Many agencies are built around one tool and move every new client onto it. We do the opposite. As an email marketing platform agency, we log in to the software you already pay for, because your subscribers, purchase history and past results live there. A migration is real work, and it seldom fixes the usual problem: nobody has time to plan and send the next email.
This page explains how a platform and an agency split the job, compares all seven tools, helps you pick one, and shows how to give us access.
Email platform or email agency: what is the difference?
An email marketing platform, also called an email service provider or ESP, is software. It stores your contacts, sends the messages, processes unsubscribes and tracks results. It does not decide what to send, write the copy or check every link before launch. An agency does that work inside the platform.
That means two separate bills. The vendor charges you for the platform subscription, usually based on your plan and list size. We charge a flat fee for the campaigns, the same on all seven tools. Our email marketing pricing page lists what the fee covers and what it leaves out.
Platform guides: Shopify, HubSpot, ActiveCampaign and Brevo
Four platforms have a full guide of their own. Klaviyo and Mailchimp each get a section right after the comparison table, and Constant Contact is covered in both tables on this page.
Which email platform should I use? Seven tools compared
No platform is best for everyone. The right one depends on where your customer data lives and how you sell. The table draws on each vendor's own documentation. We left prices out on purpose because they change often and depend on list size; Shopify's free monthly allowance is the one exception.
| Platform | Fits best | Where it is strong | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Klaviyo | Online stores, above all on Shopify | Segments built from orders, product views and cart activity that sync from the store | Most of its value comes from store data |
| Mailchimp | Small businesses, local services and nonprofits that want a familiar tool | A simple editor and a long list of integrations | Extra user levels need a paid plan |
| HubSpot | B2B and service firms whose sales team uses HubSpot CRM | Emails tied to the contact records, lifecycle stages and deals sales already uses | Your Marketing Hub tier and seats set which features and users you get |
| ActiveCampaign | Coaches, consultants and B2B services with a longer path to purchase | Tags, custom fields, detailed segments and predictive sending on plans that include it | Much of its value sits in automations, which our plan quotes separately |
| Brevo | Big lists emailed a few times a month, or teams that want email, SMS and a CRM together | Paid plans priced by the monthly email volume you choose | The Free plan caps sending at 300 emails per day, according to Brevo's pricing page |
| Constant Contact | Local businesses, nonprofits and associations that send regular newsletters | Simple user roles, so a helper can build drafts while only managers send | Only the Account Owner can add users, and a Campaign Creator cannot send |
| Shopify Email (now Shopify Messaging) | Shopify stores that want email inside the admin they already use | Templates pull products, prices and branding from the store; Shopify says the first 10,000 emails each month are free | Works only with a Shopify store |
Klaviyo and Mailchimp campaign management
Neither tool has a guide of its own on this site, so here is how our monthly campaign work runs in each one and what to check before we start.
Klaviyo: segments built from store activity
Klaviyo pays off when it is connected to your store. Its Shopify integration syncs order events such as Checkout Started, Placed Order, Ordered Product and Fulfilled Order, and with onsite tracking switched on Klaviyo also records Viewed Product and Added to Cart. Klaviyo's help center lists those order events as filters in its segment builder, so each of your eight campaigns can go to a group defined by real behavior: buyers of one category in the last 90 days, shoppers who looked at a product and never ordered it, or customers who have not ordered in six months. Our Shopify email marketing page goes deeper on store data.
For timing, Klaviyo can send a campaign at one set hour in each recipient's local time zone, so a 10 a.m. send lands at 10 a.m. in Boston and again at 10 a.m. in San Diego. Klaviyo says profiles with no known time zone get your account's time zone instead. To give us access, add a user with the Manager role or a custom role, which Klaviyo offers on all plans.
Mailchimp: Timewarp and user levels by plan
Mailchimp suits lists that live outside a store, such as a local service business, a nonprofit or a B2B firm. Its Timewarp feature, included on the Standard plan or higher, delivers each email at the chosen hour in every recipient's own time zone. Mailchimp estimates location from IP addresses picked up through hosted signup forms, opens and clicks, and contacts without location data receive the email in your account's default time zone. Timewarp campaigns must be scheduled at least 24 hours ahead, which our approval process already allows for.
Access depends on your plan. Mailchimp's pricing page lists one seat on the Free plan, three on Essentials, five on Standard and unlimited seats on Premium. On the Free plan only the Owner level exists, so there is no seat to invite us into. Essentials and up can add us as an Admin, and Premium also offers the narrower Manager level, which can still create and send emails. The Free plan also caps sending at 500 emails a month and 250 a day, which is why our pricing page explains that eight campaigns need a paid plan.
How do you choose an email marketing platform?
Five questions settle it for most businesses.
- Where does your customer data live? If orders sit in a Shopify store, Klaviyo or Shopify Email can segment by what people actually bought. If contacts and deals sit in a CRM, sending from that CRM keeps both in step.
- Who else needs a login? A sales team in HubSpot will want marketing emails on the same records. A solo owner may need one simple seat, so check how many users your plan allows.
- How big is your list compared with how often you send? Many platforms price by contacts stored. Brevo prices paid plans by monthly email volume, which can suit a large list you email a few times a month.
- Do you run events, bookings or local promotions? Then clear booking links and seasonal timing matter more than deep store data. That describes the seven RV parks in our portfolio, and a simpler tool often covers it.
- What would a move cost you? New templates, rebuilt segments, fresh domain authentication records and a reporting history that starts at zero. The gain has to be worth it.
What if you do not have an email platform yet?
Start from the system you already run. A Shopify store can begin with Shopify Email in its admin. A sales team on HubSpot CRM should send from HubSpot. A local business or nonprofit with a regular newsletter is usually well served by Mailchimp or Constant Contact. Still unsure? Tell us how you sell when you request a free email marketing audit and we will say which of the seven we would pick, and why.
If your current platform delivers reliably and holds your customer data, stay where you are. We would rather spend your first month on campaigns than on a migration.
Should you switch email platforms?
A switch tends to pay off in four situations:
- You sell online, but your platform cannot see orders or product views, so every email goes to the whole list.
- Sales works in one CRM, email lives in another tool, and the two contact lists keep drifting apart.
- Your list has outgrown a pricing model that no longer matches how often you send.
- You need something the current tool lacks, such as event ticketing or a sales pipeline next to your email.
Our monthly plan covers campaigns, not migrations. If the audit shows that a move would pay off, we say so, outline what it involves, and leave the decision with you.
What does an email marketing platform agency do inside your account?
The editor changes from tool to tool; the work does not. On all seven platforms we:
- Plan a monthly campaign calendar you approve before anything is written
- Write subject lines, preheaders and body copy, with two revision rounds per email
- Build every design in the platform's own editor, so your team can reuse the templates
- Segment with the data the platform holds and A/B test subject lines
- QA links, rendering and spam score, then schedule around US time zones
- Monitor SPF, DKIM, DMARC, spam complaint rate and list hygiene
- Keep every send CAN-SPAM Act compliant and report in plain English once a month
A product launch like the Prifix G70 Gas Cooker email and a local event email like Camp O Ween for Riverwalk at Yadkin River would follow the same steps on any of the seven; both appear in our email campaign examples. For more detail, see how our email campaign management runs month to month, how deliverability monitoring protects your sender reputation, and what the first 30 days look like.
How do you give an agency access to your email platform?
You do not need to share your password. You invite us as a user, choose what we can touch, and can remove us at any time; the account, list and templates stay yours either way. These steps follow each vendor's help center or pricing page as of October 2026. Menus do move, so check there if a label has changed.
| Platform | Where to add us | Role or permissions to choose |
|---|---|---|
| Klaviyo | Settings, General, Users. Owners, Admins and users with user management edit access can add users. | Manager, or a custom role, which Klaviyo offers on all plans |
| Mailchimp | Profile icon, Account & billing, Settings, Users, Invite A User | Admin (Essentials, Standard or Premium) or Manager (Premium only); the Free plan has only the Owner level |
| HubSpot | Settings gear, Users & Teams, Add users, Create new. A Super Admin has to do this. | Marketing Access, with edit and publish rights for marketing email |
| ActiveCampaign | The users area of your account settings | Access to campaigns, contacts and lists only. Check your seat count first, since ActiveCampaign's pricing page lists one user seat on its Starter and Plus plans. |
| Brevo | The users area of your account settings | Access to email campaigns and contacts only. Brevo's pricing data caps Starter at one user seat, so adding us takes Standard or higher. Standard includes one seat and lists each extra seat at $12 a month; Professional includes ten. |
| Constant Contact | Profile name, Settings, Manage users, Add New User. Only the Account Owner can do this. | Account Manager, because a Campaign Creator cannot send |
| Shopify Email | Settings, Users, Add users | A role with only the marketing and customer permissions the email work needs. Shopify says stores on the Basic or Starter plan cannot add users, so tell us your plan first. |
Not sure which role your plan allows? Name your platform when you request the audit and we will send the steps for your setup.
Frequently asked questions
Do you charge more to work in HubSpot or Klaviyo than in Mailchimp?
No. Our fee is $1,000 a month for 8 campaigns whichever of the seven platforms you use. What does vary is the platform's own subscription, which the vendor bills you directly.
Is Klaviyo or Mailchimp better for a small business?
It depends on what you sell. Klaviyo is built around store data, so it suits online shops, especially on Shopify, that want to group buyers by what they ordered, browsed or left in the cart. Mailchimp suits service firms, local shops and nonprofits that want an easy editor and plenty of integrations. We run campaigns in both for the same fee.
Is Shopify Email the same thing as Shopify Messaging?
Yes. Shopify's changelog describes Shopify Messaging as the product formerly known as Shopify Email. It still runs inside your Shopify admin, and we build and schedule campaigns in it the same way as before.
Sources
- Mailchimp Help: Manage user levels in your account
- Mailchimp Help: Use Timewarp
- Mailchimp: Marketing plan pricing (Free plan send limits, seats by plan)
- Klaviyo Help Center: How to create a custom user role
- Klaviyo Help Center: Review and understand your Shopify data
- Klaviyo Help Center: Understanding campaign schedule and send options
- HubSpot Knowledge Base: Add and update HubSpot users
- Constant Contact Knowledge Base: Add and manage users in your account
- Brevo: Pricing plans (Free plan daily limit, monthly email volumes)
- Brevo: Pricing reference in Markdown (seat limits and extra seat prices)
- Shopify: Email marketing (templates and free monthly emails)
- Shopify Changelog: Shopify Messaging, formerly known as Shopify Email, now supports SMS marketing
- Shopify Help Center: Inviting users