Comparison · ActiveCampaign vs Klaviyo
ActiveCampaign and Klaviyo both automate email and SMS, both offer AI agents and both price by list size, yet they are built for different businesses. Every row below comes from each vendor's own pages.
Our take
Klaviyo is the better fit when revenue arrives as orders: its predictive analytics read order history, and it adds push, RCS, product reviews and a helpdesk to email and SMS for consumer brands. ActiveCampaign is the better fit when revenue arrives as deals: it pairs marketing automation with a CRM for pipelines, deals and lead scoring, and lets a builder wire workflows with up to five triggers by hand. Both send email, SMS and WhatsApp, and both now have AI that drafts for you. The deciding question is how your customers buy.
Side by side
Every cell is read from the vendor's own published pages.
| Capability | ActiveCampaign | Klaviyo |
|---|---|---|
| Who it is for | ||
| Built for | "Marketing automation for any business" – more than 180,000 businesses, by its own count. | Consumer brands – "205,000+ relationship-driven brands across 100 countries"; it calls itself a B2C CRM. |
| Channels | ||
| Email marketing automation, with sending set by plan; predictive sending on Pro and up. | Email marketing, with sending set by plan. | |
| SMS and WhatsApp | SMS as an add-on; WhatsApp messaging. | SMS marketing and WhatsApp marketing. |
| More channels | Landing pages on Plus and up. | Mobile app push, RCS and social marketing. |
| Automation and AI | ||
| Automation builder | Multi-step workflows with up to 5 triggers and advanced conditional splits. | Flows for every kind of marketing journey; Composer drafts them and the message in each step. |
| AI agents | "Your team of AI agents handles email, SMS, WhatsApp and more"; Active Intelligence has your next move ready. | Composer, "your AI marketing agent", drafts campaigns, flows, segments and push; nothing publishes without your approval. |
| Predictions | Predictive sending and predictive content on Pro and Enterprise. | Predicted CLV, churn risk and expected next order date, once 500 customers have ordered. |
| Testing | A/B tests on email from Starter; on email and automations on Pro and up. | A/B tests on subject lines, content and send times, judged on opens, clicks or placed orders. |
| Data and CRM | ||
| Sales CRM | A CRM with pipelines, deals and lead scoring, with sales engagement add-ons. | Profiles and segments on the Klaviyo Data Platform, built for consumer relationships. |
| Segmentation and reporting | Standard to premium segmentation by plan; attribution and conversion tracking on Pro and up. | Klaviyo Analytics and Benchmarks; an Advanced Klaviyo Data Platform tier. |
| Integrations | 1,000+ app integrations, including Shopify, Salesforce and HubSpot. | An app marketplace with partners such as Google Ads (by Klaviyo), Nosto and PostPilot. |
| Service | ||
| Customer service | ActiveCampaign's pages center on marketing automation and the sales CRM. | Klaviyo Service: a Helpdesk, a Customer Hub and a Customer Agent; a Reviews product. |
| Getting started | ||
| Users and access | Users set by plan; SSO on Enterprise. | Plans quoted by profiles through the plan estimate. |
| Trying it | A 14-day trial and a 30-day money-back guarantee. | An entry plan for small lists, with mobile messages and Composer use included. |
Pricing
Both price by the size of your list, and each publishes its current plans on its own pricing page. Price both with your own list.
Starter, Plus, Pro and Enterprise, priced by your contact count and plan. Plus adds landing pages; Pro adds predictive sending and content, attribution and A/B tests on automations; Enterprise adds custom objects, SSO and a dedicated account team. SMS and the CRM's sales add-ons come on top.
An entry plan for small lists, then paid plans priced by profiles and channels through the plan estimate on Klaviyo's pricing page.
Read on activecampaign.com and klaviyo.com in October 2026. List-based pricing changes as you grow – each vendor's pricing page is the one to check before you sign.
An honest read
Both answers are legitimate. Here is the fair version of each.
Pick ActiveCampaign if your revenue arrives as deals and your marketing and sales should share one record.
Your team sells through pipelines and wants deals and lead scoring beside the email.
A builder on your team wants workflows with up to five triggers and splits wired by hand.
Your team needs custom objects and SSO (Enterprise).
You want landing pages inside the automation tool (Plus and up).
Pick Klaviyo if you sell online to consumers and your revenue arrives as orders.
At least 500 customers have ordered, so predicted CLV and churn risk switch on.
You want push, RCS or product reviews from the same vendor as your email.
Your support desk should live beside email and SMS, in Klaviyo Service.
Klaviyo's Benchmarks and analytics are part of how your team decides.
A third option
Some teams comparing these two are really choosing how much of their marketing should sit on one platform. The AI CMO puts acquisition, retention and customer support on one customer record: Google Ads campaigns and SEO, journeys across email, SMS, WhatsApp and push with holdout groups that measure the revenue caused, and a Helpdesk beside each customer's orders. It does not run a sales pipeline, so keep a CRM for deals. It suits a team that wants the whole operation, not a cheaper sender.
See The AI CMO's pricingQuestions
Straight answers about ActiveCampaign and Klaviyo.
For a consumer brand selling online, Klaviyo is built around that business: predictive analytics on order history, push, RCS, product reviews and a helpdesk beside email and SMS. ActiveCampaign integrates with Shopify and suits stores too, but its center is marketing automation with a sales CRM – the stronger choice when deals, not orders, drive revenue.
It depends on your list and your channels, because both price by list size: ActiveCampaign by contacts and plan, with SMS and CRM add-ons on top, and Klaviyo by profiles and channels through its plan estimate. Each vendor's own pricing page carries its current prices; price both with your real numbers.
ActiveCampaign includes a sales CRM with pipelines, deals and lead scoring. Klaviyo describes itself as a B2C CRM – customer profiles, events and segments on its data platform, built for consumer relationships. If you run a sales team with deals to track, ActiveCampaign's pipelines usually decide it.
Yes. ActiveCampaign says its AI agents handle email, SMS and WhatsApp, with Active Intelligence suggesting the next move. Klaviyo's Composer drafts campaigns, flows, segments and push from a plain-language prompt, and nothing publishes without your approval. Either way, your team reviews the drafts before customers see them.
Both. ActiveCampaign offers SMS as an add-on and WhatsApp messaging, with its AI agents working across email, SMS and WhatsApp. Klaviyo lists SMS and WhatsApp marketing, plus mobile app push and RCS. Check each pricing page for message costs in your country.
Read next
Orders point to Klaviyo; deals point to ActiveCampaign. If you want acquisition, retention and support on one record, compare The AI CMO too.