Side-by-side comparison · Marketing & Ads

Klaviyo vs Pencil

Everything that matters when choosing between them, in one place: our rating, what each can do, what they cost, and the trade-offs.

Best overall

Klaviyo

4.3

From From $20/mo

Details Visit

Pencil

3.7

From $14/mo

Details Visit

Comparing 2 tools. Add one more if you like.

At a glance

Klaviyo4.3

Best overallEasiest to use

Pick it if: Online stores that want their email and SMS to run on real customer behaviour.

Pencil3.7

Pick it if: Brand and performance marketing teams that need lots of on-brand ad variations across many platforms.

Overview

Attribute	Klaviyo	Pencil
In one line	Email and SMS for online stores, with AI that writes, segments and predicts.	Makes on-brand image and video ads and launches them to ad platforms.
Pricing model	Freemium	Paid
Starting price	From $20/mo	$14/mo
Free plan	Yes	No
Works with Claude Code	Yes	No

Rating breakdown

Our scores out of 5. The higher bar in each row is highlighted.

Attribute	Klaviyo	Pencil
Overall rating	4.3Winner	3.7
Ease of useHow quickly someone non-technical gets value from it.	4.0	3.5
FeaturesHow completely it covers its own job, and how well the pieces fit together.	5.0	4.0
Output qualityHow good the results are before you fix them.	4.5	3.5
Value for moneyWhat you get for the price, including the free plan.	3.5	3.5
Speed & reliabilityHow fast it is and how often it falls over.	4.5	4.0

Feature comparison

A tick means it does this today. A dash means we haven't checked.

Attribute	Klaviyo	Pencil
Access & platform
Free plan	Yes	No
Mobile app	Yes	No
Desktop app	No	No
Browser extension	No	–
API access	Yes	–
Teams & business
Team workspace	Yes	Yes
Enterprise plan or SSO	Yes	Yes
Connects to other apps	Yes	Yes
Open source or self-hosted	No	No
AI abilities
Works with your files	Yes	Yes
Understands images	–	Yes
Makes images	–	Yes
Makes video	No	Yes
Writes code	No	No
Runs agents or automations	Yes	Yes
Learns your brand or style	Yes	Yes
Works in many languages	Yes	–
Capabilities score	10/ 17	9/ 17

Pricing

Plans as listed on each vendor's site when we last checked. Confirm before you buy.

Attribute	Klaviyo	Pencil
Plans	Free Free New stores building their first flows.	CoreOur pick $14/mo, or $11/mo billed yearly A small team trying AI ads.
	EmailOur pick From $20/mo Most stores once they pass 250 contacts.	Growth $55/mo, or $44/mo billed yearly Teams making ads every week or for several brands.
	Email and SMS From $35/mo Stores that want text messages in the same flows.	Pro Custom Large brands and agencies.
	Enterprise Custom Large brands with many stores or markets.
Which plan to pick	Start on Free and build your welcome and abandoned cart flows before you pay anything. Move to Email when you cross 250 contacts, and only add SMS once email is working, because text messages cost extra per send.	Core is cheap enough to test with real campaigns. Move to Growth when 50 generations a month runs out, which happens fast if you resize into many formats. Pro is for enterprise teams and is sold through a demo.

Key features

Attribute	Klaviyo	Pencil
Standout features	Flows Segments from plain English Predictive analytics Email and SMS in one AI writing and campaign builder Customer Agent	Many AI models in one place Workflows and canvas Brand safety Performance scores Launch and track

Pros and cons

Attribute	Klaviyo	Pencil
Pros	Deepest store integration of any email tool, so targeting runs on real purchase data Flows and segments are quick to set up from templates and plain English Email and SMS live in one place with one set of customer data Predictive analytics tell you who to spend effort on Huge ecosystem of Shopify apps and agencies that already know it	Several leading image and video models under one subscription Low entry price for a team tool Brand controls suit companies with strict guidelines Launches ads straight to the major ad platforms Trusted by large global brands, with SOC 2 and a no-training data policy
Cons	Gets expensive fast as your list grows, and every profile counts toward the bill SMS is a separate cost on top of the plan Email support stops after 60 days on the free plan Overkill for service businesses and plain newsletters	Generation caps on the self-serve plans run out quickly, and resizes count Performance prediction is marked 'coming soon' on its own pricing table, which is confusing Reviewers mention a cluttered interface and a learning curve Few independent reviews, with some complaints about billing and cancelling

Who each one is for

Attribute	Klaviyo	Pencil
Best for	Abandoned cart recovery Segments from plain English Post-purchase flows SMS campaigns Predicting customer value	Making many ad variations from one brief Resizing ads for every platform Keeping AI ads on brand across a team Brands that want several AI models in one place
You'll find it used by	Shopify stores Ecommerce marketers Agencies DTC brands	Brand marketing teams Performance marketers Agencies Enterprise brands

Questions people ask

Which is better, Klaviyo or Pencil?

Klaviyo scores highest overall in our ratings (Klaviyo 4.3/5 and Pencil 3.7/5). Klaviyo is best for abandoned cart recovery and segments from plain English. Pencil is best for making many ad variations from one brief and resizing ads for every platform.

Which is cheaper, Klaviyo or Pencil?

Klaviyo: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at From $20/mo. Pencil: There's no free plan. Paid plans start at $14/mo.

Which is easier to use, Klaviyo or Pencil?

Klaviyo rates highest for ease of use in our scores. Online stores that want their email and SMS to run on real customer behaviour.

Ratings are our own, from using each tool, across ease of use, features, output quality, value for money, speed & reliability.

Swap in another tool

More tools from Marketing & Ads in the library.