10 Best ActiveCampaign Alternatives & Competitors

It’s no secret. Email marketing remains one of the most viable marketing channels today.

The number of people using email is likely to go up to 4.6 billion in the next three years.

Email marketing has a massive potential to help businesses boost sales, revenue, and ROI. Businesses can build relationships with existing customers, new leads, and prospects.

Furthermore, email automation and personalization tools can increase your customer lifetime value. But to make the most out of email marketing, you need the right tools.

ActiveCampaign is a leading email marketing and automation platform. More than 180,000 businesses use the service, but it may not be right for you.

Let’s explore the ten best alternatives to ActiveCampaign and why they might be better for you.

Best ActiveCampaign Alternatives & Competitors

1. Brevo (Formerly Sendinblue)

Brevo was Sendinblue earlier. Though a complete customer solution suite, it also has an email marketing platform that enables businesses to build and grow valuable customer relationships.

With their complete sales and marketing toolbox, businesses can drive sales and revenue.

Additionally, this platform allows businesses to

• Communicate with customers via email, SMS, and instant chats
• Create personalized messages and interactions with customers
• Maximize sales and marketing process via automation
• Segment their audience and send targeted messages to them
• Track and manage customer details using the CRM tool

Today Brevo has over 300,000 users. It has solutions for different business categories. Their email platform powers over 100 million emails daily.

Features

1. Email and SMS Marketing

Brevo allows you to create email marketing campaigns with a simple drag and drop tool. Also, businesses can use SMS for communications that are time-bound and urgent. The chat feature also allows you to instantly chat with customers.

2. Marketing Automation

Automating tasks helps businesses save time and creating create automation workflows that will set important tasks in motion. With this feature, you can automate your sales and marketing activities.

3. Transactional Emails

Brevo helps you create transactional emails that will deliver after specific actions have occurred. You can customize your emails for order confirmation, password reset, and more.

4. Sign-up Forms and Landing Pages

With Brevo, businesses can drive more conversions. The sign-up form allows you to build your customer list. Plus, you can create customized landing pages to achieve your conversion goals.

Whether you are trying to promote your event or collect customer details, this feature is right for you.

Furthermore, Brevo allows you to create retargeting and Facebook Ads.

5. CRM

The CRM feature helps businesses manage interactions with new and existing customers. Moreover, you can track customer-related activities.

Notably, having all your data in a central dashboard makes updating a lot easier

Brevo makes it easy for anyone to set up the CRM. It requires neither installation nor any special service.

All you have to do is upload your contact information. You can store contacts and also other important details like notes and other documents.

What Users Love About Brevo?

• The software is easy to use
• Brevo has a mobile app
• They offer a free plan, and the paid plans are scalable
• Customer service and support is very responsive
• They have beautiful and mobile responsive design templates

Limitation of Using Brevo

• It has occasional deliverability issues

Check out Brevo’s pricing plans here.

2. ConvertKit

ConvertKit is an email marketing tool for small and large businesses. The software is built to help you grow your business. ConvertKit simplifies your email marketing with a simple interface and powerful automation.

With this software, you can

• Create high conversion emails using an easy to use email designer
• Grow your customer and prospect list with attractive sign-up forms and landing pages
• Send automated emails and messages

Nathan Barry, the founder of ConvertKit, started the company in 2013. Since then, over 420,000 creators have harnessed the platform.

Features

1. Sign-Up Forms and Landing Pages

ConvertKit allows you to create custom sign-up forms to grow your audience. More so, you can design beautiful landing pages in a few minutes.

2. Automation

With their automation feature, you don’t need to miss out on important events. You can send relevant emails or content at the right time to the right people.

It’s an easy to use visual tool. You only have to set the sending rules and the tool will send the emails when due.

Notably, ConvertKit automation lets you segment your audience based on their stage in the customer journey. With this, management becomes a lot simpler.

Aside from the native automation feature, ConvertKit further integrates with many third-party automation tools.

3. Email Designer

This tool simplifies the email creation and editing process. Marketers can create and send beautifully designed emails. They can add images, videos, and a call to action button to your email.

4. Integrations

ConvertKit allows direct integration with a variety of tools. You can even access more integrations using Zapier.

What Users Love About ConvertKit?

• The software is intuitive
• Beautiful user interface
• ConvertKits supports integration with a broad spectrum of tools
• Customer support is excellent and responsive
• You can switch from another email service provider to ConvertKit

Limitation of Using ConvertKit

• The setup process is not easy for newbies
• Organizing your subscribers’ list is not straightforward

Pricing

ConvertKit has three pricing plans which are based on the number of subscribers.

Here are its sample pricing for 1000 subscribers:

• Free – $0 per month
• Creator – $29 per month when billed monthly, or $25 per month for annual billing
• Creator Pro – $59 per month when billed monthly, or $50 per month for annual billing

Note: For businesses with more than 500,000 subscribers, you may need to input your list size to get pricing or request for a demo

Related: ConvertKit vs ActiveCampaign

3. Drip

Drip is a CRM and marketing automation software designed to help brands

• Create marketing campaigns and experiences
• Drive customer engagement
• Boost brand loyalty

The CRM tool gives you a deep insight into customer activities so that you can deliver the right messages to them.

John Tedesco currently leads the Drip team. And together, they continue to deliver value for many businesses.

Features

1. Customer Data

The CRM feature uncovers the story behind customer data and activities.

The analytics bring you far more than surface data. You can track revenue, email metrics, opens, clicks, subscriptions, new users, events, and more.

For most data sections, you can view metrics at account level and email level.

The former shows metrics for new users who subscribed to your account in a particular time frame. The latter shows metrics for new users who subscribed to a particular email series.

2. Engagement

With this feature, you can

• Engage with your customers across multiple channels
• Create and send personalized emails at every stage of their buyers’ journey
• Monitor and engage with your customers on Facebook and Instagram

3. Personalization

You can create customer segments and send personalized messages to them.

4. Optimization

Drip offers optimization tools to help you make the right decisions. These tools include:

• Revenue attribution data
• Analytics dashboard
• Workflow split testing

What Users Love About Drip?

• Clean and user-friendly interface
• The visual workflow is easy to use
• Beautiful email design templates
• Excellent customer service

Limitations of Using Drip

• No SMS functionality
• You cannot store contacts without email addresses
• No drag and drop email editor

Pricing

Drip offers a 14-day free trial. The paid plans are in multiple categories

• Zero to 2500 contacts – $39 monthly
• 2501 to 3000 contacts – $49 per month
• 3001 to 3500 contacts – $59 monthly
• 3501 to 4000 contacts – $69 per month
• 4001 to 4500 contacts – $79 monthly
• 4501 to 5000 contacts – $89 monthly

If you have between 200,000 to 10 million contacts, you may need to contact customer support.

4. MailChimp

MailChimp is an email marketing provider and automation platform. They also provide CRM ads and landing pages to help businesses scale.

MailChimp has marketing solutions for

• Startups and established businesses
• E-commerce and retail businesses

Furthermore, MailChimp is an industry-leading software. With their web and mobile app, you won’t miss out on essential activities. You can send email campaigns to the right audience at the right time.

Features

1. Landing Pages

You can use new or existing templates to create attractive landing pages to drive conversions. You’ll find the landing page builder intuitive, and with it, you can build pages in minutes.

In the library, there are templates for building homepages and product pages, and others like giveaway and download pages.

One of the best things about using MailChimp is that you can create unlimited landing pages at no cost.

2. Email Marketing

MailChimp lets you create effective email campaigns using a simple drag and drop email builder. Plus you can send automated emails when there are specific events such as

• Cart abandonment
• Welcome messages for new subscribers
• Birthdays, anniversaries, etc.

3. CRM

With the marketing CRM tool, you can organize customer data. You can create focused interactions and build better customer relationships.

More Features

MailChimp has a host of other features including

• Digital ads
• Segmentation
• Behavioral targeting
• Lookalike audience
• Audience dashboard
• Social media and more

What Users Love About MailChimp?

• MailChimp has a web and mobile app
• The software interface is user-friendly
• MailChimp offers a free plan
• Support a wide range of integrations
• MailChimp provides smart recommendations to help you deliver better results
• Robust resources and knowledgebase

Limitations of Using MailChimp

• Pop designs are not flexible
• Paid plans are relatively expensive
• Customer support you will receive depends on your subscription plan

Pricing

MailChimp has four subscription plans

1. The free plan
2. Essential – starts at $11 per month
3. Standard – starts at $17 monthly
4. Premium – starts at $299 per month

Pricing may change based on your required audience size.

Interesting Comparison: ActiveCampaign vs Aweber

5. Constant Contact

Constant Contact provides powerful email marketing tools to help businesses succeed. With the drag and drop editor and templates, you can create and send professional emails.

Constant Contact has been in the email marketing industry for more than 20 years and they have a customer base of more than 600,000 people.

Features

1. Email Marketing

With this feature, you create mobile-responsive email campaigns and promotions. Their customizable templates and easy to use editor allows you to create emails in just a few minutes.

2. Email Automation

This feature allows you to put your marketing on autopilot. You can send personalized and targeted emails that deliver significant results.

3. List Builder and Management

Businesses can use the sign-up and opt-in forms to grow their customer list. More so, they can organize their contacts and send targeted emails to specific audiences. You can import your contact list from Excel, Gmail, Outlook, eCommerce, and more

4. Landing Pages

You can create awesome landing pages to

• Promote your products and services
• Generate leads
• Grow your contact or subscriber list

More Features

Constant Contact has other incredible features including

• Facebook, Instagram, and Google Ads
• Apps and integrations
• Mobile app
• A/B testing and more

What Users Love About Constant Contact?

• The email design platform is easy to use.
• Has a mobile app so you can create and monitor campaigns on the go
• Excellent and professional looking design templates
• You can import your contact list from Gmail, Excel, and Outlook

Limitations of Using Constant Contact

• Does not offer a free version
• Pricing is based on the number of contacts in your list

Pricing

Constant Contact offers two pricing plans.

1. Core – starts at $9.99 per month
2. Plus – starts at $45 per month

Interestingly, you can also try the software for 60 days for free.

6. AWeber

AWeber is a powerful email marketing solution for businesses. With their Smart Designer, you can create email marketing campaigns in seconds.

With AWeber, businesses can

• Grow their contacts list
• Create and send emails
• Connect with their audiences

AWeber has helped over 1,000,000 entrepreneurs accelerate business growth.

Features

1. Email Newsletters

With AWeber, you can create beautiful email newsletters for different purposes. You don’t need coding experience. AWeber has over 600 pre-built templates and over 6000 free stock images in their library.

They also offer plain text and HTML email options.

2. Email Automation and Autoresponders

You can send automated emails based on events and audience behavior.

Aweber lets you build email automations using a drag and drop builder. It’s up to you to set the trigger that releases the emails.

Furthermore, among the automation options are upsells and cross-sells which will help you increase sales in the long run.

You can use the Aweber email automation and autoresponders irrespective of the platform where you run your business. The tool integrates with many third-party platforms like Facebook, PayPal, WordPress, Shopify, and Zapier.

3. Sign-Up Forms

Businesses can create and use sign-up forms to grow their contact list.

4. Subscribers Management and Segmentation

This feature allows you to segment subscribers based on their activities. Also, you can send relevant emails to your segmented audience.

What Users Love About AWeber?

• Their customer service is top-notch
• Live chat and phone support
• AWeber has an extensive database of email templates and stock images
• With the mobile app, you can create and monitor performance
• Software is intuitive and easy to use
• AWeber offers a free plan

Limitations of Using AWeber

• Pricing is based on the number of subscribers

Pricing

AWeber has two pricing plans: AWeber Free and AWeber Pro.

While AWeber is for free, AWeber Pro pricing depends on how many subscribers you have.

1. Zero – 500 subscribers – $19.99 monthly when billed every month, or $16.15 when billed annually
2. 501 – 2500 subscribers – $29.99 monthly when billed every month, or $26.15 when billed annually
3. 2501- 5000 subscribers – $49.99 monthly when billed every month, or $46.15 when billed annually
4. 5001 – 10,000 subscribers – $69.99 monthly when billed every month, or $66.15 when billed annually
5. 10,001- 25000 subscribers – $149.99 monthly when billed every month, or $146.15 when billed annually

Also, if your subscribers exceed 25,000, you can request a quote.

Also Read: Best Aweber Alternatives For Ecommerce

7. Campaign Monitor

Campaign Monitor is an email marketing and eCommerce automation platform. The software is built to help marketers connect with the audience and also stand out. Over two million marketers at 250,000 companies globally use Campaign Monitor.

The software has everything you need to flourish. With their drag-and-drop builder, automation, and segmentation tools, you can achieve significant results.

Features

1. Email Marketing

Marketers can create branded email campaigns that drive sales and revenue. Moreso, they can use amazing template designs and a simple editor to create professional-looking emails.

2. Marketing Automation

Businesses can use timely emails to drive customer engagement and increase revenue. The visual journey designer enables you to keep in touch with customers at every stage of their buying journey.

3. Contacts and Segmentation

You can create smart and targeted customer segments. And then, you can send emails tailored to their interests. This strategy will help to increase sales and boost customer loyalty.

4. Sign-Up Forms

With their sign-up forms, you can build your audience. Also, you can use these forms to introduce your business to new customers.

What Users Love About Campaign Monitor?

• The platform is super-simple to use
• Beautiful and professionally designed email templates
• Email builders are very clean and foolproof
• Excellent customer service and support

Limitations of Using Campaign Monitor

• No native social media sharing features
• Campaign Monitor offers you a limited free plan which allows you to manage only five subscribers
• Email automation is basic and has limited customizations

Pricing

Campaign Monitor’s pricing plan is based on the number of subscribers.

For example, if you have

0- 500 subscribers

• Basic – $9 per month
• Unlimited – $29 per month
• Premier – $149 per month

2500 subscribers

• Basic – $29 per month
• Unlimited – $59 per month
• Premier – $149 per month

5000 subscribers

• Basic – $49 per month
• Unlimited – $99 per month
• Premier – $149 per month

8. Mailjet

Mailjet is an email solution for startups and growing businesses. With Mailjet, you can optimize your email and boost your sales.

Over 40,000 businesses use Mailjet’s mailing service. Their email platform hosts over two billion emails every month.

Features

1. Email Marketing

You can create and send emails using their powerful email tool. Whether you are sending transactional or marketing emails, their drag and drop builder lets you design beautiful emails. Plus, you can work on your emails as a team using their collaboration tools.

2. Subscription Forms

Businesses can use their subscription forms to grow their contact lists. Also, opt-in forms can help marketers reach a wider audience.

3. Contacts and Segmentation

This feature lets you collect and organize customer data. More so, you can segment your customers based on their identity, behavior, and interests. Also, you can engage customers and build trust through email personalizations.

4. Marketing Automation

You can use automated workflows and emails to create timely customer interactions.

5. Transactional Emails

The transactional suite allows you to send relevant email notifications and confirmation emails to customers.

What Users Love About Mailjet?

• Account setup is easy
• Software is intuitive and easy to use
• Customer support is excellent and very responsive
• Mailjet has a free plan
• Email deliverability is top-notch

Limitations of Using Mailjet

• A limited number of design templates
• Inability to edit active campaigns
• Occasional glitches may occur

Pricing

Mailjet’s pricing is based on the number of emails you want to send per month.

Free Plan – $0 – You can send up to 6,000 emails per month and 200 emails per day.

For 15,000 emails

• Essential – $15 per month
• Premium – $25 per month

For 50,000 emails

• Essential – $35 per month
• Premium – $50 per month

For customized requirements

• Enterprise – You may need to talk to an expert

Note: You will get a 10 percent discount when you make annual payments.

Interesting Comparison: Aweber vs GetResponse

9. MailerLite

MailerLite provides advanced tools to help businesses create, automate, and manage email campaigns. With 24-hour support and features like automation and landing pages, you are in safe hands.

Over 700,000 businesses use MailerLite. Plus, MailerLite powers more than 1 billion emails every month.

Features

1. Email Campaigns

Marketers can create beautiful email newsletters and eCommerce campaigns. You don’t need HTML skills to create email campaigns. The drag and drop and rich text editor make it very easy to get your first email on its way.

2. Subscriber List Growth

This feature allows you to use landing pages, pop-ups, and forms to grow your subscriber list. You can add and organize your subscribers into segments and interest groups.

3. Email Automation and Personalization

You can use automated emails to walk your customers through every step of their journey. Just set up your workflow, and you can deliver emails to your customers at the right time. Moreso, you can personalize messages to your customers through advanced targeting.

4. Email Optimization

You can test and optimize your email campaign to ensure it is effective. The split testing and auto resend features will optimize your email campaigns.

What Users Love About MailerLite?

• MailerLite offers a free plan
• Simple and intuitive user interface
• They provide a step by step guide for newbies
• Offers tons of email design templates and form design options
• Excellent support and customer service

Limitations of Using MailerLite

• Emails may sometimes go to spam folders
• Landing page designs are basic and have limited customizations
• You may experience slow browser load time

Pricing

MailerLite has four pricing plans. Here are its sample pricing for 1,000 email subscribers:

• Free – $0
• Growing Business – $10 per month for monthly subscription, or $9 per month for annual subscription
• Advanced – $21 per month for monthly subscription, or $19 per month for annual subscription
• Enterprise – Custom pricing

Nevertheless, you can access their premium plans free trial for a 30-days period.

10. Klaviyo

Klaviyo is an email marketing tool built for marketers and businesses. The company was founded in 2012, and today, over 100,000 businesses use Klaviyo to drive growth.

Features

1. Email Campaigns and SMS

This feature helps you grow your business with email newsletters and promotions that can drive customer engagement. You can use the drag and drop editor or HTML templates to build great emails.

Furthermore, you send personalized emails and promotions targeted at specific customer groups. Personalizations will help to foster good customer relationships.

Klaviyo lets you set up and send personalized SMS in seconds

2. Email Automation

You can set your email messages in motion and focus on other business activities. Email automation and autoresponders will take your marketing to the next level. Just customize your automation workflows and deliver

• Cart abandonment emails
• Welcome emails
• Customer win-back emails

3. Social Advertising

Klaviyo allows you to create and personalize social media ads from your account.

4. Forms

You can use customizable sign-up forms to collect valuable subscriber information. Furthermore, you can grow your contact list with powerful pop-up forms.

What Users Love About Klaviyo?

• The platform has a high visual appeal
• Software is straightforward and easy to navigate
• Automation and workflows are perfect and easy to setup
• The email and data analytics are very detailed

Limitations of Using Klaviyo

• Offers a limited free plan
• Pricing is a bit on the high side
• Customer support response is slow

Pricing

Klaviyo’s pricing plan is in three categories and it is based on the number of contacts that you have. You can obtain estimates using the price estimator.

1. Free

• One to 250 contacts – Free

2. Email

• 251 to 500 contacts – $20 per month
• 501 to 1000 contacts – $30 per month

3. Email and SMS – You need to input the number of email contacts and messages sent to get combined estimates.

Worth Reading: Aweber vs Sendlane

Final Words

Our review has highlighted some of the best alternatives to ActiveCampaign. These tools have unique features and share similarities, so you are spoiled for choices.

But what’s the best ActiveCampaign alternative?

I’d choose Brevo

Brevo ranks among the top email marketing and automation solutions. They offer a wide range of features including

• Transactional emails
• Unlimited contact storage
• Automated emails and SMS
• Facebook Ads, retargeting, and more.

Moreso, Brevo has a free plan which allows users to send up to 9000 emails per month.

Brevo offers everything you need in an email marketing platform at a fair price point. You should go ahead and try Brevo.