# Klaviyo vs Omnisend for Shopify in 2026: the bill, the channels and the limits

Free plans, what each bill counts, the 2026 SMS changes, channels, reviews and AI. Checked against each vendor's own pages on 12 October 2026.

By Rohin Aggarwal · 2026-10-12

Klaviyo and Omnisend both send email and SMS from your Shopify data. Both have a free plan of about the same size. They part ways on what the bill counts and what happens when you go over. Both changed their SMS pricing in 2026. Here is each one, checked against its own pages.

**Quick answer**

- **Free plans match in size.** Both allow about 250 contacts and 500 emails a month.
- **Klaviyo bills by active profiles.** Suppressed and unsubscribed profiles are free.
- **Omnisend bills by contacts.** People who never opted in still count. Only unsubscribed ones are free.
- **SMS changed in 2026 at both.** Klaviyo now bills dollars per message. Omnisend moved SMS to Pro for new plans.
- **Reviews:** Klaviyo sells its own. Omnisend retired its own in January 2026.
- We make Idukki. We make no email tool, so neither app is ours.

## Side by side

|  | Klaviyo | Omnisend |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Free plan | 250 active profiles, 500 emails a month | 250 contacts, 500 emails a month |
| Paid plans | Email, and Email + SMS | Standard from $16, Pro from $59 a month |
| Bill counts | Active profiles, then email sends | Billable contacts, subscribed or not |
| Not billed | Suppressed and unsubscribed profiles | Unsubscribed contacts only |
| SMS | Dollars per message since 13 July 2026 | Pro only for new plans since 4 May 2026 |
| Other channels | Mobile push, WhatsApp and RCS listed | Web push, MMS in the US and Canada |
| Own reviews app | Klaviyo Reviews, billed separately | Retired on 5 January 2026 |
| Other platforms | 20+, including WooCommerce and Magento | BigCommerce, WooCommerce, Wix, PrestaShop |

_From each vendor's pricing page, help centre and Shopify listing, checked 12 October 2026._

## The free plans

Klaviyo's free plan covers 250 active profiles and 500 email sends a month. Emails and forms carry "Powered by Klaviyo". Email support lasts for the first 60 days. Set up through the Shopify app, it allows three live automations and one live form. Over the profile cap, sending stops until you are back under it.

Omnisend's free plan sends 500 emails a month to at most 250 contacts. You can upload more contacts, but a campaign reaches a segment of 250 at most. It adds 500 web push notifications a month. SMS on Free is now only for accounts that had SMS before 4 May 2026.

## What each bill counts

Klaviyo prices its Email and Email + SMS plans by active profiles. An active profile is one you can still market to. Klaviyo does not charge for suppressed or unsubscribed profiles. So cleaning your list lowers the bill. The Plans tab can take up to 72 hours to show it. Klaviyo's starting price differs by region and profile count on its own pages. Set the slider to your list size on the live page.

Omnisend's Standard plan starts at $16 a month for 500 contacts. It gives 12 emails per billable contact each cycle. Pro starts at $59 a month and sends unlimited email under a fair-use rule. Billable contacts include people from orders or abandoned carts who never opted in. Only unsubscribed contacts drop off. Leaving a contact out of a campaign does not lower the count.

### Going over the limit
_From each vendor's billing help, checked 12 October 2026._

**Klaviyo: Upgrade or Flex**
Paid email plans that go over.
- ✓ Sending keeps going
- ✓ Flex pays once for the next tier, then reverts
- ✗ Auto-upgrade lands at the next billing cycle
- ✗ You must opt in to the new settings

**Omnisend: Sending pauses**
Standard plans that run out of email credits.
- ✓ No surprise per-email charge
- ✗ Campaigns stop until renewal or upgrade
- ✗ Contacts are taken out of running automations

## SMS changed at both in 2026

Klaviyo moved mobile messaging from credits to dollars on 13 July 2026. Each message has a price by channel and country. Carrier fees are included. You buy a dollar amount up front, and larger plans pay less per message. Existing paid accounts switched at their first billing cycle after 13 August 2026.

Omnisend made SMS a Pro feature for new plans on 4 May 2026. You buy SMS through a separate credits subscription. Rates start at $0.007 a message at the highest spend. The price depends on monthly spend and country. Legacy Pro plans retire on 26 October 2026 and move to the current Pro automatically.

**Pricing an SMS programme at either**
1. **Count subscribers** — Only SMS subscribers count. Group them by country.
2. **Count sends** — Campaigns a month plus flows such as abandoned cart.
3. **Check segments** — A long message can bill as several. Keep texts short.
4. **Price both** — Use each live pricing page at that volume and country.
_A method for your own numbers. Both price by country and volume._

## Channels beyond email

Klaviyo lists email, SMS, MMS, RCS, mobile push and WhatsApp. Mobile push needs your own native app and Klaviyo's SDK. We found no web push on Klaviyo's pages. Some newer channels were in beta in earlier Klaviyo posts, so check availability for your country.

Omnisend sends email, SMS and web push, plus MMS in the US and Canada. It also syncs audiences to Google Customer Match and Facebook Custom Audiences. Google Customer Match has its own spend requirement on the ad account. We found no native WhatsApp sending on Omnisend's pages.

## Shopify data and segments

Klaviyo pulls your last 90 days of Shopify data first, then the full history. New events arrive in real time. Profiles carry predicted lifetime value, expected next order date and churn risk. Segments can use all three.

Omnisend syncs contacts, products, orders, carts and browsing. The first sync can take up to 24 hours. After that it runs within minutes. Customers fall into lifecycle stages built on recency, frequency and spend. Omnisend's support pages say lifetime-value segments are not available now.

## Reviews and AI

Klaviyo Reviews is a separate product with its own bill. It needs a paid Klaviyo email plan and runs on Shopify and WooCommerce. Omnisend retired its Product Reviews on 5 January 2026. It now works with Judge.me, Yotpo, Loox and Okendo for review requests.

Klaviyo launched its Marketing Agent and Customer Agent in September 2025. The first drafts campaigns, flows and forms from a URL. The second answers shoppers. Omnisend offers a subject line generator, an AI writer and an AI segment builder. It also connects to Claude and ChatGPT through MCP.

**Which one fits your store**
Q: What does your store need most?
- Predictive segments and many channels: **Klaviyo** — Lifetime value, next order date and churn risk on every profile.
  - Want reviews from the same vendor: Add Klaviyo Reviews
- A low, fixed email budget: **Omnisend Standard** — From $16 a month, 12 emails per contact.
  - Need SMS: Move to Pro and add SMS credits
- Many shoppers who never opted in: **Count them first** — Omnisend bills them. Klaviyo bills only people you can market to.
  - Large share of non-subscribers: Compare Klaviyo at the same list size

## Where Idukki fits (ours)

We make Idukki. It displays customer photos and video on your store. It sends no email. Idukki publishes a web feed of your product-tagged posts in the format Klaviyo's web feeds read. That puts real customer photos into a Klaviyo email without copying them by hand. For the rest of your stack, read [the best Shopify apps to increase conversion](/blog/best-shopify-apps-to-increase-conversion-2026).

**The takeaway:** Both free plans fit a new store. Once you grow, count your non-subscribers and price SMS by country. That count decides which bill stays smaller.

### Questions store owners ask

**Q: Is Klaviyo free on Shopify?**

A: Yes, up to 250 active profiles and 500 email sends a month. Email support lasts 60 days on the free plan.

**Q: Is Omnisend free on Shopify?**

A: Yes, up to 500 emails a month to 250 contacts. SMS on Free is only for accounts with SMS before 4 May 2026.

**Q: Does Omnisend charge for contacts who never subscribed?**

A: Yes. Billable contacts include non-subscribed people from orders or carts. Only unsubscribed contacts are excluded.

**Q: Does Omnisend still have product reviews?**

A: No. It retired Product Reviews on 5 January 2026. It now works with apps such as Judge.me.

**Q: How does Klaviyo price SMS now?**

A: Since 13 July 2026, in dollars per message by channel and country, with carrier fees included.

### Sources
- [Klaviyo pricing](https://www.klaviyo.com/pricing) — Free plan and paid plans.
- [Klaviyo: free plan](https://help.klaviyo.com/hc/en-us/articles/360050759151) — Limits and support.
- [Klaviyo: free plan in Shopify](https://help.klaviyo.com/hc/en-us/articles/56142459211675) — Automation and form caps.
- [Klaviyo: active profiles](https://help.klaviyo.com/hc/en-us/articles/24263920096027) — What is billed.
- [Klaviyo: billing changes FAQ](https://help.klaviyo.com/hc/en-us/articles/33136281415451) — Auto-upgrade and Flex.
- [Klaviyo: mobile messaging pricing](https://help.klaviyo.com/hc/en-us/articles/52952739755931) — Dollar-based from 13 July 2026.
- [Klaviyo: Shopify data reference](https://help.klaviyo.com/hc/en-us/articles/115005080447) — Sync and events.
- [Klaviyo Reviews](https://help.klaviyo.com/hc/en-us/articles/15937542819355) — Separate billing, platforms.
- [Klaviyo: Marketing Agent](https://www.klaviyo.com/newsroom/marketing-agent) — Launch.
- [Omnisend pricing plans 2026](https://support.omnisend.com/en/articles/3533018-omnisend-pricing-plans-2026) — Free, Standard, Pro, SMS.
- [Omnisend: what is new, May 2026](https://support.omnisend.com/en/articles/14782296-what-s-new-may-2026) — SMS change, Legacy Pro.
- [Omnisend: paid plan charges](https://support.omnisend.com/en/articles/2283169-understand-your-omnisend-paid-plan-charges) — Billable contacts, limits.
- [Omnisend: migrate product reviews](https://support.omnisend.com/en/articles/13250733-migrate-omnisend-product-reviews) — Retired 5 January 2026.
- [Omnisend: Shopify data sync](https://support.omnisend.com/en/articles/2970778-understand-shopify-contact-data-sync) — Sync timing.
- [Omnisend: customer lifetime value](https://support.omnisend.com/en/articles/5555677-customer-lifetime-value) — Segment availability.
- [Omnisend AI](https://www.omnisend.com/ai/) — AI features and MCP.

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Canonical: https://idukki.io/blog/klaviyo-vs-omnisend-for-shopify-2026
Tags: email, sms, klaviyo, omnisend, comparison, shopify-apps