- Klaviyo and Omnisend both offer a free plan capped at 250 contacts and 500 emails a month, according to their own pricing and help pages.
- Klaviyo bills its email plans on active profiles, meaning anyone who can still be emailed. Omnisend says it bills for subscribers and non-subscribers who received automated messages, and doesn't bill unsubscribed contacts.
- Omnisend lists 24/7 support on every plan, including free. Klaviyo's free plan includes email support for the first 60 days only.
- Switching platforms rarely fixes a program with missing flows and unsegmented campaigns. Fix the program first, then compare tools.
Klaviyo vs Omnisend: how do they compare on paper?
Here's what each company says on its own pricing and help pages, as of October 2026. Pricing changes often, so check the live pages before you decide.
| Klaviyo | Omnisend | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Up to 250 profiles and 500 emails a month | 250 contacts and 500 emails a month |
| Branding on free plan | Klaviyo branding in email footers and on sign-up forms | Omnisend branding required |
| How email plans are billed | By active profiles (anyone who can be emailed); unsubscribed and suppressed don't count | Subscribers and non-subscribers who received automated messages; unsubscribed contacts aren't billed |
| Support | Free: email support for the first 60 days. Paid: email and chat | 24/7 support listed on all plans, including free |
| SMS | Sold as SMS credits alongside email plans | Billed per message, from $0.007, varying by country and volume |
| Send limits | Each profile tier includes a monthly send capacity | Pro lists unlimited emails, with a fair use limit of up to 60x list size |
A few things worth calling out.
Omnisend's FAQ says its free plan includes all the features of its paid plans, including SMS and push notifications. Its pricing page lists pre-built ecommerce workflows, A/B testing and unlimited segmentation on all plans. That's generous for a brand just starting out.
On paid pricing, Omnisend's page description says paid plans start from $16 a month. When I checked, the Standard card showed $11.20 a month next to an option to pay three months upfront and save 30%. I'm not quoting Klaviyo's paid prices here, because they depend on your profile count. Open both pricing pages with your actual list size.
How Klaviyo billing works, in one paragraph
Klaviyo's Profile and Email plans are priced by active profiles, with email send capacity included in each tier. Klaviyo counts any profile that can be emailed as active, and for month-to-month customers, going over your tier moves the account up at the next billing cycle. Suppressed and unsubscribed contacts don't count. That's why list hygiene matters so much on Klaviyo. I broke it down in why your Klaviyo bill went up.
Why I work in Klaviyo most of the time
I've spent seven years building retention for Shopify brands, and Shopify plus Klaviyo is the setup I know best. So when I say Klaviyo, part of that is simply that it's where I'm fastest and where I can see patterns across a lot of brands.
That's a bias, and you should know it. It's also not a reason for you to pick Klaviyo. The right platform is the one your team will actually use well.
What I care about more than the logo is whether the account has the basics: a strong first welcome email, a cart flow that runs long enough, a winback that doesn't quit after one email, and a reorder flow if your product runs out. Across four consumable brands in my data, only 2 of the 4 had a replenishment flow built, and it earned about 28x their best campaign. Neither platform builds that for you.
Should I switch from Klaviyo to Omnisend (or the other way)?
Probably not as your first move. When I take over an underperforming account, the problems I find are in the program: flows with no intention behind them, flows that are missing or broken, and campaigns sent to everyone with no segments, so nobody can tell what worked.
Every one of those problems moves with you to a new tool. Migrating takes time, and while you're rebuilding, you're not fixing the program.
Here's when a switch can make sense:
- You're small, you need help often, and included support matters more to you than anything else.
- Your bill has outgrown what email earns you, and you've already cleaned your list of people who never engage.
- Your team has used one platform before and will run it better than the other.
- A feature you truly need works better on one platform for your setup.
If none of those are true, fix the program you have. Run my Klaviyo audit checklist first. Most of it applies to any platform.
What matters more than the platform
Whichever tool you pick, the same rules hold across the brands I work with:
- Judge by clicks, not opens. In my four-brand data, click rate tracked revenue at 0.65 and open rate at 0.32.
- Put most of your welcome effort into email #1. It earned about 30x what emails #2 to #5 earned.
- Keep winbacks long. Winback email #3 earned about 2x email #1.
- Segment your campaigns. A fitness tech brand I work with earned $0.19 per person from an engaged segment and $0.04 from a full-list blast.
For the full flow setup I'd want on either platform, see the essential Klaviyo flows for CPG brands.
Where these numbers come from
The flow and correlation numbers are pooled from 4 consumable brands I work with: 2,897 campaigns and $17.7M in email revenue. It's a small sample, so treat it as directional. Platform facts come from Klaviyo's and Omnisend's own pages, listed in Sources.
FAQ
Is Omnisend cheaper than Klaviyo?
It depends on your list size and how you send. Both have a free plan for up to 250 contacts and 500 emails a month. For paid plans, put your real contact count into both pricing pages, since they bill differently.
Is Klaviyo better than Omnisend for Shopify?
I work in Klaviyo most of the time with Shopify brands, so that's where I'm strongest. That doesn't make it the right pick for everyone. A well-run program on either platform beats a messy one on the other.
Does Omnisend charge for unsubscribed contacts?
No. Omnisend's pricing page says you're billed for subscribers and non-subscribers who received automated messages, and that unsubscribed contacts aren't billed.
Will switching platforms increase my email revenue?
Not by itself. If flows are missing and campaigns go to everyone, those problems come with you. Fix the program first, then decide if the platform is holding you back.
Do you work with brands on Omnisend?
My strongest work is in Klaviyo with Shopify brands, but I'm not Klaviyo-only. Book a call and tell me what you're running, and I'll tell you honestly whether I'm a good fit.
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.