Why do teams look for a Klaviyo alternative?
Teams look for a Klaviyo alternative because the price follows the size of the list, not the email they send. Klaviyo bills by active profiles. A big list of people you rarely email costs as much as a list you email every day. Once the list grows, so does the bill.
Klaviyo is one of the best email and SMS tools for online stores. The friction is almost always price, and how it is worked out:
- You pay for stored profiles. Any profile that can be emailed counts, whatever its consent status.
- Tiers move up by themselves. When your count passes a tier, the account moves up at the next billing cycle.
- It is not a CRM. Teams with salespeople still need a CRM next to Klaviyo, and a way to keep the two in sync.
Every copy of your list is also personal data you must protect. Under the GDPR, fines can reach 4% of yearly global turnover. Keeping your list in one system, on servers you choose, makes that job simpler.
How much does Klaviyo cost?
Klaviyo's free plan covers 250 active profiles and 500 email sends a month, according to the Klaviyo pricing page. Paid email plans start at $20 a month for 251 to 500 profiles, or $35 a month with SMS. We compared these plans on 26 September 2026.
We found that the price rises with each profile tier, so a growing list means a growing bill. Send limits on paid tiers vary, so check your own quote. SMS is sold as a monthly allowance in dollars, and unused credit does not roll over.
MagpieCRM works the other way round. Contacts cost nothing to store, and you pay when you send. On Magpie Cloud:
- 50,000 emails sent a month comes to £10.00 on Magpie Cloud, for the whole team.
- 250,000 emails sent a month comes to £37.50 on Magpie Cloud, for the whole team.
Self-hosted, there is no MagpieCRM bill at all. You connect your own Amazon SES account and pay AWS $0.10 per 1,000 emails.
MagpieCRM vs Klaviyo: feature comparison
We built MagpieCRM so marketing and sales work from the same customer record. The table puts it next to Klaviyo. Klaviyo details come from the Klaviyo pricing page.
| MagpieCRM | Klaviyo | |
|---|---|---|
| Price model | Per email sent | Per active profile |
| Entry price | £10/month, or free self-hosted | $20 a month for 500 profiles |
| Email flows | Visual builder with splits and delays | Yes |
| SMS | Yes, in the same flows | Yes, as a monthly allowance |
| Segments | Live, on any field or event | Yes |
| A/B tests and stats | Per step | Yes |
| Triggers | Any CRM event or webhook | Store, site and API events |
| Sending | SES, SMTP, Postmark or Resend | Klaviyo |
| CRM with deals | Yes | No |
| Open source | Yes (AGPL-3.0) | No |
The main difference is where the data lives. Klaviyo is a marketing tool that sits beside your other systems. MagpieCRM is the CRM, with marketing built in. A deal can start a flow, and a click can update a deal.
How do you protect deliverability after switching?
You protect deliverability by setting up your domain before you send, then growing volume slowly. Publish SPF, DKIM and DMARC records for your new sending service. Send to your most engaged contacts first. Then add the rest of the list over a few weeks.
- Set up SPF, DKIM and DMARC for your domain.
- Add one-click unsubscribe to every marketing email.
- Remove hard bounces at once, and suppress anyone who complains.
Watch your spam rate closely. Google's sender guidelines say to keep it below 0.10% and never let it reach 0.30%.
On Magpie Cloud, SES is set up for you. Sending domains and IP addresses rotate by themselves to protect your reputation.
Where is Klaviyo stronger than MagpieCRM?
Klaviyo is stronger for online stores. It has one-click Shopify setup, product catalogue sync for recommendations, and predictions such as expected lifetime value. Its benchmarks show how you compare with similar stores. Few tools match it for store email.
Klaviyo may be the better fit if:
- You run a direct-to-consumer store on Shopify.
- Most of your email is cart recovery and post-purchase flows.
- You rely on its product recommendations and predictions.
MagpieCRM suits firms where marketing and sales share one customer record. Stores can still use it. You send order, signup or cart events to MagpieCRM with a webhook, and flows start from them.