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Email Marketing · head to head

Klaviyo vs Zoho Campaigns

Klaviyo logo

Klaviyo

Email Marketing

The email and SMS marketing platform for ecommerce

From
Free
Rated
-
Zoho Campaigns logo

Zoho Campaigns

Email Marketing

Email marketing tool with a genuine free tier, priced by contact count once paid

From
Free
Rated
-

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Klaviyo the free plan caps active profiles at 250 and sends at 500 emails a month; Zoho Campaigns template design quality and out-of-the-box deliverability reputation tools are less polished than specialist platforms such as Klaviyo or Campaign Monitor.
  • They diverge on capability: Klaviyo covers Email marketing, Zoho Campaigns covers Drag-and-drop email builder.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Klaviyo and Zoho Campaigns actually diverge.

Attributes where Klaviyo and Zoho Campaigns differ
AttributeKlaviyoZoho Campaigns
Pricing modelfreemiumPer month by contact tier once on a paid plan
Founded2012Unknown

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), platforms (Web), 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
  • Segmentation
  • Reporting & analytics
  • Ecommerce integrations

Only in Zoho Campaigns

  • Drag-and-drop email builder
  • Zoho CRM integration
  • Advanced segmentation
  • Send time optimisation
  • WhatsApp and SMS add-ons

Both cover

  • A/B testing

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 Zoho Campaigns
  • Segmenting customers on purchase and behaviour datanot Zoho Campaigns

Zoho Campaigns

  • A small business with under 2,000 contacts wanting a genuinely usable free email marketing tool rather than a crippled trialnot Klaviyo
  • An existing Zoho CRM or Desk customer wanting email marketing that syncs natively without a third-party connectornot Klaviyo
  • A growing list needing to scale from 500 up to 500,000 contacts within one vendor's pricing laddernot Klaviyo
  • A team wanting WhatsApp or SMS as an add-on channel alongside email from the same vendornot 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

Zoho Campaigns

  • Template design quality and out-of-the-box deliverability reputation tools are less polished than specialist platforms such as Klaviyo or Campaign Monitor.
  • Advanced segmentation and dynamic content are reserved for the Professional tier, so mid-sized lists needing that capability face a real price step up from Standard.
  • WhatsApp and SMS are separate paid add-ons rather than included channels, so a genuinely multi-channel campaign costs more than the base email price suggests.
  • Its main structural advantage, native Zoho ecosystem integration, does not benefit a buyer using a non-Zoho CRM or helpdesk, who gets no more from Zoho Campaigns than from a specialist alternative.
  • Support responsiveness reflects Zoho's broad, lower-touch model across its whole portfolio rather than dedicated email marketing expertise.

Pricing, plan by plan

Klaviyo

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

Zoho Campaigns

Free
  • Forever FreeFree
    • Up to 2,000 contacts
    • 6,000 emails per month
    • 5 users, basic templates and reporting
  • Standard$undefined/month
    • Starts at 500 contacts, scales to 100,000
    • Unlimited email sends
    • A/B testing and priority support
  • Professional$undefined/month
    • Starts at 500 contacts, scales to 500,000
    • Unlimited email sends
    • Advanced segmentation, dynamic content, custom roles and webhooks

Which should you pick?

Choose Klaviyo if

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

Choose Zoho Campaigns if

  • You need drag-and-drop email builder.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You also want zoho crm integration.

Questions people ask

Is Klaviyo or Zoho Campaigns better?
Neither clearly leads. Klaviyo starts at Free and Zoho Campaigns at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Klaviyo or Zoho Campaigns?
Klaviyo starts at Free and Zoho Campaigns at Free.
Does Klaviyo or Zoho Campaigns run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
Can I use Klaviyo for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
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 Zoho Campaigns is typically brought in for.
What can Klaviyo do that Zoho Campaigns cannot?
Klaviyo covers Email marketing, SMS marketing, Push notifications, Marketing automation. Zoho Campaigns covers Drag-and-drop email builder, Zoho CRM integration, Advanced segmentation, Send time optimisation. Both handle A/B testing.

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
Zoho Campaigns: Is the free tier good enough for real use, or just a trial?

It is a real, ongoing free tier for up to 2,000 contacts and 6,000 emails a month, not a time-limited trial.

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
Zoho Campaigns: Does it integrate with non-Zoho CRMs?

Yes via Zapier and other connectors, but the native, no-extra-fee integration advantage is specific to other Zoho products.

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
Zoho Campaigns: Are WhatsApp and SMS included?

No, they are separately purchased add-ons alongside the email plan.

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