ActiveCampaign
Free trialEmail marketing and automation with an optional sales CRM, for small and midsize businesses.
Best for small and midsize businesses that want detailed email automation and will pay more than a basic newsletter tool costs
Facts checked November 4, 2026 · First written by Mutuo Mbilla
The short answer
ActiveCampaign suits businesses that want emails to react to what each contact does, with branching automations, segmentation and lead scoring that cheaper newsletter tools leave out. At 1,000 contacts it costs $15 a month on Starter billed yearly, and the jump to Plus ($49) is where landing pages, site messages and the Shopify integration arrive. There is no free plan, Starter and Plus include one user, and the sales CRM is a separate add-on, so the bill climbs faster than the entry price suggests.
Choose it if
- You want automations that branch on opens, clicks, purchases, form fills or custom events instead of a fixed drip sequence
- You sell through Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce or Stripe and want order data to trigger follow-up emails
- You want a 14-day trial with no credit card before you commit
- You need HIPAA support or single sign-on and can pay for the Enterprise plan
- You want one vendor for marketing email now and a sales pipeline later, through the Pipelines add-on
Skip it if
- You want a free plan; ActiveCampaign only offers a 14-day trial
- You send one newsletter a month to a few hundred people, where MailerLite or Mailchimp's free plan costs less
- Several people need their own logins on a small budget, since Starter and Plus include one user and Pro includes three
- You expect a deal pipeline in the base price; the CRM is an add-on from $49 a month on Plus
- Your list will pass 25,000 contacts soon, which is Starter's ceiling
Main features
Automation builder
Build automations with if/else branches, waits, goals, webhooks and contact updates. Starter includes multi-step automations, so even the cheapest plan can run a welcome series that changes path based on what each person clicks.
AI automation and campaign builders
Describe the campaign or automation you want and ActiveCampaign drafts it for you to edit. Every plan comes with 500 AI credits, and Plus adds generated copy and images.
Email designer and templates
A drag-and-drop editor with more than 250 templates, so you can start from a layout instead of a blank page.
Segmentation and conditional content
Pro adds advanced segments and conditional content, which shows different blocks of one email to different contacts based on their fields, tags or behavior.
Predictive sending
On Pro and Enterprise, ActiveCampaign times each email for the moment that contact is most likely to engage, instead of one send time for the whole list.
Landing pages and site messages
From Plus, you can build landing pages and show on-site messages to known contacts, then feed sign-ups straight into an automation.
Attribution and conversion tracking
Pro shows which campaigns and automations led to a conversion, so you can see which emails are paying for themselves.
Pipelines CRM add-on
Add deal pipelines to Plus, Pro or Enterprise to track sales next to your marketing data. A higher tier adds sales engagement tools for teams that prospect.
Ecommerce integrations
Connect Shopify (Plus and up), WooCommerce, BigCommerce, Square or Stripe to trigger abandoned cart, browse abandonment and post-purchase emails from order data.
Mobile app
The iOS and Android app lets you check email reports, manage deals and tasks, and look up, call or email contacts away from your desk.
Pricing
US dollar prices for 1,000 contacts, checked November 4, 2026. Prices rise with your contact count: Starter, for example, is $189 billed monthly at 10,000 contacts, and Starter stops at 25,000 contacts. The Pipelines CRM add-on starts at $49 a month on Plus, $85 on Pro and $119 on Enterprise (billed monthly). SMS, WhatsApp and extra AI credits cost extra.
Starter
$15 / month, billed yearly ($19 billed monthly)
1,000 contacts, 1 user, 10,000 emails a month, multi-step automations, AI automation and campaign builders, 250+ email templates, 500 AI credits
Plus
$49 / month, billed yearly ($59 billed monthly)
Everything in Starter plus landing pages, site messages, generative AI for copy and images, the Shopify integration and the option to add the Pipelines CRM
Pro
$79 / month, billed yearly ($99 billed monthly)
3 users, 12,000 emails a month, predictive sending, conditional content, advanced segmentation, attribution and conversion tracking, priority support
Enterprise
$145 / month, billed yearly ($179 billed monthly)
5 users, 15,000 emails a month, single sign-on, HIPAA support, custom objects, the Salesforce integration, an uptime SLA and a dedicated account team
Reviews
Write a reviewNo reviews yet. If you use ActiveCampaign, yours would be the first.
Alternatives to ActiveCampaign
| Product | Choose it instead if | Starts at |
|---|---|---|
| HubSpot | You want marketing email, sales tools and a free CRM from one vendor | Free |
| MailerLite | You mainly send newsletters and simple automations and want a lower bill | Free |
| Keap | You want the best for established small businesses that want CRM, automation and payments from one vendor, with setup done for them | $320 a month billed mont... |
| Ontraport | You want the best for established small businesses that sell courses, coaching or services and want their CRM, automations, checkout and member area in one account | $99 a month |
| Klaviyo | You run an online store and want email and SMS built around product and order data | Free |
| Brevo | You want pricing based on emails sent rather than contacts stored | Free |
Questions people ask
Does ActiveCampaign have a free plan?
No. ActiveCampaign offers a 14-day free trial that needs only an email address, with no credit card. After the trial you pick a paid plan, starting with Starter at $15 a month for 1,000 contacts billed yearly.
How much does ActiveCampaign cost?
As of November 4, 2026, for 1,000 contacts: Starter is $15 a month, Plus $49, Pro $79 and Enterprise $145, all billed yearly. Billed monthly, the same plans cost $19, $59, $99 and $179. Prices go up as your contact list grows.
What is the difference between Starter and Plus?
Starter covers email campaigns, multi-step automations and the AI builders for one user. Plus, at $49 a month billed yearly, adds landing pages, site messages, generated copy and images, the Shopify integration and access to the Pipelines CRM add-on. If you sell on Shopify, you need Plus or higher.
Does ActiveCampaign include a CRM?
Contact records, tags and lead scoring are part of every plan, but deal pipelines come as a paid add-on. On November 4, 2026 the Pipelines add-on cost $49 a month on Plus, $85 on Pro and $119 on Enterprise, billed monthly, with a sales engagement version above that.
Is ActiveCampaign HIPAA compliant?
ActiveCampaign lists HIPAA support on the Enterprise plan only. Enterprise also adds single sign-on, custom objects and an uptime SLA, and costs $145 a month for 1,000 contacts billed yearly.
How many emails can I send with ActiveCampaign?
At 1,000 contacts, Starter and Plus include 10,000 emails a month, Pro 12,000 and Enterprise 15,000. You can buy extra sends if you need more.
Who makes ActiveCampaign?
ActiveCampaign was founded by Jason VandeBoom in 2003 and is headquartered in Chicago, with offices in Latin America, Europe and Asia Pacific. It has customers in more than 170 countries.
Sources we checked 7
- activecampaign.com/pricing for plans, users, email sends, features per plan, support per plan, 14-day trial with no credit card, no free plan checked November 4, 2026
- activecampaign.com/marketing/api/v1/pricing-catalog for US dollar monthly and yearly prices per plan and contact tier, Starter's 25,000-contact ceiling, Pipelines add-on prices (the price data the pricing page loads) checked November 4, 2026
- activecampaign.com/about for founded 2003 by Jason VandeBoom, Chicago headquarters, 170+ countries, ecommerce integrations checked November 4, 2026
- activecampaign.com/apps for 1,000+ apps and integrations checked November 4, 2026
- activecampaign.com/platform/mobile-application for iOS and Android apps and what they do checked November 4, 2026
- hubspot.com/pricing/crm for HubSpot free CRM plan (alternatives) checked November 4, 2026
- brevo.com/pricing for Brevo plans sized by emails per month, SMS and live chat (alternatives) checked November 4, 2026