Klaviyo is one of the most widely used marketing platforms in the B2C space. For email marketing, it's hard to beat. But when marketers start building a texting program to connect with their audience, Klaviyo falls short.
Over the past year, Community's sales team has had hundreds of conversations with prospects where Klaviyo's texting capabilities were compared. The verdict was always pretty similar: great for email, but lacked the ability to engage with members or learn about their audience.
If you're looking for a messaging solution, this article shares common patterns revealed by these conversations, to help you make an informed decision.
Setup shouldn't require a consultant
Complexity. Not a word you want to run into as you prepare to implement a new solution. But that was the biggest complaint: Klaviyo's flows, automation rules, and segmentation logic require specialized help to build and maintain.
One prospect shared their frustration when their Klaviyo consultant admitted that he didn't want to keep doing the same setup work for his clients. If the platform is unsustainable for the experts, it's clearly too complex for users to even complete the initial setup, let alone make progress long-term.
Community's workflows are easily managed by the brand's marketing team, without outside help. What takes weeks in Klaviyo typically takes days in Community.
Response-based segmentation should be automatic
In Klaviyo, segmenting contacts based on how they reply to a message is technically possible. But it's not simple, and it's not automatic.
Community segments contacts based on their text replies natively. Someone texts back "yes" and they're in a group. Someone responds with a keyword and they're routed accordingly. You want to use an emoji, no problem. You're grouped with emojis. No custom logic, no manual work. Prospects consistently described this as one of the most practical differences between the two platforms.
Klaviyo is an email tool with texting added on
That's not a criticism. It's a fact. Klaviyo was built for email and added text later. That architecture shapes what it can do.
Community is an industrial strength direct engagement platform, built specifically for text conversations, establishing itself as experts and trusted partners to the most protective brands. That distinction matters when a brand wants to have genuine back-and-forth exchanges with their audience. An artist who wants to learn what their fans care about, and follow up with concertgoers separately from merch buyers, in a specific region, isn't well-served by a platform optimized for promotional blasts.
For brands that want texting to function like actual messaging, the solution needs to be built for that from the ground up.
Paying for contacts you don't message is a pricing problem
Klaviyo charges based on active contact count. The bigger your list, the higher your bill, regardless of how often you actually reach out to those contacts.
Community charges based on messages delivered. For brands with large, but variably engaged lists, that difference adds up. Prospects often say they immediately thought of others in the same situation who would find Community's pricing model more appealing.
Support quality is a key differentiator
New Community customers were often surprised by the quick response of support, citing that Klaviyo only responded once weekly, and even then only partially answering their questions. When you're managing live campaigns, often sending thousands of messages at once, you need timely and thorough responses.
Personalized onboarding and responsive support consistently come up in conversations as reasons people chose to switch.
What this means for your text marketing strategy
Most brands our sales team talk to aren't looking to replace Klaviyo across the board. They plan to keep it for email and want something built specifically for text, with two-way capability, sensible pricing, a setup process they can manage, and helpful support along the way.
Klaviyo is a solid email platform. Community is built for what email can't do. Want to see it in action? Book a demo here.