Email software for online stores, chosen by what it sends.

What it does well for stores. Klaviyo is built around store data. Orders, product views and cart events arrive as profile activity, so a segment such as "viewed a product twice in the last week and never bought" can be built from the interface without a data request. Abandoned-cart and browse flows read the items in the cart or the products viewed, which is the detail that makes a reminder feel specific rather than generic. Email and SMS plans share the same segments, so a customer who ignores an email can be reached by text under the rules you set.

Where it falls short. Pricing follows the profile count, so a large catalog with a large list grows in cost quickly. The Email plan lists $100 a month at 5,000 profiles and $150 at 10,000. SMS is sold through separate Email+SMS plans whose prices are not shown on the same page, so get that quote before you assume the text channel is included. The depth of the platform also takes time to learn. A two-person store that only needs a monthly newsletter will pay for features it does not use.

Price. The Email plan is listed at $20 a month for 500 profiles, $30 for 1,000, $60 for 2,500, $100 for 5,000, $150 for 10,000 and $400 for 25,000. The free plan covers 250 profiles, 500 email sends a month and $5 of mobile messages.

Who should pick it. A store with a live product catalog, repeat buyers and a plan to run cart, browse and post-purchase flows from day one. If the catalog is simple and the plan is only occasional promotions, the price is harder to justify.

What it does well for stores. Drip gives a small team a visual workflow builder, dynamic segments and onsite campaigns, with up to 50 workflows on the listed tiers. Its pricing is by people and includes unlimited email sends on the lower bands, which makes it easier to forecast costs for a store that runs many flash sales. A founder can build a cart sequence in an afternoon and check it without a specialist.

Where it falls short. Drip has no permanent free plan, so the trial is the only way to test it without paying. Its pricing page shows monthly figures for the bands we checked, so annual options need to be confirmed separately. Its ecommerce-specific depth is smaller than Klaviyo's, which means product-feed logic and predictive models are less of a focus. Check the integrations your storefront needs before you commit.

Price. The 1–2,500 people band is $39 a month, 2,501–3,000 is $49, 4,501–5,000 is $89, 9,001–10,000 is $154 and 12,501–15,000 is $209. The 22,501–25,000 band, at $369 a month, lists free migration and personalized onboarding.

Who should pick it. Stores that want the workflow power of a retail platform without a large monthly bill, and that have a clear list of flows to build.

What it does well for stores. Brevo prices by the number of emails you send each month, not by how many contacts you store. A store with a long list of past buyers who receive a few messages a month pays for the sends it makes. The free plan covers up to 100,000 contacts with 300 sends a day, which is enough to test a cart sequence. The Standard plan at $18 a month adds automation, A/B testing and advanced reports, which are the features most stores need after the first month.

Where it falls short. The free plan's daily cap makes it unsuitable for a sale day. Volume pricing rewards restraint, so a store that mails every day will climb through the bands quickly. Ecommerce-specific data features are thinner than in Klaviyo, and the product-feed side is basic. Check the SMS price separately before assuming it is part of the plan.

Price. Starter is $9 a month for 5,000 emails, and Standard is $18 a month for the same starting volume with automation and A/B testing. Professional is $499 a month for 150,000 to 10 million sends and up to 2 million contacts. Plans can be billed monthly or yearly.

Who should pick it. A store with a large past-buyer list, a predictable schedule of sends and a need to keep the total cost of its communications low.

What it does well for stores. Mailchimp is the simplest place to start for a new store. The free plan allows up to 250 contacts and 500 sends a month, enough to announce a launch and send a first promotion. The Standard plan at 500 contacts lists up to 6,000 emails a month at that selector, and the 14-day trial makes it easy to test the editor before paying.

Where it falls short. Price rises in contact bands. The 2,501–5,000 band is $100 a month and the 5,001–10,000 band is $135 a month. Its ecommerce automation is less specialized than the retail-first tools on this page, so check whether the cart and post-purchase flows you need are included in the plan you choose. Many stores outgrow the first plan when they begin running flows that depend on product data.

Price. Free covers up to 250 contacts and 500 sends a month. Standard starts at $20 a month for 500 contacts. The 2,501–5,000 band is $100 a month, 5,001–10,000 is $135 a month and 10,001–15,000 is $230 a month, all as listed on the pricing page.

Who should pick it. A store that is still deciding what it sells and wants to start without a monthly bill. Plan the migration early if the business grows, because moving later is more work than moving early.

What it does well for stores. Moosend's Pro plan is priced by contacts and sends unlimited emails within the plan. For a small store that wants automation for carts and winback without a large monthly bill, the cost is predictable and low at small list sizes. Its listed prices at 1,000 contacts are $16 a month on monthly billing or $13 billed annually, and at 10,000 contacts $88 or $70.

Where it falls short. There is no free plan, only a 30-day trial. Email credit packs, at 350,000 credits for $350 a month and 500,000 for $500 a month on the pricing page, are sold on top of the contact fee, so high-volume senders need to model both. Integration breadth and template choice are narrower than the largest platforms, and the stores that need deep product-feed logic will outgrow it.

Price. At 500 contacts, Pro is $9 a month on monthly billing or $7 billed annually. At 1,000 it is $16 or $13, at 5,000 it is $48 or $38, at 10,000 it is $88 or $70, at 25,000 it is $160 or $128 and at 50,000 it is $315 or $252. Annual billing lowers each figure.

Who should pick it. A store with a modest budget that wants real triggers such as abandoned cart and product recommendations, and is willing to accept a narrower integration list.

What it does well for stores. MailerLite gives a small catalog a free way to send email to up to 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails a month. Its paid Comfort plan starts at $12 a month for the 500-subscriber tier, with a monthly email allowance of ten times that tier's subscriber ceiling. The Power plan at $25 a month allows unlimited monthly emails, which is useful once a store's send volume grows faster than its list.

Where it falls short. The allowance is tied to the subscriber tier, so a store that sends frequently to a list at the top of its tier can hit the cap. Ecommerce-specific data features are basic compared with the platforms above, and advanced predictive or feed-based logic is not the focus. Stores with large catalogs will reach that limit within a year or two.

Price. Free covers up to 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails a month. Comfort is $12 a month or $10.80 billed annually at the 500-subscriber tier. Power is $25 a month or $22.50 billed annually.

Who should pick it. A maker or small brand with a simple catalog that wants to test whether email drives orders before paying for a retail platform.

What it does well for stores. ActiveCampaign suits stores where a purchase involves a conversation: furniture, equipment, trade or wholesale buyers. Its Starter plan at $15 a month for 1,000 contacts includes marketing automation, a standard CRM and ecommerce integrations. The Pro plan at $79 a month adds advanced segmentation, which matters when buyers move through a longer decision process.

Where it falls short. A simple one-time-purchase shop pays for pipeline machinery it may not use. Advanced segmentation sits on the Pro tier, so the cheapest plan is not the one that handles complex buyer journeys. Plans start at the contact count you select, so growth moves the price upward in steps.

Price. Starter is $15 a month at 1,000 contacts, Plus is $49, Pro is $79 and Enterprise is $145, with each figure listed as a starting price at 1,000 contacts. Pricing for larger lists is on request.

Who should pick it. A store that sells considered purchases and needs its email and sales conversations to share one record.

What it does well for stores. Customer.io gives a team with engineers a visual workflow builder, email and community support on Essentials, and basic data integrations. Its pricing is by profile tier, so a retailer that already keeps clean customer data in a warehouse can plan the cost in advance. The Startup Program lists 12 months free for eligible companies that have raised under $10 million.

Where it falls short. Setup needs technical staff to connect data and maintain event definitions. For a small store that is a heavy commitment. Higher-end features sit on custom Premium pricing, and the entry price is higher than many stores pay for a full retail stack at small list sizes.

Price. Essentials is $100 a month, billed monthly. The profile-tier options are $145 a month at 10,000 profiles, $235 at 20,000, $325 at 30,000, $415 at 40,000 and $505 at 50,000 or more, all billed monthly. Premium is priced by custom profile volume.

Who should pick it. Retailers with a data team, a large catalog and a need for personalized content drawn from data that lives outside the email platform.