as when a user subscribes to your list, completes a purchase, or abandons their cart.  ActiveCampaign in particular shines when it comes to automation. Active Campaign offers many more “flow” or automation triggers and possibilities in comparison to Klaviyo. 

Which Software Is Best For Which Type of User? 

Not every type of email marketing software is best for every type of end-user. For sellers, solutions designed specifically for eCommerce tend to be more robust in their features and do a better job of meeting the needs of eCommerce businesses. Let’s take a look at how Klaviyo vs. ActiveCampaign stack up against each other in terms of their target and practical audience. 

Klaviyo’s Ideal User 

Klaviyo’s ideal user is a small to mid-size business that primarily sells tangible products in its online store. This user is unsatisfied with the basic segmentation and analytics options that free email marketing software tends to offer. They can afford to pay a modest fee monthly or annually for the right email marketing tool, but may not have the budget for ultra-high-level inbound marketing software like HubSpot. They want best-in-class automation and segmentation options for eCommerce without the extras they don’t need or won’t use. 

ActiveCampaign’s Ideal User  

ActiveCampaign’s ideal user is a mid-size company that provides online services, consulting or other intangible but still valuable commodities. This user may be able to make free email marketing software like MailChimp work but can benefit substantially from switching to an eCommerce email marketing solution. They offer end users dynamic content like eBooks, webinars, online classes, etc., and want to create a high-value customer experience from start to finish. They want good customer support and may need help onboarding team members. 

How Much Does ActiveCampaign vs Klaviyo Cost? 

Both ActiveCampaign and Klaviyo are paid email marketing tools. However, compared to pricey options like HubSpot, both are affordable regardless of which subscription plan you choose. Klaviyo also offers a limited free version for basic email marketing to help small companies get started. 

It’s important to note that the way that each of these platforms is priced is different. Klaviyo charges based on the number of contacts you have, while ActiveCampaign has set tiers that allow up to 500 contacts with varying features in each subscription package. 

ActiveCampaign Pricing

Klaviyo Pricing 

Ultimately, ActiveCampaign offers more features for the money in each of their subscription plans. However, at first glance, it may seem like Klaviyo is the least expensive option right out of the gate because ActiveCampaign does not offer a free version of its software at all. But Klaviyo’s free subscription only allows users to access an extremely limited number of contacts and features. Klaviyo justifies its expensive pricing with the ROI calculator. Considering Klaviyo specialize in eCommerce, they're able to give estimates on the ROI of investing in their platform.

The cost per subscriber for the least expensive Klaviyo tier is $0.04. ActiveCampaign, on the other hand, offers a competitive price of $0.018 per subscriber, or just over a penny. That’s one-fourth of the cost of Klaviyo with more than double the marketing automation capabilities. 

Key Features of Klaviyo vs. ActiveCampaign  

Below, let’s see how Klaviyo vs. ActiveCampaign stacks up against each other in terms of the most important email marketing software features for eCommerce businesses: 

• Deliverability: Deliverability, or email deliverability, is the measurement of the likelihood that your emails will actually make it past spam filters and into your potential customers’ inboxes. ActiveCampaign tends to have higher deliverability rates than Klaviyo, although both are relatively high in the eCommerce industry. Based on a study conducted by Email Tech, the deliverability of Klaivyo was 81% whilst ActiveCampaign was 92%. Not to mention more emails from the ActiveCamapaign study made it to the primary inbox as opposed to the promotions. Considering Klaivyo is used by more eCommerce businesses this is not surprising. Keep this in mind when choosing a platform – it will make a difference over time.

• Automation: ActiveCampaign offers more automation features than Klaviyo, including start and stop automation, automation split testing, dynamic automation, and automation maps. Using activecampaign’s automated workflows, the company reports that from 2020 to 2021, its users saved on average 38.4 million hours on email marketing. This is no surprise considering their guides for creating these workflows are extensive and accurate.

• HTML & Drag/Drop Editing: Both email marketing platforms offer robust drag/drop editing capabilities and responsive design templates. However, Klaviyo offers more analytical data specific to eCommerce companies while ActiveCampaign takes the lead in graphics and design flexibility.  

• SMS: Both solutions offer SMS marketing, but ActiveCampaign does not offer this feature in their lowest (Lite) tier. Klaviyo includes subscriptions by SMS as a basic feature regardless of how many contacts per month you pay for. 

• Ease-Of-Use: Klaviyo and ActiveCampaign are both easy to use with WYSIWYG editing, but Klaviyo tends to be a little more user-friendly on the back end and may be a good option for beginners. 

• Customer Support: Both ActiveCampaign and Klaviyo offer customer support in the form of email and live chat. However, Klaviyo only provides support to customers on paid email marketing plans. ActiveCampaign goes a step further to provide additional resources beyond chat and email support, such as help with migration or onboarding materials. 

• Third-Party Integration: The Klaviyo integrations and ActiveCampaign integrations each flex great capabilities, but again ActiveCampaign takes a slight lead with at least 100 more integrations than Klaviyo has. Both platforms continue to add integrations on a regular basis to stay competitive in the eCommerce market.  However, it shouldn't be too concerning that Klaivyo has fewer integrations considering they're all eCommerce specific. For instance, Klaviyo has an integration with Okendo (a popular user-generated review app) whereas ActiveCampaign doesn't.

• CRM: ActiveCampaign has a built-in Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tool that helps companies better tailor content to their target audience. Klaviyo offers a basic CRM that can get the job done, but users who want a robust CRM with plenty of features may want to opt for ActiveCampaign email marketing software. 

• Split Testing: Both ActiveCampaign and Klaviyo offer split testing tools that allow companies to hone in on the best-performing emails. This is particularly important when testing different copywriting formulas in the subject or body of the email.

Companies Using Klaviyo & ActiveCampaign 

Before deciding which email marketing tool to use for your eCommerce business, part of your due diligence should include researching companies that are actually using the solutions you’re considering for your own company. Here are examples of organizations using Klaviyo and ActiveCampaign. 

Klaviyo Case Studies 

Dermalogica 

Dermologica is a well-known skincare brand with a number of different face, eye, lip, and body care products. The company offers customized solutions for different skin types, including oily, dry, and combination skin. This case study highlights how Klaviyo can be utilized by businesses that primarily sell products online. The huge range of products is a testament that Klaviyo can adequately handle automation and workflows at scale. The website is clear and straightforward, with easy navigation to services, about, and the online store. 

Other brands using Klaviyo for their eCommerce email marketing function include Premier, Mixtiles, Shoe Sensation, Adreno, Spearfishing.com, Dagne Dover, Proozy, and Doe Lashes.

ActiveCampaign Case Studies 

Hipcooks 

Hipcooks offers virtual and in-person cooking classes geared towards Millennial and Gen Z users. They use ActiveCampaign to manage their email newsletter, which offers a wide variety of cooking tips and tricks, as well as access to exclusive discounts and information about new and upcoming cooking classes. Their home page functions as a landing page, however, the current navigation makes it difficult to find the full website when looking for information about the company. This case study showcases how ActiveCampaign can be used by companies that offer services, online appointments, and other types of eCommerce that aren’t strictly product-oriented.   

ActiveCampaign is also used by brands like Together For Safer Roads (TSR), Apple Rose Beauty, FuelsGo!, Food Cheri, Valencia, and Plus Accounting. ActiveCampaign has more case studies available for review on its website to help companies decide if the platform is right for them, and statistics are easy to find. For example, ActiveCampaign helped startup Valencia grow its partner base by five (5) times, and Peoplematters was able to increase its email open rates by as much as 20% using the software. 

Klaviyo & Active Campaign Ratings

The Bottom Line 

Ultimately, Klaviyo is more of an all-around eCommerce email marketing solution tailored to meet the needs of businesses that sell physical products to end consumers. ActiveCampaign is better suited for broader industries that are less transactional in nature. For example, a school or law firm that may provide services online would be considered an ideal ActiveCampaign user. Klaviyo really focuses on extracting as much revenue as possible from eCommerce companies.