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.
It's pretty easy to use und highly effective. Great Onboarding.
nothing that i am aware of. It works just fine
We have created our templates and can easily plan our campaigns.
I appreciate Active Campaign's deliverability (best & most iimportant feature), also straightforward reporting, design options, and easy upload of lists.
For a non professional the design options are tricky to understand. For someone in Australia there's always a long wait for customer support.
Active Campaign is a strong robust app, I can rely on it for deliverability. Looking forward to using it's capabilities for more than just newsletters.
It is so flexible, can plug into every platform I have used. Amazing for segementing lists, and easy to imbed forms.
That it doesn't write emails for you! Seriously, this isn't an issue as the human touch is imperative, but I couldn't think of anything!
Helping me to keep in touch with my customer base who do not use social media
I really appreciate all the tools at my disposal. We used it before with another company I ran and it always came through. It's easier to use than other platforms I used in the past.
I can't think of anything not working well.
Connecting with my audience in an intuitive and easy way. It integrates well with everything and never creates problems. I rely heavily on email marketing for my business and I am happy to have 46% - 55% opening rates for my campaigns.
I like Activecampaign is very simple to use
I have no time but i want more so i thing frequency of use
We use a lot the automations, it saves us time and money
- Very friendly & Helpful onboarding & support team - Easy to use - Powerful automations
We would appreciate direct Whatsapp support, but the various integrations with 3rd party providers offered work as well
Reach out to each customer via the right channel on an automated basis
The set-up and support are brilliant, with colleagues helping us to work out and implement automated workflows. The campaign builder is great too.
The pricing is a little high for a non-profit, but they were able to implement significant discounts for the first few months whilst we trialled it.
Automated workflows and email sequences. This has saved our small team about a day a week of manual tasks and verification processes. Contact management and team collaboration using pipelines and contact notes. Outlook add-in is a great way to stay on top of contact management too.
I like the automation and how I can integrate twilio texts to go out within my automations.
N/A. I don't have any issues with Active Campaign. It provides the email sequences and automations I currently need within my business.
Creating omnipresence having emails set to go off following webinars and podcasts episodes.
The automated process of sending emails. Scheduling ahead of time.Cross refernce to social media platforms
Customer support chat bot not helpful.Instructions on how to navigate to complex for beginner's
Active campaign is solving the problem of direct marketing with consumers.My business has benefited from using active campaign by helping me stay connected with my clients and to free up time to do other important business tasks.
We use AC mostly for email newsletters and event invitations. Their campaign and automation builder is easy to use with lots of options. It does everything you would need it to do in a email service, plus they offer landing pages which are versitile and getting better regularly. Customer support is easy to get thru a chat and email. Integrates with Zapier to make things very easy as well for other projects.
I would like to use FB Conversion API on landing pages, that does not seem to be available outside of just the pixel code.
AC solves our need to stay in front of our list with ease of email campaigns.
I like the user experience both internal (us making the emails) and external (our recipients). I like that you can actually make brand identified aesthetically pleasing emails. That go beyond changing the color of the background. I also appreciate the reports.
The thing I dislike about ActiveCampaign... Signing in having checked the 45 day remember me and then making me log in every day.
Creating marketing automations, advertising our YouTube videos and connecting with clients, building our email list.
Using the drip campaigns is a huge convenience for us!
Instead of paying once a year, I would prefer to have a monthly payment
There are lots of different options when it comes to email marketing, but we love ActiveCampaign for it's accuracy and convenience
It is very easy to use and very Well created
Maybe the pictograms are hard to seeeeeee
Helplng me to see statistics
There are lots of features and functions. Most of which I don't currently use. They offer lots of tutorials to learn about them and are constantly updating their product which is nice.
I would like to see an all-encompassing training that I can take at my own pace because I often can't make the scheduled trainings.
It is where I track my lead engagement and I can have easily have a virtual assistant follow practices and enter data for tracking outcomes as well.
There is so much that I truly like about Active Campaign and have been using it for many years. What I like best are the automations.
I would love if the landing pages were even more robust. Also, it would help to have more training courses. lastly, I have a challenging time getting help for the program since I purchased it through my marketing department, I don't get a Help button and have to go through the 3rd party. I would like to be able to contact you directly so I don't have to pay my marketing department.
Allowing me to send campaigns and automations for my programs.
Simple interface is easy to use, Deliverability is great, and my emails look professional; I use this one to several times weekly.
Expensive for my small business needs, but I love the platform, features and dependability
As a professional artist, ActiveCampaign gives me the opportunity for greatly increased interation with my collectors and followers.
My experience with automatic newsletters has been excellent.
Data reports do not work as I would like.
Send automatic emails without doing it myself.
Active campaign made my business newsletter so easy and efficient. I can make it look exactly as I want it to, and schedule it to go out right on time.
There are some difficulties starting out about navigating your newsletter format and getting familiar with the setup.
I can send out an official personalized newsletter to my entire email list all in one click.
As a beginner using Active Campaign I felt as though I was supported each step of the way. The platform is also very user-friendly. I've used platforms in the past and spent a lot of time with their support.
I don't believe there's really much to dislike about Active Campaign. I've used other solutions in the past and found this to top the list hands down.
The problem that AC solves for me is having all my contacts in one place, easy to see and segment based on purchasing behavior.
ActiveCampaign providers an easy-to-use drag and drop email builder. But even better, it has an excellent Email Automation builder that is intuitive, clear, and easy to use.
Our CRM does not connect to ActiveCampaign, so we are limited on building specialized customer journeys.
We are able to easily send and monitor marketing emails to our customer list.
It is easy to use, with a lot of extra apps to implement. (fe: Google ads, FB lead ads, Mollie) I really like to use an automation and landing pages. I had to use customer support last month because it seems I could not access all the info of my contacts and they were friendly, to the point, and accurate as to what was my problem. (it had nothing to do with AC itself)
Can't think of something right now actually.
Automation: one time creating it and after that it does the trick without me over and over again. Love it! Targetting the right contacts by using tags.
In my experience: - it's been reliable most of the time. - the visual interface is intuitive and easy to use. - it gets the job done whether we use it on a small list (as we currrently do, in our new business), or on a larger list (100k+ subscribers, as was the case in our previous business). - we send daily e-mails (monday to friday) and 99% of the time it works smoothly. - customer support has been helpful when needed, botth the help section and chat. - even some of the e-mails we've received from them were useful (for example, informing us of the upcoming DKIM and DMARC authentication changes for Yahoo and Google in early 2024). - easy to get our team members to use it well right away.
- it's not the cheapest, of course (it's worth it though, in my experience). - sometimes it had half an hour's delay without a clear reason why. I'd say in 1% of the times. No biggie. - deliverability has sometimes been an issue - but I guess it's because they're very strict on security measures.
Reaching a large, warm audience cheaply and easily. This helps us implement our marketing strategy and drive solid sales.
It connects to our Pipedrive and does great communication between the two.
It does not look intuitive at first, but gets easier as you start using it.
Automating our communication from our leads in Pipedrive without needing to log in and out of two different systems.
It is pretty straght forward for someone who doesn't know much about computer software. It has always been a challenge for me but I appreciate the detailed guides, easy to use features and customer support.
Nothing yet! I think more walk through guides are always helpful, as I have found myself going to youtube a handful of times to complete ideas I've created.
It is automating processes that would otherwise take a ton of time.
Its' really Friendly User, Customer Support
Maybe the cost relacionada a mi Frequency of use
1. Conection 2. Comunication 3. Sales 4.Position
Automatically Setup all the things i need based on my customer behavior,
The perform with chrome is not always smooth and you must be aware of some of your tweaks may not be set up
Having my bussiness automatic
Automations, has a lot of options to connect with forms and websites
Sometimes the platform is kind of slow loading data. It's not that easy to implement at the beginning.
Email Marketing and automations, it helps me to make things easier and faster.
It is easy to use and quite intuitive. It is flexible. It has lots of facilities there are frequent updates The customer support team are fast to respond
It would be helpful if ActiveCampaign could link directly with Kartra rather than having to use Zapier.
It allows me to stay in contact with my email list in an easy and useful way.
It's a feature rich platform that is fairly priced. It easily integrates with Google Workspace and the customer support is quick to respond when you are dealing with issues. As someone that uses this on a daily basis I love how frequently the updates come out.
The features can't be as segemented as other platforms making the pricing very inclusive.
ActiveCampaign helps me solve the automation and ease to release issue. I need to be able to quickly turnaround email campaigns, institute workflows/automations, and review the data from my efforts without constantly updating spreadsheets or having to do so much of the work manually. ActiveCampaign keeps me moving fast.
Nuestra empresa lleva más de 20 años trabajando con herramientas online y hemos probado casi todas las opciones relacionadas al email marketing. Pero sólo fue cuando probamos ActiveCampaign que nos dimos cuenta de la verdadera potencia de las automatizaciones avanzadas. De hecho, fue la única herramienta del mercado que nos brindó la solución para un problema concreto: ninguna otra pudo hacerlo. Desde el primer momento en que comenzamos a trabajar con ActiveCampaign nos dimos cuenta de que estábamos ante algo superior, que podía cubrir el 100% de nuestras necesidades. Por último debo destacar que la interfaz está completamente en español, y es algo importante cuando se trabaja con varias personas y no todas dominan el idioma inglés.
Sinceramente no encontramos nada que nos disguste. Trabajamos con ActiveCampaign todos los días desde hace varios años y no encontramos nada que quisiéramos cambiar. Es de esas herramientas que se adaptan perfectamente a tus tareas.
Hemos logrado resolver un problema de envío de email basado en fechas que es bastante complejo, y sólo logramos resolverlo con ActiveCampaign (y hemos probado decenas de alternativas). Además, el uso de etiquetas y campos personalizados es muy superior a otras alternativas y nos funciona perfectamente para nuestros propósitos.
