How Much Does Email Marketing Cost for a Shopify Store? (2026)
What Shopify stores actually pay for email marketing at 500 to 10,000 contacts – free options, typical monthly prices, what drives the bill, and the costs that pricing pages leave out.
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Short answer: A Shopify store with 1,000 contacts pays $0 to about $30 a month for email marketing, and $30 to $190 a month at 10,000 contacts, depending on the tool. Shopify Messaging is free up to 10,000 emails a month. For most other tools, the number of contacts you keep – not how often you email – sets the price.
All prices are regular month-to-month US list prices before promotions, taxes and SMS, from our pricing tracker (first checked October 22 and re-checked November 2, 2026). We haven’t paid for these plans; this is a price survey.
Cost by list size
Entry plan for each tool, per month:
| Tool (plan) | 500 | 1,000 | 2,500 | 5,000 | 10,000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shopify Messaging* | $0 | $0 | $0 | $10 | $30 |
| Brevo (Starter)* | $9 | $17 | $25 | $32 | $32 |
| GetResponse (Starter) | $19 | $19 | $29 | $54 | $79 |
| ActiveCampaign (Starter) | $19 | $19 | $49 | $99 | $189 |
| Omnisend (Standard) | $16 | $20 | $44 | $81 | $132 |
| Mailchimp (Essentials) | $13 | $26.50 | $45 | $75 | $110 |
| Klaviyo (Email) | $20 | $30 | $60 | $100 | $150 |
Swipe to see the full table →
*Shopify Messaging and Brevo charge by emails sent, not contacts. The figures assume four campaigns a month to the whole list (Shopify – our assumption, not Shopify’s) or the email-volume tier matched to each contact count (Brevo); see the tracker for the exact assumptions and all 8 tools we follow.
Changes since October are logged in our price change log – there were none on November 2.
What actually drives the bill
- Contacts, not sends. Klaviyo, Omnisend, Mailchimp, GetResponse and ActiveCampaign price by list size. Unengaged subscribers cost the same as buyers, so pruning inactive contacts is the cheapest saving available.
- The plan that includes automation. Some entry plans are cheap because they leave out store automation. GetResponse Starter has no abandoned cart recovery – that needs Marketer, $59 at 1,000 contacts (GetResponse pricing).
- Billing period. Several tools discount annual billing (GetResponse up to 18%), but you commit for a year.
Costs pricing pages leave out
- SMS is billed on top of email plans at Klaviyo and Omnisend. Check SMS tools for Shopify if you plan to text customers.
- Plan jumps. Crossing a contact threshold by one subscriber moves you to the next tier for the whole month.
- Switching. Moving tools means rebuilding flows and templates – time, not money, but real.
How much should you budget?
A useful starting point is the free tier until your list passes a few hundred contacts, then the cheapest plan that includes abandoned cart and welcome flows. Automated flows earn far more per email than campaigns – Klaviyo reports they bring in about 41% of email revenue from 5.3% of sends (sources in our statistics page). Run your own numbers in the email cost calculator, which totals each tool at your list size and sending volume.
Compare GetResponse plansKey takeaways
- At 1,000 contacts, most paid email tools cost $17–$30 a month; Shopify Messaging is free up to 10,000 emails a month.
- At 10,000 contacts, entry plans range from $32 (Brevo Starter, priced by emails sent) to $189 (ActiveCampaign Starter).
- Most tools charge by contacts, so the list you keep – not how often you send – drives the bill.
- SMS, extra users, annual-only discounts and plan upgrades for automation are the costs pricing pages bury.
Frequently asked questions
How much does email marketing cost for a small Shopify store?
At around 1,000 contacts, entry plans cost $0 (Shopify Messaging, up to 10,000 emails a month) to about $30 a month (Klaviyo Email). Omnisend Standard is $20 and GetResponse Starter $19, on list prices checked November 2, 2026.
Is Shopify Email free?
Shopify Messaging includes 10,000 free emails a month, then charges from $1 per 1,000 emails. Shopify says abandoned checkout automation emails are always free and don't count toward the allowance.
What's the cheapest email marketing for Shopify with abandoned cart emails?
Shopify's own abandoned checkout emails are free. Among dedicated tools, Omnisend's free plan includes abandoned cart flows for up to 250 contacts; above that, Omnisend Standard starts at $16 a month at 500 contacts.
Does email marketing cost more as my list grows?
Yes, for most tools. Klaviyo, Omnisend, Mailchimp, GetResponse and ActiveCampaign all price by contacts, so going from 1,000 to 10,000 contacts multiplies the bill roughly 4 to 10 times.