ActiveCampaign vs Klaviyo 2026: B2B Automation or Ecommerce?

Choose Klaviyo if you run an online store; choose ActiveCampaign if you sell services, software or anything with a sales pipeline. At 1,000 contacts, Klaviyo's Email plan costs $30/mo and ActiveCampaign runs $15/mo on Starter, $49/mo on Plus and $79/mo on Pro, billed yearly. Klaviyo stays cheaper than ActiveCampaign's automation tiers at every list size we priced. Prices read October 18, 2026.

The prices come from ActiveCampaign's pricing page and Klaviyo's pricing page, both read in US dollars on 18 October 2026. Our view: these two tools are cross-shopped far more often than they compete, because each is built around a different kind of customer record. Klaviyo's profile is a shopper with orders; ActiveCampaign's contact is a lead with a deal stage.

Toolradar data: Toolradar, the software directory we run, tracks 108 email marketing tools as of October 17, 2026. ActiveCampaign is the most cross-shopped of them, listed as an alternative to 91 other tools, and Klaviyo is the most compared, with 427 side-by-side comparisons on Toolradar in the last 90 days. Directory pages: ActiveCampaign, Klaviyo, and the ActiveCampaign vs Klaviyo comparison. For transparency, MarketingShot and Dupple's other newsletters are sent on beehiiv, not on either tool compared here.

ActiveCampaign vs Klaviyo at a glance

Read the rows on automation and CRM first, because they decide the category before price does. ActiveCampaign is a marketing automation tool with a CRM attached, so it suits a consultancy nurturing leads toward a call or a SaaS company scoring trial users. Klaviyo is an ecommerce CRM: its Email plan lists unified customer profiles with all-time data, over 350 built-in integrations, predictive analytics and AI-generated segments, all of which assume a store feeding it orders.

What each costs from 1,000 to 10,000 contacts

Both tools price by list size, but they count different things. ActiveCampaign counts contacts and offers four tiers whose prices climb at different speeds; Klaviyo counts active profiles, meaning contacts who can receive marketing email, and sells one Email plan whose price follows that count.

ActiveCampaign prices are per month on yearly billing, the default shown on its page; Klaviyo prices are its monthly calculator figures. Read 18 October 2026.

Billed month to month, ActiveCampaign costs more. At 1,000 contacts Starter is $19, Plus $59 and Pro $99 a month; at 10,000 contacts the three tiers are $189, $239 and $469. Klaviyo's calculator quotes a monthly price at every profile count, so its column needs no adjustment.

The fair comparison is not Klaviyo against ActiveCampaign Starter. Starter caps each automation at 5 actions and gives you limited segmentation, so a welcome series with a branch or two already strains it. Plus is the first ActiveCampaign tier with unlimited automation actions, and against Plus, Klaviyo is cheaper at every size in the table: $100 against $145 at 5,000 contacts, and $150 against $189 at 10,000.

Sending volume is close. Klaviyo's Email plan includes 10,000 sends a month at 1,000 profiles and 100,000 at 10,000, roughly ten emails per profile. ActiveCampaign gives Starter and Plus 10 times the contact limit and Pro 12 times. Neither cap binds a list that mails twice a week.

Two worked examples: a store and a B2B team

Monthly prices hide how far apart a year of each tool can land, so here are two buyers, priced for twelve months on the published rates. The arithmetic is ours.

For the store, Klaviyo saves $540 a year against the cheapest ActiveCampaign tier with unlimited automation, and it brings the order data the flows depend on. Starter would be cheaper still on paper, but its 5-action limit per automation rules out a branching abandonment series.

For the agency, the cheaper Klaviyo bill is a false saving. Its profile has no deal stage, so the team would pay for a separate CRM to track proposals, while ActiveCampaign Pro covers three users, advanced segmentation and attribution on one record, with the pipeline add-on available on top. The extra $1,068 a year buys the workflow the business actually runs on.

The pattern holds at other sizes: when revenue arrives through a checkout, Klaviyo is the lower total cost; when it arrives through a signed proposal, ActiveCampaign is.

Where ActiveCampaign wins

ActiveCampaign wins when the goal is a conversation, not a cart. Its automation builder, CRM add-on and lead-focused features fit B2B and service businesses better than Klaviyo's shopper model:

• Sales pipeline. Plus, Pro and Enterprise can add Pipelines and sales engagement, so marketing and sales share one contact record. Klaviyo has no deal pipeline at all.
• Unlimited automation actions from Plus, with standard segmentation on Plus, advanced on Pro and premium on Enterprise. Pro adds predictive and conditional content and attribution.
• Cheap entry for a solo marketer. Starter at 1,000 contacts is half Klaviyo's price for the same list, and it is enough for newsletters and a simple welcome sequence.
• Money-back offer. The pricing page promises "guaranteed results in 30 days or your money back" on its autonomous marketing plans.

Its weaknesses are price growth and seats. Pro's yearly price rises by more than 80% between 5,000 and 10,000 contacts, and Starter and Plus include a single user, so a team of three lands on Pro whatever the list size. ActiveCampaign also has no free plan. Our ActiveCampaign review covers the product in depth, ActiveCampaign pricing breaks down every tier, and ActiveCampaign vs HubSpot is the better comparison if you need a full sales CRM.

Where Klaviyo wins

Klaviyo wins for a store because its data model starts with purchases. Profiles carry all-time order and browsing data from over 350 built-in integrations, so abandoned-cart flows, product recommendations and predictive analytics work on the Email plan without extra setup. The same plan includes AI-generated segments, content and images.

• A real free plan. Up to 250 active profiles and 500 email sends a month, kept indefinitely while you stay under both limits, plus $5 of mobile messages a month. Full email support lasts only the first 60 days on free.
• Lower price for automation-heavy use. At every list size we priced, the Email plan costs less than ActiveCampaign Plus, the first tier that matches its automation depth.
• Email and SMS in one profile. Mobile messages are priced per send by volume and destination, and the page says carrier fees are built into the rate.

Klaviyo's weaknesses mirror its strengths. It is not a B2B tool: there is no deal pipeline, and its profile is built for consumers. Its price follows active profiles, so an old list that is never cleaned keeps costing you. And past the Email plan, extras such as Composer credits at $20 a month, Customer Hub and the advanced data platform are priced as separate products. Our Klaviyo review covers the product, Klaviyo pricing prices the add-ons, and cheaper Klaviyo alternatives lists stores' cheaper options.

Which should you choose?

A store selling to other businesses sits between the two. If your orders come through a cart, Klaviyo still fits; if they come through a sales call, ActiveCampaign does. For newsletters with no store and no sales team, neither is the obvious buy: compare ActiveCampaign vs Mailchimp and our best email marketing software ranking. Teams looking at automation more broadly can start from best marketing automation software, and a store weighing Klaviyo against Mailchimp has Mailchimp vs Klaviyo.

How we compared

We read ActiveCampaign's pricing page, including the plan prices its calculator loads in US dollars, and Klaviyo's pricing page and calculator in US dollars on 18 October 2026. The cost table uses those published prices at four list sizes, with ActiveCampaign on yearly billing as its page displays it and Klaviyo on its monthly calculator price. We did not run campaigns on either tool for this page. The Toolradar figures come from its email marketing ranking dated October 17, 2026. Louis Corneloup, who founded Toolradar and Dupple, edited the comparison.

FAQ

Is ActiveCampaign or Klaviyo cheaper in 2026?

It depends on the tier you need. ActiveCampaign Starter is cheaper at small list sizes: billed yearly, it costs half the Klaviyo Email price for 1,000 contacts. Once you need unlimited automation actions, ActiveCampaign Plus costs more than Klaviyo at every size we priced, for example $189 against $150 a month at 10,000 contacts.

Is Klaviyo better than ActiveCampaign for ecommerce?

For most stores, yes. Klaviyo's Email plan builds profiles from order and browsing data through over 350 built-in integrations and includes predictive analytics. ActiveCampaign connects to stores too, but its strength is lead nurturing and a sales pipeline.

Is ActiveCampaign better for B2B?

Yes. ActiveCampaign offers a Pipelines and sales engagement add-on from Plus, contact-level automation with unlimited actions from Plus, and more users on Pro and Enterprise. Klaviyo has no deal pipeline and is built for consumer brands.

Does Klaviyo have a free plan?

Yes. Klaviyo is free for up to 250 active profiles and 500 email sends a month, with $5 of mobile messages a month and email support for the first 60 days. ActiveCampaign has no free plan, only a free trial.

How much does ActiveCampaign cost per month?

At 1,000 contacts billed yearly, Starter is $15, Plus $49 and Pro $79 a month, as read on ActiveCampaign's pricing page on 18 October 2026. Monthly billing costs more, and the price rises with every contact band.

How much does Klaviyo cost at 5,000 profiles?

Klaviyo's Email plan costs $100 a month for 3,501 to 5,000 active profiles, with 50,000 email sends a month included, according to its pricing calculator on 18 October 2026. Because the price follows active profiles, removing contacts who can no longer receive marketing email keeps the bill down.

Cite this: MarketingShot, "ActiveCampaign vs Klaviyo 2026: B2B Automation or Ecommerce?", October 2026.

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