# ActiveCampaign — Cross-channel marketing automation combining email, SMS, and WhatsApp with AI-driven lead scoring, from around $15/month.

By Noah — last updated & pricing verified September 15, 2026.

> **ActiveCampaign** is a marketing automation platform built around a visual workflow builder: triggers, conditions, and branching actions that fire emails, SMS messages, or WhatsApp messages based on subscriber behavior. It layers in lead scoring, audience segmentation, and a lightweight CRM for tracking deals, positioning itself as a step up from simple email newsletter tools for businesses that need conditional logic in their campaigns.

The entry-level Starter plan restricts accounts to a single user and basic segmentation with a cap of 5 actions per automation, while Plus removes the automation-action limit and adds standard segmentation. Professional adds advanced segmentation and more seats, and Enterprise adds a dedicated account team. Pricing scales with contact list size rather than being flat, so the advertised starting price only applies at the smallest contact tiers (around 1,000 contacts) and increases as a list grows — a structure that makes ActiveCampaign notably more expensive for large lists than for the small ones the entry price is quoted against.

## Facts

- Website: https://activecampaign.com
- Pricing: From $15/mo
- License: Paid
- Platforms: web, ios, android
- Best for: growing businesses that need branching, behavior-triggered automations across email, SMS, and WhatsApp rather than a flat newsletter tool
- Standout feature: Visual automation builder that triggers personalized email, SMS, and WhatsApp sequences off subscriber behavior, combined with built-in lead scoring across all channels.
- Biggest weakness: Contact-based pricing climbs steeply as a list grows past the advertised starter tier, no exact numbers are published on ActiveCampaign's own site, and Capterra reviewers commonly cite an unintuitive page/form builder and recurring bugs requiring workarounds.
- Third-party ratings: Capterra 4.6/5 (2,568 reviews)
- Categories: [Email Marketing & Newsletters](https://findalternative.to/categories/email-marketing)

## Pricing snapshot

| Plan | Price | Notes |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Starter | $15/mo | Billed annually at ~1,000 contacts (reported ~$19/month billed monthly); limited segmentation, 5 actions per automation, 1 user. Exact figure not published on ActiveCampaign's own pricing page; sourced from third-party pricing trackers. |
| Plus | $49/mo | Billed annually at ~1,000 contacts (reported ~$59/month billed monthly); standard segmentation, unlimited automation actions, 1 user. Sourced from third-party pricing trackers. |
| Professional | $79/mo | Billed annually at ~1,000 contacts (reported ~$99/month billed monthly); advanced segmentation, unlimited automation actions, 3 users. Sourced from third-party pricing trackers. |
| Enterprise | $145/mo | Billed annually at ~1,000 contacts (reported ~$179/month billed monthly); premium segmentation, 5 users, dedicated account team. Sourced from third-party pricing trackers. |

## Pros and cons

- Pro: Automation builder supports complex, multi-channel branching logic across email, SMS, and WhatsApp in one workflow.
- Pro: Built-in lead scoring and lightweight CRM reduce the need for a separate sales-tracking tool for small teams.
- Pro: Deliverability and reporting are frequently praised by reviewers as more detailed than basic email tools.
- Pro: 1,000+ native integrations connect it to common ecommerce, CRM, and analytics platforms.
- Con: No free plan; only a 14-day trial, and pricing rises quickly as contact count grows past the entry tier.
- Con: Starter and Plus tiers cap accounts at 1 user, forcing an upgrade for any team collaboration.
- Con: Capterra reviewers report the page and form builder as unintuitive and hard to customize.
- Con: Users report encountering bugs and inconsistent features that require repeated troubleshooting.

## AI summary

- ActiveCampaign has no free plan; only a 14-day free trial requiring no credit card.
- Third-party pricing trackers report four annual-billed tiers at ~1,000 contacts: Starter ~$15/mo, Plus ~$49/mo, Professional ~$79/mo, Enterprise ~$145/mo.
- Pricing is contact-based and scales up as a subscriber list grows past the entry tier.
- ActiveCampaign holds a 4.6/5 rating from 2,568 reviews on Capterra.
- The platform automates campaigns across email, SMS, and WhatsApp from one workflow builder.
- Best for: growing businesses needing branching, behavior-triggered marketing automation across multiple channels
- Pricing: No free plan; paid tiers run roughly $15-$145/month at 1,000 contacts on annual billing, per third-party pricing trackers, rising as contact count grows.
- Top alternatives: Mailchimp, HubSpot, Klaviyo, Constant Contact, Brevo
- Limitation: No free tier; pricing scales steeply with contact list size beyond the entry tier.
- Limitation: Starter and Plus plans limit accounts to a single user.
- Limitation: Reviewers report an unintuitive page/form builder and recurring bugs.

## Alternatives

5 vetted alternatives to ActiveCampaign: https://findalternative.to/activecampaign — top picks: Mailchimp, HubSpot, Klaviyo

## Comparisons

- https://findalternative.to/compare/activecampaign-vs-hubspot
- https://findalternative.to/compare/activecampaign-vs-mailchimp

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