Why Understanding SMS Klaviyo Pricing Matters for Your E-commerce Business
Summary
- Pricing Model: Klaviyo charges based on active profiles plus SMS credits purchased in bundles.
- SMS Credits: One credit equals one SMS segment (up to 160 characters); MMS requires 3-15 credits depending on the country.
- Cost Range: SMS credits cost $0.0092-$0.0120 per message in the US based on volume; international rates vary significantly.
- Plans: The free plan includes 150 SMS credits/month; Email + SMS plans start at $35/month for 251-500 profiles with 1,250 credits.
- Key Factor: Your total cost depends on active profile count, message volume, and recipient locations.
If you're considering Klaviyo for SMS marketing, understanding its pricing is critical to your bottom line. Klaviyo combines profile-based billing with a credit system that changes based on message type, volume, and location, which can make estimating costs difficult. Brands using Klaviyo for both email and SMS report a 19% increase in GMV growth rate, but recent pricing changes have surprised some businesses.
The complexity extends to SMS credits. A text to a US contact costs one credit, but the same message to a UK contact requires five. An MMS can cost between three and 15 credits depending on the recipient's country. These variations make budgeting a challenge without a clear grasp of the system.
I'm Steve Pogson, founder of First Pier. I've helped e-commerce businesses steer SMS Klaviyo pricing for years, working with clients to build cost-effective strategies that improve returns while managing expenses. This guide will break down exactly how Klaviyo's pricing works and what it means for your business.
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How Klaviyo's Pricing Model Works
Klaviyo's pricing is built around "active profiles," which form the core of its billing structure. An active profile is any contact you can communicate with via email or SMS. Your total number of active profiles determines your base monthly subscription fee. For SMS marketing, you purchase credits separately to send text and multimedia messages.
Plans are tiered and scale with your active profile count. For example, accounts with up to 250 profiles can use the free plan. As your list grows, your plan and monthly cost adjust automatically. This tiered approach, combined with the SMS credit system, means your total cost fluctuates with your audience size and messaging volume.
The Shift to Active Profile-Based Billing
A significant change occurred on February 18, 2025, when Klaviyo shifted from usage-based billing to a model based on the number of active profiles. For legacy accounts (created before April 2023), this meant moving from paying per send to paying per contact. While an "appreciation discount" capped the initial price increase at 25%, businesses with large but less-engaged lists saw costs rise.
New customers start with this active profile-based billing model, which makes regular list cleaning a critical practice for managing costs. Here at First Pier, we advise clients that a clean list is good for deliverability and their budget. You can read more about these changes in Klaviyo's pricing policy update. Monitoring your active profile count is essential for avoiding unexpected expenses as your Klaviyo CDP grows.
Understanding Active vs. Suppressed Profiles
To manage costs, you must understand the difference between active and suppressed profiles.
An active profile is any contact who can receive your communications. These are the profiles that count toward your monthly bill.
A suppressed profile is a contact you cannot message due to an unsubscribe, hard bounce, or manual suppression. Klaviyo does not bill for suppressed profiles, though they still store customer data.
Be aware of the "suppression jail." If you unsuppress a profile, you cannot re-suppress it for 90 days, meaning you will be billed for that contact for at least three months. This makes careful Klaviyo Email Marketing list management crucial. Regularly cleaning your lists and suppressing unengaged contacts is a direct way to control your active profile count and overall sms klaviyo pricing.
A Breakdown of Klaviyo's Plans and Tiers
Klaviyo offers several plans to fit businesses of different sizes. Understanding how they handle SMS Klaviyo pricing is key to choosing the right one.
The core plans include:
- Free Plan: For new businesses with up to 250 active profiles.
- Email Plan: Focuses on email marketing.
- Email + SMS Plan: A combined solution for both channels.
- Enterprise Plan: Custom pricing for large organizations.
Pricing for paid plans is determined by your active profile count. My team and I regularly help businesses assess these tiers to find the most cost-effective plan that includes all necessary Klaviyo Features.
Comparing Email vs. Email + SMS Plans
The Email plan provides a set number of monthly email sends based on your profile count and includes a small number of complimentary SMS credits (e.g., 150). It is not designed for a full SMS marketing program.
The Email + SMS plan integrates both channels. For 251-500 profiles, this plan starts at $35/month and includes a larger allocation of SMS credits (e.g., 1,250). The advantage of the combined plan is clear: brands using both email and SMS report a 19% increase in GMV growth rate. Integrating SMS into your Klaviyo Email Marketing Flows creates a single, connected experience for the customer.
Key Features Included in Klaviyo's Plans
Klaviyo's value comes from its feature set, which is included across its paid plans. These features help businesses get more from their sms klaviyo pricing.
- Segmentation: Divide your audience into specific groups based on behavior, purchase history, and demographic data for more relevant messaging.
- Automation (Flows): Set up automated Klaviyo Flows of emails and SMS messages triggered by customer actions like abandoned carts or new signups.
- A/B Testing: Test different subject lines, message copy, and send times to improve campaign performance.
- Reporting Dashboards: Get detailed analytics on revenue attribution and flow performance to understand your marketing ROI.
- AI Tools: Use features like K:AI Customer Agent for personalized conversations and to find the best send times.
- Predictive Analytics: Predict future customer behavior, such as who is likely to purchase again or churn, for proactive marketing.
These features, especially with a solid Klaviyo Shopify Integration, allow businesses to build personalized marketing campaigns. Tailoring messages with Klaviyo Personalization is what makes the platform valuable for many businesses.
A Detailed Look at SMS Klaviyo Pricing
Understanding the details of SMS Klaviyo pricing requires a look at how SMS credits work, how costs vary by country, and potential hidden fees. It's not a simple flat fee, and knowing the details is crucial for budgeting.
Klaviyo's SMS pricing uses a credit system. You buy credit bundles, and each SMS or MMS message consumes a set number of credits. This system is flexible but requires careful usage monitoring due to varying costs. The platform is designed for SMS marketing built for smarter sends, focusing on personalization and data-driven communication.
Understanding the SMS Credit System
The SMS credit system is the foundation of SMS Klaviyo pricing. Here’s how it works:
- Credit Calculation: A standard Short Message Service (SMS) message (up to 160 characters) uses one credit. Longer messages are split into multiple segments, each costing an additional credit.
- SMS vs. MMS Cost: MMS messages, which include media, use more credits. An MMS to a US recipient costs three credits, while one to Australia can cost 15.
- Cost Per Credit: The price per credit decreases as you buy larger bundles. For example, buying 1,250 credits might cost $0.0120 per SMS, while 12,500 credits could drop the price to $0.0092.
- Carrier Fees: Klaviyo's credit pricing includes carrier fees, estimated at around $0.003 per message.
- Credit Rollover Policy: Unused SMS credits typically expire at the end of your billing cycle and do not roll over. Plan your credit purchases to avoid waste.
Managing your Klaviyo Text Messaging requires understanding these mechanics, including message length, media use, and recipient location.
How SMS Klaviyo Pricing Varies by Country
For businesses with international customers, SMS Klaviyo pricing becomes more complex because credit costs vary significantly by location.
Here’s a snapshot of how costs can differ:
| Country | SMS Credits (per message segment) | MMS Credits (per message) |
|---|---|---|
| USA | 1 | 3 |
| Canada | 3 | 5 |
| UK | 5 | Not specified, but higher |
| Australia | 4 | 15 |
As the table shows, an SMS to a UK contact costs five times more than one to a US contact. This means a global campaign will have a much different cost structure than a domestic one. International SMS also involves compliance. Klaviyo's Age Gating Feature helps retailers comply with local regulations for age-restricted products. My team advises clients to budget carefully for their target countries, as international SMS can be expensive.
Potential Hidden Costs in SMS Klaviyo Pricing
Beyond the base plan, be aware of these potential extra fees:
- Add-on Features: Some features have their own pricing.
- Klaviyo Reviews: Starts at $25/month for up to 250 monthly orders and scales with volume.
- Klaviyo CDP: Starts at $500/month for up to 100,000 profiles.
- Overage Charges and Auto-Upgrades: Your plan can automatically upgrade if you exceed your active profile limit, leading to unexpected bill increases.
- Inactive Profile Costs: You pay for all active profiles, even unengaged ones. The 90-day "suppression jail" for re-suppressed contacts also adds to costs, making list hygiene essential.
- International SMS Costs: The higher credit cost for international messages can quickly deplete your budget if not planned for.
Understanding these extra fees is crucial for a realistic view of your total marketing spend. For more guidance, see our resources on Klaviyo How to Use.
Evaluating Klaviyo's SMS Pricing Structure
When evaluating SMS Klaviyo pricing, it's important to weigh its advantages against its disadvantages. Here at First Pier, we see both sides.
Advantages
- All-in-one Solution: Klaviyo combines email, SMS, and MMS marketing into one platform, which creates a single record for each customer and saves time.
- Scalability: The tiered pricing model grows with your business, from a free plan for startups to custom enterprise solutions.
- Advanced Analytics and Segmentation: Paid plans offer detailed segmentation and analytics, allowing businesses to tailor campaigns and measure ROI through data on revenue attribution and flow performance.
Disadvantages
- Potentially High Costs: Prices can become high for small businesses as their active profile count grows, a sentiment reflected in some reviews on GetApp.
- Confusing Price Structure: Some users find the combination of profile-based billing and auto-upgrades confusing. One user noted that per-send charging might be simpler.
- Regional Price Differences: SMS credits for brands outside the US can be much more expensive, making it less suitable for some global businesses.
- Learning Curve: The platform's extensive features can have a steep learning curve, which is an indirect cost in time and resources.
Is Klaviyo's Pricing Suitable for Small Businesses?
For small businesses, the answer is nuanced. The free plan, which supports up to 250 profiles and includes 150 SMS/MMS credits, is a great starting point. It allows startups to test SMS marketing without a financial commitment.
However, costs can rise quickly once you move to a paid tier. The Email + SMS plan for 251-500 profiles starts at $35/month, and this scales with your list size. For businesses on a tight budget or with slow list growth, these scaling costs can be a challenge. The suitability depends on how quickly you can generate revenue from your marketing. For businesses focused on Shopify development, integrating Klaviyo can be effective, but the ROI must align with the pricing.
Do the Benefits Justify the Cost?
For many e-commerce businesses, the answer is yes, if the platform is used with a clear plan.
The ROI potential is significant. Brands using Klaviyo for both email and SMS report a 19% increase in GMV growth rate. The platform's detailed revenue attribution shows exactly which campaigns are driving sales. By combining channels, businesses can set up communications that increase repeat purchases and customer lifetime value, as noted in reviews about its advanced segmentation and analytics.
While there is a learning curve, the automation features save time by running campaigns 24/7. The investment in sms klaviyo pricing is often justified by its ability to run marketing campaigns based on customer data that directly affects the bottom line. For businesses serious about scaling, the capabilities Klaviyo offers can be a significant advantage. Exploring Email Marketing Strategy Examples can be a good starting point for building effective campaigns.
Strategies for Managing Your Klaviyo SMS Costs
Managing your SMS Klaviyo pricing requires more than just choosing a plan. My team often guides clients through these tactics to get the most value without overspending.
Here are some key tactics:
- Practice Good List Hygiene: Regularly clean your lists by suppressing inactive contacts. This is the most effective way to manage your active profile count, as you pay for every active profile, engaged or not.
- Use Re-engagement Campaigns: Before suppressing contacts, try to re-engage them with a "sunset flow." If they still don't engage, then suppress them to avoid paying for dormant profiles.
- Segment Your Audience Carefully: Send SMS messages only to your most engaged audience segments. Avoid sending SMS blasts to your entire list, especially to international contacts where costs are higher.
- Monitor SMS Credit Usage: Watch your credit consumption. Understand which messages (SMS vs. MMS) use the most credits. Since credits don't roll over, buy bundles that match your expected usage.
- A/B Test Campaigns: Use Klaviyo A/B Testing to improve SMS campaign performance. More effective messages mean more efficient credit use.
- Understand Plan Upgrades and Downgrades: Be aware of Klaviyo's auto-upgrade policy. The platform also auto-downgrades if your list size shrinks, so proactive list management can help you stay in a lower-cost tier.
- Evaluate International SMS Needs: For a global audience, consider if SMS is the most cost-effective channel for every country. Email may be a better primary channel for some segments, with SMS reserved for high-value communications.
Following these tactics will help you control your sms klaviyo pricing and ensure your marketing budget is spent wisely.
To Sum Up
To sum up, SMS Klaviyo pricing is complex, but understanding its components makes it a manageable part of your marketing plan. We've covered active profile-based billing, the SMS/MMS credit system, international cost variations, and potential hidden fees.
My key takeaway is that Klaviyo is a platform with features that can increase your GMV and customer lifetime value. However, its pricing requires a clear plan. It is not a "set it and forget it" system; it demands ongoing attention to list hygiene, usage monitoring, and campaign planning.
For businesses in Portland, ME, and beyond, the value Klaviyo delivers can justify the cost if you use its features correctly and manage expenses proactively. Understanding how active profiles, SMS credits, and regional costs affect your bill is necessary to balance cost and value.
Improving your ROI with Klaviyo SMS means being smart about your audience, messages, and budget. If you need expert guidance to refine your plan, my team at First Pier is here to help. We specialize in building profitable online businesses. Get expert help with your Email & SMS Marketing strategy and let's make your Klaviyo investment pay off.
