Klaviyo Pricing: New Costs, Hidden Fees & What Changed 2025

I’ve used Klaviyo for years across different ecommerce projects, but the 2025 pricing changes really caught me off guard. When I logged in this February, my bill had jumped sharply. Klaviyo had shifted from billing by email volume to active profile count, added automatic plan upgrades, and applied a 25% price increase cap for existing customers.

While I still appreciate the platform’s powerful automation and Shopify-native integrations, these new costs and hidden fees have made budgeting much more complex than before—especially for small business owners like myself. 

This guide breaks down everything I’ve learned about Klaviyo’s new pricing, from monthly plans and SMS costs to transactional email blocks, and compares it with key competitors so you can decide if it’s still worth the price.

Klaviyo Pricing at a Glance

Klaviyo Plans & Costs Reviewed

No matter what size business you come from, email marketing cost will always be one of the most pressing questions. So, here’s the Klaviyo pricing, summarized for your convenience:

Free Plan Review

I tested Klaviyo’s free tier recently for a new project, and it’s far more restrictive than what I remember from previous years—now capped at just 250 subscribers and 500 monthly emails. Since the February 2025 transition to profile-based pricing, even this free tier counts all active profiles—not just engaged subscribers—toward your 250-person limit.

I quickly discovered it lacks A/B testing, advanced segmentation, and live support, making it feel more like a trial than a viable free tier. While it worked for testing basic workflows and managing a small contact list, I outgrew it within weeks—much faster than with the free plans of competitors I’ve tried.

Sender, for instance, offers up to 15,000 emails monthly to 2,500 subscribers completely free—I switched my smaller projects there and haven’t looked back.

Email Plan

Klaviyo’s email pricing plan is what I use for most of my projects, starting at $20/month for 500 subscribers. The plan includes unlimited monthly email sends and access to Klaviyo’s advanced automation—features I genuinely value for creating targeted campaigns. 

But here’s what hit me hard: following the February 2025 Klaviyo pricing update, this plan now charges based on the number of active profiles rather than email volume. My costs increased significantly for lists with less engaged subscribers. 

While the ecommerce-focused automation is excellent, the steep price jumps have made me reconsider whether smaller projects can justify the expense, especially compared to other email marketing platforms that offer similar features for less.

Email + SMS Plan

I upgraded to the Email + SMS plan for one ecommerce store project, which starts at $35/month for 500 subscribers. The starter monthly SMS/MMS credits disappeared faster than expected, and costs rose quickly when we scaled our email and SMS campaigns—especially for international messaging. 

The multichannel automation is powerful, and I appreciate the advanced flows and segmentation. However, the combined pricing often surprises me when the monthly bill arrives. I’ve found it only makes sense for stores that can actively monetize both email and SMS audiences, and I’ve learned to send fewer SMS messages to control costs.

Klaviyo Enterprise

I’ve worked with a few brands on Enterprise plans, typically those with 150,000+ profiles who need dedicated support for their sales team and advanced marketing analytics. The pricing negotiations were always custom and based on specific needs like dedicated IPs. 

While the dedicated account manager and priority support were game-changers for large-scale campaigns, the lack of transparent Klaviyo pricing structure made budgeting challenging. Every add-on seemed to come with additional Klaviyo fees that weren’t clear upfront.

Klaviyo Hidden Fees & Extra Costs

This is where I learned some expensive lessons. While Klaviyo’s base plans cover core features, I’ve encountered numerous hidden costs that inflated my bills.

Since February 2025’s shift to active profile billing, I discovered that even unsubscribed contacts impact Klaviyo monthly cost—a painful change from the previous email volume model. I was shocked to discover that suppressed contacts still count toward limits, which unexpectedly affected my next billing cycle.

Additional charges for SMS credits sneak up quickly, and international texting costs more than expected. What really frustrated me were the automatic upgrades—I’ve been bumped to higher tiers without warning when exceeding the plan’s limit. These extras have made Klaviyo significantly more expensive than I initially budgeted for.

Klaviyo Monthly Pricing by Subscriber Count

*These prices reflect Klaviyo’s February 2025 model based on active profiles. I’ve noticed existing customers transitioning from the old system sometimes see different rates due to the 25% increase cap.

Klaviyo SMS Pricing & Costs

You’ll purchase credits to send mobile messages. Each type of message uses a different number of credits, depending on where the message is being sent to. For example, 1 SMS sent to the United States costs 1 credit.

Klaviyo vs. Competitors: Which Costs Less?

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Is Klaviyo Worth the Price?

After years of using Klaviyo, I believe it’s worth the investment if you’re an established ecommerce brand with a large customer base and high average order value. Following February 2025, when Klaviyo transitioned to profile-based billing, the value proposition shifted dramatically.

I’ve seen my costs increase significantly for databases with less engaged subscribers. The Shopify integration and customer data tools remain powerful growth drivers at scale.

However, for my smaller projects and seasonal stores, the high entry price and hidden fees have become deal-breakers. I’ve moved several of my own projects to alternatives like Omnisend, Mailchimp, or especially Sender (which saved me hundreds monthly on my smaller stores), which deliver similar functionality at a fraction of the cost.

Klaviyo Pricing FAQs