ActiveCampaign vs. Klaviyo: a data-backed comparison
Explore how ActiveCampaign and Klaviyo compare in terms of features, pricing, adoption trends, and ideal use cases to help you determine which project management tool is best for your team.
ActiveCampaign vs. Klaviyo at a glance
Both ActiveCampaign and Klaviyo are popular email marketing tools, but they differ significantly in capabilities and target audiences.
ActiveCampaign targets businesses seeking multi-channel automation across email, CRM, and sales, with a focus on building customer relationships. Klaviyo is built specifically for ecommerce brands, offering detailed customer segmentation, purchase-driven automations, and predictive insights tied directly to online shopping behavior.
Metrics | ActiveCampaign | Klaviyo |
|---|---|---|
Relative cost | 1% lower cost than category average | 203% higher cost than category average |
Adoption trend | 11% QoQ adoption growth | 11% QoQ adoption growth |
Primary user segment | – | – |
Best for | Startups and small teams seeking accessible marketing automation tools without enterprise-level complexity or pricing. | E-commerce businesses planning to scale their marketing sophistication and revenue over time. |
ActiveCampaign overview
ActiveCampaign combines marketing automation, email marketing, and CRM capabilities in one platform. It enables businesses to create and manage automated customer journey projects across multiple channels while tracking the sales pipeline.
The platform excels at handling complex marketing workflow projects. With visual automation builders and AI-driven optimization tools, ActiveCampaign helps convert leads through personalized, behavior-triggered messaging campaigns.
ActiveCampaign key features
Features | Description |
|---|---|
Email marketing automation | Creates behavior-triggered email sequences with a visual automation builder that requires minimal technical knowledge |
Built-in CRM | Tracks contacts, deals, and conversations in one system with pipeline visualization and sales automation capabilities |
Customer experience automation | Orchestrates personalized experiences across email, messaging, site, and sales based on customer behavior and preferences |
Predictive sending | Uses AI to determine optimal send times for individual contacts, improving open rates and engagement metrics, reflecting current predictive analytics trends |
Segmentation | Divides audiences based on behaviors, custom fields, and engagement levels for targeted messaging |
Reporting and analytics | Provides accessible insights into campaign performance with conversion tracking and ROI measurement tools, similar to how finance automation can enhance business intelligence |
Klaviyo overview
Klaviyo is purpose-built for businesses needing to leverage customer data for personalized marketing projects. It integrates deeply with online stores to pull purchase history, browsing behavior, and product interactions for targeted messaging campaigns.
Klaviyo’s strength comes from combining rich customer profiles with e-commerce metrics to create highly relevant messaging campaigns that directly impact revenue and customer lifetime value, thereby optimizing digital marketing campaign expenses.
Klaviyo key features
Features | Description |
|---|---|
Advanced Segmentation | Target audiences by browsing behavior and purchase history |
Predictive Analytics | Forecast customer lifetime value and churn risk |
Ecommerce Automations | Prebuilt flows for cart recovery, welcome series, and win-backs |
Email & SMS Campaigns | Manage both channels with unified analytics |
Web & Mobile Tracking | Capture on-site and in-app events to refine messaging |
Pros and Cons
Tool | Pros | Cons |
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ActiveCampaign |
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Klaviyo |
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Use case scenarios
ActiveCampaign provides integrated email, CRM, and sales automation ideal for relationship-driven campaigns, while Klaviyo focuses on e-commerce brands with deep behavioral segmentation and predictive purchase insights.
When ActiveCampaign is the better choice
- Best suited for relationship-driven campaigns with built-in CRM
- Ideal for coordinating email, SMS, and on-site messages in one flow
- Good for teams needing lead scoring and visitor event tracking
- Appropriate for businesses focused on customer lifecycle management
When Klaviyo is the better choice
- Best suited for e-commerce brands using purchase behavior data
- Ideal for targeted cart recovery and post-purchase automations
- Good for companies seeking predictive customer value insights
- Appropriate for online stores offering personalized discounts
Other email marketing tools
- Mailchimp: Better for small businesses needing an all-in-one marketing project platform with simpler automation needs and integrated design tools.
- Omnisend: Specialized for e-commerce with marketing project features designed specifically for online retailers with multi-channel needs.
- Constant Contact: User-friendly platform for beginners with straightforward email marketing and basic automation project capabilities.
- Marketo: Enterprise-grade platform for organizations needing comprehensive lead scoring, account-based marketing, and extensive third-party integrations to power complex automation projects.
- SendGrid: Developer-centric solution for teams requiring high-volume transactional email and API-driven workflows, offering enterprise-class deliverability and customizable notification systems.