ConvertKit vs Klaviyo: $33 vs $20/mo (2026)

ConvertKit vs Klaviyo

Marketing Automation pricing comparison · 2026 · Updated April 2026

ConvertKit pricing ranges from $0–$66/month, while Klaviyo ranges from $0–$150/month. ConvertKit is typically 27% more affordable, though your actual cost depends on tier and team size.

Marketing Automation

ConvertKit

$0–$66
/month
3 plans · Free tier
Full pricing breakdown →
VS
Marketing Automation

Klaviyo

$0–$150
/month
4 plans · Free tier
Full pricing breakdown →

Both ConvertKit and Klaviyo offer free entry tiers, but serve completely different markets. Klaviyo's Free plan targets small stores just starting with email marketing, while ConvertKit's Newsletter plan is built for new creators building their first email list. On paid plans, Klaviyo's Email tier starts at $20/month and ConvertKit's Creator tier starts at $33/month ($390/year). For teams needing more, ConvertKit Pro runs $66/month ($790/year) and Klaviyo Email + SMS runs $35/month for omnichannel.

Klaviyo is built for ecommerce revenue — its Email and Email + SMS tiers are designed for growing e-commerce stores and brands wanting omnichannel marketing, with an Enterprise tier for high-volume senders (100K+ contacts). ConvertKit is built for creators — the Creator tier adds automations and sequences for growing creators, and Pro adds advanced analytics and collaboration for professional creators and teams.

Plan-by-Plan Pricing

Plan ConvertKit Klaviyo
Newsletter Free /month Free /month
Creator $33 /month $20 /month
Pro $66 /month $35 /month
Enterprise Custom

Cost at Scale

Total cost of ownership — licenses, implementation, and hidden costs included.

ConvertKit

3 scenarios
$0/month ($0/year)
New Creator (Under 10,000 Subscribers)
on the Newsletter plan
$33/month ($396/year)
Growing Creator on Creator Plan
on monthly billing or $390/year ($32.50/month effective) with annual billing
$66/month ($792/year)
Professional Creator or Team on Pro
on monthly billing or $790/year ($65.83/month effective) with annual billing

Klaviyo

5 scenarios
$60/month ($720/year)
Small Shopify Store (2,500 Contacts)
Email plan at 2,500 contact tier with 25,000 monthly sends included
$435/month ($5,220/year)
Mid-Size E-commerce Brand (25,000 Contacts)
Email + SMS plan at 25,000 contact tier with 250,000 email sends and 28,125 SMS credits monthly
$20
Small E-commerce Store (1,000 contacts, 5,000 emails/month)
$35/month ($240-$420 annually) on Email or Email + SMS plan
See all 5 scenarios →

Market Intelligence

ConvertKit

Median annual cost
$1,164
Based on
142 deals

Klaviyo

Median annual cost
$1,188
Based on
88 deals

What Users Say

ConvertKit

Trustpilot
2/5 (23)
TrustRadius
8.6/10 (38)
Top complaints
  • Automatic plan upgrades without automatic downgrades
  • Poor customer support and refund policies
  • Unexpected account closures and restrictions

Klaviyo

Trustpilot
2.1/5 (25)
TrustRadius
7.8/10 (289)
Top complaints
  • Pricing changes and automatic tier upgrades without warning
  • Forced to pay for inactive and suppressed profiles under new billing model
  • Poor customer support response times and quality despite high pricing

Hidden Costs

Beyond the sticker price — what catches buyers off guard.

ConvertKit 11 hidden costs

high
Manual Downgrade Required 10-30% of license costs
high
Unexpected price increases without adequate notice 50% of license costs
critical
Account suspension and termination without warning $500-$5,000
medium
Confusing and inconsistent pricing display 15-25% of license costs
medium
Difficult account cancellation and deletion process $100-$500
See all ConvertKit hidden costs →

Klaviyo 5 hidden costs

high
Automatic Tier Upgrades $39-$200/month increase per tier jump
critical
Inactive Profile Billing 50-200% increase in monthly costs
medium
Agency Implementation and Management Fees $2,000-$12,000 one-time setup, $1,200-$1,500/month ongoing
medium
SMS Credit Costs Beyond Free Tier 5-30% of monthly platform costs
low
Migration and Data Export Costs $1,000-$5,000 one-time migration cost
See all Klaviyo hidden costs →

Contract Terms

Term ConvertKit Klaviyo
Auto-renewal Yes Yes
Cancellation 30 days Can be cancelled anytime based on monthly billing
Minimum commitment Monthly or annual billing available Month-to-month with no long-term contract required
Price escalation Automatic price increases occur when subscriber count increases. Some users report unexpected mid-contract price increases of 100-200%, though specific escalation clauses are not documented. No published schedule but users report mid-contract price increases and automatic tier upgrades. February 2025 saw a major billing model change from usage-based to subscriber-based pricing, resulting in 50-400% cost increases for some customers.
Can downgrade Yes Yes

Our Verdict

Choose ConvertKit if you're a creator, educator, or newsletter publisher. Start free on Newsletter, then move to Creator at $33/month ($390/year) once you need automations and sequences, or Pro at $66/month ($790/year) for advanced analytics and team collaboration.

Choose Klaviyo if you run an ecommerce store. Start on the Free plan, scale to Email at $20/month for growing stores, add SMS with Email + SMS at $35/month for omnichannel, or move to Enterprise (custom pricing) once you cross 100K+ contacts with complex needs.

Frequently Asked Questions

01 Is ConvertKit or Klaviyo better for ecommerce?

Klaviyo is far better for ecommerce. It's built specifically for online retail with deep integrations into Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, and Magento. Klaviyo powers abandoned cart emails, back-in-stock notifications, win-back sequences, and predictive CLV-based segments that directly drive revenue. ConvertKit can integrate with ecommerce platforms but lacks the native retail-specific workflows that make Klaviyo the industry standard for DTC brands.

02 Which is cheaper: ConvertKit or Klaviyo?

At small list sizes, both offer free plans — but ConvertKit's free plan covers 10,000 subscribers versus Klaviyo's 250 contacts. On paid plans, ConvertKit is cheaper per contact at mid-range list sizes: at 10,000 contacts, ConvertKit Creator costs $119/month vs Klaviyo Email at $150/month. At 150,000+ contacts, Klaviyo's pricing can exceed $1,955/month while ConvertKit scales to comparable levels around $900-$1,000/month.

03 Does Klaviyo have better segmentation than ConvertKit?

Yes, Klaviyo has significantly more powerful segmentation. It supports behavioral segments built from purchase history, browsing behavior, product interactions, predictive lifetime value, and custom event properties. ConvertKit's segmentation is tag-based — you can segment by tags, form opt-ins, purchase events, and link clicks, but it lacks Klaviyo's revenue-predictive and catalog-based segments designed for ecommerce.

04 Can ConvertKit sell digital products like Klaviyo can't?

Yes. ConvertKit has built-in digital product commerce: you can sell ebooks, courses, templates, and paid newsletter subscriptions directly through ConvertKit without a third-party payment integration. Klaviyo has no native commerce functionality — it's purely a marketing platform that integrates with external ecommerce systems. ConvertKit charges 3.5% + $0.30 per transaction on its commerce features.

05 Is Klaviyo worth the higher price compared to ConvertKit?

For ecommerce businesses, yes — Klaviyo's revenue attribution tools show direct ROI from email campaigns, and its automated flows routinely generate 20-40% of total store revenue for active users. For creators and newsletter publishers, Klaviyo is overkill and ConvertKit's creator-specific features (paid newsletters, Creator Network, subscriber referrals) deliver more value for the category.

06 What are the hidden costs of Klaviyo vs ConvertKit?

Klaviyo's pricing scales steeply with contact count — adding SMS to an email plan roughly doubles the monthly cost. The Email + SMS plan for 10,000 contacts costs $35/month versus $20/month for email alone. Large ecommerce brands with 100,000+ contacts can pay $700-$1,200/month. ConvertKit's hidden costs center on its 3.5% + $0.30 transaction fee on all digital product sales and paid newsletter subscriptions.