ActiveCampaign Alternatives (Sep 2017)

By: Puranjay Singh   Last updated: 20 Sep 2017

Although ActiveCampaign has a number of features and a relatively affordable price tag, some businesses might find it inadequate for their needs. For such businesses, the following marketing automation tools should prove to be good ActiveCampaign alternatives.

Recommended

1 Ontraport

Screenshot of Ontraport homepage
Rating:
Price: $79/month
Best for: Small businesses and infopreneurs

Ontraport has most of the features in ActiveCampaign - built-in CRM, in-depth automation and split testing. However, the landing page builder and order forms make it much more suitable for digital entrepreneurs. For marketers looking for something beyond simple automation, Ontraport is a worthy alternative.

On paper, Ontraport is more expensive than ActiveCampaign. However, when you factor in the additional cost for the same number of subscribers (Ontraport will give you 100,000 subscribers for just an extra $100/month), Ontraport and ActiveCampaign are nearly the same price.

This makes Ontraport our most recommended alternative to ActiveCampaign...Full Ontraport Review

PROS

  • Customizable with powerful marketing automation capabilities
  • Order forms and upsells make selling easy
  • Built-in membership sites, postcards are a big plus

CONS

  • Lack of visual campaign builder impacts usability
  • Custom objects in CRM are hard to use
  • Poor reporting capabilities; dashboard design lacks finesse

Other Alternatives

2 Infusionsoft

Screenshot of Infusionsoft homepage
Rating:
Price: $199/month
Best for: Established small businesses

Infusionsoft is an all-in-one marketing automation platform that aims to handle every stage of your marketing and sales, from lead acquisition to eventual conversion.

In terms of features, Infusionsoft is definitely more feature rich than ActiveCampaign. The CRM is better, the automation builder more capable, and the integrations more extensive. Additional features like payment processing and e-commerce capabilities make it one of the best automation tools on the market.

A sore point is price. When compared to ActiveCampaign, Infusionsoft requires steep upfront commitment (mandatory onboarding: $999)...Full Infusionsoft Review

PROS

  • Complete funnel management, from lead acquisition to conversion
  • E-commerce capabilities complement automation features
  • Top-notch training, support and community

CONS

  • Feature bloat is a problem; can be hard to use for some
  • Expensive; all plans require annual commitment
  • No built-in split-testing capabilities

3 ConvertKit

Screenshot of ConvertKit
Rating:
Price: $29/month
Best for: Bloggers

ConvertKit's USP is its ease of use and laser sharp focus on email automation. It doesn't have much to offer in the way of marketing automation, but it is neither sold nor meant to automate your business; just your email.

In comparison to ActiveCampaign, ConvertKit is significantly easier to use. It is also cheaper - for about 10,000 contacts, you'll pay less than half for CK as you would for AC.

Of course, for this cheaper price, you get significantly fewer features - there's no CRM, no sales automation, no pipeline management.

Bloggers, authors and entrepreneurs who want to send text-heavy emails will love ConvertKit...Full Review

PROS

  • Extremely easy to send automated text-heavy emails
  • Simple trigger based if-then automation is easy to use
  • Effective built-in methods to capture leads

CONS

  • Email editor is useless for visual emails
  • Tons of missing features - CRM, sales management, etc.
  • Limited audience segmentation capabilities

How to Choose Your ActiveCampaign Alternative

ActiveCampaign's biggest advantage is its low price. If you are new to marketing automation, it's the perfect gateway software to get an idea of how automation can actually help.

While feature-rich, ActiveCampaign suffers from being okay at a lot of things and not really excelling at anything in particular. The automation builder works well, but falls short of being great because of some bad UI/UX choices. The CRM is good, but lacks the segmentation capabilities of a better alternative. The pipeline management is largely unnecessary for ActiveCampaign's target audience.

So when you're choosing an ActiveCampaign alternative, look for the following:

  • Lead Capture: ActiveCampaign's lead capture methods are limited.
  • Sales Features: Although ActiveCampaign has some sales features, they are limited in impact and scope.
  • Support and Training: ActiveCampaign simply doesn't have the support and documentation of its competitors.

Based on this criteria, I recommend the following:

  • Ontraport, if you want a mix of affordability and automation features.
  • Infusionsoft, if you want automation features and are willing to pay for it.
  • ConvertKit, if you only care about email automation and have a limited budget.


Need help finding the right alternative to ActiveCampaign? Get in touch with us on our contact page to get personalized recommendations.