What's the difference between ActiveCampaign Marketing Starter and Klaviyo?

ActiveCampaign Marketing Starter is ActiveCampaign Marketing Starter is ActiveCampaign's entry marketing automation product — email marketing, drip campaigns, segmentation, and basic automation at 1,000 contacts baseline for $19/mo monthly ($15/mo annual). Price scales with contact list size: 10K contacts ≈ $149/mo Plus. ActiveCampaign sells 2 additional products with independent pricing not tracked here: ActiveCampaign Sales (standalone CRM), ActiveCampaign Bundle (Marketing + Sales combined at a discount, Bundle Plus at $93/mo is the sweet spot for many customers). All three products scale with contact count. Popular with SMBs and solopreneurs graduating from Mailchimp, while Klaviyo is Marketing automation built specifically for e-commerce, publicly traded (KVYO), ~$10B market cap. Positioned as the alternative to Mailchimp for e-commerce brands that need behavioral segmentation and revenue attribution. Distinctive for tight Shopify integration and its "attributed revenue" reporting that lets marketers show ROI cleanly. Priced per subscribed profile starting free; scales aggressively past 10K contacts. Real cost bloat comes from SMS add-on and abandoned-cart flows. On price, activeCampaign Marketing Starter is cheaper on the entry tier at $19/mo vs $20/mo for Klaviyo. Both bill on a per usage model, so the tiers below compare directly.

Which costs less, ActiveCampaign Marketing Starter or Klaviyo?

ActiveCampaign Marketing Starter is cheaper on the entry tier at $19/mo vs $20/mo for Klaviyo.

Is ActiveCampaign Marketing Starter or Klaviyo priced per seat or per usage?

ActiveCampaign Marketing Starter bills purely on usage — contacts. There is no fixed per-seat fee, so the monthly cost depends entirely on how much you consume. Klaviyo bills purely on usage — Contacts. There is no fixed per-seat fee, so the monthly cost depends entirely on how much you consume.

Does ActiveCampaign Marketing Starter have a free plan?

ActiveCampaign Marketing Starter's free-plan availability isn't confirmed — check the pricing page for the latest.

Does Klaviyo have a free plan?

Yes, Klaviyo offers a free plan.

How does ActiveCampaign Marketing Starter pricing compare to Klaviyo for enterprise use?

Both ActiveCampaign Marketing Starter and Klaviyo offer enterprise pricing on request, typically with custom quotes based on seats, usage, and support.

When were these prices last verified?

Pricing was last verified on September 12, 2026. SaaS Price Hub tracks vendor pricing pages daily.

ActiveCampaign Marketing Starter vs Klaviyo — Pricing, Plans, and Verified Costs (2026)

TL;DR

ActiveCampaign Marketing Starter starts at $19/mo. Klaviyo starts at $20/mo. ActiveCampaign Marketing Starter is $1/mo cheaper on the entry tier than Klaviyo.

Both prices verified September 10, 2026

See price history: ActiveCampaign Marketing Starter · Klaviyo

How pricing works

These two tools don't price the same way, so the headline numbers below aren't directly comparable until you plug in your own volume.

ActiveCampaign Marketing Starter (Per Usage) — ActiveCampaign Marketing Starter bills purely on usage — contacts. There is no fixed per-seat fee, so the monthly cost depends entirely on how much you consume.
Klaviyo (Per Usage) — Klaviyo bills purely on usage — Contacts. There is no fixed per-seat fee, so the monthly cost depends entirely on how much you consume.

Per-minute, per-credit and per-token rates exclude any downstream model, speech or telephony costs unless the vendor states otherwise.

ActiveCampaign Marketing Starter

Marketing & Email

Starts at

$19/mo

ActiveCampaign Marketing Starter is ActiveCampaign's entry marketing automation product — email marketing, drip campaigns, segmentation, and basic automation at 1,000 contacts baseline for $19/mo monthly ($15/mo annual). Price scales with contact list size: 10K contacts ≈ $149/mo Plus. ActiveCampaign sells 2 additional products with independent pricing not tracked here: ActiveCampaign Sales (standalone CRM), ActiveCampaign Bundle (Marketing + Sales combined at a discount, Bundle Plus at $93/mo is the sweet spot for many customers). All three products scale with contact count. Popular with SMBs and solopreneurs graduating from Mailchimp.

Visit website

Klaviyo

Marketing & Email

Starts at

$20/mo

Marketing automation built specifically for e-commerce, publicly traded (KVYO), ~$10B market cap. Positioned as the alternative to Mailchimp for e-commerce brands that need behavioral segmentation and revenue attribution. Distinctive for tight Shopify integration and its "attributed revenue" reporting that lets marketers show ROI cleanly. Priced per subscribed profile starting free; scales aggressively past 10K contacts. Real cost bloat comes from SMS add-on and abandoned-cart flows.

Visit website

All plans compared

Tier role	Plan	ActiveCampaign Marketing Starter monthly	ActiveCampaign Marketing Starter annual	Klaviyo monthly	Klaviyo annual
Free / starter	— / Free	—	—	Free	Free
Entry paid	Starter / Email	$19	$15	$20	—
Mid tier	Plus / —	$59	$49	—	—
Pro / power	Pro / Email + SMS	$99	$79	$35	—
Enterprise	Enterprise / —	$179	$145	—	—

Tier names differ across vendors. Rows are aligned by tier role, not name. Full tier structures on each tool's page.

What each is best for

ActiveCampaign Marketing Starter

ActiveCampaign Marketing Starter is worth it if… SMBs (500-5,000 contacts) that need email + basic automation + CRM in one tool without HubSpot's price tag. Starter covers most basic email flows; Plus adds sales automation and SMS.

Klaviyo

Klaviyo is worth it if… e-commerce brands (Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento) that need product-triggered email + SMS flows — abandoned cart, browse abandonment, post-purchase, winback — with revenue attribution baked in. Free covers up to 250 subscribers; paid tiers scale by subscriber count with email + SMS bundled or separate.

Bottom line: Similar positioning, closer to a preference call than a strategic one.

Choose ActiveCampaign Marketing Starter over Klaviyo if…

Choose ActiveCampaign Marketing Starter if…

You want to pay only for actual usage (per usage, from $19/mo).
You match the profile ActiveCampaign Marketing Starter is built for: SMBs (500-5,000 contacts) that need email + basic automation + CRM in one tool without HubSpot's price tag.
You need a general-purpose marketing & email option rather than a vertical-specific one.

Choose Klaviyo if…

You want to pay only for actual usage (per usage, from $20/mo).
You match the profile Klaviyo is built for: e-commerce brands (Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento) that need product-triggered email + SMS flows — abandoned cart, browse abandonment, post-purchase, winback — with revenue attribution baked in.
You need a general-purpose marketing & email option rather than a vertical-specific one.

At a glance

	ActiveCampaign Marketing Starter	Klaviyo
Free plan	No	Yes
Entry price	$19/mo	$20/mo
Enterprise available	Yes	Yes
Pricing model	Per Usage	Per Usage
Last verified	September 12, 2026	September 10, 2026
Full pricing	View full pricing	View full pricing