The best email marketing app for Shopify depends on your store's size, budget, and marketing sophistication. Klaviyo leads for data-driven brands needing deep segmentation and predictive analytics. Omnisend offers the strongest balance of ecommerce features and affordability for growing stores. Shopify Email works best for new merchants prioritizing simplicity and cost savings. Mailchimp serves as a capable generalist with broad integrations, while ActiveCampaign suits stores requiring CRM functionality alongside email automation.
Most Shopify merchants follow a natural progression: starting with Shopify Email for basic campaigns, moving to Omnisend as automation needs grow, and upgrading to Klaviyo once revenue and list size justify its advanced capabilities and higher cost.
How do the top Shopify email marketing apps compare on features?
Each platform brings distinct strengths to Shopify email marketing, with specializations ranging from native simplicity to advanced behavioral targeting.
Klaviyo
Klaviyo stands out for its deep Shopify data integration, accessing real-time customer, order, and product data for granular segmentation and personalization. The platform includes Shopify-specific automation flows for browse abandonment, cart abandonment, post-purchase sequences, and win-back campaigns. Advanced analytics features include benchmarks against similar brands and predictive tools for customer lifetime value and purchase propensity scoring.
Omnisend
Omnisend combines email, SMS, and push notifications in a single automation-first platform built specifically for ecommerce. Prebuilt omnichannel workflows cover welcome sequences, cart abandonment, order confirmations, and shipping updates. The platform supports Shopify Markets data for geographic and store-URL-based targeting, making it effective for international stores.
Shopify Email
Shopify Email provides the native option focused on simplicity and tight integration rather than feature depth. Setup happens directly inside the Shopify admin without extra connectors, and pricing includes a generous monthly email allowance. The platform uses Shopify's own customer segments and Flow automations for basic lifecycle marketing.
Mailchimp
Mailchimp remains a strong generalist with a familiar interface and broad integration capabilities including Shopify. Core strengths include solid email templates, decent ecommerce automations, and multi-channel options covering email plus basic advertising and social features at accessible entry-level pricing.
ActiveCampaign
ActiveCampaign differentiates through advanced automation combined with built-in CRM functionality for lifecycle and sales-led ecommerce. Strengths for Shopify stores include complex behavior-based workflows, lead scoring, and sales pipeline tools that extend beyond pure email to orchestrate customer journeys across marketing and sales touchpoints.
How does pricing compare across Shopify email marketing platforms?
Pricing structures vary significantly, with some platforms charging by contact count and others by email volume. Shopify Email typically costs least at small scales, Omnisend undercuts Klaviyo in the mid-market, and Klaviyo sits toward the premium end as lists grow.
Small stores with up to 2,000 contacts
Shopify Email proves extremely attractive for stores sending fewer than 10,000 emails monthly, with most small merchants paying between zero and ten dollars. The platform includes 10,000 free emails per month, charging approximately one dollar per additional 1,000 emails sent.
Omnisend's Standard plan costs roughly 16 to 20 dollars monthly at 500 to 1,000 contacts, generally cheaper than Klaviyo's email plan at similar volumes. Klaviyo offers a free tier up to 250 contacts and 500 sends, with paid plans starting around 20 dollars monthly for 500 contacts.
Mid-sized stores with 5,000 to 25,000 contacts
Omnisend's Pro plan typically lands between 80 and 150 dollars monthly at 5,000 to 10,000 contacts, with unlimited emails and included SMS credits keeping cost per send low. Klaviyo pricing runs higher for similar list sizes, with estimates around 110 dollars at 5,000 contacts and 175 to 190 dollars at 10,000 contacts.
ActiveCampaign and GetResponse sit in a similar band to Klaviyo at these list sizes, with GetResponse showing approximately 79 dollars at 10,000 contacts on lower-tier plans.
Larger stores with 50,000 or more contacts
Omnisend Pro estimates around 400 dollars monthly at 50,000 contacts with unlimited emails, designed for predictable costs at high volume. Klaviyo pricing at these levels typically exceeds Omnisend for comparable features, often reaching custom pricing in the high hundreds monthly.
Shopify Email remains competitive only for low send frequency. High-volume stores sending several campaigns weekly to 50,000-plus contacts will find per-email charges overtaking contact-based platforms.
Which email marketing app has the best Shopify integration?
Klaviyo and Omnisend provide the deepest, most flexible Shopify integrations with rich event streams and catalog synchronization. Shopify Email offers the most seamless native experience, while ActiveCampaign, GetResponse, and MailerLite cover core ecommerce data without matching Klaviyo or Omnisend on Shopify-specific capabilities.
Data syncing capabilities
Klaviyo syncs customer profiles, order history, product details, browsing behavior, and subscription status from Shopify, pulling historical data on initial sync so automations and segments immediately access past purchase context. Omnisend continuously syncs customer, order, and product data while importing Shopify customer segments directly with hourly auto-updates.
Shopify Email natively uses the same data layer as your store, making customer information, orders, and segments directly available without extra mapping or synchronization delays.
Product catalog access
Klaviyo syncs the full Shopify product catalog including variants, images, prices, and localized catalogs for Shopify Markets. Emails can use dynamic product feeds with correct language, currency, and region-specific URLs. Omnisend syncs your catalog for product recommendation blocks, cart recovery content, and automation steps referencing specific products or categories.
Store data in automations and segmentation
Klaviyo supports granular conditions including specific products ordered, total spend thresholds, categories viewed, predictive lifetime value, churn risk, and Shopify Markets attributes. All conditions work as triggers, filters, and dynamic content blocks in flows.
Omnisend enables segments based on purchase and browse behavior, order value, products purchased, and Shopify Markets data including country and store URL for market-specific workflows.
What are the key automation capabilities for each platform?
All platforms support core ecommerce automation flows, but Klaviyo and Omnisend offer the most advanced multi-step, behavior-driven sequences for abandoned cart, welcome, post-purchase, and win-back campaigns.
Abandoned cart automation
Klaviyo provides prebuilt abandoned cart and checkout flows with email and SMS steps, product blocks pulling cart contents, and branching by cart value, product, or customer history. Omnisend offers similar workflows with triggers for cart additions or checkout starts, exit conditions when orders complete, and multi-message sequences across email, SMS, and push.
Shopify Email includes built-in abandoned cart emails that automatically pull cart contents and deep-link back to checkout.
Welcome series
Klaviyo offers multi-email welcome templates triggered on signup with conditions for first-purchase completion, discount redemption, and engagement metrics. Omnisend's visual automation builder includes ready-made welcome workflows mixing email and SMS with branching based on signup source.
Post-purchase flows
Klaviyo includes dedicated post-purchase flow types distinguishing first-time from repeat buyers, supporting review requests, cross-sell recommendations, and education sequences using order and product data. Omnisend provides presets for order confirmation follow-ups, review requests, cross-sell campaigns, and replenishment reminders with product recommendation blocks.
Win-back campaigns
Klaviyo triggers win-back flows when customers haven't purchased after a chosen time window, with filters based on order count and value. Omnisend's customer re-engagement workflows combine discounts, reminders, and multichannel nudges based on inactivity periods or last order dates.
How easy are these platforms to use for Shopify store owners?
Shopify Email and Omnisend prove easiest for non-technical merchants, while Klaviyo requires more learning investment despite its powerful capabilities.
Shopify Email lives inside the Shopify admin, allowing merchants to work in a familiar environment without switching tools. Pre-built templates and simple campaign creation flows make it approachable for first-time email users. The limited feature set keeps cognitive load low.
Omnisend offers one-click installation from Shopify with guided onboarding for connecting stores and brand assets. Visual drag-and-drop builders for emails, forms, and automations receive frequent praise for intuitiveness. The large library of prebuilt ecommerce workflows reduces the need to design flows from scratch.
Klaviyo's drag-and-drop builders are polished and modern, but the range of options and data fields creates more initial complexity. Non-technical teams often feel overwhelmed by the volume of settings, though excellent documentation and academy content help merchants willing to invest learning time.
What are the limitations of each email marketing platform?
Klaviyo limitations
Pricing climbs quickly as lists grow, making it expensive for budget-sensitive brands. Transactional emails count toward monthly send limits, potentially pushing stores into higher tiers faster. The advanced functionality creates a noticeable learning curve, and support access is limited on lower tiers.
Omnisend limitations
Historical data access is restricted on lower-tier plans, reducing long-term analysis options. Segment counts are capped by plan, constraining very granular strategies. The platform is less advanced than Klaviyo in ultra-granular segmentation and predictive analytics.
Shopify Email limitations
The platform lacks advanced reporting such as cohort analysis and segment-level performance tracking. No native SMS or push notification support means multichannel automation requires additional tools. Shopify throttles email sends for larger lists by batching over up to 72 hours, which can hurt time-sensitive campaigns.
Which email marketing app should you choose based on your store size?
New or early-stage stores
Shopify Email works as the default choice for most new stores, requiring minimal setup and remaining effectively free until meaningful volume. The platform handles basic welcome, abandoned cart, and occasional campaigns without needing a dedicated marketer.
Omnisend's free or low tiers suit merchants wanting more automation from launch. One-click Shopify integration and beginner-friendly flows provide proper ecommerce automation patterns at lower cost than Klaviyo.
Growing mid-sized brands with 5,000 to 50,000 contacts
Omnisend fits many serious but lean teams, with strong Shopify integration and unlimited emails on Pro keeping costs predictable. The platform is easier to manage than Klaviyo while offering sufficient segmentation and multichannel capabilities.
Klaviyo makes sense for advanced direct-to-consumer operations with higher average order values and repeat-purchase focus. Predictive analytics and sophisticated reporting justify the investment once meaningful budget goes toward traffic and lifecycle marketing.
Established high-volume stores with 50,000 or more contacts
Klaviyo suits data- and experimentation-heavy brands running constant testing with deep cohort reporting and market-specific catalogs. Omnisend Pro works well for high send volume with clear playbooks, where unlimited email and included SMS credits make unit economics attractive for large lists.
Conclusion
Selecting the right email marketing app for Shopify requires balancing your current needs against growth plans. New stores benefit from Shopify Email's simplicity or Omnisend's accessible automation. Growing brands find Omnisend's pricing and features hit a sweet spot, while established stores often justify Klaviyo's premium capabilities. The common trajectory moves from simple to sophisticated as revenue and marketing resources expand.
Our Shopify marketing services can help you implement and optimize whichever platform fits your store's stage and goals. Reach out to explore how we can accelerate your email marketing results.