tinyAlbert vs Klaviyo
Which Shopify email app should you choose?
Is Klaviyo worth it?
For a certain segment of the Shopify universe, Klaviyo is worth every penny. But, I reckon you need a small, dedicated team to really capture Klaviyo's potential value. That means one or more people who can crunch data, figure out the predictive analytics, create campaigns, build automations, harness the AI, and manage the entire email marketing and e-commerce machine.
How does tinyAlbert measure up against that?
Well, one person can configure a month of email marketing messages before they finish their first cup of morning coffee. On their phone. At the kitchen table. For a large segment of Shopify store owners, I'd say tinyAlbert measures up just fine.
Let's dig into the facts with a side-by-side analysis. I present the facts as accurately as I can (if I get anything wrong, let me know) regarding the user experience, app features, automations, and pricing.
Check out the aggregate customer review scores from Trustpilot and the Shopify app store.tinyAlbert gets top marks for overall satisfaction thanks to an easy-to-navigate UI, a short learning curve, and responsive customer support.
Scores for the Klaviyo app are lower. Sure, the toolset is impressive, but so is the learning curve. Customer support is sometimes cited as less than helpful. Please note that Klaviyo's customer support is tiered, which means folks on the free plan get less help. In contrast, every tinyAlbert user gets the same five-star level of support.
* Scores checked on August 14, 2023.
The range of available features is far greater than I could possibly document here, so let me cover two points.
Campaigns
Every Klaviyo campaign has to be created from scratch. Sure, users can save time by reusing a saved template, but there's nothing ready to go. There are oodles of templates to choose from, but some of them are out of date. I'm writing this article in August, and the list of template options includes Mother's Day, Father's Day, and Winter.
As far as I can tell, the templates have generic text that has nothing to do with my brand, so the user needs to manually create and input product-specific content.
After opening the tinyAlbert campaign page, it's clear this app is built for speed.
AI subject line assistant
Both apps have an AI tool that helps users write more compelling subject lines.
Both apps have automations that cover four essential e-commerce needs: abandoned cart, win-back, welcome series, and thank you for purchase.
Klaviyo calculates costs based on list size with limits on total monthly sends. If a campaign blast pushes total sends over the monthly limit, Klaviyo stops the send. Ouch! The solution to this problem is to enable the auto-upgrade billing option. Another ouch.
tinyAlbert users don't experience monthly send limits. Monthly pricing is based on list size with no limits on sends (within reason, of course - we're always on guard for spamming). That's good value for store owners who want to maximize customer engagement.
All fees above are monthly subscription fees. Fees checked on August 17, 2023.
For features and functions, Klaviyo is the Cadillac of Shopify email marketing apps. But here's the thing, not everyone wants the best. Small store owners and solopreneurs may not have the time -- or desire -- to learn all the tools.
That's why tinyAlbert is such an appealing alternative. You get a powerful suite of email marketing tools on an easy-to-navigate platform backed up by a responsive support team. Learn the tools and get set up with automations and campaigns in minutes, not days or weeks. That's what I call an unbeatable time-to-value ratio.