Guide
Email Design
The Shortlist
Comparing
Email Design Agencies
Short answer
The best Klaviyo email design agency is one that designs on-brand emails and builds them properly in Klaviyo, so your flows and campaigns look like your site and still convert. For 7-figure Shopify and DTC brands that want on-brand design built properly in Klaviyo, on its own or as part of a full retention program, Swayleo is our pick; for a design-system-only project, look at Soley Creative or FlowFixer; for fashion and luxury brands that also need Shopify Plus work, look at Alleyoop.
At a glance
How the six agencies compare, based on what each publishes about itself.
Swayleo Best fit: 7-figure Shopify/DTC brands (one-time purchase or subscription) that want design on its own or with full retention strategy, from the founders. Design and Klaviyo build: Yes.
Alleyoop Best fit: Fashion, luxury and lifestyle brands that also need Shopify Plus design and development. Design and Klaviyo build: Yes.
Soley Creative Best fit: Brands that want a strategic email design system their own team will run. Design and Klaviyo build: Design and architecture; implementation scoped separately.
FlowFixer Best fit: Brands that want a Figma design system custom-built into Klaviyo. Design and Klaviyo build: Yes.
Sendora Lab Best fit: Brands that want a fixed, week-by-week program with a design system early on. Design and Klaviyo build: Yes.
Inferno Emails Best fit: Ecommerce brands that want campaign design plus deliverability work. Design and Klaviyo build: Yes.
What does a Klaviyo email design agency actually do?
A Klaviyo email design agency turns your brand identity into emails that work inside Klaviyo. That’s two jobs, and the difference between them is where most brands get burned.
The first job is design: layout, typography, imagery, product modules and the visual rules that make an email instantly recognisable as yours. The second job is the build: turning that design into templates and blocks inside Klaviyo that render properly on phones and across inbox apps, that use dynamic product and customer data, and that your team can reuse without breaking.
A designer who only hands over Figma files leaves the second job to you. An agency that only builds in Klaviyo’s editor, with no real design thinking, gives you emails that technically work and look like everyone else’s. The agencies below do both, in different proportions.
1. Swayleo
Best for: 7-figure Shopify and DTC brands, selling one-time products or subscriptions, that want emails that look like their brand and are built to sell, from the people who design them.
Swayleo designs and builds Klaviyo emails for brands whose inbox should feel as considered as their store. You can hire us for design only, or for design plus a full retention program. Either way, every layout is designed around a job: turning a first-time buyer into a second order, keeping a subscriber engaged, or bringing a lapsed customer back.
A design system, not a template pack: we design your email look once, as reusable blocks, type and colour rules, product modules and a layout for each kind of message, then every flow and campaign is built from it.
Built properly in Klaviyo: we build and check the templates in your own account, so they work on phones and across inbox apps and your team can reuse them without breaking them.
Design-only or full service: take the design system and run your sends in-house, or have us plan, design and send the whole program, with retention that compounds month after month.
Design decisions backed by data: we read your customer and order data and your test results to see which layouts and modules earn, and feed what we learn into the next template.
The founders do the work: Arsia Sarlak and Carter Brink design and build your emails themselves. No account manager passing it along.
Brands we work with: HAUS, Out Yonder, HotelSlash and Numilk.
Who it’s not for: brands that want the cheapest off-the-shelf templates, or paid ads and web development under the same roof. We’re a small team and take on a limited number of brands.
Book a strategy call with Swayleo
Source: https://www.swayleo.com/
2. Alleyoop
A Los Angeles Shopify Plus agency that suits fashion, luxury and lifestyle brands wanting email design from the same team as their store.
3. Soley Creative
A London design studio that suits brands with an in-house team who want a design system and rules, not ongoing sends.
4. FlowFixer
A London Klaviyo agency that suits brands wanting a Figma design system custom-coded into Klaviyo.
5. Sendora Lab
Suits brands that like a fixed, six-week program with a design system built early.
6. Inferno Emails
Suits ecommerce brands that want on-brand campaign design with deliverability work handled underneath.
How do you choose an email design agency?
Before you hire anyone, check these things:
Ask to see live emails, not mockups. Request emails that actually went to a real brand’s list, in your category if possible. Mockups for invented brands tell you little.
Ask who builds them in Klaviyo. Figma files are not emails. Confirm the agency builds, tests and QA’s the templates in your account.
Check they design for phones first. Most of your list reads on a phone. Ask how they handle image-heavy layouts, dark mode and fonts that don’t load in every inbox.
Ask how design connects to results. A good agency can explain which layouts it tests, what it learned and how that changed the next template. Design that never gets measured stays decoration.
Confirm you own everything. Templates, blocks, image assets and source files should live in your accounts and stay with you if you leave.
Ask about AI. Some agencies use AI for concepts or layouts. That isn’t wrong, but you should know where and how it’s used, and who checks the result before it reaches your customers.
Do you need a design agency or a full retention agency?
If your flows and strategy are solid and only the look is behind, a design-focused partner can be enough. If emails look dated and revenue from returning customers is flat, design alone won’t fix it. Swayleo does both, so you can start with design and add strategy later. Our wider shortlist of retention partners is in best Klaviyo agencies.
How Swayleo approaches this
We start from your brand, not a template: your site, your photography and the emails you already send. From there we design the system, build it in your Klaviyo account and check it on phones and in the main inbox apps before anything goes out. If you’ve hired us for design, your team gets a system it can run on its own. If you’ve hired us for full service, every flow and campaign is built from that system, and test results go into our playbook and back into the design. See how we work as a Klaviyo agency.
Talk to Swayleo
If your emails don’t look like the rest of your brand, or they look good but don’t bring customers back, book a strategy call. We’ll look at what you send today and tell you honestly whether design alone, or design plus strategy, is the right fix.
Shopify & DTC brands
Quick Answers
Frequently
Asked Questions
What does a Klaviyo email design agency do?
It designs on-brand email templates and builds them in Klaviyo so they render properly on phones and across inbox apps, use dynamic product and customer data, and can be reused across flows and campaigns.
Is a freelance email designer enough?
It can be, if you have someone in-house who plans the emails, writes them and builds them in Klaviyo. If you need design, build and strategy together, an agency is usually the better fit.
Should email design match my website?
Yes. Your emails should feel like the same brand as your site: same colours, type feel, photography style and tone. Customers should recognise you before they read the sender name.
Do I own the templates an agency designs?
You should. Make sure templates, blocks, image assets and design files live in your own Klaviyo and design accounts and stay with you if the engagement ends.
How do I know if a design agency is any good?
Ask for live emails sent to real customers, ask who builds and tests them in Klaviyo, and ask how they measure whether a design change improved results.
Shopify & DTC brands