- Klaviyo agencies usually charge in three pieces: an audit, a flow build and a monthly retainer. Klaviyo's own software fee is separate.
- Under about $25K a month in revenue, a specialist you meet with on calls is usually a better use of money than a full agency.
- The best pricing ties the agency's pay to the revenue it actually generates for you.
- Any agency that guarantees exact results is a red flag. Nobody knows your audience, margins and products well enough to promise a number.
What does a Klaviyo agency cost in 2026?
Most agencies bill in three pieces. Here's one Klaviyo partner's published pricing as a reference point.
Source: What a Klaviyo Agency Costs in 2026, Finger Lakes 1.
Then there's Klaviyo itself, which you pay directly. The Email plan runs about $150 a month at 10,000 contacts and about $720 a month at 50,000 (source). That bill grows with your list whether you hire anyone or not.
On the other end, you'll find $15 "Klaviyo setup" gigs on Fiverr. That price tells you what you're getting, and we'll get into it below.
The 4 ways to pay for Klaviyo help (and who each one is for)
Here's how we price it at Bardown Digital. I'm sharing it because a lot of agencies don't show pricing until the sales call, and you should be able to see what fits before you talk to anyone.
Strategy calls
Three calls, $600 to start. Most brands spread them over about three months, so we can look at the data, make changes and review what happened together.
Best for: smaller brands and teams that want to run email themselves.
The 90-day accelerator
I install the systems I've built and proven across our brands, and I work with your team to deploy them. After 90 days, your team takes it over and runs it.
Best for: brands that want to own their email long term.
Done-for-you
We run it. Billed net-30 so it doesn't squeeze your cash flow.
Best for: brands past the $25K-a-month mark that want email handled.
One-time flow build
We'll do it, but it's rare. Most brands get more out of one of the three options above.
Why most of our pay is a performance fee
We want to be the most affordable option for the brands we take on. So the retainer is low, and most of what we earn comes from the performance fee.
When we make you more money, we make more money. When we don't, we don't.
It keeps both sides pointed at the same number: revenue, not hours or email count.
We also don't discount the done-for-you offer for smaller brands. If a brand isn't big enough for it to make sense, we recommend a different package instead of a watered-down version of the full one.
Should you hire a Klaviyo agency if you're doing under $25K a month?
Honestly, no. If your store is doing less than about $25K a month, don't spend your time shopping for an agency.
Hire a specialist instead. Someone who can sit with you and help you understand the parts of the business you want to grow.
When I work with smaller brands on calls, the biggest win isn't one flow or one campaign. It's that the founder finally gets email and retention. They learn:
- How to talk to their customers and what those customers care about
- What actually matters in Klaviyo and what's noise
- Where to spend their limited time
- How to think about every customer interaction after the first order
That understanding pays off for years, long after the calls end. And when you do grow into an agency, you'll know exactly what to ask for.
What a $15 Klaviyo setup doesn't get you
I take over a lot of accounts from cheaper freelancers. The pattern is almost always the same.
- The flows have no intention behind them. They exist, but nobody decided what each email is supposed to do or who it's for.
- Flows are missing or broken. Key ones never got built, and some of the ones that did don't fire correctly.
- Campaigns go out to everyone. They aren't sent to segments, so there's no way to look back and learn what worked for which customers.
That last one is the real cost. When nothing is segmented, there's no analysis, and without analysis there's no real retention strategy. Just emails.
The other thing you don't get is perspective. We work across a portfolio of brands, so we see what works at different sizes and in different categories at the same time. A $15 setup can't give you that.
Red flags in a Klaviyo agency proposal
The biggest one: any agency that promises exact results. "We'll add $50K a month" sounds great on a call. But every brand has its own audience, margins and products. Even with a proven system, nobody can guarantee a number before they've seen your account.
A few others to watch for:
- They report wins in open rates. Apple Mail inflates opens, and in our data open rate barely tracks revenue. Ask about clicks, revenue per recipient and placed orders instead.
- They can't explain how campaigns will be segmented, which means nobody will be able to tell you what worked later.
- The price is the same no matter what you make them. Nothing ties their pay to your results.
Questions to ask before you sign
- How do you get paid, and does any of it depend on my results?
- Based on my size, is your full service even the right fit, or would something smaller make more sense?
- How will you segment my campaigns, and how will you report on what's working?
- What do you do when a flow or campaign underperforms?
- Who actually does the work on my account?
- Do you work with other brands like mine?
What a good agency can actually promise
I can't promise you a number. Here's what I can promise.
I've been doing this every day for a long time. It's paid my bills, and it's generated hundreds of millions of dollars for the brands I've worked with.
That experience is the real product. I know how to read the data, spot what's off, and pivot fast when a brand doesn't respond to the system the way most do. That's what you're paying for. Not a set of templates, but someone who knows what to do when things don't go to plan.
FAQ
How much does Klaviyo itself cost?
Klaviyo's Email plan starts around $20 a month and runs about $150 a month at 10,000 contacts and about $720 at 50,000. That's separate from anything you pay an agency.
Is the Klaviyo subscription included in agency pricing?
Usually not. You pay Klaviyo directly, and the agency bills you for its work on top of that.
What is a performance fee?
It's the part of an agency's pay that's tied to the revenue it generates for you. At Bardown Digital, it's most of what we earn, and the retainer stays low.
What's the most affordable way to get expert Klaviyo help?
Strategy calls with a specialist. Ours start at three calls for $600 total, usually spread over about three months.
When does a brand need a done-for-you Klaviyo agency?
Once you're past roughly $25K a month in revenue and want someone else running email day to day. Below that, a specialist is usually the better buy.
Founder of Bardown Digital, a Chicago-based Klaviyo email and retention agency for Shopify brands. He's worked with brands doing $500K to $100M a year, with $100M+ in email-attributed revenue across them.