Top 6 ActiveCampaign Alternatives in 2026
ActiveCampaign is more tool than many senders need. People leave when they realize they are paying for automation depth they never built. Paid plans start at $15/mo for 1,000 contacts. 2 of the 6 tools below start cheaper. GetResponse ($15.58/mo) bundles email with landing pages, funnels and webinars. Klaviyo ($20/mo) is the ecommerce specialist, driven by store data and priced by active profiles. Mailchimp ($13/mo) is the familiar all-rounder, priced by audience size.
01Quick Comparison
| Tool | Entry price | Free plan | Value score |
|---|---|---|---|
| GetResponse | $15.58/mo | Yes | 4.3/5 |
| Klaviyo | $20/mo | Yes | 4.3/5 |
| Mailchimp | $13/mo | Yes | 4.5/5 |
| ConvertKit | $33/mo | Yes | 4.1/5 |
| Drip | $39/mo | No | 3.7/5 |
| Brevo | $8.08/mo | Yes | 4.7/5 |
| ActiveCampaign (current) | $15/mo | No | 4.2/5 |
02The Alternatives
GetResponse
From$15.58/moValue score4.3/5
Compared with ActiveCampaign: Starts at $15.58/mo, $0.58 a month more than ActiveCampaign; it has a free plan, which ActiveCampaign does not.
GetResponse packs a lot around its email tool: automation, landing pages, sign-up funnels, webinars and a website builder. It suits marketers who want one subscription for lead generation and follow-up. Breadth is the appeal, and no single part is the best in its class.
- Best for
- Marketers who want email plus funnels and webinars
- Pricing
- Starter plan, billed annually ($19 billed monthly), 1,000 contacts at this price. Free plan: up to 500 contacts.
- Key features
- Email campaigns and autoresponders, Marketing automation, Conversion funnels
Where it falls short: The interface is crowded, and the more advanced automation and webinar features need the higher tiers.
GetResponse plans and pricing ActiveCampaign vs GetResponse in detail Visit GetResponse
Klaviyo
From$20/moValue score4.3/5
Compared with ActiveCampaign: Starts at $20/mo, $5 a month more than ActiveCampaign; it has a free plan, which ActiveCampaign does not.
Klaviyo is built for online stores. It pulls order and browsing data from platforms such as Shopify and uses it for segmentation and automated flows: abandoned carts, post-purchase follow-ups, win-backs. Email and SMS run from the same data. It is the specialist’s choice for ecommerce and priced like one.
- Best for
- Ecommerce brands prioritizing retention and customer lifecycle revenue
- Pricing
- Email plan, billed monthly, 251-500 active profiles at this price. Free plan: up to 250 active profiles and 500 sends a month.
- Key features
- Behavior-based segmentation, Ecommerce automation flows, SMS marketing
Where it falls short: Pricing follows the number of active profiles and rises quickly, and it offers little to a business that is not selling online.
Klaviyo plans and pricing ActiveCampaign vs Klaviyo in detail Visit Klaviyo
Mailchimp
From$13/moValue score4.5/5
Compared with ActiveCampaign: Starts at $13/mo, $2 a month less than ActiveCampaign; it has a free plan, which ActiveCampaign does not.
Mailchimp is the email tool most small businesses try first. It covers campaigns, templates, basic automation, landing pages and forms, and connects to almost everything. It is a generalist: good at getting a newsletter out, less convincing once you need advanced automation, and priced by the size of your audience.
- Best for
- SMBs that want a familiar general-purpose email platform
- Pricing
- Essentials plan, billed monthly, 500 contacts at this price. Free plan: 250 contacts and 500 sends a month.
- Key features
- Email campaigns and templates, Audience segmentation, Marketing automation journeys
Where it falls short: The price rises with every contact you add, the free plan is small, and automation is shallower than in specialist tools.
Mailchimp plans and pricing ActiveCampaign vs Mailchimp in detail Visit Mailchimp
ConvertKit
From$33/moValue score4.1/5
Compared with ActiveCampaign: Starts at $33/mo, $18 a month more than ActiveCampaign; it has a free plan, which ActiveCampaign does not.
ConvertKit, now called Kit, is email marketing for creators: writers, podcasters, course sellers and newsletter operators. Subscribers are organized with tags instead of lists, automations are drawn as simple visual flows, and you can sell digital products and paid subscriptions from the same account. Emails are plain and text-first by intent.
- Best for
- Creators and newsletter businesses focused on audience building
- Pricing
- Creator plan, billed annually ($39 billed monthly), 1,000 subscribers at this price. Free plan: up to 10,000 subscribers.
- Key features
- Visual automations, Landing pages and forms, Creator commerce tools
Where it falls short: Design options and reporting are limited, and it is not built for stores or sales teams.
ConvertKit plans and pricing ActiveCampaign vs ConvertKit in detail Visit ConvertKit
Drip
From$39/moValue score3.7/5
Compared with ActiveCampaign: Starts at $39/mo, $24 a month more than ActiveCampaign.
Drip is marketing automation for small online stores. It connects to store platforms, segments customers by what they bought and browsed, and runs visual workflows for carts, welcomes and win-backs. It covers much of what Klaviyo does with a simpler product.
- Best for
- Ecommerce brands that want lifecycle marketing automation
- Pricing
- Drip plan, billed monthly, up to 2,500 active people at this price.
- Key features
- Ecommerce automations, Revenue attribution, Segmentation and tagging
Where it falls short: There is no free plan, the integration catalog is smaller, and it offers little to businesses that are not stores.
Drip plans and pricing ActiveCampaign vs Drip in detail Visit Drip
Brevo
From$8.08/moValue score4.7/5
Compared with ActiveCampaign: Starts at $8.08/mo, $6.92 a month less than ActiveCampaign; it has a free plan, which ActiveCampaign does not.
Brevo, formerly Sendinblue, combines email campaigns with SMS, WhatsApp, transactional email and a light CRM. Its pricing is based on how many emails you send, not on how many contacts you store, which favors large lists that are mailed occasionally. The free plan caps daily sends instead of list size.
- Best for
- SMBs that want email, SMS, and transactional messaging in one tool
- Pricing
- Starter plan, billed annually ($9 billed monthly), from 5,000 emails per month. Free plan: 300 emails a day.
- Key features
- Email campaigns and automation, Transactional email, SMS marketing
Where it falls short: Templates and reporting are plainer than Mailchimp’s, and the free plan’s daily cap limits how many people you can reach at once.
Brevo plans and pricing ActiveCampaign vs Brevo in detail Visit Brevo
03FAQ
What is the closest alternative to ActiveCampaign?
GetResponse. GetResponse packs a lot around its email tool: automation, landing pages, sign-up funnels, webinars and a website builder. Starts at $15.58/mo, $0.58 a month more than ActiveCampaign; it has a free plan, which ActiveCampaign does not.
What is the cheapest alternative to ActiveCampaign?
Brevo: free plan, then $8.08/mo. Starter plan, billed annually ($9 billed monthly), from 5,000 emails per month. Free plan: 300 emails a day.
Which ActiveCampaign alternatives have a free plan?
GetResponse, Klaviyo, Mailchimp, ConvertKit and Brevo. Free plans differ a lot in what they limit, so check the plan tables on each tool’s pricing page.
Is ActiveCampaign still worth using?
Yes, if you need serious automation and will invest time in building it. Its strength is complex, behavior-driven automation at a price below enterprise marketing platforms. The weakness: there is no free plan, the learning curve is real, and the cost climbs with both contacts and tier.
04Bottom Line
If cost is why you are leaving ActiveCampaign, start with Brevo. If you want the least disruption, GetResponse is the closest in spirit: it bundles email with landing pages, funnels and webinars. If you would rather simplify, ConvertKit is the easiest of the group to adopt.