ActiveCampaign vs Mailchimp
A side-by-side look at what ActiveCampaign and Mailchimp publish about pricing, plans and features.
This page sets the two products' recorded data side by side. It is not an editorial review — nobody has tested either product for this page, and the figures below are not independently verified. Read how we handle data and what each label means.
| Field | ActiveCampaign | Mailchimp |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Email Marketing | Email Marketing |
| Entry price | $19/mo | $13/mo |
| Free plan | No | Yes |
| Free trial | 14-day trial | Yes |
| Tagged for | Small Teams | Small Teams |
| G2 rating unverified | 4.5 / 5 | 4.3 / 5 |
| Capterra rating unverified | 4.6 / 5 | 4.5 / 5 |
Where they differ
- Mailchimp lists a free plan; ActiveCampaign does not, though it lists a 14-day trial.
- Entry pricing recorded here is $13/month for Mailchimp and $19/month for ActiveCampaign. Plan structures differ, so these are not like-for-like — check both pricing pages before comparing totals.
Head to head
ActiveCampaign
ActiveCampaign is what small teams buy when email automation becomes the growth engine. Its journey builder handles branching logic, site tracking, lead scoring and a built-in sales CRM, at a price far below enterprise marketing clouds. Deliverability consistently benchmarks well. The learning curve is real — its power lives in a dense interface — and there is no free plan, so it fits businesses ready to invest in automation rather than dabble.
Email plus powerful marketing automation.
What we record about ActiveCampaign →Reported strengths
- Best-in-class automation
- Good deliverability
- Built-in CRM
Reported drawbacks
- Learning curve
- No free plan
Mailchimp
Mailchimp remains the most recognizable name in small-business email, pairing an approachable campaign builder with templates, landing pages and light automation. It shines for straightforward newsletters and product announcements where ease matters more than sophistication. Costs scale with audience size — including unsubscribed contacts — and its automation depth trails ActiveCampaign, so senders with complex journeys tend to migrate once their flows mature.
Marketing platform built around email.
What we record about Mailchimp →Reported strengths
- Easy to start
- Solid templates
- Free tier
Reported drawbacks
- Pricing scales fast
- Automation limited on low tiers