Best email marketing platform for e-commerce

How the list was built

A store needs three things from email software. It must recover abandoned carts, recommend products from the catalogue and read orders from the shop, Shopify in most cases. We priced six tools that do this on the plan that switches cart recovery on, at 2,500, 10,000 and 50,000 contacts.

Who counts as a contact on your bill

Store lists fill up with one-time buyers, unsubscribers and bot sign-ups. Who counts as a contact decides how many of them you pay for. Klaviyo and Omnisend stop billing unsubscribed contacts. Mailchimp and GetResponse keep billing them.

Klaviyo’s plan moves up on its own when the profile count passes a tier. It moves back down only if you pick a lower tier or switch on auto-downgrade (Klaviyo billing article, updated 20 October 2026). After a clean-up, the count can take 72 hours to refresh.

The price of cart recovery at 2,500, 10,000 and 50,000 contacts

Brevo is the cheapest route to abandoned-cart automation at 10,000 and 50,000 contacts, if you send about four emails a contact a month. At 2,500, ActiveCampaign Starter costs least, on yearly billing; Omnisend Standard is the cheapest monthly-billed option at $44. Klaviyo is the dearest of the six at 10,000 and 50,000.

Method: each row is the cheapest plan at that size that runs an abandoned-cart series. Omnisend’s, GetResponse’s and ActiveCampaign’s Shopify listings name the plan; for Klaviyo, Brevo and Mailchimp it is the first paid plan with full automation flows. Omnisend’s free plan also automates abandoned carts, up to 250 contacts. Brevo’s rows assume four emails a contact a month.

Mailchimp Essentials, cheaper at every size, caps flows at four steps (Mailchimp pricing), so a cart series longer than that needs Standard. ActiveCampaign’s 50,000 row is Plus, as Starter stops below it.

The cheapest plan at each size, cart recovery or not, sits in the price table below. It also links each vendor’s pricing page.

SMS, product recommendations and predictive AI by plan

Klaviyo is the only one of the six whose first paid email plan lists predictive analytics. Product recommendations cost extra at Omnisend and Brevo, and SMS is billed on top at every tool that documents it.

Klaviyo’s Shopify listing prices its SMS plan at $15 a month for up to 1,250 SMS and MMS credits, carrier fees included. Omnisend’s listing adds SMS on Pro from $0.007 a message (Omnisend listing). Mailchimp’s footnote 17 says “Predictive segments available on Standard or Premium plans only”.

The vendors name their AI features differently. This table lists every AI feature on the pages we read and the cheapest plan that carries it.

What each Shopify app connects

Klaviyo, Omnisend and Mailchimp list Shopify Flow among the parts of Shopify their apps work with. Brevo has no live listing: both its apps read “This app is not currently available on the Shopify App Store” on 1 November 2026 (Brevo listing, Brevo PushOwl listing).

ActiveCampaign’s listing says its “Shopify integration available on Starter Tier and higher”. The same listing shows month-to-month prices, which ActiveCampaign’s own pricing page does not (ActiveCampaign listing).

Does the tool train AI on your customer list?

Only GetResponse says in its terms that its chosen AI does not learn from your content. Brevo, Mailchimp and ActiveCampaign have clauses that allow training, and Klaviyo and Omnisend read unclear.

Klaviyo’s terms bar training “third-party foundation models” on customer data (8.1) but do not mention its own models. Its AI page FAQ says machine learning and predictive analytics cannot be switched off. The guide on whether your email tool trains AI quotes each clause.

The six tools for online stores

Klaviyo: predictive analytics on its first paid plan

Klaviyo starts at $20 a month for 251 to 500 active profiles and costs $720 at 50,000 (Klaviyo pricing). Email + SMS starts at $35 a month. The free plan holds 250 active profiles and 500 sends a month, with an AI subject line generator.

The Email plan card lists “AI-generated segments, content, and images” and predictive analytics. Composer, Klaviyo’s marketing agent, comes with a small monthly allowance and a paid add-on for more. Its app syncs Shopify events in real time and works with Shopify Flow.

Store owners praise flows, segmentation and revenue reports (14 of the 60 newest four- and five-star reviews: Shopify App Store, Shopify App Store). Fake sign-ups that swell the active-profile bill are a recurring complaint (7 of the 60 newest one- and two-star reviews: Shopify App Store, Shopify App Store). 13 of the 60 newest one- and two-star reviews find the editor and set-up dated and complex for simple tasks (Shopify App Store, Shopify App Store).

Best for

Online stores with thousands of contacts wanting flows, segments and predictive data, and willing to clean the list to cut the profile count.

Skip it if

your sign-up forms draw bots or your list is mostly dormant: active profiles set the bill, and the plan does not step down by itself.

Omnisend: store flows for less than Klaviyo

Omnisend Standard starts at $16 a month for 500 contacts, with sends capped at 12 times the list (Omnisend pricing). Pro starts at $59 a month and adds SMS, product recommendations and personalised send times. Standard can buy the last two as add-ons.

The free plan includes AI subject lines and copywriting and automates abandoned-cart emails, up to 250 contacts. Its terms of 30 April 2026 hold no sentence on training models with your content.

Owners call it easy to set up and less intimidating than Klaviyo (17 of the 60 newest four- and five-star reviews: Shopify App Store, Shopify App Store). Several switched from Klaviyo on price (6 reviews and threads: Shopify App Store, Reddit). Account suspensions at sign-up or after unusual sending appear in 6 of the 56 newest one- and two-star reviews (Shopify App Store, Shopify App Store).

Price leads the one- and two-star reviews. In 22 of the 56 newest, owners say the bill jumps as contacts grow, since Omnisend bills per contact (Shopify App Store, Shopify App Store).

Best for

Online stores on Shopify or similar that want flows, forms and AI copy at a lower list-size price than Klaviyo, and that send mostly email.

Skip it if

you move a large bought or old list in on day one: owners report suspensions after unusual sending, some with data lost.

Brevo: priced on sends, with no live Shopify app

Brevo bills emails sent. Free stores 100,000 contacts and sends 300 emails a day; Standard adds marketing automation from $18 a month before the email tier (Brevo pricing). A store that emails each customer twice a month lands on a lower email tier than the four-send figures above.

AI recommendations for products, back-in-stock alerts and coupons sit on Professional, $499 a month.

Terms 6.7 let Brevo train its AI features on your content to improve the services. With no live Shopify App Store app (6 November 2026), a Shopify store needs another route to sync orders.

One poster finds the free tier enough for a small business (1 of 5 sources, Reddit).

Best for

Lists that send rarely: Free stores up to 100,000 contacts and sends 300 emails a day; Starter costs $9 a month for 5,000 emails.

Skip it if

you run Shopify and want an App Store app: neither Brevo listing was available on the Shopify App Store on 1 November 2026.

Mailchimp: a large Shopify base, AI from Standard

Mailchimp’s Shopify app has 1,549 reviews and syncs store segments for email and SMS (Mailchimp listing). Essentials starts at $13 a month with flows of up to four steps. Standard, from $20 a month, allows up to 200 flows and adds generative AI at no extra cost.

Mailchimp bills unsubscribed contacts, which a store with years of one-time buyers feels. Terms section 30 allow machine learning on your AI inputs, outputs and customer data.

Best for

Small lists that want a large integrations catalogue and templates: Essentials starts at $13 a month for 500 contacts.

Skip it if

your list holds many unsubscribed past buyers: Mailchimp bills them, and multi-step cart series need Standard.

GetResponse: cart recovery and unlimited sends on Marketer

GetResponse’s Shopify listing puts abandoned cart recovery and product recommendations on Marketer, $59 a month at 1,000 contacts (GetResponse listing). Every plan sends without a monthly cap. AI product recommendations sit on Enterprise.

The official app has 4 reviews, the thinnest Shopify footprint here after Brevo. GetResponse counts each list separately and bills unsubscribed and deleted contacts. Its terms (section 10) say its chosen AI models do not learn from customer content.

Users praise support and onboarding calls (10 of 24 sources, on Trustpilot). Billing and cancellation disputes come up in 5 of 24 on the same site.

Best for

Stores that send often and want cart recovery with unlimited sends, under terms that say the AI does not learn from their content.

Skip it if

you need a busy Shopify app with many reviews: the official GetResponse listing shows 4.

ActiveCampaign: cart recovery on Starter, billed yearly

ActiveCampaign’s Shopify listing puts abandoned cart emails on Starter, $15 a month billed yearly at 1,000 contacts (ActiveCampaign listing). AI content generation needs Plus and predictive sending needs Pro (archived pricing page).

Section 4 of its terms lets it use your marketing content “to help us train and improve the Services”. Users praise the automation builder (6 of 21 sources, on Trustpilot) and report a steep learning curve in 3 of 21.

Best for

Stores under about 2,500 contacts that want cart recovery on the entry plan and can pay for a year up front.

Skip it if

you want AI-written emails on the entry plan: ActiveCampaign puts AI content generation on Plus.

Klaviyo alternatives for a small store

Price leads Klaviyo’s complaints: 21 of the 60 newest one- and two-star Shopify App Store reviews raise it (Shopify App Store, Shopify App Store). The bill follows every emailable profile.

At 2,500 contacts, three of the other five cost less than Klaviyo’s Email plan for cart recovery: ActiveCampaign Starter billed yearly, Omnisend and Brevo. Mailchimp Standard ties it at $60 and GetResponse costs $69.

Omnisend is the closest swap. Its app works with Shopify Flow and Checkout like Klaviyo’s and automates abandoned carts on its free plan. It costs less at all four list sizes priced here, and 6 reviews and threads describe switching from Klaviyo on price (Shopify App Store, Reddit).

Brevo suits a store that emails rarely, if it can sync orders without an App Store app. The Klaviyo pricing breakdown shows every profile tier.

Omnisend vs Klaviyo

Omnisend costs less at every list size priced here, and the gap widens with the list: $413 against $720 at 50,000. Klaviyo’s Email plan lists predictive analytics; none of the Omnisend pages we read lists a predictive feature. Both review samples come from the Shopify App Store, where Omnisend draws praise for ease and Klaviyo for flow depth.

Klaviyo vs Mailchimp

Mailchimp Standard and Klaviyo’s Email plan cost the same at 2,500 contacts, $60. Mailchimp is cheaper at 10,000 and 50,000 but bills unsubscribed contacts, while Klaviyo drops suppressed profiles. Klaviyo’s app works with Shopify customer accounts; Mailchimp’s does not list them. Mailchimp alternatives covers stores leaving it.

Left out, and why

MailerLite and Kit have no product recommendation or predictive feature on their pricing pages; both sit on the general AI email marketing list. HubSpot Marketing Hub costs $410 a month at 10,000 marketing contacts on Starter, more than any tool on this page, and is built around its CRM.

Every AI email marketing page, sorted by job, is in the AI email marketing hub →