What is Klaviyo? Key features, pricing and caveats explained (2026)

If you research email marketing for Shopify, one name comes up almost every time: Klaviyo. It is used by many direct-to-consumer brands, mostly outside Japan, and is known as a marketing tool that pairs well with Shopify.

This article explains Klaviyo's key features, its latest pricing and the caveats worth knowing before you start, alongside screenshots of the product.

What is Klaviyo?

Source: Shopify App Store, "Klaviyo: Email Marketing & SMS" (viewed November 2, 2026)

An email and SMS marketing platform from the US with deep Shopify integration

Klaviyo is a marketing platform from Klaviyo, Inc., headquartered in Boston. Its defining strength is pulling in Shopify customer, order and browsing data and using it to send emails and SMS automatically.

It has been on the Shopify App Store since 2012, and more than 117,000 brands are said to use Klaviyo with Shopify. Its App Store rating is 4.7 (3,429 reviews as of November 2, 2026).

Klaviyo's key features

Klaviyo does a lot, but the three features ecommerce stores use first are flows, segments and sign-up forms.

Flows (automations)

Source: Klaviyo website, "Flows"

Send emails and SMS automatically in response to customer behavior

Flows send messages automatically when customers take actions such as signing up, leaving items in their cart or making a purchase. More than 60 templates cover common ecommerce journeys such as welcome emails, abandoned cart reminders, post-purchase follow-ups and win-backs.

You can set branches and waits with drag and drop, and combine email, SMS and mobile push in a single flow. You can also describe the flow you want and have AI draft it.

Segments

Source: Klaviyo website, "Customer segmentation"

Narrow down who to message using purchase and behavior data

Segments pull out only the customers who match your conditions. You can combine purchase history, viewed products, location and email engagement to target very specific groups, such as "high predicted lifetime value customers who didn't use a discount in the last sale". Segments update in real time and can use historical data.

A particular strength is using machine-learning predictions — churn risk, expected next order date, RFM groupings — as segment conditions. You can also describe the customers you want to reach in plain language and have AI build the segment.

Sign-up forms

Source: Klaviyo website, "Web forms"

Grow your list with pop-ups and embedded forms

You can build forms that collect email addresses and phone numbers from site visitors without writing code. Formats include pop-ups, fly-outs, embedded forms and full-page forms, with more than 70 templates.

You can control when forms appear (scroll depth, time on site, exit intent) and who sees them (segment, location, cart value and more), and compare versions with A/B tests.

Other features

• Campaigns: One-off sends such as sales and new product announcements, with send-time optimization and A/B testing
• AI (Composer): A marketing agent that helps create campaign content and set up sends
• Analytics and reporting: Dashboards for revenue and conversions by send and segment trends
• Customer Hub: An account area where customers can check order status, recommendations and points on your site
• Customer service: An inbox (Helpdesk) and AI auto-replies (Customer Agent) can be added at extra cost

Klaviyo pricing

Source: Shopify App Store, "Klaviyo: Email Marketing & SMS" (viewed November 2, 2026)

Klaviyo's price depends on your number of active profiles (the contacts in your account you can message) and the plan you choose. The main plans are:

• Free: Up to 250 active profiles and 500 emails a month
• Email: For using email marketing in earnest, with A/B testing and 400+ integrations
• Marketing: The Email plan plus mobile push, predictive analytics, Customer Hub and social features

Monthly prices by count are as follows (checked on Klaviyo's pricing page on November 2, 2026).

SMS is used by buying credits based on sending volume (for example, up to 1,250 credits for $15/month). Klaviyo may bill you separately from your Shopify invoice.

The more features you add, the more you pay

Source: Klaviyo website, "Klaviyo pricing", All products tab (viewed November 2, 2026)

A model where you pick products and add them to your plan

In recent years Klaviyo has steadily added AI agents, customer service and data analytics products beyond email. On the "All products" tab of its pricing page, you add products like these to your email plan as needed.

Example prices are the amounts shown at the pricing simulator's default settings and change with usage.

In other words, with Klaviyo you can pay to use a wide range of features — from marketing to customer service and AI — on the same customer data, but your monthly bill grows as you add features. Email alone starts at $20/month, but at around 500 profiles, adding Customer Agent ($140) and Helpdesk ($185) to the Marketing plan ($90) takes you past $400/month. Before adopting it, decide which features you will use and estimate the total. Check Klaviyo's pricing page for current amounts.

Klaviyo's strengths

• Deep data integration with Shopify: Customer, order and browsing data is ready to use for messaging and analysis
• Plenty of templates: Many flow and form templates let you start standard ecommerce campaigns quickly
• Detailed segments and predictive analytics: Advanced targeting using purchase predictions
• Broad channel coverage: Email, SMS, WhatsApp and mobile push in a single flow
• Many integrations: Connect data with apps for reviews, loyalty, subscriptions and more
• Add features as you grow: Buy AI agents, customer service and advanced analytics when you need them, keeping customer data on one platform

Caveats to know before using Klaviyo

Pricing is based on the number of contacts you can message

Klaviyo bills on the total number of active profiles in your account, not how many people you actually messaged that month. Inactive customers you haven't emailed in a while still count if they remain on your list, so unless you clean your list regularly, your bill can rise without you noticing. Some App Store reviews also warn about this billing model.

The monthly bill rises as you add features

Higher plans and add-on products are each priced separately. Even if you start with email only, adding SMS, AI agents and customer service can raise your monthly bill by hundreds of dollars. Without deciding which features you really need, you may end up paying for features you don't fully use.

Information in Japanese is still limited

The dashboard supports Japanese display, but help articles, learning content and webinars are mainly in English. Support in Japanese appears to be evolving, so we recommend checking how much you can discuss in Japanese before adopting it. Whether someone on your team can work through English resources also affects how easy it is to run.

LINE is not a built-in channel

LINE, widely used in Japanese ecommerce, is not one of Klaviyo's built-in channels. Stores that also want LINE commonly combine it with a LINE integration service listed on the Klaviyo app marketplace, such as Lumo. You can also connect to other software through flow webhooks and similar features to send LINE. Either way, a separate contract and setup for that service is required.

Rich features take time to master

With so many features, using everything takes some learning. App Store reviews include comments like "there's a learning curve, but it's worth it". We recommend starting with basic flows such as welcome, abandoned cart and post-purchase follow-up.

Stores Klaviyo suits

• Stores selling mainly overseas that use email and SMS as primary channels
• Stores that want to make detailed use of segments and predictive analytics based on purchase data
• Stores with someone who can work through English resources and build out campaigns in-house
• Stores that want to connect data across many apps, such as reviews and loyalty

Summary

Klaviyo has become a standard for email and SMS marketing thanks to its deep data integration with Shopify and its rich flows, segments and forms. It is free for up to 250 profiles, so starting with basic flows on the Free plan is a good way to try it.

In recent years it has also added higher-end products such as AI agents and customer service, so by paying you can use many features on one platform. On the other hand, costs that build up as you add features, billing by active profiles, limited information in Japanese and LINE not being a built-in channel are points stores in Japan should check before adopting it.

If you also want LINE: StoreCRM as an option

For stores in Japan that want to reach customers on LINE as well as email, StoreCRM, which sends email and LINE from one dashboard, is another option. StoreCRM is a CRM app for Shopify stores in Japan, with support in Japanese.

See the StoreCRM pricing page or download our product guide for details on pricing and features.

References

• Klaviyo: Email Marketing & SMS (Shopify App Store)
• Klaviyo pricing (Klaviyo website)
• Flows (Klaviyo website)
• Customer segmentation (Klaviyo website)
• Web forms (Klaviyo website)
• Lumo: LINE Marketing (Klaviyo Marketplace)

Information in this article is current as of November 2, 2026. Klaviyo's pricing and features may change.