# Klaviyo → AcelleMail Migration — Visual Walkthrough

> Export your Klaviyo profiles as CSV, import into AcelleMail via the 6-click wizard. Visual walkthrough plus power-user API path for large Klaviyo accounts.

- Canonical URL: https://acellesend.com/kb/articles/migrating-from-klaviyo-to-acellemail
- Author: Martin Keller, SaaS & Business Editor
- Category: Migration & Comparison — Switching from Mailchimp/Sendinblue, cost comparison, data migration
- Content type: tutorial · Difficulty: beginner
- Tags: Acellemail
- Published: 2026-07-04 · Last updated: 2026-08-15
- Reading time: 5 min
- Publisher: AcelleMail Knowledge Base, https://acellesend.com/kb

---

## Before you start

You'll need:

- A Klaviyo account with profile-export permission (Owner or Admin role)
- An AcelleMail installation up and running
- ~45 minutes for <100k profiles + tags + custom properties

Klaviyo's profile model is rich (event history, conditional segments, predictive metrics). The CSV migration preserves identity + custom properties; behavioural segments + flows are rebuilt manually in AcelleMail's visual builder.

## Export from Klaviyo

In Klaviyo's left sidebar, click **Audience** → **Lists & Segments** → choose the list to export. On the list page, **Manage List** → **Export List to CSV**.

Klaviyo asks which properties to include — select **All** (or trim down if you have hundreds of custom properties you don't need). The file prepares in the background; **Downloads** sidebar item shows the download link when ready (usually <5 minutes for <100k).

Exported CSV includes: email, all standard + custom profile properties, opt-in date, source, last activity timestamp.

For segment-based migration (e.g. only profiles matching "Engaged in last 30 days"), use **Segments → [segment name] → Export Segment** — same flow, scoped output.
## Import into AcelleMail (the same 6 clicks for every source)

Once you have the CSV exported from your previous platform, the import flow in AcelleMail is identical regardless of where the data came from.

### 1. Open your destination list

In AcelleMail's sidebar, click **Audience** → choose the list that will receive the migrated subscribers (or create a new one — *New list* button top-right).

![Lists index](https://acellesend.com/plugins/acelle/landing/images/help/kb/import-csv/01-lists-index.png)

You'll see a per-list overview card with subscriber counts:

![List overview](https://acellesend.com/plugins/acelle/landing/images/help/kb/import-csv/02-list-overview.png)

### 2. Click "Import" in the list toolbar

The wizard entrypoint is on the list detail page:

![Import entry point](https://acellesend.com/plugins/acelle/landing/images/help/kb/import-csv/03-import-entry.png)

### 3. Upload your CSV

Drop the CSV file from the previous platform into the upload area:

![Upload empty state](https://acellesend.com/plugins/acelle/landing/images/help/kb/import-csv/04-upload-empty.png)

AcelleMail parses the file and confirms detection:

![Upload success](https://acellesend.com/plugins/acelle/landing/images/help/kb/import-csv/05-upload-success.png)

### 4. Map the columns

The wizard auto-detects standard columns (`email`, `first_name`, `last_name`) and shows green *Mapped to EMAIL* chips. Adjust manually for any non-standard column from the source:

![Map columns](https://acellesend.com/plugins/acelle/landing/images/help/kb/import-csv/06-map-columns.png)

### 5. Pick duplicate handling

In the same screen, choose what AcelleMail does when a subscriber already exists in this list:

- **Skip** — keep the existing row, don't overwrite
- **Update** — overwrite name/tags/custom fields with values from the CSV
- **Unsubscribe** — mark existing rows as unsubscribed (rare; used when re-importing an opted-out list)

### 6. Run the import

Click **Start import**. The job runs in the background — close the popup, work elsewhere, return to **Audience → [list] → Import** to see progress:

![Import history](https://acellesend.com/plugins/acelle/landing/images/help/kb/import-csv/07-import-entry-revisit.png)

You'll see *Pending* → *Running* → *Complete* per import job, with rows-imported / rows-skipped / errors counts.

## After the import

- **Verify list count** matches your expected size (rows that failed validation appear in the *Errors* column with a downloadable error CSV).
- **Re-tag if needed** — for behavioural data that doesn't fit a CSV column (e.g. "opened campaign X"), you may need to re-create the tag via segmentation rules.
- **Pause for warm-up** — if the imported list is large (>10k) and your sending IP is new or recently rotated, run a short warm-up campaign to your most-engaged 10% before the full send. See [IP warm-up best practices](https://acellesend.com/kb/articles/ip-warmup-schedule-for-new-sending-servers) for the schedule.

## Rebuilding Klaviyo flows in AcelleMail

Klaviyo's **flows** map to AcelleMail's **Automations**. Equivalent triggers:

| Klaviyo trigger | AcelleMail trigger |
|---|---|
| Subscribed to list | Subscribed to list |
| Added to segment | Tag added (via segment-to-tag mapping) |
| Metric event (Shopify, custom) | Custom event (API) |
| Profile property change | Field value change |
| Date property matches | Date relative |
| Clicked email link | Link clicked |

For Klaviyo's predictive analytics + AI features (predicted CLV, churn risk), AcelleMail doesn't have direct equivalents — these are Klaviyo-specific advantages. If you depend on them, evaluate whether the cost savings of self-hosting justify rebuilding those signals via your own data pipeline.

## Merge-tag syntax differences

| Klaviyo | AcelleMail |
|---|---|
| `{{ first_name }}` (root scope) | `{{ subscriber.first_name }}` |
| `{{ last_name }}` | `{{ subscriber.last_name }}` |
| `{{ email }}` | `{{ subscriber.email }}` |
| `{{ organization.web_view_url }}` | `{{ web_view_url }}` |
| `{{ organization.unsubscribe_url }}` | `{{ unsubscribe_url }}` |

Klaviyo's Jinja-style conditionals (`{% if profile.tags contains 'vip' %}`) work in AcelleMail's email builder with minor adjustments (use `subscriber.tags` instead of `profile.tags`).

<details>
<summary><strong>Advanced: API-driven migration with Klaviyo's profile export endpoint</strong></summary>

For >250k profiles or for ongoing sync from a CRM-of-record, Klaviyo's API supports bulk export.

**Export from Klaviyo via API:**

```bash
# Klaviyo Private API key from Settings → API Keys
curl -X GET "https://a.klaviyo.com/api/profiles/?page[size]=100&page[cursor]=" \
  -H "Authorization: Klaviyo-API-Key <KLAVIYO_PRIVATE_KEY>" \
  -H "revision: 2024-10-15" \
  -o klaviyo-profiles.json
```

Klaviyo paginates via cursor; loop until `links.next` is null.

**Import into AcelleMail via REST API:**

```bash
ACELLE_TOKEN="..."
ACELLE_LIST_UID="..."

jq -c '.data[] | {email: .attributes.email, first_name: .attributes.first_name, last_name: .attributes.last_name}' klaviyo-profiles.json \
  | while read sub; do
      curl -X POST "https://acellemail.com/api/v1/subscribers" \
        -H "Authorization: Bearer $ACELLE_TOKEN" \
        -d "{\"list_uid\":\"$ACELLE_LIST_UID\",\"subscriber\":$sub}"
    done
```

For Klaviyo-specific behavioural data (events table, metric aggregates), you'll need to bridge via your own ETL — AcelleMail doesn't have direct event-stream ingestion. The path most teams take: keep the rich behavioural store in your data warehouse (Postgres / BigQuery / Snowflake), use AcelleMail's API to push tag/segment updates based on warehouse-computed signals.

</details>

## Related articles

- [Importing contacts CSV — best practices and field mapping](https://acellesend.com/kb/articles/importing-contacts-csv-best-practices-and-field-mapping)
- [Migration from Mailchimp to AcelleMail](https://acellesend.com/kb/articles/migrating-from-mailchimp-to-acellemail)
- [Advanced automation triggers and conditions](https://acellesend.com/kb/articles/advanced-automation-triggers-and-conditions)
- [Building a welcome email series in AcelleMail](https://acellesend.com/kb/articles/building-a-welcome-email-series-in-acellemail)

---

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