ActiveCampaign alternatives: 6 options compared on pricing, automation and fit

ActiveCampaign is one of the best-known automation tools for small and mid-sized businesses. Its visual automation builder, CRM features and segmentation are the reasons many teams pick it. They are also the reasons some teams start looking elsewhere: a tool built for deep automation can be more than you need, and its price grows with your contact list.

This guide explains the most common reasons people look for an ActiveCampaign alternative, then compares six options using the same fields for each: who it suits, how it bills, what automation you get, and where it falls short. Every fact about a vendor comes from that vendor's own pricing page or help center, read in October 2026. Prices and plans change often, so check each page with your own list size before you switch.

Why people look for an ActiveCampaign alternative

ActiveCampaign is a capable product. The reasons people shop around are usually about fit and cost, not quality. Here is what its own pricing page shows, as of October 2026.

It bills by contacts, on yearly plans

ActiveCampaign prices its four plans (Starter, Plus, Pro and Enterprise) by contact count. The pricing page shows each plan "billed yearly" for a given number of contacts, and the price rises as your list grows. There is no free plan. There is a 14-day free trial that doesn't need a credit card.

If your list is large but you email it only a few times a month, you pay for the size of the list, not for how much you send.

The entry plan is email only, with limits

On ActiveCampaign's Starter plan, as listed on its pricing page:

• each automation is limited to 5 actions;
• you can have up to 5 lists;
• it is email only (cross-channel marketing starts on Plus);
• landing pages, sales automation and generative AI for content start on Plus;
• predictive sending and conditional content start on Pro.

None of these is unusual, but they mean the plan most small teams start on is not the one that shows off what ActiveCampaign is known for.

Extras are add-ons

SMS and an enhanced CRM are sold as add-ons on Plus, Pro and Enterprise, and neither is available on Starter. User seats also vary by plan: one on Starter and Plus, three on Pro and five on Enterprise at the 1,000-contact level.

It may be more tool than you need

If you mostly send a weekly newsletter and a welcome series, a deep automation and CRM platform adds setup and learning time you may never get back. On the other hand, if you run a sales team that needs deals, pipelines and lead scoring, a pure email tool will feel thin. Knowing which side you are on is the most useful first step.

ActiveCampaign alternatives at a glance

All details are as of October 2026. Below, each option gets the same four fields so you can compare like with like.

1. Brevo

Brevo (formerly Sendinblue) is a broad marketing platform that covers email, SMS, WhatsApp, a sales CRM and transactional email.

• Best for: businesses that send to a large list but not very often, and want SMS or WhatsApp in the same account.
• How it bills: by monthly email volume, not contact count. Its pricing page lists a Free plan, Starter from $9 a month and Standard from $18 a month (each with 5,000 emails a month at the entry tier), Professional from $499 a month including 150,000 emails, and a custom Enterprise plan. The Free plan sends up to 300 emails a day once your account is approved. SMS credits are sold separately.
• Automation: Brevo describes Standard as the plan for "small businesses ready to automate and test campaigns", and its feature list includes A/B testing, AI send-time optimization and web and event tracking.
• Where it falls short: seats are tight on the lower plans (one on Starter, up to three on Standard), and multi-user access, WhatsApp and push sit on Professional, a big step up in price.

If you are weighing Brevo itself, our Brevo alternatives guide covers it from the other side.

2. Mailchimp

Mailchimp is the best-known name in small-business email and covers newsletters, automations, landing pages and basic ecommerce data.

• Best for: small businesses that want a familiar tool with a gentle learning curve.
• How it bills: by contacts and plan tier (Free, Essentials, Standard, Premium). Its help center says subscribed, unsubscribed and non-subscribed contacts all count toward your total; only archived, cleaned and deleted contacts don't. The Free plan covers up to 250 contacts and 500 sends a month, with a daily limit of 250. The pricing page shows introductory discounts that change often, so we won't quote a paid price.
• Automation: Mailchimp positions Standard as the plan to "sell even more with automations, personalization, and optimization tools", with a 14-day free trial.
• Where it falls short: unsubscribed contacts still cost money until you archive them, and the better automation sits on Standard and above.

We compare Mailchimp in more depth in EterMail as a Mailchimp alternative.

3. MailerLite

MailerLite is a simpler, lower-cost tool for newsletters, landing pages, forms and straightforward automations.

• Best for: creators, small businesses and anyone who wants clean newsletters without a steep learning curve.
• How it bills: by subscribers. As of October 2026, the Free plan covers up to 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails a month. Paid plans are Comfort, starting at $12 a month, and Power, starting at $25 a month, with 10% off for yearly billing; the price rises with your subscriber count. There is a 14-day free trial with no card required.
• Automation: a visual automation builder on every plan. Free allows 3 active automations of up to 5 steps; Comfort allows 50; Power has no cap on active automations.
• Where it falls short: it's built for email marketing rather than sales pipelines, and it's lighter on deep ecommerce data than store-focused tools.

4. HubSpot Marketing Hub

HubSpot Marketing Hub is the marketing part of HubSpot's wider CRM suite.

• Best for: teams that want marketing, sales and service on one CRM and are ready to pay for it as they grow.
• How it bills: by seats and marketing contacts. Free tools cover up to 2 users and 2,000 email sends a month with HubSpot branding. Starter is billed per seat and includes 1,000 marketing contacts. Professional starts at $800 a month with 3 core seats and 2,000 marketing contacts, plus a one-time Professional Onboarding fee of $3,000. Starter's per-seat price on the page was a promotional figure, so check it yourself.
• Automation: Starter allows up to 10 automated actions. Unlimited actions and multi-channel workflows start on Professional.
• Where it falls short: the jump from Starter to Professional is large, and serious automation sits on Professional.

5. Klaviyo

Klaviyo is built around ecommerce data: orders, products and onsite behavior.

• Best for: online stores, especially on Shopify, that rely on automated flows and segments.
• How it bills: by active profiles, with a monthly email send allowance. The free plan includes up to 250 active profiles, 500 email sends a month and small monthly allowances for mobile messages and Composer, its AI agent. The pricing page uses a calculator rather than a fixed price list. SMS is billed separately.
• Automation: flows with ecommerce triggers and templates, plus segmentation built from order and browsing data.
• Where it falls short: it is aimed at B2C commerce, so B2B teams with sales pipelines will miss ActiveCampaign's CRM side. Cost grows with your emailable list.

For a side-by-side, see Klaviyo vs Mailchimp.

6. EterMail

EterMail is our product, so weigh this section with that in mind. It takes a different approach from ActiveCampaign rather than copying it.

• Best for: ecommerce stores, SaaS products and apps that want AI to draft their campaigns and flows, and want to pay for emails sent rather than contacts stored.
• How it bills: in credits, where 1,000 credits = $1. A marketing email costs 2 credits, about $2 per 1,000 emails; a cold email costs 5. AI is billed by usage. Plans are Free ($0, 1,000 credits a month, up to 1,000 contacts, no card), Starter $19, Growth $49, Pro $149 and Ultra $299. Top-ups of $10, $50 or $200 last 365 days.
• Automation: ready-made flows for welcome, browse abandonment, abandoned checkout, post-purchase and win-back, plus flows triggered by any custom event your product sends through the API. AI learns your brand from your website and drafts every email. AI can also make the pictures: on-brand banners, or scenes built from your real product photo, with an optional short greeting. By default, a person approves every send.
• Where it falls short: EterMail has no sales CRM with deals and pipelines, no SMS, and it isn't in the Shopify App Store. You connect Shopify with a read-only custom app. If you need ActiveCampaign's CRM and lead scoring, EterMail isn't a like-for-like replacement.

EterMail also includes cold outreach from your own mailboxes and a shared reply inbox. See pricing for the full plan list.

How to choose

Start from what you actually use ActiveCampaign for today.

You mainly send newsletters and a welcome series

Pick the simplest tool you're happy writing in. MailerLite and Mailchimp both have free plans and gentle editors. If your list is big and you send rarely, look at tools that bill by email volume, such as Brevo or EterMail, rather than by contacts.

You rely on automation and CRM for B2B sales

Stay close to ActiveCampaign's model. HubSpot Marketing Hub is the obvious step if you want one CRM for marketing and sales and can budget for Professional. Moving to a pure email tool means rebuilding deal stages and lead scoring somewhere else.

You run an online store

Look for real order and product data. Klaviyo goes deepest here. EterMail syncs customers, consent, orders, products and open checkouts from Shopify every 15 minutes, and drafts the flows for you.

You run a SaaS product or app

You need event-based automation from your own product data. EterMail's server API accepts identify and track calls, and a flow can start from an event like Trial Started. Our SaaS lifecycle email guide shows which flows to build first.

A simple switching checklist

Moving off any email platform takes more than exporting a CSV. Before you cancel:

1. Export contacts with consent status. Keep unsubscribes and bounces as a suppression list so you never email them again.
2. Write down every live automation. Note the trigger, the delays and the exit conditions, not just the emails.
3. Copy your best-performing emails. Save the HTML or the text of your top campaigns and flow emails.
4. Set up authentication on the new tool. SPF, DKIM and DMARC need to be in place before you send. Our email deliverability guide explains why.
5. Start with your most engaged contacts. Send to people who opened recently first, then widen the audience over a few weeks.
6. Run both tools briefly. Keep ActiveCampaign until the new flows have fired correctly at least once.

Here is an example of a short note you could send to your list when you switch. It's our own sample copy, not a template from any vendor:

FAQ

What is better than ActiveCampaign?

No single tool is better for everyone. HubSpot Marketing Hub is a common step up for teams that want one CRM for marketing and sales. Brevo, Mailchimp and MailerLite are simpler and often cheaper for email-first businesses, and Klaviyo goes deeper for online stores.

Is there a free alternative to ActiveCampaign?

Yes. As of October 2026, Brevo, Mailchimp, MailerLite, Klaviyo and EterMail all have free plans, and HubSpot offers free tools. Each one caps contacts or sends, so check the limits against your list. ActiveCampaign itself has a 14-day free trial but no free plan.

Why is ActiveCampaign so expensive?

ActiveCampaign prices by contact count on yearly plans, so the bill grows with your list, whether or not you email everyone often. Features like landing pages and generative AI start on Plus, while SMS and the enhanced CRM are add-ons. Cleaning out unengaged contacts is the main lever you control.

Is Mailchimp cheaper than ActiveCampaign?

It depends on your list size and the plan you need. Both bill by contacts, and Mailchimp's pricing page shows introductory discounts that change often. Compare both calculators with your own contact count, and remember that Mailchimp also counts unsubscribed contacts until you archive them.

Can I move my automations from ActiveCampaign to another tool?

Not automatically. Automations don't transfer between platforms, so you rebuild them in the new tool. Write down each trigger, delay and exit rule first, then recreate the flows and test them before you turn ActiveCampaign off.