Privy alternative for Shopify abandoned cart recovery
If you want a Privy alternative for Shopify abandoned cart recovery, CartAbandon is a recovery platform built for carts, checkouts and declined cards rather than popups and newsletters. Plans start at 49 USD per month, or 24 USD per month billed yearly, with 250 to 15 000 SMS included, recovery email on every plan and WhatsApp from Growth. Privy is a Shopify popup, email and SMS tool priced by page views or mailable contacts, with SMS bought as a separate tier.
CartAbandon vs Privy at a glance
Privy started as a popup and email capture tool and grew into email and SMS marketing for small Shopify stores. It is good at collecting addresses and sending campaigns. CartAbandon does a narrower job. It recovers browse, cart and checkout abandonment and failed payments, and it decides per cart whether a text, an email or nothing is the right move.
Prices below come from privy.com/pricing as checked on 2026-10-31. Privy bills email by mailable contacts and SMS as a second tier, and the two add up.
| Privy | CartAbandon | |
|---|---|---|
| Main job | Popups, email and SMS marketing | Cart, checkout and declined card recovery |
| Pricing basis | Popups by page views (24 USD at 10 000, 48 USD at 25 000). Email by mailable contacts (30 USD up to 1 500, 60 USD at 2 001 to 3 000, 105 USD at 5 001 to 6 000) | Flat plan, 49 to 999 USD per month, or half that billed yearly on Starter to Growth |
| SMS | Separate tier, 250 credits included, 1 250 for 20 USD, 5 000 for 80 USD. MMS uses 3 credits | 250 to 15 000 texts included by plan |
| Not listed on the pricing page | From Growth | |
| Billing | Monthly, no annual contract, 15-day trial | Monthly or yearly |
| Per-cart decisions | Rules you build in automations | AI decision engine that logs the reason for each message |
| Declined card recovery | Not listed on the pricing page | Flow based on decline codes (Growth and up) |
| Popups and signup forms | Yes, a core strength | Exit-intent offer on every plan, not a full popup builder |
| Platforms | Shopify and others | Shopify, WooCommerce and Magento on the same plans |
What a Privy bill looks like as your list grows
Privy's pricing page does not itemize cart abandonment per tier, so the fair comparison is the total for email plus SMS at your list size.
Take a Shopify store with 2 500 mailable contacts that wants cart recovery texts. Email at that size is 60 USD per month. Add the 1 250 credit SMS tier at 20 USD and the monthly total is 80 USD. At 5 500 contacts with the 5 000 credit SMS tier it is 105 plus 80, so 185 USD per month. Because Privy prices email by contacts, the bill follows your list, not your orders.
On CartAbandon the same store fits Growth at 149 USD per month, or 74 USD billed yearly, with 1 000 texts and 1 000 WhatsApp messages included. Scale is 399 USD per month, or 199 billed yearly, with 4 000 texts.
Here is the honest part. For a store with a small list, Privy is cheaper on sticker price, and if popups and newsletters are your main channel it is the better buy. The gap closes when your texts are mostly cart reminders, and when you want WhatsApp and declined card recovery in the same panel. Run your own numbers with the free estimate before you decide.
When Privy is the better choice
Privy is a good product, and for some stores it is the right one. Keep it, or pick it, when:
- Popups and signup forms drive your list. Spin-to-win, banners and cross-sell popups are what it is built for.
- You send regular email campaigns. Newsletters, product launches and flows from one tool.
- Your list is small. Under 3 000 contacts, the contact-based price is hard to beat.
- You want no commitment. Plans are monthly and there is a 15-day trial.
Many stores split the work. Privy keeps popups and campaigns, and CartAbandon runs recovery across email, SMS and WhatsApp. If you do that, turn off the Privy cart automations so nobody gets two messages for one cart.
Where CartAbandon works differently
Priced on recovery, not on list size
Your bill does not grow because your newsletter list does. You pick a plan by recovery attempts and message limits, and the abandoned cart software for Shopify page shows what each plan covers.
Texts and WhatsApp included in the plan
No separate SMS tier and no credit math. Texts and WhatsApp are part of the plan up to its limit, and the abandoned cart SMS page shows how consent and quiet hours are handled.
Not every cart gets the same message
CartAbandon reads the cart first: customer type, cart value, past discount use, consent per channel, stock and time zone. The AI cart recovery decision engine logs the reason for each choice, so you can see why a shopper got an email and not a code.
Declined cards treated as a payment problem
A declined card is not a pricing objection, so a discount does not help. On Growth and up, CartAbandon sends a secure payment update link matched to the decline code. Read more about failed payment recovery.
How to move cart recovery off Privy
- Write down your baseline. Pull 90 days of cart recovery results from Privy: messages sent, orders recovered and revenue.
- Connect Shopify. Add the store from the Shopify page. No theme code to edit.
- Keep your consent. CartAbandon reads the consent your store holds and records source and time per contact and channel.
- Set guardrails. Maximum discount, minimum margin, quiet hours.
- Switch on one day. Turn on CartAbandon flows and disable the Privy cart automations the same day. Leave popups and campaigns where they are.
Stores that usually switch, and stores that should stay
| Your situation | Better fit | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Shopify store whose texts are mostly cart reminders | CartAbandon | Texts and WhatsApp included in the plan |
| Store losing orders to declined cards | CartAbandon | Decline-code recovery in the same panel |
| Store whose email bill grows with the list | CartAbandon | Flat plan, not priced per contact |
| Store that lives on popups and newsletters | Privy, or both | Popups and campaigns are its core |
| Small list, budget under 80 USD a month | Privy | Lowest sticker price |
For the wider field, see our roundup of the best abandoned cart apps for Shopify and the best exit intent popup software for Shopify.
FAQ
Questions about privy alternative
What is the best Privy alternative for abandoned carts?
For cart recovery, CartAbandon is a hosted alternative with flat plans from 49 USD per month, texts and email included and WhatsApp from Growth. If you want popups and newsletters as the main job, Omnisend or Klaviyo are closer to Privy than we are. Keep Privy for popups either way.
How much does Privy cost?
Privy lists popups only from 24 USD per month for 10 000 page views. Email plus SMS plans start at 30 USD for up to 1 500 mailable contacts, with SMS added as a separate tier, 250 credits included and 1 250 for 20 USD. See privy.com/pricing for current tiers.
Does Privy include SMS for abandoned carts?
Privy sells SMS as a credit tier on top of the email plan. In the US and Canada one text segment uses one credit and a picture message uses three. On CartAbandon, texts are included in the plan up to its limit.
Is Privy worth it for a small Shopify store?
If popups and newsletters are your main channel, yes. If you mainly want cart recovery messages, add the email tier and the SMS tier together and compare that total with a flat recovery plan at your order volume.
Can I use CartAbandon and Privy together?
Yes. Keep Privy for popups and campaigns, and let CartAbandon run cart, checkout and declined card recovery. Disable the Privy cart automations so a shopper never gets two messages about the same cart.
See what your store loses to abandoned carts every month
Your estimate shows recoverable revenue by flow and channel, and which plan fits your order volume.