Klaviyo vs HubSpot for businesses that sell online
We're a HubSpot Platinum Solutions Partner, and we also build email and text flows in Klaviyo. For many stores that sell only online, Klaviyo is the better tool. HubSpot pulls ahead when a brand also sells wholesale or runs a busy service team.
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Which is better for an online store, Klaviyo or HubSpot?
For a store that sells only online and makes most of its repeat revenue from email and text, Klaviyo is usually the better choice. It was made for online stores and reads Shopify order data in detail. Its flows and predictions all aim at the shopper's next order.
HubSpot is the better choice when the store is one part of a bigger business. Think of a brand with wholesale accounts, a sales rep calling on retailers, a busy service inbox or a B2B side. Then one shared customer record matters more than the deepest email tool.
Klaviyo and HubSpot side by side
Klaviyo
- What it is: an email and text marketing platform for online stores
- Best fit: stores that sell only online and grow through repeat orders
- Channels: email, text and other messages to shoppers
- Shopify: a native integration with detailed order data for segments and flows
- Service: lighter support tools, best for a modest service inbox
- Wholesale and B2B: not its focus
- Pricing basis: grows with your list size and how much you send
HubSpot
- What it is: one database for marketing, sales, service and content
- Best fit: brands that also sell wholesale or run a busy service team
- Channels: email, SMS through a Marketing SMS add-on, ad audiences, chat and a sales team's calls and emails
- Shopify: a data sync that brings orders and abandoned checkouts into HubSpot and syncs contacts and products both ways
- Service: full ticketing and a help desk for busy teams
- Sales: pipelines, quotes and a native NetSuite integration for wholesale and B2B orders
- Pricing basis: hubs, tiers and seats, plus marketing contacts
When Klaviyo is the better choice
- You sell online only, and email and text drive most of your repeat orders
- You have no sales team calling on accounts
- Your marketing team wants ready-made store flows and segments instead of building them from scratch
- You want product-level detail from Shopify in every segment out of the box
- Your service volume is modest and a simple support setup is enough
Why did Charlie Hustle move from Klaviyo to HubSpot?
Charlie Hustle, a Kansas City brand, ran service in Zendesk and email in Klaviyo. There was no text messaging and no shared reporting, and the team couldn't group customers by the city or team they care about.
We connected Shopify to HubSpot so customers are grouped by what they ordered, moved service and email into HubSpot and added SMS. We ran HubSpot alongside the old tools first, then switched once everything checked out. The same customer groups now drive email, text and Google Ads, and its Nebraska list has grown about 4,900%. Read the case study.
The reason was one customer record across service, marketing and ads. Klaviyo's email tools weren't the problem. A brand that only needed better email flows might have stayed.
Can you run Klaviyo and HubSpot together?
Yes, and some brands should. A common split is Klaviyo for store email and text, and HubSpot for wholesale sales and service. A connector app links the two. It needs its own subscription on top of both tools, and it passes contacts and engagement between them.
The downside is two bills and two places where customer data lives. Decide which tool owns each field, or the records will start to disagree. We cover how we split the work on our email marketing page.
What drives the cost, and what does switching take?
Klaviyo's cost grows with active profiles, email sends and SMS use. HubSpot's grows with hubs, tiers, seats and marketing contacts, plus the required one-time onboarding on Professional and Enterprise. Check current pricing on Klaviyo's pricing page and HubSpot's pricing page.
Switching either way means rebuilding flows, templates and sign-up forms, and checking your SMS consent records. Send to your most engaged customers first while inbox providers get used to the new sender. HubSpot's Shopify sync needs Shopify Plus for company records and Data Hub Starter or higher for custom field mappings. Plan to run both tools side by side for a few weeks, as Charlie Hustle did.
For examples by industry, see our work with fashion, beauty and food and beverage brands, or start at our ecommerce page.
Klaviyo vs HubSpot questions
Is Klaviyo a CRM?
Klaviyo calls itself a B2C CRM. It holds customer profiles, order history and engagement for online shoppers, and its tools center on marketing to them. HubSpot adds sales pipelines and deal tracking for teams that also sell to businesses.
Does HubSpot work with Shopify as well as Klaviyo does?
HubSpot's Shopify sync brings in orders and abandoned checkouts and syncs contacts and products both ways. Klaviyo's Shopify integration is more focused on detailed shopping events for marketing. For a pure online store, Klaviyo's depth usually wins.
We sell online and wholesale. Which should we use?
That mix is where HubSpot tends to fit best. Wholesale buyers need a sales pipeline, quotes and order history, and online shoppers need email and text. HubSpot keeps both on one record. Some brands keep Klaviyo for store email and use HubSpot for wholesale.
Which is better for a busy service team?
In our experience, HubSpot. Its service tools go further for teams with many agents, routing rules or B2B accounts. A store with a small, simple service inbox can do fine with lighter tools.
Will we lose our flow results if we move from Klaviyo to HubSpot?
Past flow reports stay in Klaviyo and don't carry over as live data. Export what you need before you cancel. Contacts, consent and order history can come across, and flows are rebuilt in HubSpot.
Can HubSpot send text messages to shoppers?
Yes, with HubSpot's Marketing SMS add-on. Charlie Hustle runs SMS campaigns from the same HubSpot account as its email and service, a channel the brand didn't have the year before. Consent rules still apply, so we check opt-in records before the first send.
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Find out which tool your store should use
Tell us how you sell, online only or online plus wholesale, and what your service inbox looks like. If Klaviyo is the right home, we'll say so.