Act-On vs ActiveCampaign (2026): Pricing, Features & Which to Choose

Who comes out ahead

Based only on the facts in our directory. The right pick still depends on the job you need done.

Lower starting price
ActiveCampaign
From $15/mo against from $900/mo
Free plan
Tie
Neither has one
Higher rating
ActiveCampaign
4.2 against 4.4
Same job?
Yes
Both are Marketing tools

Side by side

Compared on	Act-On	ActiveCampaign
Our rating	4.2	4.4Better
Starts at	$900/mo	$15/moBetter
Free plan	No	No
Category	Marketing	Marketing
Plans	From $900/mo	From $15/mo
Key features	AI Create for brand-compliant marketing copy Adaptive Send for per-contact send times Predictive lead scoring from engagement history InSite web agent for visitor questions Agentic data analysis with conversational charts	Active Intelligence carries memory across campaigns automatically Brand Kit maintains consistent voice, logo, and colors across generated content References a brand's own best-performing past emails automatically Multi-channel: email, SMS, WhatsApp, and 1,000+ integrations Pricing scales with contact-list size
Pros	AI features are named and described one by one Charged by contacts emailed, with unlimited stored contacts Template sharing for franchise and branch models	Active Intelligence memory reduces repetitive brand-voice setup for new campaigns Long, proven operating history since 2003 Broad integration ecosystem across 1,000+ apps
Cons	Starts at $900 a month, high for small teams No free plan or self-serve trial named Enterprise pricing requires a quote	Pricing increases as a contact list grows, a real cost consideration at scale Some features considered essential are priced as add-ons beyond the advertised tier No permanent free plan to test before committing
Company	Act-On Software	ActiveCampaign, founded 2003

Prices come from each vendor's pricing page, last checked 20261012. Check the vendor before you buy.

FAQ

Questions people ask

Is Act-On better than ActiveCampaign?

In our reviews Act-On scores 4.2 and ActiveCampaign scores 4.4. The better pick depends on the job. Act-On: Lifecycle marketing automation platform for email, web, SMS and social, with AI Create for brand-compliant copy, Adaptive Send timing, predictive lead scoring, an InSite web agent and conversational data analysis. ActiveCampaign: Bootstrapped for 13 years before taking outside funding, now a $3B company.

Which is cheaper, Act-On or ActiveCampaign?

ActiveCampaign has the lower starting price: from $900/mo for Act-On and from $15/mo for ActiveCampaign.

Do Act-On and ActiveCampaign have free plans?

Neither lists a free plan.

More comparisons

Act-On compared with

All Act-On alternatives

ActiveCampaign compared with

All ActiveCampaign alternatives