Emotive
Emotive is a conversational SMS marketing platform for DTC e-commerce brands, offering two-way texting, automation, and first-party data capture via its CartAI pixel. Integrating with Shopify and 30+ marketing tools, it serves 1,000+ brands and was acquired by Privy in 2024.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2018
- HeadquartersLos Angeles, United States
- Headcount51–100
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Emotive does
Emotive is a conversational SMS marketing platform built specifically for direct-to-consumer e-commerce brands. Founded in 2018 and headquartered in Los Angeles, the company enables two-way text messaging, automated conversation flows, abandoned cart recovery, broadcast sending, and first-party data capture through its CartAI identification pixel. The platform integrates natively with major e-commerce backends — Shopify (where it holds Plus Partner status), BigCommerce, Magento, and WooCommerce — as well as marketing tools such as Klaviyo, Mailchimp, and HubSpot, and customer service systems including Gorgias, Zendesk, and Help Scout. Its underlying technology assets include the Emotive Pixel for visitor identification, RealLink for branded short URLs, and an Emotive Litigator Filter for TCPA compliance; collectively these form a workflow stacked around SMS execution rather than a general-purpose marketing cloud.
The business model combines tiered monthly subscriptions (Starter at $100/mo to Enterprise at custom pricing) with usage-based per-message fees ($0.008-$0.015/SMS depending on tier), 10DLC and short code phone number fees, and supplemental revenue from Growth (full-service managed marketing including paid ads, email, SMS, and landing pages) and TextPros (a bundled done-for-you service providing dedicated ex-agency copywriters, designers, and strategists). The company also monetizes Emotive Attribution, a cross-channel analytics product launched in May 2023 following the acquisition of marketing agency Bloom Digital. Distribution runs through three concurrent motions: enterprise field sales for >10,000-list-size brands, self-serve PLG via a 14-day trial and 1-click setup, and channel/affiliate partners including a 15% recurring commission program.
In 2024 Emotive was acquired by Privy, an e-commerce email and SMS marketing platform, with the combined entity operating as Privy Operations, LLC d/b/a Emotive under Massachusetts governing law. Pre-acquisition, the company disclosed approximately $103M in cumulative venture funding across rounds led by CRV, Mucker Capital, Stripes, and Floodgate, and served over 1,000 e-commerce brands spanning apparel, cosmetics, consumer electronics, food and beverage, and household goods — including Pura Vida, Beardbrand, Satechi, True Classic, and Rock 'Em Socks.
Emotive firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Emotive
- Legal name
- Privy Operations, LLC d/b/a Emotive
- Website
- https://emotive.io
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2018
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 51–100 employees
- Short description
- Emotive is a conversational SMS marketing platform for DTC e-commerce brands, offering two-way texting, automation, and first-party data capture via its CartAI pixel. Integrating with Shopify and 30+ marketing tools, it serves 1,000+ brands and was acquired by Privy in 2024.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Emotive industry classification
Industry- Product category
- SMS Marketing Software
- NAICS
- Other Services Related to Advertising (54189)
- SIC
- Services-Prepackaged Software (7372), Services-Advertising (7310)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Messaging-based Social Commerce (Chat Commerce) (CRAFANAG)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Media Measurement, Attribution & Mix Modeling (MMM/MTA) (BPAFABAN)
Keywords
Where Emotive is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Los Angeles
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Emotive business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- SMS Platform Subscription: Monthly platform subscription tiers (Starter $100/mo, Pro $200/mo, Advanced $300/mo, Enterprise custom) with list size tiers. Includes dedicated customer success, copywriting, and integration support.
- SMS/MMS Messaging Fees: Usage-based fees per SMS and MMS message sent. Ranges from $0.008-0.015/SMS and $0.016-0.025/MMS depending on plan tier. Billed monthly in arrears.
- Phone Number Services: Fees for 10DLC telephone numbers ($40-90/month depending on volume and deliverability score) and short code numbers with setup and monthly charges.
- Growth Services: Managed services including paid ads, email, SMS strategy, and landing page development. Team handles full funnel campaigns with dedicated managers.
- Professional Services: Professional services for data retrieval, transfer assistance, and specialized implementation support at additional cost.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Monthly | Starter: $100/mo for <2,000 list size with lite onboarding |
| Subscription | Monthly | Pro: $200/mo for 2,000-5,000 list size with basic team support |
| Subscription | Monthly | Advanced: $300/mo for 5,000-10,000 list size with strategy and support |
| Subscription | Monthly | Enterprise: Custom pricing for >10,000 list size with white glove service |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels8 records
Emotive product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Emotive provides a conversational SMS marketing platform purpose-built for eCommerce brands, enabling two-way text messaging, automated flows, broadcast campaigns, and subscriber list growth. The offering is sold as tiered monthly subscriptions with usage-based per-message fees, and is complemented by add-on modules including CartAI™ (first-party pixel), Emotive Attribution (cross-channel analytics), RealLink™ (branded links), TextPros™ (done-for-you service), Growth (managed marketing), and the Emotive Litigator Filter (TCPA compliance).
Product overview
Emotive is a comprehensive SMS marketing platform designed specifically for eCommerce brands, offering a modular portfolio of products and services. The core offering is Emotive SMS Marketing, a two-way conversational text messaging platform that includes SMS Broadcast Software, Text Message Automation, and Mass Texting Service capabilities. This core platform is complemented by several add-on modules: Emotive Attribution provides cross-channel marketing analytics for tracking and optimizing marketing spend across all channels; CartAI™ offers first-party identification pixel technology for recovering abandoned carts; RealLink™ enables custom domain SMS links for higher click-through rates; and the Compliance suite includes the Litigator Filter for TCPA compliance. For brands seeking hands-off management, Emotive offers Growth (a full-service managed marketing solution covering paid ads, email, SMS, and landing pages) and TextPros™ (a done-for-you SMS service providing a dedicated marketing team including copywriters, designers, and strategists). The platform integrates with major eCommerce platforms (Shopify, BigCommerce, Magento, WooCommerce), marketing tools (Klaviyo, Mailchimp, HubSpot), and customer service platforms (Zendesk, Gorgias), with a 5X ROI guarantee for qualifying brands.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Emotive SMS Marketing Platform Core two-way conversational SMS marketing platform for eCommerce brands. Provides broadcasts, automated flows, list growth, segmentation, and analytics. Sold via tiered subscriptions (Starter $100/mo, Pro $200/mo, Advanced $300/mo, Enterprise custom) with usage-based per-message fees and a 14-day free trial with 1-click setup.
- Emotive Attribution Cross-channel marketing analytics dashboard for eCommerce brands, providing attribution insights across paid advertising, email, SMS, and lifecycle marketing. Supports seven attribution models to help merchants optimize marketing spend using first-party data.
- CartAI™
Quantifiable outcome
- 5X ROI guaranteed for qualifying brands with 10,000+ monthly web sessions
- +6 more outcomes
Companies that use Emotive
Customer profileNamed customers14 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Emotive technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration39 records
AI capability7 records
Feature7 records
Emotive partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
15 partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.
- Bloom DigitalcoreAcquired Bloom Digital, a marketing agency specializing in SMS marketing, email marketing, and paid advertising. This acquisition expanded Emotive's resources and enabled the launch of Emotive Attribution product for cross-channel marketing analytics.
- PrivycorePrivy acquired Emotive to supercharge conversational SMS marketing. The combined platform integrates email and SMS marketing with personalized expert strategy. Terms of Service now reference Privy Operations, LLC d/b/a Emotive.
- ShopifycoreNative integration with Shopify for tracking sales, pulling data for segmentation, and seamless plugin installation. Shopify Plus partner status.
- KlaviyomajorBi-directional integration allowing email capture in Emotive conversations and data sharing. Ability to sync Klaviyo segments into Emotive.
- StripecorePrimary payment processor for subscription fees and messaging charges. Handles credit card processing and ACH transfers.
- ZendeskmajorCustomer service integration where agents reply to Emotive tickets in Zendesk and responses send as text messages.
- GorgiasmajorCustomer service integration where agents reply to Emotive tickets in Gorgias and responses send as text messages.
- SlackmajorDedicated Slack channel integration for customer support and VIP community access. Internal notifications sent via Slack.
- BigCommercemajorIntegration for tracking sales driven through Emotive and pulling data to power segmentation.
- WooCommercemajorIntegration for tracking sales driven through Emotive and pulling data to power segmentation.
- MagentomajorIntegration for tracking sales driven through Emotive and pulling data to power segmentation.
- ZapiermajorIntegration with thousands of apps via Zapier marketplace for workflow automation.
- Facebook/MetamajorPaid advertising integration for attribution tracking and ad campaign performance analysis.
- TikTokmajorPaid advertising integration for attribution tracking and ad campaign performance analysis.
- GooglemajorPaid advertising integration including Google Ads for attribution tracking.
Scale indicators7 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights7 records
Emotive competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Klaviyo: Leading e-commerce email + SMS marketing automation platform with a deep Shopify integration and a similar mid-market/enterprise DTC customer base. Directly competes with Emotive's conversational SMS, segmentation, and attribution capabilities.
- Attentive: Pure-play SMS marketing platform purpose-built for e-commerce and retail, with comparable two-way conversational messaging, compliance tooling, and enterprise positioning. Most direct head-to-head competitor in the same product category.
- Postscript: Shopify-native SMS marketing platform serving the same DTC e-commerce customer base with similar conversational flows, segmentation, and Shopify Plus partnership status. Closest direct competitor in size and target market.
- Privy: Emotive's parent company; Privy is an email and popup marketing platform for e-commerce that acquired Emotive in 2024. Operates the same e-commerce SMB/mid-market segment with overlapping email capture and lifecycle marketing functionality.
- Yotpo: eCommerce retention marketing platform offering SMS alongside reviews, loyalty, and subscriptions. Competes with Emotive on cross-channel retention messaging for the same Shopify/BigCommerce/Magento merchant base.
- Iterable: Cross-channel marketing platform supporting email, SMS, push, and in-app messaging for consumer brands. Overlaps with Emotive on conversational SMS, segmentation, and lifecycle orchestration for e-commerce.
- Omnisend: eCommerce-focused marketing automation platform combining email, SMS, and push notifications with a strong Shopify app store presence. Directly comparable in GTM (SMB-friendly entry pricing) and feature scope.
Emerging players
- Sailthru: Personalized email and messaging platform for retail and e-commerce brands, with SMS capabilities added as part of a broader personalization offering. Adjacent competitor for mid-market and enterprise retail accounts.
- Cordial: Cross-channel messaging platform purpose-built for marketers with SMS, email, and push capabilities and a similar mid-market/enterprise DTC customer base. Niche direct competitor with comparable product positioning.
Broad incumbents
- ActiveCampaign: Established SMB-focused marketing automation platform with email, CRM, and SMS/MMS capabilities spanning all customer types, not just e-commerce. Emotive integrates with ActiveCampaign via Zapier.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat6 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Emotive social profiles
Digital presenceEmotive compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance3 records
Emotive financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Emotive leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles7 records
Emotive subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries1 record
Emotive funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds6 records
Investors12 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Emotive M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A1 record
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Emotive
What does Emotive do?
Emotive provides a conversational SMS marketing platform purpose-built for eCommerce brands, enabling two-way text messaging, automated flows, broadcast campaigns, and subscriber list growth. The offering is sold as tiered monthly subscriptions with usage-based per-message fees, and is complemented by add-on modules including CartAI™ (first-party pixel), Emotive Attribution (cross-channel analytics), RealLink™ (branded links), TextPros™ (done-for-you service), Growth (managed marketing), and the Emotive Litigator Filter (TCPA compliance).
Is Emotive a public or private company?
Emotive is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently operating.
When was Emotive founded?
Emotive was founded in 2018. It employs 51 to 100 people.
Where is Emotive based?
Emotive is headquartered in Los Angeles, United States, in the North America region.
How does Emotive make money?
Five revenue lines are on record. SMS Platform Subscription is the primary driver. The others are SMS/MMS Messaging Fees, phone Number Services, growth Services and professional Services.
Who are Emotive's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Klaviyo, Attentive, Postscript, Privy, Yotpo, Iterable and Omnisend. Emerging players are Sailthru and Cordial. ActiveCampaign is listed as a broad incumbent.
Does Emotive have an API?
No public API is recorded for Emotive.
What industry is Emotive in?
Emotive's product category is SMS Marketing Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is CRAFANAG, Messaging-based Social Commerce (Chat Commerce), with a secondary code of BPAFABAN, Media Measurement, Attribution & Mix Modeling (MMM/MTA). Its NAICS code is 54189 and its SIC code is 7372.