Behavioral triggers send emails based on what users do (or don't do) in your product. Not on a schedule. Not in a batch. When a specific behavior happens, the right email follows.

The user who signed up but never logged in again gets a different email than the one who's been active daily. The user who just hit their usage limit gets an upgrade prompt at exactly the right moment. The user who invited a teammate gets a collaboration tip while the context is fresh.

This sounds obvious, but most email tools are built around campaigns and lists, not behaviors. Here's which ones actually handle behavioral triggers well.

Types of Behavioral Triggers

Action triggers: User does something. Sign up, create a project, invite a team member, make a purchase, use a feature for the first time.

Inactivity triggers: User stops doing something. Hasn't logged in for 7 days, hasn't completed onboarding after 48 hours, hasn't used a feature in 2 weeks.

Threshold triggers: User reaches a milestone. 100th project created, 10,000 API calls made, approaching storage limit, trial 80% expired.

Pattern triggers: User exhibits a behavioral pattern. Used the product 5 days in a row, opened 3 emails without clicking, visited the pricing page 3 times.

The 7 Best Options

1. Sequenzy

Best for: SaaS behavioral triggers that work out of the box

Sequenzy supports behavioral triggers through its event system. Send events when users take actions in your product, and Sequenzy triggers the right sequences. The platform includes inactivity triggers (user hasn't performed event X in Y days), which are critical for re-engagement.

What makes Sequenzy practical for SaaS is that the most important behavioral triggers are built in. Stripe integration automatically handles payment behaviors (subscription started, payment failed, plan changed). You only need to manually implement product usage triggers. This means less instrumentation work for the most impactful email automations.

Behavioral triggers: Custom events, inactivity triggers, tag-based triggers, automatic Stripe payment behaviors Pricing: From $29/month Pros: SaaS behaviors built in via Stripe, inactivity triggers, event-driven, simple setup Cons: Less flexible than Customer.io for complex patterns, newer platform

2. Customer.io

Best for: The most sophisticated behavioral trigger system

Customer.io tracks user behavior natively and offers the broadest trigger options. You can trigger automations on specific events, event combinations, attribute changes, segment entry/exit, page views, and inactivity patterns.

The behavioral trigger depth is unmatched. "User viewed pricing page 3 times in 7 days but has not upgraded" is a trigger you can build. "User used Feature A and Feature B but not Feature C" is another. The visual workflow builder lets you combine multiple behavioral conditions with AND/OR logic.

Behavioral triggers: Events, event properties, event frequency, inactivity, page views, segment entry/exit, attribute changes, combinations Pricing: From $100/month Pros: Most sophisticated triggers, visual builder, event combinations, inactivity detection Cons: Expensive, steep learning curve, requires careful setup

3. Braze

Best for: Enterprise behavioral triggers at scale

Braze processes behavioral data for millions of users in real-time. Trigger campaigns on specific actions, action frequency, action recency, inactivity, attribute changes, and location-based behaviors. The platform handles complex behavioral segments that update in real-time as users act.

Braze's strength is combining behavioral triggers with multi-channel delivery. A behavioral trigger can start a Canvas (workflow) that spans email, push, SMS, and in-app messages. The system adapts delivery channel based on where the user is most likely to engage.

Behavioral triggers: Events, frequency, recency, inactivity, attributes, location, real-time segments Pricing: Custom (typically $50K+/year) Pros: Enterprise scale, real-time processing, multi-channel, sophisticated triggers Cons: Enterprise pricing, requires dedicated team, complex implementation

4. Iterable

Best for: Growth teams building behavioral trigger workflows

Iterable's Studio builder supports behavioral triggers across multiple channels. Custom events, user property changes, and segment membership changes all serve as workflow triggers. The builder supports wait conditions that pause until a specific behavior occurs.

The "wait for event" feature is particularly useful. After sending an onboarding email, wait for the user to complete the action. If they do, skip the follow-up. If they don't within 48 hours, send a reminder. This responsive behavior makes sequences feel personalized.

Behavioral triggers: Custom events, property changes, segment changes, wait-for-event, cross-channel Pricing: Custom (typically $500+/month) Pros: Wait-for-event, cross-channel triggers, visual builder, good for growth teams Cons: Custom pricing, learning curve, mid-market positioning

5. ActiveCampaign

Best for: Behavioral triggers combined with CRM and lead scoring

ActiveCampaign's automation builder supports behavioral triggers through site tracking, event tracking, and engagement monitoring. When users visit specific pages, click specific links, or trigger custom events, automations fire.

The CRM integration adds behavioral scoring. User behaviors accumulate into a lead score, and score thresholds can trigger automations. A user who's visited the pricing page, opened 5 emails, and used the product 10 times might cross a score threshold that triggers a personalized demo offer.

Behavioral triggers: Site tracking, custom events, email engagement, lead scoring thresholds, CRM activity Pricing: From $29/month Pros: CRM + behavioral scoring, site tracking, automation builder, broad triggers Cons: Some triggers require higher tier plans, site tracking setup needed, can feel complex

6. Loops

Best for: Simple behavioral triggers for early-stage products

Loops handles basic behavioral triggers through its event API. When users take actions (sign up, create something, use a feature), events trigger email sequences. The model is simple: event in, email out.

Loops doesn't support complex behavioral patterns (event combinations, frequency-based triggers, wait-for-event). But for early-stage products where the key behaviors are straightforward (signed up, completed onboarding, became paying customer), the simplicity is a feature. You can set up behavioral triggers in minutes, not days.

Behavioral triggers: Custom events, basic trigger-to-sequence Pricing: Free for 1,000 contacts, from $49/month Pros: Simple, fast setup, developer-friendly, good free tier Cons: Basic triggers only, no behavioral patterns, limited conditions

7. Klaviyo

Best for: E-commerce behavioral triggers (browse, cart, purchase)

Klaviyo excels at e-commerce behavioral triggers. Browse abandonment (user viewed a product but didn't buy), cart abandonment, post-purchase follow-up, replenishment reminders, and win-back campaigns based on purchase inactivity. These triggers are built into the platform.

For SaaS, Klaviyo's behavioral trigger capabilities are less relevant since they're optimized for shopping behaviors. But if you sell a product (not a subscription), Klaviyo's behavioral triggers around the purchase journey are excellent.

Behavioral triggers: Browse behavior, cart behavior, purchase patterns, product interactions, predictive analytics Pricing: Free up to 250 contacts, from $20/month Pros: E-commerce behaviors built in, predictive triggers, revenue attribution Cons: E-commerce-centric, poor fit for SaaS behaviors, pricing scales with contacts

Building Effective Behavioral Triggers

Start With High-Impact Behaviors

Focus on behaviors that indicate:

Risk: User hasn't logged in for a week (churn risk)
Opportunity: User visited pricing page (upgrade opportunity)
Momentum: User completed onboarding quickly (engagement opportunity)
Friction: User started a task but didn't finish (help needed)

Match Email Timing to Behavior Urgency

Immediate: Password reset requested, payment failed (send within minutes)
Same day: User completed onboarding, created first project (send within hours)
Next day: User hasn't finished setup after 24 hours (give them time first)
Weekly: User has been inactive for 7+ days (don't rush re-engagement)

Avoid Trigger Fatigue

If a user takes 5 actions in one session, they shouldn't get 5 emails. Use:

Frequency caps: Maximum one behavioral email per day per user
Priority rules: More important triggers suppress less important ones
Suppression windows: After sending one behavioral email, wait before sending another

Measure Trigger Effectiveness

Track whether behavioral emails actually drive the intended behavior:

Did the onboarding reminder lead to onboarding completion?
Did the re-engagement email bring the user back?
Did the upgrade prompt lead to a plan change?

If a behavioral trigger consistently fails to drive the intended outcome, the trigger timing, the email content, or both need adjusting.

How to Choose

You need the most sophisticated behavioral triggers: Customer.io. Unmatched depth in behavioral conditions and combinations.

You're SaaS wanting behavioral lifecycle email: Sequenzy. Key SaaS behaviors automated via Stripe, simple event-based triggers for the rest.

You're enterprise scale: Braze. Real-time behavioral processing for millions of users.

You need cross-channel behavioral workflows: Iterable. Behaviors triggering email, push, SMS, and in-app.

You want behavioral triggers + CRM scoring: ActiveCampaign. Behaviors feeding into lead scores and CRM workflows.

You want simple behavioral email: Loops. Event-triggered sequences without complexity.

You're e-commerce: Klaviyo. Shopping behavior triggers built into the platform.

FAQ

How many behavioral triggers should I start with? Start with 3-5 high-impact triggers. Don't try to instrument every possible behavior at launch. Begin with: welcome (signup event), onboarding nudge (inactivity after signup), trial conversion (trial ending event), re-engagement (login inactivity), and one product-specific trigger.

Can behavioral triggers replace time-based sequences? Partially. Some emails are naturally time-based (weekly digests, monthly reports). But most onboarding and lifecycle sequences work better as behavioral triggers. The best approach is a hybrid: behavioral triggers for core actions with time-based fallbacks for users who don't trigger events.

What data do I need to implement behavioral triggers? At minimum: user identification (email), event tracking (event name + timestamp), and basic user properties (plan, signup date). More advanced triggers need event properties (what was the action's context), user attributes (plan, usage count), and engagement history.

Do behavioral triggers work for B2B with long sales cycles? Yes, especially for product-led growth. B2B behavioral triggers might be: team admin invited first member, workspace hit usage limit, champion user visited pricing page multiple times. The behaviors are different from B2C but the trigger logic is the same.