Privy
Privy is a Boston-based ecommerce marketing platform providing email, SMS, and on-site list-growth tools to over 10,000 small and mid-market direct-to-consumer brands via native integrations with Shopify, BigCommerce, WooCommerce, Wix, Squarespace, and Weebly.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2011
- HeadquartersBoston, United States
- Headcount51–100
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Privy does
Privy is a Boston-based ecommerce marketing platform founded in 2011 that provides email marketing, SMS marketing, and on-site list-growth tools (popups, banners, flyouts, embedded forms) to over 10,000 small and mid-market direct-to-consumer brands. The platform is structured as three integrated products — Convert (on-site displays), Email, and SMS — sold through tiered subscription plans (Convert Only at $24/month, Starter at $30/month, Growth at $45/month) with pricing that scales automatically based on real contact counts and includes a 15-day free trial.
The underlying technology is a cloud-based marketing platform built on AWS and DigitalOcean infrastructure, with email delivery handled by SparkPost, SMS/MMS delivery by Twilio, data warehousing on Snowflake, and product analytics via PostHog and Statsig. Privy integrates natively with six major ecommerce storefronts (Shopify, BigCommerce, WooCommerce, Wix, Squarespace, Weebly), and its go-to-market combines product-led growth (self-serve sign-up, marketplace app-store distribution, 15-day free trial) with an enterprise field-sales motion (Book a Demo) and a tiered Agency Partner Program offering 10-20% revenue share to agency and affiliate partners. A deliberate differentiator is human-led customer success: dedicated customer success managers and strategists are offered to all customers, not just enterprise accounts.
Privy monetizes purely through recurring subscriptions and has pursued an aggressive acquisition strategy in 2025-2026, purchasing Emotive in 2025 and Sendlane in February 2026, with the explicit intent of building a unified ecommerce growth platform that consolidates email and SMS marketing. The company holds 11-50 employees, is GDPR- and CCPA-compliant, and is privately held under Privy Operations, LLC, a Massachusetts LLC. Its stated competitive positioning contrasts its transparent contact-based pricing, lack of long-term commitments, and included strategy support against agencies and incumbents like Mailchimp and Klaviyo.
Privy firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Privy
- Legal name
- Privy Operations, LLC
- Website
- https://privy.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2011
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 51–100 employees
- Short description
- Privy is a Boston-based ecommerce marketing platform providing email, SMS, and on-site list-growth tools to over 10,000 small and mid-market direct-to-consumer brands via native integrations with Shopify, BigCommerce, WooCommerce, Wix, Squarespace, and Weebly.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Privy industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Ecommerce Email & SMS Marketing Software
- NAICS
- Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (5182)
- SIC
- Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Price Comparison, Deals, Cashback & Loyalty Shopping Platforms (BPAMAGAH)
Keywords
Where Privy is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Boston
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices2 records
Markets served
Privy business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Operations
Revenue model
- Subscription Plans: Tiered subscription pricing based on number of contacts (mailable and textable). Plans auto-scale based on contact count during billing cycle. Separate plans for Convert (display/popup only), Starter (Convert + Email), and Growth (Convert + Email + SMS).
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Monthly | Convert Only: Display-only plan for growing subscriber lists |
| Subscription | Monthly | Starter Plan: Convert + Email marketing |
| Subscription | Monthly | Growth Plan: Convert + Email + SMS marketing |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels9 records
Marketing channels6 records
Privy product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Privy sells a cloud-based ecommerce marketing platform that bundles three modules — Convert (on-site popups, banners, flyouts, and embedded forms for list growth), Privy Email (campaigns and automated flows via a drag-and-drop editor), and Privy Text (SMS/MMS marketing) — into subscription plans targeted at SMB and mid-market direct-to-consumer ecommerce brands. Plans are tiered (Convert Only, Starter, Growth) and priced by mailable and textable contact counts with auto-scaling, supported by native integrations with Shopify, BigCommerce, WooCommerce, Wix, Weebly, and Squarespace, plus dedicated customer success managers.
Product overview
Privy is a unified ecommerce growth platform combining email marketing, SMS marketing, and on-site display tools into a single integrated solution. The core product architecture consists of Convert (on-site display and list growth tool), Email (campaign management and automation), and SMS (text message marketing), available through three subscription tiers: Convert Only (displays only, pageview-based pricing), Starter (Convert + Email, contact-based pricing), and Growth (Convert + Email + SMS, contact and usage-based pricing). All plans include pre-built automation flows, audience segmentation, and real-time performance reporting. The platform is designed specifically for ecommerce brands and integrates natively with major storefronts including Shopify, BigCommerce, WooCommerce, Wix, Squarespace, and Weebly. Privy has pursued an aggressive acquisition strategy, acquiring Sendlane (February 2026) and Emotive (2025) to expand its automation, reporting, and customer support capabilities while maintaining its focus on combining scalable software with human-led customer success.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Convert (On-site Display & List Growth) On-site display tool enabling merchants to create and publish popups, banners, flyouts, and embedded forms to capture email and SMS subscribers, grow contact lists, make on-site announcements, and increase sales. Includes granular targeting such as exit-intent offers and quizzes, and dozens of proven templates. Available as a standalone subscription or bundled with Email and SMS.
- Privy Email (Email Marketing) Email marketing module providing a drag-and-drop email editor, ecommerce-focused templates, product blocks, coupon codes, campaign scheduling, audience segmentation, and automated flows for sending newsletters, promotions, and lifecycle email sequences to subscribers. Bundled with Convert in the Starter plan and with Convert + SMS in the Growth plan.
- Privy Text (SMS Marketing) SMS and MMS marketing module for sending targeted text message campaigns, promotions, and automated SMS flows to subscribers; requires the Growth plan subscription. SMS delivery is powered by Twilio as a downstream communications provider.
Quantifiable outcome
- 300% growth over past year (self-reported)
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Privy
Customer profileNamed customers20 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Privy technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration16 records
Feature5 records
Privy partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered strategic acquisition, major, minor and core.
- Sendlanestrategic acquisitionPrivy acquired Sendlane, an email and SMS marketing platform known for service-oriented customer experience. Combines two ecommerce-focused platforms to accelerate innovation in email and SMS marketing and expand the unified ecommerce growth platform.
- Agency PartnersmajorFormal Agency Partner Program with tiered benefits (Affiliate, Partner, Silver, Gold, Platinum). Partners earn 10-20% of Net Revenue for referring customers. Includes lead registration, training certification, and marketing materials. Payments handled via GrowSumo/PartnerStack.
- Affiliate PartnersminorAffiliate program through GrowSumo/PartnerStack. Partners earn 10% Partner Share for closed subscriptions. Commission paid monthly based on revenue recognized.
- Amazon Web Services (AWS)coreCloud hosting provider used for infrastructure. Listed as sub-processor in Privy's Data Processing Addendum for processing EU Personal Data. AWS provides the underlying cloud infrastructure for Privy's platform services.
- TwiliocoreCommunications services provider used for SMS functionality. Listed as sub-processor in Privy's DPA. Twilio enables the SMS messaging capabilities within Privy's platform.
- SparkPostcoreEmail delivery service provider. Listed as sub-processor in Privy's DPA for processing EU Personal Data. Handles email delivery for Privy's marketing platform.
- ShopifycorePrimary ecommerce platform integration. Privy is marketed as 'Shopify's #1 Reviewed Email & SMS Marketing App'. Native integration with Shopify stores for seamless installation and product/customer data sync.
- BigCommercecoreEcommerce platform integration for BigCommerce merchants. Privy installs on BigCommerce stores with app integration.
- WixcoreWix App Market integration. Privy installs automatically on Wix with no coding or development work required. Enables email, SMS, and popups for Wix stores.
- WeeblycoreWeebly App Center integration. Privy connects seamlessly to Weebly sites via lightweight script installation (no plugins, no developers).
- WooCommercecoreWordPress/WooCommerce integration. Install via plugin or snippet, compatible with WooCommerce and popular themes/builders. Enables email, SMS, popups, and coupons for WooCommerce merchants.
- SquarespacecoreSquarespace ecommerce integration enabling Privy's marketing tools (email, SMS, popups) for Squarespace store owners.
Scale indicators4 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Privy competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Klaviyo: Klaviyo is the dominant email and SMS marketing platform purpose-built for Shopify and ecommerce merchants. Privy explicitly positions itself as a more affordable, higher-touch alternative to Klaviyo on its own comparison page, making it the most directly comparable peer.
- Mailchimp: Mailchimp is a leading SMB email marketing platform and a primary competitor cited on Privy's own comparison page. Privy explicitly targets Mailchimp customers with abandoned-cart and pricing-transparency pain points (e.g., Love Outlet's testimonial).
- Omnisend: Omnisend is an ecommerce-focused email and SMS marketing platform with similar Shopify, BigCommerce, and Wix integrations. Privy runs a direct comparison page versus Omnisend, treating it as a head-to-head alternative for the same SMB D2C merchant.
- Flodesk: Flodesk is a design-led email marketing platform targeting SMBs, creators, and small ecommerce brands. Privy includes Flodesk in its comparison pages as a flat-fee email alternative competing for the same SMB list-building and newsletter use cases.
- Drip: Drip is an ecommerce CRM and email/SMS automation platform built specifically for D2C brands. It targets the same Shopify-centric SMB merchant segment as Privy with comparable visual automation and segmentation capabilities.
- Brevo (formerly Sendinblue): Brevo is an all-in-one email, SMS, and marketing automation platform serving SMBs and ecommerce merchants with tiered contact-based pricing. It competes with Privy on transparent SMB pricing and multi-channel marketing capabilities.
Broad incumbents
- ActiveCampaign: ActiveCampaign is a broader marketing automation and CRM platform serving SMB and mid-market customers with email, automation, and CRM. It overlaps with Privy's email/automation core but extends into a wider workflow/CRM portfolio beyond ecommerce.
- Constant Contact: Constant Contact is an established SMB email and digital marketing platform with ecommerce integrations. It targets the same small business segment as Privy but with a broader portfolio including events, websites, and social tools.
- HubSpot Marketing Hub: HubSpot is a broader marketing, sales, and CRM platform used by SMB and mid-market businesses, and notably an investor in Privy. Its email and automation capabilities overlap with Privy even though HubSpot's strength is its full CRM suite rather than ecommerce specialization.
- Shopify Email: Shopify Email is Shopify's first-party email marketing tool bundled into the Shopify admin. It competes for the same Shopify merchant audience as Privy and represents a structural risk as a free/built-in alternative within the merchant's home platform.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Privy social profiles
Digital presencePrivy compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance2 records
Privy financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Privy leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles3 records
Privy subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries2 records
Privy funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds8 records
Investors10 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Privy M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A2 records
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Privy
What does Privy do?
Privy sells a cloud-based ecommerce marketing platform that bundles three modules — Convert (on-site popups, banners, flyouts, and embedded forms for list growth), Privy Email (campaigns and automated flows via a drag-and-drop editor), and Privy Text (SMS/MMS marketing) — into subscription plans targeted at SMB and mid-market direct-to-consumer ecommerce brands. Plans are tiered (Convert Only, Starter, Growth) and priced by mailable and textable contact counts with auto-scaling, supported by native integrations with Shopify, BigCommerce, WooCommerce, Wix, Weebly, and Squarespace, plus dedicated customer success managers.
Is Privy a public or private company?
Privy is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Privy founded?
Privy was founded in 2011. It employs 51 to 100 people.
Where is Privy based?
Privy is headquartered in Boston, United States, in the North America region.
How does Privy make money?
One revenue line is on record: subscription Plans.
Who are Privy's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Klaviyo, Mailchimp, Omnisend, Flodesk, Drip and Brevo (formerly Sendinblue). Broad incumbents are ActiveCampaign, Constant Contact, HubSpot Marketing Hub and Shopify Email.
Does Privy have an API?
No public API is recorded for Privy.
What industry is Privy in?
Privy's product category is Ecommerce Email & SMS Marketing Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAMAGAH, Price Comparison, Deals, Cashback & Loyalty Shopping Platforms. Its NAICS code is 5182 and its SIC code is 7372.