10 Best ActiveCampaign Alternatives & Competitors (2026)

This article underwent an update on March 11, 2026, to ensure that the information provided remains current and relevant to readers.

ActiveCampaign is one of the top recommended tools when it comes to email marketing, but if you’ve been using it for a while you may be thinking, “What’s better than ActiveCampaign?” - and you’re not alone.

Unfortunately, ActiveCampaign can get expensive, with plans tripling in price compared to competitors and no cap if your subscriber list continues to grow. And if you’re wondering whether there’s a free version of ActiveCampaign, sadly there isn’t. They do offer a free trial; however, this is very limited and only lasts for fourteen days.

Keep reading to get the low-down on all the great ActiveCampaign alternatives, from our top pick to our recommended ten platforms for you to try.

Table of Contents

• What is ActiveCampaign?

• Why Would You Need an Alternative to ActiveCampaig …

  • Pricing Plans

  • Frequent Updates

  • Outdated Documentation

  • UI Glitches and Poor UX

  • Challenging to Contact Customer Support

• ActiveCampaign Alternative (Top Pick)

  • beehiiv Features

  • Pros and Cons of beehiiv

    • Pros

    • Cons

  • beehiiv Pricing

• Alternative To ActiveCampaign (Best Options)

• MailChimp

  • Mailchimp Features

  • Pros and Cons of Mailchimp

    • Pros

    • Cons

  • Mailchimp Pricing

• MailerLite

  • MailerLite Features

  • Pros and Cons of MailerLite

    • Pros

    • Cons

  • MailerLite Pricing

• HubSpot

  • HubSpot Features

  • Pros and Cons of HubSpot

    • Pros

    • Cons

  • HubSpot Pricing

• Klaviyo

  • Klaviyo Features

  • Pros and Cons of Klaviyo

    • Pros

    • Cons

  • Klaviyo Pricing

• GetResponse

  • GetResponse Features

  • Pros and Cons of GetResponse

    • Pros

    • Cons

  • GetResponse Pricing

• Brevo (formerly SendinBlue)

  • Brevo Features

  • Pros and Cons of Brevo

    • Pros

    • Cons

  • Brevo Pricing

• Constant Contact

  • Constant Contact Features

  • Pros and Cons of Constant Contact

    • Pros

    • Cons

  • Constant Contact Pricing

• Kit (formerly ConvertKit)

  • ConvertKit (Kit) Features

  • Pros and Cons of ConvertKit (Kit)

    • Pros

    • Cons

  • ConvertKit (Kit) Pricing

• Drip

  • Drip Features

  • Pros and Cons of Drip

    • Pros

    • Cons

  • Drip Pricing

• Best Alternative to ActiveCampaign (Getting Starte …

• ActiveCampaign Alternatives: Frequently Asked Ques …

  • How to Build a Newsletter

  • Does ActiveCampaign Have Newsletter Templates?

  • Is there a free alternative to ActiveCampaign?

  • What is the cheapest ActiveCampaign alternative?

  • Which ActiveCampaign alternative is best for newsl …

What is ActiveCampaign?

ActiveCampaign is one of the heavy contenders for email marketing. Founded in 2003, it is a Chicago-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform and one of the first of its kind. 

Not only is ActiveCampaign an email platform, but it also offers a suite of tools such as marketing automation, customer relationship management (CRM), and sales engagement tools to give its users a comprehensive all-in-one sales and marketing platform. 

ActiveCampaign is great for large enterprises with a massive contact list and high monthly email sends. It offers unlimited monthly email sends for up to 250,000 contacts, which is rare in the world of email marketing platforms!

With years of experience, ActiveCampaign has fine-tuned its analytics and reporting capabilities, including website and event tracking. It has been an industry leader in automation, allowing users to automate customer processes and workflows by segments. This gives your contacts a more personalized feel in various factors—subscribers, purchase history, interests, and actions.

G2 rating: 4.5/5 stars.

Why Would You Need an Alternative to ActiveCampaign?

For businesses or novices looking for an email marketing platform, ActiveCampaign checks off many boxes at first glance. 

They offer features like data import and export tools, building and personalizing emails, automated email responses, managing email deliverability, and landing pages and forms. 

Even though they boast impressive features, they may only be ideal for some. ActiveCampaign offers some pain points requiring you to look for alternatives depending on your company’s needs, flexibility, and learning curve.

Pricing Plans

For starters, their pricing plans just for Marketing features (Email and Marketing Automation) are on the higher side compared to some of the best competitors on the market— which is not ideal given that they don’t offer a free plan. 

As previously mentioned, they provide a 14-day free trial; however, it comes with significant limitations, such as a cap of 100 contacts.  Moreover, many of the features are unavailable during the trial period, making it difficult for you to accurately test whether they would benefit your business. 

Furthermore, numerous reviewers on prominent software review platforms like G2 and Trustpilot have highlighted the issue of confusion between plans as a downside of ActiveCampaign.

One G2 reviewer said, “The company offers marketing, sales, and bundle features, each allowing for different solutions. Speaking with a representative is the only way to know which one has all the features you need and should pick.”

Pricing: Starter plan at $15/mo for 1,000 contacts, The Plus plan is $49/month and allows up to 1,000 contacts. After that, the Pro plan starts at $149/month for 2,500 contacts.

When you compare the pricing to a competitor like beehiiv, the differences are night and day. beehiiv offers a free plan for up to 2,500 subscribers; you would be saving $149 a month going this route.

Frequent Updates

ActiveCampaign is known for its frequent updates, which can be both a blessing and a curse. 

On the one hand, you enjoy the latest features and improvements regularly. On the other hand, some of these updates may feel poorly planned or unnecessary. 

372 G2 reviewers mention missing features and updates as a leading dislike about the platform. One reviewer specified upgrading the number of contacts, and ActiveCampaign removed their ability to use the landing page feature.

With all the frequent updates, the documentation process needs to be updated. This can cause confusion and waste time figuring out how to use certain features (some of which are no longer valid), which leads us to our next topic.

Outdated Documentation

As a business owner, a pet peeve would be reading through a document about the tool you plan to implement for your company and discovering that all the features listed in the guide do not apply to your current software version.

This is a noted drawback of ActiveCampaign. 

Many users have complained about its outdated documentation, which can deter new businesses and users. Granted, the platform has been around since 2003, but these documents should have been updated after each software rollout or pulled from implementation if those features are no longer available.

Many users have also reported that the documentation could be more helpful because it covers only some of the platform’s features and functions. This can be frustrating for new users trying to learn how to use ActiveCampaign effectively.

According to a review on G2, “The documentation is a bit outdated and can be hard to navigate. Many features are not explained in depth, and some of the information is not accurate anymore due to updates.”

Another user on Trustpilot wrote, “The documentation is terrible. It’s out of date, incomplete, and hard to navigate.”

UI Glitches and Poor UX

One of the common complaints among ActiveCampaign users is that the platform often suffers from UI glitches and poor user experience (UX). Multiple reviewers have highlighted these issues, making them a point of concern for many businesses.

According to user reviews on G2, some users have reported problems with the platform’s interface. One reviewer stated that “the user interface can be confusing and requires a learning curve,” while another user mentioned that “the platform can be slow and buggy at times.” 212 reviewers on G2 mention the platform not being intuitive.

Similarly, many Trustpilot users have complained about the platform’s poor UX. One wrote, “The platform is clunky and difficult to use, with a steep learning curve. The interface is not intuitive, and the platform is not very user-friendly.”

Another Trustpilot reviewer mentioned that “the platform is not very user-friendly, with confusing navigation and poorly designed menus.”

These reviews indicate that ActiveCampaign’s UI glitches and poor UX can significantly impact the platform’s user experience, making it challenging for businesses to use the platform effectively.

Keep in mind that these issues may vary depending on individual experiences. Many other reviews have said ActiveCampaign’s UI is exceptional, so be mindful when choosing a platform. You’re the only one who understands your business’s needs and the users working on the platform.

Challenging to Contact Customer Support

For many businesses, excellent customer support ranks high on the list. When you are always diving deep into different platforms, you may hit a problem and need help figuring a solution out; most people like the ease and speed of reaching out to customer support with the issue and getting a response. 

Many reviewers on G2 and Trustpilot have agreed that ActiveCampaign’s customer support lacks quality and response. 

One G2 reviewer mentioned, “The support team was unable to identify the problem and suggested that it might be a user issue.” Another stated, “I have spoken to the support team on multiple occasions and received answers that arrived way too late for my needs.”

With these pain points, it’s no wonder that businesses would like a list of top email marketing contenders. 

ActiveCampaign Alternative (Top Pick)

If this all sounds familiar, don’t worry. We have the answer for you. Our email platform, beehiiv, is a great alternative to ActiveCampaign. Our free plan provides up to 2,500 subscribers, which is ideal if you have a small subscriber base and want to keep your marketing costs low.

You may have lots of subscribers and be wondering if beehiiv is the best ActiveCampaign alternative for you. Well, you’ll be pleased to hear that our top Enterprise plan allows you to have an unlimited number of subscribers.

In comparison, ActiveCampaign charges anywhere for 50,000 subscribers from Plus plan ($609/mo) to Pro plan ($969/mo), and a custom price on anything more than this.

We believe in helping our customers grow their audience without penalizing them financially for doing so. This is why our Max plan starts at $96. We want you to continue growing your email lists, without being scared to grow because of the financial implications.

Here at beehiiv, there are many other benefits too, including our referral platform. This enables you to incentivize subscribers to encourage their contacts to sign up to your mailing list in return for perks or monetary rewards. We also have a built-in ad network, allowing you to start monetizing your newsletter, too.

beehiiv Features

• Newsletter website builder — Every beehiiv account includes a hosted, SEO-optimized website for your newsletter at no extra cost — no separate CMS needed.

• Ad Network — Earn revenue from your newsletter immediately through beehiiv's built-in ad marketplace, matched automatically to your audience.

• Boosts marketplace — Get paid to recommend other newsletters, or grow your own by paying for qualified subscribers.

• Referral program — Turn existing subscribers into your growth engine with a native referral system — no third-party tool required.

• Paid subscriptions — Offer premium content with 0% revenue share. beehiiv takes nothing from your subscription revenue.

• 3D Analytics — Track open rates, click rates, and subscriber-level engagement across your full audience with visual reporting.

• Magic Links — Drive subscribers to auto-login landing pages for personalized, frictionless experiences.

• Automations — Set up welcome sequences, re-engagement flows, and behavior-based triggers.

• Digital products — Sell ebooks, courses, and other digital goods directly from your beehiiv site.

• Audience segmentation — Filter by engagement level, location, subscription tier, referral source, and more.

Pros and Cons of beehiiv

Pros

• Built-in Ad Network and Boosts marketplace for immediate, passive monetization

• 0% revenue share on paid subscriptions — every dollar from subscribers stays with you

• Generous free plan supporting up to 2,500 subscribers with unlimited sends

• Purpose-built referral program with no third-party integrations needed

• Native newsletter website with SEO optimization included at no extra cost

• Founded by newsletter operators — product decisions reflect how real creators work

• Capped pricing at the highest tier — subscriber growth is never penalized financially

Cons

• Newer platform (launched 2021) — integration ecosystem still growing compared to legacy tools

• Less suited to businesses that need a deep CRM or complex multi-stage sales pipelines

• Not designed for transactional email or multi-channel outreach beyond newsletters

The real benefit of beehiiv compared to ActiveCampaign is the ability to monetize a newsletter. ActiveCampaign is a great source for businesses that need a CRM or advanced automation in segmentation and sales follow-ups, but it doesn’t have features to monetize a newsletter.

One of beehiiv’s content creators, Samir Mezrahi, founder of Zillow Gone Wild, said, “Now that I have shifted to beehiiv, I’m trying to monetize and grow aggressively. On beehiiv, it was first bi-weekly, but it seems like the audience is into weekly. I want to focus more on the biggest possible scale, at least for now.” 

If you like the sound of these great features, sign up for free with beehiiv. We can’t wait to have you on board!

beehiiv Pricing

beehiiv offers a free Launch plan supporting up to 2,500 subscribers with unlimited sends — no credit card required. Paid plans start at $43/month (Scale, billed annually) and $96/month (Max, billed annually). Enterprise pricing is custom for lists over 100,000 subscribers.

For context: ActiveCampaign's Pro plan starts at $149/month for just 2,500 contacts — with zero monetization tools included.

G2 rating: 4.5/5 stars.

Alternative To ActiveCampaign (Best Options)

If you’re wondering what else is out there when it comes to ActiveCampaign alternatives, there’s no need to worry. We’ve compiled a list of our top ten recommendations if you’re tired of ActiveCampaign and need a change.

MailChimp

If you’ve been in the email marketing game for a while, you’ve probably heard of MailChimp. It’s used by thousands of companies all over the world and is loved due to its easy-to-use editor and automated workflows.

It integrates well with CRM and SEO tools and offers A/B testing as one of its key features. One thing to bear in mind with MailChimp, however, is that it does charge more as your subscriber base grows–so if you’re looking for a cheaper way of doing things, take a look at our other ActiveCampaign alternatives.

Mailchimp Features

• 100+ email templates — Pre-built designs for campaigns, announcements, promotions, and seasonal sends.

• AI Creative Assistant — Automatically generate on-brand email designs using your existing brand assets and color palette.

• Audience segmentation — Tag and group contacts by behavior, purchase history, engagement, and demographics.

• 300+ integrations — Connect with Shopify, WordPress, Salesforce, Zapier, and hundreds of additional tools.

• Landing page builder — Create standalone pages for lead capture without a separate tool.

• Website builder — Build a basic website directly within Mailchimp.

• A/B testing — Test subject lines, content, and send times to optimize campaign performance.

• Marketing automation — Set up welcome emails, abandoned cart sequences, and date-triggered campaigns.

• Behavioral targeting — Trigger emails based on customer actions, link clicks, and purchase events.

Pros and Cons of Mailchimp

Pros

• 100+ templates with solid design variety across industries and campaign types

• AI Creative Assistant speeds up design for teams without dedicated designers

• Extensive integration ecosystem (300+ apps) — connects to virtually any tech stack

• Website and landing page builder included at no extra cost

• Well-documented platform with a large community of tutorials and third-party resources

• Familiar interface — widely used, easy to find freelance support or in-house expertise

Cons

• Expensive at scale — pricing jumps significantly as your contact list grows

• Pricing complexity — multiple tier gates make it hard to know exactly what you're paying for

• Deliverability concerns have been reported by some high-volume senders

• Limited automation capabilities on entry-tier plans

• Unsubscribed contacts still count toward your billing contact cap, inflating costs

Mailchimp Pricing

Mailchimp's free plan now supports up to 250 contacts with 500 monthly sends (reduced from 500 contacts in January 2026). Paid plans start at $13/month (Essentials, 500 contacts), $20/month (Standard), and $350/month (Premium, 10,000 contacts).

At scale, Mailchimp's pricing becomes hard to justify compared to alternatives — especially since unsubscribed contacts still count toward your billing cap unless manually archived.

G2 rating: 4.3/5 stars.

MailerLite

If you’re a creator or small business, MailerLite would be a good option for you. MailerLite is probably the cheapest alternative to ActiveCampaign, offering its customers unlimited monthly emails and 1,000 contacts for just $10 per month. 

They also have a free plan available, providing 12,000 monthly emails and 1,000 subscribers. If you have an eCommerce store you’ll enjoy MailerLite, as you can connect your online shop, set up behavior-based campaigns, and monitor sales performance.

MailerLite Features

• Drag-and-drop email editor — Clean, fast block-based editor with no HTML knowledge required.

• Automation builder — Functional workflows for welcome series, drip campaigns, and basic conditional logic.

• Landing pages — Included on all plans, with A/B testing available on paid tiers.

• Website builder — Build a simple website or blog alongside your newsletter.

• Pop-up and embedded forms — Create and place sign-up forms across any external site.

• Digital products — Sell ebooks and other digital goods directly without a third-party platform.

• Subscriber segmentation — Filter by signup date, engagement level, custom fields, and interest groups.

• A/B testing — Available on paid plans for subject lines and email content.

• Email verification — Built-in list cleaning to maintain deliverability health.

• Unsubscribe page builder — Customize what subscribers see when they opt out.

Pros and Cons of MailerLite

Pros

• Very affordable — one of the cheapest paid options starting around $10/month

• Clean, beginner-friendly interface with a minimal learning curve

• Generous free plan: 1,000 subscribers and 12,000 monthly emails

• Digital product selling included without third-party tools

• Website builder adds value for users without a separate site

• Strong deliverability reputation among email marketers

Cons

• Limited advanced automation compared to ActiveCampaign or GetResponse

• Reporting is basic — no revenue attribution or deep per-subscriber analytics

• Fewer integrations than Mailchimp or HubSpot

• Not well-suited for complex, multi-step campaigns or large enterprise lists

• Customer support response times can lag on the free plan

MailerLite Pricing

MailerLite's free plan now supports 500 subscribers and 12,000 monthly emails (reduced from 1,000 subscribers in September 2025). Paid plans start at $10/month (Growing Business, 500 subscribers) and $20/month (Advanced).

HubSpot

HubSpot is a good alternative to ActiveCampaign if you’re super into collecting data from your email lists. 

While more expensive than ActiveCampaign, HubSpot has many advanced features, including a comprehensive analytical dashboard, tailored unsubscription features whereby users can choose to unsubscribe from certain email topics rather than leave the list completely, and ‘smart content’ which allows you to customize features and CTAs based on subscriber data.

HubSpot Features

• Integrated CRM — All email activity syncs automatically with contact records and deal pipelines.

• Smart content — Dynamically customize email content based on subscriber attributes — industry, lifecycle stage, past behavior.

• Advanced attribution reporting — Track which marketing channels and campaigns directly drive revenue.

• Lead scoring — Automatically qualify leads based on engagement and activity across email and web.

• Marketing automation — Visual workflow builder with conditional branching, delays, and multi-step journeys.

• SEO tools — Built-in recommendations for optimizing blog content alongside email campaigns.

• Social media management — Schedule and monitor posts across LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and X.

• A/B testing — Test emails, landing pages, and CTAs at the campaign level.

• Landing pages — Drag-and-drop builder with personalization and progressive form fields.

• Custom dashboards — Build reports combining email, CRM, sales, and web metrics in a single view.

Pros and Cons of HubSpot

Pros

• All-in-one CRM, marketing, sales, and service suite — the most complete ecosystem on this list

• Advanced reporting and revenue attribution that connects marketing to closed deals

• Smart content personalization at the field and segment level

• 1,500+ app integration library

• HubSpot Academy training resources and strong onboarding support

• Free tier includes a functional CRM with basic email marketing tools

Cons

• Very expensive for premium features — Marketing Hub Professional starts at $800/month

• Significant learning curve for new users unfamiliar with CRM-led marketing

• Key features are frequently gated behind higher-tier plans

• Feels like overkill for newsletter-focused creators or lean teams

• Onboarding fees and annual contracts add to the total cost of ownership

HubSpot Pricing

HubSpot offers free CRM tools with limited features. Paid Marketing Hub plans start at $15/seat/month (Starter, 1,000 contacts), $890/month (Professional, 2,000 contacts — plus a mandatory $3,000 onboarding fee), and $3,600/month (Enterprise, 10,000 contacts — plus a $7,000 onboarding fee).

If you're purely running a newsletter, HubSpot's pricing is nearly impossible to justify. beehiiv provides purpose-built newsletter tools at a fraction of the cost

G2 rating: 4.3/5 stars.

Klaviyo

Another top pick is the email and SMS marketing tool Klaviyo. This one’s great if you require advanced automation and have an eCommerce business. 

Klaviyo offers powerful eCommerce benefits, including advanced segmentation and dynamic coupons for Shopify/Magento platforms. It also helps you analyze your marketing channels by reporting on revenue by attributed channels.

Klaviyo Features

• Shopify & WooCommerce deep integration — Sync product catalogs, order data, and customer events in real time.

• Predictive analytics — CLV (customer lifetime value) modeling, predicted next order date, and churn risk scoring.

• Behavioral segmentation — Build audiences based on purchase history, products browsed, cart abandonment, and 100+ data points.

• Pre-built flows — Abandoned cart, welcome series, post-purchase, and win-back sequences — fully built and optimized out of the box.

• Dynamic coupons — Auto-generate unique discount codes for Shopify and Magento customers.

• Revenue attribution — Track exactly how much revenue each email and SMS drives at the campaign and flow level.

• A/B testing — Test content, send time, and subject lines across both email and SMS.

• Native SMS marketing — Email and SMS managed in one platform with unified reporting.

• Industry benchmarking — Compare your metrics against vertical-specific averages.

• AI product recommendations — Suggest relevant products to each customer based on their purchase history.

Pros and Cons of Klaviyo

Pros

• The deepest Shopify and WooCommerce integration available — real-time purchase data sync

• Predictive analytics including CLV, churn risk, and next purchase date modeling

• Revenue attribution at the email and SMS level — clear, defensible ROI visibility

• Pre-built, optimized e-commerce flows ready to activate on day one

• Strong native SMS fully integrated alongside email automation

• Powerful segmentation driven by granular behavioral and transactional data

Cons

• Expensive, especially at scale — pricing grows quickly with contact count

• Overkill for non-e-commerce businesses or newsletter creators without a product catalog

• Steeper learning curve than more accessible tools like Mailchimp or MailerLite

• Free tier is limited to just 250 contacts

• SMS availability is primarily US-focused with limited international support

Klaviyo Pricing

Klaviyo's free plan supports up to 250 contacts. Email-only plans start at approximately $20/month (500 contacts), scaling with list size. Email + SMS plans start at approximately $35/month.

G2 rating: 4.6/5 stars.

GetResponse

If you’re looking for marketing automation that doesn’t cost the Earth, GetResponse may be a good ActiveCampaign alternative for you. They offer useful features such as autoresponders, unlimited landing pages, and segmentation, along with great spam check features to improve the chance of your emails hitting user inboxes.

They also offer fairly good audience segmentation features, allowing you to send better-targeted emails to your subscribers.

GetResponse Features

• Webinar hosting — Host live webinars for up to 1,000 attendees directly within GetResponse — no Zoom or GoToWebinar required.

• Conversion funnel builder — Build complete sales funnels with landing pages, emails, and checkout in one connected flow.

• Marketing automation — Visual drag-and-drop automation builder with condition, action, and filter logic.

• Autoresponders — Time-based email sequences triggered from signup dates or specific calendar events.

• Landing pages — Unlimited pages with A/B testing included on all paid plans.

• Subscriber management — Segmentation, tagging, and contact scoring built into the list management system.

• Spam check — Built-in deliverability testing before every send.

• Push notifications — Web push notifications alongside email campaigns.

• eCommerce integrations — Connect Shopify, Magento, WooCommerce, and more.

• SMS marketing — Available as an add-on for multi-channel outreach.

Pros and Cons of GetResponse

Pros

• Webinar hosting built in — a genuine cost-saver for businesses running regular online events

• Conversion funnel builder connects landing pages, email sequences, and checkout in one flow

• Unlimited landing pages included across all paid plans

• Solid autoresponder functionality at an accessible price point

• Built-in spam and deliverability tools to improve inbox placement rates

• Website builder and pop-up forms included without extra cost

Cons

• Interface can feel dated compared to more modern alternatives

• Lower G2 score relative to competitors at similar price points

• Webinar attendee cap is 100 on lower-tier plans — the 1,000-attendee limit requires a higher subscription

• Automation builder lacks some of the conditional logic depth available in ActiveCampaign

• Smaller user base than Mailchimp makes third-party resources harder to find

GetResponse Pricing

GetResponse offers a free plan for up to 500 contacts with 2,500 newsletters/month. Paid plans start at $19/month (Starter, 1,000 contacts), $51/month (Marketer, with full automation), and $69/month (Creator, includes webinars and courses).

Brevo (formerly SendinBlue)

Brevo is a good ActiveCampaign alternative if you want email marketing and a CRM tool in one. It’s highly compatible with eCommerce sites such as Shopify, and they also allow you to run social media advertisements from their platform.

You can turn your subscribers into brand ambassadors via their CRM system, and you’ll also be able to use advanced API functionality and transactional emails.

Brevo Features

• Unlimited contacts on all plans — Brevo charges by email volume, not contact count, making it a standout for large list holders.

• Email + SMS + WhatsApp + chat — All four channels available and manageable from within the same platform.

• Marketing automation — Trigger messages across channels based on user behavior, workflow events, and contact properties.

• Transactional emails — Send order confirmations, password resets, and triggered notifications at scale.

• CRM — Built-in contact management with deal tracking and a basic pipeline view.

• Landing pages — Build standalone lead capture pages with A/B testing on paid plans.

• Facebook Ads integration — Run and retarget ad campaigns from within Brevo.

• Real-time reporting — Track open rates, click rates, deliverability, and revenue attribution.

• Email heatmaps — Visualize exactly where subscribers click within your emails.

• Send time optimization — AI-powered recommendations based on individual subscriber behavior.

Pros and Cons of Brevo

Pros

• Unlimited contacts on all plans — a significant differentiator for large-list businesses

• Affordable entry pricing with a functional free tier (300 emails/day)

• Multi-channel marketing from one platform: email, SMS, WhatsApp, and live chat

• Strong transactional email capability alongside marketing campaigns

• Contact-count-free billing benefits businesses that don't email their full list often

• Clean, approachable interface with a reasonable learning curve

Cons

• Marketing automation is less sophisticated than ActiveCampaign or HubSpot

• SMS and WhatsApp add up quickly in cost at higher volumes

• Template library is smaller than Mailchimp's

• Brand recognition still catching up after the 2023 Sendinblue rebrand

• Advanced segmentation is limited on entry-tier plans

Brevo Pricing

Brevo's free plan supports unlimited contacts with ~300 emails/day (9,000/month). Paid plans start at $9/month (Starter, 5,000–100,000 emails/month), $18/month (Business, with full marketing automation), and $499/month (Professional, 150,000+ emails). Note: Removing Brevo branding on the Starter plan requires a $9/month add-on.

Constant Contact

If you want a fair bit of time to test out a platform before going ahead, Constant Contact is a great option. They offer a 14-day free trial, giving you ample time to try out all features before making a decision.

A unique feature of Constant Contact is their event invitation management, which has earned it a fantastic reputation - if you’re in the events industry, you’ll love the features this offers. You’ll also receive access to autoresponders, A/B testing, and an RSVP tool.

Constant Contact Features

• Event management — Create and promote events, collect RSVPs, and send event-specific follow-up email campaigns.

• RSVP tracking — Monitor registrations and attendance in real time from within the platform.

• 200+ email templates — Pre-built designs organized by industry, campaign type, and occasion.

• Contact management — Import contacts, build segments, and manage unsubscribes cleanly.

• Social media marketing — Schedule posts and run Facebook and Instagram ad campaigns alongside email.

• SMS marketing — Add SMS outreach to campaigns on higher-tier plans.

• eCommerce integrations — Connect Shopify, WooCommerce, Etsy, and other storefronts.

• Phone + live chat support — Real-time support via both channels — genuinely rare in email marketing platforms.

• Automated email series — Welcome sequences and basic drip campaigns.

• Reporting — Open rates, click rates, bounce tracking, and list growth reporting.

Pros and Cons of Constant Contact

Pros

• Excellent customer support — phone and live chat available (a genuine industry differentiator)

• Event management and RSVP tools are purpose-built for local businesses and nonprofits

• 200+ templates with strong industry variety

• Long track record and brand reliability — trusted by 600,000+ businesses

• Easy contact import from Gmail, Outlook, Excel, and Salesforce

• Beginner-friendly with good onboarding materials and live training available

Cons

• Outdated interface — one of the less modern-feeling tools on this list

• Limited automation compared to ActiveCampaign, HubSpot, or even GetResponse

• No free plan — entry price is $12/month (Lite)

• Pricing scales with contact count and can become expensive for mid-size lists

• Deliverability and analytics metrics lag behind newer platforms

• Segmentation and personalization capabilities are limited relative to competitors

Constant Contact Pricing

Constant Contact no longer offers a free plan or the 60-day trial. There is a 14-day free trial only. Paid plans start at $12/month (Lite, up to 500 contacts), $35/month (Standard), and $80/month (Premium). SMS can be added to Lite and Standard plans from $10/month.

Kit (formerly ConvertKit)

A creator’s typical choice for an ActiveCampaign alternative is ConvertKit, a firm favorite among bloggers and YouTubers. It’s popular among creatives because it allows you to monetize content easily while growing your subscriber list and sending regular newsletters.

They offer a free plan which accommodates up to 10,000 contacts, and integrations within their paid plans include automated emails, advanced reporting, and affiliate management tools.

For top tips on how to monetize your newsletter, check out our blog.

ConvertKit (Kit) Features

• Creator-focused design — Built from the ground up for content creators, bloggers, and independent publishers.

• Visual automation builder — Drag-and-drop sequences with conditional logic based on tags, purchase history, and link clicks.

• Subscriber tagging — Tag contacts by interest, behavior, or purchase activity — replaces complex list management with a single unified list.

• Landing pages — Dozens of customizable templates for lead capture and opt-in pages.

• Digital product selling — Sell ebooks, courses, templates, presets, and other downloads directly through Kit.

• Newsletter recommendations — Recommend other creators and earn subscribers via the Kit cross-promotion network.

• Affiliate program management — Track referral affiliates within Creator Pro plans.

• Email sequences — Multi-step drip campaigns with visual drag-and-drop sequencing.

• Integrations — Connect with Teachable, Podia, Gumroad, Shopify, Zapier, and more.

• Sponsor management — Tools for managing newsletter sponsorships (Creator Pro).

Pros and Cons of ConvertKit (Kit)

Pros

• Creator-focused product design — tools built for how content creators actually work

• Generous free Newsletter plan supporting up to 10,000 subscribers for basic email sending

• Digital product selling built in — no need for Gumroad or a separate commerce platform

• Clean tagging system replaces cumbersome multi-list management

• Newsletter recommendations network for cross-promotion and organic subscriber growth

• Clean, distraction-free email editor that puts content first

Cons

• Basic email design options — not ideal for visually rich or heavily branded newsletters

• Limited reporting and analytics compared to Klaviyo, HubSpot, or beehiiv

• Automation depth doesn't match ActiveCampaign's conditional workflow logic

• Advanced features (affiliate management, sponsor tools) locked behind Creator Pro

• No built-in ad network or monetization marketplace equivalent to beehiiv's ecosystem

ConvertKit (Kit) Pricing

ConvertKit's free Newsletter plan supports up to 10,000 subscribers for basic email sending (1 sequence, 1 automation, no integrations). Paid Creator plans start at $39/month (1,000 subscribers) following a price increase in September 2025, and $79/month (Creator Pro, 1,000 subscribers).

Drip

The last ActiveCampaign alternative on our list is Drip, an email marketing platform that is highly popular among Shopify store owners.

Drip allows you to integrate your store with your email marketing, alongside custom automation, dynamic templates, and advanced A/B testing. It’s not the cheapest alternative to ActiveCampaign; however, they do offer SMS packages alongside email marketing, which can be useful in connecting with subscribers. 

Drip Features

• Visual automation builder — Multi-step workflows with conditional logic based on purchase events, page views, and email engagement.

• Shopify & WooCommerce integration — Sync orders, products, cart events, and customer data in real time.

• Behavior-based triggers — Fire emails and SMS messages based on specific customer actions — page visits, product views, abandoned checkout.

• Native SMS marketing — Integrated SMS alongside email within the same automation workflows.

• Dynamic content — Personalize email content blocks based on customer segments and purchase data.

• A/B testing — Test subject lines, content, and send timing at the campaign level.

• Revenue attribution — Track email and SMS performance tied directly to store revenue.

• Pre-built e-commerce playbooks — Ready-made automation sequences for welcome, cart abandonment, and win-back scenarios.

• Advanced segmentation — Build audiences based on LTV, purchase frequency, product category, and custom event data.

• Customer data platform — Centralized customer profiles combining email, SMS, and purchase history.

Pros and Cons of Drip

Pros

• Strong e-commerce integrations — particularly deep with Shopify and WooCommerce

• Behavior-based automation tied directly to purchase events in your store

• Revenue attribution by email and SMS at the campaign level

• Native SMS integrated into the same workflow builder as email

• Pre-built e-commerce playbooks reduce setup time significantly

• Clean UI relative to legacy alternatives in the same price tier

Cons

• No free plan — minimum $39/month for 2,500 contacts

• Not suited for newsletter creators or businesses without an e-commerce component

• Smaller customer base means less community support and fewer third-party resources

• Limited template library compared to Mailchimp or Constant Contact

• CRM features are less robust than HubSpot or ActiveCampaign's full sales tooling

Drip Pricing

Drip starts at $39/month for up to 2,500 contacts, with pricing scaling based on contact count. There is no free plan.

Best Alternative to ActiveCampaign (Getting Started)

Now that you’ve read our recommended alternatives to ActiveCampaign, you should have found a favorite that works best for your brand/business. There are many great ActiveCampaign alternatives, including our platform, beehiiv, which offers free sign-up.

And, the best part? Migrating from ActiveCampaign to beehiiv is easy. You can use a service such as Integrately, to import lists, contacts, tags, and custom fields, re-create opt-in forms and email templates, and recreate automation workflows.

If you’re more of the hands-on DIY type, you can migrate your contacts easily by uploading .csv files with a few simple steps:

1. Log in to your beehiiv account.

2. Click on Audience, found on the left side of the dashboard.

3. Click on Subscribers.

4. Click Import, and you will be asked whether you want to import a .csv file or manually type in email addresses. If you’re importing a .csv file, simply copy/paste the URL, check the box if you want beehiiv to set up an automated welcome email, and click Import Subscribers.

Take your email marketing to the next level by signing up for free with beehiiv today. You’ll receive great customer service, automated user journeys, and access to our referral program and ad network. We can’t wait to see what you come up with! 

ActiveCampaign Alternatives: Frequently Asked Question

Now that you’ve reviewed all the ActiveCampaign alternatives, we compiled a few frequently asked questions to help you better understand whether ActiveCampaign or an alternative is better suited for your business needs.

How to Build a Newsletter

This is the million-dollar question for those looking for an email marketing platform. Not only do you want to know how to build a newsletter, but you also want to know whether it’s easy and whether the platform offers customizable templates.

Building an email newsletter in ActiveCampaign can be done in just a few steps.

1. Step 1: Create a New Campaign

Log in to your ActiveCampaign account and click the “Campaigns” tab. Then, click the “Create a Campaign” button. Choose “Standard” as the campaign type and select “List” to whom you want to send the campaign.

2. Step 2: Choose a Template

You can start from scratch or use a pre-built template. ActiveCampaign offers templates for different industries and purposes. Click on the “Email Designer” tab and select a template that suits your needs. This is the easiest method.

3. Step 3: Choose Sender

You can choose who to send the campaign to, which email you would like the campaign to send from, and the email subject line you want to use.

4. Step 4: Customize Your Template

Once you have selected a template, you can customize it to fit your brand. Use the drag-and-drop editor to add or remove elements and change colors, fonts, and images. Make sure your newsletter is visually appealing and easy to read.

5. Step 5: Add Your Content

Now, it’s time to add your content to the newsletter. Use the editor to add text, images, and links. Remember to keep your message brief and concise, and always include a clear call-to-action.

6. Step 6: Personalize Your Newsletter

ActiveCampaign allows you to personalize your newsletter by using merge tags. Merge tags are placeholders that are automatically replaced with the recipient’s information when the email is sent. Use merge tags to greet the recipient by name and add other personalized details.

7. Step 7: Test and Preview

Before sending your newsletter, make sure to test and preview it. Use the “Preview” button to see how your newsletter will look on different devices and email clients. You can also send a test email to yourself or a colleague to make sure everything looks and works as intended.

8. Step 8: Send or Schedule Your Newsletter

Once you are happy with your newsletter, it’s time to send it. You can either send it immediately or schedule it for a later date and time. Click on the “Send” button and choose your sending options.

Does ActiveCampaign Have Newsletter Templates?

Who wouldn’t want to create a stunning and professional newsletter in a flash? 

ActiveCampaign offers over 125 templates based on your business goals. You can even build them from scratch using HTML. They offer newsletter templates, feedback requests, and abandoned cart notifications.

You can access templates by determining your business goals. With many different customizable templates, picking the one that you want is key. 

1. Log into ActiveCampaign. 

2. Click “Campaigns” in the left menu. 

3. Navigate to the “Campaign Templates” option. 

4. Then click on the “Create a Template” button. 

5. Finally, choose a “Template Type.”

A downside of ActiveCampaign that you need to keep in mind is that templates are only compatible with the designer on which they were created. If you select Email Designer templates, they will only work with campaigns created with the Email Designer. Classic Designer or HTML templates will not work when using the Email Designer, and vice versa.

Is there a free alternative to ActiveCampaign?

Yes, several ActiveCampaign alternatives offer free plans. beehiiv provides a generous free plan supporting up to 2,500 subscribers with unlimited sends. Other free options include MailerLite (1,000 subscribers), Brevo (300 emails/day with unlimited contacts), and Mailchimp (500 contacts). For newsletter creators specifically, beehiiv's free tier offers the most value with built-in growth tools and website hosting included.

What is the cheapest ActiveCampaign alternative?

For paid plans, MailerLite and Brevo offer the most affordable options starting at around $9–10/month. However, beehiiv provides the best value for newsletter-focused businesses, with its Scale plan starting at $43/month including monetization tools (Ad Network, Boosts, paid subscriptions) that can generate revenue to offset the cost. Unlike ActiveCampaign, beehiiv charges 0% revenue share on paid subscriptions.

Which ActiveCampaign alternative is best for newsletter creators?

beehiiv is the best ActiveCampaign alternative for newsletter creators. Built by the team behind Morning Brew, beehiiv offers purpose-built newsletter tools including a referral program, recommendation network, built-in Ad Network, paid subscription management, and SEO-optimized website builder. Unlike ActiveCampaign, which focuses on CRM and sales automation, beehiiv is designed specifically for growing and monetizing newsletters.