ActiveCampaign is an efficient email marketing software with everything you need. But lately, users have started complaining about the complexity, lack of deep analytics, and, most recently, about an increase in monthly pricing.
Dissatisfaction with ActiveCampaign’s proposition has led people to look for a robust email marketing automation software that is a viable alternative.
In this blog, we will share some of the best email marketing tools you can use as an alternative to ActiveCampaign. So, let’s begin.
Why Consider ActiveCampaign Alternatives?
ActiveCampaign is known for its advanced automation, robust integrations, and several other features. However, business owners have started searching for ActiveCampaign alternatives due to various reasons, including:
- Pricing. ActiveCampaign can be expensive, particularly for smaller businesses with a limited budget. Their recent price hike has made it more unviable for many business owners. Additionally, some users complain that the pricing tiers are confusing and that they don’t offer enough flexibility for a growing business.
- Steep Learning Curve. ActiveCampaign isn’t the most human-friendly email marketing platform available, and many small business owners who aren’t tech-savvy find it challenging to navigate. The interface is cluttered, and workflow automation requires much time to set up correctly.
- Limited Reporting and Analytics. ActiveCampaign offers some reporting and analytics features, but they aren’t as detailed as some users prefer. For example, the reporting features are not insightful enough to help evaluate performance and adjust for better results.
- Restrictive Opt-In Forms. Opt-in forms are a crucial part of any email marketing campaign, and while ActiveCampaign does provide some basic form templates, they’re too ‘unappealing’ for many users. Customization options are limited, and users may find creating forms that match their brand aesthetic and messaging challenging.
- Limited Customer Support. Although ActiveCampaign offers customer support, some users report that it can be slow and inefficient at times. Moreover, the support team’s expertise may be limited to specific areas of the platform, which can lead to long wait times for certain queries.
7 Best ActiveCampaign Alternatives in 2023
If you came here searching for the most efficient ActiveCampaign alternative, here’s a list of the best email marketing automation software out there:
- Sender
- Klaviyo
- Constant Contact
- Aweber
- HubSpot
- Mailjet
- Sendinblue
We’ve compared the most useful features and shared pricing plans and focused on why a solution is better than ActiveCampaign in the current context. So, dig in and choose:
1. Sender – Best ActiveCampaign Competitor for Multichannel Automation
Sender is an all-in-one marketing automation platform that is the most viable alternative to ActiveCampaign. It has unique features and an advanced automation builder, making it ideal for businesses that want to leverage multiple communication channels for their marketing campaigns, such as SMS and email.
Key Features
- Omnichannel automation builder;
- Drag-and-drop email builder and premade templates;
- Smart segmentation;
- Workflow automation builder.
Sender is great for eCommerce businesses, small business owners, and startups that want to automate marketing campaigns across multiple channels. Its drag-and-drop editor supports several design blocks and has a large selection of templates that are customizable and mobile-friendly.
You can also use Sender’s workflow automation builder to set up automated welcome campaigns and abandoned cart campaigns quickly. Plus, SMS campaigns and high email deliverability rates mean you can enjoy the benefits of a deeply engaged audience. It also has integrations with eCommerce platforms like Shopify, WooCommerce, and all major CMSs.
Why is Sender a Good ActiveCampaign Alternative?
- It has an advanced omnichannel (email and SMS) automation builder for a streamlined user experience;
- Sender’s drag-and-drop builder is a human-friendly solution to build responsive campaigns quickly and comes with several customizable templates;
- A generous free plan that allows you to take advantage of all the premium features without paying money for up to 2500 subscribers;
- Behavioral automation and smart segmentation features.
Pros & Cons
| Pros | Cons |
| Omnichannel automation for email & SMS, even on a free plan; | No landing page builder (in progress); |
| Ready-to-use responsive email templates; | Sender’s logo with Free plan. |
| Affordable pricing plans. |
Pricing
| Free Forever plan | Standard plan (from $8/mo) | Professional plan (from $29) | |
| Number of Contacts | 2,500 contacts | 2,500 contacts | 2,500 contacts |
| Monthly Email Limit | 15,000 emails/mo | 30,000 emails/mo | 30,000 emails/mo |
| Features & Benefits | Unlimited popups & forms | Unlimited popups & forms | Unlimited email automation |
| Unlimited email automation | Unlimited email automation | Unlimited email & SMS automation | |
| — | SMS messaging | Countdown timers | |
| — | No Sender branding | Survey, feedback blocks |
2. Klaviyo — Best Alternative for SMS & Email Campaigns
Klaviyo is one of the best alternatives to ActiveCampaign if you’re in the eCommerce industry. While it’s primarily known for its advanced email marketing automation capabilities, the platform also supports SMS and other forms of messaging.
Klaviyo’s powerful analytics and customer segmentation features make it an excellent platform for eCommerce businesses looking to nurture long-term relationships with their prospects and customers.
Key Features
- Powerful email marketing automation and segmentation capabilities;
- Customizable signup forms, popups, and landing pages;
- Bulk SMS marketing campaigns;
- Integrations with ecommerce platforms such as Shopify and Magento.
Klaviyo is great for businesses that need an advanced email marketing automation platform that also has an SMS marketing feature. Its customer segmentation tools make it an ideal platform for personalizing campaigns and building long-term relationships. Klaviyo’s integrations with eCommerce platforms such as Shopify and Magento make it easy to track sales attribution and measure the ROI of your campaigns.
Why is Klaviyo a Good ActiveCampaign Alternative?
- Custom audience segments to personalize email and SMS campaigns based on behavior, online activity, and preferences;
- Support campaign personalization and dynamic content;
- Native integrations make it easy to track sales attribution and measure campaign ROI;
- Prebuilt eCommerce automation templates to speed up the process of setting up marketing automation flows.
Pros & Cons
| Pros | Cons |
| Robust segmentation and targeting features | Limited third-party integrations compared to some competitors; |
| Advanced automation workflows, including prebuilt ecommerce automation; | Learning curve for beginners; |
| Real-time analytics and reporting, including revenue tracking. | Higher pricing compared to some competitors. |
Pricing
| Free Plan ($0/month) | Email ($20/month) | Email & SMS($35/month) | |
| Number of Contacts | Up to 250 contacts | Up to 500 contacts | Up to 500 contacts |
| Monthly Email Limit | 500 monthly emails | 5000 monthly emails | 5000 monthly emails + 1250 SMS/MMS credits |
| Features & Benefits | Drag-and-drop automation builder | Drag-and-drop automation builder | Drag-and-drop automation builder |
| Templates with built-in best practices | Templates with built-in best practices | Templates with built-in best practices | |
| Built-in forms and pop-ups | Built-in forms and pop-ups | Built-in forms and pop-ups | |
| Email support for first 60 days | Email & Chat Support | Email & Chat Support |
3. Constant Contact – Email Service like ActiveCampaign for Nonprofits
If you’re a nonprofit organization looking for an affordable ActiveCampaign alternative, Constant Contact is an excellent option. It offers all the features you need to communicate with your supporters and grow your donor base effectively.
Key Features
- Advanced email automation with lead scoring and nurturing capabilities;
- Powerful list management tools and segmentation options;
- Social media integration.
Constant Contact offers a wide variety of mobile-responsive email templates that are easy to customize. Its list management tools and segmentation options make it easy to send targeted messages to specific groups of supporters. The platform also offers integrations with popular CRM platforms, making it easy to manage relationships with prospects, leads, and donors. A/B testing and reporting tools allow for campaign optimization, while social media integration, event management tools, survey emails, and polls can further enhance your communication strategy.
Why is Constant Contact a Good ActiveCampaign Alternative?
- It offers all the features necessary for effective omnichannel marketing and campaigns across email, SMS, and social media;
- Great deliverability rates with amazing responsiveness;
- Intuitive interface with virtually no learning curve;
- Seamless integrations with third-party platforms and solutions.
Pros & Cons
| Pros | Cons |
| Easy-to-use email editor with a drag-and-drop interface; | Limited automation capabilities compared to some competitors; |
| Extensive list management features, including automatic list cleaning; | Limited customization options for templates; |
| Supports social media management features. | Limited eCommerce platform integrations for some platforms. |
Pricing
| Lite ($12/month) | Standard ($35/month) | Premium ($80/month) | |
| Number of Contacts | 0-500 contacts | 0-500 contacts | 0-500 contacts |
| Monthly Email Limit | 10x contact tier allowance | 12x contact tier allowance | 24x contact tier allowance |
| Features & Benefits | Basic email marketing with easy-to-use templates | Email marketing with subject line A/B testing and email archive | Advanced email marketing with dynamic content |
Automated welcome email for new contacts | Resend emails to non-openers | Custom automations | |
| Social marketing | Pre-built automation templates | Custom contact segmentation | |
| Event management | Contact segmentation | Search engine optimization |
4. Aweber – Best ActiveCampaign Alternative for Building Landing Pages
Aweber is a great email marketing platform that also offers powerful landing page-building capabilities, making it an excellent alternative for businesses looking to drive more leads through dedicated opt-in and landing pages.
Key Features
- Email marketing automation with drag-and-drop campaign builders;
- Powerful landing page builder with customizable templates;
- A/B testing and analytics tools to optimize campaigns.
Aweber’s email marketing automation capabilities come with a human-friendly drag-and-drop campaign builder. The platform’s landing page builder is equally simple to use and offers a wide range of customizable templates.
Aweber also offers A/B testing and analytics tools to help optimize campaigns and get maximum ROI. Subscriber segmentation features enable businesses to send targeted messages to specific groups of subscribers.
Why is Aweber a Good ActiveCampaign Alternative?
- Integrates with marketing, CRM, and design platforms like Canva to speed up the process of campaign creation, lead nurturing, etc.
- In-built landing page builder with customizable templates;
- Predesigned automated campaign workflows to speed up the process of automating most common marketing and lead nurturing tasks;
- Human-friendly interface with a large library of customizable templates makes it suitable for beginners.
Pros & Cons
| Pros | Cons |
| Solid integrations with all major CRM and marketing platforms; | Limited customization features for email templates; |
| Predesigned workflow automation campaign templates; | Restrictive email list segmentation features; |
| Human-friendly interface and drag-and-drop editor. | No A/B testing features for landing pages. |
Pricing
| Free($0.00/month) | Lite($12.50/month) | Plus($20.00/month) | Unlimited($899/month) | |
| Number of Contacts | Up to 500 subscribers (1 Email List) | Up to 500 subscribers | Up to 500 subscribers | Unlimited subscribers, fixed price |
| Monthly Email Limit | 3,000/mo | Unlimited | Unlimited | 12x Subscriber volume, monthly |
| Features & Benefits | 1 Email Automation | 3 Email Automations | Unlimited Automations | Unlimited Automations |
| — | Email Split Testing | Email Split Testing | Email Split Testing | |
| — | — | Behavioral automation | Behavioral automation | |
| — | — | Detailed deliverability reporting | Detailed deliverability reporting |
5. HubSpot — Best ActiveCampaign Competitor for Marketing Automation
HubSpot is a powerful marketing automation platform that offers various features, making it a strong ActiveCampaign competitor. It has probably every marketing automation capability — lead capture forms, email marketing automation, landing page creation, social media management, and more.
Key Features
- All-in-one sales and marketing automation platform;
- Email marketing automation;
- Landing page creation;
- Lead scoring and nurturing.
HubSpot allows businesses to centralize their marketing efforts and save time. The platform’s lead capture forms enable businesses to collect customer information and build their email list. Plus, the free CRM allows you to manage your customer contacts and plan elaborate automated lead nurture campaigns based on your growth goals.
HubSpot’s lead scoring and nurturing features help businesses identify their most promising leads and build relationships with them over time. You can also send personalized emails based on subscriber behavior and interests. The platform also includes sales automation features that make it easy to manage and track leads throughout the sales process.
Why is HubSpot a Good ActiveCampaign Alternative?
- All-in-one platform with an in-built CRM, email automation, and sales funnel automation systems to save time;
- Features like lead capture forms, email personalization, landing page creation, social media management, etc., make it a solid automation suite;
- Lead scoring and nurturing features to identify their most promising leads and build relationships with them over time;
- Analytics and reporting tools provide businesses with valuable insights into the effectiveness of their campaigns.
Pros & Cons
| Pros | Cons |
| Comprehensive marketing automation features, including lead scoring and automation workflows; | Expensive pricing plans; |
| Extensive CRM capabilities, including sales and customer service tools; | Can be overwhelming for beginners with a steep learning curve; |
| Robust reporting and analytics capabilities. | Limited functionality and features, especially on starter plans. |
Pricing
| Free | Starter ($18 per month) | Professional ($800 per month) | |
| Number of Contacts | — | 1000 | 2000 |
| Monthly Email Limit | 2000 email sends per calendar month, with HubSpot branding. | 5X marketing contact tier email send limit per calendar month. | 10X marketing contact tier email send limit per calendar month. |
| Features & Benefits | Free CRM and Sales management tools | Connect and authenticate an email sending domain. Remove HubSpot branding. | Omni-channel marketing automation |
| Landing pages | Custom reporting | ||
| Forms | Campaign reporting | ||
| 10 reporting dashboards, 10 reports per dashboard | 25 dashboards, 30 reports per dashboard |
6. Mailjet — Similar to ActiveCampaign for Integrations
Mailjet is another platform that you can consider as an ActiveCampaign competitor. You can pick it if you want to manage customer data across platforms seamlessly. It offers native integrations with more than 100 tools, including popular options like Salesforce, Shopify, AirTable, Amazon Seller, etc., making it easy to sync their marketing efforts with other areas of operations.
Key Features
- Advanced segmentation and targeting options;
- Drag-and-drop email builder;
- A/B testing and optimization.
Mailjet offers all the features you need to grow, nurture, and convert your email subscribers into customers. You can use segmentation and personalization features to send targeted messages to specific groups of subscribers. Additionally, Mailjet offers A/B testing and optimization features to help you improve email open and click-through rates.
The platform also includes real-time collaboration features, making it easy for multiple people to work on campaigns together.
Why is Mailjet a good ActiveCampaign Alternative?
- Amazing collaboration features to speed up the process of campaign creation;
- Native integrations with all major tools and platforms for seamless data sync;
- Real-time deliverability and performance statistics right from the dashboard.
Pros & Cons
| Pros | Cons |
| Good email deliverability rates; | Limited automation features compared to some competitors; |
| Advanced segmentation and personalization features; | Not-so-friendly customer support; |
| Affordable pricing plans for businesses of all sizes. | Poor documentation and unreliable API. |
Pricing
| Free($0/month) | Essential(Starting at$15/month) | Premium(Starting at$25/month) | |
| Number of Contacts | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Monthly Email Limit | 6,000 emails/month | 15,000 emails/month | 15,000 emails/month |
| Features & Benefits | Drag and Drop Builder | Remove Mailjet Branding | Marketing Automation |
| Subscription Forms | 85+ Integrations | A/B testing | |
| Email Templates | Online Customer Support | Dynamic Content | |
| APIs and Webhooks | APIs and Webhooks | Priority Support |
7. Sendinblue – Best ActiveCampaign Alternative with Unlimited Contacts
Sendinblue is a great alternative to ActiveCampaign for businesses that have a large email list and don’t like paying based on the number of contracts. It allows you to store unlimited contacts and charges you based on the number of emails you send every month. The platform offers marketing automation features, including email marketing, SMS marketing, retargeting ads, and landing page creation.
Key Features
- Store unlimited contacts;
- Omnichannel automation campaigns;
- Drag-and-drop email builder;
- A/B testing and optimization.
Sendinblue is a great choice for businesses that want to manage large contact lists. The platform supports marketing automation, SMS, live chat, CRM, and transactional emails. You can use the unique shared inbox feature or sales CRM to oversee a lead/deal through the entire sales pipeline.
Sendinblue also includes CRM and sales automation features to manage sales pipelines and track deals seamlessly. The advanced lead scoring and retargeting features help you personalize the experience through the buyer’s journey.
Why is Sendinblue a Good ActiveCampaign Alternative?
- No limits or restrictions on storing contacts; all plans support unlimited contacts;
- Advanced workflow automation builder with premade templates;
- Lead scoring, email segmentation, and behavioral personalization features;
- Supports transactional emails with email API that offers great deliverability.
Pros & Cons
| Pros | Cons |
| Advanced automation workflows, including prebuilt e-commerce automation; | Outdated templates; |
| Human-friendly email editor with drag-and-drop interface; | Confusing list management features; |
| Decent lead scoring and personalization features. | Restrictive email preview feature. |
Pricing
| Free | Starter ($25/ month) | Business ($65/month) | |
| Number of Contacts | Unlimited Contacts | Unlimited Contacts | Unlimited Contacts |
| Monthly Email Limit | 300 emails/day | 20k emails/month | 20k emails/month |
| Features & Benefits | Customizable Email Templates | No daily sending limit | Marketing Automation |
| Drag & Drop Editor | No Sendinblue logo (add-on) | A/B testing | |
| Transactional Emails | Basic reporting & analytics | Advanced statistics | |
| SMS & WhatsApp Campaigns | Email support | Phone support |
ActiveCampaign Free Alternatives
ActiveCampaign is great for businesses with amazing tech teams and a decent budget. But if you’re looking for free alternatives to ActiveCampaign, here are three options for you to give a shot:
Sender
Sender is the best free alternative to ActiveCampaign with advanced marketing automation tools such as a drag-and-drop automation builder, behavioral automation, and omnichannel campaign creation. The free plan allows you to use all the advanced features, including workflow builder, for up to 2500 subscribers. Some great features you can use on free plans:
- Drag-and-drop email builder with responsive email marketing templates;
- Powerful email list segmentation tools and behavioral personalization features;
- In-depth analytics and insights for your email marketing campaigns;
- Intuitive popup and form builder with premade templates.
SendPulse
You can use SendPulse as a free alternative to ActiveCampaign, as it allows you to use it for up to 500 subscribers. You can use all the features of the email marketing solution, including a landing page builder, email templates, and drag-and-drop builder. The free plan allows you to create one landing page and send up to 15000 emails per month to your subscribers. Here are some of the most useful features:
- Web push notifications and SMS campaigns;
- Drag and drop email and landing page builder;
- Email verifier to verify your email list for genuine email contacts.
SendinBlue
SendinBlue is another ActiveCampaign alternative for small businesses that are just starting with email marketing. It offers a free plan that allows you to send up to 300 emails per day. You can store unlimited contacts on the platform without paying anything. Here are some of the features of SendinBlue that make it a great alternative to ActiveCampaign:
- Marketing automation workflows with a drag-and-drop builder;
- Personalized email campaigns with dynamic content;
- Real-time reporting and analytics to track your email performance;
ActiveCampaign Alternatives: Price & Feature Comparison Table
| Sender | Klaviyo | Constant Contact | Aweber | HubSpot | MailJet | Sendinblue | |
| Contacts | Up to 2 500 (Free Plan) | up to 250 (Free Plan) | Unlimited | Not specified | Up to 1,000 (free plan) | Up to 200 (free plan) | Unlimited |
| Emails | Up to 15 000 (Free Plan) | 500 emails per month (Free plan) | Up to 900 | Not specified | Up to 2,000 (free plan) | Up to 6,000 (free plan) | Up to 9000 |
| Daily limits (Free account) | Unlimited | – | 300 | 100 per day | 500 per day | – | 300 |
| Support | 24/7 Live Chat + Email | Email Support | Email-only | 24/7 Live Chat + Email | Email and Live Chat (free plan) | Email and Live Chat | Email-only |
| WordPress Integration | “+” | “+” | “+” | “+” | “+” | “+” | “+” |
| Email Automation | “+” | “+” | “+” | “+” | “+” | “+” | “+” |
| Email Templates Library | “+” | “+” | “+” | “+” | “+” | “+” | “+” |
| Advanced Segmentation | “+” | “+” | Basic | “+” | “+” | “+” | Basic |
| Email Scheduling | “+” | “+” | “+” | “+” | “+” | “+” | “+” |
| Advanced Reporting | “+” | “+” | – | “+” | Basic on Lower Plans | “+” | – |
| Geography & device reporting | “+” | – | – | “+” | “+” | “+” | – |
| Heat map reporting | “+” | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Advanced open & click stats. | “+” | “+” | – | “+” | Basic on Lower Plans | “+” | – |
| Multi-user access | Unlimited | Limited on Lower Plans | 1 | Unlimited on Higher Plans | – | Yes | Limited on Lower Plans |
| Pricing | $8 per month for 2500 subscribers and up to 30k emails per month | Paid plans start at $45 per month for up to 1500 email contacts and 15000 emails sent per month. | $9.99 per month for up to 500 contacts | Starts from $20 for 500 contacts | $45 per month for up to 1000 contacts (subscribers) | $15/month for up to 15000 emails | $25 per month for sending up to 20k emails/month (No restriction on subscribers) |
Key Takeaways: ActiveCampaign Alternatives
- Choose an alternative that offers the same (or better) features with an affordable pricing plan;
- Always test out all the features using the free plan before migrating to a new platform;
- Explore how the marketing automation solution fits your business sales cycle and integrates with your existing tech stack;
- Choose a platform that supports omnichannel campaigns across email and SMS, preferably.
Also read:
- 14 Best Email Marketing Services in 2023 (Free & Paid) |
- 10 Best Mailchimp Alternatives for 2023 (Incl. Free Competitors)
Author Bio
Anmol Ratan Sachdeva is a content marketer and small business consultant who has a strong grip on topics like marketing automation, email marketing, and content marketing. He loves to write about building, improving, and growing a business.
