Klaviyo vs HubSpot: E-commerce Email or All-in-One CRM?
Klaviyo is the better choice if you run an online store and need deep product data, purchase-based automation, and revenue attribution tied to email and SMS. HubSpot is the better choice if you need a CRM with sales pipeline management, marketing attribution across channels, and your business isn't purely e-commerce.
TL;DR
It depends on your needs.
Klaviyo wins for e-commerce marketing. Its Shopify/WooCommerce integration is deeper than anything HubSpot offers, with real-time product sync, predictive CLV, and 80+ pre-built store flows. HubSpot wins as a business platform. It connects marketing to sales to service in one system, with a CRM that Klaviyo doesn't have. E-commerce-only businesses should pick Klaviyo. Businesses with sales teams, multiple revenue channels, or B2B components should pick HubSpot.
Klaviyo vs HubSpot: At a Glance
| Feature | Klaviyo | HubSpot |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $20/mo | $20/mo per seat |
| Free plan | ||
| G2 rating | 4.6/5 (1,100+ reviews) | 4.4/5 (12,000+ reviews) |
| Primary purpose | E-commerce email + SMS | All-in-one CRM + marketing |
| CRM included | ||
| Sales pipeline | ||
| E-commerce depth | Deep (real-time sync) | Basic integrations |
| Predictive analytics | All plans | Enterprise |
| SMS marketing | Email + SMS plan | Add-on |
| Best for | Online stores | Teams needing CRM + marketing |
Which is better for e-commerce?
Klaviyo
Klaviyo was purpose-built for online stores. It syncs product catalogs, purchase history, browsing behavior, and cart data from Shopify, WooCommerce, and BigCommerce in real time. Predictive analytics (customer lifetime value, churn risk, expected next order date) are included on all plans. The 80+ pre-built flows handle abandoned carts, post-purchase sequences, win-back campaigns, browse abandonment, back-in-stock alerts, and price drop notifications. Revenue attribution is automatic: every flow and campaign shows exactly how much revenue it generated.
HubSpot
HubSpot integrates with Shopify and WooCommerce through its App Marketplace, but the integration is surface-level compared to Klaviyo. You can sync contacts and basic order data, but there's no real-time product catalog sync, no browse abandonment tracking, and no predictive CLV. HubSpot's e-commerce features are functional for basic post-purchase emails and contact enrichment, but the platform wasn't designed around store data the way Klaviyo was.
Winner: Klaviyo. Klaviyo was purpose-built for online stores.
Which has a better CRM?
Klaviyo
Klaviyo doesn't have a CRM. It stores rich customer profiles with purchase history, lifetime value, and engagement data, but this is marketing data. There are no deal pipelines, no sales forecasting, no task management, and no way to track a B2B sales process. If you have a sales team or wholesale accounts, you'll need a separate CRM alongside Klaviyo.
HubSpot
HubSpot's CRM is its core strength. The free tier supports up to 1M contacts with deal tracking, meeting scheduling, live chat, and task management. Paid tiers add custom reporting, sequences, forecasting, and up to 30 deal pipelines. For teams that need to track both marketing campaigns and sales deals, HubSpot connects those workflows natively.
Winner: HubSpot. HubSpot's CRM is its core strength.
Which has better automation?
Klaviyo
Klaviyo's Flows system is powerful for e-commerce automation. You can build multi-step sequences with conditional branches, time delays, and A/B splits triggered by purchases, cart activity, browsing behavior, and email engagement. The 80+ pre-built flows are optimized for store use cases and save hours of setup time. Automation is available on all plans including the free tier.
HubSpot
HubSpot's Workflows are powerful but gated behind Professional at $100/seat/mo. Starter only gets simple automation. Professional unlocks multi-step workflows that can trigger across email, CRM deals, tickets, and custom objects. HubSpot's automation spans marketing, sales, and service, which gives it broader reach than Klaviyo's e-commerce-focused flows. The trade-off is the price to unlock it.
Winner: Klaviyo. Klaviyo's Flows system is powerful for e-commerce automation.
Which is cheaper?
Klaviyo
Klaviyo's free plan covers 250 active profiles and 500 emails/mo. Email starts at $20/mo for 251-500 profiles. Email + SMS starts at $35/mo. At 10,000 profiles, Email costs $150/mo. Klaviyo only charges for active profiles, so inactive contacts drop off automatically. For e-commerce businesses, the ROI from automated flows often covers the subscription cost.
HubSpot
HubSpot's free CRM is the most generous in the market (1M contacts, deal tracking, basic email). Starter is $20/seat/mo. But real marketing automation requires Professional at $100/seat/mo with a mandatory $1,500 onboarding fee. A solo user on Professional pays $100/mo + onboarding. A 3-person team pays $300/mo. HubSpot's pricing model stacks per-seat and per-contact costs.
Winner: Klaviyo. Klaviyo's free plan covers 250 active profiles and 500 emails/mo.
Which has better SMS marketing?
Klaviyo
Klaviyo bundles SMS into the Email + SMS plan for $15/mo more than Email-only. SMS is a first-class channel with flow integration, engagement-based segmentation, and revenue attribution. For e-commerce stores, SMS drives urgency on flash sales, shipping updates, and abandoned cart reminders. The combined email + SMS reporting gives a unified view of marketing performance.
HubSpot
HubSpot offers SMS through its Marketing Hub as an add-on, but it's not a core feature. The SMS capabilities are basic compared to Klaviyo's integrated approach. Most HubSpot users rely on email, live chat, and sales sequences as their primary communication channels rather than SMS marketing.
Winner: Klaviyo. Klaviyo bundles SMS into the Email + SMS plan for $15/mo more than Email-only.
Which has better reporting?
Klaviyo
Klaviyo reports on email and SMS performance with automatic revenue attribution. You can see which flows and campaigns generated revenue, track customer lifetime value trends, and analyze cohort performance. The reporting is focused on e-commerce metrics: revenue per recipient, placed order rate, and predicted customer value. It doesn't cover sales pipeline metrics or cross-channel marketing attribution beyond email and SMS.
HubSpot
HubSpot's reporting covers the full customer journey: email performance, website analytics, deal pipeline metrics, marketing attribution (which campaign generated which deal), and custom dashboards. On Professional, you can build reports connecting marketing spend to closed revenue across all channels. For businesses with sales teams, HubSpot's cross-functional reporting is the main reason to choose it.
Winner: HubSpot. HubSpot's reporting covers the full customer journey: email performance, website analytics, deal pipeline metrics, marketing attribution (which campaign generated which deal), and custom dashboards.
Pricing Comparison
Klaviyo
Free plan available
Free
$0
$20/mo
Email + SMS
$35/mo
HubSpot
Free plan available · 14-day free trial
Free Tools
$0
Starter
$20/mo per seat
$15/mo per seat billed annually
Professional
$100/mo per seat
Enterprise
$150/mo per seat
Final Verdict
Klaviyo is the better choice if you run an online store and need deep product data, purchase-based automation, and revenue attribution tied to email and SMS. HubSpot is the better choice if you need a CRM with sales pipeline management, marketing attribution across channels, and your business isn't purely e-commerce.
Choose Klaviyo if you...
- ✓You run an online store on Shopify, WooCommerce, or BigCommerce
- ✓E-commerce email and SMS marketing is your primary need
- ✓You want predictive analytics (CLV, churn risk) on all plans
- ✓Pre-built e-commerce flows (abandoned cart, win-back, browse abandonment) are a priority
- ✓You don't have a sales team or B2B component that needs CRM deal tracking
Choose HubSpot if you...
- ✓You need a CRM with deal pipelines and sales tracking
- ✓Your business has both e-commerce and B2B or service revenue
- ✓You want marketing, sales, and service tools in one platform
- ✓Marketing attribution across channels (not just email) matters
- ✓You want to start free with a full-featured CRM and upgrade as you grow
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, and some e-commerce businesses do. They use Klaviyo for store email/SMS marketing and HubSpot for CRM and sales pipeline management. Third-party integrations sync contacts between the two. The downside is data fragmentation and the cost of running both platforms. Most businesses are better off choosing one unless they have clearly separate marketing and sales workflows.
For email and SMS marketing, yes. Klaviyo's Shopify integration is deeper than HubSpot's in every dimension: real-time product sync, predictive analytics, browse abandonment tracking, and 80+ pre-built e-commerce flows. HubSpot's Shopify integration handles basic contact sync and order data but can't match Klaviyo's store-level depth.
No. Klaviyo stores customer profiles with rich purchase data and predictive metrics, but it's not a CRM. There are no deal pipelines, no sales forecasting, and no task management. If you need to track sales deals alongside marketing, HubSpot (or ActiveCampaign) is the right choice.
Klaviyo. At 500 contacts, Klaviyo Email costs $20/mo with full automation and predictive analytics. HubSpot Starter costs $20/seat/mo but only includes simple automation. Getting comparable automation on HubSpot requires Professional at $100/seat/mo. For pure e-commerce email, Klaviyo gives more value per dollar.
At a basic level, yes. HubSpot integrates with Shopify and WooCommerce for contact sync and order tracking. You can build email workflows triggered by purchases. But for data-driven e-commerce marketing with predictive CLV, browse abandonment, and product recommendation flows, Klaviyo is purpose-built for that and HubSpot isn't.