Unclaimed: Are you working at ActiveCampaign for Marketing?
ActiveCampaign for Marketing Reviews: 4.5/5 — Highly Rated
ActiveCampaign is an integrated marketing tool that easily automates email marketing strategies and creates targeted campaigns. While automated marketing is a core component of the system, ActiveCampaign is a powerful tool that can do so much more. The software is known for being able to deliver a personalized experience across all customer touchpoints, track buyer behavior and preferences, customize send-outs, and gather data from every stage of the customer lifecycle, just to name a few.
| Capabilities |
AI
API
|
|---|---|
| Segment |
Small Business
Mid Market
Enterprise
|
| Deployment | Cloud / SaaS / Web-Based, Mobile Android, Mobile iPad, Mobile iPhone |
| Support | 24/7 (Live rep), Chat, Email/Help Desk, FAQs/Forum, Knowledge Base, Phone Support |
| Training | Documentation |
| Languages | English |
ActiveCampaign for Marketing Pros and Cons
- Powerful email builder
- Machine learning enabled helps boost marketing results
- Seamlessly integrates with automations
- On-site chat is an additional, paid add on
- Advanced feature are complicated to use and navigate.
ActiveCampaign’s $15 Starter plan limits each automation to five actions. On a platform bought specifically for automation, that is the number that decides your plan — a welcome sequence, a lead-scoring flow, or an abandoned-cart journey all run past five steps quickly. And the discount you get for accepting that limit shrinks as your list grows: at 25,000 contacts, Starter is displayed at $391 a month while Plus, which has no action cap at all, is $389.
- What it is: A marketing automation platform combining email, automation, CRM, and now WhatsApp, built around a visual automation builder.
- Best for: Businesses whose value comes from behavioural automation rather than from sending newsletters.
- Pricing: Starter $15, Plus $49, Pro $79, Enterprise $145 per month at 1,000 contacts, billed annually. Verified July 2026.
- The honest catch: Starter and Plus are single-user plans; three users arrive at Pro.
What Is ActiveCampaign?
ActiveCampaign’s reputation rests on its automation builder, which is genuinely one of the best in the category: branching conditions, goals, split tests, wait steps, and CRM actions arranged visually. Where most email tools bolt automation onto a newsletter product, ActiveCampaign is an automation product that also sends email.
The 2026 lineup adds two structural things. Channels are now chosen before plans — Email, WhatsApp, or Email + WhatsApp are separate price families — and “Active Intelligence”, the AI layer, appears on every tier but carries unstated limits on Starter and Plus. The page also offers a results guarantee: 30 days or your money back.
Prices are set by contact count through a selector, so every published figure describes a list size rather than a plan.
How ActiveCampaign Works
- Priced by email contacts, chosen from a dropdown that runs from 1,000 to 150,000.
- Automation actions are the Starter cap — five per automation, unlimited from Plus.
- Users ladder late. One on Starter and Plus, three on Pro, five on Enterprise.
- Landing pages start at Plus, not Starter.
- Attribution and conversion tracking start at Pro.
- WhatsApp is a separate plan family, priced independently of email.
ActiveCampaign Pricing
Captured from ActiveCampaign’s pricing page in July 2026 in US dollars, Email plans, billed annually, reading the contact selector at each size.
| Contacts | Starter | Plus | Pro | Enterprise |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1,000 | $15 | $49 | $79 | $145 |
| 5,000 | $79 | $145 | $205 | $375 |
| 10,000 | $149 | $189 | $375 | $589 |
| 25,000 | $391 | $389 | $629 | $879 |
| 50,000 | $391 | $609 | $969 | $1,169 |
What actually decides your plan:
- Five actions per automation is a hard ceiling, not a soft one. A welcome series that sends three emails with waits between them has already spent its budget. If automation is why you are here — and it usually is — Starter is an email tool with a decorative automation feature, and Plus is the first plan that does the job.
- The Starter discount evaporates with list size. At 1,000 contacts Plus costs 3.3 times more; at 10,000 it costs 27% more; at 25,000 the pricing table shows Starter at $391 against Plus at $389. Whatever the reason for that crossover, nobody with a 25,000-contact list should be choosing Starter over Plus on price.
- Starter’s displayed price stops rising at $391. It reads $391 at 25,000, 50,000, and 75,000 contacts while every other tier keeps climbing. That may be a deliberate ceiling or a quirk of the selector; either way, confirm it with ActiveCampaign before building a budget on it.
- Landing pages require Plus. Starter sends and automates but does not host pages, which matters if you were planning to run campaigns end to end.
- One user until Pro. Both Starter and Plus are single-seat, so a second marketer means $79 at 1,000 contacts — a fivefold step from the headline.
- Attribution is a Pro feature. Knowing which campaign produced revenue starts at $79, which is worth weighing if proving ROI is part of the job.
Who Should Use ActiveCampaign
- Businesses running genuine behavioural automation. The clearest case, and where the builder outclasses most competitors.
- Ecommerce operators. Deep store integrations plus abandoned-cart and post-purchase flows are a core strength.
- Teams wanting email and CRM together. The built-in CRM removes an integration for smaller sales teams.
- Companies adding WhatsApp to the mix, now a first-class channel rather than an integration.
It fits poorly for simple newsletters, where MailerLite or Kit cost far less; for large lists mailed infrequently, where Brevo’s send-based pricing is structurally cheaper; and for teams needing multiple seats early, since three users requires Pro.
Honest Pros and Cons
Strengths
- The best automation builder in its price range. Conditions, goals, and split tests done properly.
- A real CRM included, not a contact list relabelled.
- Deep ecommerce integrations for cart recovery and post-purchase flows.
- WhatsApp as a native channel rather than a bolt-on.
- A 30-day results guarantee, unusual in the category.
- Transparent contact-based pricing, published across the full list-size range.
Limitations
- Five actions per automation on Starter, which undercuts the reason to buy it.
- Starter’s value collapses as lists grow, and inverts against Plus at 25,000 contacts.
- Single user on Starter and Plus.
- No landing pages below Plus.
- Attribution requires Pro at $79.
- AI limits on Starter and Plus are unstated — “limits apply” without a number.
ActiveCampaign Alternatives and How It Compares
- Mailchimp is better known and easier to start with, but weaker on automation logic at comparable prices.
- Brevo charges by emails sent rather than contacts stored, which is structurally cheaper for large, rarely-mailed lists.
- Klaviyo is the ecommerce specialist, stronger on store data and more expensive as profiles accumulate.
- GetResponse and Omnisend occupy similar ground, the latter ecommerce-focused.
- MailerLite and Kit are the cheaper options for creators and simple sending.
- HubSpot Marketing Hub is the heavier all-in-one, with costs that escalate quickly.
For a broader survey, browse our marketing automation directory.
The Verdict
ActiveCampaign earns its reputation. The automation builder handles branching logic, goals, and conditional content with a fluency that most competitors at this price cannot match, the CRM is genuinely useful rather than nominal, and the ecommerce integrations make cart-recovery and post-purchase flows straightforward. If your marketing depends on what individual contacts do rather than on what you send everyone, it belongs on the shortlist.
Ignore the $15. Starter caps every automation at five actions, and five actions is not an automation — it is a short sequence. Three emails with a wait between each has consumed the allowance before you have added a condition or a goal. Since automation is the entire reason to prefer ActiveCampaign over a cheaper email tool, buying Starter means paying for the product’s reputation while being locked out of the thing that earned it. Plus at $49 is the honest entry price.
Then set the contact selector to your actual list size, because the plan gap behaves strangely as lists grow. At 1,000 contacts Plus costs 3.3 times Starter; at 10,000 it is only 27% more; and at 25,000 the table shows Starter at $391 against Plus at $389 — the entry plan costing more than the tier above it. Starter’s displayed price then holds at $391 while everything else climbs, which is odd enough that it is worth confirming directly with ActiveCampaign rather than planning around. The practical conclusion is unchanged either way: the cheapest plan is only meaningfully cheap on a small list, and on a small list its automation limit is exactly what you cannot afford.
FAQ
How much does ActiveCampaign cost?
Captured in July 2026 in US dollars for Email plans billed annually at 1,000 contacts: Starter $15, Plus $49, Pro $79, and Enterprise $145 per month. Prices rise with contact count — at 10,000 contacts they are $149, $189, $375, and $589. WhatsApp and Email + WhatsApp are separate plan families with their own pricing. A 30-day results guarantee applies.
What is the 5-action limit on ActiveCampaign Starter?
Starter permits five actions per automation, where an action is any step — sending an email, waiting, applying a tag, updating a field, or branching. A three-email welcome sequence with waits between the emails reaches the limit immediately. Every plan from Plus upward includes unlimited automation actions, which is why Plus is the realistic entry point for anyone buying ActiveCampaign for automation rather than for sending.
Why does Starter cost more than Plus at 25,000 contacts?
That is what ActiveCampaign’s own contact selector displays: $391 for Starter against $389 for Plus at 25,000 contacts. Starter’s shown price then remains $391 at 50,000 and 75,000 while the other tiers keep rising. It may be a deliberate ceiling on the entry plan or a quirk in the pricing table, so confirm it before budgeting — but at that list size there is no price argument for Starter over Plus in any case.
How many users does ActiveCampaign include?
Starter and Plus are both single-user plans. Pro includes three users and Enterprise five. That makes Pro the practical entry point for any marketing team rather than a solo operator, and at 1,000 contacts that is $79 per month against the $15 headline — worth establishing before you compare it against competitors that include several seats lower down.
Is ActiveCampaign better than Mailchimp?
For automation, clearly yes — the builder handles branching conditions, goals, and split tests with more depth than Mailchimp offers at comparable prices, and the built-in CRM is a real one. Mailchimp is easier to start with, better known, and has a free tier. Choose ActiveCampaign when behavioural automation drives revenue, and something simpler when you mostly need to send good-looking campaigns to a list.
Compare ActiveCampaign for Marketing with other popular tools in the same category.
The automations are easy to understand and have taken so much work off of our marketing team.
I wish it was easier to have date-based automations that can be subjective (not a fixed date but relative to when a person signs up during a time period).
Marketing + Automation. It makes it incredibly easy.
The deliverability rates & automation. I also like the project & client relationship management feature.
Nothing so far that I dislike. I would appreciate more analytics metrics though.
The only system that offers a 100% automation and deliverability.
I love the fact that I can set up an automation to subscribe someone to another list if they subscribe to a different one - this is so handy! It's also easy to use and easy to navigate
Sometimes the content blocks don't drop into place as they should do and it's not clear why.
I love the fact that I can set up an automation to subscribe someone to another list if they subscribe to a different one - this is so handy!
- Advanced Automation and E-mail Marketing - Easy to use - Robust - Replicable between projects - Great tutorials
- Little slow when we have lots of leads.
Marketing Automation, Complex Funnels, Scale!
I love the pipeline management and automation although i am still getting used to it.
Pretty much like it all, one thing i would change is being able to manage other users better.
automation
It is so easy to navigate around the platform.
Once you have sent a campaign you cant view it
I am sending out multiple campaigns quickly reaching the right audience. I also use it as a CRM system for the wellbeing hub and it works perfecly.
The platform is simple and fairly easy to use. its also a good price
Email templates could be more varied and less 'generic' but its a very small thing.
Our sales funnel and email automations
It is awsomely easy to create automations in Active Campaign. It gives me an easy feeling that my mails are being sent automatically without me worrying about them. Also I can see on a daily basis what the reactions and actions of my leads are to my mails. ActiveCampaign makes my life as an entrepreneur much more easy.
The program sometimes loads not very quickly, maybe because of all of its possibilities and information.
The problem I am solving with ActiveCampaign is the worry about when sending which email to whom.
Infinite integrations with any web or ecommerce platforms. Thanks to Active Campaign you can automate every operation of your ecommerce. From upsell to downsell. From memos to discount coupons. From follow up to referral. it's a bomb. I use it even connected to zappier and than facebook messenger and manychat.
Prices rise too quickly as the volume of contacts handled increases. Honestly, it's really the only flaw I've encountered.
I use Active Campaign for endless purposes. The most recent is an interface with Wordpress Contact Form 7 which allows me to automate customer follow-up after a contact request.
The API just it's needed to take in mind that it's working with version 1
Nothing to dislike at the moment of writing the review.
Easy implementation of the API to add people to newsletters.
Ease of use, the ability to segment, the automations and how easy it is to set up, the ease of being able to duplicate a campaign that worked or create templates from pieces of your email or the entire email...the fact it has sms texting...so many things I like about it!
It takes a bit of time to figure out the statistics on the emails that are sent to unopens. Otherwise love it.
Building a list and solving problem of manual stuff to automations. Benefits: behavioural tagging, tracking user behaviour, the ability to use past campaigns as your template, overall a super robust software!
Active campaign solved my problem of keeping track of my customers. We were able to use the automation to grow our database as well as communicate what we are doing, upcoming events, and research and development. If you are a business owner and looking to grow and expand, the organization and structure that active campaign offers will be a game-changer!
There is nothing we dislike about active campaign.
Active Campaign solved the problem of communicating, tracking, the effectiveness of emails, and the relevance of topics to our customers.
Thanks to the software I have been able to have an incredible repertoire of contacts that became clients. I do monitoring on a scale according to the date of the calendar, it has a good technical deployment that gives me security. It is not complex to use, very intuitive. The templates I love are the best of ActiveCampaign.
Within the email at the time of a campaign, I have had trouble with the drag and drop function is a bit cumbersome to use.
We visualize many aspects of clients through continuous monitoring, it benefits us to know what clients demand in order to create a firm proposal. We segment the software according to the project, if it is for sales or advertising we usually dedicate ourselves to certain analysis functions, but if it is for mail campaigns we use it to its full potential.
how efficient everything is, and clean the platform is.
the pricing plan is expensive if you wanted to go pro.
high open rates click through rates and more enquiries
Customer help setting up the platform was brilliant, so easy to use and effective
not much, takes a little time to get used to the system and set up how you want to use it but after that, you are good to go!
Very simple to use and so effective
ActiveCampaign's ease of use is wonderful. Creating campaigns is so easy to do and user friendly. Even creating html based campaigns can be done with little html knowledge.
One downside is learning how to do automations. If you can master these you can do anything.
Being able to use our other apps with ActiveCampaign has really helped us grow our audience. Our advertisers have been very happy with our use of ActiveCampaign on their behalf.
The onboarding process has been painless and our team gets dedicated 1-on-1 attention as we learn the platform. I also love the Getting Started videos, which are separated into modules by department needs (sales, marketing, etc.) and answer a lot of the basic questions in a quick and visual manner.
Figuring out the proper set-up to import long lists of contacts can be time-consuming; even more so if you do not realize this until after you have imported your first set.
We are fully utilizing the CRM capabilities for our sales team, which has improved team communications and visibility and lessen the need for meetings. For marketing, we are excited to send out targeted messages via segmentation of our clients, which was previously very difficult to do without email marketing automation software.
Automation has a variety of workflows available.
I can't say there is anything I really dislike about it.
Being able to set up complex automations.
I like that there are many features on Active Campaign (they really think about everything) that I didn't even consider needing but they help you have better automations and flows. Also, the fact that it integrates with everythign I need makes it super simple to use. It's a big platform which means that there is plenty of information out there that you can re-search on specific functions or features and also their customer support is really good so I know that if I get stuck I can easily find an answer.
Haven't really found an issue with Active Campaign yet, so all good.
I use it for mailing automation for client on boarding. I use it too to send confirmation emails when people sign up for calls with my sales team, and also use it for mailing newsletters.
I love using Active campaign because they have great customer service and for me, its important for me to use a software that has great customer service. Ease of use is great too and I love them!
Nothing to complain! I've been loving it so far!
Easier for me to reach my audience and my list. Templates are great !
Simplicity and design are the best also price
Some image issues but they are workable :)
I’m able to do my automations and campaigns in this building in one place and that has increased efficiency and productivity
I love the flexibility and complexity that ActiveCampaign allows for, without the high price tag. Most other platforms I've worked with that have that level of customization are way more expensive. This is the perfect tool if you want more flexibility, but are also newer to the email marketing.
I don't like that there are "lists." I'd rather just have tags and segments. The lists are redundant and a bit confusing to wrap your head around.
Ability to do email marketing the way I need to, not restricted by a low-level functionality and templates like the other "starter" platforms.
Price of course! It’s extremely competitive!
Campaign designer could be more powerful
As a musician, it is very important for me to keep up with my fans whether they are potential buyers, or those who have already started their lifetime value with my brand. Active campaign allows me to easily tag and categorize so that I know who is who and what is white! I’m much more likely to see results from a solid email campaign than any of my other social media!
An extremely user-friendly tool with tones of automation capabilities. A very valuable solution for any marketer looking for automating processes. The support team is great as well and super fast.
There is nothing I dislike really. I wish there was a CRM tool to have a one-stop-shop and probably more features with their chat feature but I believe they are working on it Forms editing could be easier.
We were looking for an automation tool that could send emails automatically according to behaviours/position in the MQLSQL funnel.
Very well designed automation system that I've used for fairly complex procedures, as well as quick easy ones. Easy to use a single account for a variety of uses through different lists and segmenting with different tags. Find the reports very valuable and the emails in general look good. I actually switched to AC from a significantly more expensive platform and am much happier with it.
I feel like the editor itself inside the email creator could use some work. For something that is such an integral part of it, I find things sometimes behave oddly, text is sometimes changing in size, how it responds to line breaks and other editing features can be distracting or take time away from what would be a quick job inside a Google or other editor.
Users purchasing different products and receiving specific email follow ups based on what they have or have not previously purchased. I've also used it for clients to setup online performance series and other events that require a long sequence of emails which may change based on purchases or upgrades.
I love that ActiveCampaign has good deliverability. I never worry about my emails going to subscribers' spam accounts.
The price is a bit on the higher end of what I'm comfortable with but at the end of the day, I do see value in what they offer!!!
Prior to using ActiveCampaign, I had incredibly low open rates due to emails not actually making it to my subscribers. My open rates have massively increased since making the switch.
Live chat is always helpful. Whenever I have questions they promptly response.
If I had to say for dislike it could potentially be slightly cheaper but its still a great service
the sms marketing has been great
Hands down the best part of Active Campaign is the customer service. We have an account manager at our disposal and can schedule time with him as much or as little as we need. This is absolutely invaluable as a learning tool, training tool, and double check for our work. And this service is built in to our contract. No extra cost. Absolutely invaluable. As far as the platform goes, it's phenomenal. The emails are beautiful and professional and extremely user friendly. The tagging, and automations, and level of detail and organization it allows us have helped us elevate all aspects of our marketing, save time, look more professional, and hit exactly the target audience we want.
The program is powerful and can be a bit complicated. The learning curve is fairly high. Reports aren't the easiest to use and there are some not quite intuitive things with sending emails, editing, and segmenting that take time to learn. Automations are great, but can be very finicky as they are so delicate and precise. Nothing that's is really a detriment, just takes TIME and care.
Our biggest problem before Active Campaign was our emails didn't look very professional and it was extremely hard and time consuming to segment lists. And we weren't really sure what information we had available to us. Now we track EVERYTHING. Sales, touchpoints, opens, etc. The entire process of our marketing had taken off. We now are able to operate as a professional business and know exactly where our leads are coming from, what people are doing as far as behavior, and adjust accordingly.
Ease of use. Automation. Now landing pages....what else can you ask for?
Not a thing. I love everything about it.
I moved from MailChimp to Active Campaign and revolutionized my online business. Through segmentation , I am now able to send emails to those who are interested and my unsubscribe rate and open rates have improved through using the tools available.
The customer service is top notch, the automations have so much segmenting, and it's easy to use.
I can't think of anything I don't like! It's all great!
I'm using it as my email service provider. I love the segmentation and automations.
