Pricing guide
Comparison
ActiveCampaign vs MailerLite in 2026: Official Pricing and Plan Limits
Official USD prices and published limits for ActiveCampaign and MailerLite, checked on November 14, 2026, including MailerLite's official free plan, Comfort and Power ladders, and contact-versus-subscriber differences.
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The short answer
ActiveCampaign and MailerLite both sell list-based email and marketing plans in USD, but they do not use the same plan names, the same starting list sizes, or the same official free-plan policy.
Prices checked on November 14, 2026 (America/Denver):
- ActiveCampaign published four plans — Starter, Plus, Pro, and Enterprise — with a 1,000-contact minimum and no free plan on the official pricing page. At 1,000 contacts, official USD rates were $19 / $59 / $99 / $179 a month, or $15 / $49 / $79 / $145 a month billed yearly. Official send caps are 10× the contact limit on Starter and Plus, 12× on Pro, and 15× on Enterprise. A 14-day trial with email sign-up (no credit card needed) and “Guaranteed results in 30 days or your money back” were advertised. The full ladder is in our ActiveCampaign pricing guide.
- MailerLite published four plans: Free, Comfort, Power, and Enterprise. Official Free is $0 a month, with up to 250 subscribers, 2 user seats, and 2,500 monthly emails, plus official inclusions such as campaigns, automations, a website, a landing page, and signup forms. Official Comfort starts at $12 a month ($10.80 yearly-billed) at 500 subscribers. Official Power starts at $25 a month ($22.50 yearly-billed) at 500 subscribers. At 1,000 subscribers, official Comfort is $19 / $17.10 and official Power is $39 / $35.10. Official FAQ copy says Comfort gives you 10× the ceiling of your subscriber tier each month, and that Power includes unlimited monthly emails (with the plan described as having sensible sending and usage limits elsewhere on the same page — confirm live fair-use terms). Official FAQ: billing counts active subscribers; unsubscribed and bounced addresses do not count, and a cumulative in-cycle rule applies. A free trial with no credit card was advertised. Official Enterprise is a custom plan above 200,000 subscribers.
Those dollar figures come from activecampaign.com/pricing and ActiveCampaign's official USD catalog, and from mailerlite.com/pricing and the official USD plan-price data and FAQ on that page. This is a dated comparison of published rate cards, not a hands-on ranking and not a coupon page.
See ActiveCampaign's official plans
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How we researched this comparison
On November 14, 2026, we recorded ActiveCampaign prices from activecampaign.com/pricing and from https://www.activecampaign.com/marketing/api/v1/pricing-catalog?c=ac2024¤cy=USD. Plan names, the 1,000-contact default, send multiples, seat counts, the 14-day trial, and the 30-day money-back line come from that public page. Month-to-month rates, annual totals, and yearly-billed monthly equivalents come from the official catalog.
We recorded MailerLite plan names, Free-plan caps, Comfort and Power starting prices, the official USD slider ladder, send rules, and subscriber-counting FAQ language from mailerlite.com/pricing. Comfort and Power dollar amounts at each published subscriber step come from the official plan-price data that page uses for its USD slider.
We did not invent prices, testimonials, or a multi-month test narrative. All dollar amounts below are USD. MailerLite's official slider also lists EUR amounts; this article quotes the official USD ladder.
Official entry points, side by side
| Item | ActiveCampaign (official, 14 Nov 2026) | MailerLite (official, 14 Nov 2026) |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | None on the pricing page we checked | Yes: $0, up to 250 subscribers, 2 seats, 2,500 emails a month |
| Paid plan names | Starter, Plus, Pro, Enterprise | Comfort, Power, Enterprise (custom above 200,000 subscribers) |
| Billing unit | Contacts, minimum 1,000 | Active subscribers, with an official in-cycle counting rule; paid Comfort and Power official prices start at 500 subscribers |
| Starting paid price | Starter $19/month, or $15/month billed yearly, at 1,000 contacts | Comfort $12/month ($10.80 yearly-billed) at 500 subscribers; Power $25/month ($22.50 yearly-billed) at 500 subscribers |
| Price at 1,000 people | Starter $19 ($15 yearly-billed); Plus $59 ($49); Pro $99 ($79) | Comfort $19 ($17.10 yearly-billed); Power $39 ($35.10 yearly-billed) |
| Send limits | 10× contacts on Starter and Plus, 12× on Pro, 15× on Enterprise | Free: 2,500 emails a month. Official FAQ: Comfort is 10× the ceiling of your subscriber tier (so the official up-to-1,000 tier includes 10,000 emails). Official Power card and FAQ describe unlimited monthly emails; confirm live fair-use terms |
| Trial | 14-day free trial, no credit card needed, as advertised | Official page advertised a free trial with no credit card required |
| Money-back guarantee | “Guaranteed results in 30 days or your money back,” as advertised | We did not record an equivalent 30-day money-back claim on the MailerLite pricing page |
| Who is counted | Public ladder is contact-based; we did not find a short official “unsubscribed contacts do not count” line on the AC pricing page we checked | Official FAQ: active subscribers only; unsubscribed and bounced addresses do not count; a cumulative in-cycle rule still applies |
We are not asserting that an ActiveCampaign “contact” and a MailerLite “active subscriber” are the same person. If the billable population would differ, official prices at “1,000” may not describe the same people.
Official USD prices at published list sizes
Because the two official ladders skip different steps, the table uses only tiers at least one vendor publishes, and it leaves the other cell blank when there is no official row.
ActiveCampaign and MailerLite columns show month-to-month rates, with the yearly-billed monthly equivalent in parentheses. MailerLite Comfort is blank above 200,000 subscribers because official Enterprise is custom from that point. ActiveCampaign Starter is blank above 25,000 contacts because that is the official Starter cap. There is no official ActiveCampaign 500-subscriber row and no official MailerLite 1,000-contact-minimum at 250.
| List size | AC Starter | AC Plus | AC Pro | MailerLite Comfort | MailerLite Power |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 250 | No AC paid tier below 1,000 | No AC paid tier below 1,000 | No AC paid tier below 1,000 | Free plan ($0) if you stay within Free limits (2,500 emails, 2 seats) | Free plan ($0) if you stay within Free limits |
| 500 | No official AC tier | No official AC tier | No official AC tier | $12 ($10.80); 5,000 emails on Comfort's 10× cap | $25 ($22.50) |
| 1,000 | $19 ($15) | $59 ($49) | $99 ($79) | $19 ($17.10); 10,000 emails on Comfort's 10× cap | $39 ($35.10) |
| 2,500 | $49 ($39) | $119 ($95) | $189 ($149) | $33 ($29.70) | $49 ($44.10) |
| 5,000 | $99 ($79) | $179 ($145) | $259 ($205) | $49 ($44.10) | $69 ($62.10) |
| 10,000 | $189 ($149) | $239 ($189) | $469 ($375) | $89 ($80.10) | $129 ($116.10) |
| 25,000 | $489 ($391) | $489 ($389) | $789 ($629) | $179 ($161.10) | $239 ($215.10) |
| 50,000 | Not published (Starter cap is 25,000) | $759 ($609) | $1,209 ($969) | $319 ($287.10) | $389 ($350.10) |
| 100,000 | Not published | $1,499 ($1,199) | $1,999 ($1,599) | $439 ($395.10) | $489 ($440.10) |
Official ActiveCampaign Enterprise month-to-month rates at 1,000, 2,500, 5,000, 10,000, 25,000, 50,000, and 100,000 contacts were $179, $319, $469, $739, $1,099, $1,459, and $2,169 (yearly-billed equivalents $145, $255, $375, $589, $879, $1,169, and $1,735). Official MailerLite Enterprise is custom above 200,000 subscribers; we are not inventing a dollar figure for it.
How to use the table without forcing a false tie:
- At 250 subscribers or fewer, official MailerLite Free is $0 if you stay within 2,500 emails a month and 2 seats. ActiveCampaign did not publish a free plan.
- At 500 subscribers, official MailerLite Comfort is $12 a month ($10.80 yearly-billed). There is no official ActiveCampaign 500-contact price; the published AC minimum is the 1,000-contact band.
- At 1,000 people, official MailerLite Comfort ($19 / $17.10 yearly-billed) sits next to official ActiveCampaign Starter ($19 / $15 yearly-billed). The official feature grids still differ: Starter is tighter on automation actions, lists, seats, and channels; Comfort is a different published package, including official website and landing-page items described in MailerLite's FAQ. Official Plus ($59 / $49) and official Power ($39 / $35.10) are different bands again.
- At 10,000 people, official MailerLite Comfort ($89 / $80.10) and Power ($129 / $116.10) sit below official ActiveCampaign Starter ($189 / $149) and Plus ($239 / $189). Price alone is not a feature match. Official Plus is the first ActiveCampaign plan whose published grid includes landing pages, generative AI, and CRM or SMS add-ons.
What each official grid actually contrasts
ActiveCampaign Starter is officially email only at the published grid, with five automation actions, five lists, 15 business goals, one included seat (maximum two), a 25,000-contact cap, and a 10× send cap. Official Plus is the first plan whose published grid includes landing pages and site messages, generative AI, cross-channel marketing, and access to CRM and SMS add-ons. Official Pro adds predictive sending, conditional content, advanced segmentation, 3 included seats, a 12× send cap, and 200 active business goals.
MailerLite Free, per the official FAQ, includes campaigns, automations, a website, a landing page, signup forms, and all three official email editors, within the 250-subscriber and 2,500-email caps and 2 seats. Official Comfort (starting $12 a month) is described as everything in Free plus items such as unlimited templates, dynamic emails, campaign auto-resend, multivariate testing, an unsubscribe page builder, a preference center, an AI writing assistant, and smart sending, with the official 10× send cap. Official Power (starting $25 a month) is described as everything in Comfort plus unlimited user seats, monthly emails, automations, forms, digital products, and bookings, multiple automation triggers, partner discounts, and 24/7 live chat support.
Those lists are vendor-published inclusions, not a hands-on verdict.
Who official ActiveCampaign still fits
Official ActiveCampaign is a reasonable published fit if you are already at or above 1,000 contacts, you can accept no official free plan, and you will actually use official Plus or Pro inclusions — landing pages and generative AI on Plus, CRM or SMS add-ons from Plus upward, or predictive sending and conditional content on Pro — or you want the official contact-tier ladder on Plus, Pro, or Enterprise at list sizes where you also want those published items.
It is also the quote to compare when you want ActiveCampaign's advertised 14-day trial and 30-day money-back line, as published on the official pricing page. Confirm live terms before you start a trial or buy.
Official yearly-billed Starter at 1,000 contacts ($15 a month, $180 a year) can also be close, on price, to official MailerLite Comfort at the same list size ($17.10 yearly-billed). That is a price neighborhood, not a feature tie. Compare the official grids, including Starter's tighter automation, list, and seat caps.
Who should look at official MailerLite instead
Look at official MailerLite when a published limit is the reason:
- You have 250 or fewer active subscribers and 2,500 emails a month is enough: official Free already includes campaigns, automations, a website, a landing page, and forms.
- You are in the official Comfort band and the official 10× send cap plus the Comfort feature list are enough. At 1,000 subscribers, official Comfort is $19 a month or $17.10 yearly-billed.
- You want official Power at $39 a month ($35.10 yearly-billed) at 1,000 subscribers, including official unlimited monthly emails (confirm fair use) and official Power items such as digital products and bookings.
- You want official MailerLite subscriber counting (active only, with the in-cycle rule stated in the FAQ) rather than assuming every vendor bills the same population.
If official Comfort already covers you, paying for ActiveCampaign Plus is a choice, not a default. A wider alternatives set is in MailerLite alternatives and ActiveCampaign alternatives. A small-list price context is also in email marketing for small business.
FAQ
Is ActiveCampaign cheaper than MailerLite?
At 1,000 people, official Starter ($19 / $15 yearly-billed) and official Comfort ($19 / $17.10 yearly-billed) are in the same price neighborhood, with different official grids. At 500 subscribers, official Comfort at $12 ($10.80 yearly-billed) has no official ActiveCampaign counterpart, because AC's published minimum is 1,000 contacts. At 10,000 people, official Comfort and Power sit below official ActiveCampaign Starter and Plus on the rate card. Compare the official row you would actually buy, including send caps and inclusions, not only the cheapest cell.
Does MailerLite have a free plan?
Yes. Official Free is $0, with up to 250 subscribers, 2 seats, and 2,500 emails a month, plus the official Free inclusions listed on the pricing-page FAQ. ActiveCampaign did not publish a free plan on the pricing page we checked.
Do the two tools count lists the same way?
Not necessarily. MailerLite's official FAQ says billing counts active subscribers, and that unsubscribed and bounced addresses do not count, with a cumulative in-cycle rule. We did not find an equally short official definition of an ActiveCampaign “contact” on the pricing page we checked, so we are not asserting that the two vendors count a list identically.
Did you test both tools hands-on?
No. This is a dated comparison of official pricing pages and catalogs. We do not invent testimonials, star ratings, or long-term test claims.
Sources and method
Checked November 14, 2026 (America/Denver):
- ActiveCampaign official pricing and official USD catalog
https://www.activecampaign.com/marketing/api/v1/pricing-catalog?c=ac2024¤cy=USD - MailerLite official pricing, including the official FAQ and the official USD plan-price data that page uses for its slider
Related: ActiveCampaign pricing, MailerLite alternatives, ActiveCampaign alternatives, ActiveCampaign vs Brevo, ActiveCampaign vs Kit, email marketing for small business.
If a later official change conflicts with this snapshot, the official page wins.