Klaviyo review: free to 250 profiles, then terms that refund no fee

Your list holds 400 people. Klaviyo’s pricing page counts “active profiles” instead.

Those counts may not match. The plan you pay for follows the second one. Klaviyo Free stops at 250 profiles, so check your own count first.

At 500 profiles, Klaviyo Email costs more than Brevo or MailerLite

Klaviyo Email asks $20 once your list hits 500. Brevo charges $9 a month for Starter at 500 contacts. For MailerLite Comfort you pay $12. Both rivals send 5,000 emails.

Annual figures run lower: $8.08 a month for Brevo Starter and $10.80 for MailerLite Comfort. Klaviyo’s page gives no annual figure.

Who is Klaviyo for, then? You, if you grow by profiles and accept paying more than Brevo’s $9.

Does the free plan close the gap? Only on one count. MailerLite Free lists 2,500 emails for 250 contacts. Klaviyo Free lists 500 sends for 250 profiles.

Klaviyo sets other prices with a profile selector. Its default is 500. Check the selector before you plan a bigger list.

Trustpilot reviews warn about support, so test the free plan first

Klaviyo’s Trustpilot average is 1.6 stars (374 reviews, 2026-11-05). Of those, 214 give one star and 134 give five. Only 26 sit in the middle.

Is the support really that bad? Nine of the ten newest reviews give one star. They run from 2026-09-05 to 2026-11-04. Several name slow or missing support, and one names a ban with no warning.

The one five-star in that ten calls Klaviyo the tool for a Shopify store. The 1.6 warns you about support risk. It does not count how many buyers are unhappy.

Granted: if you work to a deadline, slow support costs you. The pricing page lists email support for the first 60 days. Use the free plan to learn how fast it answers.

Fees stay spent, renew on their own and rise with usage

What if you pay and it does not suit you? Nothing comes back. Under Klaviyo’s terms, no fee is returned.

Flip it: the free plan is your trial. You get 250 profiles and 500 sends at no cost before any fee exists.

Will the bill climb without you? Self-service subscriptions with auto-upgrade billing upgrade according to usage. Klaviyo gives you 14 days of notice for any fee increase.

Composer, the AI agent, sells extra usage in $10 increments. Fourteen days is not long, but it is written down.

Can you leave when you want? Each service order renews for successive terms of the same length. Monthly billing needs your notice five days ahead. Other cycles need 30.

Set a reminder before each renewal.

Brevo, MailerLite and Mailchimp each beat Klaviyo on one count

Brevo wins on entry price. Its pricing puts Starter at $9 a month, where Klaviyo Email asks $20.

Brevo’s terms give no refund for prepaid fees. Choose it for price, never for an exit.

MailerLite wins on free sends and on a way out. Its pricing lists 2,500 free emails against 500. Comfort adds a 14-day trial. You can ask for a refund within 30 days of the last transaction.

Stay on MailerLite if your list stays small and free.

Mailchimp offers a 60-day money-back guarantee on annual paid plans. Standard starts at $20 a month with 6,000 emails. If you commit for a year, Mailchimp suits you better, since Klaviyo refunds no fee. The Mailchimp review shows the rest.

With Constant Contact you get 30 days to change your mind. Klaviyo’s terms give no such window. Lite runs $10.20 a month billed annually, with no free plan.

The Constant Contact review has the detail. The Klaviyo alternatives list has more swaps.

Back to your 400 people. Count them as profiles before you choose. If you can start small and let that count set your bill, Klaviyo fits. If a refund or the lowest bill comes first, pick a cheaper rival.

Best if: you want to start free and pay by profile count.

Skip it if: a refund window matters more to you than a free start.