Best Email Marketing for a New Online Store (2026 Comparison)

You do not need to spend money on email software to launch an online store. Every leading ecommerce email tool gives you a free starter plan or an included monthly send allowance. What separates them is how they bill once your list grows, which platforms they connect with, and whether their free tiers include automated abandoned cart reminders.

This guide compares four platforms for a new store: Shopify Email, Omnisend, MailerLite, and Klaviyo. All pricing, limits, and rules come from official vendor documentation checked on 2026-10-03.

The four tools in one table

Worked example: monthly send costs and what recovered carts pay for

These stores are hypothetical examples to show how vendor billing works. All tool prices, overage rates, and send rules use official rates checked on 2026-10-03.

Store A: comparing email bills across subscriber tiers

Store A sends 4 marketing broadcasts a month to its entire list, plus automated emails.

At 250 contacts, 4 broadcasts equal 1,000 monthly sends:

• Shopify Email: $0 (within the 10,000 free monthly email allowance on Basic, Grow, Advanced, or Plus).
• MailerLite Free: $0 (at the 250-subscriber cap; 1,000 sends is within the 2,500 monthly limit).
• Omnisend Free: Exceeds the 500 monthly email limit.
• Klaviyo Free: Exceeds the 500 monthly email limit.

At 1,000 contacts, 4 broadcasts equal 4,000 monthly sends:

• Shopify Email: $0 (fits inside the 10,000 free monthly email limit).
• MailerLite Comfort: Starts at $12/month (up to 1,000 subscribers and 10,000 monthly sends).
• Omnisend Standard: At the 500-contact tier, Standard allows 6,000 emails per month for $16/month. Pricing for 1,000 contacts scales on their pricing page.
• Klaviyo: Requires a paid plan priced by profile count on their pricing page.

At 10,000 contacts, 4 broadcasts equal 40,000 monthly sends:

• Shopify Email: First 10,000 emails are free. The remaining 30,000 emails cost $1 per 1,000 additional emails: 30 × $1.00 = $30.00. Extra costs appear on your monthly Shopify store invoice.
• MailerLite Comfort: Scales by subscriber tier on their pricing page.
• Omnisend Pro: Includes unlimited monthly emails (subject to fair use) and SMS rates starting at $0.007.
• Klaviyo: Scales by active profile count on their pricing page.

Store B: the math on recovering abandoned checkouts

Consider a hypothetical store with 100 abandoned carts a month, an average order value of $40, and a 10% recovery rate.

• Tool cost: $0.00 on Shopify Email (abandoned checkout automations are always free).
• Tool cost on Omnisend: $0.00 on the Free plan (up to 250 contacts and 500 emails/month).
• Total abandoned checkouts: 100 carts/month.
• Recovered orders at 10%: 100 × 10% = 10 orders.
• Recovered revenue: 10 orders × $40 = $400 in sales.

What matters is profit, not sales. If each $40 order costs you $12 for the product, $6 postage and $1.46 in card fees (2.9% + 30¢), it leaves $20.54, so 10 recovered orders keep 10 × $20.54 = $205.40 a month. At a more cautious 3% rate it is 3 × $20.54 = $61.62. Both cost $0 in software on Shopify Email or a free plan, so cart recovery is the first automation to switch on, and a paid plan is worth it only when its monthly fee is below what the extra recovered orders keep.

Run it with your own numbers: your email cost = base plan fee + overage rate. Your recovered revenue = (monthly abandoned carts × recovery rate) × average order value. The profit per order calculator calculates your net profit after product cost, shipping, and card fees.

Shopify Email: for the lowest cost on a Shopify store

If you run a Shopify store on a paid plan (Basic, Grow, Advanced, or Plus), Shopify Email is the lowest-cost broadcast tool available.

How it works

Shopify Email includes 10,000 free emails per calendar month across all campaigns. Unused free emails do not roll over. Beyond 10,000 emails, additional sends cost $1 USD per 1,000 up to 300,000 emails ($0.65 per 1,000 from 300,001 to 750,000; $0.55 per 1,000 above 750,000). You are not billed until extra costs reach $0.005 USD, and charges appear directly on your regular monthly Shopify store bill.

The abandoned checkout rule

General marketing automations count toward your 10,000 free monthly emails. However, abandoned checkout automations are always free and never count toward the limit. You can send cart recovery emails to every shopper without consuming campaign capacity.

Who should pick something else

Shopify Email is exclusive to Shopify. If your store runs on WooCommerce, Wix, or BigCommerce, you cannot use it.

Omnisend: for pre-built ecommerce automations on a free plan

Omnisend specializes in ecommerce automations across Shopify, WooCommerce, Wix, and other platforms.

Free tier and features

Omnisend offers a permanent Free plan with no credit card required. It includes up to 250 contacts, up to 500 emails per month, up to 500 web push notifications, and 24/7 live chat and email support. It gives you access to pre-built automations for cart abandonment, browse abandonment, welcome series, and order confirmations. Its visual workflow builder combines email, SMS, and web push.

Paid upgrade path

When your list exceeds 250 contacts, the Standard plan provides 6,000 emails per month at the 500-contact tier for $16 per month regular ($11.20 per month promo). The Pro plan includes unlimited monthly emails under fair use, with SMS rates starting at $0.007.

Who should pick something else

If your primary goal is sending weekly content newsletters to a non-commerce list, Omnisend’s retail tools add unnecessary complexity.

MailerLite: for generous send limits and content newsletters

MailerLite is built for clean newsletter design, landing pages, and simple list management.

Free tier and features

MailerLite’s Free plan costs $0 per month for up to 250 active subscribers and allows 2,500 emails per month—five times the send allowance of Omnisend or Klaviyo on their free tiers. It includes campaigns, automations, 1 website, 1 landing page, signup forms, and 3 email editors. It includes 2 user seats and a 14-day trial of premium features with 24/7 live chat support. Sending is locked if your list exceeds 250 subscribers.

Paid upgrades and the Shopify automation limit

The Comfort plan starts at $12 per month for 1,000 subscribers, with monthly sends capped at 10 times your subscriber ceiling (10,000 emails per month at 1,000 contacts). The Power plan starts at $25 per month for 1,000 subscribers with unlimited monthly emails.

MailerLite’s official help documentation states that its Shopify, Squarespace, and BigCommerce integrations cannot currently create abandoned cart automations. The trigger works with WooCommerce and Wix. If you run a Shopify store and want automated cart recovery, do not use MailerLite.

Who should pick something else

Shopify store founders who need automated cart recovery emails should choose Shopify Email or Omnisend instead.

Klaviyo: for advanced customer data and segmentation

Klaviyo is an advanced ecommerce marketing platform designed around deep behavioral tracking and customer profile data.

Free tier and features

Klaviyo’s Free plan allows up to 250 active profiles and 500 email sends per month. It includes $5 of mobile messages per month, $5 of Composer usage per month, web forms, drag-and-drop templates, flow automations, and built-in reporting. Email support is included for the first 60 days only; afterward, free accounts rely on the Help Center and community forum.

How Klaviyo bills

Klaviyo bills monthly based on active profiles (valid email or phone contacts not suppressed or unsubscribed). Paid plans scale on Klaviyo’s pricing page. Because every active profile counts toward billing, maintaining regular list hygiene is necessary to control monthly costs.

Who should pick something else

If you are a new store owner with modest traffic, Klaviyo’s advanced tracking and tier pricing introduce unnecessary overhead. Shopify Email or Omnisend provide the same core automations at lower cost.

The 3 emails every new store must set up first

Before you launch, activate these three automated emails:

1. The Welcome email

Triggers immediately when a shopper joins your list. Marketing automations send only to customers who opted in.

• Example subject line: Welcome to [Brand Name] — here is your 10% welcome code
• What to include: Your discount code, instructions on applying it at checkout, and links to top-selling categories.

2. The Abandoned checkout email

Triggers when a shopper enters their email and adds items to their cart, but leaves before paying.

• Timing recommendation: Klaviyo recommends sending the first reminder between 2 and 4 hours after checkout starts, and a second reminder 20 to 48 hours later.
• Example subject line: Did you leave something behind? Your cart is saved
• What to include: Product images of items left behind and a direct button back to checkout. If using Shopify alongside Klaviyo or Omnisend, turn off default store cart notifications to prevent sending duplicate emails.

3. The Order confirmation email

Triggers automatically once payment clears.

• Example subject line: Order confirmed: #[Order Number] is being prepared
• What to include: Order summary, shipping address, fulfillment timeline, and support email.

For broader setup steps, see our guide on Email marketing basics for an online store.

Legal rules: CAN-SPAM and international requirements

FTC CAN-SPAM requirements (United States)

The Federal Trade Commission enforces the CAN-SPAM Act for commercial emails:

• Accurate subject lines: Your subject line must accurately reflect message content.
• Clear opt-out notice: Your email must explain clearly how the recipient can opt out of future emails.
• Opt-out mechanism rules: The opt-out mechanism must work for at least 30 days after sending. You cannot charge a fee, ask for personal information beyond an email address, or require more than sending a reply or visiting a single webpage.
• 10-day rule: You must honor opt-out requests within 10 business days.
• No selling opted-out addresses: You cannot sell or transfer email addresses of people who opted out.
• Third-party liability: A business remains legally responsible for compliance even when hiring an agency or third party.

UK ICO rules (PECR)

The Information Commissioner’s Office enforces electronic marketing rules in the UK:

• Consent required: You must not send marketing emails to individuals without specific, informed consent via a positive action like ticking an opt-in box. Pre-ticked boxes or silence do not constitute consent.
• Soft opt-in exemption: You may email existing customers without prior explicit consent only if details were collected during a sale or negotiations for a sale, marketing covers similar products, and you provided an opt-out opportunity at collection and in every subsequent message. Soft opt-in does not apply to prospective customers or bought-in lists.
• Identity disclosure: You must not disguise your identity and must provide a valid address for opt-out requests.

This information is for general educational purposes and is not legal or tax advice. For business structuring requirements, consult our guide on business basics for a US online store.

Common mistakes when choosing an email tool

1. Paying for capacity before launch: Use free plans until your list crosses 250 contacts.
2. Assuming all integrations support cart recovery: MailerLite’s Shopify integration does not create abandoned cart automations. Check integration details before signing up.
3. Sending duplicate cart emails: If you use Klaviyo or Omnisend on Shopify, disable Shopify’s native abandoned checkout emails to avoid duplicate messages.
4. Neglecting list hygiene: Platforms like Klaviyo bill on all active profiles. Regularly clean unsubscribed contacts to prevent unexpected bill increases.
5. Ignoring free sending caps: Omnisend and Klaviyo cap free sends at 500 emails per month. A list of 200 subscribers emailed weekly generates 800 emails, exceeding the free limit.

How to decide in 10 minutes

1. Check your platform: If on Shopify, start with Shopify Email for 10,000 free sends and free cart recovery. If on WooCommerce or Wix, start with Omnisend for pre-built flows or MailerLite for higher sending volume.
2. Calculate monthly sends: Multiply contacts by monthly sends. If 200 contacts get 4 emails (800 sends), pick MailerLite (2,500 free sends) or Shopify Email over 500-send free plans.
3. Turn on core automations: Activate your welcome email, abandoned checkout reminder (timed at 2 to 4 hours), and order confirmation sequence before paying for traffic.
4. Monitor list growth: Stay on free tiers until your list crosses 250 subscribers or 10,000 sends on Shopify Email. When ready to upgrade, see our guide to cutting store app subscriptions and Klaviyo vs Omnisend vs Mailchimp.

Sources (checked 2026-10-03)

• Omnisend: Pricing — Free plan 250-contact and 500-email limits, Standard 6,000-email limit at 500 contacts, Pro plan features, and 24/7 support.
• Omnisend: Shopify Integration — Official app details, contact, order, and catalog sync.
• Omnisend: Marketing Automation — Visual drag-and-drop workflow builder, pre-built cart abandonment, browse abandonment, and welcome workflows.
• Omnisend Help: Abandoned Cart Automations — Testing workflows and frequency settings.
• MailerLite: Pricing — Free plan 250 active subscribers, 2,500 monthly emails, 1 website, 1 landing page, Comfort plan rules, Power plan rules, and 14-day trial.
• MailerLite: Shopify Integration — Syncing customer data, orders, newsletter subscribers, and catalog product blocks.
• MailerLite Help: Abandoned Cart Email Automation — Integration limitations confirming Shopify, Squarespace, and BigCommerce do not support cart automations, and requiring customer account login.
• Klaviyo: Pricing — Free plan 250 active profiles, 500 emails/month, $5 mobile messaging credits, $5 Composer usage, and 60-day email support.
• Klaviyo Help: Billing Overview — Monthly billing cycle, active profile definitions, and product suite.
• Klaviyo Help: Abandoned Cart Flow — Recommended 2–4 hour delay for first email, 20–48 hour delay for second email, and preventing duplicate store messages.
• Shopify Help Center: Email Pricing — 10,000 free monthly emails, $1 per 1,000 overage tier, free abandoned checkout automations, and billing rules.
• Shopify Help Center: Marketing Automations — Welcome automation and abandoned checkout automation setup.
• FTC: CAN-SPAM Act Compliance Guide for Business — Subject line accuracy, opt-out mechanism rules, 10 business day timeline, and third-party liability.
• ICO: Electronic Mail Marketing Guidance (PECR) — Consent standards, individual vs corporate definitions, and soft opt-in rules.