Expert Guide

Best Email Marketing for Ecommerce in 2026

Eight store email tools compared on what the meter counts and what a 500-contact list costs, with vendor prices from October 2026.

Product links may be affiliate links. How we rate 8 tools compared
TL;DR

For most online stores in 2026, Klaviyo is the email platform to price first: the entry email plan is $20/mo for 251 to 500 active profiles, and a qualifying new account gets $19 off the first month.

Omnisend Standard is the lower published card at 500 contacts, at $11.20/mo for three months. Shopify Messaging stays at $0 under 10,000 emails a month when the store is already on a paid Shopify plan.

Key facts8 tools compared: Klaviyo, Omnisend, Shopify Messaging, Privy, Drip, Mailchimp, Brevo, Sendlane
  • Updated: October 16, 2026
  • Top pick: Klaviyo (best for: Stores that want checkout data in the flow and will suppress inactive profiles)
  • Top pick price as of October 16, 2026: Klaviyo: Free to 250 profiles and 500 emails/mo. Entry email plan covers 251 to 500 profiles.
  • 8 tools compared: Klaviyo, Omnisend, Shopify Messaging, Privy, Drip, Mailchimp, Brevo, Sendlane
  • Omnisend (best for: Stores that want prebuilt flows on a lower bill than a profile-priced plan): Free to 250 contacts and 500 emails/mo. Standard is $11.20/mo at 500 contacts for 3 months.
  • Shopify Messaging (best for: Shopify stores that stay inside the included monthly emails): 10,000 emails/mo included on a paid Shopify plan, then $1 per 1,000.
  • Privy (best for: Stores that want popups and unlimited email on one bill): From $30/mo for up to 1,500 mailable contacts. Unlimited emails. 15-day trial.

Buy the platform whose meter matches the list the store will actually have. Checkout emails, popup signups, and one-time buyers all land on that meter, and a cheap sender that cannot see an order never ties the email to the sale.

This page prices eight platforms a store marketer would open first, at about 500 billable contacts, with every figure read on the vendor's own pages in October 2026.

MarketingShot data: this newsletter reaches 35,000+ marketers, and the average open rate is 32% as of October 18, 2026.

Dupple sends its newsletters, including MarketingShot, on beehiiv, which is a newsletter product and not one of the store platforms ranked below.

Toolradar data: the email marketing ranking we publish at Toolradar, the software directory we run, evaluated 107 tools and was updated in October 2026.

That directory covers every kind of sender, which is a different job from pricing a store.

The Toolradar ecommerce guide is the data-ranked sibling, and the notes below are the marketer's version of the same buying question.

Email cost for a store at about 500 contacts, verified on each vendor's pages in October 2026
PlatformBest forPrice near 500 contactsSend cap
KlaviyoPurchase data in the flowEntry email plan, up to 500 profiles10 times the profile cap on a paid plan
OmnisendPrebuilt store flows$11.20/mo on Standard for 3 months6,000 emails a month at 500 contacts
Shopify MessagingA store already on ShopifyIncluded under 10,000 emailsThen $1 per 1,000
PrivyPopups plus unlimited email$30/mo up to 1,500 mailable contactsUnlimited emails
DripUnlimited paid sends$39/mo for 1 to 2,500 peopleUnlimited on the paid plan
MailchimpA team already in the toolStandard's 12-month card6,000 emails on that card
BrevoAutomation before store blocksStandard $18/moStarter starts at 5,000 emails a month
SendlaneA large list, modest sendsSend bands, unlimited profiles1,000 sends at $21, 2,500 at $50

Top Picks

Based on features, real-world fit, and value for money.

#1 Top pick

Klaviyo

The store default when checkout data drives the flow, unless inactive profiles stay in the file.

Pricing

Free to 250 profiles and 500 emails/mo. Entry email plan covers 251 to 500 profiles.

Best for

Stores that want checkout data in the flow and will suppress inactive profiles

#2

Omnisend

Prebuilt cart and post-purchase flows on the lowest printed card, if you budget past the intro offer.

Pricing

Free to 250 contacts and 500 emails/mo. Standard is $11.20/mo at 500 contacts for 3 months.

Best for

Stores that want prebuilt flows on a lower bill than a profile-priced plan

#3

Shopify Messaging

Included email on Shopify, with abandoned checkout outside the monthly cap and no use on another cart.

Pricing

10,000 emails/mo included on a paid Shopify plan, then $1 per 1,000.

Best for

Shopify stores that stay inside the included monthly emails

Best Email Marketing for Ecommerce in 2026: 8 tools compared, updated Oct 2026
ToolPricingBest for
KlaviyoFree to 250 profiles and 500 emails/mo. Entry email plan covers 251 to 500 profiles.Stores that want checkout data in the flow and will suppress inactive profiles
OmnisendFree to 250 contacts and 500 emails/mo. Standard is $11.20/mo at 500 contacts for 3 months.Stores that want prebuilt flows on a lower bill than a profile-priced plan
Shopify Messaging10,000 emails/mo included on a paid Shopify plan, then $1 per 1,000.Shopify stores that stay inside the included monthly emails
PrivyFrom $30/mo for up to 1,500 mailable contacts. Unlimited emails. 15-day trial.Stores that want popups and unlimited email on one bill
DripFrom $39/mo for 1 to 2,500 people. Unlimited sends on paid plans. 14-day trial.Stores under 2,500 people that want unlimited paid sends
MailchimpFree to 250 contacts and 500 sends/mo. Standard's 12-month card includes a 6,000-email cap.Teams already in Mailchimp that can live with a short flow
BrevoFree plan, 300 emails/day. Starter $9/mo. Automations start on Standard at $18/mo.Stores that need automation before the ecommerce add-ons
SendlaneUnlimited profiles. Published send bands include 1,000 at $21 and 2,500 at $50.Stores with a large profile file and a modest monthly send volume

Pricing read from each vendor's own pricing page, checked Oct 2026. Every vendor here publishes a price.

Lowest published monthly price by toolBar chart of the lowest monthly price each vendor publishes; the same figures are in the comparison table above.Lowest published monthly priceOmnisend$11.20Privy$30Drip$39Brevo$9
Lowest monthly figure each vendor publishes, checked Oct 2026. A tilde marks a figure the vendor states approximately. Per-seat and usage charges can sit on top of it. 4 of 8 do not publish a comparable monthly price and are left out rather than estimated.
1 Klaviyo logo
Top Pick

Klaviyo

The store default when checkout data drives the flow, unless inactive profiles stay in the file.

Pricing
Free to 250 profiles and 500 emails/mo. Entry email plan covers 251 to 500 profiles.

Best for: Stores that want checkout data in the flow and will suppress inactive profiles

Pros

  • The free plan holds 250 active profiles, 500 emails a month, and a $5 mobile allowance, so the next profile is a paid one.
  • A paid plan's email cap is 10 times the profile tier, so 500 profiles can receive 5,000 emails.
  • Shopify and WooCommerce can sync orders into the same profile the flow branches on.

Cons

  • A checkout or an order can create a billable profile even when that person never opted in, so an import of old orders can raise the plan.
  • Email support on the free plan lasts 60 days, and the $19 first-month credit does not apply to Email+SMS plans.
2 Omnisend logo

Omnisend

Prebuilt cart and post-purchase flows on the lowest printed card, if you budget past the intro offer.

Pricing
Free to 250 contacts and 500 emails/mo. Standard is $11.20/mo at 500 contacts for 3 months.

Best for: Stores that want prebuilt flows on a lower bill than a profile-priced plan

Pros

  • Standard at 500 contacts includes 6,000 emails a month, equal to 12 times that list, enough for a welcome series and a weekly send.
  • Prebuilt ecommerce workflows cover cart abandonment, welcome, and post-purchase, so you are not building from scratch.
  • Support is 24/7 on every plan, including free, and migration of contacts and flows is included.

Cons

  • The Standard and Pro prices on the card are a 30% cut for three months, and the later monthly rate is higher.
  • The Pro card that shows unlimited email is priced at 2,500 contacts, not at the 500-contact Standard band.
3 Shopify Messaging logo

Shopify Messaging

Included email on Shopify, with abandoned checkout outside the monthly cap and no use on another cart.

Pricing
10,000 emails/mo included on a paid Shopify plan, then $1 per 1,000.

Best for: Shopify stores that stay inside the included monthly emails

Pros

  • Basic, Grow, Advanced, and Plus each include the same monthly email allowance.
  • Abandoned checkout automations are always free and do not use that allowance.
  • Past the included emails, the rate is $1 per 1,000 up to 300,000, then $0.65, then $0.55, so a spike has a published price.

Cons

  • It requires a Shopify plan in that set, so a WooCommerce or BigCommerce store cannot use it.
  • Welcome series and campaigns share the included allowance, and unused emails do not roll into the next month.
4 Privy logo

Privy

Unlimited email on mailable contacts, with popups included and a price jump at the next band.

Pricing
From $30/mo for up to 1,500 mailable contacts. Unlimited emails. 15-day trial.

Best for: Stores that want popups and unlimited email on one bill

Pros

  • The first email band runs through 1,500 mailable contacts, with unlimited sends.
  • A 15-day trial does not ask for a card, and 250 SMS credits are included, enough to test text and not to run it.
  • A displays-only plan, for popups without email, starts at $24/mo up to 10,000 page views.

Cons

  • SMS past the included credits is a separate monthly credit block, not part of the email price.
  • The email price steps by about 1,000 contacts, so 1,501 mailable contacts is already the $45 band.
5 Drip logo

Drip

Ecommerce workflows and unlimited paid sends, priced on people, with unlimited sending switched off during the trial.

Pricing
From $39/mo for 1 to 2,500 people. Unlimited sends on paid plans. 14-day trial.

Best for: Stores under 2,500 people that want unlimited paid sends

Pros

  • The published entry covers 1 to 2,500 people, with unlimited email once you pay.
  • Up to 50 workflows, and playbooks for welcome, abandoned cart, and win-back.
  • Shopify, WooCommerce, and BigCommerce are one-click integrations, and the trial does not need a card.

Cons

  • Unlimited emails are turned off during the 14-day trial, so the test send is not the paid product.
  • Live chat is for plans at $99/mo and above, and email support on the entry plan is weekdays.
6 Mailchimp logo

Mailchimp

A familiar sender whose Standard card fits 500 contacts, if unsubscribed names are already sitting in the count.

Pricing
Free to 250 contacts and 500 sends/mo. Standard's 12-month card includes a 6,000-email cap.

Best for: Teams already in Mailchimp that can live with a short flow

Pros

  • The free plan holds 250 contacts, 500 sends a month, and 250 sends a day, a test rather than this list's weekly campaign.
  • Standard allows 12 times the contact limit in monthly sends, and five seats, so a small team can share this card.
  • Essentials is the lower 12-month card and still includes A/B tests, with flows capped at 4 steps, so a longer series needs a higher card.

Cons

  • Subscribed, unsubscribed, and non-subscribed contacts all count toward the price, so people who already left still set the bill.
  • The plan cards show a 12-month rate and do not print the monthly price after that window.
7 Brevo logo

Brevo

Cheap automation on Standard, but skip it if you need the Professional store blocks now.

Pricing
Free plan, 300 emails/day. Starter $9/mo. Automations start on Standard at $18/mo.

Best for: Stores that need automation before the ecommerce add-ons

Pros

  • Starter is $9/mo, or $96.96 for the year, from 5,000 emails a month, which buys campaigns and not a cart flow.
  • Standard, at $194.04 for the year, adds unlimited multi-step automations and A/B tests, the first Brevo card that can run a cart series.
  • The free plan can send before you pick a card, at up to 300 emails a day.

Cons

  • Product recommendations, back-in-stock alerts, and coupons start on Professional, at $499/mo, above a small catalog's budget.
  • Starter has no marketing automation, so a cart flow means leaving that plan the month the series goes live.
8 Sendlane logo

Sendlane

Pay for the emails you send, not the profiles you store, and only if monthly volume stays inside a published band.

Pricing
Unlimited profiles. Published send bands include 1,000 at $21 and 2,500 at $50.

Best for: Stores with a large profile file and a modest monthly send volume

Pros

  • Profiles are unlimited, and the a la carte bands price send volume instead, which suits a large file you mail lightly.
  • A 2,500-send band is $50, a 5,000-send band is $90, and a 10,000-send band is $175.
  • Shopify and WooCommerce are in the integration list, with prebuilt automation funnels.

Cons

  • Privy has acquired Sendlane, and the two products still publish different meters, so both together are two bills.
  • SMS starts at $0.009 per credit, and Sendlane does not publish a usable per-email overage above a band.

What it is

Ecommerce email marketing software sends campaigns and triggered messages from store events, such as a signup, a checkout, or an order, and it ties those sends to revenue.

A newsletter tool can mail a list, but a store tool has to know who abandoned a cart and who bought the product in the email.

How we compared: eight platforms a store's marketer would price before a contract, checked on each vendor's pricing page on October 16, 2026.

The ranking weighs the meter (profiles, contacts, or sends), whether a cart or checkout flow exists on a plan a 500-contact store can buy, and the bill at that size.

Hands-on send tests are not part of this page, and the method is on how we rate.

Attentive sells email and SMS to retail brands, and its pricing page does not publish a list price.

A store that needs a number before the meeting should leave it off this list. Quote-only tools answer a different budget meeting than the eight platforms below.

How it works

Start with the platform the store already pays for. A Shopify store on Basic, Grow, Advanced, or Plus already has Shopify Messaging, with a monthly allowance included.

If that cap covers the real calendar, the next tool has to beat included email rather than a blank line.

If the store is on WooCommerce, BigCommerce, or a custom cart, price Klaviyo, Omnisend, Drip, Privy, and Sendlane against the first flow, usually cart abandonment.

Brevo's automations start on Standard, and the store blocks start on Professional, so expecting those blocks on the cheaper plan is how it gets expensive.

Then match the meter to the list you will have in twelve months, not the list you have today.

Profile-priced and contact-priced tools step up when old checkouts stay active, which turns a small list into a higher bill.

Send-priced Sendlane does the opposite, with unlimited profiles and a band that follows volume, so forecast the sends before you pick a band.

Publishers who want a newsletter product, not a store flow, should use the newsletter platforms ranking instead.

Why it matters

The first invoice is usually wrong because the meter counts people the store did not mean to mail. Klaviyo's help center says a Shopify or WooCommerce checkout can create an active profile even without an opt-in.

Those profiles set the plan, so a busy checkout can raise the bill before anyone agrees to be mailed.

Omnisend bills subscribers and non-subscribers who got an automated message, and it skips unsubscribed contacts, so a churned list stays cheaper there.

Mailchimp counts subscribed, unsubscribed, and non-subscribed contacts, and it skips archived, cleaned, and deleted ones, so cleaning the file is what moves the card.

Those three rules change a 500-person budget before anyone compares features.

A store that imports every past checkout into Klaviyo can leave the free plan, which stops at 250 profiles, on day one. The same names on Omnisend may not all be billable, so clean the list before you trust either price.

A welcome series, a cart flow, and a weekly campaign share one allowance on several of these tools.

Shopify Messaging is the exception: abandoned checkout automations are always free and sit outside the included emails. A checkout-only store can stay even when campaigns would have spilled over. The lifecycle tools ranking is the page for product-led software, not for a catalog.

Key features to look for

What the meter counts
Klaviyo can count a checkout profile even without an opt-in, so suppress people who never opted in before you trust the price. Omnisend skips unsubscribed contacts and Mailchimp does not, so a churned file costs less on Omnisend. Sendlane bills sends rather than profiles, which suits a large file and a light calendar.
Whether the flow is on the plan you can buy
Omnisend and Drip ship cart and post-purchase playbooks on a plan a small list can buy. Brevo puts automations on Standard and store blocks, including recommendations, back-in-stock, and coupons, on Professional. Skip Brevo if you need those blocks on a cheaper plan.
The send cap hiding under the contact price
A paid Klaviyo plan allows 10 emails per profile, so a weekly campaign and flows share one allowance. Omnisend Standard fits a welcome series plus a weekly send at this list size, and it is not unlimited. Privy and paid Drip do not cap emails, while Shopify leaves abandoned checkout outside its included emails.
SMS as a second meter
Klaviyo's free plan includes $5 of mobile messages as a test credit, not a program. Omnisend's US SMS starts at $0.007 on high-volume sends. Privy includes 250 SMS credits then sells blocks, and Sendlane credits start at $0.009, and none of that text is inside the email price.
The offer that expires
Omnisend's Standard and Pro cards are an introductory cut for three months, so copying the card into a full year understates the bill. Klaviyo's qualifying first-month credit runs through November 30, 2026, and is not the month-two price. Mailchimp prints a 12-month rate and not the price after that window.

Pricing

Price the year, not the first month, for a 500-contact store that sends under 6,000 emails a month, before SMS.

That volume fits Omnisend Standard's cap and Klaviyo's send cap if you hold the calendar, and it sits under Shopify Messaging's included allowance.

Figures below were read on each vendor's pricing page in October 2026: Klaviyo, Omnisend, Privy, Drip, Shopify Messaging, Mailchimp, Brevo, and Sendlane.

Shopify Messaging is $0 at this volume, on top of a Shopify plan we are not pricing here.

Every other tool has to beat included email rather than beat zero.

Omnisend Standard prints a three-month total of $48, and $33.60 due now at 30% off. Our arithmetic: $48 divided by three is $16/mo after the offer.

Nine months at that rate is $144, and adding the $33.60 makes year one $177.60.

Klaviyo's entry email plan is the one in the table for 251 to 500 profiles. The first-month credit terms, updated September 2, 2026, take the credit off month one for a qualifying new account.

It runs through November 30, 2026, and only an account with no paid plan in the prior twelve months qualifies.

Month one is the plan price minus that credit, which is $1, and eleven more months make a qualifying first year of $221.

An account that does not qualify pays $240 for all twelve months.

The Email+SMS entry on the same profile band is $35/mo, and the credit does not apply, so the text bundle loses the promotion. Privy at this size is the $30 band, because 500 mailable contacts sit inside 1,500.

Twelve months is $360, with unlimited email, so you pay for headroom above this list. Drip's $39 band covers up to 2,500 people, so twelve months is $468, and the trial month is not unlimited.

Brevo Standard on the annual price is $194.04, against $216 if you pay the monthly card for a year, so compare the annual card.

Sendlane's closest published bands are $21 for 1,000 sends and $50 for 2,500 sends. A store at 2,000 sends has to pick one of those bands, because this page does not invent a price between them.

Mailchimp Standard's card is $20/mo for 12 months beside a 6,000-email cap.

Twelve months at that rate is $240 if the card holds, and it is an ongoing rate rather than a first-year discount.

Essentials is $13/mo for 12 months and stops flows at 4 steps, so a longer cart series needs a higher card.

Premium is $350/mo for 12 months, with a help-center base of 10,000 contacts, so it is the wrong card here.

The cards do not print the rate after month 12. The wider field, including tools that are not built for a catalog, is the email marketing software ranking.

PlanPriceBest for
Klaviyo FreeFree250 active profiles, 500 emails a month, $5 of mobile messages
Klaviyo Email, 251 to 500 profiles$20/moEntry email plan. Qualifying new accounts get $19 off month one through Nov 30, 2026
Klaviyo Email + SMS, 251 to 500 profiles$35/moEmail plus SMS credits. The first-month email credit does not apply
Omnisend FreeFree250 contacts, 500 emails a month, no credit card
Omnisend Standard, first 3 months$11.20/mo500 contacts and 6,000 emails a month, 30% off, $33.60 due now
Omnisend Standard, after the offer$16/moOur division of the printed $48 three-month total by three
Omnisend Pro, first 3 months$41.30/mo2,500 contacts, unlimited email, $123.90 due now
Omnisend Pro, after the offer$59/moOur division of the printed $177 three-month total by three, at 2,500 contacts
Shopify Messaging, under 10,000 emailsIncludedOn Basic, Grow, Advanced, or Plus. Abandoned checkout stays free
Shopify Messaging, next emails$1 per 1,000Up to 300,000 emails, then $0.65 per 1,000, then $0.55
Privy Email, up to 1,500$30/moMailable contacts, unlimited emails, 250 SMS credits, 15-day trial
Privy Email, 1,501 to 2,000$45/moNext published contact band after 1,500
Privy Displays only$24/moUp to 10,000 page views, popups without the email plan
Drip, 1 to 2,500 people$39/moUnlimited emails on the paid plan, up to 50 workflows, 14-day trial
Drip chat support$99/mo and upLive chat on those plans. Entry support is email on weekdays
Mailchimp FreeFree250 contacts, 500 sends a month, 250 sends a day
Mailchimp Essentials, 12-month card$13/moStarting tier up to 500 contacts, sends at 10 times the contact limit, flows to 4 steps
Mailchimp Standard, 12-month card$20/mo6,000-email cap on the card, 5 seats, sends at 12 times the contact limit
Mailchimp Premium, 12-month card$350/moHelp-center base of 10,000 contacts, sends at 15 times the contact limit
Brevo Starter$9/mo or $96.96/yrFrom 5,000 emails a month. No marketing automation
Brevo Standard$18/mo or $194.04/yrUnlimited multi-step automations, A/B tests, one landing page
Brevo Professional$499/moFrom 150,000 emails, 10 seats, product recommendations and back-in-stock
Sendlane, 1,000 sends$21A la carte send band. Profiles are unlimited
Sendlane, 2,500 sends$50Next published send band above 1,000
Sendlane, 5,000 sends$90Send band for a busier month. Profiles stay unlimited
Sendlane, 10,000 sends$175Highest a la carte band printed on the page

Who it's for

Buy Klaviyo when the store's question is which flow made the order, and you will suppress profiles that never buy so the meter stays near the people you mail.

The Klaviyo review is the place to read that profile rule before you import old orders.

Buy Omnisend when the same flows have to exist and the card at this list size has to stay under Klaviyo's email plan.

The Omnisend alternatives page is the exit if the later rate no longer fits.

Stay on Shopify Messaging when the store is already on Shopify and the month fits the included emails, especially if abandoned checkout is the main automation.

Move to Privy when the popup is the problem and the first mailable-contact band is a comfortable ceiling.

Move to Drip when you want unlimited paid sends and can finish setup inside a trial that does not include them.

Stay on Mailchimp when the team already runs the calendar there and the cheaper card's 4-step flow cap is the limit you will hit.

Read the Mailchimp review for the contact math behind that bill.

Choose Brevo when automation is the job and product recommendations can wait, and read the Brevo review before you assume the store blocks are included. Choose Sendlane when the profile file is large and monthly sends are the number you can forecast.

Mistakes to avoid
×Importing every past checkout into Klaviyo before you suppress inactive profiles, because those addresses can be active and the free plan ends at 250.
×Comparing Omnisend's three-month offer with a competitor's ongoing rate, because the 30% cut lasts three months and the later monthly rate is higher.
×Buying Brevo Starter for a cart flow, because automation starts on Standard and the store blocks start on Professional.
×Treating Shopify Messaging's included emails as unlimited, because campaigns share the allowance and only abandoned checkout sits outside that cap.
Expert tips
→Write down billable contacts after you delete unsubscribed and inactive names, then read every card at that count, because the meters disagree on who counts.
→Put the flow you will launch, usually abandoned cart, on the cheapest plan that includes it, and skip a lower card that leaves the flow unbuilt.
→Keep SMS off the email comparison until the email plan is chosen, because each vendor sells texts as credits on top.
→If the store is on Shopify and inside the included emails, price every other tool against included Messaging rather than against zero.

The bottom line

Klaviyo is the platform to buy when order and checkout data have to drive the flow and you will manage active profiles on purpose. A qualifying new account's first year on the entry email plan is $221.

Everyone else on that plan pays $240, so the promotion is a weak reason to choose it.

Omnisend is the buy when the same store flows have to cost less at this list size. Year one on Standard, using the printed totals, is $177.60, and that already includes the months after the intro rate.

Shopify Messaging wins when the store is already on Shopify and the month stays inside the included emails. Privy wins when popups and unlimited email matter more than the lowest card.

Drip wins when the list fits its entry band and you want sends uncapped after the trial.

Mailchimp wins for a team already there that will not need a long flow. Brevo wins for automation at the Standard annual price, and loses if you need the Professional blocks.

Sendlane wins when profiles are the expensive part of every other meter.

Smaller catalogs that are really a one-person list should read the small-business email ranking and the free email plans page before they copy this order, because this ranking assumes a store meter.

SMS-heavy programs belong on the SMS marketing ranking. For a sender closer to a publication than a store, see the MailerLite review.

Cite this: MarketingShot, "Best Email Marketing for Ecommerce in 2026", October 2026.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best email marketing for ecommerce in 2026?

Klaviyo fits a store that builds flows on purchase and checkout data, on the entry plan for 251 to 500 active profiles. Skip it if profiles stay billable after people stop buying. Omnisend is the better card at 500 contacts when the three-month Standard offer gets the flows live. Shopify Messaging is better when the store is already on Shopify and the month stays inside the included emails.

How much does ecommerce email marketing cost at 500 contacts?

At 500 contacts and under 6,000 emails a month, Shopify Messaging adds no email fee on top of the Shopify plan, and that allowance is the benchmark.

Omnisend Standard is $177.60 in year one once you add nine months at the post-offer rate to the $33.60 due now. A qualifying new Klaviyo account pays $221 in year one, and an account that misses the credit pays $240. Privy is $360 for the year, Drip is $468, and Brevo Standard billed yearly is $194.04, the low total if the store blocks can wait.

Is there a free ecommerce email platform?

Klaviyo, Omnisend, and Mailchimp each stop their free plan at 250 people and 500 sends a month, enough to prove a flow and not this list. Brevo's free plan allows 300 emails a day and does not publish that same contact cap. Shopify Messaging adds no email fee only while you already pay for Shopify.

None of the free caps hold this list once a weekly campaign is running. The free email ranking covers tools whose free plan is the product, not a stepping stone.

How does Klaviyo compare with Omnisend for a store?

Klaviyo bills active profiles, and a checkout can create one without an opt-in, so the bill can move before anyone agrees to marketing. Its paid email cap is 10 times the profile tier, which rewards a clean file and punishes an import of every checkout. Omnisend skips unsubscribed contacts and includes prebuilt cart and post-purchase workflows, with a fixed monthly allowance at this list size.

Pick Klaviyo when the profile graph is the product, and Omnisend when the card has to stay lower after the intro offer. Profiles for both live on Toolradar: Klaviyo and Omnisend.

Is Shopify Messaging enough on its own?

It is enough on Basic, Grow, Advanced, or Plus when the month stays inside 10,000 emails, with abandoned checkout free outside that cap. It is not enough for WooCommerce or BigCommerce, or when welcome flows plus campaigns pass the allowance. Extra email then costs the overage rate in the pricing table until 300,000 emails. Add Klaviyo, Omnisend, or Drip when you need a deeper flow builder.

What should I do about SMS?

Treat SMS as a second invoice, because these email prices do not include a program of texts. Klaviyo includes $5 of mobile messages on the free plan and sells Email+SMS as its own entry plan. Omnisend's high-volume US rate starts at $0.007 per SMS, Privy includes 250 credits and then sells blocks, and Sendlane starts at $0.009 per credit.

Attentive sells email and SMS to retail brands and does not publish a list price, so it cannot sit on this card. The SMS ranking is the right page once text is the larger line.

Which tools connect to Shopify, WooCommerce, and BigCommerce?

Klaviyo's pricing page says the free plan can connect to Shopify, WooCommerce, and Wix, so the free tier is a real store connection. Drip lists 90 or more integrations, including Shopify, WooCommerce, and BigCommerce, which matters when the cart is not Shopify. Sendlane lists deep data integrations for Shopify and WooCommerce, and Privy syncs collected contacts to Shopify, BigCommerce, or Wix for a popup-led list.

Shopify Messaging only runs inside Shopify, so any other cart should leave the shortlist. Directory records for the connectors are on Drip, Privy, Brevo, and Mailchimp.

Sources

Prices and plan details come from each vendor's own pricing page, re-checked by the Toolradar pricing tracker.

Related guides

Some offers on this page may be paid placements or contain affiliate links.

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