Shopify Email is the cheapest of the three at every list size: the first 10,000 emails a month are free, then $1 per 1,000. Klaviyo and Omnisend cost $20 to $30 a month at 1,000 contacts and roughly $100 to $150 at 10,000. What you pay them for is flows, segmentation and SMS, not sending. A store sending four campaigns a month to 10,000 contacts pays about $30 with Shopify Email (arithmetic below) against about $115 to $150 elsewhere.
What each vendor publishes
| Item | Shopify Email | Klaviyo | Omnisend |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | 10,000 emails a month on Basic and above | 250 active profiles, 500 sends a month | 500 emails a month, 250 contacts reachable |
| First paid step | $1 per 1,000 emails over 10,000 | $20 a month for 251 to 500 contacts | Standard $16 a month (500 contacts); Pro $59 (2,500 contacts) |
| Priced by | Emails sent | Active profiles | Contacts (Standard also caps emails at 12 times contacts) |
| App Store rating | 4.8 (4,566 reviews) | 4.7 (3,332 reviews) | 4.7 (over 3,000 reviews) |
Sources: Shopify’s email pricing page, the Klaviyo listing and Klaviyo pricing page, the Omnisend listing and Omnisend help article, all read 29 Sept 2026. Omnisend’s own pricing page shows lower entry figures ($11.20 Standard, $41.30 Pro); those are the 30 percent starter discount for paying three months upfront.
Monthly cost at three list sizes
Shopify Email amounts are ours, from the published rate. Klaviyo and Omnisend amounts above their entry tier are third-party figures, because neither vendor shows them on a page we could read. Treat them as a guide and confirm in your own account.
| Contacts | Klaviyo Email | Omnisend Standard | Omnisend Pro | Shopify Email (4 sends a month, ours) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1,000 | $30 | $20 | $59 | $0 |
| 5,000 | $100 | $65 to $81 | $90 | $10 |
| 10,000 | $150 | $115 to $132 | $150 | $30 |
- Klaviyo: EmailToolTester, updated 5 Aug 2026. It notes billing counts every emailable profile, not only those you sent to. Other guides say Klaviyo moved to a module-based builder in August 2026, and the table shows the older Email plan, so a fresh quote can differ.
- Omnisend: InboxArmy gives $65 and $115 for Standard at 5,000 and 10,000; SendX gives $81 and $132. They agree on $20 at 1,000 and the two also agree on Pro at 1,000 and 10,000 ($59, $150). They differ by $16 to $17 on Standard, so a range is shown rather than one number.
The Shopify Email arithmetic
Shopify counts each address an email goes to, so one email to 800 subscribers is 800 emails. Above 10,000 in a month the rate is $1 per 1,000 for the next 300,000.
- 1,000 contacts x 4 campaigns = 4,000 emails. Under 10,000, so $0.
- 5,000 contacts x 4 = 20,000. Minus 10,000 free = 10,000 billable, at $1 per 1,000 = $10.
- 10,000 contacts x 4 = 40,000. Minus 10,000 free = 30,000 billable = $30.
Automations count towards the 10,000, except abandoned checkout automations, which Shopify says are always free. A store with a welcome flow, a post-purchase flow and weekly campaigns should add its flow sends before running these numbers. At eight campaigns a month the 10,000-contact figure becomes 80,000 - 10,000 = 70,000 billable = $70, still under Klaviyo’s $150 but the gap narrows.
Which to pick
| If you… | Choose | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Have under 250 contacts and just want flows running | Any of the three | Klaviyo and Omnisend cap contacts on free; Shopify Email is free up to 10,000 emails |
| Send mostly campaigns and a few flows, and want the lowest bill | Shopify Email | Paid by volume; the 10,000 free emails cover a list of 2,500 sending four times a month |
| Want SMS and email in one tool with cheaper entry pricing than Klaviyo | Omnisend | SMS from $0.007 per message on Pro, bought separately (Omnisend’s help article says SMS is no longer included in Pro or available on Standard since 4 May 2026) |
| Segment on purchase history, predicted next order or product affinity | Klaviyo | Its review covers the depth; you pay for list size, not features |
| Have a large list that rarely opens | Shopify Email, or clean the list first | Klaviyo bills every emailable profile |
What the price does not tell you
Sending cost is only part of it. Flows are where email earns money on a store; see the flow lifecycle guide, the abandoned checkout sequence and the welcome series guide. Before you scale volume on any of them, authenticate your domain per the deliverability guide. For free tiers of other apps see where each free plan ends, and for the full-app bill the Shopify app cost calculator. No deliverability, open-rate or revenue comparison between the three was made.
Common questions
Is Shopify Email really free?
Its first 10,000 emails each month are free on Basic, Grow, Advanced and Plus, and abandoned checkout automations do not count. Beyond that it is $1 per 1,000, billed on your Shopify invoice.
Why do Omnisend prices differ between sources?
Omnisend’s own pages show only entry prices and a discount rate; the tier ladder sits behind a calculator. Third-party guides read it at different times or with different discounts and disagree on Standard, so the table shows both.
Method: researched from Shopify’s help centre, App Store listings and the vendor pages named above, checked 29 Sept 2026. Klaviyo and Omnisend tier prices above the entry level are third-party and labelled as such. Shopify Email costs are our arithmetic from the published rate.