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Most buyers should pick Klaviyo.
Choose Klaviyo for email and SMS marketing, a free entry tier, and a published starting plan at $20/month. Its pricing rises with active profiles, SMS credits, and optional products. Salesforce Marketing Cloud fits teams building complex enterprise journeys around connected data, but its pricing depends on profiles, Flex Credits, and the organization’s contract. Profiles start at $20 per 1,000 monthly when billed annually. Neither source publishes per-seat costs. For smaller marketing teams, Klaviyo is the clearer starting point.
01Side by side
| Klaviyo | Salesforce Marketing Cloud | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | From $20/month; scales by active profiles | $20 per 1,000 profiles monthly, billed annually |
| Free plan | Free: 250 profiles, 500 monthly email sends | No free plan |
| Best for | Email- and SMS-focused B2C brands | Complex enterprise customer journeys |
| Core strength | Email, SMS, and unified customer profiles | Enterprise journeys and connected data |
| Learning curve | Higher ease-of-use score: 7.5 | Lower ease-of-use score: 4 |
| Integrations and data | 400+ integrations; real-time unified data | Federates, integrates, and harmonizes enterprise data |
| Team or seat costs | Per-seat pricing not published | Per-seat pricing not published |
| Support | Email support for first 60 days on Free | Support terms not published |
Klaviyo Choose Klaviyo if
- Choose Klaviyo if you need email and SMS in one marketing stack.
- Choose Klaviyo if a free tier matters for testing a small list.
- Choose Klaviyo if you want 400+ native integrations.
Salesforce Marketing Cloud Choose Salesforce Marketing Cloud if
- Choose Salesforce Marketing Cloud if enterprise customer journeys are central.
- Choose Salesforce Marketing Cloud if your data needs span enterprise systems.
- Choose Salesforce Marketing Cloud if you can budget for usage-based pricing.
02Pricing compared
Klaviyo has a free tier for up to 250 active profiles, 500 monthly email sends, and $5 of monthly mobile messages. Its paid Email plan starts at $20/month for 251–500 profiles; Email and SMS starts at $35/month for that tier, with 1,250 SMS/MMS credits. Prices rise with profiles and, for SMS, credit volume. The pricing page lists no annual discount.
Salesforce lists Profiles at $20 per 1,000 profiles per month, billed annually ($240 per 1,000 per year). Enterprise Profiles are $35 per 1,000 per month, billed annually. Flex Credits cost $500 per 100,000. Salesforce says the organization’s contract affects billing, so those rates are not a full quote. Neither source publishes per-seat pricing.
03Features and depth
Klaviyo’s listed strengths are email, SMS, RCS, WhatsApp, mobile push, and customer data in one profile. Its Data Platform unifies behavioral, transactional, and engagement data in real time, and the personalization engine uses 9B+ profiles, according to Klaviyo. Composer identifies revenue opportunities and plans campaigns for approval. Klaviyo says Customer Agent resolves 65% of support questions. The platform also lists 400+ integrations.
Salesforce’s materials emphasize campaign building, personalization, optimization, and customer journeys, alongside connected data and business workflows. Data 360 is described as federating, integrating, and harmonizing enterprise data; Customer 360 supplies business rules and workflows. The published feature details are broader than a channel-by-channel marketing checklist, so they don’t establish a direct equivalent for every Klaviyo channel or AI agent. Klaviyo is the more specifically documented option here for email and SMS; Salesforce is positioned for complex journeys tied to enterprise data and workflows.
04Ease of use and learning curve
Klaviyo is the clearer place to start if the job is email or SMS: it has a free tier, a published $20 starting plan, and specific profile and send limits. That makes the initial commitment easier to estimate, though costs can rise with list size, SMS credits, and add-ons.
Salesforce is aimed at more involved journeys and connected enterprise data, and its price depends partly on the organization’s contract. That points to more planning before choosing it, not proof of a particular setup time. In the published reviews, Klaviyo scores 7.5 for ease of use and Salesforce Marketing Cloud scores 4. Those scores are directional, not a guarantee for every team.
Questions people ask
Which is cheaper, Klaviyo or Salesforce Marketing Cloud?
Klaviyo has the lower-friction entry point: a free tier and Email plans from $20/month. Salesforce Profiles start at $20 per 1,000 profiles per month, billed annually, with Flex Credits and contract terms also affecting cost. The listed starting prices aren’t directly equivalent.
Does Klaviyo have a free plan?
Yes. Klaviyo’s free tier includes up to 250 active profiles, 500 email sends per month, and $5 of monthly mobile messages and Composer usage. It also includes email support for the first 60 days. Salesforce’s listed plans do not include a free plan.
Which platform is better for email and SMS marketing?
Klaviyo is the clearer fit in the published materials: it specifically lists email and SMS, plus RCS, WhatsApp, and mobile push. Its Email and SMS plan starts at $35/month for 251–500 profiles and includes 1,250 SMS/MMS credits. Salesforce’s materials focus on campaigns and journeys, not channel-specific limits.
When should a team choose Salesforce Marketing Cloud?
Choose Salesforce when the requirement is complex customer journeys connected to enterprise data and business workflows. Its materials describe Data 360 for integrating and harmonizing data and Customer 360 for business rules and workflows. Expect pricing to depend on profiles, Flex Credits, and the organization’s contract.