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ActiveCampaign looks affordable on the entry plan, then quietly multiplies as your contact list grows and you need the features locked behind higher tiers.
by Esma Calis · Last updated: 2026-05-24ActiveCampaign pricing starts at $19 per month for the Starter plan with 1,000 contacts and scales by contact count across four tiers: Starter, Plus, Professional, and Enterprise. There is no free plan, only a 14-day trial, and the monthly cost climbs steeply as your list grows, often reaching several hundred dollars.
That headline $19 figure is the number ActiveCampaign markets, but it represents the smallest list size on the most limited plan. The real question for buyers is not where pricing starts, but where it lands once you add contacts, automation features, and extra seats. This guide breaks down every published tier, shows how the bill scales, and compares the value against Mailsoftly and other platforms.
Comparing options? See our full roundup of the best marketing automation software for the complete picture.
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Key Takeaways
ActiveCampaign sells four plans, and the price of each one rises with the number of contacts you store. The figures below are monthly rates (as of 2026-04-15) and reflect the published list-size tiers. Annual billing saves roughly 20 percent, which is the trade ActiveCampaign nudges most buyers toward.
| Contacts | Starter | Plus | Professional | Enterprise |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1,000 | $19 | $59 | $89 | $159 |
| 2,500 | $49 | $119 | $169 | $289 |
| 5,000 | $99 | $179 | $235 | $425 |
| 10,000 | $189 | $239 | $419 | $665 |
| 25,000 | Not offered | $489 | $709 | $989 |
Starter is email-and-basic-automation only, Plus adds CRM and landing pages, Professional unlocks predictive sending and deeper reporting, and Enterprise layers on advanced support and security. You can verify the live rates on ActiveCampaign’s official pricing page, since the vendor adjusts tiers periodically. The pattern that matters: every useful capability sits at least one plan above where most buyers expect it.
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ActiveCampaign pricing scales with your contact count, and the increases are not linear. Adding subscribers can multiply your bill several times over, even if your sending habits barely change. This is the trap that catches growing lists.
Take the Plus plan as an example. At 1,000 contacts it is $59 per month. At 5,000 contacts it is $179. At 10,000 contacts it is $239, and at 25,000 contacts it reaches $489 per month. The Professional plan tells a sharper story: $235 at 5,000 contacts, $419 at 10,000, and $709 at 25,000. You pay for the contact, not for whether you actually email that contact this month.
There is also a send-volume ceiling tied to each plan. Starter and Plus cap monthly sends at 10 times your contact count, Professional at 12 times, and Enterprise at 15 times. A list of 10,000 on Plus allows 100,000 sends per month. Active newsletters and frequent automations can bump against that limit, which forces an upgrade for volume alone. If you want to weigh ActiveCampaign against the wider market, it helps to compare the top email marketing services side by side before committing to a contract.
The plan price is rarely the final price. ActiveCampaign layers several extras on top, and they are easy to miss until the invoice arrives. Knowing them in advance is the difference between an accurate budget and a surprise.
None of these are unusual for the category, but together they widen the gap between the advertised price and the real one. If automation depth is your main reason for considering the platform, our primer on Marketing Automation explains which features genuinely move the needle so you can avoid paying for tiers you will not use. For a deeper, hands-on take, our ActiveCampaign review walks through where the spend is justified and where it is not.
On a like-for-like list size, Mailsoftly costs a fraction of ActiveCampaign. Mailsoftly uses flat, list-based pricing with a genuine free tier, while ActiveCampaign charges more per contact and offers only a trial. Here is how the entry points compare across several popular platforms.
| Platform | Pricing (entry) | Free plan | Support | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mailsoftly | From $39/mo (annual, 5,000 contacts) | Yes, 500 contacts, 2,000 emails/mo | Human support, free migration | Teams wanting simple, transparent pricing |
| ActiveCampaign | From $19/mo (1,000 contacts, Starter) | No, 14-day trial only | Tiered by plan | Advanced automation power users |
| HubSpot | From $15/mo Starter (per seat) | Yes, limited with branding | Tiered by plan | All-in-one CRM and marketing |
| Constant Contact | From $12/mo (500 contacts, Lite) | No, 60-day trial | Phone and chat | Growing businesses and events |
The clearest contrast shows at 5,000 contacts. Mailsoftly’s Basic plan is $39 per month on annual billing for 5,000 contacts and 40,000 emails. ActiveCampaign at the same list size is $99 per month on Starter, $179 on Plus, and $235 on Professional. Mailsoftly’s Business plan, at $79 per month annually, holds 15,000 contacts and 150,000 emails, a tier where ActiveCampaign Plus alone runs into the hundreds. Mailsoftly also includes free hands-on migration, so moving your lists, segments, and automations does not become a separate project cost. For a feature-by-feature breakdown, read the full full ActiveCampaign vs Mailsoftly comparison.
Looking for a simpler ActiveCampaign alternative? See why teams switch to Mailsoftly as an ActiveCampaign alternative — free hands-on migration in 1-2 hours, no contracts, real human support.
ActiveCampaign pricing fits buyers who need deep, multi-step automation and will use the higher tiers to justify the spend. For light senders and cost-conscious small lists, the value is harder to defend. Match the plan to how you actually work.
It makes sense if you run complex, conditional customer journeys, rely on the built-in CRM and lead scoring, and have the budget to sit on Professional or Enterprise. Reviewers on platforms like G2’s ActiveCampaign profile consistently praise the automation builder, which is the platform’s strongest argument. If those capabilities map to revenue, the price can be worth it.
It fits poorly if you send a straightforward newsletter, keep a list under a few thousand, or want a free tier to start. In those cases you are paying premium automation rates for features you will not touch. If that sounds like you, it is worth reviewing the ActiveCampaign alternatives that deliver the core email and automation jobs at a lower, more predictable cost. New to the discipline entirely? Our guide to email marketing fundamentals covers the basics before you commit to any platform.
You can lower an ActiveCampaign bill in two ways: trim what inflates it, or switch to a platform with cheaper, flatter pricing. Both start with auditing how many of your stored contacts are actually active.
Switching is the biggest lever, and it is less disruptive than most teams fear. Mailsoftly handles the move for you, rebuilding lists, segments, and automations so you are not starting from scratch. Walk through the process in our guide to switching from ActiveCampaign to Mailsoftly, then explore the wider toolkit on Mailsoftly’s marketing automation software to confirm it covers your workflows. Many teams find they were paying enterprise rates for newsletter needs.
For the broader landscape, see our full comparison of marketing automation software tools covering every major platform.
Tier prices tell you where the bill starts. These three situations show where it lands once list size, automation depth and team size are real.
| Sender | ActiveCampaign plan and price | Mailsoftly plan and price | Which is cheaper |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1,000 contacts, one welcome sequence, no CRM | Starter, $19 per month (Plus $59 once you want CRM or landing pages) | Paid plans from $19 per month; the free plan covers up to 500 contacts | Level at $19; Mailsoftly adds unlimited users and human support at the same price |
| 5,000 contacts with conditional, multi-step journeys | Plus, $179 per month (Professional $235 for predictive sending and deeper reporting) | Basic, $39 per month, 5,000 contacts and 40,000 emails | Mailsoftly, by $140 to $196 a month |
| 10,000 contacts and a three-person marketing team | Plus $239 or Professional $419 per month, minus about 20% on annual billing | Business, $79 per month, 15,000 contacts, 150,000 emails, unlimited users | Mailsoftly, by $160 to $340 a month, with no per-seat step-up |
Figures are list prices from each pricing page, checked in late August 2026 (Mailsoftly prices shown at annual billing, monthly billing is $49, $99 and $199). Model your own contact count and monthly sends before you commit.
ActiveCampaign really costs far more than its $19 starting price for most growing businesses. That figure is Starter at 1,000 contacts. At 5,000 contacts you pay $99 on Starter or $179 on Plus, and at 10,000 contacts Plus is $239 and Professional is $419 per month. Add the contact growth, send limits, and feature gating, and a realistic mid-size bill lands in the hundreds of dollars per month.
No, ActiveCampaign does not have a free plan. It offers a 14-day free trial, after which you must choose a paid tier starting at $19 per month. If a permanent free tier matters to you, Mailsoftly includes one with 500 contacts and 2,000 emails per month, with no credit card required.
For very small lists, ActiveCampaign’s entry price is competitive, but value erodes quickly. At 1,000 contacts Starter is $19, yet the features most users want sit on Plus at $59 or Professional at $89. Because there is no free plan and pricing rises with every contact added, small senders often pay premium automation rates for capabilities they do not fully use.
ActiveCampaign is worth it for businesses that run complex, multi-step automations and use its built-in CRM and lead scoring to drive revenue. For straightforward newsletters or budget-conscious small lists, a flat, list-based platform like Mailsoftly delivers the core jobs at a lower and more predictable cost, which makes the value question depend heavily on how advanced your workflows really are.
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