Should European Brands Use Klaviyo WhatsApp Instead of SMS?

Often yes, even though it costs more. In Klaviyo, a WhatsApp marketing message costs more than an SMS, roughly two to four times one SMS segment in the markets we compared. It can still be worth it, because in the UK and most of Europe people use WhatsApp much more than SMS. So judge it per order, not per message. It also needs its own opt-in, and Meta blocks WhatsApp marketing messages to US numbers.

Let's get one thing out of the way: WhatsApp isn't the cheap option.

Per marketing message, it costs more than SMS in Klaviyo.

But cost per message is the wrong way to look at it.

If your customers are in the UK or Europe, WhatsApp is the app they open all day. For a lot of them, SMS is where delivery notices and login codes go. A message that gets read can be worth more than a cheaper one that doesn't.

By Emiel Dingemans, Founder of Magicianly

Updated October 2026

What Is Klaviyo WhatsApp?

Klaviyo WhatsApp lets you send WhatsApp messages from your Klaviyo account, both as campaigns to a list or segment and as messages inside your flows, using the same profiles and data as your email and SMS. You connect your own WhatsApp Business account through Meta.

What you need, according to Klaviyo's guide to connecting your WhatsApp Business account:

• a Facebook account and a Meta Business account;
• a dedicated phone number for WhatsApp, which can't be your Klaviyo SMS sending number;
• Meta verification within 30 days if you create a new WhatsApp Business account;
• a Klaviyo Mobile Messaging plan to actually send messages.

Is WhatsApp Cheaper Than SMS in Klaviyo?

No. Per marketing message, WhatsApp costs more than SMS in Klaviyo. Only utility messages, like order and shipping updates, come out slightly cheaper.

Here's how WhatsApp billing works in Klaviyo, from Understand WhatsApp billing in Klaviyo:

• Meta charges per delivered template message, not per conversation;
• marketing and utility (transactional) templates are billed, and the rate depends on the template type and the recipient's country;
• service messages, the replies you send when a customer messages you, are free, and failed deliveries aren't billed;
• WhatsApp spend comes out of the same Mobile Messaging plan as your SMS.

Klaviyo still publishes its legacy credit rates for plans that haven't moved to dollar pricing yet. They make a fair like-for-like comparison:

Source: Klaviyo legacy credits per message, from Klaviyo's Help Center articles on mobile messaging rates and WhatsApp billing, checked October 2026.

So in these markets, a WhatsApp marketing message cost roughly two to four times as much as a single SMS segment.

Neither channel is cheap in Europe. Under the same legacy pricing, one SMS segment cost 1 credit to a US number and 12 to a Dutch or German one. That's why we keep both for high-intent flows, launches, restocks and real sales. For everything else, email does the job for a fraction of the cost.

Since July 13, 2026, Klaviyo has been moving accounts from credits to dollar-based rates per message, and some rates went up while others went down, according to its Mobile Messaging pricing FAQ. Check the current rates for your own account in your Klaviyo billing settings before you budget. For the rest of Klaviyo's costs, see Klaviyo pricing explained.

Why Would You Use WhatsApp If It Costs More Than SMS?

Because your customers actually use it. In the UK and most of the European markets we work in, people use WhatsApp much more than SMS.

1. 1It's where people already talk. Friends, family, group chats. A message there feels familiar, not forced. For a lot of people, SMS has turned into the inbox for delivery notices and login codes.
2. 2Engagement is usually better. In our experience, UK and European audiences engage more with WhatsApp messages than with SMS.
3. 3It does more. A WhatsApp template can carry an image, buttons and a longer message, and customers can reply. In Europe, Klaviyo SMS is text only.
4. 4It reaches more countries. Klaviyo SMS is only available in a set list of countries. Klaviyo's WhatsApp rate list covers many more, including countries that aren't on the SMS list, such as Greece and the Czech Republic.

So don't judge it per message. Judge it per order.

Say a WhatsApp message costs twice as much as an SMS, like in the UK row above. If it brings in more than twice the orders from the same kind of audience, it's the cheaper channel per order. If it doesn't, it isn't. That's something to test on your own list, not assume.

How Is WhatsApp Different From SMS in Klaviyo?

They're both short messages to a phone. That's about where the similarity ends.

Template details come from Klaviyo's guide on how to create a WhatsApp template.

Do You Need Separate Consent for WhatsApp?

Yes. Someone who signed up for SMS, or just gave you their phone number, hasn't agreed to WhatsApp. Klaviyo's guide to WhatsApp consent is clear: you need explicit opt-in to hear from your specific business, collected in a way that complies with local laws.

Ways to collect it in Klaviyo:

• a WhatsApp step in your Klaviyo sign-up form, usually right after the email step;
• a button that opens WhatsApp with a pre-filled opt-in message;
• a keyword people send to your WhatsApp number;
• a subscribe link or QR code, for example in an email or on printed material.

Klaviyo also recommends confirming the number with a double opt-in.

One more thing we'd do: ask your existing email subscribers. They already know you. A simple "want restock and launch alerts on WhatsApp?" email builds a list of people who actually want it.

This is strategy, not legal advice. If you sell in the EU, have your consent wording checked.

When Should a Brand Choose WhatsApp Over SMS?

When your customers are there and the message deserves it.

WhatsApp first makes sense when:

• most of your customers are in the UK or European markets where WhatsApp is part of everyday life;
• you sell into countries Klaviyo SMS doesn't cover;
• you want people to reply and ask questions, not just click;
• the message works better with an image and a button, like a launch or a restock.

Keep SMS, or run both, when:

• a meaningful share of your customers are in the US;
• you already have a large SMS list that performs well;
• your team can't handle template approvals and a second consent flow yet;
• your messages are frequent and low-stakes, so the higher cost per message is hard to earn back.

Running both is fine. Sending the same message on both isn't. Give each channel a job, and make sure nobody gets the same reminder by email, SMS and WhatsApp. Our wider view on when a text-style message earns its place is in SMS marketing best practices.

Which Flows and Campaigns Should You Move to WhatsApp First?

The same moments that justify SMS. WhatsApp is still an interruption, and each marketing message costs more, so save it for messages people would want right away.

Our starting order:

1. 1Checkout and cart abandonment. High intent, one short reminder. Klaviyo also lists abandoned cart as one of the first flows to add WhatsApp to.
2. 2Product launches and restocks. Real news, and an image does a lot of work here.
3. 3Real sales events. Black Friday, a genuine seasonal sale, a deadline that's actually real.
4. 4Welcome, for WhatsApp subscribers. Klaviyo recommends a separate WhatsApp welcome flow, because people often sign up for each channel at different moments.

Klaviyo's guide on adding WhatsApp to a flow also puts browse abandonment in its first two. We're more careful there. One product view rarely earns a message on someone's phone.

You can also send transactional WhatsApp messages, like order confirmations and shipping updates, using templates Meta approves as utility. In markets where customers expect updates there, that can be worth it.

What we'd leave on email: weekly campaigns, education and brand stories. That's where email's room for context wins, and where a WhatsApp message would just be noise.

How Do You Add WhatsApp to a Klaviyo Flow?

With a conditional split, so WhatsApp subscribers get a WhatsApp message and everyone else stays on email. The basic steps from Klaviyo's guide:

1. 1Collect WhatsApp consent and get a template for that flow approved.
2. 2Add a conditional split that checks whether someone can't receive WhatsApp marketing. Email stays on the YES path.
3. 3Add the WhatsApp message to the NO path and pick your template.
4. 4Set it live and test it.

For an abandoned cart flow, Klaviyo's WhatsApp abandoned cart guide places the split after the first time delay, recommends one WhatsApp reminder per abandoned cart and suggests featuring just one product, because WhatsApp can't show multiple cart items the way email can.

Klaviyo's example message adds a discount code. We wouldn't by default. In a cart flow, remove the reasons not to buy first, and keep the discount for later, if you use one at all. More in our Klaviyo abandoned cart flow guide.

What Can Go Wrong With WhatsApp Marketing?

A few things you won't run into with email. All of these come from Klaviyo's WhatsApp deliverability guide.

• Daily limits. New business numbers start with a limit of 250 business-initiated conversations in a rolling 24 hours. The limit goes up with verification and good-quality sending. So you can't send your first campaign to 20,000 people on day one. Build up your volume well before Black Friday, not during it.
• Quality ratings. Meta rates your account on how people respond, including blocks and reports. A poor rating can lower your limit.
• Template rejections. Meta can reject a template, and it decides the category. A "transactional" template with promotional content can be moved to marketing.
• Marketing caps per person. Meta may limit how many marketing messages someone gets from all businesses in a given period, so some messages simply won't be delivered.
• US numbers. Marketing messages to US numbers fail. Keep those customers on email and SMS.

How Do You Know If WhatsApp Is Worth the Extra Cost?

Look at orders and revenue, not cost per message. And compare it with what would have happened without it.

• Use a random sample split so part of your WhatsApp subscribers get email only, then compare placed orders between the two groups.
• Work out the cost per extra order, including the message cost. That's the number to compare with SMS.
• Watch opt-outs, blocks and your quality rating, not just revenue.
• Don't trust attributed revenue on its own. People who opt in to WhatsApp tend to be among your most engaged customers, so many of them would have bought anyway. We explain why in can you trust Klaviyo attribution?

The same logic applies to SMS, which we cover in our SMS marketing strategy.

So Should European Brands Use Klaviyo WhatsApp Instead of SMS?

If your customers are in the UK or Europe, often yes, or at least next to it. Just go in knowing it costs more per message.

You're not paying for a cheaper text. You're paying to show up in the app your customers actually use. Whether that's worth it shows up in your orders, not in your messaging bill.

Start with checkout and cart abandonment, launches and restocks. Collect real WhatsApp consent, plan for the sending limits and compare cost per order with SMS.

Email stays the core.

WhatsApp and SMS are for the moments that deserve an interruption.