Klaviyo is the default and deserves to be. The question worth asking is whether you are using enough of it to justify what it costs as your list grows, because the pricing scales with contacts rather than with revenue.
The options
Klaviyo — deepest Shopify integration in the category. Product and order data flow in properly, segmentation is genuinely powerful, and the flow builder is the best available. Expensive at scale, and the cost grows with list size whether or not the list is engaged.
Omnisend — built for ecommerce, strong flows, notably cheaper. For most brands under a substantial list size it covers the same ground.
Shopify Email — first-party, extremely cheap, improving steadily. Genuinely fine for campaigns and basic automation on a smaller store.
Drip — good segmentation, ecommerce-focused, mid-market pricing.
Mailchimp — broad and general-purpose. The Shopify integration has improved but it remains a marketing platform that does ecommerce rather than the reverse.
| Best for | Watch | |
|---|---|---|
| Klaviyo | Depth, segmentation, flows | Cost at scale |
| Omnisend | Most of Klaviyo for less | Smaller ecosystem |
| Shopify Email | Small lists, low cost | Limited automation |
| Drip | Mid-market segmentation | Less Shopify-native |
| Mailchimp | General marketing needs | Weaker ecommerce depth |
Prune your list before comparing prices. Most platforms charge on contacts, and a large share of a typical list has not opened anything in a year. Removing them cuts cost and improves deliverability at the same time.
The thing that decides revenue, whichever you pick
A small number of automated flows produce most email revenue — welcome, browse abandonment, cart, post-purchase, replenishment, win-back. Campaigns produce much less than people assume.
If those flows are not built properly, changing platform changes nothing except the invoice.
On attribution
Every platform in this list will credit itself generously. A seven-day window crediting any sale after any open will flatter the number substantially. Compare with a shorter window, and use a holdout group if your volume allows it.
Talk it through
Tell us which flows you have running.
That plus your list size tells us whether you are on the right platform, or paying for capability you are not using.
Ask usA real read within one business day — not a sales call.
About the author
Manpreet Singh
Manpreet Singh is the founder of Proscube, an ecommerce growth studio. He leads the studio's Shopify and Shopify Plus engineering, headless builds, CRO, and its work on AI engine optimization, and writes its guidance on how to grow a DTC brand without wasting money. He works directly with founders — no account-manager layers between you and the people doing the work — and would rather tell a client not to build something than sell them work they don't need.
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