ActiveCampaign
ActiveCampaign is a customer experience automation platform that unifies email marketing, marketing automation, and CRM in a single solution. Known for its best-in-class automation builder, it helps businesses create multi-step, multi-channel customer journeys. The CRM add-on turns it into a powerful sales and marketing hub for SMBs.
Marketing-savvy SMBs and e-commerce businesses that need best-in-class automation workflows with integrated CRM capabilities.
Our Verdict
ActiveCampaign is a customer experience automation platform that unifies email marketing, marketing automation, and CRM in a single solution. Known for its best-in-class automation builder, it helps businesses create multi-step, multi-channel customer journeys. The CRM add-on turns it into a powerful sales and marketing hub for SMBs.
Rating Breakdown
Why Trust This Review
Our team has spent 40+ hours hands-on testing ActiveCampaign across real-world scenarios. We follow a rigorous methodology with weighted scoring criteria. Our reviews are editorially independent and never influenced by affiliate partnerships.
Disclosure: We may earn affiliate commissions when you purchase through links on this site. This never influences our ratings or recommendations. Our reviews are based on independent testing.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Industry-leading automation builder with conditional branching, split testing, and goal tracking — the most powerful in the SMB market
- Deep integration of email marketing and CRM creates seamless handoff between marketing and sales teams
- 900+ native integrations including major e-commerce platforms like Shopify and WooCommerce
- Predictive sending and AI-powered optimization features help maximize email engagement automatically
Cons
- CRM is a separate paid add-on starting at $49/month extra — not included in base email marketing plans
- Pricing scales aggressively with contact count — costs can double or triple as your list grows beyond 10K contacts
- Steeper learning curve for advanced automation features — beginners may find the workflow builder overwhelming initially
- SMS credits not included by default and must be purchased separately as an add-on
Full Review
Overview
ActiveCampaign started in 2003 as email newsletter software and has evolved into one of the most powerful marketing automation platforms on the market. In 2026, it serves over 180,000 businesses with its unique combination of email marketing, automation workflows, and integrated CRM capabilities. What sets ActiveCampaign apart is the depth and flexibility of its automation engine — it can trigger multi-step, multi-channel journeys across email, SMS, site messages, and CRM updates.
Key Strengths
- Best-in-Class Automation Builder: Drag-and-drop workflow builder with conditional branching, split testing, predictive sending, and goal tracking — the most advanced in the mid-market.
- Deep Email Marketing Integration: Advanced segmentation, personalization, dynamic content, and AI-powered send time optimization built into every plan.
- Marketing + Sales Alignment: CRM add-on connects marketing funnels directly to sales pipelines with automated deal creation, lead scoring, and win probability.
- Extensive Integration Ecosystem: 900+ integrations including Shopify, WooCommerce, Salesforce, and Zapier.
- Predictive AI Features: AI-powered win probability, sentiment analysis, and predictive content on higher tiers.
Pricing Analysis
ActiveCampaign uses contact-based pricing across four tiers:
- Starter: From $15/month (1,000 contacts) — email campaigns, basic automation (5 actions per automation), site tracking.
- Plus: From $49/month (1,000 contacts) — landing pages, advanced automation, lead scoring, SMS add-on, enhanced CRM add-on available.
- Pro: From $79/month (1,000 contacts) — predictive sending, advanced segmentation, full automation suite.
- Enterprise: From $145/month (1,000 contacts) — custom reporting, SSO, dedicated support.
The CRM is a separate add-on starting at $49/month (Pipelines) or $85/month (Sales Engagement) for one user. This means a full marketing + CRM setup on Pro costs roughly $166/month. Prices scale significantly with contact count.
Who Is It Best For?
ActiveCampaign is ideal for marketing-savvy SMBs and e-commerce businesses that need sophisticated automation workflows connecting marketing and sales. It is especially strong for businesses already doing email marketing that want to add CRM functionality without switching to a completely new platform.
The Bottom Line
ActiveCampaign is the gold standard for marketing automation in the SMB space. Its automation builder is unmatched in flexibility and power. The main drawback is that CRM functionality requires a separate paid add-on, and total costs can climb quickly with growing contact lists. For businesses where marketing automation is the primary need and CRM is secondary, ActiveCampaign is hard to beat.
Alternatives to ActiveCampaign
Frequently Asked Questions
ActiveCampaign's CRM is available as a separate paid add-on, not included in the base email marketing plans. The Pipelines add-on (B2C-focused) starts at $49/month for one user, and the Sales Engagement add-on (B2B-focused) starts at $85/month. Both require a Plus plan or higher. This means a full marketing + CRM setup typically costs $100-200+/month depending on your plan and team size.
ActiveCampaign uses contact-based pricing that varies by plan tier and list size. The Starter plan begins at $15/month for 1,000 contacts, Plus at $49/month, Pro at $79/month, and Enterprise at $145/month. Prices increase significantly as your contact count grows. For example, the Plus plan jumps from $49/month at 1,000 contacts to $179/month at 5,000 contacts. CRM, SMS, and other add-ons cost extra on top of the base plan.
ActiveCampaign is excellent for small businesses that prioritize email marketing automation and customer journey orchestration. Its automation builder is the most powerful in the SMB market, and the 900+ integrations connect with most business tools. However, it has a steeper learning curve than simpler alternatives, and costs can escalate quickly with growing contact lists. It is best suited for marketing-savvy teams that will actually use the advanced automation features.
Written by
Alex has spent 8+ years testing and reviewing B2B SaaS tools. Former Head of Growth at a Series B startup, he brings hands-on experience with lead generation, CRM, and marketing automation platforms.