ConvertKit and ActiveCampaign are both great email marketing tools, but they’re designed for COMPLETELY DIFFERENT people.

Take it from someone who’s built a 50k+ email list: You need to get the right tool for your budget, goals, and skill-level or you won’t scale no matter how hard you try.

And the honest truth is you might not even need EITHER TOOL.

I’m going to set the record straight with this ConvertKit vs ActiveCampaign comparison.

I’ll cover essential features, pricing, UX, customer support, and alternatives. All from someone who’s used BOTH tools for different goals.

Let’s dive right in…

Email marketing software: Prepare for some tough choices

QUICK OVERVIEW: Choose ConvertKit vs ActiveCampaign in 30 Seconds

Choose ConvertKit If…

If you're a blogger or have some sort of lifestyle business, Converkit is the email marketing service you're looking for. You want to be efficient and create smart autoresponders but not spend a lifetime setting up an overly complicated sales funnel.

Pricing Options: Starting from $29/mo for ALL FEATURES:

• Your grandmother could build an email sequence with ConvertKit
• Easy to create landing pages, A/B testing, subscriber tagging
• FREE migration

ConvertKit: A super-accessible email marketing tool

Choose ActiveCampaign If…

If you are an agency, online marketer, or large business or if you have a high-touch sales process and require flexibility.

Pricing Options (Extremely Complex): Starting from $9/mo (500 subscribers) for limited features:

• Far more powerful than ConvertKit
• Unrivaled email automation tools
• All-in-one customer experience tool (From lead to repeat customer)
• Gmail integration!
• Customizable pricing (Pay only for what you use)
• More than 250 email templates to go along with its email editor

If you’re a blogger or have very basic email marketing needs, ConvertKit is the clear option. Everyone else, get ActiveCampaign.

Of course, life isn’t an internet discussion forum – there’s nuance. So let’s get into more detail about each.

ActiveCampaign vs ConvertKit: Basic Features Breakdown

Based on my experience, ActiveCampaign and ConvertKit are roughly similar at their core.

Both are powerful email marketing tools that help you build an email list, send messages based on triggers, and automate the highest-impact responsibilities.

Did You Know?: Email automation improves conversion rates by up to 50%. If you aren’t using it, you’re throwing money away.

Here’s what they share in common:

• Drag-and-drop editing
• Triggers (#Triggered!)
• Sequence and landing page capabilities
• Segmentation
• Opt-in forms

OK, cool. So what exactly makes them different? Why choose one over the other?

I’ve used both tools to grow email lists and the biggest difference is ConvertKit is all about simplicity (Read as: For beginners) while ActiveCampaign is about features and being an all-in-one solution.

I’m going to break it down feature-by-feature, right after I cover pricing.

ConvertKit vs ActiveCampaign: Pricing

ConvertKit and ActiveCampaign are surprisingly affordable, especially considering the HUGE value you get from investing in email marketing.

By the way, the median ROI on email marketing is 122%, beating social media and paid ads.

I’ll start with the easier of the two first, ConvertKit.

ConvertKit Pricing – Easy Like Sunday Morning

ConvertKit pricing: Four plans, no fuss

ConvertKit’s pricing is VERY simple. And I LOVE how you get ALL FEATURES regardless of pricing plan.

You don’t get that with almost any other email marketing software. That means your experience with the tool doesn’t change regardless of how much you pay.

You only pay based on how many email subscribers you have, NOT for which features you want. Regardless of your subscription plan, you get unlimited email broadcasts, landing pages, and signup forms. On top of that, all plans enable you to sell digital products and subscriptions.

If you’re still a relatively small blogger/content marketer, you’ll most likely pay either $29/mo for up to 1k subs or $49/mo for up to 3k.

TIP: If you pay annually, you get 12 months for the price of 10! Do it!

ActiveCampaign Pricing – Complex But Flexible

ActiveCampaign pricing: Pick your feature-set

ActiveCampaign’s pricing is the exact opposite of ConvertKit’s

Instead of easy like Sunday morning, it’s like waking up on Monday morning at 7:30 AM when work starts at 8: HECTIC AND SCARY.

First, you choose between 4 different plans, each with different features.

ActiveCampaign pricing:  Cost is also affected by how many subscribers you have

Then, you obey that little drag box and adjust the slider to the number of contacts you want to manage.

So, for 1,000 contacts, here’s what you’ll pay:

This is why I recommend smaller bloggers stay away. It’s not worth it.

However, ActiveCampaign is actually CHEAP when you consider that it’s an email, sales, and customer relationship management tool (CRM) all-in-one.

Winner – ConvertKit

If you have a small subscriber list and only need emails, ConvertKit is the clear winner.

If you’ve got thousands of subscribers and need everything from SMS marketing to marketing consultations, ActiveCampaign is a steal.

And if you only need simple emails for 1,000 subscribers or less, you don’t need EITHER of these tools. Check my alternatives section at the end to see which one is 100% FREE.

ConvertKit vs ActiveCampaign: Email automation

75% of email revenue is generated from automated emails.

So I want to cover the details of email marketing automation in both tools. This is the feature that will propel your business to the next level.