Comparison
Shopify Email vs. Klaviyo.
Shopify Email is now Shopify Messaging. How it compares with Klaviyo on pricing, automations, texting and forms, and when a store outgrows it.
Updated · 4 min read
The short answer
- Shopify Email is now Shopify Messaging. It’s built into your Shopify admin and covers the basics: email and texts, automation templates, and copy help from Shopify Magic.
- Pricing: Shopify Messaging bills per email sent, after a free monthly allowance. Klaviyo bills by active profiles, from $20 a month at 500 to $1,955 at 150,000 on its published prices.
- Depth: Klaviyo adds a flow builder, deep segments, A/B tests and more form types. Those are what a store gains by moving up.
- A third option: if you want more than the basics but don’t want to build it, Amy writes, tests and sends your email and SMS for you and bills per message. Compare Shopify email apps.
What changed: Shopify Email is Shopify Messaging
Shopify renamed Shopify Email to Shopify Messaging when it added texting. It’s installed by default and works inside your Shopify admin (Shopify help: Shopify Messaging). Texts arrived in December 2025, from a registered toll-free number that can’t receive replies, and text automations followed in May 2026 (Shopify changelog).
Side by side
| Shopify Messaging | Klaviyo | Amy | |
|---|---|---|---|
| How it charges | Per email sent, after a free monthly allowance. Abandoned-checkout automations don’t count toward it. | By active profiles in tiers, with sends of 10 times the tier included. Texting and AI are priced on top. | Per message: $10 a month with 2,000 emails, then usage. Contacts are never billed. |
| Automations | Templates for abandoned checkout, cart and browse, welcome, post-purchase and win-back | A flow builder and a template library | 12 automations written from your catalog, each switched off until you turn it on |
| Texting | Since December 2025, from a registered toll-free number that can’t receive replies | A monthly spend commitment, on top of your email plan | Pay as you go, $0.009 per segment, on all 12 automations |
| Signup forms | From the separate Shopify Forms app | Popup, flyout, embedded and banner forms, plus spin-to-win | A popup Amy tests in four styles, keeping the winner |
| A/B testing | Not listed in Shopify’s help center when we checked | On campaigns and individual flow emails, set up by you | Subject lines on every marketing automation, run by Amy |
| Who writes it | You, with help from Shopify Magic and Sidekick | You, with Composer, Klaviyo’s AI, sold in credits | Amy writes it; you approve |
How the pricing compares
The two charge for different things. Shopify Messaging bills per email you send, after a free monthly allowance, and abandoned-checkout automations don’t count toward that allowance (Shopify: email pricing). You need a paid Shopify plan to send to subscribers (Shopify: requirements). Klaviyo bills by the number of active profiles you have, whether or not you email them, in tiers from $20 a month at 500 profiles to $1,955 at 150,000. Every Klaviyo tier.
So a big list that you email rarely is cheap on Shopify Messaging and expensive on Klaviyo, and the gap grows with the list. Per contact vs. per send, explained.
When Shopify Messaging is enough
- You send a newsletter or a sale announcement now and then.
- You want the standard automations switched on and don’t plan to tune them.
- You want everything inside the Shopify admin, with no new app.
When stores move to Klaviyo
- You want branching journeys, with different paths for different shoppers.
- You segment by behavior in detail and build audiences by hand.
- You want to A/B test campaigns and individual flow emails.
- You need two-way texting, which a toll-free number that can’t receive replies doesn’t give you.
The trade is time and money: Klaviyo is a toolkit you build and run, billed by your list.
A third option
Amy is for stores that want more than the basics without building it. She plans a month of campaigns on a calendar, writes 12 automations from your catalog, tests subject lines and signup popups, and warms up your sending domain. All 12 can send texts too, and texting stays off for each one until you turn it on. Campaigns always need your approval. $10 a month including 2,000 emails and your sending number, then $0.90 per 1,000 emails and $0.009 per text segment. Contacts are never billed.
Sources: Shopify’s help center on Shopify Messaging, email pricing and requirements, the Shopify changelog, Shopify Forms, and Klaviyo’s pricing page (read August 30, 2026) and help center on forms and A/B tests, gathered October 2026.
Questions
Is Shopify Email the same as Shopify Messaging?
Yes. Shopify renamed Shopify Email to Shopify Messaging when it added texting. It’s installed by default and works inside the Shopify admin.
Is Shopify Email free?
Shopify Messaging includes a free monthly allowance of emails, then bills per email sent. Abandoned-checkout automations don’t count toward the allowance, and you need a paid Shopify plan to send to subscribers.
Is Klaviyo better than Shopify Email?
Klaviyo does more: a flow builder, deep segments, A/B tests and more form types. It also costs more as your list grows, because it bills by active profiles. For the basics inside Shopify, Shopify Messaging is enough.
Can Shopify Email send texts?
Yes, since December 2025, from a registered toll-free number that can’t receive replies. Text automations followed in May 2026.
Should I switch from Shopify Email to Klaviyo?
Switch if you need branching journeys, detailed segments or A/B tests and have the time to build them. If what you want is more revenue without the building, Amy writes and tests your campaigns and automations for you, and bills per message sent.
Can I use Shopify Email and Klaviyo together?
You can, but turn off any automation you rebuild in the other tool, or customers get both.