What's the difference between Klaviyo and Omnisend?

Klaviyo is the dominant ecommerce email + SMS platform for growth-stage stores, with deeper automation, segmentation, and predictive features. Omnisend is more accessible and affordable, targeting smaller and mid-market ecommerce. Both integrate tightly with Shopify. Klaviyo wins on depth, Omnisend wins on ease and price at smaller scale.

Is Omnisend cheaper than Klaviyo?

At most tiers, yes. Omnisend free tier: 500 emails/month, 250 contacts. Paid starts at $16/month. Klaviyo free tier: 500 emails, 250 contacts. Paid starts at $20/month. At 10,000 contacts: Omnisend ~$115/month, Klaviyo ~$150/month. Klaviyo's pricing grows steeper at higher tiers.

Which has better deliverability: Klaviyo or Omnisend?

Both are solid for ecommerce sending — typically 85-92% inbox placement in independent tests. Klaviyo's shared IP pool reputation is slightly stronger due to scale and curation. Both require proper authentication setup (SPF, DKIM) and engagement-based segmentation to perform best.

Should I use Klaviyo for Shopify?

If your store does $30k+/month in revenue and email is a meaningful channel, yes — Klaviyo is the deepest ecommerce email platform on Shopify. For under $30k/month or stores just starting with email, Omnisend, Mailchimp, or even Shopify Email might be more appropriate.

Does Omnisend support SMS?

Yes. Omnisend bundles SMS into the platform with separate pay-per-message pricing. SMS automation, abandoned cart SMS, post-purchase SMS all built in. Klaviyo also supports SMS but typically with a separate per-message charge. For SMS-heavy strategies, compare exact SMS pricing rather than email pricing.

Klaviyo vs Omnisend: Ecommerce Email Showdown

Klaviyo and Omnisend are the two ecommerce-focused email and SMS platforms most commonly compared by Shopify store operators. Both target the same use cases — abandoned cart, browse abandonment, post-purchase, win-back — but they make different bets on depth versus accessibility. This comparison covers how they stack up in 2026, where each wins, and how to pick based on your store's size and stage.

For broader options, see Klaviyo review and our broader ESP coverage.

Quick comparison

Factor	Klaviyo	Omnisend
Free tier	250 contacts, 500 emails	250 contacts, 500 emails
Paid start	$20/mo for 250 contacts	$16/mo for 500 contacts
10k contacts	~$150/mo	~$115/mo
50k contacts	~$700/mo	~$405/mo
SMS	Yes (per-message)	Yes (per-message)
Shopify integration	Best-in-class	Excellent
Automation depth	Deeper	Simpler
Predictive analytics	Yes (Klaviyo CDP)	Limited
Best for	$30k+/mo stores	Sub-$30k/mo stores

Pricing in detail

Klaviyo pricing scales steeply with contact count:

250 contacts:    $20/mo
500:             $30/mo
1,500:           $45/mo
5,000:           $100/mo
10,000:          $150/mo
25,000:          $400/mo
50,000:          $700/mo
100,000:         $1,380/mo

Omnisend is more affordable at higher tiers:

500 contacts:    $16/mo
2,500:           $59/mo
10,000:          $115/mo
25,000:          $230/mo
50,000:          $405/mo
100,000:         $580/mo

At 100k contacts, Omnisend is roughly 40% cheaper than Klaviyo for similar email features. SMS pricing is comparable per-message between the two.

Feature comparison

Segmentation

Klaviyo's segmentation is industry-leading for ecommerce. You can segment on virtually any combination of profile properties, behavior, predicted attributes, and event history.

Omnisend's segmentation is solid for ecommerce use cases but less flexible. Most common segments (engaged subscribers, recent buyers, browse abandoners) work well; edge cases are harder.

For most stores under 25k contacts, Omnisend's segmentation is sufficient. At larger scale where micro-segmentation matters, Klaviyo wins.

Automation flows

Both have visual flow builders covering standard ecommerce sequences:

Welcome series
Abandoned cart
Browse abandonment
Post-purchase
Win-back / re-engagement
Birthday/anniversary

Klaviyo's flow builder has more nodes, more conditional logic, more split-testing within flows. Omnisend's is cleaner and faster to set up.

Templates and editor

Both have drag-and-drop editors with Shopify product blocks (pull live products into emails). Omnisend's editor is slightly more polished for non-designers. Klaviyo's gives more control for designers.

Predictive analytics

Klaviyo CDP (Customer Data Platform) provides predictive attributes: predicted next purchase date, predicted lifetime value, predicted churn risk. Useful for segmentation at scale.

Omnisend has basic equivalent features but they're less developed.

SMS

Both support SMS marketing. Pricing is comparable per-message. Integration with email flows works similarly.

Reviews and other channels

Klaviyo acquired Yotpo Loyalty in 2024 and integrates loyalty into their broader platform. Omnisend stays focused on email + SMS + popups.

Deliverability

Both have strong deliverability for ecommerce senders. Klaviyo has slightly better shared IP pool reputation due to scale and curation. Both require proper authentication setup on your sending domain.

; Klaviyo DKIM (CNAME)
klaviyo._domainkey.yourdomain.com.  CNAME  klaviyo.dkim.example.com.

; Klaviyo SPF
yourdomain.com.  TXT  "v=spf1 include:_spf.klaviyo.com ~all"

; Omnisend (similar pattern with their domain)
om._domainkey.yourdomain.com.  CNAME  ...

yourdomain.com.  TXT  "v=spf1 include:_spf.omnisend.com ~all"

For multi-provider SPF handling, see SPF multiple providers.

For DKIM CNAME details, see DKIM CNAME vs TXT records.

Practitioner note: I see more Klaviyo accounts with bad deliverability than Omnisend, but the reason is sender mix, not platform. Klaviyo's scale means more accounts running borderline practices. Properly-configured Klaviyo accounts with engagement-based sending and full authentication land in the inbox just fine.

When to pick Klaviyo

Store doing $30k+/month and growing
Need deep segmentation across many properties
Want CDP-style predictive features
Email is a major revenue channel (20%+ of total revenue)
Have a marketing team or specialist managing email
Use multiple Klaviyo features (email, SMS, loyalty, reviews)

When to pick Omnisend

Store doing $1k-$30k/month
Want straightforward setup and management
Marketing team is one person or part-time
Cost-sensitive (especially above 25k contacts)
Don't need advanced predictive features
Want similar feature breadth at lower price

When to pick neither

Very small store (under $1k/month): Shopify Email or Mailchimp may be enough
Non-ecommerce business: Mailchimp, MailerLite, or HubSpot
Pure transactional (just receipts): Postmark or Resend
Multi-channel B2C beyond email + SMS: Iterable or Bloomreach

Migration between them

Both support standard CSV import/export. Migration considerations:

Re-build automation flows (no direct migration)
Re-publish authentication records for new platform
Migrate suppression list
Re-create templates (export HTML, often needs cleanup)
Update form embeds on your store
Coordinate with Shopify (uninstall old app, install new)
Plan 2-4 weeks parallel sending for deliverability protection

Klaviyo's market position

Klaviyo IPO'd in 2023 and has grown into the de facto standard for serious Shopify stores. Most Shopify Plus stores use Klaviyo. Most ecommerce agencies build on Klaviyo. The ecosystem advantages (integrations, talent, templates, community) are real.

Omnisend has stayed independent and continues to attract stores that don't need Klaviyo's depth. Their growth has been steady but they're playing in Klaviyo's shadow at this point.

Verdict

For growth-stage Shopify stores ($30k+/month): Klaviyo. The depth and ecosystem advantages are real. The premium pricing is justified.

For smaller stores ($1k-$30k/month): Omnisend. Better value, simpler setup, sufficient features for the scale.

For micro stores (under $1k/month): Either is overkill. Use Shopify Email or Mailchimp free tier.

If you're choosing between Klaviyo and Omnisend or planning a migration between them, book a consultation. I do ecommerce email platform selection, authentication setup, and deliverability optimization for Shopify stores.

Sources

Klaviyo pricing — Klaviyo
Omnisend pricing — Omnisend
Klaviyo Shopify integration — Klaviyo
Gmail Sender Guidelines — Google
Email Tool Tester deliverability tests — Email Tool Tester

v1.0 · May 2026