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Email Marketing · head to head

Klaviyo vs Sendy

Klaviyo logo

Klaviyo

Email Marketing

The email and SMS marketing platform for ecommerce

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Sendy logo

Sendy

Email Marketing

Self-hosted newsletter app bought once for $69 that sends through your own Amazon SES account

From
$69/one-time
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Klaviyo has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Klaviyo the free plan caps active profiles at 250 and sends at 500 emails a month; Sendy free updates run only to the next major version, so the one-time purchase is really one purchase per major release and the long-term cost is not zero.
  • They diverge on capability: Klaviyo covers Email marketing, Sendy covers One-time licence.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Klaviyo and Sendy actually diverge.

Attributes where Klaviyo and Sendy differ
AttributeKlaviyoSendy
Starting priceFree$69/one-time
Pricing modelfreemiumOne-time purchase
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWebWeb, Linux
Founded2012Unknown

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Email Marketing).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Klaviyo

  • Email marketing
  • SMS marketing
  • Push notifications
  • Marketing automation
  • A/B testing
  • Reporting & analytics
  • Ecommerce integrations

Only in Sendy

  • One-time licence
  • Amazon SES delivery
  • Multiple brands
  • Autoresponders
  • Bounce and complaint handling
  • Reporting
  • Client access

Both cover

  • Segmentation

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Klaviyo

  • Email and SMS marketing automation for ecommerce storesnot Sendy
  • Segmenting customers on purchase and behaviour datanot Sendy

Sendy

  • A publisher with a large list sending frequently, where a hosted platform bills by subscriber count month after monthnot Klaviyo
  • An agency managing newsletters for several clients who each get their own brand and login under one licencenot Klaviyo
  • A business that must keep subscriber data on its own infrastructure for privacy or contractual reasonsnot Klaviyo
  • A developer wiring signups from a custom application into a mailing list without paying platform API feesnot Klaviyo

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Klaviyo

  • The free plan caps active profiles at 250 and sends at 500 emails a month
  • Pricing scales with stored profile count rather than with messages sent, so an unengaged list costs the same as an active one
  • SMS is metered separately, with only $5 of mobile messages included on the free plan
  • Paid tier prices are not published on the pricing page and depend on profile count

Sendy

  • Free updates run only to the next major version, so the one-time purchase is really one purchase per major release and the long-term cost is not zero.
  • Deliverability becomes entirely your problem: SES gives you a raw sending pipe and no warm-up guidance, reputation dashboards or deliverability consultants when a campaign starts landing in spam.
  • Amazon SES requires production access approval and will suspend accounts on high bounce or complaint rates, which can take a list offline mid-campaign with little warning.
  • The template editor and design tooling are basic next to Mailchimp or Klaviyo, so anything visually ambitious means hand-written HTML email.
  • You own the server: PHP upgrades, database backups and patching are yours, and an unmaintained Sendy install holding a subscriber list is a data breach waiting to happen.

Pricing, plan by plan

Klaviyo

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Up to 500 contacts
    • Unlimited campaigns
    • Basic automation
  • Pro$20/month
    • Unlimited contacts
    • SMS campaigns
    • Advanced automation

Sendy

$69/one-time
  • Sendy licence$69/one-time
    • One-time purchase, no subscription
    • Free updates only up to the next major version
    • Unlimited lists, subscribers and campaigns
  • AI Assistant bundle$39/one-time
    • Optional add-on, listed at a discount from $49
    • AI writing assistance inside the campaign editor
  • Installation service$79/one-time
    • Optional one-off setup by the vendor
    • For buyers who do not want to configure hosting and SES themselves

Which should you pick?

Choose Klaviyo if

  • You need email marketing.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You also want sms marketing.
Klaviyo review

Choose Sendy if

  • You need one-time licence.
  • You work on Web, Linux.
  • You also want amazon ses delivery.
Sendy review

Questions people ask

Is Klaviyo or Sendy better?
Neither clearly leads. Klaviyo starts at Free and Sendy at $69/one-time, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Klaviyo or Sendy?
Klaviyo has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Klaviyo and $69/one-time for Sendy.
Does Klaviyo or Sendy run on more platforms?
Klaviyo runs on Web. Sendy runs on Web, Linux.
Can I use Klaviyo for free?
Yes. Klaviyo has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Sendy starts at $69/one-time.
What is Klaviyo best used for?
Klaviyo is most often used for email and sms marketing automation for ecommerce stores, segmenting customers on purchase and behaviour data. Of those, email and sms marketing automation for ecommerce stores and segmenting customers on purchase and behaviour data are not what Sendy is typically brought in for.
What can Klaviyo do that Sendy cannot?
Klaviyo covers Email marketing, SMS marketing, Push notifications, Marketing automation. Sendy covers One-time licence, Amazon SES delivery, Multiple brands, Autoresponders. Both handle Segmentation.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Klaviyo: Is Klaviyo free?

Klaviyo has a free tier covering up to 250 active profiles, 500 email sends per month and $5 of mobile messages per month, with 10,000 Composer credits. Email support on the free tier lasts only the first 60 days.

Source
Sendy: What does it actually cost to send?

The licence is $69 once. Delivery is Amazon SES at roughly $1 per 10,000 emails, plus your own hosting, so a 50,000-contact weekly newsletter costs a few dollars a month to send.

Klaviyo: How much does Klaviyo cost?

Klaviyo does not publish a paid rate card on its pricing page. Paid tiers are priced by active profile count and message volume, and a figure is produced through the plan estimator rather than shown as a list price.

Source
Sendy: Are updates free forever?

No. Updates are free up to the next major version, for example within 7.x. Moving from 7.x to 8.x is a paid upgrade.

Klaviyo: What counts as an active profile in Klaviyo?

Klaviyo defines active profiles as the contacts eligible to receive marketing, and the free tier is limited to 250 of them. Profile count is the main input to what a paid plan costs.

Source
Sendy: Do I need to know how to set up a server?

Standard PHP and MySQL hosting is enough and the vendor compares it to installing WordPress, but the SES side needs AWS configuration. An $79 installation service is offered if you would rather not.

Sendy: What happens if Amazon suspends my SES account?

Your sending stops until you resolve it with AWS. There is no alternative delivery route built in, and this is the single biggest operational risk of the model.

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