Pricing guide
Alternatives
ActiveCampaign Alternatives in 2026: Official Prices Compared, Without the Hard Sell
An honest look at official 2026 prices and published limits for tools people compare with ActiveCampaign — HubSpot, Klaviyo, Mailchimp, MailerLite, Brevo, Kit, GetResponse, and Omnisend — checked on November 13, 2026.
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The short answer
People search for ActiveCampaign alternatives for ordinary reasons: they want an official free plan, a lower published price at a small list, a creator-focused product, a full multi-hub CRM platform, or an ecommerce-first email and SMS stack. Those are real, officially documented differences. ActiveCampaign is not the only tool that can send email and run automations, and this page does not pretend otherwise.
On November 13, 2026 (America/Denver), official USD starting points we recorded were:
- ActiveCampaign: no free plan on the pricing page; Starter / Plus / Pro / Enterprise from $19 / $59 / $99 / $179 a month at 1,000 contacts, or $15 / $49 / $79 / $145 billed yearly. 14-day trial and a 30-day money-back guarantee were advertised. Full ladder: ActiveCampaign pricing.
- HubSpot: Free at $0; Marketing Hub Starter list price $20 per seat per month, with an official new-customer promotion of $10 month-to-month or $7 billed annually; Marketing Hub Professional $890 list or $800 billed annually, plus $3,000 required onboarding; Marketing Hub Enterprise $3,600 a month billed annually, plus $7,000 onboarding. See ActiveCampaign vs HubSpot.
- Klaviyo: Free plan up to 250 active profiles and 500 emails a month; Email from $20 a month at 500 profiles; Marketing from a $25 list price at 500 profiles, with a vendor first-month $1 promotion on eligible Marketing plans up to 5,000 profiles. See ActiveCampaign vs Klaviyo.
- Mailchimp: Free plan up to 250 contacts and 500 sends a month; Essentials from $13 a month and Standard from $20 a month at 500 contacts; Premium from $350 a month at 10,000 contacts. See ActiveCampaign vs Mailchimp.
- MailerLite: Free plan up to 250 subscribers, 2 seats, and 2,500 emails a month; Comfort from $12 a month ($10.80 billed yearly) at 500 subscribers; Power from $25 a month ($22.50 billed yearly) at 500 subscribers; Enterprise custom above 200,000 subscribers.
- Brevo: a free-forever plan (no credit card needed); Starter $9 a month or $97 a year, from 5,000 emails a month; Standard $18 a month or $194 a year; Professional $499 a month or $5,389 a year, from 150,000 emails a month; Enterprise for 1 million-plus contacts, talk to sales. Official page also advertised yearly billing at about 10% off.
- Kit (formerly ConvertKit), at the official 1,000-subscriber display: Free $0, up to 10,000 subscribers; Creator $33 a month or $390 billed yearly; Pro listed a regular $66 a month and a limited-time $50 a month offer, with first-year yearly copy at $593 and a note that the plan renews at the standard rate after the first year.
- GetResponse, starting official prices for 1,000 subscribers: Starter $19 a month or $15.58 paid annually; Marketer $59 a month or $48.38 paid annually; Enterprise custom. A 14-day trial and a vendor 50% charity discount were advertised.
- Omnisend: official help on the pricing page says the Free plan can be used for an unlimited time with up to 500 emails a month. Paid Standard and Pro are contact-tiered; the page also displayed a promotional Standard offer at the default selector (a 30% discount on a $48 three-month total, or $16 a month before that offer). Confirm the live tier price on the official calculator rather than treating that promo as a permanent rate card.
None of those figures is a coupon from this site. Vendor promotions are labeled as official vendor offers.
See ActiveCampaign's official plans
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How we researched this guide
On November 13, 2026, we opened each vendor's official pricing page and, where the public page is filled in by JavaScript, the official catalog or pricing API that page loads. ActiveCampaign, HubSpot, Klaviyo, and Mailchimp sources match the ones cited in our existing comparison guides. MailerLite prices and plan definitions come from mailerlite.com/pricing and that page's official FAQ (Free / Comfort / Power / Enterprise, send multiples, and the published starting prices). Brevo, Kit, GetResponse, and Omnisend figures come from brevo.com/pricing, kit.com/pricing, getresponse.com/pricing, and omnisend.com/pricing.
We did not invent prices or "we switched and revenue went up" stories. Where official ladders skip a contact count, or a page showed a limited-time offer, we say so.
When an alternative is the more honest official fit
Use the official limits, not a brand preference.
Choose HubSpot instead if you want an official free CRM, a Starter bundle that officially includes several Starter hubs, or Marketing Hub Professional or Enterprise and you can budget official prices that start at $800–$890 a month (plus $3,000 onboarding) or $3,600 a month (plus $7,000 onboarding). ActiveCampaign does not publish an equivalent multi-hub suite. See HubSpot alternatives if you are going the other direction.
Choose Klaviyo instead if you want an official free plan at 250 active profiles, or official Email and Marketing bundles organized around ecommerce-style profiles, reviews, and a mobile-message calculator. Official Klaviyo Email at 1,000 profiles was $30 a month — above official ActiveCampaign Starter, below official Plus. See Klaviyo alternatives for the reverse brief.
Choose Mailchimp instead if you want an official free plan at 250 contacts, a $13 Essentials entry at 500 contacts, Pay As You Go credits, or a vendor nonprofit 15% process. Official Mailchimp and ActiveCampaign contact ladders do not share a 1,000-contact Mailchimp row.
Choose MailerLite instead if a small official free plan or Comfort's official $12 starting price (or $10.80 billed yearly) at 500 subscribers is enough, and Comfort's official 10× send cap or Power's official unlimited emails (fair use) match how you send. MailerLite's official FAQ also includes websites, landing pages, and, on Power, digital products and bookings. That is a different package than ActiveCampaign Starter. See MailerLite alternatives if you are leaving MailerLite.
Choose Brevo instead if you want an official free-forever plan and a $9 Starter month (or $97 a year) that officially starts at 5,000 emails a month. Official Professional is a different band ($499 a month). Confirm whether you are buying a send-based or contact-based quote on the official calculator; the public cards we recorded emphasized monthly email amounts.
Choose Kit instead if you are a creator and the official Free plan up to 10,000 subscribers is the reason you looked. Official Creator at the 1,000-subscriber display was $33 a month ($390 a year). Official Pro showed a $66 regular monthly price and a limited-time $50 offer. Kit's official comparison table lists unlimited subscribers on Creator and Pro, which is a different published cap than ActiveCampaign's contact-tier ladder.
Choose GetResponse instead if official Starter at $19 a month (or $15.58 annually) for 1,000 subscribers with unlimited monthly sends is the quote you want, or if official Marketer at $59 (or $48.38 annually) includes the channel mix you need. Confirm the current subscriber band on the official page.
Choose Omnisend instead if you want an official free plan with all listed features and 500 emails a month, or an ecommerce email-and-SMS pricing page. Official SMS starting copy on the page was $0.007 per SMS; treat "save up to 35% vs. Klaviyo" as vendor marketing, not as a number we verified.
When ActiveCampaign is still a reasonable official pick
ActiveCampaign can still be the better official match when the job is mid-market email plus automation, you are already at or above 1,000 contacts, and you want a published yearly-billed rate with a four-plan ladder rather than a $800-plus Marketing Hub or a creator-only package.
Official Plus, from $59 a month or $49 yearly-billed at 1,000 contacts, is the first AC plan that the official grid gives landing pages, generative AI, cross-channel marketing, and access to CRM and SMS add-ons. Official Pro adds predictive sending, conditional content, and three seats. Those are documented inclusions, not a claim that we ran a six-month lab test.
If you need a CRM path in the same vendor, ActiveCampaign officially sells Pipelines and sales engagement add-ons on Plus, Pro, and Enterprise — not on Starter. Get the add-on quote from the official calculator; we did not record a complete public add-on rate card.
If you expected a free AC plan, official alternatives above (HubSpot Free, Klaviyo Free, Mailchimp Free, MailerLite Free, Brevo Free, Kit Free, Omnisend Free) are the pages that actually publish one. ActiveCampaign's official answer on the date we checked was a 14-day trial.
Official starting prices, compared carefully
The table uses each vendor's official entry at the band that vendor actually publishes. It is not a single 1,000-contact matrix, because several official ladders do not have that row.
| Vendor (official, 13 Nov 2026) | Official free plan | Lowest official paid starting price we recorded | Notes on the band |
|---|---|---|---|
| ActiveCampaign | None on the pricing page | $15/month billed yearly, or $19 month-to-month, Starter | 1,000-contact minimum |
| HubSpot Marketing | $0 (HubSpot Free) | Starter list $20/seat/month; official promo $7–$10 for new customers | 1,000 contacts included on Starter |
| Klaviyo | $0, 250 profiles, 500 emails/month | Email $20/month at 500 active profiles | Marketing list $25 at the same step |
| Mailchimp | $0, 250 contacts, 500 sends/month | Essentials $13/month at 500 contacts | No official 1,000-contact row |
| MailerLite | $0, 250 subscribers, 2,500 emails/month, 2 seats | Comfort $12/month ($10.80 yearly-billed) at 500 subscribers | Power $25 ($22.50 yearly-billed) at the same step |
| Brevo | Free forever, no credit card | Starter $9/month or $97/year | Official card: from 5,000 emails/month |
| Kit (ConvertKit) | $0, up to 10,000 subscribers | Creator $33/month or $390/year at the 1,000-subscriber display | Pro regular $66/month; limited-time $50/month offer on the page |
| GetResponse | Not recorded as a free plan on the cards we used; 14-day trial advertised | Starter $19/month or $15.58 annually | Official starting band: 1,000 subscribers, unlimited monthly sends |
| Omnisend | Free, up to 500 emails/month, official help says unlimited time | Standard is contact-tiered; default display showed a 30% promotional rate on a $16/month three-month list total | Confirm the live calculator |
For larger lists, official prices diverge quickly. Official ActiveCampaign Plus at 10,000 contacts was $239 month-to-month or $189 yearly-billed. Official Mailchimp Standard at 10,000 was $135; Essentials $110; Premium starts at $350. Official Klaviyo Email at 10,000 profiles was $150; Marketing $195. Official MailerLite Comfort at 10,000 subscribers was $89 month-to-month or $80.10 yearly-billed; Power $129 or $116.10. Official HubSpot Marketing Professional still starts at $800–$890 a month with only 2,000 contacts included. Those figures are snapshots, not a recommendation to pick the cheapest row.
What this page will not do
It will not rank these tools with star ratings. It will not invent coupons. It will not claim that ActiveCampaign "wins" every switcher scenario. If a limit above is why you are leaving ActiveCampaign, follow that official page and re-check the date. If you are still evaluating ActiveCampaign, use the official trial and the dated guides on this site, and remember that some links to ActiveCampaign are affiliate links.
Open ActiveCampaign's official pricing
Affiliate link: we may earn a commission if you buy through this link. You pay the same price.
FAQ
What is the cheapest official ActiveCampaign alternative?
It depends on list size and whether you need a paid plan at all. Official free plans exist on HubSpot, Klaviyo, Mailchimp, MailerLite, Brevo, Kit, and Omnisend, with different caps. Among paid official starting prices we recorded, Brevo Starter at $9 a month and MailerLite Comfort at $12 a month (or $10.80 billed yearly) at 500 subscribers sit below official ActiveCampaign Starter, which does not publish a band below 1,000 contacts.
Is HubSpot a direct alternative?
Only in part. Official HubSpot Marketing Professional and Enterprise prices are in a different band, and HubSpot sells multiple hubs. Starter is the official HubSpot offer closest to ActiveCampaign's entry price, and it is a multi-hub bundle with a 1,000-contact inclusion.
Did you test all of these tools hands-on?
No. This is a dated comparison of official pricing pages and catalogs. We do not invent testimonials or long-term test claims.
Sources and method
Official pricing pages and catalogs checked November 13, 2026 (America/Denver): ActiveCampaign and its USD catalog; HubSpot Marketing and its official product catalog API; Klaviyo; Mailchimp and https://mailchimp.com/forms/pricing/?currency=USD&locale=en; MailerLite; Brevo; Kit; GetResponse; Omnisend. Linked comparison guides on this site use the same dated sources.