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Klaviyo Hidden Costs: 6 Charges That Are Not on the Pricing Page

Klaviyo's pricing page shows clean tier-based pricing, but the actual cost of running Klaviyo can be significantly higher. Here are six charges that catch store owners by surprise - with specific dollar examples so you know exactly what to expect.

Updated 9 April 2026

1. The February 2025 Billing Change

Before February 2025, Klaviyo billed based on "emailed profiles" - only contacts you actually sent emails to counted toward your tier. After February 2025, Klaviyo switched to "active profiles" billing - every contact that is not suppressed or unsubscribed counts, whether you email them or not.

Real Example:

A Shopify store with 20,000 total contacts that segmented aggressively and only emailed 8,000 of them:

  • Before: Billed for 8,000 emailed profiles = ~$150/mo
  • After: Billed for 20,000 active profiles = $350/mo
  • Impact: +$200/mo (+133%), or $2,400/yr increase

The fix: aggressively suppress contacts you do not email. If they have not engaged in 90 days and you are not planning to email them, suppress them to save money.

2. SMS Credit Overages and Expiry

SMS credits do not roll over to the next month. If you buy 5,000 credits ($40/mo) and use 3,000, those 2,000 credits vanish - you effectively paid $0.013 per message instead of the advertised $0.008. Additionally, international SMS costs 3-12 credits per message, and MMS costs 3x SMS. A campaign to 1,000 UK numbers using MMS costs 10,000 credits ($70 at the best rate) - something that is not obvious from the pricing page.

Domestic SMS

1 credit

Domestic MMS

3 credits

International SMS (UK)

5 credits

3. Klaviyo Reviews Add-On: $25/mo

Klaviyo Reviews is a separate product that costs $25/mo ($300/yr) on top of your email plan. It provides product review collection, display widgets, and integration with email flows. The pricing page does not prominently feature this cost. For comparison, Judge.me starts at $15/mo and Stamped.io at $23/mo, both with more display customization options.

The value proposition is the tight integration with Klaviyo's automation - you can trigger emails based on review activity and segment by review behavior without any third-party integration work. Whether that convenience is worth the premium depends on how heavily you use reviews in your email strategy.

4. Klaviyo One: +20% Above $10K/mo

When your total monthly Klaviyo spend (email + SMS + add-ons) exceeds $10,000, the mandatory Klaviyo One surcharge adds 20% to your entire bill. At $10K base, that is an extra $2,000/mo ($24,000/yr). This surcharge is not shown on the standard pricing page and comes as a surprise to growing brands.

Learn more about what Klaviyo One includes and whether the surcharge is justified on our enterprise pricing page.

5. Email Send Overage Fees

Each Klaviyo plan includes email sends equal to 10x your contact count. If you exceed this limit, Klaviyo charges approximately $0.001-0.002 per additional email. For most stores, the included sends are sufficient. But during high-volume periods like Black Friday/Cyber Monday, heavy-sending stores can go significantly over.

BFCM Example:

A store with 50,000 contacts gets 500,000 included sends. During November, they send 15 emails per contact = 750,000 sends. The 250,000 overage at $0.0015/email costs an extra $375. Combined with the standard $720/mo, the November bill becomes $1,095.

6. Inactive Contact Costs

Since the February 2025 billing change, every active profile counts toward your tier regardless of engagement. Contacts who have not opened an email in 6 months, contacts who signed up once and never purchased, and contacts from old promotions all inflate your profile count and your monthly bill.

Industry data suggests 20-40% of the average e-commerce email list is unengaged. For a store with 25,000 contacts, that means 5,000-10,000 profiles are costing money without generating any revenue. Suppressing those contacts could drop you from the $400/mo tier (25K) to the $200/mo tier (15K) - saving $200/mo or $2,400/yr.

Total Cost of Ownership Example

Here is what a real Klaviyo bill looks like for a mid-size Shopify store with 25,000 contacts, SMS, and Reviews:

Email plan (25K contacts)$400/mo
SMS credits (10K package)$70/mo
Klaviyo Reviews add-on$25/mo
Average BFCM overage (amortized)~$30/mo
True monthly cost$525/mo
Annual total$6,300/yr

The listed price for 25K contacts is $400/mo. The true cost with SMS, Reviews, and seasonal overages is $525/mo - 31% higher. Use our calculator to estimate your true total cost.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much did the February 2025 billing change increase costs?
The impact varies by store. A store with 20,000 total contacts that only emailed 8,000 of them saw their bill increase from roughly $100/mo (8K emailed profiles) to $350/mo (20K active profiles) - a 250% increase. Stores that email their entire list saw minimal impact. The hardest-hit stores were those with large lists and aggressive segmentation that limited sends to small subsets. Klaviyo provided no advance warning of the magnitude of cost increases.
Do Klaviyo SMS credits expire?
Yes, unused Klaviyo SMS credits expire at the end of each monthly billing cycle. They do not roll over. If you purchase 5,000 credits ($40/mo) and only use 3,000, those 2,000 unused credits are gone. This means you need to right-size your credit package to match your actual sending volume, or you are effectively paying more per message than the stated rate.
What is the Klaviyo Reviews add-on?
Klaviyo Reviews is a product review collection and display tool that costs $25/mo as an add-on to any Klaviyo plan. It replaces third-party review apps like Judge.me, Loox, or Yotpo. The advantage is tight integration with your email flows - you can trigger review request emails and segment by review behavior. The disadvantage is the extra $300/yr cost and the fact that competitor apps like Judge.me start at $15/mo with more display customization options.
How can I reduce my total Klaviyo cost?
The most impactful step is list hygiene: suppress unengaged contacts who have not opened or clicked in 90+ days. This directly reduces your tier and monthly cost. Next, right-size your SMS credit package by tracking actual usage for 2-3 months before committing to a larger tier. Finally, evaluate whether you need the Reviews add-on or if a cheaper third-party alternative serves your needs. For a complete cost analysis, use our calculator.

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