Email marketing is one of the effective ways to reach customers, and several email marketing software are on the market today. ActiveCampaign and HubSpot provide helpful features for segmenting your audience lists, managing your contacts and tracking their engagements with your content. But how do you know which one is better for your business?
Forbes Advisor has prepared this guide to show you how ActiveCampaign and HubSpot compare in terms of functionality, pricing, ease of use and more.
ActiveCampaign vs. HubSpot: At a Glance
ActiveCampaign and HubSpot help users automate personalized emails or campaigns to specific customers or subscribers and monitor their responses for better interactions. You can utilize email templates, work with segmented lists and obtain overview and detailed reports on lists and individual opens and clicks. However, ActiveCampaign focuses on email marketing, even though it offers CRM functionality. It even provides separate email bundles, such as the transactional email feature.
HubSpot is an all-in-one CRM software with customer segmentation and email marketing automation functions that can help you reach your target audience and increase customer conversion. Hence, its email marketing feature is less specialized than ActiveCampaign’s.
How ActiveCampaign and HubSpot Stack Up
This table gives an overview of how ActiveCampaign and HubSpot CRM compare in terms of their offerings.
Pricing/Feature | ActiveCampaign | HubSpot |
---|---|---|
Starting Price | $15 per month (annual billing) | $15 per month (annual billing) |
Free Trial or Version | 14-day free trial | Free version; 30-day free trial |
Marketing Automation | Yes | Yes |
Templates and Customization | Yes | Yes |
Integration | Only available on higher plans | Available on all plans |
A/B Testing | Available on all plans | Only available on higher plans |
Advanced Reporting | Yes | Yes |
Learn More | — | |
Read Reviews |
Marketing Automation
ActiveCampaign is a code-free email marketing software that allows you to create tags for your customers and share content according to their interests. Users can employ ActiveCampaign automation to build workflows with advanced triggers, such as sending a welcome email when someone subscribes, a reminder email when a customer abandons their cart and updating customers about appointments and deliveries. Its conditional segmentation also ensures that customers receive automated emails for specific engagements with your website or emails. ActiveCampaign also allows you to upload unlimited images in your campaigns, team members can edit campaigns and your emails are mobile optimized. Also, all your emails are stored, including their revision history.
HubSpot allows you to tailor emails to recipient lists, using each one’s life cycle stage and other information to help you develop relevant subject lines, attachments and CTAs. You can also schedule your emails for up to a year. Also, you won’t need the help of a designer or IT expert to send emails to your subscribers. However, unlike ActiveCampaign, its mobile optimization is limited to email content, unless you subscribe to HubSpot Professional.
Email Templates and Customization
ActiveCampaign boasts over 250 designs of pre-built email templates. You can customize them to your taste with the drag-and-drop campaign builder. Also, ActiveCampaign allows advanced users to create text-only and custom HTML emails. You can also use the campaign builder to schedule emails and configure email tracking and trigger settings. However, users have expressed frustration about their inability to add multiple email addresses for leads, especially since HubSpot allows it.
HubSpot helps you craft professional email campaigns across multiple devices. Along with ActiveCampaign, it has free templates you can customize with its drag-and-drop editor. You can also use its AI writing feature to generate emails from prompts and then connect your email results to your website or social media channels for analysis. That way, you’ll see your email health scores. HubSpot also has in-app recommendations to help you avoid spam filters and improve your email marketing results.
Integration
ActiveCampaign and HubSpot allow you to integrate with other apps. They also enable Application Programming Interface (API), which helps developers build integrations with less popular apps unavailable in the email marketing software hubs. However, they both have their limitations. For example, while ActiveCampaign can integrate with 940-plus apps, only those who subscribe to the higher plans can benefit. HubSpot allows integration on all its plans, but you’ll need at least its Professional plan to integrate with some apps, including Salesforce and WhatsApp.
Advanced Reporting and Analytics
ActiveCampaign provides detailed analytics and reports on your email campaigns, including their open and read trends and specific clients’ responses, to aid optimization, which will give you better conversation rates. Also, you can conduct split testing for up to five emails at once to determine which subject line, email text or images and CTAs work best for your audience lists. However, while all ActiveCampaign plans provide reporting features, there’s no custom reporting for users outside the Enterprise plan.
HubSpot reporting gives users a holistic view of what’s working, and you can choose what appears on your dashboard and compare reports side by side. Users can view reports in preferred formats, including tables, pie charts and scatter plots. You can also make your reports private or public and choose those that can access them. However, note that HubSpot custom reports are only available on its Professional plan, and you’ll get 100. Also, unlike ActiveCampaign, there is no A/B testing for lower-tier subscribers.
Cost of ActiveCampaign vs. HubSpot
The tables below show the two email marketing tools’ pricing plans and basic features.
Active Campaign
Pricing/Feature | Lite | Plus | Pro | Enterprise |
---|---|---|---|---|
Starting Price | $15 per month (annual billing) | $49 per month (annual billing) | $79 per month (annual billing) | $145 per month (annual billing) |
Number of Users | One | Three | Five | 10 |
Maximum Number of Contacts | 50,000 | 50,000 | 50,000 | 50,000 |
Monthly Email Sends | 10x contact limit | 10x contact limit | 12x contact limit | 15x contact limit |
A/B Testing | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Custom Reporting | No | No | No | Yes |
Support | 24/7 support via live chat and email | 24/7 support via live chat and email | 24/7 support via live chat and email | 24/7 support via live chat and email |
HubSpot
Pricing/Feature | Free | Starter | Professional | Enterprise |
---|---|---|---|---|
Starting Price | $0 per month | $15 per month (annual billing) | $800 per month (annual billing) | $3,600 per month (annual billing) |
Maximum Number of Contacts | 0 | 1,000 | 2,000 | 10,000 |
Monthly Email Sends | 2,000 (with HubSpot branding) | 5,000 | 20,000 | 20,000 |
A/B Testing | No | No | Yes | Yes |
Custom Reporting | No | No | Yes, up to 100 custom reports | Yes, up to 500 custom reports |
Phone Support | No | No | Yes | Yes |
ActiveCampaign starts at $15 per month for one user when you choose the annual billing. Its Plus, Pro and Enterprise plans cost $49, $79 and $145 per month, respectively, when paying annually.
If you run a larger business, talk to the ActiveCampaign sales team for a customized price and access to features such as more user seats, unlimited email testing and advanced and customized reporting. ActiveCampaign also offers a free trial, but expect limited functionality, including limited email sends and contacts.
HubSpot starts at $0, helping you build a mailing list for free. However, free users will see HubSpot branding on their emails, forms and landing pages. HubSpot pricing plans start at $15 per month on an annual billing and can go up to $3,600 per month on its Enterprise plan, which is suitable for larger businesses and enterprises. You can also jump on HubSpot’s 30-day free trial to try its premium marketing features.
Customer Reviews and Reputation
Out of over 10,400 reviews on G2, ActiveCampaign scored 4.5 out of 5 stars, an “Excellent” rating. Its competitor, HubSpot, scored a bit lower—4.4 stars from a slightly fewer number, 10,378, when we prepared this comparison guide. ActiveCampaign has an average of 3.1 stars from more than 724 reviews on Trustpilot, while HubSpot scored 3.2 from 609 customers.
Many HubSpot users commend its astounding functionality, especially since the email software offers robust marketing features. However, the less experienced users complained that its features are sometimes confusing. They also wish that its prices were lower. For ActiveCampaign users, the email marketing software is user friendly. Still, some more advanced features sometimes take time to master and can be hidden.
Top ActiveCampaign and HubSpot Alternatives
ActiveCampaign and HubSpot are helpful tools for your marketing campaigns, with ActiveCampaign being the best email marketing software for automated email marketing. On the other hand, HubSpot snagged a spot on our list of the best CRM software for small businesses and the best free CRM systems. However, alternative email marketing software platforms might be more suitable for you. The table below shows you a few of them.
Email Marketing Software | Starting Price | Free Plan | Key Email Features | A/B Testing |
---|---|---|---|---|
ActiveCampaign | $15 per month (with annual billing) | No | Unlimited monthly email sends, up to 250,000 contacts, new AI writer | Yes |
HubSpot | $15 per month (with annual billing) | Yes | Free plan, extensive integration on all plans, report setting customization | Yes |
Mailchimp | $1 for the first month, then $20 per month after that | Yes | Beginner-friendly email builder, segmentation, automation | Yes |
Drip | $39 per month | No | Email and SMS marketing | Yes |
Campaigner | $59 per month | No | Email and SMS marketing, full code editor | Yes |
Learn more:
10 Best Email Marketing Software
10 Best Mailchimp Alternatives
Best ActiveCampaign Alternatives
Bottom Line
If you’re looking for a tool to help you with email marketing alongside its other many marketing and customer relationship management features, you will love HubSpot. However, if you prefer a platform enabling email marketing without cluttering, ActiveCampaign is a better option.
If you want free software to help with basic email marketing features, the better option is HubSpot. And if you’re dealing with more contacts—up to 1 million, HubSpot is your best bet.
HubSpot is best for:
- Businesses looking for a scalable all-in-one solution for sales and marketing
- Businesses that want to build an email list without making a financial commitment
ActiveCampaign is best for:
- Businesses looking for complete email marketing software without complexities
- Businesses that require an email marketing platform with enhanced customization features
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Is HubSpot's free email marketing tool any good?
Yes, even without paying a dime, you can send bulk emails and fine-tune your emails with HubSpot’s AI writing assistant. Send as many as 2,000 emails monthly, but remember they will have HubSpot branding. You can also integrate with HubSpot’s sales CRM for efficient email list building and personalization.
Does HubSpot integrate with ActiveCampaign?
HubSpot enables smooth integration with ActiveCampaign. It even has the email marketing software in its marketplace. However, you won’t find HubSpot in ActiveCampaign’s App marketplace. That is not an issue since you can always connect via ActiveCampaign API or tools such as Zapier.
What are the advantages of ActiveCampaign?
ActiveCampaign is a feature-packed email marketing platform that comes with several advantages. However, where it stands out from the competition is in its advanced automation capabilities and its tracking, data collection and reporting.
Can ActiveCampaign be used as a CRM?
Yes, you can use ActiveCampaign as a CRM. ActiveCampaign is a CRM software with similar functions to the best CRMs, even HubSpot. It can help you manage a customer’s journey, from lead to loyal customer, including sending personalized emails that influence specific actions.