ConvertKit vs Klaviyo
ConvertKit (Kit) is built for creators selling digital products and newsletters. Klaviyo is built for Shopify and WooCommerce stores. The audiences barely overlap.
Key takeaways
This is rarely a close call — once you know your business model, the right platform is obvious. Creators with digital products choose ConvertKit. E-commerce stores choose Klaviyo. The pricing gap makes the wrong choice very expensive.
- ConvertKit Creator starts at $39/month (1k subscribers) — up from $29 after a September 2025 price increase
- Klaviyo Email starts at $20/month (251-500 active profiles) — but $150/month at 10k contacts
- Klaviyo's February 2025 billing change moved to "active profiles" — many stores saw bills rise 20-40%
- ConvertKit free plan covers 10,000 subscribers; Klaviyo free covers only 250 active profiles
ConvertKit vs Klaviyo: Quick Comparison
| Features | ConvertKit | Klaviyo |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | 10,000 subscribers | 250 active profiles |
| Entry paid price | $39/month (1k subs) | $20/month (251-500 profiles) |
| At 10k contacts | $109/month (Creator) | $150/month (Email) |
| At 50k contacts | $279/month | $700+/month |
| Creator commerce | Yes | No |
| E-commerce native data | Via integration | Native (Shopify/WooCommerce) |
| Revenue attribution | No | Yes |
| SMS marketing | No | Yes (Email+SMS plan) |
| Cart abandonment flows | Via integration | Native, real-time |
| Tag-based subscribers | Yes | No (profile-based) |
What Are ConvertKit and Klaviyo?
ConvertKit
ConvertKit (Kit) is the leading email platform for individual creators, with a generous 10,000-subscriber free plan and a tag-based subscriber system.
- Free (Newsletter) plan: 10,000 subscribers, unlimited broadcasts, unlimited landing pages
- Creator plan: $39/month (1k subs), $59/month (3k), $89/month (5k) — monthly billing
- Creator Pro plan: $79/month (1k subs) with referral programme, priority support, and advanced reporting
- September 2025 price increase: Creator went from $29 to $39; Pro from $59 to $79 at 1k subscribers
- Creator Commerce lets you sell e-books, courses, and digital downloads natively — Klaviyo has no equivalent
Klaviyo
Klaviyo is the dominant e-commerce email platform, with real-time Shopify data, cart abandonment flows, and revenue attribution built into its core.
- Free plan: 250 active profiles, 500 email sends/month, 150 SMS credits
- Email plan: $20/month (251-500 profiles), $150/month (10k profiles), $700+/month (50k profiles)
- Email + SMS plan: $35/month (251-500 profiles) with SMS credits included
- February 2025 billing change: moved from "profiles you email" to "all active profiles" — many stores saw 20-40% bill increases
- Real-time Shopify integration with cart abandonment, browse abandonment, post-purchase flows, and revenue attribution
Pricing Models: ConvertKit, Klaviyo, and mailtani
ConvertKit: per subscriber
- Free: 10,000 subscribers (Newsletter plan)
- Creator: $39/month (1k), $59/month (3k), $89/month (5k)
- Creator Pro: $79/month (1k), $119/month (3k), $167/month (5k)
- Annual billing: 16% discount (Creator from $33/month)
- September 2025 increase: up ~35% from previous pricing
Klaviyo: per active profile
- Free: 250 active profiles, 500 emails/month
- Email: $20/month (251-500), $150/month (10k), $700+/month (50k)
- Email + SMS: $35/month (251-500) with 1,250 SMS credits
- February 2025 change: now counts all active profiles, not just emailed contacts
- List hygiene mandatory — unengaged contacts inflate your bill
mailtani: one flat price
- €89 one-time — no monthly fees ever
- Unlimited contacts, unlimited emails
- Bring your own AWS SES, Resend, or SMTP key
- Email warmup and inbox rotation included
- Sequences, broadcasts, and deliverability control
ConvertKit vs Klaviyo: The Full Breakdown
The September 2025 ConvertKit price increase changed the comparison. Creator plans went from $29 to $39/month (1k subscribers) — a 35% rise. At 10,000 subscribers, Creator now costs $109/month. That narrows ConvertKit's price advantage over Klaviyo's Email plan ($150/month at 10k) more than previously. At 50k subscribers, ConvertKit Pro costs $279/month vs Klaviyo's $700+/month — still a meaningful gap, but the entry-level gap has compressed.
Klaviyo's February 2025 billing change catches e-commerce stores off guard. Before February 2025, Klaviyo billed based on the contacts you actually emailed. The change to "all active profiles" — everyone in your account who could receive marketing — means businesses with large unengaged lists saw bills rise 20-40% without sending a single additional email. List hygiene is now a non-negotiable activity to control Klaviyo costs.
For Shopify stores, Klaviyo's native data model is genuinely transformative. Real-time purchase events, browsing data, and cart actions trigger automations that ConvertKit can only approximate through integrations. Browse abandonment tracking, post-purchase upsell sequences, and product recommendation blocks are all native in Klaviyo. Stores that switch to Klaviyo from generic ESPs consistently report 15-30% increases in email-attributed revenue.
ConvertKit's creator commerce is a feature Klaviyo simply does not have. Selling e-books, online courses, and digital downloads directly through ConvertKit — with Stripe checkout, automated delivery, and subscriber tagging — is native. Klaviyo was designed for selling physical products through a Shopify store. For creators whose revenue comes from digital products and paid newsletters, ConvertKit is the obviously correct tool.
ConvertKit's free plan is one of the most generous in email marketing. 10,000 subscribers with unlimited broadcasts and unlimited landing pages, at no cost. Klaviyo's free plan covers only 250 active profiles and 500 email sends per month. A creator growing their first audience can build to a meaningful size on ConvertKit's free plan before paying anything.
How ConvertKit, Klaviyo, and mailtani Compare, Feature by Feature
| Feature | ConvertKit | Klaviyo | mailtani |
|---|---|---|---|
| Creator commerce (sell digital products) | |||
| Generous free plan (10k subscribers) | |||
| Tag-based subscriber management | |||
| Visual automation builder | ✓ sequences | ||
| Referral programme | ✓ Creator Pro | ||
| Native Shopify/WooCommerce data | |||
| Cart abandonment flows (native) | |||
| Browse abandonment tracking | |||
| Post-purchase email flows | |||
| Revenue attribution per email | |||
| SMS marketing | |||
| Product recommendation emails | |||
| A/B testing | ✓ Creator Pro | ||
| Email warmup | |||
| Inbox rotation | |||
| BYOS (own SMTP/SES key) | |||
| Flat one-time pricing | |||
| Unlimited email sends | |||
| Landing pages | |||
| Signup forms |
The Third Option: Why Founders Pick mailtani
- SaaS and digital product builders don't need Shopify data — mailtani is built for sequences, broadcasts, and deliverability control without e-commerce complexity
- Email warmup and inbox rotation built in — neither ConvertKit nor Klaviyo offer this
- One flat price — €89 once instead of $39-$700+/month that scales with every subscriber you add
- BYOS infrastructure — connect your own AWS SES or SMTP key for full deliverability control
What Each Tool Is Built For
ConvertKit
ConvertKit is built for creators monetising an audience
ConvertKit suits writers, podcasters, course creators, and indie makers who want to grow a newsletter audience and sell digital products directly. Its tag-based subscriber system, creator commerce (native digital product sales), and generous free plan are all designed for creators. It is not designed for physical e-commerce — it lacks real-time store data, cart abandonment flows, and revenue attribution from product purchases.
Klaviyo
Klaviyo is built for e-commerce stores maximising customer lifetime value
Klaviyo suits Shopify, WooCommerce, and Magento stores that want to recover abandoned carts, send post-purchase sequences, personalise product recommendations, and attribute email revenue precisely. Its native store data model and real-time event triggers are purpose-built for e-commerce. It is not designed for creators, course sellers, or businesses without a product catalogue.
ConvertKit vs Klaviyo: Who Should Choose Which?
Choose ConvertKit if...
- You are a creator selling digital products, courses, or paid subscriptions
- You want a generous free plan to grow your audience before paying
- You run a newsletter and want tag-based subscriber management
- You want creator commerce natively without a Shopify store
- You are a founder or indie hacker building an audience-led business
Choose Klaviyo if...
- You run a Shopify or WooCommerce store and want native cart abandonment flows
- You want real-time store data triggering automations based on purchase behaviour
- Revenue attribution from email sends is critical to your marketing decisions
- You want email + SMS built around your product catalogue and customer lifetime value
- Your e-commerce revenue is significant enough to justify Klaviyo's premium pricing
ConvertKit vs Klaviyo: Pros & Cons
ConvertKit
Pros
- 10,000-subscriber free plan — one of the most generous in email marketing
- Creator commerce built in — sell digital products natively with Stripe checkout
- Tag-based subscriber management — flexible segmentation for content-based audiences
- More affordable at scale — $279/month at 50k subscribers vs Klaviyo's $700+/month
- Landing pages and forms included — no third-party tool needed for list building
Cons
- September 2025 price increase — Creator went from $29 to $39/month at 1k subscribers
- No native e-commerce data — cart abandonment and browse tracking require integrations
- No SMS marketing — single channel only
- No revenue attribution — cannot measure email-driven store sales precisely
- Limited template variety — text-focused design prioritised over visual product templates
Klaviyo
Pros
- Native Shopify/WooCommerce data — real-time cart, browse, and purchase events
- Cart and browse abandonment flows — the highest-ROI e-commerce email automation
- Revenue attribution per campaign — know exactly what each email earns
- Email + SMS from one platform — multi-channel customer lifecycle management
- Product recommendation blocks — personalised product emails from store catalogue
Cons
- February 2025 billing change — now bills on all active profiles, raising costs 20-40% for many stores
- Free plan covers only 250 profiles — extremely limited for testing
- Expensive at scale — 50k profiles costs $700+/month; 100k+ is enterprise pricing
- No creator commerce — cannot sell digital products natively
- Steeper learning curve — e-commerce flow setup requires understanding of Klaviyo's data model
Neither ConvertKit nor Klaviyo right for you?
Both ConvertKit and Klaviyo charge monthly fees that grow with every subscriber you add. mailtani is €89 once — connect your own SMTP key, send unlimited emails, and get warmup, inbox rotation, and sequences included. No contact limits. No monthly fees.
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Before You Decide: Common Questions Answered
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Bring your own SMTP key. Unlimited contacts, sequences, warmup, and inbox rotation for €89 once.
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