Choosing a CRM is one of the most fundamental decisions for a company. Not because the tool will solve everything, but because a bad choice is expensive to correct: data migration, team training, wasted time, frustration. And often, the available comparisons do not distinguish between the real needs of a growing e-commerce store and those of a B2B SME managing a sales pipeline.
This guide starts with a simple question: which CRM for which profile? We begin with the market leader for e-commerce, then explore the best alternatives according to your needs.
1. Klaviyo, the best CRM for e-commerce brands
If you sell online and your priority is to transform your customer base into a recurring revenue engine, Klaviyo is the most consistent choice on the market. And it's no coincidence that over 167,000 e-commerce brands worldwide use it.
Technically, Klaviyo is a CDP (Customer Data Platform) designed specifically for B2C. Concretely, this means it combines the power of a CRM and the agility of a marketing automation tool, with a data depth that generalist tools cannot achieve.
What truly sets it apart: Klaviyo centralizes all your customer data in real-time—purchase history, browsing behavior, email engagement, SMS interactions—into unified profiles. These profiles then feed dynamic segments and automated flows that constantly adapt to each customer's behavior.
Segmented campaigns on Klaviyo generate up to 3 times more revenue than standard mailings. And automated flows—abandoned cart, welcome, post-purchase, reactivation—generate an average of 18 times more revenue per recipient than manual campaigns.
Key features: advanced behavioral segmentation, automated email and SMS flows, predictive analytics (CLV, churn risk), native A/B testing, native integration with Shopify, WooCommerce, Prestashop, and Magento, omnichannel management (email, SMS, and WhatsApp).
Pricing: free version available for up to 250 contacts. Paid plans start at approximately €20/month and scale with contact volume. Billing is based on active contacts, meaning you only pay for what you actually use.
Who it's for: any e-commerce brand, from a starting store to an established brand with hundreds of thousands of contacts. Klaviyo is particularly powerful for Shopify and DTC brands looking to make email and SMS a true profitability lever.
The limitation: Klaviyo is not suitable for B2B companies with long sales cycles or commercial pipeline management needs. That is not its purpose.
2. Brevo, the best CRM for very small and small to medium-sized businesses looking for an accessible tool
Brevo, formerly Sendinblue, is the most popular solution in France for companies that need a comprehensive tool without blowing their budget. Its great strength is billing by the volume of emails sent, not by the number of contacts, which makes it very competitive for large but infrequently solicited databases.
Brevo covers a wide range: email marketing, SMS, live chat, WhatsApp Business, landing pages, simplified sales pipeline, and marketing automation. The interface is more accessible than Klaviyo for a non-technical person, and it’s quick to get started.
Who it's for: VSEs and SMEs that need an all-in-one email tool without a large budget, beginner e-commerce brands before migrating to Klaviyo, companies looking for a simple omnichannel CRM with email, SMS, and chat in the same tool.
Pricing: free plan for up to 300 emails per day. Paid plans start at €7/month for 5,000 emails, €15/month for the Standard plan with automation and A/B testing.
The limitation: Brevo is less e-commerce-oriented than Klaviyo. Behavioral segmentation is less refined, analytics are less advanced, and the depth of customer data does not allow for advanced CLV or churn prediction strategies. It's an excellent starting tool, but ambitious brands often end up migrating to Klaviyo.
3. HubSpot, the best CRM for B2B SMEs and scale-ups
HubSpot is the Swiss Army knife of CRMs. It combines contact management, marketing automation, sales pipeline, customer service, and reporting in a single platform. Its main strength is unifying marketing and sales teams around the same data.
While Klaviyo is designed to activate e-commerce data, HubSpot is designed to centralize a company's entire customer relationship, from the first marketing interaction to after-sales service. It is a complete ecosystem, with over 2,000 integrations available on its marketplace.
Who it's for: SMEs and scale-ups in B2B or mixed B2C with sales and marketing teams to align, companies that need a central CRM around which to graft other tools, growing startups that want a scalable platform for the long term.
Pricing: free CRM available with basic features. Paid plans start from €15/month (Starter) up to several hundred euros for Enterprise plans.
The limitation: HubSpot quickly becomes expensive as you add more features. And for a pure e-commerce business looking to maximize its email revenue, it is less powerful than Klaviyo in terms of segmentation depth and behavioral data activation.
4. Pipedrive, the best CRM for sales teams and freelancers
Pipedrive is the simplest and most visual CRM on the market for managing a sales pipeline. Its Kanban interface allows you to track each deal in real-time, set up automatic follow-up alerts, and manage your sales activity without extensive training.
It is primarily aimed at sales teams who want a tool focused on conversion, not on marketing. It is not an omnichannel or email marketing tool: it is a pipeline manager, period.
Who it's for: freelancers and self-employed individuals with a client portfolio to manage, small B2B sales teams, VSEs that need a simple CRM to track their prospects.
Pricing: starting from €14/month per user.
The limitation: Pipedrive is limited when it comes to advanced marketing automation or email marketing. It needs to be paired with another tool for these uses.
5. Zoho CRM, the best CRM for SMEs looking for functional depth at a reasonable price
Zoho CRM is often underestimated. Yet, it is one of the most comprehensive solutions on the market at this price point. It offers functional depth comparable to Salesforce or HubSpot, with much more accessible pricing for SMEs.
It covers contact and lead management, sales automation, advanced reporting, and integrates with the entire Zoho ecosystem (Zoho Books for invoicing, Zoho Desk for support, etc.).
Who it's for: SMEs that need a comprehensive CRM without the HubSpot or Salesforce budget, companies already in the Zoho ecosystem, teams that require advanced reporting and extensive customization.
Pricing: free version for up to 3 users. Paid plans start at €14/month per user.
The limitation: the interface is less intuitive than HubSpot or Pipedrive, which can lengthen the adoption curve. Customer support is also sometimes criticized.
6. Salesforce, the best CRM for large enterprises
Salesforce is the global benchmark for CRM. It offers almost limitless customization, integrated AI, thousands of integrations via its AppExchange, and the ability to manage complex structures with teams spread across multiple countries.
But this power comes at a price: Salesforce is expensive, takes a long time to deploy, and often requires certified consultants to be configured correctly. It is not a tool you pick on a whim.
Who it's for: large enterprises and mid-sized companies with complex needs, large sales teams with long sales cycles, multi-market organizations with advanced reporting and AI needs.
Pricing: starting from €25/month per user for basic plans, but truly useful plans often start at €75 to €150/month per user.
The limitation: too complex and too costly for VSEs and SMEs. The ROI is only truly justified from a certain organizational size.
Which CRM to choose based on your profile?
A summary to get to the point.
You sell online (e-commerce, Shopify, DTC): Klaviyo. Without hesitation. It is the only platform truly designed to convert your e-commerce data into email and SMS revenue.
You are a VSE or SME with a limited budget: Brevo to start, with a migration to Klaviyo as soon as email becomes a truly strategic channel.
You have sales and marketing teams to align in B2B: HubSpot. It's the best balance between power and accessibility for this setup.
You have a small sales team and need a simple pipeline: Pipedrive. Simple, efficient, no frills.
You are looking for depth at a reasonable price: Zoho CRM. Underestimated and often better than its reputation.
You are a large enterprise with complex needs: Salesforce. If the budget allows.
What The Modern Letter does with Klaviyo
The Modern Letter supports e-commerce brands with their CRM strategy via Klaviyo: auditing, segmentation, flows, campaigns, copywriting, design, and KPI monitoring. Because choosing Klaviyo is good. Utilizing its full potential is another matter.
If you already use Klaviyo and don't achieve 30 to 40% of your revenue through email, there's very likely more revenue to be gained.
