You are comparing Brevo and ActiveCampaign because you are probably looking for two things:

1. Email automation features
2. CRM/sales capabilities

Although this full article includes more than 7,000 words, the main point is simple. Brevo and ActiveCampaign share many core strengths, including email marketing, SMS tools, automation, and sales and CRM functions. The key difference is cost. ActiveCampaign sits at the higher end of the pricing range. In return, it offers more powerful automation features, which I cover in detail in the full review.

Your choice depends on what matters most for your business. If you want a wallet friendly option, Brevo will appeal to you. If you want the most capable automation system, ActiveCampaign will feel more suitable.

This review is divided into clear sections so you can jump straight to the information you need.

If you want a fast overview of both platforms, you can watch my free tutorial videos for ActiveCampaign and Brevo. You will find the videos below.

Brevo vs ActiveCampaign: Video Review

To complement the in-depth comparison below, I’ve also put together a video review of Brevo vs ActiveCampaign.

Brevo vs ActiveCampaign: Pricing

There is an important point to understand before you compare these two platforms. ActiveCampaign bases its price on the number of contacts in your account. Brevo bases its price on the number of emails you send. These are two very different pricing models, so keep this in mind as you review your options.

If you want the short answer, Brevo is far more affordable than ActiveCampaign. The tradeoff is that ActiveCampaign delivers a more advanced automation system, which I also explain in detail in the full review.

You can explore every pricing detail below. I have arranged this section into smaller parts so you can move directly to the information that matters most to you.

Different plans

Brevo

• Free plan (forever free)
• Starter (starting from $9/mo) 
• Standard (starting from $18/mo)
• Professional (starting from $499/mo) 
• Enterprise (custom pricing)

ActiveCampaign

• 14-day free trial
• Starter (starting from $19/month)
• Plus (starting from $59/month)
• Pro (starting from $89/month)
• And Enterprise (starting from $159/month)

Price comparison

To decide whether Brevo or ActiveCampaign is more cost-effective, start by identifying two things:

1. How many contacts you manage
2. How many emails you send each month, including automated sequences and regular newsletters

Let’s look at an example: 5,000 contacts and 35,000 emails per month.

ActiveCampaign price

There’s an important point to understand before comparing the two platforms: ActiveCampaign bases its pricing entirely on the number of contacts in your account, not on how many emails you send.

With 5,000 contacts and roughly 35,000 monthly emails, you’d need:

• ActiveCampaign Pro – $235/month
• Enhanced CRM add-on – $125/month

Total: $360 per month

Brevo price

Brevo works differently. Instead of charging based on your contact count, Brevo’s pricing scales primarily with email volume.

For the same usage (40,000 monthly emails tier), you’d pay:

• Email plan – $84/month
• CRM add-on – $31/month

Total: $115 per month

Conclusion

ActiveCampaign is undeniably more expensive but the higher price comes with some benefits: stronger automation capabilities and a more polished overall experience. It also includes 3 user accounts by default, while Brevo’s base plan includes just one.

So yes, Brevo wins on price, but the right choice ultimately depends on which features your business actually needs.

Winner: Brevo

Price graph comparison

The graph below compares the pricing of ActiveCampaign Plus and ActiveCampaign Pro for 10,000 subscribers. ActiveCampaign uses send-limit multipliers:

• Plus plan: 10× multiplier → 100,000 monthly emails for 10,000 subscribers
• Pro plan: 12× multiplier → 120,000 monthly emails

Brevo, on the other hand, prices its plans primarily on email volume. So for a fair comparison, the graph uses:

• Brevo Standard (100,000 emails per month)
• Brevo Standard (120,000 emails per month)

Both tiers include a 500,000 contact limit, so contact count isn’t a constraint here.

As shown in the graph, ActiveCampaign can be in some cases double the monthly cost of Brevo.

Discounts

ActiveCampaign discounts

ActiveCampaign offers a 20% discount on annual subscriptions. Non-profit organizations can request an additional 20% discount, meaning non-profits can receive up to 40% off when purchasing an annual plan.

Some software companies offer Black Friday or seasonal discounts, but ActiveCampaign does not typically run extra promotions.

Brevo discounts

Brevo offers a 10% discount on annual subscriptions. In the past, non-profits could request a 15% discount on the Enterprise plan, but that information no longer appears on their site, so it may have been discontinued. However, if you are a non-profit, it’s still worth contacting their support team to ask about possible discounts.

A quick tip: if you want to check whether a SaaS company has offered Black Friday deals in previous years, use the Internet Archive (web.archive.org). For example, Brevo ran a Black Friday promotion in 2024 offering a 50% discount. See the screenshot below.

Winner: Brevo

Cancellation process

Some software tools make canceling your account frustrating, but both Brevo and ActiveCampaign keep the process simple. You can cancel your account online without contacting support.

Winner: It’s a draw

Refunds

Neither Brevo nor ActiveCampaign offers refunds, so make sure to test the software thoroughly before committing to an annual plan. Most SaaS and email marketing tools follow this same policy, often because they already offer a free plan or free trial.

Winner: It’s a draw

Number of contacts (subscribed vs. unsubscribed)

Some email marketing tools charge for both subscribed and unsubscribed contacts, which can significantly increase costs.

Brevo and ActiveCampaign do not charge for unsubscribed contacts, which is great.

Winner: It’s a draw

Email credits

Some email tools offer pay-as-you-go email credits, which can be useful if you send newsletters infrequently.

ActiveCampaign email credits

ActiveCampaign does not offer email credits.

Brevo email credits

Brevo does offer email credits. Prepaid credits never expire and can be used whenever you need them. Packs range from 5,000 credits up to 1 million, and one credit equals one email sent to one contact.

To compare costs, check the table below. It shows the number of email credits in the first column, the total price in columns 2 and 3, and the cost per email credit in columns 4 and 5. Another email marketing tool called Mailchimp is included as well since they also offer email credits.

Winner: Brevo

Brevo vs ActiveCampaign: Free plan

Brevo offers a forever free plan, and ActiveCampaign only provides a 14-day free trial.

Winner: Brevo

Brevo vs ActiveCampaign: Newsletter Features

The conclusion for this Newsletter Features section is that I’d lean slightly toward Brevo as the winner, though it’s a close call. Keep in mind, I don’t mix newsletter features with email marketing automation features. If that’s what you’re looking for, check out the automation features section in this review.

Make sure to test things yourself, too. Brevo offers a full free plan and ActiveCampaign a free trial. And remember to take advantage of my limited-time offers when signing up for Brevo or ActiveCampaign (see details here).

For newsletter features, I’ve organized everything into sections so you can jump straight to whatever is most relevant to you. See below.

Send limits

ActiveCampaign send limits

ActiveCampaign uses a multiplier-based send limit system:

• Starter & Plus: 10× your contact limit
• Pro: 12× your contact limit
• Enterprise: 15× your contact limit

If you need more, you can purchase additional sends. (For full details, check ActiveCampaign’s website.)

Brevo send limits

Brevo’s pricing works differently. Instead of charging by the number of contacts, you pay based on how many emails you send per month. Here’s an overview:

• Free plan: Up to 300 emails/day
• Starter tier: 5,000–100,000 emails/month
• Standard tier: 5,000–1,000,000 emails/month
• Professional tier: 150,000–10,000,000 emails/month
• Enterprise tier: Fully customized

However, there’s one important caveat: on lower email plans, your contact limit is capped.
For example:

• Choosing a 5,000 email/month plan limits you to 500 contacts.
• At higher tiers, such as 20,000 emails/month, you regain the full contact limit for that tier.

Conclusion

Because Brevo and ActiveCampaign structure their plans and send limits so differently, there’s no true one-size-fits-all winner here. It really comes down to your specific needs.

Winner: It’s a draw

Contact / Subscriber Limits

ActiveCampaign Contact Limits

ActiveCampaign’s Starter plan supports up to 25,000 contacts.
On the Pro and Enterprise plans, you can go beyond that but once you exceed 50,000 contacts, pricing becomes custom. To continue scaling, you’ll need to request a personalized quote from their sales team.

Brevo Contact Limits

Brevo’s contact limits vary by plan and tier. Here’s the breakdown:

• Free plan: Up to 100,000 contacts
• Starter tier: Up to 500,000 contacts
• Standard tier: Up to 500,000 contacts
• Professional tier: Up to 2 million contacts
• Enterprise tier: Unlimited contacts

However, there’s an important catch on lower email-sending plans within the Starter and Standard tiers:

• 5,000 emails/month → max 500 contacts
• 10,000 emails/month → max 1,500 contacts

These limitations function similarly to ActiveCampaign’s multiplier-based logic on its lower tiers.

If you upgrade to higher monthly sending limits, for example, 20,000 emails/month, you regain access to the full contact allowance for your tier:

• Starter & Standard: Up to 500,000 contacts

Conclusion

There’s no clear winner here. ActiveCampaign and Brevo simply approach contact limits differently.

Winner: It’s a draw

Email Builder

Both Brevo and ActiveCampaign provide solid, user-friendly email builders that let you create attractive newsletters without any design experience. This is a standard feature for modern email tools, so there’s no strong reason to choose one platform over the other based on this alone.

ActiveCampaign’s email builder

ActiveCampaign gives you several options when starting a new campaign. You can:

• Begin with a blank canvas
• Use one of their pre-designed templates
• Generate a template with AI
• Reuse one of your previous campaigns
• Send a plain-text email or an HTML email

The editor is intuitive, with drag-and-drop elements and flexible layout controls.

Brevo’s email builder

Brevo offers a very similar experience. You can:

• Choose from a library of pre-designed templates
• Build your email with the drag-and-drop editor
• Create or edit messages using custom HTML
• Reuse past designs from your template library

Both platforms cover all the essential design tools you’d expect.

Winner: It’s a draw

Email Editor

Below you can see screenshots of ActiveCampaign’s and Brevo’s email editors. Both offer extensive customization options and an easy-to-use interface. There’s really nothing to complain about on either side, and no meaningful difference that would justify choosing one tool over the other based on the editor alone.

ActiveCampaign’s email editor

Brevo’s email editor

Winner: It’s a draw

Email Scheduling

Brevo email scheduling

Brevo offers four scheduling options:

• Send now
• Schedule for later
• Send at best time (Brevo predicts the optimal time to send)
• Send in batches

The batch-sending option is especially useful for large lists. Instead of sending to your entire audience at once, Brevo can stagger delivery over several hours or days. This helps reduce sudden traffic spikes to your website, might improves deliverability, and allows you to catch any issues early.

ActiveCampaign email scheduling

ActiveCampaign offers three scheduling options:

• Send immediately
• Schedule for later
• Predictive send (similar to Brevo’s “send at best time”)

The main difference is that ActiveCampaign does not include a batch-sending option, which is where Brevo has the advantage in this category.

Winner: Brevo

Remove Branding

Many email marketing tools include their logo or branding on newsletters or forms when you’re on a free or lower-tier paid plan. This usually appears as a small banner or a “Sent with…” message at the bottom of your emails, which does make your campaigns look less professional, in my opinion. Most platforms require you to upgrade or pay extra to remove it.

There’s no clear winner here because both Brevo and ActiveCampaign require an additional cost to remove their branding.

Remove branding in ActiveCampaign

If you’re on the Starter plan (ActiveCampaign’s entry-level paid plan), the branding still appears but only on the opt-in forms you create with their form builder. To remove this, you need to upgrade to a higher-tier plan.

ActiveCampaign does not add branding to your actual emails, so if you’re using a separate form tool anyway, this may not affect you at all.

Remove branding in Brevo

On the Starter plan, Brevo adds a small “Sent by Brevo” message at the bottom of your newsletters. To remove it, you need to add a $12/month branding-removal add-on. This option is only available on the Starter tier; higher tiers (like Standard) don’t include Brevo branding.

Conclusion

There’s no winner here because both tools require an additional cost to remove their branding. With ActiveCampaign, you must upgrade to a higher plan to remove branding from their opt-in forms. With Brevo, you can stay on the Starter plan but must pay an additional $12 per month to remove the “Sent by Brevo” footer from your emails.

Email Lists

Brevo

Brevo lets you create both folders and lists, which makes organizing your contacts very easy and clean.

• Folders allow you to group lists under a shared theme. For example, if you manage multiple brands, you can create a separate folder for each one, such as “The Green Yoga” or “Stretch & Yoga.”
• Inside each folder, you can then create lists. Lists act as subcategories for more specific segmentation. For example, under “The Green Yoga,” you could create a “Beginner Students” list, a “Intermediate Students” list, etc.

Brevo allows up to 300 folders and 300 lists per account, which is more than enough for most businesses.

A standout advantage is that Brevo lets you customize details like the From name, From email address, and footer on a per-list level. This is extremely helpful if you run multiple brands or communicate with very different audiences. You can keep everything under one account without mixing up branding elements, reducing the chances of sending a newsletter from the wrong email address or with the wrong footer.

ActiveCampaign

ActiveCampaign also lets you create multiple email lists. On the Starter tier, you can create up to 5 lists. On the higher tiers, there’s no limit.

Unlike Brevo, ActiveCampaign does not offer folders to group lists together, though this is not a major drawback for most users.

However, ActiveCampaign does not allow you to change the default From name, From email address, or footer at the list level. This is a disadvantage if you want to use different sending identities for different audiences or brands, since everything shares the same default settings.

Winner: Brevo

Brevo vs ActiveCampaign: Email Marketing Automation

In the end, Brevo doesn’t surpass ActiveCampaign when it comes to automation power, flexibility, and the sheer range of options available. Still, Brevo’s automation features shouldn’t be dismissed. You may find they meet your needs perfectly. It’s worth testing both platforms to see which one fits your workflow.

Brevo offers a full free plan, while ActiveCampaign provides a 14-day free trial. Note: be sure to take advantage of my offers before signing up.

You’ll find all the details below. This section is organized into clear subsections, so you can easily jump to the parts most relevant to you.

Limitations on Lower Tiers

Both platforms offer email automation, but not every pricing tier includes full access to their more advanced automation features.

Brevo

Brevo has four paid plans: Starter, Standard, Professional, and Enterprise. The Starter plan caps you at 2,000 unique contacts moving through your automations. Once 2,000 people have entered any automation, the workflows stop running. This is a lifetime limit, not a monthly one, and the only way to remove it is by upgrading to the Standard plan or higher.

ActiveCampaign

ActiveCampaign also offers four paid plans. To unlock its core automation features, you need at least the Plus plan. For more advanced capabilities like A/B testing automated workflows and several additional tools, you must be on the Pro plan, which starts at $89 per month.

Conclusion

Brevo’s permanent 2,000-contact limit on the Starter plan isn’t exactly appealing, especially since it affects paying users indefinitely. A monthly cap would make more sense, but a fixed lifetime cap feels too restrictive.

Winner: ActiveCampaign

Automation Templates

Automation templates are pre-designed workflows that give you a starting framework you can tailor to your needs. They save time, reduce setup work, and help beginners get inspired without building everything from scratch.

ActiveCampaign

ActiveCampaign claims to offer nearly 1,000 automation templates, or “recipes.” In theory, this lets you plug a workflow into your account and start automating quickly. In practice, the sheer volume is overwhelming. There’s no simple way to figure out which of the hundreds of templates fits your situation, which makes the whole library feel more chaotic than helpful. Fortunately, you’re not required to use a template; you can always build from scratch, which is probably what most users end up doing anyway.

Brevo

Brevo takes the opposite approach and offers just 8 automation templates. It’s far easier to navigate, and frankly, this is one of those cases where less really is more. For beginners, a small, curated selection does a better job of guiding them than a massive, confusing library. And just like with ActiveCampaign, you can build your own workflow from scratch if none of the templates suit your needs.

Winner: Brevo

Organizing Your Automations

If you run multiple automation workflows in your business, having tools to organize them becomes extremely helpful. With 10 or more automations, it’s practically essential, and once you’re managing 15 to 20+, proper organization tools are non-negotiable.

ActiveCampaign

ActiveCampaign is one of the few email marketing platforms that offers strong features for organizing and filtering automations. You can add labels to each workflow and filter by those labels. You can also link automations to specific business goals you create inside ActiveCampaign. On top of that, it includes an Automation Map that visually displays all your workflows and how they connect, giving you a clear, high-level overview of your entire automation system.

Brevo

Brevo doesn’t offer anything comparable. You can only filter automations by status (Active or Paused), and that’s where the organizational options end. There are no additional features to group, categorize, or segment your workflows.

Conclusion

This section has an unmistakable winner. If you operate a large number of automations, advanced organization tools are crucial for staying in control.

Winner: ActiveCampaign

Starting an automation

To begin an automated workflow, the first step is setting a trigger. A trigger is the event that initiates the automation. This could be a new subscriber joining your email list, someone opening an email, clicking a link, making a purchase, or even reaching a specific date. A wide range of trigger options is useful because it allows you to precisely target your audience and make your automations responsive to their behavior.

Brevo

Brevo offers 22 different triggers to start an automated workflow. For example, you can start a workflow when someone joins a list, subscribes through a signup form, or when a contact attribute changes. You can also initiate a sequence in multiple ways. In the screenshot below, I added two triggers for this sequence: contact added to list and form submitted.

While it’s not visible in the screenshot, Brevo also provides CRM-related triggers because it includes CRM functionality. This means you can start an automation based on events such as deal created or deal stage updated, among others.

ActiveCampaign

ActiveCampaign offers 34 different triggers to start an automation. Similar to Brevo, it also lets you start an automation without a trigger, which can be useful in certain situations.

Additionally, ActiveCampaign provides a wide range of integrations with other apps, allowing external events to trigger automated sequences.

Conclusion

ActiveCampaign offers greater flexibility and a larger variety of trigger options.

Winner: ActiveCampaign

Automation actions

Beyond triggers, automation workflows rely on automation actions. Steps like sending an email, adding a wait period, tagging a contact, updating a deal stage, and more. A diverse set of actions is just as important as having multiple triggers, especially if you want a flexible automation builder. With limited action options, you’re constrained in how complex or customized your workflows can be. A broad range of actions, on the other hand, allows you to build automations that more closely match your marketing strategy.

Brevo

Brevo offers 18 different automation actions. The screenshot below shows a random selection, but the platform also includes actions tied to its CRM functionalities, useful if you’re using Brevo’s CRM tools as part of your workflow.

ActiveCampaign

ActiveCampaign provides 37 automation actions. More than double what Brevo offers. In addition, it includes actions that come from third-party integrations, giving you even more ways to build dynamic and personalized workflows.

Conclusion

The winner here is clearly ActiveCampaign. With significantly more automation actions, it gives you far more flexibility in building sophisticated workflows. The wider the range of available actions, the more likely it is that whatever you imagine is actually possible to automate.

Winner: ActiveCampaign

Brevo vs ActiveCampaign: Opt-in Form Features

The opt-in form features are mixed, and there’s no single clear winner. In some areas ActiveCampaign leads; in others Brevo performs better. Your own needs will determine which platform feels stronger. For example, if you rely heavily on pop-ups, you’ll see in this section that ActiveCampaign falls short. Its embedded forms, however, work well. Brevo delivers far better pop-up functionality, but most of it sits behind a steep paywall.

You can review the detailed results below. The sections are organized so you can jump directly to what matters most to you.

Form Design and Templates

Neither Brevo nor ActiveCampaign offers pre-designed form templates. Both provide tools to customize your form’s appearance, but there’s no library of ready-made designs.

ActiveCampaign

ActiveCampaign does not include pre-built templates, so you can’t choose from a set of preset designs. You either start from scratch or, preferably, use its AI tool to generate a form that matches your website’s look and feel. The example I created for my dog-training site came out well. After generation, you can further adjust layout, styling, and content in the form builder.

Brevo

Brevo does not offer an AI-generated design option. All form customization is manual through its form builder. The builder works well, but the absence of an AI assistant means you lose the convenience and time savings ActiveCampaign provides. Still, it’s not a critical limitation if you’re comfortable designing forms yourself.

Winner: ActiveCampaign

Embedded Form Functionalities

This section looks only at whether Brevo and ActiveCampaign offer an embeddable form you can place on your website. The comparison is straightforward: do they provide an embed option or not?

ActiveCampaign

ActiveCampaign’s “inline form” (its version of an embedded form) is probably one of the most commonly used form types on the platform.

After you design your inline form, you can embed it on your site in several ways. You can also share it via a direct URL if you prefer not to embed it.

Brevo

Brevo labels its embedded option as the “Full page/embedded” form. Once your form is designed, you can either share a direct link to its URL or embed it on your site.

Conclusion

Both platforms offer embedded forms, and the overall experience feels very similar. The options for sharing, whether via embed code or direct link, work almost the same.

Winner: It’s a draw

Embed form builder

ActiveCampaign

ActiveCampaign’s form builder is divided into two tabs: Fields and Style.
The Fields tab lets you add all the usual form elements: name, email, and so on, along with any custom fields you’ve created in your account. It also includes “Account” fields (not visible in the screenshot below), which are especially valuable for B2B-focused marketers.

The Style tab gives you control over the visual side of things, and you can add custom CSS for more advanced styling (see figure 3 in the screenshot).

Brevo

Brevo’s form builder is also split into two tabs. The Build section allows you to add elements, fields, and privacy components to your form. The Form design tab handles styling such as fonts, colors, and spacing. One limitation is that Brevo doesn’t support custom CSS for additional design tweaks.

Conclusion

ActiveCampaign’s form builder comes out ahead with its richer options: hidden fields, account fields, and custom CSS. As always, it’s worth experimenting with both builders to see which one fits your workflow.

Winner: ActiveCampaign

Popup form functionalities

Brevo

Brevo offers two form types: the embedded form (covered earlier, similar to ActiveCampaign’s inline form) and the popup form. The popup feature works well, but there’s a major drawback: it’s only available on the Professional tier. Starter and Standard users don’t have access, which means the price jumps quickly if you want popups.

In the screenshot, you can see Brevo’s popup customization panel. It includes everything you’d typically expect from a popup builder. One common use case is setting a delay, such as showing the popup after 5 seconds. Brevo also supports exit-intent (triggered when the visitor is about to leave your site).

You can also exclude specific pages from displaying the popup.

There’s also a clever business-focused feature: you can restrict sign-ups to business email addresses only.

The design tab works smoothly as well. You can add or adjust elements and tweak the layout without friction.

ActiveCampaign

ActiveCampaign handles popups a bit differently. It offers four form types: Inline, Floating Box, Modal Pop-up, and Floating Bar.
If you want the popup, the Modal form is the one you’ll use.

One thing to note is that ActiveCampaign’s inline form includes an AI design builder, but the modal popup doesn’t. If you design a form with the AI builder, the system only creates an inline version. For the modal popup, you’ll need to design it manually using the available settings.

The bigger limitation is the lack of advanced popup behavior. ActiveCampaign only supports two display triggers: show instantly, or show after a scroll delay. There’s no option for time-based delays (e.g., after 5 seconds) or exit-intent triggers, two of the most commonly used popup behaviors.

Conclusion

Brevo clearly wins in terms of popup functionality. The catch is that the feature is locked behind the higher-priced Professional tier, which may be frustrating for many users. Price aside, Brevo’s popup toolset is stronger and more flexible.

Winner: Brevo

GDPR and Privacy Functionalities

Depending on your industry, the country you operate in, and where your audience is located, privacy features may matter more to some businesses than others. GDPR and privacy features help you gather verifiable consent from new subscribers so you can email them legally. This is especially important in Europe, where GDPR regulations are stricter than in many other regions.

ActiveCampaign

ActiveCampaign provides tools for capturing subscriber consent. See the example in the screenshot below.

Brevo

Brevo also allows you to add consent fields to your forms, giving you documented proof of GDPR-compliant permission. You can see an example in the screenshot below.

Conclusion

Both platforms offer solid privacy and consent-collection capabilities. Brevo is based in the EU, so it may place stronger emphasis on GDPR compliance, though I haven’t tested additional use cases beyond the examples shown here. If you have a specific scenario in mind, it’s worth testing both platforms before committing to a long-term plan. Also consider checking out my limited-time offers for both tools before signing up for a trial or a paid subscription.

Winner: It’s a draw

Double-Opt-In Setup

When you subscribe to a newsletter, you’ll often receive a confirmation email, an extra verification step known as double opt-in. The screenshot below shows an example from the Creative Wayfinding Newsletter.

Brevo Double-Opt-In Setup

Every email marketing tool handles double opt-in a bit differently, but Brevo’s process is unusually cumbersome. You first have to create the confirmation email, but only after creating its template in a separate window, remembering the exact template name, and adding the required “optin” tag. Without that tag, the email won’t appear in the dropdown menu, a detail Brevo never clearly explains (I only learned it through support).

After that, you choose the confirmation page subscribers will see. Brevo doesn’t let you build a custom thank-you page directly inside the form builder, so you’ll need to create one elsewhere. You can assign a custom link to the “Confirm My Subscription” button, but you can’t link directly to a file (like a Google Drive download). Instead, you must create a webpage and place the file link there.

Finally, if you want to send a welcome or confirmation email after verification, you need to create yet another separate template before selecting it.

Brevo fully supports double opt-in, but the setup involves more steps than most competing platforms and feels less intuitive overall.

ActiveCampaign Double-Opt-In Setup

ActiveCampaign also offers built-in support for double opt-in. When creating a form, you can simply choose between single opt-in and double opt-in. If you enable double opt-in, ActiveCampaign automatically sends a confirmation email to anyone who submits the form, requiring them to click a verification link before becoming an active subscriber. It’s recommended for GDPR compliance and overall list hygiene, and ActiveCampaign makes it painless to activate.

You can also customize both the confirmation email and the thank-you page. I’ve done this myself to maintain consistent branding, for example, swapping out the generic “Please confirm your subscription” text with my own wording and visuals.

For a step-by-step walkthrough, you can check out my ActiveCampaign Tutorial at the 1:31:00 timestamp, where I explain GDPR-compliant signup forms and show how to set everything up:

Conclusion

ActiveCampaign’s setup process is much easier and more streamlined than Brevo’s. Still, it’s worth testing both platforms yourself to see which one fits your workflow best. If you decide to sign up for either tool, make sure to use my link so you can receive the free bonuses I offer (more details available on my site).

Winner: ActiveCampaign

Brevo vs ActiveCampaign: CRM & Sales Features

This is a key section if you’re comparing Brevo and ActiveCampaign for their CRM capabilities, one of the main reasons people choose either platform. So, who’s the winner?

When it comes to flexibility and automation, ActiveCampaign edges ahead, as you’ll see in the details below. However, across many of the CRM and sales features I compared, the result is essentially a tie, meaning Brevo can handle most of the same tasks just as well. That’s a strong point in Brevo’s favor, especially since it’s the more affordable option.

You’ll find the full breakdown below. I’ve organized the content into clear sections so you can jump directly to what matters most to you.

Demo Videos

Brevo

In the video below, I walk through Brevo’s CRM features:

ActiveCampaign
In this video, I demo ActiveCampaign’s CRM features:

Pricing Explanation

Brevo Pricing

Beyond the standard Email Marketing pricing tiers shown on Brevo’s website, the platform also offers separate “Sales Packages”:

• Free
• Sales Essentials
• Sales Advanced

When you sign up for Brevo’s Free plan, you automatically get access to the free tier of the CRM and sales features. To unlock the Sales Essentials tier, you must subscribe to the Email Marketing Starter plan. To access Sales Advanced, you need to be on the Professional plan.

It’s important to note that while Email Marketing plan prices increase as your monthly email volume grows, the prices of the Sales Packages remain fixed. Even if you end up paying $500 per month for a high-volume Email Marketing plan, Sales Essentials still costs the same $27.

ActiveCampaign Pricing

ActiveCampaign’s structure is similar. You can add its CRM and sales functionality as an add-on to any Email Marketing plan. The cost of the CRM & Sales add-on does not change based on your subscriber count. However, the price does increase when you upgrade from Plus to Pro or Enterprise.

Conclusion

Based strictly on pricing, Brevo comes out ahead. It offers a free plan for both Email Marketing and Sales Packages, its paid Sales tiers are cheaper, and their prices don’t rise when you upgrade your main plan. ActiveCampaign, by contrast, increases the cost of its CRM & Sales features when you switch to a higher-tier plan and is generally more expensive overall.

Winner: Brevo

Limitations on lower tiers

Brevo

Brevo’s free plan is generous, giving you unlimited time to explore its features and decide whether the platform suits you. The Sales Essentials plan unlocks most sales features, but several capabilities remain exclusive to the Advanced tier. The frustrating part is that the Advanced tier is only available if you’re on the Professional email marketing plan. That requirement feels odd, because the Professional plan is meant for users sending 150,000 emails or more each month. It creates an unnecessary barrier for businesses that want advanced sales features without needing high-volume email sending.

ActiveCampaign

ActiveCampaign’s Starter tier doesn’t include access to its CRM and sales add-ons. To use those, you need to sign up for at least the Plus tier.

Conclusion

Although I’ve labeled this comparison a draw, I was slightly inclined to give ActiveCampaign the edge. Brevo’s decision to lock its advanced sales tier behind the Professional email marketing plan feels like a misstep. Then again, ActiveCampaign also restricts its CRM and sales features to higher tiers, so neither platform escapes this drawback.

Winner: It’s a draw

Pipeline

Brevo

The image below shows Brevo’s pipeline feature.

ActiveCampaign

The image below shows ActiveCampaign’s pipeline feature.

Conclusion

Both Brevo and ActiveCampaign let you build and customize a sales pipeline. After testing them side by side, I didn’t find any meaningful differences in how they work. This is especially good news for Brevo, since it provides comparable functionality at a lower price. Both platforms let you add new pipeline stages, rename them, or remove them entirely.

Winner: It’s a draw

Deals

Brevo

The screenshot below shows how adding a new deal to your Brevo pipeline works.

Of course, manually creating deals isn’t ideal. Automation becomes essential when someone signs up for your software, requests details about a property, or asks for more information about a course you’re selling. Brevo supports automated deal creation as well, such as generating a new deal whenever a form is submitted.

ActiveCampaign

The screenshot below shows how adding a new deal manually works in ActiveCampaign.

Just like with Brevo, you’ll rarely want to create deals by hand. Automated deal creation is extremely useful for new signups, information requests, and other lead-capturing events, and ActiveCampaign also supports creating deals automatically through various triggers.

Conclusion

Both platforms offer a similar experience when it comes to working with deals and adding them manually. They also allow you to automatically create new deals based on a wide range of triggers, including form submissions.

My early impressions are that Brevo is just as capable in this area as the more expensive ActiveCampaign, which is great news for Brevo users (though less exciting for ActiveCampaign’s value proposition).

Winner: It’s a draw

Sales automation

ActiveCampaign sales automation functionalities

ActiveCampaign provides a strong set of CRM and sales-related automation tools.
To start, it offers 20 sales/CRM-related triggers you can use to kick off an automated workflow. The screenshot below shows part of that list.

You can see in the next screenshot an example where “Contact enters a pipeline” is used as the trigger for the workflow I’m building.

Triggers are only half the story. You also need actions: what should happen after a contact enters the pipeline? ActiveCampaign gives you 15 CRM and sales-related actions to choose from. A portion of these actions is shown in the screenshot below.

Together, these triggers and actions give marketers a wide creative runway for building complex sales automations.

Brevo sales automation functionalities

Brevo offers 9 CRM and sales-related triggers, shown in the screenshot below.

Just like in ActiveCampaign, you can follow these triggers with actions. Brevo provides 5 CRM and sales actions you can use in an automated workflow. A preview of these actions appears in the screenshot below.

While the system is functional and straightforward, it offers less variety than ActiveCampaign.

Conclusion sales automation functionalities

When it comes to sales automation, Brevo can’t match ActiveCampaign’s range and flexibility. ActiveCampaign simply provides more triggers and more actions, giving marketers far greater freedom to automate their sales processes exactly the way they want.

Winner: ActiveCampaign

Task management

Brevo

Brevo lets you create tasks manually with ease.

It also supports automatic task creation, though its automation options for tasks aren’t as extensive as those available during manual setup.

Brevo additionally provides a clean, helpful overview of all your upcoming tasks, giving your to-do list a tidy home.

ActiveCampaign

ActiveCampaign also allows you to create tasks manually.

You can set tasks to be created automatically as well.

And ActiveCampaign goes one step further by offering automatic task completion, which can tidy up your workflow without you lifting a finger.

Conclusion

Both platforms handle task creation in a similar way, but each carries its own quirks. ActiveCampaign offers slightly more customization and automation options inside the task setup process.

On the other hand, Brevo gives you the ability to create a brand-new contact, company, or deal right inside the task creation flow. ActiveCampaign doesn’t do this, which makes quick task entry for non-existing records a bit less smooth.

In the end, the better experience depends on how you prefer to work and what your task management process looks like. It’s worth testing both to see which one feels more natural to you.

Winner: It’s a draw

Brevo vs ActiveCampaign: Landing Page Features

The short version of this section is that neither ActiveCampaign nor Brevo seems to prioritize landing page features as a core part of their products. Based on my reviews over the past few years, the landing page capabilities in both platforms have barely changed. There haven’t been any notable product updates in this area, which suggests it isn’t a major focus for their development teams. That’s understandable, they don’t position themselves as landing page builders. At their core, both tools are email marketing platforms.

ActiveCampaign is gradually shifting its branding toward being a broader “marketing platform,” while Brevo continues to present itself primarily as an email marketing and CRM platform.

You can find all the detailed comparisons below. I’ve organized this section into multiple parts so you can easily jump to whatever is most relevant to you.

Video Demo

Brevo

I’ve published a demo and tutorial covering Brevo’s landing page features. You can watch it here:

ActiveCampaign

If you want to see me build a landing page using ActiveCampaign, check out the video below. The landing page section begins at the 28:16 mark:

Limitations on Lower Tiers

Brevo

Brevo’s free and Starter plans do not include access to landing page features, meaning you can’t create landing pages on those tiers. The Standard plan provides access to one landing page, while the Professional plan increases that limit to 10.

ActiveCampaign

ActiveCampaign includes landing page functionality starting from the Plus plan and above. The Starter plan does not offer landing pages.

Landing Page Templates

ActiveCampaign

ActiveCampaign offers more than 60 landing page templates you can choose from. You can use them as-is, customize them, or treat them as a starting point for building your own design.

Brevo

Brevo provides a total of 16 landing page templates.

Landing page builder

ActiveCampaign

ActiveCampaign’s landing page editor is a drag-and-drop builder that works very similarly to its email editor. If you’re already comfortable designing emails in ActiveCampaign, the page builder will feel familiar and easy to work with.

You can add elements like text, images, buttons, videos, forms, spacers, and dividers, and you can structure layouts with rows and columns for flexible multi-column designs. The interface includes both desktop and mobile previews, and one of the standout features is mobile-specific styling, which lets you adjust or hide individual blocks depending on the device. This makes it much easier to create pages that look polished across all screen sizes.

You can also customize colors, fonts, and backgrounds through the Theme settings. It’s a flexible system, though more structured than something like Wix or Webflow. Elements snap into predefined sections rather than allowing completely free-form placement. For example, overlapping two images isn’t possible, you have to work within the grid.

Custom scripts or widgets can only be added through an HTML block. That works fine for things like countdown timers or embedding Calendly, but it isn’t as flexible as a full code-injection feature.

One notable limitation is the lack of built-in A/B testing for landing pages. Unlike email campaigns, the page builder doesn’t include native split testing. If you want to test page variations, you’ll need to create duplicates and manually divide traffic using separate URLs.

Brevo

After testing Brevo’s landing page builder, the experience feels outdated and not particularly intuitive. The editor doesn’t have the smoothness or modern feel of other tools, and it’s clear that landing pages aren’t a major focus area for Brevo’s development team.

If landing pages aren’t a central part of your workflow, this might not bother you. But if you depend heavily on building polished, conversion-focused pages, you may find Brevo’s options too limited.

Winner: ActiveCampaign

Custom Domain

ActiveCampaign

When you publish a landing page, ActiveCampaign hosts it on a default domain (something like youraccount.ac-page.com). If you prefer to use your own domain, such as landing.yourdomain.com, you can connect a custom domain directly within your account.

Brevo

In the video below, I demonstrate how to create and connect a custom domain for your Brevo landing pages. The custom domain setup begins at the 16:07 timestamp:

Conclusion

Both Brevo and ActiveCampaign allow you to add a custom domain to your landing pages.

Winner: It’s a draw

Brevo vs ActiveCampaign: Transactional emails

Both Brevo and ActiveCampaign support transactional emails, which is worth highlighting since not every email marketing platform includes this capability.

Transactional emails cover essentials like order confirmations, delivery updates, password resets, account notifications, and other time-sensitive messages triggered by user actions.

If you’re comparing costs, you can find full details on each provider’s pricing pages: Brevo’s here and ActiveCampaign’s here.

Winner: It’s a draw

Free limited-time offer

To help you get the most out of these platforms, I’ve partnered with both Brevo and ActiveCampaign to bring you exclusive, limited-time perks.

Brevo Limited-Time Offer

After reaching out to Brevo, I’m excited to offer my readers 50% off for the first 3 months. This discount is available until [wpcode id=”5614″].

How to redeem:

1. Sign up for Brevo using [my link] before [wpcode id=”5614″].
2. Enter the code CREATOREGG at checkout to claim your 50% discount.
3. Need help? Contact me anytime at info@creatoregg.com.

ActiveCampaign Limited-Time Offer

Although I couldn’t secure a direct discount from ActiveCampaign, I’m offering something many readers value just as much: 6 months of free, personalized email support when you sign up through my link. This exclusive offer is available until [wpcode id=”5614″].

How to redeem:

1. Sign up for ActiveCampaign using [my link] before [wpcode id=”5614″].
2. After signing up, email me at info@creatoregg.com with your first question, and I’ll guide you step by step.

FAQ about ActiveCampaign’s offer

How does it work?
I track sign-ups through a dedicated dashboard. Be sure to sign up using [my link] so the offer activates automatically.

What kind of support will I receive?
You’ll get personalized email support for six months covering setup, optimization, automations, troubleshooting, and practical guidance tailored to your use case.

Is the support really free, and why offer it?
Yes, it’s completely free. ActiveCampaign compensates me for referrals, which allows me to provide hands-on support at no cost to you.

Will prices be different if I use your link?
No. The pricing is identical. The only difference is that you receive six months of exclusive support when you sign up through my link.

How do I claim my 6 months of support?
Just sign up using [my link] before [wpcode id=”5614″], then email me at info@creatoregg.com with your first question. I’ll take it from there.

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Test

The post Test appeared first on Creatoregg.com.

Understand the Funnel Structure

• Sales funnels move people from attention → lead → value → conversion.
• Key parts: Lead Capture, Conversion Vehicle, and Sales Mechanism.

Set Up Lead Capture

• Create a lead magnet (e.g. free resource, training, checklist).
  
• Build a landing page that collects name and email.
  
• This is the starting point of the funnel—don’t skip it.

Build a Conversion Vehicle

• Right after someone opts in, send them to a high-value presentation, not just a thank-you page.
  
• Best option: Automated Webinar that provides education + makes an offer.
  
• Other options: challenges, events, video series, etc.

Add a Sales Mechanism

• For <$1,000 offers: One-to-many sales (sell directly at the end of the webinar).
  
• For >$2,000 offers: One-to-one sales (invite them to book a call).
  
• If $1,000–$2,000: Choose one direction or offer both.

Monitor & Optimize Metrics

Minimum Benchmarks to Aim For:

• 20% opt-in rate on lead capture page.
  
• 60% attendance rate on your webinar/conversion vehicle.
  
• 5–10% purchase conversion on low-ticket products.
  
• 10% call booking rate if you’re selling high-ticket.
  
• 25% close rate on calls.

Drive Traffic

Use three main strategies:

• Buy it: Run paid ads (Google, Facebook, YouTube, etc.).
  
• Build it: Post value content on social platforms.
  
• Borrow it: Get in front of other people’s audiences (podcasts, partnerships).

Scale by Reinvesting Profits

If your funnel is hitting the target metrics and generating profit:

• Reinvest into more ads.
  
• Cycle continues: more leads → more sales → more reinvestment → more growth.

Here’s a link to the actual YouTube video if you want to watch it yourself.

The post Simple funnel to get leads & sales for coaches + course creators appeared first on Creatoregg.com.

Tip 1 – Add a profile picture to your sender email

A profile photo makes your emails look more personal and trustworthy.

If you’re using Google Workspace, go to your Admin Console → Users → select your email address → click on the profile photo to upload one.

If you’re not using Workspace, go to myaccount.google.com, create a free Google account using your domain-based email (e.g. info@yourdomain.com), then go to the “Personal info” section to upload your profile picture.

It might take a few days, but it will start showing up in inboxes eventually.

Tip 2 – Use social media DM automation to grow your list

If you use Instagram to grow your email list, tools like ManyChat are super effective.

Set up a keyword trigger (like “guide”), and when someone DMs you that word, ManyChat will automatically reply asking for their email.

You can then sync ManyChat with your email tool so they get added to your list automatically — no form required.

This works really well when paired with a freebie offer and fits naturally into Instagram’s user behavior.

For more detailed instructions on using freebies to grow your email list, see this video.

Tip 3 – Know when to use landing pages

If you’re getting traffic from Google (SEO) or paid ads to your blog posts, adding so-called “content upgrades” is the way to go.

You create a freebie or downloadable that complements a blog post that’s already getting traffic. Then, inside the post, say something like: “Want a checklist version of this?” or “Need a quick downloadable guide?” and link to it.

For example, I run a dog training blog and link to a free puppy schedule in a few of my blog posts. One of those posts alone converts around 10 percent of readers into email subscribers. That traffic goes to a simple landing page with the freebie.

In your tool, just go to the landing page builder, pick a template, customize it, and connect it to your list.

Don’t forget to set up an incentive email and attach the freebie so people actually receive it after signing up.

I go through each of these steps on screen in the new tutorial.

Watch the full tutorial here. Just a heads-up — the video tutorial focused on a specific tool, but most of the tips I share are universal and useful for anyone doing email marketing.

Tip 4 – Authenticate your domain (SPF/DKIM)

This is obviously a no-brainer nowadays since every email tool requires this — but if you still haven’t done it, do it now. 🙂

1. Just head over to your email tool and look for something like “Domain Authentication” or “Verified Sending Domain.”
2. Add your domain (like yourdomain.com), and it’ll give you a couple of DNS records — usually SPF and DKIM. 
3. Then log in to your domain host (e.g. Hostinger, GoDaddy, Namecheap), go to your DNS settings, and paste those records in.
4. Save them, and you’re done. It might take a few hours (sometimes up to 48) to fully verify, but that’s normal.

Tip 5 – Use a custom domain for your landing pages

Avoid sending people to a generic tool-branded link like yourtool.com/yourpage. It just doesn’t look great.

Instead, set up a custom subdomain like free.yourdomain.com or checklist.yourdomain.com. This keeps your links on-brand and builds trust.

Most email platforms let you connect your own domain — just look for something like “custom domain” or “domain settings.” Once you’ve added the domain, they’ll give you a few DNS records to copy and paste into your domain host (like GoDaddy, Hostinger, or wherever your domain is managed).

After you save those records, your domain should be verified within a few hours to a day, and your landing pages will use your custom URL instead of a generic one.

The post 5 quick email marketing tips appeared first on Creatoregg.com.

1-minute summary

In a nutshell, ActiveCampaign is a powerful tool for automation and CRM, but it’s not the cheapest or easiest to learn. If you need advanced features and are willing to invest time and money, it’s one of my personal favorites. But if you’re looking for something simple and budget-friendly, it might not be the best fit.

My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Good platform, just not for everyone.)

I’ve organized this review into sections—skip to the parts most relevant to you.

Exclusive limited-time offer

In an effort to provide meaningful support and high-quality tools to my readers, I’ve partnered with ActiveCampaign. As part of this collaboration, I receive compensation when someone signs up through my referral link.

This partnership allows me to extend an exclusive benefit to you: Six months of complimentary, personalized email support when you register for ActiveCampaign using my link. My goal is to ensure you receive not only a powerful platform, but also expert guidance to make the most of it.

This offer is available only until [wpcode id=”5614″].

How to access this offer:

1. Sign up for ActiveCampaign using [my referral link] before [wpcode id=”5614″].
2. After registering, email me at info@creatoregg.com with your first question.
3. You’ll receive six months of direct email support to help you implement, optimize, and grow using the platform.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I know you used my link?
ActiveCampaign provides a dashboard that tracks referrals. In order for this offer to apply, you must sign up directly through my referral link. If another link is used or if the sign-up occurs at a later time, I won’t be able to verify it.

What kind of support will I receive during the six months?
You’ll receive direct email support from me personally (Robbin). This includes help with setting up your account, building and optimizing email campaigns, troubleshooting issues, and making strategic use of ActiveCampaign’s features.

Is this support truly free? Why offer it?
Yes—there is no charge for the support during the six-month period. I’m able to provide it because ActiveCampaign compensates me when sign-ups occur through my referral link. This enables me to reinvest in supporting those who use the platform via my link.

Will you pay more by using my link?
No. There is absolutely no difference in pricing. Signing up through my link simply adds the benefit of my personal support at no additional cost.

How do I claim the support?
Once you’ve signed up through [my referral link], send an email to info@creatoregg.com with your first question. I’ll confirm your registration and begin providing support.

ActiveCampaign Review: Free Plan

ActiveCampaign does not have a forever-free plan. Instead, they offer a 14-day free trial that allows you to test all the core features (in fact, the trial includes the Professional plan features) with up to 100 contacts and 100 email sends​.

During the trial, I was able to create and send campaigns and set up a sample automation. One thing to keep in mind: certain advanced features are disabled in trial accounts (for example, custom domains for landing pages, predictive sending, and SMS sending are unavailable until you’re on a paid plan)​.

But overall, the trial provides a good taste of ActiveCampaign’s capabilities. After the trial, continuing with ActiveCampaign requires choosing a paid plan, since there is no ongoing free usage tier.

ActiveCampaign Review: ActiveCampaign Pricing

ActiveCampaign’s pricing is contact-based and is split across four main plans: Starter, Plus, Professional, and Enterprise. The exact cost scales with your number of contacts – the more subscribers you have, the higher the monthly fee on any given plan​.

As a rough guide (at list prices, billed monthly for 1,000 contacts): 

• Starter starts at $19/month
• Plus starts at $59/month
• Pro starts at $99/month
• And Enterprise starts at $179/month

To make this easier to navigate, I’ve divided this section into multiple chapters. Feel free to jump to the parts most relevant to your business.

Discounts

Annual payment discounts

These rates decrease by 20% if you pay annually up front​. For example, on an annual plan that Starter $19 drops to $15/month. 

Non-profit discounts

Non-profits can receive a 20% discount on both monthly and annual plans. There’s no need to commit to a yearly subscription to qualify. To apply, simply send proof of non-profit status to sales@activecampaign.com.

Special discounts

While some email marketing platforms offer special deals during events like Black Friday or Cyber Monday, ActiveCampaign typically does not run such promotions, making holiday discounts unlikely.

Price comparison

What’s the difference between ActiveCampaign Plus and ActiveCampaign Pro?

The biggest deciding factor between the Plus and Pro plans is likely the size of your team.

• If you’re a solo user or have just one other team member, the Plus plan should be sufficient.
• If you have a larger team and need multiple people to access ActiveCampaign’s marketing or CRM tools, the Pro plan becomes the better option.

The Pro plan includes three user accounts by default, which is ideal for the account owner, a sales rep, and a marketing team member. While the Plus plan allows unlimited additional users, adding them individually can become costly, making the Pro plan the more economical choice for growing teams.

Additionally, the Pro tier offers exclusive features not available in the Plus plan, such as A/B testing for automations. This can be a game-changer for optimizing your marketing campaigns. You can check out ActiveCampaign’s pricing page for a full breakdown of the differences.

I also cover real-world case studies using ActiveCampaign’s A/B testing feature in my ActiveCampaign tutorial on YouTube—check it out for hands-on insights!

Why not go with a cheaper more basic email marketing solution?

Opting for ActiveCampaign isn’t just about email marketing—it’s about investing in a platform that supports business growth. Setting up a new email marketing tool takes time, so it’s important to choose one that can scale with you. Switching platforms down the line can be a hassle, making it crucial to start with a solution that meets both your current and future needs.

If you anticipate needing ActiveCampaign’s Plus or Pro plan features as your business grows, starting with the Starter plan is a smart move. However, if you don’t think you’ll ever require advanced automation or CRM capabilities, there’s no reason to pay for features you won’t use. In that case, a more affordable, basic email marketing tool might be the better choice.

For a side-by-side comparison of popular email marketing platforms, check out my video below:

Tier overview and price comparison

Starter

• This entry plan covers the email marketing essentials. 
• It supports up to 25,000 contacts maximum​. 
• You get 1 user account (with option to buy 1 extra), the email designer, basic automation (max 5 actions per automation, with limited triggers and no branching)​, website and event tracking, lead capture forms (inline forms only), basic segmentation and reporting, and the ability to perform A/B tests on campaigns.
• Starter does not include the landing page builder or advanced automation features. It’s a great option if you primarily need to send newsletters and simple automated follow-ups. However, note that Starter users cannot disable ActiveCampaign’s branding on forms and pages – the platform’s logo will appear on your opt-in forms unless you upgrade​.

Plus

• The Plus plan unlocks the “advanced marketing automation” features without going to the highest price. Plus includes everything in Starter, and adds the landing page builder, more advanced automation capabilities (such as unlimited actions and more trigger types, plus conditional “forks” or branches in workflows)​, custom audience integrations for Facebook/Google ads, SMS marketing (available as an add-on), custom user permissions, and deeper reporting. It still comes with 1 user by default (you can purchase additional user seats if needed)​.
• The landing pages and multi-channel automation (email, site messages, ads, etc.) really expand what you can do. In Plus I was able to create an abandoned cart email series that also added customers to a Facebook retargeting audience – something not possible on Starter. For pricing context, Plus starts around $59/month for 1,000 contacts (or $47/month on annual) and scales up with list size.

Pro

• Pro includes everything in Plus and layers on even more powerful tools. 
• Notably, you get 3 user seats included, conditional content in emails (show different content to different segments in the same email), predictive sending and predictive content (AI features to optimize send times and email copy)​, advanced segmentation logic, conversion attribution and revenue reporting, and the ability to A/B test entire automation workflows​. For example, on Professional I could test two different automation flows against each other to see which generated more sales – a feature I really appreciate for optimization. 
• Professional also comes with priority support (faster response times)​
• Pricing for Pro starts at $99/month for 1,000 contacts if billed monthly​. This plan is ideal if you have a growing marketing team or need those AI-driven features and detailed analytics on what’s driving conversions.

Enterprise

• This top-tier plan is designed for large organizations that require advanced security, support, and customization. It includes everything in Professional, plus 5 user seats (and more can be added), an assigned dedicated success team, custom reporting (the ability to create your own reports, which is actually an add-on that Enterprise users get included for free)​, unlimited email design testing/previews, single sign-on (SSO) for enhanced security, HIPAA support for healthcare use, and premium integrations with Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics, and other high-end CRMs​.
• Enterprise also allows a one-time purchase of a dedicated IP address for email sending (for $750) if you have extremely large lists and want complete control over your sending reputation​.
• Enterprise pricing starts around $179/month for a small contact allowance and can go into the several hundreds or more per month as your list grows (for instance, 10k contacts on Enterprise costs $739/month)​

Price comparison

The graph below displays the monthly prices for ActiveCampaign’s Starter, Plus, Pro, and Enterprise plans at different subscriber levels: 1,000, 5,000, 10,000, 20,000, and 50,000. Note that the 20% annual discount is not included—these are the standard monthly rates.

Why doesn’t the graph show ActiveCampaign Starter (blue bars) prices for 50,000 subscribers?

ActiveCampaign’s Starter plan has a subscriber limit of 25,000. If you need to manage more than that, you’ll have to upgrade to a higher-tier plan.

Is ActiveCampaign expensive?

Whether ActiveCampaign is expensive depends on what you’re comparing it to.

If you’re looking at basic email marketing tools with minimal features, ActiveCampaign might seem pricey. However, when compared to platforms that offer both email marketing and CRM functionality—such as Salesforce or HubSpot—ActiveCampaign is actually a more budget-friendly option.

Ultimately, the cost-effectiveness of ActiveCampaign depends on your needs and the other marketing tools you’re considering.

Add-ons and extras

ActiveCampaign’s base plans can be augmented with a few paid add-ons for additional functionality:

• Sales CRM Add-ons: If you need robust sales pipeline features, ActiveCampaign offers two CRM packages called “Pipelines” and “Sales Engagement.” These add advanced deal management, lead scoring, tasks, and one-to-one outreach tools on top of the built-in basic CRM. They are priced per user (e.g. Pipelines is around $49/month for 1 user + $15 for each extra user)​ and can be added on Plus, Professional, or Enterprise plans​.
• SMS Marketing: ActiveCampaign can send text messages to contacts as part of automations, but this requires the SMS add-on (available on Plus and above). The add-on itself costs about $21/month and then you purchase SMS credits based on volume (for example, $21 for 1,000 credits, $45 for 5,000, with the price per SMS decreasing at larger bundles)​.
• Transactional Email (Postmark): ActiveCampaign acquired Postmark, a transactional email service, and offers it as a separate Transactional Email add-on. This is meant for sending one-off system emails like receipts, password resets, order confirmations, etc., which aren’t handled by the regular campaign sender. Postmark has its own pricing (starting around $15/month for 10,000 emails after a small free allowance of 100/month)​. If you run an app or e-commerce store, you might use Postmark to ensure high deliverability for those critical emails. It’s nice that ActiveCampaign integrates it.
• Custom Reporting: For deep analytics geeks, there is a Custom Reports add-on (included free with Enterprise, but paid on Plus/Pro) that starts at a hefty $159/month​. It lets you build tailor-made reports on campaigns, automations, deals, etc.
• Dedicated IP Address: As mentioned under Enterprise, you can buy a dedicated IP for $750 one-time​. This is only available if you have over 100k contacts and are on Enterprise. The one-time fee approach is actually cost-effective compared to competitors that charge monthly for a dedicated IP – a unique aspect of ActiveCampaign’s pricing.

Below is a graph that outlines the total pricing, including CRM add-ons. It displays the costs for ActiveCampaign Plus, Pro, and Enterprise plans at various subscriber levels: 1,000, 5,000, 10,000, 20,000, and 50,000.

Note: The 20% annual discount is not reflected in the prices shown in the graph—these are the standard monthly rates.

What does “CRM” mean in this graph?

ActiveCampaign offers four main tiers: Starter, Plus, Pro, and Enterprise. However, beyond these core plans, it also provides optional add-ons, including CRM-related features.

Two key CRM add-ons are:

• Pipeline (available on Plus and higher)
• Sales Engagement (available on Plus and higher)

These add-ons are sold separately, and each has its own price. However, in my graph, when you see “+ CRM,” it means that both the Pipeline and Sales Engagement add-ons are included in that tier.

While ActiveCampaign’s built-in features are already powerful, many users—possibly including you—are considering the platform specifically for its CRM capabilities. That’s why it’s important to compare pricing with and without CRM add-ons, so you can see the actual cost difference when these features are included.

How to see CRM pricing options

In the screenshot below, you can see how this works on ActiveCampaign’s pricing page. You have the option to add just the Pipeline feature or bundle it with Sales Engagement for a more complete solution. This bundling is what increases the overall price of ActiveCampaign’s CRM-enabled plans.

For a detailed breakdown of ActiveCampaign’s CRM features, check out my YouTube video below:

The number of contacts (subscribed vs unsubscribed)

ActiveCampaign counts “active” contacts towards your limit. That means unsubscribed and bounced contacts do not count in your plan’s contact quota​. This is fair and transparent – you’re only billed for people you can actually send to. (Do note that if the same person is on multiple email lists in your account, ActiveCampaign counts them once overall, not duplicates, which is also efficient.)

Maximum subscribers

The only plan with a subscriber limit is the Starter plan, which caps subscribers at 25,000. Higher-tier plans do not have fixed subscriber limits, but pricing for accounts exceeding 50,000 subscribers is not publicly listed. If your subscriber count surpasses this threshold, you’ll need to reach out to support for a custom pricing plan.

Maximum monthly emails

How many emails can you send per month with ActiveCampaign? Technically, there’s no hard limit on email sends, but your plan’s subscriber limit determines your actual sending capacity.

Each plan has a multiplier that dictates the maximum number of emails you can send.

For example, under the “10X” rule, you can send up to 10 times your subscriber limit. So, if your plan allows 1,000 subscribers, you can send 10,000 emails per month.

If you need to exceed this limit, you’ll either have to:

1. Upgrade to a higher subscriber tier, or
2. Purchase additional email credits to extend your sending capacity.

ActiveCampaign’s policy on exceeding email limits

If you exceed your subscribed contact limit, ActiveCampaign will pause your campaigns/automations until you upgrade to the next tier​.

They won’t automatically charge you overages without warning, which I appreciate – it gives you a chance to clean your list or consciously upgrade.

As an example, for users on the Plus plan with 5,000 subscribers, the monthly email-sending limit is 50,000 emails at a cost of $179. If you require additional emails, you can purchase extra sends at the following rates:

• 5,000 additional emails for $5
• 10,000 additional emails for $10
• Up to 1,000,000 extra emails for $800

The more emails you buy, the lower the cost per email.

For further details, visit ActiveCampaign’s website.

Cancellation & refund process 

You can cancel ActiveCampaign at any time from your account’s billing page, but be mindful of the refund. This is pretty clear in their terms – if you paid for a year and cancel after 6 months, you won’t get that remaining 6 months’ fees back. Therefore, if you’re unsure, it might be better to go month-to-month. They do have an option to pause your account (on monthly plans) for up to 3 months instead of outright canceling.

Onboarding costs 

There aren’t hidden fees beyond what’s mentioned (no mandatory onboarding fees or support fees, and add-ons are optional)​.

ActiveCampaign Review: Newsletter Features

In this section, I’ll break down ActiveCampaign’s newsletter features. To keep things clear, this part of my review focuses only on newsletter-related tools—not automation. Since automation is a more advanced functionality, I cover it separately.

A newsletter feature refers to tools that allow you to create and send one-time email campaigns to your subscriber list. In contrast, automation involves setting up sequences, such as a welcome email series that triggers automatically when someone subscribes.

To make this easier to navigate, I’ve divided this section into multiple chapters. Feel free to jump to the parts most relevant to your business.

Email editor

ActiveCampaign provides a modern drag-and-drop email designer that makes it straightforward to build professional-looking emails.

I was able to jump in and start creating a newsletter without much guidance. The UI is clean: content blocks (text, images, buttons, dividers, etc.) are listed in a sidebar and can be dragged into your email layout wherever you like. You can create multi-column sections, adjust spacing, and apply your brand colors easily. 

The editor supports WYSIWYG editing as well as an HTML code view ​– so more advanced users can tweak the source code or paste in custom HTML if needed.

All templates and emails designed here are mobile responsive by default. You can preview how the email looks on mobile vs. desktop.

And send test emails to yourself to double-check formatting.

Templates

ActiveCampaign has a library of over 250 pre-built email templates and layouts you can choose from. These cover different use cases like newsletters, promotions, announcements, etc. 

The templates are fully customizable, and you can also create your own template and save it for later use. I highly recommend doing this—it saves time and ensures brand consistency by giving your emails a cohesive look and feel every time you send a campaign. Overall, the variety of templates means you don’t have to start from scratch unless you want to.

Content Blocks

The editor offers all the standard content blocks (text, image, buttons, headers, footers, video embeds, social links, etc.), plus some advanced ones. For example, there’s a countdown timer block which is great for highlighting limited-time offers, and an HTML block if you need to embed custom code or third-party widgets. 

Dynamic content

Merge tags

ActiveCampaign supports merge tags, allowing you to personalize emails with contact details like first name, company, or any other stored data. While this is a standard feature in most email marketing tools, it’s still an essential one for making emails feel more personal.

One thing I like about ActiveCampaign is that it offers modifiers to adjust the formatting of merge tags automatically. For example, if a contact’s first name is stored in all lowercase, you can ensure it appears correctly in an email:

• %FIRSTNAME|UPPERFIRST% → Converts the first letter to uppercase (e.g., “john” becomes “John”).
• %COMPANY|UPPER% → Converts all letters to uppercase (e.g., “Acme Inc.” becomes “ACME INC.”).

These small tweaks help keep your emails looking polished and professional without needing manual corrections.

You can find more information about this on ActiveCampaign’s website.

Conditional content

On Professional and Enterprise plans, you unlock Conditional Content, which lets you show or hide blocks of content based on conditions (like show a different image if the contact is a repeat customer vs. a new lead)

When crafting a newsletter, you can customize individual content blocks to appear only for specific audience segments. For instance, if you want to personalize messages based on location, you could display one message for subscribers in California and another for those in New York, factoring in elements like local weather conditions.

My two cents: Dynamic content can be a valuable tool, but it’s worth considering whether it’s always the most efficient way to target different groups within your audience. In some cases, creating separate segments and sending unique newsletters to each might be the better option. This approach can simplify your workflow, minimize errors, and ultimately save time. That said, it’s always worth experimenting to see what works best for your needs.

One challenge with dynamic content is that it adds complexity. Since a single email contains different content variations for different audiences, testing becomes more difficult, and the chances of errors increase. Additionally, during the editing process, all content blocks are visible at once, making it harder to keep track of which sections are meant for specific groups. This can quickly turn into an unnecessary source of confusion.

While dynamic content has its advantages, a segmented approach can sometimes be the more straightforward and manageable choice. In the end, the best method depends on your workflow and goals—so it’s worth testing both to find the right fit.

Does ActiveCampaign Support Advanced Dynamic Content?

ActiveCampaign’s Conditional Content and Personalization Tags provide basic dynamic content, but they lack the flexibility of full templating languages like Liquid, Twig, or Jinja2, which support loops, advanced filtering, and custom variable manipulation. Bottom line: ActiveCampaign does not offer such advanced dynamic content features.

Spam Testing & Deliverability Tools

ActiveCampaign has a built-in Spam Check tool that runs automatically when you prepare to send a campaign​. It uses SpamAssassin rules to analyze your email content and will flag anything that looks spammy (like excessive caps, certain trigger phrases, or broken code) with a score​. 

I find this helpful as a final gut check – if it flags issues, I’ll tweak the content accordingly. It’s not a guarantee of inbox placement, but it’s a nice feature to catch obvious problems. 

Like most email marketing tools, ActiveCampaign supports DKIM email signing and custom domain tracking, which help improve email deliverability. You can authenticate your sending domain within the platform to enhance trust with email providers, ensuring your emails are less likely to end up in spam folders. While this isn’t a standout feature, it’s still an essential one for every email marketer.

For analytics, every email send gives you metrics on opens, clicks, bounces, unsubscribes, and spam complaints. If you’re on Enterprise, you also get an Inbox Preview feature (unlimited tests) that shows how your email renders across major email clients​. Pro and Plus users get a few inbox preview tests per month (5)​. This is handy to ensure your design looks good in Outlook, Gmail, etc. – a feature I’ve tried a couple of times when using a particularly fancy layout.

A/B Testing

ActiveCampaign offers A/B testing for newsletter campaigns, allowing you to experiment with subject lines, sender names, and email content. However, it does not support A/B testing for send times. Additionally, if you want the platform to automatically determine a winner, it can only do so based on open rate or click rate—there is no option to select a winner based on revenue.

On the Professional and Enterprise plans, you can also A/B test automation emails and even entire sequences (more on that in the Automation section of this review).

Setting up a split test is straightforward: you choose up to five variants, define the test criteria (e.g., subject line, sender name, or email body variations), and ActiveCampaign will send each version to a sample of your list before determining a winner based on open or click rates.

One other limitation: despite the UI referring to “A/B & multivariate testing,” ActiveCampaign does not support true multivariate testing—it only allows A/B split tests with multiple variations. Additionally, you cannot A/B test within the email designer in real time (e.g., toggling different content live while editing). Instead, you need to create separate campaigns or automation paths for each version. It’s a minor limitation, but worth noting.

Email scheduling

ActiveCampaign allows you to send newsletters immediately or schedule them for a later date/time. However, it does not offer timezone-based sending for regular newsletter campaigns. If you want emails to arrive at the same local time for all recipients (e.g., 10 a.m. in their respective time zones), you’ll need to use automations instead. This feature is available in all paid plans and allows you to achieve a similar effect by adding subscribers to an automation workflow that schedules emails based on their timezone.

On the Professional plan, there’s also Predictive Sending (AI), which automatically determines the optimal send time for each contact based on their past behavior.

ActiveCampaign Review: Email Marketing Automation

If there’s one area where ActiveCampaign truly shines, it’s email automation. This platform is renowned for its ability to create sophisticated automated workflows that respond to customer behavior across email and other channels. In my experience, ActiveCampaign’s automation builder is both powerful and relatively easy to use once you get the hang of it.

To make this easier to navigate, I’ve divided this section into multiple chapters. Feel free to jump to the parts most relevant to your business.

In the tutorial below, I provide an in-depth look at ActiveCampaign’s automation features.

Automation Builder Interface

ActiveCampaign offers a visual automation workflow builder where you can map out marketing sequences step by step. It uses a flowchart-style layout: you choose a starting trigger (e.g., “Contact subscribes to list X” or “Contact clicks a specific email link”), then add a series of actions and conditions in sequence. The interface is drag-and-drop – you see boxes representing each step and you can connect them in the order you want. I found it intuitive to build simple flows (like welcome email series or follow-ups) and the tool can accommodate incredibly complex logic as well. The builder has zoom controls and an overview map (especially useful when your automation has dozens of steps). For organization, you can label your automations, put them into folders, and even add notes within a workflow to document what each part does.

I’ve included some screenshots below to give you a clearer view of ActiveCampaign’s builder interface.

Starting an automation (triggers)

To start an automated workflow, you first set a trigger—the event that activates the automation. A variety of triggers allows you to target your audience more precisely and make automation more effective.

ActiveCampaign offers one of the widest selections of triggers to start an automation—if not the widest among email marketing tools. Popular triggers include:

• A contact subscribes to a list
• A contact submits a form
• A contact opens or clicks a specific email
• A contact visits a certain webpage (if you use site tracking)
• A contact has a birthday today

You can also trigger an automation using e-commerce triggers (e.g., a customer makes a purchase or abandons a cart) and event triggers via the API.

When setting up an automation in ActiveCampaign, you will first be prompted to choose how you want to start the automation. A practical feature you’ll notice—especially as you use the tool more—is that ActiveCampaign allows you to create and set up an automation without selecting a trigger upfront. Unlike many competitors, this flexibility lets you build out your automation even if you’re unsure of the exact starting point. This can be particularly useful as you refine your workflow.

Another valuable use case is starting one automation after a contact progresses through a different automation. In ActiveCampaign, you can add an action within an automation to “Start an automation”, allowing you to select which automation should begin at that point. This gives you greater control over when and how automations are triggered—going beyond the basic, one-size-fits-all starting points offered by most other tools.

Actions and conditions

Once an automation is triggered, you can add unlimited steps (actions or conditions) in the workflow on Plus plan and above (Starter limits you to 5 actions total)​.

The types of actions you can use include: sending an email, sending an SMS (if add-on enabled), adding a delay/wait (e.g., wait 2 days), adding a condition (an if/else branch based on contact info or behavior), adding a tag, removing a tag, adding to a list, updating a contact field, notifying your team, creating a deal in the CRM, etc.

The flexibility here is huge. 

I’ve built automations that do things like: if a contact clicks a pricing link, tag them as “Interested in Product A” and notify a sales rep via email, then wait a day and send a follow-up email tailored to Product A interest. 

You can nest conditions and create parallel paths using “split” actions. 

For example, a common pattern is an if/else condition: “If contact has purchased before, send this series, else send a different series.” 

Additionally, the Pro and Enterprise plans offer “Split automation” testing, letting you randomly divide contacts into different paths to measure flow effectiveness—similar to A/B testing for automation logic. 

As shown in the screenshots below, advanced split tools like ActiveCampaign’s Conditional Split add even more flexibility.

For example, if you’re promoting an online course with a discount for the first 100 sign-ups and a smaller discount after that, you can set a condition to automatically route later sign-ups to a different path. This kind of automation isn’t available in most other email marketing tools.

Another feature I also love is the “Goals” action: you can set a goal within an automation (like “Goal: Contact makes a purchase > $50”). If a contact meets that goal condition at any point, ActiveCampaign can pull them down the workflow to that point or take another action. This is great for exit conditions – for instance, if the goal of an email series is to get a purchase, you can have a goal that checks for that and once achieved, the contact can skip the remaining promo emails. It makes automations smart and outcome-driven.

Bottom line: the possibilities with ActiveCampaign’s automation actions and conditions are endless.

Templates (Automation Recipes)

ActiveCampaign comes with over 850 automation recipes – essentially pre-built automation templates for various use cases​.

When you create a new automation, you have the option to browse the recipe library. This library includes templates for various use cases, such as:

• Welcome series
• Lead nurturing
• Abandoned cart recovery
• Post-purchase follow-up
• Webinar funnels
• Re-engagement campaigns
• And more

I found this especially helpful when I was starting out. I could simply import a recipe and customize the emails and conditions to fit my needs. Doing this gave me a better understanding of what’s possible within ActiveCampaign’s automation builder.

The recipes aren’t just created by ActiveCampaign—you and I can also share automations with each other. This makes it easier if you want to collaborate with others.

Multi-Channel & CRM Integration

ActiveCampaign’s automations are not limited to email. You can incorporate multiple channels: if you have the SMS add-on, you can include “Send SMS” actions to shoot a text message as part of the flow​.

If you connect Facebook Custom Audiences or Google, you can have actions that add the contact to an audience for retargeting ads.

There’s also a “Send Site Message” action (site messages are little pop-up notifications on your website for known visitors) which is available on Plus and up​.

I’ve experimented with site messages – for example, showing a personalized discount code on the website if a contact in an automation reaches a certain step. It’s quite nifty to tie your website behavior with the automation flow. 

Additionally, ActiveCampaign has an integrated Deals CRM, so you can create automations that also create or move deals in your pipeline, assign tasks to sales reps, or send one-to-one emails through the CRM. As an example, you can automatically create a sales deal when a contact submits a specific sign-up form, then notify the sales team. It worked seamlessly.

Conditional Logic & Segmenting in Automations

Most email marketing tools offer segmentation, but their flexibility and sophistication vary, impacting your strategy’s effectiveness.

ActiveCampaign stands out with its advanced segmentation tool, including “nested conditions,” which enable more precise contact grouping—something many tools lack. Below is an example of ActiveCampaign’s segmentation builder in action.

Check out the video below for a real case study demo of ActiveCampaign’s segmentation features.

ActiveCampaign also supports “Wait until” conditions in delays – you can tell the automation to wait until a contact meets some condition or a certain date before proceeding. You could use this for scenarios like sending a reminder email one day before a contact’s webinar date (with the date stored in a custom field). The automation would wait until “Date field minus one day” before triggering the email. All these small features add up, making ActiveCampaign’s automation incredibly flexible in terms of timing and targeting.

Automation Management

When you have multiple automations running, ActiveCampaign provides tools to help you manage them efficiently. You can set automations as Active or Inactive (paused), giving you control over which workflows are running. You can also view all contacts currently in an automation and jump to a specific contact’s position in the workflow, which is useful for troubleshooting or manual handling. The Automation Overview screen provides key stats per automation, such as the number of contacts who entered and completed it, as well as conversion rates if you’ve set goals. This feedback helps you understand how each workflow is performing and where improvements might be needed.

To keep automations organized as your library grows, it’s helpful to use clear names (e.g., “Welcome Series – New Leads”) and add descriptions so you can quickly identify their purpose. ActiveCampaign also allows you to label automations, making it easier to filter and categorize them. As shown in the screenshot below, you can filter by status (Active/Inactive), labels, or activity level. If you’re looking to optimize your workflows, starting with automations that have the highest activity can often lead to the most impactful improvements.

ActiveCampaign also has a feature called Automations Map for Pro+ plans, which shows how your different automations connect or feed into each other​.

Testing

Before launching an automation to your entire audience, you may want to run a test to ensure everything works as expected. ActiveCampaign allows you to do this easily. By clicking the arrow in the top right of the automation canvas, a window will pop up where you can select all your emails and test them if needed.

Another way to test your automation is by manually adding contacts. You can create a test contact with your own email address and add it to the automation. Additionally, ActiveCampaign lets you skip actions, allowing you to jump ahead and test specific steps without waiting for delays or conditions to be met.

ActiveCampaign Review: Landing Page Features

ActiveCampaign isn’t just about email – it also includes a landing page builder (available on Plus plans and above) that lets you create standalone web pages for campaigns. This means you can build signup pages, product promo pages, webinar registration pages, etc., right within ActiveCampaign, and integrate them with your emails and automations. I’ve used the landing page feature to create simple lead-capture pages without needing a separate website or tool.

To make this easier to navigate, I’ve divided this section into multiple chapters. Feel free to jump to the parts most relevant to your business.

Landing Page Builder

ActiveCampaign’s landing page editor is a drag-and-drop builder that works much like its email editor. If you’re familiar with designing emails in ActiveCampaign, you’ll find the page builder intuitive and easy to navigate. To get started, you can choose from a library of approximately 60 landing page templates.

These templates are categorized by use case—such as event signups, eBook downloads, and newsletter opt-ins—and are all mobile-responsive. Many feature modern designs with large hero sections, FAQ sections, galleries, and forms, providing plenty of inspiration. That said, some templates feel a bit outdated. In fact, the copyright at the bottom of the pages suggests that the latest additions were made in 2022. Depending on your needs, you may want to customize them more extensively to achieve a fresh, on-brand look.

The drag-and-drop editor makes it easy to add elements like text, images, buttons, videos, forms, spacers, and dividers. You can also structure your layout using rows and columns, allowing for flexible multi-column designs. The interface includes both desktop and mobile previews, and a standout feature is mobile-specific styling, which lets you hide or adjust certain blocks based on the device. This ensures your landing page looks polished and professional across all screen sizes.

Customization & Flexibility

You can fully customize colors, fonts, backgrounds, and more via the page Theme settings. It’s quite flexible, though I did notice the builder is a bit more structured compared to something like Wix or Webflow. You can’t drag elements absolutely anywhere; they snap into pre-defined sections/columns. In practice, this keeps designs clean, but if you want total free-form design, you might feel a bit constrained. For example, I couldn’t freely overlap two images – I had to stick to the grid. 

I also noticed you currently cannot embed custom scripts or widgets except by using an HTML block (which is doable for things like a countdown timer or a Calendly widget, but not as straightforward).

Another limitation: A/B testing for landing pages is not available​

Unlike emails where A/B is built-in, the page builder doesn’t have a native split test feature. If I wanted to test two versions of a page, I’d have to duplicate the page and split traffic manually via two different URLs, which is not ideal. So that’s an area ActiveCampaign could improve.

SEO and Publishing

ActiveCampaign allows you to configure SEO settings for each landing page – you can set the page title, meta description, and even the URL slug. You can also add social sharing metadata.

The builder includes a setting to add a cookie consent banner, which is useful for GDPR compliance if your page gets EU visitors.

When you publish a page, ActiveCampaign will host it for you under a default domain (something like youraccount.ac-page.com). However, you can connect your own custom domain to use for your pages (e.g., landing.yourdomain.com)​

I connected a subdomain through my DNS and ActiveCampaign handled the SSL certificate, so my pages appeared on my own URL seamlessly. This is important for branding and SEO.

In terms of SEO, while these landing pages are indexable (if you choose), I’d say they are mainly meant for campaign traffic (ads, emails) rather than building complex, SEO-optimized sites.

ActiveCampaign Review: Opt-in Form Features

Capturing leads and growing your list is a critical part of email marketing, and ActiveCampaign provides a built-in opt-in form builder to help with that. These forms can be embedded on your website or used in landing pages to collect contacts directly into ActiveCampaign. I’ve made extensive use of ActiveCampaign’s forms on my sites for newsletter signups and content downloads, so I’ll share my experience with their capabilities.

Form types

ActiveCampaign offers four types of forms you can create: Inline forms, Floating Box, Modal Pop-up, and Floating Bar​.

Inline forms are the traditional embedded forms that appear as part of a page content. Floating box is a small overlay that can hover in a corner, modal is a center-screen pop-up, and floating bar is a slim banner at the top or bottom of a page. These different styles let you choose how aggressively or passively to present your opt-in. On the Starter plan, you are limited to using only inline forms (basic embedded forms)​. On Plus and above, you can create all four types, including the pop-ups and floating options, which is great for capturing attention on key pages.

Templates & design

The form editor isn’t as polished as ActiveCampaign’s email or page designer, but it’s functional. You start with a basic layout that you can customize, though the platform does not offer any pre-designed templates. While you can modify some style settings—such as width, background color, text color, borders, and padding—and even add custom code, there are no ready-made templates to use out of the box.

You can add standard fields like first name, last name, email, and phone, as well as custom fields you’ve created. However, a major limitation is that for floating box, bar, or modal forms, ActiveCampaign restricts the number of fields you can add, usually limiting it to just name and email.

The design options allow you to adjust fonts, colors, button styles, and apply custom CSS if needed. I’ve been able to match the forms to my website’s branding reasonably well. While they aren’t as visually impressive as those from dedicated form builders, they are functional and serve their purpose.

Behavior and targeting

ActiveCampaign forms, particularly the modal and floating ones, offer only basic behavior settings. The only available option is a scroll delay—far fewer than what you’d expect from a premium tool like ActiveCampaign. There’s significant potential for more customization, but they’ve limited it to just this one setting, which is quite disappointing.

If you’re serious about email marketing, pop-ups are likely a key tactic you’ll want to use. Unfortunately, ActiveCampaign falls short in this area, meaning you’ll likely need a third-party tool to implement an effective pop-up strategy.

Embed & Publishing

Inline forms can be embedded on any website by copying and pasting the provided HTML or JavaScript code snippet. I simply inserted the embed code into my site’s footer or the appropriate page section, and the form appeared as expected.

For modal or floating forms, you need to embed a script, which ActiveCampaign then uses to control when and where the pop-up appears on that page. However, there’s a limitation: ActiveCampaign forms (except on AC landing pages) will display on every page where the code is loaded unless you use custom code to restrict it. So, if you want a pop-up to appear only on your homepage, you’ll need to conditionally include the script on that page alone. Unlike some dedicated pop-up tools, ActiveCampaign does not offer a built-in URL targeting rule interface, which is a significant drawback.

Alternatively, you can link directly to a form’s stand-alone page hosted by ActiveCampaign. Each form is assigned a unique URL on AC’s domain, making it easy to share without embedding—useful for a simple “Join Our List” link in a bio, for example. However, these hosted form pages are quite plain and can look unprofessional unless customized with CSS. While they do include all form fields and your logo (if added), their default appearance leaves much to be desired.

Field Options, GDPR, CAN-SPAM, CASL

ActiveCampaign provides useful features to support GDPR compliance. For example, you can add a required checkbox field to your form for “I agree to receive emails” and mark it as mandatory to log explicit consent. The platform also offers built-in support for double opt-in: when creating a form, you can choose between single opt-in and double opt-in. If double opt-in is enabled, ActiveCampaign will send a confirmation email to anyone who submits the form, requiring them to click a confirmation link before becoming an active subscriber. Double opt-in is highly recommended for GDPR compliance and general list hygiene, and ActiveCampaign makes it easy to enable.

You can also customize both the confirmation email and the thank-you page, which I’ve done to maintain branding—for example, replacing the default “Please confirm your subscription” message with my own wording and logo.

Additionally, ActiveCampaign forms automatically capture the timestamp of the signup and the subscriber’s IP address, which helps maintain compliance records by providing proof of when and where someone subscribed.

For a more detailed walkthrough, check out my ActiveCampaign Tutorial at the 1:31:00 timestamp, where I explain GDPR-compliant sign-up forms in depth and show how to set everything up. I must say, ActiveCampaign offers more GDPR and privacy law functionalities than most other email marketing tools.

Targeting and Segmenting with Forms

Each form in ActiveCampaign can automatically add contacts to specific lists and/or apply tags upon submission. In the form creation dashboard, there’s a “Trigger Automation” button in the top right corner, allowing you to instantly create an automation when someone submits the form.

Using tags and list assignments within forms makes it easy to route contacts into different funnels. This is particularly useful if you have multiple lead magnets or offers on your site, as it allows you to segment signups based on their interests.

ActiveCampaign also supports hidden fields, enabling more advanced use cases. For example, you can pass values via URL parameters to tag or categorize signups dynamically. This feature is especially helpful if you want to track different sources or campaigns without requiring users to manually select an option.

ActiveCampaign Review: Ecommerce Features

ActiveCampaign provides e-commerce marketing tools and integrates with platforms like Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, and Magento to automate customer interactions and track revenue. It enables abandoned cart recovery through personalized email automation, purchase-based workflows for customer retention, and VIP segmentation based on spending behavior.

Additionally, the platform supports dynamic content, coupon distribution, and transactional emails via Postmark. Its e-commerce dashboard offers revenue attribution insights, while multi-channel marketing features extend to SMS, site messages, and Facebook Custom Audiences for cross-channel engagement.

But is it the best email marketing tool for e-commerce businesses?

I don’t think so. If you run a true e-commerce business with hundreds or more products, I’d recommend a dedicated e-commerce email tool like Klaviyo. If you’re looking for a more budget-friendly alternative, Omnisend is a solid choice.

ActiveCampaign Review: CRM features

The bottom line is that if you only have a few leads coming in per day, using ActiveCampaign’s robust CRM system combined with its automation features is a bit of an overkill (see a sample of what it can do below). On the other hand, if you have many moving parts, e.g., multiple sales employees and dozens of new deals coming in daily, you might find that automating steps with ActiveCampaign gives you peace of mind.

Managing Deals

In the screenshot below, you can see an example pipeline I created with ActiveCampaign. The columns are the different stages of the pipeline, and the rows are the deals. You can rename the columns (i.e., stages), add more columns or delete columns.

For example, the screenshot below shows a simplified pipeline with fewer stages.

Once you have created your pipeline, you can add deals (see screenshot below). You can add multiple contacts to the same deal but only one organization. With larger projects, you may talk to numerous people in the same organization. 

The screenshot below shows an overview of an individual deal’s page. Here you can see two contacts connected to this deal and one account, Charlie Dée BV.

You can manually create and add deals to your pipelines but also use ActiveCampaign’s automation features to do this. For example, if there’s a form submission on your website, you could automatically create a deal and add that deal to the first stage of the pipeline. The screenshot below shows a sample automation that makes a new deal when there’s a submission on sign up form 1. You can also automatically create a task and/or notify the deal owner.

In the above example, I chose the form submission to trigger the automation, but as you can see in the screenshot below, there are many (many!) triggers to choose from.

You can also add an endless list of actions to the automation workflow (see screenshot below).

Managing Tasks

If you like organizing your tasks in to-do lists, then you’ll love this feature, where you can see your highest priority tasks at a glance. 

ActiveCampaign’s History

Jason VandeBoom founded ActiveCampaign in 2003 and is still the CEO.

Customers

• In 2020, ActiveCampaign had 100,000 customers
• In 2022, 150,000 customers
• In 2024, 185,000+ customers

Employees

• 15 employees in 2015
• 100+ employees in 2017
• Crosses 500 employees in 2019
• 850+ employees in 2022
• 1,000+ employees in 2024

Revenue

• In 2017, ActiveCampaign crossed $25 million in ARR (Annual Recurring Revenue)
• In 2020, they crossed $100 million in ARR, i.e., $8.3 million per month
• In 2023, ActiveCampaign hit $195.3 million in revenue ¹

Investments

• In 2016, $20 million Series A funding through Silversmith Capital Partners
• In 2020, $100 million Series B funding through Susquehanna Growth Equity and Silversmith Capital Partners

The post ActiveCampaign Review appeared first on Creatoregg.com.

Kit Review: 1-minute summary

​Kit (formerly known as ConvertKit) is an email marketing tool designed to be user-friendly, especially for beginners. Here’s a summary of its pros and cons.

Pros

• Generous Free Plan: Kit offers a free plan accommodating up to 10,000 subscribers with unlimited emails, making it ideal for those starting out.
• User-Friendly Interface: The platform is intuitive, allowing users to set up newsletters, email automation, forms, and landing pages with ease.
• Unlimited Email Sending: Both free and paid plans permit unlimited email sends, ensuring no restrictions on communication frequency.
• Seamless Ebook Delivery: Users can effortlessly deliver ebooks by uploading PDFs directly to confirmation emails, simplifying lead magnets.

Cons

• Limited Automation in Free Plan: The free plan restricts users to a single automation, which may not suffice for advanced email strategies.
• Basic Newsletter Editor: The editor lacks advanced features compared to competitors, offering fewer pre-designed templates and limited design options.
• Simplistic Segmentation: Segmentation features are not as extensive, potentially limiting targeted marketing efforts.
• No A/B Testing: The platform does not support A/B testing in automation workflows, which can hinder optimization efforts.
• Limited Reporting: Reporting is restricted to 90 days, providing less historical data for analysis.
  

In summary, Kit is suitable for beginners and small businesses seeking an easy-to-use email marketing solution. However, those requiring advanced customization, segmentation, and detailed analytics might find it limiting.​

My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Good for beginners, limited for advanced users).

I’ve organized this review into sections—skip to the parts most relevant to you.

Free limited-time offer

I’ve partnered with Kit, which means if you sign up using my link, you’ll get free access to Email Marketing University: Free Beginners Course! This includes my ebook, 50 Daily Newsletter Signups, along with other great email marketing resources to help you get started.

Does this partnership mean I’ll only say good things about Kit?
Nope! To be honest, I don’t really care if you sign up for Kit or not. I’ve partnered with all major email marketing platforms, and this is how my reviews are funded—software tools pay me to send them traffic. Whether you sign up for Kit or another platform, it doesn’t make a difference to me. My only goal is to help you choose the tool that fits your needs best.

Click here to sign up for a free Kit account (my referral link) and get free access to Email Marketing University!

How to access Email Marketing University:

1. Sign up for Kit using my link before [wpcode id=”5614″].
2. Email me at info@creatoregg.com, and I’ll give you access!

Kit Review: Free plan

Kit’s free plan is quite generous, offering up to 10,000 subscribers and unlimited emails.

Kit Review: Pricing

In this section, I’ll break down Kit’s pricing structure, outlining its various plans and tiers.

Different plans

• Free Plan (Forever Free up to 10,000 subscribers)
• Creator (starting from $15/month for 300 subscribers)
• Creator Pro (starting from $29/month for 300 subscribers)

Discounts

Annual payment discounts

Kit offers two months free when you choose an annual plan.

Non-profit discounts

Kit does not offer special discounts for non-profits or students.

Special discounts

Occasionally, Kit provides special discounts. For example, during Black Friday 2022, it offered 31% off on the Creator annual tier.

The screenshot below shows the Black Friday deal from 2022.

Price comparison

The graph below shows the pricing for both the Creator and Creator Pro plans at different subscriber levels: 1,000, 5,000, 10,000, 20,000, and 50,000.

Why choose Creator Pro?

Obviously, Creator Pro is more expensive, but what extra benefits does it offer? Features Exclusive to Creator Pro:

• Priority live chat and email support (vs. regular 24/7 support)
• Facebook Custom Audiences
• Newsletter referral system
• Subscriber engagement scoring
• Unlimited team members (vs. 2 team members)
• Deliverability reporting
• Edit links in sent broadcasts
• Insights dashboard

Facebook custom audiences

This feature syncs Kit segments with your Facebook Ad Manager account, saving time and reducing errors. However, you’ll need to ensure compliance with GDPR guidelines (especially for European visitors) when obtaining consent to use their email addresses for Facebook retargeting.

Newsletter referral system

With Kit Creator Pro, you get free access to the SparkLoop Media Brand tier, making it easier to grow your audience through referrals.

Cancellation process

If you want to cancel your Kit subscription, you can do so by emailing help@kit.com or reaching out via chat support.

Refunds

Kit is one of the few email companies that offer a 30-day refund period on all plans, including annual plans. To qualify, you must request a refund within 30 days of your signup date.

The number of contacts (subscribed vs unsubscribed)

Some email tools count unsubscribed contacts toward your total contact count, which means you end up paying for people who are no longer on your mailing list—a less-than-ideal situation.

Kit doesn’t work like that. You only pay for active, subscribed contacts.

Email credits

If you send newsletters infrequently, email credits can be a more cost-effective option. These pre-purchased units let you send a set number of emails without committing to a monthly subscription. This way, you only pay for what you use, making it ideal for businesses that don’t send emails regularly.

Does Kit offer email credits?

No, Kit does not offer email credits.

Kit Review: Newsletter Features

In this section, I’ll compare Kit’s newsletter features. To avoid confusion, this part of my review focuses specifically on what I call newsletter features—not email automation. I cover automation separately since it’s a more complex functionality.

A newsletter feature, for example, is the ability to create and send one-off email campaigns to your subscriber list. In contrast, an automation feature would be something like setting up a welcome email series that sends automatically when someone subscribes.

I’ve divided this section into several chapters. Feel free to skip to the parts most relevant to your business.

Maximum monthly emails

Some email marketing tools limit the number of emails you can send per month. Kit, however, does not. All Kit plans, including the free Newsletter plan, offer unlimited email sending.

Maximum subscribers

Some email marketing tools limit the number of subscribers you can have on certain entry-level tiers. This can be a drawback, as you may be forced to upgrade to a higher tier—and pay more—just to accommodate a growing subscriber list, even if you don’t need the extra feature

Kit, however, doesn’t have this restriction. Both the Creator and Creator Pro tiers offer unlimited subscribers. If you have more than 500,000 subscribers, you’ll need to contact support for pricing.

Email builder

The first step in sending a newsletter is creating the content you want to share. This includes writing compelling copy, selecting relevant images, and formatting the layout to match your brand’s style. In this section, I’ll review how Kit handles the initial steps of newsletter creation and explore the options it provides.

Kit isn’t particularly known for its email templates, as it initially supported only text-only emails. However, it now offers around 15 pre-designed templates that you can customize to your liking.

Email Editor

Kit has a beginner-friendly and easy-to-use email newsletter editor, as shown in the screenshot below. If you’re familiar with text editing software like Microsoft Word, Google Docs, or even a WordPress blog post, the experience feels very similar. You can start writing right away and easily add headers, buttons, images, and HTML blocks.

Google Analytics link tracking

Some email tools don’t offer the ability to automatically add UTM parameters to your website links. This can be inconvenient, as manually adding them takes time and increases the risk of errors.

Kit, however, provides an option to automatically add UTM parameters to the HTML links in your newsletter.

In the screenshot below, you can see an example of a contact profile. If they joined the list through a UTM tracking link, it would be visible here.

Email scheduling

In this section, we’ll explore Kit’s email scheduling features, focusing specifically on regular campaigns and newsletters. This section does not cover email scheduling for automation workflows—refer to the Email Automation section for details on that.

Kit offers a straightforward option to send emails immediately or schedule them for a later time. It’s not a particularly advanced feature, but it gets the job done.

Timezone-Specific Sending

If you have a global audience and want your weekly newsletter to reach everyone at exactly 8 a.m. on Monday in their local time, you’ll need a feature that schedules emails based on each subscriber’s timezone. This typically works by estimating the timezone from the subscriber’s IP address at the time of sign-up, though it’s not always perfect. If no IP address was recorded or if a subscriber moves to a different timezone, the delivery time may no longer be accurate.

Kit does not offer this feature.

Email lists

Some email tools, such as Mailchimp and Brevo, allow you to create multiple email lists. Mailchimp recommends creating separate audiences (i.e., email lists) if your business has both B2B and B2C customers or if you plan to use Mailchimp for both customer and internal communications.

If you want to segment your audience based on event attendance, location, or interests, using tags, segments, and custom fields is more effective than creating separate email lists.

Kit does not allow multiple email lists. To create a second email list, you would need to open a new account. However, you can still segment your audience using tags, segments, and custom fields.

Remove branding

Many email marketing tools include their logo or branding in newsletters when using a free plan. This usually appears as a small banner or text promoting their service, which can make emails look less professional. To remove it, most platforms require upgrading to a paid plan.

On Kit’s free plan, a logo appears at the bottom of your newsletters, as well as on landing pages and product pages you create.

Additionally, when someone joins your list, they may see recommendations for other newsletters.

A/B testing

In email marketing, A/B testing applies to both newsletters and email automation. This section focuses on A/B testing in regular newsletter campaigns, which involves sending two variations of the same email to different audience segments. This allows you to test elements such as subject lines, email content, images, or CTAs to determine which version performs better. The goal is to optimize open rates, click-through rates, and overall engagement by identifying the most effective approach before sending the final version to your entire subscriber list.

In the screenshot below, you can see Kit’s A/B testing feature for regular newsletters. It allows you to test subject lines and will automatically choose a winner after a maximum of 240 minutes.

Dynamic Content

Kit supports Liquid, a template language that enables dynamic, personalized emails. You can adjust formatting, display content based on tags, and personalize subject lines. However, Liquid has a steep learning curve, and Kit offers limited documentation. ChatGPT can help generate Liquid code, making it easier to implement personalized email elements.

Below is a great video explaining how to use Kit’s Liquid templating in email marketing. It’s a bit complex and not entirely beginner-friendly, but it provides valuable insights.

Best time to send your emails

Some email marketing tools offer a feature called “send time optimization,” which helps determine the best time to send emails for higher open and read rates. These tools analyze when your contacts have previously opened emails and use that data to predict the best times to reach your audience. Sending emails at these peak times can improve visibility and engagement.

Kit does not have this feature.

Kit Review: Email Marketing Automation

Here, I’ll review how Kit handles email automation. This means looking at how easy it is to use, how flexible it is, and the types of automated email options it offer.

I’ve divided this section into several chapters. Feel free to skip to the parts most relevant to your business.

Automation templates

Kit offers 27 pre-designed workflows. In the screenshot below, you can see three examples, including an option to start from scratch.

The second screenshot shows one of these pre-designed workflows. These are especially useful if you’re new to email automation because Kit not only provides the workflow but also designs the landing page and writes example email content. This gives you a clearer idea of how to sell, for example, your cookbook in this case. Most other email marketing tools don’t go this far in designing landing pages and writing email copy for you.

Starting an automation

To start an automated workflow, the first step is setting a trigger—an event that kicks off the automation. This could be a new subscriber joining your list, someone opening an email, clicking a link, making a purchase, or reaching a specific date. A variety of trigger options allows for more precise targeting, making your automation more relevant to your audience’s actions.

As shown in the screenshot below, Kit offers four ways to start an automation:

• When someone joins a form
• Based on tags
• When a custom field changes (e.g., changes to a specific value)
• When any purchase or a specific product purchase is made

The screenshot below shows the first step when building an automation. The key takeaway is that you need to decide on the trigger that will start your automation.

Aside from the “visual automation” you see above (labeled as number 1 in the screenshot below), which is what Kit calls it, there is also the “Rules” feature (labeled as number 2 in the screenshot below).

The Rules feature (see screenshot below) lets you automate actions like “when X happens, do Y.” For example, you can set a rule to add a tag when someone clicks a link. I believe this feature existed before the visual automation builder. However, there’s no rule action to add a subscriber to an automation (visual automation), which feels like a missed opportunity. Ideally, these two features should be better integrated, as they currently feel like separate tools rather than a seamless system.

Variety of triggers (quick rapid fire):

Trigger customization (quick rapid fire):

Integration with other tools (quick rapid fire):

Conditional logic & branching (quick rapid fire):

Final verdict

Kit’s automation capabilities are a mixed bag. While it offers a visual automation builder and a separate “Rules” feature, the lack of seamless integration makes the setup feel disjointed. It’s functional for basic sequences but lacks depth—missing pre-trigger conditions, external integrations, and advanced logic. This can be frustrating for those needing more control over their workflows. If you require sophisticated automation triggers, Kit might not be the best choice.

My rating: ⭐⭐ (Meh)

Automation actions

Once an automation is set up, the next step is adding actions—the building blocks that determine what happens to subscribers as they move through the workflow. Kit offers six core action types (see screenshot below).

Actions

Here’s a quick overview of the six different actions:

• Email Sequence – Adds a subscriber to an email sequence. They will only move forward in the automation after receiving the last email in the sequence. The screenshot below shows an example of how writing an email sequence works.

Delay – Pauses the subscriber at this step for a set period (minutes, hours, days, or weeks) before moving them forward.

Move Subscriber – Offers three options:

• Start Another Automation – Adds the subscriber to a different automation while keeping them in the current one.
• Exit This Automation – Removes the subscriber from the current automation.
• Remove from Another Automation – Takes them out of a selected automation while keeping them in this one.

Add or Remove Tag – Adds or removes a subscriber tag, helping with segmentation and tracking engagement.

Set Custom Field – Modifies a subscriber’s custom field value, useful for storing preferences, tracking engagement levels, or marking completion of a process.

Unsubscribe – Automatically removes a subscriber from the list, often used for cleaning up cold subscribers.

Conditions & Events

Kit includes conditions (decision-based paths) and events (trigger-based movements). Conditions allow automations to branch based on tags, custom fields, and engagement metrics, while events move subscribers forward based on actions like tag changes, purchases, or calendar dates.

Multi-Step Triggers vs. Multi-Condition Triggers

Kit supports multi-step triggers, meaning automations can have multiple independent starting points. This allows subscribers to enter an automation through different paths (e.g., after purchasing a product or being tagged).

However, Kit does not support multi-condition triggers, where an automation starts only if multiple conditions are met at the same time (e.g., a subscriber must have purchased a product and opened an email within the last 30 days). Without this, users may need workarounds or separate automations, making complex workflows harder to manage.

User Experience & Flexibility

While Kit offers solid automation actions, it lacks advanced features like true multi-condition triggers, direct third-party integrations, and built-in split testing. The platform is intuitive for basic and intermediate workflows but could use more sophisticated automation capabilities for advanced users.

Final verdict

Kit’s automation actions provide a strong foundation for email workflows, but advanced marketers may find them somewhat restrictive due to the lack of more complex automation logic.

My rating: ⭐⭐⭐ (It’s fine)

Organizing your automations

Kit offers a basic level of automation organization, but it lacks some of the advanced features found in top-tier email marketing platforms.

Currently, Kit provides sorting options (alphabetical, date-based) and a simple list/grid view toggle, which helps keep things visually manageable. However, there are no folders, tags, or categorization options, making it difficult to group related automations together. If you run a large number of workflows, finding specific automations could become cumbersome over time.

Each automation has a title displayed in the list, making it easy to identify workflows at a glance. However, without folders, tagging, or advanced filtering, keeping automations organized at scale is a challenge.

Final verdict

For users with a handful of automations, Kit’s existing tools will likely be enough. But for power users managing complex campaigns, the lack of organizational features is a noticeable gap. Adding folders, tagging, or color-coded categories would greatly enhance workflow management.

My rating: ⭐ (bad)

Kit Review: Landing Page Features

In this chapter, I review Kit’s landing page features, covering both templates and the landing page builder. My goal is to assess how well Kit enables users to design, customize, optimize, and publish landing pages within its platform.

I’ve divided this section into several chapters—feel free to skip.

Ease of Use

Kit offers a straightforward, beginner-friendly interface for creating landing pages. The drag-and-drop functionality is intuitive, and their help articles provide clear instructions, making it easy for you to get started. However, I couldn’t find a preview function for different devices (e.g., desktop vs. mobile), so you need to manually test responsiveness.

Template Variety & Design Quality

Kit provides a variety of templates for different use cases, including lead generation, product showcases, and event pages. The templates are modern, visually appealing, and optimized for both mobile and desktop. However, customization beyond basic elements is somewhat limited, and there isn’t much differentiation between templates. Also, as a long-time follower of Kit (previously ConvertKit), I’ve noticed that they don’t seem to add new templates frequently.

Customization & Design Flexibility

Kit offers solid customization options, allowing users to easily adjust fonts, colors, and layouts. It’s one of the most beginner-friendly landing page builders, making it a great choice for those who want an intuitive design experience without a steep learning curve. Users can upload custom fonts, add images and video elements, and use the Custom CSS option for more advanced styling. However, Kit does not support HTML modifications, limiting customization beyond the provided templates and CSS. Additionally, layout flexibility is somewhat restricted compared to dedicated landing page builders.

Responsiveness & Mobile Optimization

Kit’s landing pages automatically adjust to different screen sizes, ensuring a responsive experience for both desktop and mobile users. However, there are no explicit preview options for desktop and mobile views, nor a dedicated mobile editor for fine-tuning responsiveness.

Integration Capabilities

Kit’s landing pages integrate seamlessly with its main platform and can be easily embedded on external sites like WordPress. Users can also add tracking codes such as Facebook Pixel and integrate Google Analytics by entering their measurement ID in the SEO & Analytics tab.

Conversion & Marketing Tools

Kit includes useful built-in marketing tools like countdown timers and customizable thank-you pages. However, it lacks A/B testing for landing pages, limiting the ability to optimize conversion rates through experimentation. Additionally, reporting and analytics are restricted to a 90-day window, preventing users from analyzing long-term trends. Advanced lead capture options, such as multi-step forms or conditional logic, are also not available.

SEO Friendliness

Kit offers basic SEO features, allowing users to customize meta descriptions, titles, and URLs. While the built-in optimization tools are helpful, there’s no clear documentation on image or load speed optimization, nor any mention of advanced SEO features like schema markup or deeper indexing controls.

Publishing & Hosting

Kit makes publishing easy, offering both a default Kit subdomain (e.g., yourname.kit.page) and the option to connect a custom domain (e.g., yourwebsite.com or pages.yourwebsite.com). Custom domains are available even on the free plan, allowing users to maintain brand consistency without upgrading. SSL security is included by default on all landing pages. However, I couldn’t find details on hosting reliability or uptime guarantees, and Kit does not support advanced publishing options like AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages) or PWA (Progressive Web App) capabilities.

Pricing and Value for Money

Kit offers unlimited landing pages on all tiers, including the free plan, making it accessible for users at any level.

Customer Support & Documentation

Kit provides clear and user-friendly documentation covering the core elements needed for effective landing page creation.

Final verdict

Kit’s landing page builder is a great choice for beginners and small businesses due to its ease of use, intuitive drag-and-drop editor, and unlimited landing pages on all tiers, including free. The ability to use custom domains without upgrading adds to its accessibility.

Customization is solid, with support for fonts, images, CSS adjustments, and various templates, but no HTML editing and limited layout flexibility compared to other email tools or dedicated landing page builders.

While Kit includes SEO tools, WordPress and social media integrations, and built-in marketing features, power users may find its lack of A/B testing and restricted 90-day analytics limiting. It’s a fine option for basic use, but advanced marketers may need more flexibility.

My rating: ⭐⭐⭐ (It’s fine)

Kit Review: Opt-in Form Features

This review covers Kit’s opt-in form features, evaluating how well it helps users create, customize, and optimize sign-up forms for lead generation.

I’ve divided this section into several chapters—feel free to skip.

Opt-in Form Templates

Kit provides pre-designed opt-in form templates that are visually appealing, modern, and mobile-friendly. Depending on the selected form type (modal, slide-in, etc.), the number of available templates ranges from 9 to 1. This provides a solid range of choices, though customization options remain limited to pre-defined styles.

Opt-in Form Builder

While Kit’s form builder is easy to use, it does not offer full drag-and-drop functionality. Users can insert new blocks but cannot freely move elements like headers or fields within the form. The overall editing experience could be more intuitive, as moving elements around is restrictive.

Ebook delivery

Kit’s opt-in form features make it very easy to setup a freebie giveaway, which is where Kit stands out from other email marketing tools. It offers a simple, user-friendly process where you can customize the confirmation email for each sign-up form and directly upload your PDF or other giveaway files. It’s surprising that not all email marketing tools make this process so seamless.

Popup, Targeting & Triggering Options

Kit supports various opt-in form types, including inline, modal (pop-ups), slide-ins, and sticky bars. Users can also set up exit-intent and welcome pop-ups via modal forms. Forms can be embedded into external sites, including WordPress, using JavaScript or HTML.

Additionally, Kit includes basic behavioral triggers such as exit-intent, time delays, and scroll percentage.

Single & Double Opt-in, Confirmation & Follow-up Customization

Kit supports both single and double opt-in processes, with double opt-in managed via the incentive email. Users can customize confirmation emails for each opt-in form, set custom success messages, or redirect subscribers to landing pages.

However, automation triggers cannot be set up directly within the form creation process. While automation is supported, users must manually configure it in Kit’s automation section rather than linking it directly to the form setup.

Form Customization & Branding

Kit allows customization of colors, fonts, button styles, and layouts. Advanced CSS customization is available. However, free users must display Kit branding, as removal is only available on paid plans.

Input Fields & Lead Capture

Kit enables users to add multiple custom fields, dropdowns, and checkboxes. However, there is no support for conditional logic or progressive profiling.

Handling of Existing Subscribers

Kit allows basic customization of responses for existing subscribers, such as continuing to show the form, hiding it, or displaying a custom message. However, this only applies to the specific form the subscriber interacted with and relies on browser cookies. There are no advanced options for handling existing subscribers, such as triggering automations or applying tags upon re-submission.

Conversion Tracking & A/B Testing

Kit provides analytics for tracking impressions, conversions, and form submissions. However, data is only available for the past 90 days, and there is no way to set a custom date range. Additionally, Kit does not offer built-in A/B testing or heatmap analytics.

Final verdict

Kit provides a solid opt-in form builder with a good selection of templates, multiple form types, and essential automation features. The ability to upload freebies directly is a major plus, and the platform is user-friendly for beginners. However, limitations in customization, targeting, and automation flexibility prevent it from being a top-tier solution for power users. The lack of A/B testing, advanced subscriber handling, and detailed analytics makes it less suitable for businesses needing in-depth optimization. Overall, Kit is a great choice for those who want an easy-to-use opt-in form system but may not meet the needs of advanced marketers.

My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4/5) (Good)

Kit Review: Ecommerce Features

Kit (formerly ConvertKit) positions itself primarily as a powerful email marketing tool designed for creators, bloggers, and digital product sellers rather than full-scale ecommerce businesses. If you’re running a comprehensive ecommerce operation with hundreds or thousands of products, complex automations, advanced personalization like dynamic product recommendations, and unique coupon-code integrations, Kit won’t be the ideal solution.

While Kit does offer basic integrations with ecommerce platforms like Shopify and WooCommerce, allowing you to set up straightforward automations like a simple purchase confirmations it lacks the deeper ecommerce-specific features found in dedicated ecommerce email marketing platforms. Advanced functionalities such as dynamic product recommendations, sophisticated abandoned cart recovery sequences, automated replenishment reminders, and unique per-customer discount code generation are absent or very limited.

Final verdict

If ecommerce is your primary focus with extensive product catalogs and sophisticated marketing automation needs, other dedicated ecommerce-focused email marketing platforms would be better suited. For simpler ecommerce scenarios involving digital products or online courses, Kit is perfectly capable.

My rating: ⭐ (Bad)

Kit Review: Kit’s extra tools for creators

In this chapter, I’ll briefly review the three features Kit offers to its users: Creator Network, Sponsor Network, and Paid Recommendations.

Creator Network

The idea behind Kit’s Creator Network: “Find creators you want to work with, cross-promote your content, and grow your business. Leverage the power of creators and help each other grow.”

How it works

Someone subscribes to your newsletter through your opt-in form. If you choose to recommend other newsletters/creators, your new subscriber will see a screen similar to the one below:

The newsletters you promote will see a dashboard like this (see below) in their Kit account, where they can track which creators or newsletters are promoting them the most.

Will this benefit you?
Whether this feature benefits you depends on your audience. According to Kit’s website, they categorize creators into the following groups:

• Arts & Crafts
• Business & Entrepreneurship
• Food & Drink
• Health & Wellness
• Parenting & Relationships
• Personal Development
• Podcasters
• YouTubers

You can explore these groups by clicking on the one most relevant to your newsletter idea. If there are similar newsletters in your category, this feature could be a valuable way to cross-promote and grow your audience. However, if no overlapping groups or creators exist, the Creator Network may not be useful for you.

If there are many creators targeting the same audience as you, this feature could be especially interesting! Check out the Creator Network’s separate website for more information.

Paid Recommendations

Paid Recommendations is similar to the Creator Network, but instead of cross-promoting each other, you can promote newsletters that are willing to pay you per subscriber earned.

In the screenshot below, you can see an example where various newsletters want to pay you for sending them subscribers.

However, the real opportunity isn’t in recommending other newsletters—it’s in getting other newsletters to recommend you. If you believe you have a profitable newsletter and all you need is more subscribers, this can be a great way to grow your audience by paying others to promote you.

An integration with Sparkloop
In mid-2023, Kit acquired Sparkloop, a company that specializes in referral marketing tools for newsletter growth.

Although Sparkloop remains an independent tool that can be used with other email marketing platforms (see the full list here), there are some advantages to choosing Kit if you plan on using Sparkloop’s features.

The main benefit is Kit’s native recommendations widget, powered by Sparkloop. This means you can set up recommendations directly within Kit without needing to create a separate Sparkloop account.

Additionally, if you’re on Kit’s Creator Pro plan, you get access to Sparkloop’s Referral Program feature for free—something that would normally cost most users $2,000 per year.

Learn more about Sparkloop’s features and pricing here.

Sponsor Network

You can apply for Kit’s Sponsor Network if you meet the following criteria:

• You’re a Kit subscriber
• You have at least 10,000 email subscribers
• You publish consistently (at least once a week)

The concept is simple: Kit finds and places sponsorships in your newsletter so you don’t have to worry about finding brands, negotiating deals, sending invoices, or writing ad copy. Keep in mind that Kit takes a 23.5% cut of total sponsorship revenue.

How much can you earn?
Your earnings depend on factors like your audience, number of subscribers, open rate, and click rate on sponsor ads.

To estimate your potential sponsorship earnings, use this formula:

(Subscriber count × Open rate) ÷ 1,000 × $45 (high-end) or $25 (low-end)

For example:

• If you have 30,000 subscribers with a 35% open rate, your estimated earnings would be:
  • $470 per sponsorship insertion
  • Around $24,000 per year

However, this does not include fees and processing costs.

Pros of Kit’s Sponsor Network

• You don’t have to find sponsors—Kit does it for you.
• It’s a great way to test sponsorships in your newsletter without upfront effort.

Downsides to consider

• Kit takes a 23.5% cut of your sponsorship revenue.
• Fixed pricing:
  • High-end: $45 CPM
  • Low-end: $25 CPM
• Exclusive rights—you cannot sell other sponsor spots in your newsletter outside of Kit’s Sponsor Network.

For more details, visit the Sponsor Network page.

Kit’s history

Kit was founded in January 2013 by Nathan Barry. Two years later, its monthly recurring revenue was around $5,000. Then, somewhere between the second and third quarters of 2015, something changed—the revenue jumped to $42,000 per month, and from that moment on, it kept climbing.

By October 2020, Kit’s monthly recurring revenue had surpassed $2,000,000.

Kit’s growth thanks to an influencer

The turning point in 2015 was largely due to Pat Flynn of SmartPassiveIncome.com. He became an early adopter and affiliate of Kit, promoting it to his massive audience in the online business and email marketing space. His followers trusted his advice: start an email list, grow it, and use Kit. Pat Flynn’s influence in this niche played a crucial role in the company’s rapid growth.

He created multiple pieces of content about Kit’s product and story. On October 19, 2015, he published a blog post explaining why he switched from AWeber to Infusionsoft and then to Kit.

On October 29, 2015, Pat Flynn released a podcast episode featuring Kit’s founder, Nathan Barry, who shared the story behind Kit and the problems it aimed to solve for creators.

From that point on, Pat Flynn became a relentless advocate for Kit, bringing in countless new customers.

This is a great example of influencer marketing done right. Of course, if Kit hadn’t delivered on its promises, it wouldn’t have grown as it did. Credit goes to Nathan Barry and his team for building a product that lived up to expectations. But without Pat Flynn’s early endorsement and massive audience, who knows what would have happened to Kit? It’s a powerful lesson in how crucial influencer marketing can be—especially for bootstrapped companies like Kit that grow without major investor backing.

Nathan Barry, Kit’s founder and CEO, has set an ambitious goal: to build Kit into a billion-dollar company.

The post Kit (Formely ConvertKit) Review appeared first on Creatoregg.com.

I’m currently working on a paid email marketing course that will have different versions tailored to specific audiences. For example, there will be versions for creators like book publishers (similar to my online dog training business), podcasters, streamers, and more. Since many of my YouTube followers are in service-based businesses like real estate or professional services, I’ll also create versions designed for their needs.

The course will demonstrate email marketing tactics using tools customized for each audience. It’s still in development, but if you’re interested, email info@creatoregg.com to join the beta launch at a discounted price when it’s ready.

This step-by-step course will teach you everything you need to know to get set up, and you’ll have lifetime access. Plus, I’ll provide direct support for six months after you join—no assistants, just me (Robbin). I’m here to help with anything you need!

The post Courses appeared first on Creatoregg.com.

This 10,000+ word comparison between ActiveCampaign and Mailchimp highlights the key differences between the two platforms. Here’s the 1-minute version:

Comparing ActiveCampaign to Mailchimp is like comparing apples to oranges—except the apple (Mailchimp) might leave you wanting more. While Mailchimp is user-friendly and straightforward, its simplicity can be limiting, especially if you’re seeking advanced features or customization. ActiveCampaign, on the other hand, is the orange—more complex, versatile, and designed for users who want to elevate their marketing strategies.

Of course, this is just a quick, high-level overview. I recommend skimming through the detailed chapters to see which platform aligns best with your business needs, or whether either is the right choice at all.

ActiveCampaign vs Mailchimp: Free plan

This one’s straightforward—ActiveCampaign does not offer a forever free plan. It provides a 14-day free trial, but after that, you’ll need to upgrade. However, if you need more time, you can contact their support team to extend the trial, which I’ve personally done multiple times without issue.

As for Mailchimp, while it does have a free plan, it’s not the best. The most notable limitations are a maximum of 500 subscribers and 1,000 emails per month, meaning you can only send two emails per subscriber. In contrast, most paid email marketing tools offer at least a 10x multiplier, allowing you to send far more emails. Additionally, Mailchimp’s free plan lacks automation features, and you can’t remove Mailchimp’s branding from your emails.

ActiveCampaign vs Mailchimp: Pricing

In this section, I’ll break down the pricing structures of both ActiveCampaign and Mailchimp, highlighting their different plans and tiers. We’ll look at the cost of entry-level plans as well as more advanced tiers.

Different plans

Mailchimp

• Free Plan (Forever Free)
• Essentials (starting from $13/month for 500 subscribers)
• Standard (starting from $20/month for 500 subscribers)
• Premium (starting from $350/month for 500 subscribers)

ActiveCampaign

• 14-day free trial
• Starter (starting from $15/month for 1,000 subscribers)
• Plus (starting from $49/month for 1,000 subscribers)
• Pro (starting from $79/month for 1,000 subscribers)
• Enterprise (starting from $145/month for 1,000 subscribers)

ActiveCampaign also offers the following add-ons:

• Available add-ons for the Starter tier: Transactional email
• Available add-ons for Plus, Pro, and Enterprise tiers: Enhanced CRM, Pipelines, Sales, Transactional email, SMS

Discounts

Annual payment discounts

ActiveCampaign offers a 20% discount when you choose an annual plan. Mailchimp, however, does not provide an option for annual billing.

Non-profit discounts

ActiveCampaign provides a 20% discount on both monthly and annual plans for non-profits. You don’t need to subscribe to a yearly plan to qualify. To apply, simply send proof of your non-profit status to sales@activecampaign.com.

Mailchimp offers a 15% discount to non-profits and charities, which can be applied by contacting their billing team after signing up for a free plan. Additionally, Mailchimp provides a 10% discount for one month if you enable two-factor authentication.

Special discounts

Some email marketing platforms offer special discounts during events like Black Friday or Cyber Monday. However, neither Mailchimp nor ActiveCampaign are known to run promotions during these holidays, so it’s unlikely they will offer such discounts.

Entry-level tier price comparison

In this section of my review, I’ll focus specifically on comparing the entry-level pricing for both platforms. Mailchimp’s Essentials plan starts at $13 per month for 500 subscribers, while ActiveCampaign’s Starter plan begins at $15 per month for 1,000 subscribers.

In the graph below, I’ve included the prices for both Mailchimp Essentials and ActiveCampaign Starter plans at different subscriber levels: 1,000, 5,000, 10,000, 20,000, and 50,000.

Do Mailchimp and ActiveCampaign offer discounts?

ActiveCampaign offers a 20% discount when you opt for an annual plan. Mailchimp, however, does not provide an option for annual billing. Important: ActiveCampaign’s 20% discount is already included in the prices shown in the graph above. Therefore, if you choose not to go with the annual plan, as indicated on their pricing page, the prices will be higher than what’s displayed above.

Why doesn’t the graph show ActiveCampaign (blue bars) prices for 20,000 and 50,000 subscribers?

ActiveCampaign’s Starter plan caps at 10,000 subscribers, so to manage more than this, you would need to upgrade to a higher-tier plan. On the other hand, Mailchimp’s Essentials plan covers up to 50,000 subscribers, as indicated in the graph, with Mailchimp charging $230/month for 20,000 subscribers and $385/month for 50,000 subscribers.

Why go with ActiveCampaign starter since it seems more expensive?

When you select ActiveCampaign, it’s because of its wide range of features that can support your business growth. Setting up any new email marketing tool takes time, so it’s important to choose one you can grow with. Switching platforms after a year or two is time-consuming, so it’s better to pick a tool that can scale with your needs.

If you anticipate your business growing to a point where you’ll need the features of ActiveCampaign’s Plus or Pro plans in the future, the Starter plan is a great way to get started. But, if you don’t see yourself needing those advanced features or CRM capabilities, there’s no reason to choose ActiveCampaign. There are other email tools available that offer basic email marketing functionalities at a lower cost. I recommend watching the video below, where I compare the most popular email marketing tools.

Mid-level & Advanced-tier price comparison

In this section of my review, I’ll focus on comparing the pricing for mid-level and advanced-tier plans across both platforms.

The graph below shows the prices for Mailchimp Standard (blue bars), ActiveCampaign Plus (red bars), ActiveCampaign Plus + CRM (yellow bars), ActiveCampaign Pro (green bars), and ActiveCampaign Pro + CRM (orange bars) at different subscriber levels: 1,000, 5,000, 10,000, 20,000, and 50,000.

This breakdown illustrates how pricing scales as your contact list grows, highlighting the cost differences between standard email marketing plans and those that include CRM features. Keep in mind that Mailchimp does not offer CRM functionality.

Do Mailchimp and ActiveCampaign offer discounts?

ActiveCampaign offers a 20% discount when you opt for an annual plan. Mailchimp, however, does not provide an option for annual billing. Important: ActiveCampaign’s 20% discount is already included in the prices shown in the graph above. Therefore, if you choose not to go with the annual plan, as indicated on their pricing page, the prices will be higher than what’s displayed above.

Why isn’t Mailchimp Premium included in this graph?

I didn’t include Mailchimp Premium because the main difference between the Standard and Premium tiers is the contact limit. Mailchimp Standard caps at 100,000 contacts, and you must upgrade to Premium if you exceed that. Since this graph focuses on plans for up to 50,000 contacts, including Premium would have been unnecessary and only added clutter to the graph.

What’s the difference between ActiveCampaign Plus and ActiveCampaign Pro?

From my perspective, the main reason to choose the Pro plan over the Plus plan is likely the size of your team. If it’s just you and maybe one other person, the Plus tier should be sufficient. However, if you have a larger team and need to give multiple people access to ActiveCampaign’s marketing and/or CRM features, the Pro plan might be more cost-effective. The Pro plan includes 3 users by default, which is ideal for you (the account owner), one of your sales reps, and perhaps a marketing employee. While you can add unlimited additional users to the Plus plan, the Pro plan is more budget-friendly for teams needing multiple accounts, compared to adding extra users to the Plus tier.

Additionally, the Pro tier offers features that the Plus plan doesn’t, such as the ability to A/B test automations with various options, which can be a significant advantage. You can check out ActiveCampaign’s pricing page to see all the detailed differences between the Plus and Pro tiers.

In my ActiveCampaign tutorial on YouTube, I showcase multiple case studies using this A/B testing feature.

What does CRM mean in this graph?

ActiveCampaign offers 4 different tiers (Starter, Plus, Pro, and Enterprise), but in addition to these tiers, it also provides optional add-ons. Two CRM add-ons are the Pipeline (available on Plus and up) and Sales Engagement (available on Plus and up) add-ons. These can be purchased separately, and they are priced individually. However, in the prices shown in my graph, when it states “+ CRM,” it means that both the Pipeline and Sales Engagement add-ons are included in that tier.

Although ActiveCampaign’s native features (without add-ons) are solid, many users—including possibly you—are considering ActiveCampaign for its CRM (pipeline and sales) features.

It’s important to highlight the price differences between ActiveCampaign with and without these CRM add-ons, so you can see the cost increase when adding these functionalities.

In the screenshot below, you can see how this works on ActiveCampaign’s pricing page. You can choose to add the Pipeline feature alone, or bundle it with the Sales Engagement feature for a more comprehensive solution. This bundling drives the higher price points for ActiveCampaign’s CRM options. For more details about its CRM features, see my YouTube video below.

What’s the difference between Mailchimp Standard and ActiveCampaign Plus or Pro?

It would be great to provide a simple answer, but it’s not that straightforward. Both Mailchimp and ActiveCampaign offer a long list of features, and I’ve tested and compared most of them in this review. In this comprehensive 10,000+ word ActiveCampaign vs. Mailchimp comparison, I dive deep into every feature and aspect of both platforms. I encourage you to skip to the sections most relevant to your business and explore the differences between Mailchimp and ActiveCampaign for yourself.

Cancellation process

Both ActiveCampaign and Mailchimp allow you to easily cancel your subscription with them, so no need to worry about a cumbersome cancellation process.

Refunds

Both Mailchimp and ActiveCampaign don’t provide refunds.

The number of contacts (subscribed vs unsubscribed)

Some email tools count unsubscribed contacts toward your total contact count, which is far from ideal—you end up paying for contacts that are no longer subscribed to your mailing list.

ActiveCampaign doesn’t do this; only active, subscribed contacts count against your limit.

Mailchimp, on the other hand, charges you for unsubscribed contacts. So, if 500 people unsubscribe from your email list, you’ll still pay for those email addresses—even though you can’t send them newsletters anymore. Mailchimp justifies this by stating that you can still market to these contacts through remarketing campaigns and physical postcards (a feature where Mailchimp allows you to send real postcards).

You can avoid paying for unsubscribed contacts by archiving them, but this must be done manually, and it also means losing any data associated with those contacts.

Email credits

If you send newsletters infrequently, using email credits could be a more cost-effective option. Email credits are basically pre-purchased units that allow you to send a certain number of emails without committing to a monthly subscription. This way, you only pay for what you use, making it ideal for businesses who don’t need to send emails regularly.

ActiveCampaign

ActiveCampaign does not offer email credits.

Mailchimp

Mailchimp offers email credits, and the table below shows their pricing.

However, there are a few important details to keep in mind before purchasing email credits:

• Credits expire after 12 months.
• Mailchimp’s Pay As You Go plan includes the same features as the Essentials plan.
• The minimum purchase is 5,000 credits for $200.
• The Pay As You Go plan only becomes financially attractive when you buy credits in larger quantities. For instance, the largest available plan offers 25 million credits for $13,000, which equals $0.0005 per credit (or email). In comparison, if you purchase 5,000 credits for $200, you’ll pay $0.0400 per credit (or email).

See the table below for a detailed price breakdown of email credits. The first column shows the number of email credits, the second column lists the total price, and the third column indicates the cost per email credit.

ActiveCampaign vs Mailchimp: Newsletter Features

In this section, I’ll compare the newsletter features of ActiveCampaign and Mailchimp. Don’t get confused: this section of my review focuses on what I call newsletter features and not on email automation features. Automation is what I discuss in a separate section of this review because it’s a more complex functionality aimed at triggering emails based on specific user actions or behaviors. An example of a newsletter feature is the ability to create and send one-off email campaigns to your subscriber list. And an example of an automation feature would be setting up a welcome email series that gets sent automatically when someone subscribes.

Maximum monthly emails

How many emails can you send per month with ActiveCampaign and Mailchimp? Technically, both platforms allow for unlimited email sends, but your plan’s subscriber limit will affect this. As shown in the table below, each plan has a multiplier that determines your email-sending capacity.

For example, the “10X” rule means you can send up to 10 times your subscriber/contact limit. So, if you’re on a plan with 1,000 subscribers, you can send 10,000 emails per month. If you need to send more, you’ll either need to upgrade to a higher subscriber plan or purchase additional email credits.

ActiveCampaign’s Policy Details for Exceeding Limits

If you’re on the Plus plan with 5,000 subscribers, you can send 50,000 emails per month for $179. If you need extra emails, it’s easy to purchase additional sends:

• 5,000 extra emails costs $5.
• 10,000 extra emails costs $10.
• You can buy up to 1,000,000 additional emails for $800.

The more emails you buy, the cheaper the cost per email becomes.

It’s worth noting that, unlike Mailchimp, ActiveCampaign does not automatically upgrade your account or charge you for sending extra emails. If you reach your email-sending limit, you must manually increase the limit yourself. Otherwise, your account will stop sending emails until you adjust the plan.

Mailchimp’s Policy for Exceeding Limits

Mailchimp automatically charges “overages” when you exceed your subscriber or email-sending limit, without notifying you beforehand or requiring your approval for the extra charges. For instance, if you’re on Mailchimp’s Standard plan at the 5,000 subscriber tier, which costs $100 per month, you’re allowed to send up to 60,000 emails monthly. If you exceed that limit and send 65,000 emails in a given month, Mailchimp will automatically charge you for the additional 5,000 emails, which will cost an extra $25.50 on your next bill.

Mailchimp explains the details on their website, where you can find a table that breaks down overage charges. If you have 5,000 contacts, you fall into the “up to 10,000 contacts” category. The overage charge covers an additional 12,000 emails and 1,000 extra contacts. For example, if you send 13,000 extra emails (totaling 73,000 emails in that month), you will be charged twice for the overage block of $25.50. This brings your total monthly cost to $151 ($100 base fee + $51 for overages).

It’s important to note that the next tier in the Mailchimp Standard plan costs $135 per month and allows up to 10,000 contacts. This tier also allows you to send up to 12 times your contact limit, or 120,000 emails per month, which is much more than the 73,000 emails you were sending. In other words, upgrading to the higher tier would be more cost-effective. However, Mailchimp doesn’t upgrade your plan automatically; instead, they charge you for overage blocks, which can add up quickly if you’re not monitoring your usage.

Winner

In my opinion, ActiveCampaign comes out ahead here. Let me explain why. I’m not a fan of Mailchimp’s policy for two main reasons:

1. Automatic Charges Without Notification: Mailchimp automatically charges you for overages without notifying you, and there’s no option to enable automatic upgrades. Some users might prefer an automatic upgrade to prevent email sending from stopping, but Mailchimp doesn’t offer that flexibility.
2. Higher Costs for Add-on Blocks: In some cases, like the example I gave earlier, using Mailchimp’s add-on overage blocks can be more expensive than simply upgrading to a higher tier. What makes it worse is that these add-on blocks offer fewer contacts and emails than what you’d get with an upgraded plan, which doesn’t make much sense.

For these reasons, ActiveCampaign’s approach feels more transparent and cost-effective.

Maximum subscribers

In the table below, you’ll see a comparison of Mailchimp and ActiveCampaign’s plans based on the maximum number of subscribers they support:

Mailchimp: Subscriber limits increase gradually across tiers. The Free plan supports up to 500 subscribers, while paid plans range from 50,000 subscribers (Essentials) to 100,000 (Standard). The Premium tier offers more flexibility, accommodating over 250,000 subscribers, though prices for this tier are not publicly listed beyond that number.

ActiveCampaign: The only tier with a subscriber limit is the Starter plan, capped at 10,000 subscribers. Higher tiers have no set limits, but pricing for accounts with over 50,000 subscribers is not publicly available. For those cases, you’ll need to contact support for a custom pricing plan.

Email builder

The first step in sending a newsletter is writing or designing the content you want to share. This involves crafting compelling copy, selecting relevant images, and formatting the layout to match your brand’s style. In this section, I will compare how ActiveCampaign and Mailchimp handle the initial steps of creating a newsletter. What options do they provide?

Mailchimp

When creating a newsletter with Mailchimp, you have four options:

1. Start from scratch.
2. Use a basic newsletter layout.
3. Choose from one of its 137 fully designed templates.
4. Code your own newsletter using HTML.

It’s important to note that all tiers have access to the “start from scratch” and “basic layout” options. However, access to the 137 fully designed templates is available only with the Essentials plan or higher, and the ability to code your own template with HTML is exclusive to the Standard plan.

In addition to these options, Mailchimp offers a brand kit tool. By entering your website URL, the tool automatically extracts your logo, colors, and fonts to create a matching design theme for your email campaigns, helping ensure brand consistency with minimal effort. While the tool works well overall, it’s not entirely flawless— for instance, the call to action button it generated didn’t match the style of the one on my homepage. However, the logo, fonts, and colors were correctly applied.

ActiveCampaign

Similar to Mailchimp, ActiveCampaign offers several options when creating a newsletter. You can:

1. Start from scratch.
2. Use one of its 20+ basic templates.
3. Choose from over 250 pre-designed templates.
4. Code your own newsletter using HTML.

All of ActiveCampaign’s tiers provide access to these features.

ActiveCampaign also has a tool similar to Mailchimp’s, where you can enter your website’s URL, and it will automatically detect your logo, colors, and fonts. In my case, the tool didn’t identify the correct font, but I was able to adjust it manually. Once your brand kit is set up, it automatically generates email templates using your brand’s colors, fonts, and logo.

Email Editor

Both tools offer ways to structure your newsletter, referred to as “structures” in ActiveCampaign and “layouts” in Mailchimp. These are essentially blocks that you can add to your newsletter, allowing you to create two, three, four, or more columns, depending on the design you want. Both ActiveCampaign’s and Mailchimp’s features work well for this purpose.

Newsletter design elements

Both platforms offer plenty of design templates, though I question how many people actually use them. In my experience, and from working with clients on email marketing, most prefer to design their own email templates rather than use a pre-existing one.

Aside from the design templates, Mailchimp offers a feature called Creative Assistant, which is a pretty cool tool. In the video below, at the 1:51 timestamp, you can see the Creative Assistant in action. It’s essentially a tool that helps you design elements like banners for your newsletter, giving a professional look.

ActiveCampaign doesn’t have a feature like Mailchimp’s Creative Assistant.

Google Analytics link tracking

Some email tools do not offer the feature to automatically add UTM parameters to your website links, which can be problematic since it costs time to add those parameters manually, and it’s prone to errors.

ActiveCampaign

ActiveCampaign, however, simplifies this process by offering a built-in feature to automatically add UTM parameters to your email links. With ActiveCampaign, it’s as easy as checking a checkbox (see screenshot below).

Mailchimp

Mailchimp, on the other hand, is not as straightforward. To use UTM parameters in Mailchimp, you need to enable the Mailchimp-Google Analytics integration, which requires you to grant Mailchimp access to several aspects of your Google account, including:

• Your contacts (view and download)
• Google Drive files (view, edit, create, and delete specific files used with Mailchimp)
• Google Sheets (view all spreadsheets)
• Google Analytics data

While this integration allows you to view Google Analytics data directly within Mailchimp, the level of access it requires might be concerning. To be honest, these permissions seem unnecessary just for adding UTM parameters to email links.

If you’re comfortable sharing this data with Mailchimp, the integration can be useful. However, if you’re not keen on granting access to your Google contacts and other data, you won’t be able to enable this feature for site tracking, from my understanding.

Email scheduling

In this section, we’ll explore the email scheduling features of both Mailchimp and ActiveCampaign, focusing specifically on regular campaigns and newsletters. Please note that this section of the review does not cover email scheduling for automation workflows. For details on automated email scheduling, refer to the Email Automation section of this review.

Mailchimp

Mailchimp’s free plan does not include email scheduling, but all paid plans offer this feature. Starting with the Essentials plan, you can schedule your emails. Additionally, Mailchimp offers a feature called Send Time Optimization, available with the Standard plan and higher, which helps you send emails at the best times based on your audience’s engagement patterns.

Another useful feature, available on the Standard plan and above, is Timewarp. Timewarp allows you to send emails at a specific time based on your subscribers’ local time zones. For example, if you want everyone on your list to receive an email at exactly 10 a.m. in their respective time zones, you can use Timewarp to make that happen.

ActiveCampaign

ActiveCampaign also allows for email scheduling, though its features aren’t as advanced as Mailchimp’s in this regard. For instance, ActiveCampaign lacks a “Timewarp” feature like Mailchimp, which enables you to send emails at a specific time based on each subscriber’s time zone. Instead, ActiveCampaign offers standard scheduling without the automatic adjustment for time zone differences.

While ActiveCampaign does provide a similar time zone feature within its automated workflow tools, it’s important to note that this section of my review focuses on regular newsletters, not email automation. Therefore, for straightforward newsletter scheduling, ActiveCampaign falls slightly behind Mailchimp in terms of time zone customization.

Winner

Mailchimp offers more advanced scheduling options compared to ActiveCampaign, particularly with features like Timewarp and Send Time Optimization, which allow for precise delivery based on time zones and engagement patterns. These features make it easier to reach your audience at the optimal times, enhancing engagement and effectiveness. In contrast, ActiveCampaign’s standard scheduling, while functional, lacks these advanced capabilities, making Mailchimp the winner in terms of flexibility and precision for scheduling regular email campaigns and newsletters.

Email lists

ActiveCampaign and Mailchimp approach email lists quite differently.

First, while not a major distinction, it’s worth noting that ActiveCampaign refers to them as “lists,” whereas Mailchimp uses the term “audiences.”

In ActiveCampaign, lists are often used to segment subscribers. For example, users might create different lists for subscribers from different signup forms. In contrast, Mailchimp advises against creating multiple audiences for different forms because its audience structure serves a different purpose (more on that shortly).

Another key difference is in how duplicate subscribers are handled. Mailchimp will charge you twice for the same contact if they exist in multiple audiences, while ActiveCampaign does not impose double charges for duplicates across lists.

Mailchimp Audiences Explained in More Detail

Mailchimp recommends maintaining a single primary audience and using tags, groups, and segments to organize and target your contacts. Unlike ActiveCampaign, where users often create separate email lists to segment subscribers, Mailchimp advises against creating multiple audiences for segmentation.

One key reason for this is that separate audiences in Mailchimp function independently. They don’t share contact data or campaign statistics. Additionally, if the same contact appears in two different audiences, you’ll be charged for that contact twice, even though it’s the same email address. In contrast, ActiveCampaign’s lists do share contact data, campaign statistics, and more, avoiding duplicate charges for the same contact across multiple lists.

Mailchimp only recommends using separate audiences in specific cases, such as when you have distinct groups like wholesale and retail customers. In such cases, the emails sent to each group will likely be entirely different. Another situation where separate audiences might be appropriate is when you use Mailchimp for both internal (employee) and external (customer) communication.

However, for most users, it’s best to stick to a single audience and use tags and groups to segment contacts within that audience.

Segmenting your contacts using ActiveCampaign’s Lists

One powerful feature of ActiveCampaign’s list management is the ability to offer multiple unsubscribe options within your emails. This gives your audience more control over the types of communication they receive from you before they choose to completely unsubscribe due to disinterest in a particular email.

For instance, if you’re in the software industry, you might have a list dedicated to new product updates. You could also maintain a separate list for subscribers interested in general industry tips and tricks that aren’t directly related to your core product. With ActiveCampaign, you can allow subscribers to choose whether they want to unsubscribe from just one list while staying subscribed to the other. This way, they can opt out of content that’s less relevant to them without completely severing ties with your brand. Of course, they also have the option to unsubscribe from all lists if they no longer wish to hear from you at all.

To implement this, you could include two unsubscribe links in your email footer. For example, if the email is focused on productivity tips, you can add the following:

• Click here to unsubscribe from emails related to productivity tips and tricks.
  This link allows users to stop receiving content only related to productivity.
• Click here to unsubscribe from ALL emails.
  This link will remove them from all lists and stop all communications.

This functionality is something that sets ActiveCampaign apart, as Mailchimp doesn’t offer the same flexibility in managing unsubscribe preferences.

Remove branding

Many email marketing tools that offer a free plan add their logo or branding to the bottom of the newsletters if you don’t upgrade to a paid plan. This branding often appears as a small banner or text, promoting their service, and it can make your emails look less professional. To remove it, most platforms require you to switch to a premium subscription.

Mailchimp

In Mailchimp, the free plan does not allow you to remove its branding from newsletters and landing pages. To remove it, you must upgrade to a paid plan. All paid plans allow you to remove it.

ActiveCampaign

ActiveCampaign does not include its logo at the bottom of newsletters, so any plan you choose will allow you to send newsletters without ActiveCampaign branding.

However, their logo does appear on forms and landing pages with the Starter plan, and this branding is not removable at that tier. To remove the logo from forms and landing pages, you’ll need to upgrade to the Plus plan or higher.

A/B testing

In email marketing, there’s A/B testing in newsletters and A/B testing in email automation. In this section, I focus on A/B testing in regular newsletter campaigns, which, for example, involves sending two variations of the same email to different segments of your audience. This allows you to test different elements, such as subject lines, email content, images, or CTAs, to determine which version performs better. The goal might be to optimize open rates, click-through rates, and overall engagement by identifying the most effective approach for your audience before sending the final version to your entire subscriber list.

Mailchimp

Mailchimp offers a user-friendly way to A/B test your email newsletter campaigns. As shown in the screenshot below, you can experiment with four variables: subject line, sender name, email content, and send time.

Keep in mind that standard A/B testing is available with the Essentials plan or higher, while Multivariate Testing is exclusive to the Standard plan or above.

In the screenshot below, you’ll see an example of a multivariate A/B test within Mailchimp.

Mailchimp also allows you to automatically select a winning version based on open rate, click rate, or total revenue, or you can manually choose the winner (refer to the screenshot below).

ActiveCampaign

ActiveCampaign also enables A/B testing for your newsletter campaigns, allowing you to test subject lines, sender names, and email content. However, it does not support A/B testing for send times. Additionally, if you want ActiveCampaign to automatically select a winner, you can only do so based on open rate and click rate—there is no option to choose a winner based on revenue.

Winner

Considering the A/B testing functionalities offered by both Mailchimp and ActiveCampaign for regular newsletter campaigns, I feel that Mailchimp provides a more comprehensive solution. With its ability to test additional variables, such as send time, and the option to select a winner based on revenue, Mailchimp offers greater flexibility and insights for optimizing email performance.

Timezone-Specific Sending

If you have a global audience and want your weekly newsletter to reach everyone precisely at 8 a.m. on Monday in their local time, you’ll need a feature that allows sending emails based on each subscriber’s timezone. This feature estimates the timezone based on the subscriber’s IP address at the time of sign-up, so it’s not always perfect. If an IP address wasn’t recorded or if a subscriber changes timezones, the delivery time may no longer align precisely.

Mailchimp

Mailchimp offers a feature called Timewarp, which allows you to send emails based on each subscriber’s local timezone. This feature is available for users on the Standard plan and higher.

ActiveCampaign

ActiveCampaign does not offer timezone-based sending for regular newsletter campaigns. However, this feature is available within automations (see screenshot below), allowing you to achieve a similar effect by adding subscribers to an automation workflow. Note that this feature is included in all of ActiveCampaign’s paid plans.

Winner

Since ActiveCampaign doesn’t offer a timezone-based sending feature for regular campaigns, Mailchimp takes the lead with its Timewarp feature. This tool allows users to schedule emails based on each subscriber’s local timezone, making it easier to reach audiences worldwide at the ideal time.

Newsletter Blocks

Newsletter blocks can include a variety of elements such as text, images, buttons, dividers, and more. Some email marketing tools provide an extensive range of these blocks, allowing for greater customization and design flexibility, while others offer a more limited selection that may constrain design options. In this section, I’ll compare the block features available in Mailchimp and ActiveCampaign, focusing on the variety, customization options, and overall functionality each platform provides. This comparison aims to reveal which tool offers more flexibility and creative control for crafting visually engaging and effective emails.

ActiveCampaign

The image below highlights the various blocks available in ActiveCampaign for building your newsletter. While some blocks, like text and image blocks, are standard features across most email tools, others—such as the timer block—are less common. The timer block is particularly useful, as it allows you to display a custom message once the countdown reaches zero, adding a dynamic element to your emails.

Mailchimp

The screenshot below showcases some of Mailchimp’s newsletter features. A standout tool is Mailchimp’s Creative Assistant, which allows you to design custom banners for your emails—an option not available in ActiveCampaign. Mailchimp also offers a survey tool that enables tagging contacts based on their responses. However, I prefer using custom fields over tags for audience segmentation, as tags can become cumbersome when contacts accumulate multiple tags, potentially complicating organization and targeting.

Dynamic content

Dynamic content, referred to as “conditional content” in ActiveCampaign and “dynamic content” in Mailchimp, enables you to customize your newsletter for different audiences based on specified conditions. This allows you to send one email that displays different information to different recipients, eliminating the need to create multiple emails for various groups.

Example 1: EcoGear customizes its content by location and purchase history. Subscribers in colder regions see winter gear promotions, while those in warmer climates receive recommendations for lightweight products. Additionally, loyal customers get exclusive deals—all within a single email.

Example 2: Books for All differentiates content for donors and new subscribers. Donors view stories highlighting their impact, while new subscribers receive a welcome message. Local subscribers see upcoming events, and global supporters see updates on ongoing projects—all in a single email.

ActiveCampaign

When creating a newsletter, you can edit individual content blocks to display them only to specific segments of your audience. For example, if you want to tailor messages based on location, you could show one message to subscribers in California and a different one to those in New York, adjusting for factors like local weather conditions.

Mailchimp

Similar to ActiveCampaign, when creating your newsletter, you can customize specific content elements to control who will see each part.

Winner

The key difference between Mailchimp and ActiveCampaign is that ActiveCampaign only allows conditional content settings at the container, structure, and section levels, whereas Mailchimp lets you adjust individual blocks or elements within your newsletter. This flexibility in Mailchimp allows for finer control, enabling you to display specific elements rather than entire blocks, which is required in ActiveCampaign. Additionally, Mailchimp provides options to adjust layout settings for further customization.

In other words, Mailchimp offers more flexibility for showcasing particular elements, giving it an edge over ActiveCampaign in content customization.

My two cents

Dynamic content can be a powerful feature, but it’s worth considering whether it’s always the best approach when you want to target different groups within your contacts. Sometimes, it might actually be easier and more efficient to create separate segments and send unique newsletters to each one. This approach can save time, reduce errors, and keep your process simpler. That’s just my two cents, though—I recommend experimenting to find what works best for you.

One thing to keep in mind is that using dynamic content in a single email can add complexity. Since you’re adding different content for different audiences within one email, testing becomes trickier, and the risk of errors increases. Additionally, during editing, all content blocks for each audience are visible, making it hard to identify which blocks are meant for specific groups. This can quickly make the editing process more confusing than it needs to be.

In short, while dynamic content has its advantages, sometimes a simpler, segmented approach can streamline your workflow and help avoid complications. But again, that’s just my opinion—experiment and see what works best for you.

Best Time to Send Your Emails

Some email marketing tools have a feature called “send time optimization.” This feature helps you pick the best time to send your emails so that more people will open and read them. By looking at when your contacts have opened emails in the past, these tools can figure out the times when your audience is most likely to check their inbox. Sending emails at these peak times can increase the chances of your message being seen and clicked on.

In this section, I’ll go over how Mailchimp and ActiveCampaign handle this feature.

Mailchimp

If you’re wondering when to send your emails so that more people see them, Mailchimp has a tool called “Send Time Optimization” that can help. This tool takes the guesswork out by picking the best time based on when people have opened emails in the past. To work well, though, Mailchimp needs enough information about your contacts and enough time left in the day to send the email at the best hour.

ActiveCampaign

ActiveCampaign has a similar tool, but it only works for automatic email series, not regular newsletters. Since we’re talking about regular newsletters here, Mailchimp is the better choice for finding the best send time.

Mailchimp vs ActiveCampaign: Email Marketing Automation

Here, I’ll compare how Mailchimp and ActiveCampaign handle email automation. This means looking at how easy each one is to use, how flexible they are, and the types of automated email options they offer. This comparison should help you decide which one might work best for your email marketing needs.

Automation templates

Let’s dive into the automation templates available in both ActiveCampaign and Mailchimp. Automation templates are pre-designed workflows that help you quickly set up email sequences for common tasks, like welcoming new subscribers, reminding customers about abandoned shopping carts, or re-engaging with inactive users. These templates give you a head start by offering a basic structure that you can easily customize to fit your unique needs. This means you don’t have to build your automations from scratch—saving you time and effort!

In this comparison, I’ll break down the variety, flexibility, and ease of use of automation templates in both platforms. This way, you’ll get a clear picture of what each tool offers and how they can support your email marketing goals.

ActiveCampaign

ActiveCampaign offers a marketplace with over 850 automation templates that you can explore and quickly import into your account. These templates cover a wide range of tasks and are designed to make setting up automated emails easier. You can filter templates by popularity or by industry to find the ones that match your business needs best—whether you’re welcoming new subscribers, sending reminders, or engaging with past customers.

Another helpful feature in ActiveCampaign is the ability to share automations with others. If you create a workflow you love, you can share it by simply sending a link. When someone opens that link, they can import the automation into their own account, making it easy to collaborate or pass along useful setups.

Mailchimp

Mailchimp provides over 100 automation templates, also called “Journey” templates, to help you set up automated email workflows. These templates cover popular email tasks like welcoming new subscribers, following up with customers, and more.

Unlike ActiveCampaign, Mailchimp doesn’t have a link-sharing feature for these Journeys. This means that while you can set up and customize your workflows, you won’t be able to share them directly with other Mailchimp users through a link.

Winner

While both tools provide a good selection of automation templates, ActiveCampaign comes out on top. With a much larger library of templates, it offers more options for a wide range of tasks, making it easier to find the perfect fit for your email marketing needs. Plus, the link-sharing feature in ActiveCampaign adds flexibility for collaboration, which Mailchimp doesn’t offer.

Tracking subscriber actions

Email marketing thrives on automating actions and personalizing messages tailored to subscriber behavior.

Example Automation 1: An online clothing retailer sends a monthly newsletter highlighting seasonal trends. If a subscriber clicks on a link for a particular product, this action triggers a follow-up email featuring related items—such as matching accessories or similar styles. Goal: To boost cross-sell and upsell opportunities by offering relevant products that align with the subscriber’s interests.

Example Automation 2: A project management software provider observes when a subscriber opens an email about “project planning templates.” This action activates an automation that sends additional resources, like a free webinar invitation or an advanced guide on project planning. Goal: To educate leads and encourage deeper engagement by delivering more targeted content that aligns with their interests.

Example Automation 3: A nonprofit organization sends an email about a recent environmental campaign. If a subscriber clicks on a link to learn more, this action initiates an automation that shares ways to get involved, such as volunteer opportunities or donation options. Goal: To convert interested subscribers into active supporters by offering simple, actionable ways to contribute.

In this section of my ActiveCampaign vs. Mailchimp review, we’ll analyze how the features of each platform support the automated workflows described above.

ActiveCampaign

When setting up a campaign or newsletter in ActiveCampaign, you have the option to track opens and link clicks, similar to what Mailchimp offers. However, ActiveCampaign stands out with its highly user-friendly automation feature, which reduces errors and simplifies the process significantly.

By clicking the “customize” or “automate” link (as shown in the image above), a new window opens, allowing you to create an automation directly within your newsletter setup. For example, clicking “customize” brings up an overview of all the links within your newsletter, as shown in the screenshot below. From there, you can simply select “automation” to set up a custom action triggered by clicks on any specific link. It’s quick, intuitive, and makes creating targeted automations easy.

Mailchimp

In the screenshot below, you can see Mailchimp’s “Settings and Tracking” tab, which allows you to track opens and clicks. However, unlike ActiveCampaign, Mailchimp doesn’t offer the ability to create an automation instantly when a subscriber clicks a link or opens an email.

If you want to create an automation based on a specific link click in a newsletter, you’ll need to go to Mailchimp’s separate automation builder (the “Journey” builder) and set up an automation with the “Clicks specific email link” trigger (as shown in the image below).

There are two major downsides to this process:

1. Higher Error Potential: First, you need to carefully select the correct email you created. Then, you must manually enter the exact URL you want to use as the trigger. Any error in entering that URL can disrupt the automation. ActiveCampaign avoids this issue by automatically displaying all URLs in the newsletter for you to select easily.
2. Time-Consuming and Confusing: This separate process is time-consuming and can become confusing, as it’s hard to keep track of which links have active automations and which do not. ActiveCampaign streamlines this by showing all links on a single screen, along with an indication of which links have automations set up.

Winner

Clearly, ActiveCampaign is the winner here. If you plan to create automations regularly, this feature alone might make ActiveCampaign the better choice.

Starting an automation

To start an automated workflow, the first step is setting a trigger, which is simply the event that kicks off the automation. A trigger could be something like a new subscriber joining your email list, someone opening an email, clicking a link, making a purchase, or even reaching a specific date. Having a wide range of trigger options is valuable because it lets you be precise in targeting your audience, making your automation respond to their actions in a meaningful way.

In this section, I’ll walk you through how Mailchimp and ActiveCampaign stack up in terms of flexibility when it comes to choosing a starting trigger for automation.

ActiveCampaign

In the table below, I’ve listed all the triggers available in ActiveCampaign’s library in the first column. The second column shows whether Mailchimp offers a similar trigger. For example, the second trigger in the list is “Unsubscribes from a list.” ActiveCampaign offers this trigger in its library, but Mailchimp does not, which is why you’ll see a ❌ icon next to it.

Mailchimp

Before we draw any conclusions, let’s take a look at the starting triggers available in Mailchimp to see if ActiveCampaign offers those as well.

Winner

When setting up an automation in ActiveCampaign or Mailchimp, both platforms will first ask you to choose how you want to start the automation. This is similar for both tools. However, ActiveCampaign provides a broader range of automation triggers, which can make a big difference in how flexible and customized your marketing automation can be.

A key difference is that Mailchimp requires you to select a starting trigger right away, while ActiveCampaign allows you to create an automation without one. So why would you want to create an automation without an immediate starting trigger? In some cases, you may not yet know the exact starting point and want the flexibility to build out the automation first. This option in ActiveCampaign adds flexibility that can be especially helpful as you refine your workflow.

Another practical use case is when you want to start one automation after a contact progresses through a different automation. For example, in ActiveCampaign, you can set an action within an automation to “Start an automation” and then select which automation should begin at that point. This gives you more control over when and how automations are triggered, going beyond the basic “one-size-fits-all” starting point in Mailchimp.

In short, ActiveCampaign offers greater flexibility for automation triggers than Mailchimp, which is a recurring theme you’ll notice in other automation features as well.

Advanced segmentation in automated workflows

Most email marketing tools offer segmentation, but they differ in how flexible and sophisticated these features are. The level of segmentation can significantly affect how well your email marketing strategy performs.

ActiveCampaign

ActiveCampaign provides an advanced segmentation tool that includes “nested conditions,” a feature not commonly available in other email marketing tools. This allows you to create more precise segments within your contact lists. Below, you can see an example of ActiveCampaign’s segmentation builder in action.

When setting up automated workflows in ActiveCampaign, you can flexibly segment your contacts using its advanced segmentation options.

Mailchimp

Mailchimp also has an advanced segmentation tool, which you can use when sending a regular newsletter campaign. However, this feature is not available within its automation builder (also called the “journey builder”), which limits its use in automated workflows.

Winner

Since ActiveCampaign’s advanced segmentation tool with nested conditions can be used in both regular campaigns and automated workflows, it offers greater flexibility for targeted campaigns compared to Mailchimp. Because Mailchimp’s advanced segmentation cannot be applied within its automation builder, ActiveCampaign stands out as the more versatile choice for advanced segmentation in automated workflows.

Automation actions / journey points

After setting up your automation (or “journey” in Mailchimp), the next step is to add actions or journey points, such as sending an email, adding a wait period, tagging a contact, and more.

Having a variety of options for these actions, similar to having multiple starting triggers, is essential for flexibility in your marketing automation. If a tool has only a few options, it limits your ability to create complex workflows tailored to your specific marketing goals. With a broader range of actions, you can design automations that better match your strategy.

Let’s compare how Mailchimp and ActiveCampaign perform in this area.

ActiveCampaign

The table below shows ActiveCampaign’s full library of automation actions. The second column indicates whether Mailchimp also offers each action (or “journey point,” as Mailchimp calls it). For example, the first action, “Send an email,” is available in both ActiveCampaign and Mailchimp, indicated by the ✔️ icon.

Mailchimp

Before drawing any conclusions, let’s look at Mailchimp’s actions (Journey Points) to see which ones are also available in ActiveCampaign.

Winner

As shown in the tables above, ActiveCampaign offers significantly more automation actions and options than Mailchimp. The only feature ActiveCampaign lacks is a native survey tool, although it can integrate with external survey platforms like SurveyMonkey.

It’s important to note that a check mark (✔️) doesn’t always mean the feature functions the same way across both platforms. For instance, both Mailchimp and ActiveCampaign offer a “Split” feature, as indicated in the tables by a ✔️. However, ActiveCampaign’s Split Automation feature provides additional functionality, such as the “conditional split,” which Mailchimp does not offer. While Mailchimp allows you to split your audience into two branches, it lacks any further customization options (see screenshot below).

Example Use Case for ActiveCampaign’s Conditional Split: Suppose you are promoting an online course and want to offer a discount to the first 100 people who sign up, with a smaller discount for those who sign up after that. ActiveCampaign’s conditional split feature allows you to set this up: once the sign-up count reaches 100, the condition is met, and all subsequent contacts are automatically directed to a different path. This approach can be an effective promotional strategy, but it’s not possible to set up in Mailchimp.

Automate CRM & Sales Tasks

Although this section isn’t dedicated to CRM and sales features, there’s one point worth mentioning: ActiveCampaign allows you to automate certain CRM and sales tasks.

For example, if you have a coaching business and your primary goal is to get prospects to book calls through a scheduling tool like Calendly, ActiveCampaign can automatically create a “Deal” in your account whenever a call is booked. This Deal can then be added to your sales Pipeline in ActiveCampaign, allowing you to track exactly where each prospect is in your sales process. For more details, you can watch my YouTube video here:

Mailchimp does not offer CRM or sales features like those available in ActiveCampaign.

A/B tests in automations

Many marketers are familiar with A/B testing for regular newsletter campaigns, but fewer apply A/B testing to automated workflows. However, testing automated sequences is equally important, as it helps optimize each step of the customer journey. By testing elements like subject lines, timing, and content variations, you can improve engagement and conversion rates over time.

Let’s see how ActiveCampaign and Mailchimp compare on this feature.

Winner

Both Mailchimp and ActiveCampaign offer A/B testing within automations. The difference is that ActiveCampaign allows you to automatically select a winning path, while Mailchimp requires you to manually check and choose the winning path (A or B) later.

In the screenshot below, you can see that ActiveCampaign lets you set a condition to choose a winner automatically after a specified number of contacts have gone through the split. Additionally, you can define the criteria for selecting the winner and choose to end the split on a specific date if needed. These additional features are not available in Mailchimp.

Ebook delivery

Automated email sequences for delivering freebies, such as ebooks, guides, or reports, are essential to many marketing funnels for audience growth. In this section, I’ll review whether Mailchimp and ActiveCampaign allow you to set up automated workflows to deliver freebies instantly and reliably after a user subscribes or completes a form.

ActiveCampaign

ActiveCampaign supports automated freebie delivery. In my ActiveCampaign tutorial on YouTube (linked below at timestamp 1:19:12), I show how to set up a form and automate ebook delivery, demonstrating how you can create this system in ActiveCampaign.

Mailchimp

Mailchimp also enables freebie delivery, allowing you to send an ebook or similar resource when someone joins your newsletter via a signup form. You can set this up on Mailchimp’s free plan using the classic automation builder or on a paid plan using the journey builder.

One important note: if you include freebie delivery in your workflow, you may want to disable the double opt-in email. Mailchimp doesn’t allow customization of the double opt-in confirmation email, so if a user fills out a form that promises a free download, receiving a confirmation email about “joining a newsletter” can be confusing. To work around this, you can set up a separate automated workflow that triggers ebook delivery when someone submits the form.

Winner

Due to Mailchimp’s limitation with the double opt-in confirmation email, I find ActiveCampaign’s setup to be more straightforward for freebie delivery workflows.

Organizing your automations

If you only have a few automated workflows, you may not need a specific system to manage them. However, once you have more than 10 automated workflows, keeping track of them can become challenging. At that point, organizing your automations becomes essential. In this section, we’ll explore whether ActiveCampaign and Mailchimp offer features to help manage and organize multiple automated workflows.

ActiveCampaign

ActiveCampaign allows you to label your automations, making it easier to filter specific workflows based on those labels. As shown in the screenshot below, there are multiple ways to filter your automations, such as by status (active/inactive), labels, or by sorting them based on the highest activity. If you’re looking for a place to start with optimization, beginning with the automations with the highest activity can often lead to the most noticeable improvements.

Mailchimp

Mailchimp offers fewer options for organizing automations compared to ActiveCampaign. You can search through your automated workflows (called “Journeys”) by name and filter by audience, status (active, paused, etc.), and objective. However, it doesn’t include advanced features like labeling or categorizing automations. This basic functionality can work well for a small number of workflows, but as your number of journeys grows, managing them can become more challenging. ActiveCampaign’s additional tools, such as labels and detailed filters, provide more flexibility and ease when managing multiple automations as your marketing efforts expand.

Mailchimp vs ActiveCampaign: Landing page features

If you don’t have a website or the skills to create a landing page yourself, having a built-in landing page feature can be very useful.

In this section I’ll review ActiveCampaign’s and Mailchimp’s landing page creation tools and who offers the most user-friendly builder.

Landing page templates

Just like newsletter templates or signup form templates, it’s always handy to have a list of professional-looking landing page templates to choose from when designing your landing page yourself. Whether that’s for inspiration or to streamline the design process, having pre-built templates can save time and ensure your page is optimized for conversions. Let’s have a look at Mailchimp’s and ActiveCampaign’s landing page templates.

ActiveCampaign

ActiveCampaign offers roughly 60 landing page templates, including a blank template where you can design your own with its drag-and-drop builder.

Mailchimp

Mailchimp offers 9 different landing page templates to choose from.

Landing page builder

In this section I review ActiveCampaign’s and Mailchimp’s landing page builders on user-friendliness, customization options, and overall design flexibility.

ActiveCampaign

When selecting a pre-designed template or a blank template, ActiveCampaign allows you to delete and redesign sections and elements as desired. In the screenshot below, you can see an example of a template. While many refer to these as “landing pages,” ActiveCampaign’s page builder can also be used to create a simple website. For instance, you can add elements like a navigation bar, logo, and footer.

You can create a one-page website with links that jump to specific sections on the page, or you can build a multi-page website by creating multiple pages and linking them together.

Mailchimp

Mailchimp’s landing page builder is straightforward and beginner-friendly. At first, it may seem that customization options are limited, which can help beginners avoid feeling overwhelmed. However, as you get familiar with the editor, you’ll find that there are more options to tweak elements than you might initially expect. That said, it’s not an editor that allows customization of every single detail.

In the screenshot below, you can see an example of Mailchimp’s landing page builder.

Custom domain

In this section, we’ll figure out whether or not ActiveCampaign and Mailchimp allow users to connect a custom domain to their landing pages. Just for your reference, a custom domain means that instead of using a generic URL provided by the platform (e.g., yourbusiness.activehosted.com or yourbrand.mailchimpsites.com), you can use your own branded domain, like www.yourbusiness.com. This gives a more professional and cohesive online presence, helping to strengthen brand identity and improve user trust when they visit your landing page.

ActiveCampaign

Only Plus tier users or higher can access the custom domain feature in ActiveCampaign. By default, landing pages are published under a subdomain like “youraccountname.ac-page.com.” For example, if your account URL is “delightful.activehosted.com,” your pages will be published at “delightful.ac-page.com/about” (where “about” is the page slug). If you prefer, you can connect a custom domain to use instead of the provided subdomain, but this requires the Plus plan or higher.

Mailchimp

When you want to connect a custom domain to your Mailchimp landing page, you also have to purchase their Websites Core plan. This plan allows you to link your custom domain. Without this upgrade, your landing page will have a generic URL provided by Mailchimp, such as mailchi.mp/pottedplanter/free-fern-giveaway. However, with a custom domain, your URL could be something more professional like www.pottedplanter.com/free-fern-giveaway, giving your brand a cohesive and polished look, similar to what you can achieve with ActiveCampaign’s custom domain feature.

Mailchimp vs ActiveCampaign: Opt-in Form Features

In this section, I’m reviewing the opt-in form features. Opt-in forms, popups, and other lead-capturing tools are crucial for building and growing an email list. These features play an essential role in converting website visitors into subscribers by encouraging them to provide their contact information in exchange for valuable content, discounts, or updates. Let’s find out whether ActiveCampaign or Mailchimp offers us the most flexible opt-in form features.

Opt-in form templates

In this section, I’ll review which platform, Mailchimp or ActiveCampaign, provides better options for opt-in form templates. Opt-in form templates are useful because they come pre-designed and customizable, helping users save time and create professional-looking forms without advanced design skills. These templates often include different formats, such as popups, embedded forms, and slide-ins, so users can choose the most suitable style for their audience and marketing objectives. I’ll be evaluating the variety of options, customization features, and overall visual appeal each platform offers to determine the better choice.

ActiveCampaign

When creating a form in ActiveCampaign, you can choose from four different form styles: Inline form, Floating Bar, Floating Box, and Modal form. Below, you’ll see an example of the Inline Form, which can be set up with either horizontal or vertical fields.

However, ActiveCampaign does not offer any pre-designed templates.

While you can adjust some style settings—like width, background color, text color, borders, and padding—and even add custom code, the platform does not provide ready-made templates to use directly.

Mailchimp

When creating a form in Mailchimp, you can choose between two form styles: Embedded Form or Pop-up Form.

Like ActiveCampaign, Mailchimp doesn’t offer a selection of pre-designed form templates as it does for designing newsletters. While you can adjust the layout and make some styling changes, there are no ready-made templates available.

Popup and Opt-in Form Builder

To create a popup or sign-up form for your website, you’ll use the form builder provided by your email marketing tool. These builders usually feature drag-and-drop functionality, making it easy to add fields, images, and calls-to-action without needing coding skills. They also allow you to customize the appearance by adjusting colors, fonts, and layouts to align with your brand. Most builders offer settings to control when and how the form appears—such as exit-intent triggers or time delays—to help improve user engagement and conversion rates.

Let’s take a look at how ActiveCampaign and Mailchimp work.

ActiveCampaign

To give you a clearer view of ActiveCampaign’s form builder, I’ve shared a 4-minute video below. This video demonstrates the form builder in action, covering its main features and customization options. Watch the video here:

Mailchimp

Similarly, to help you understand Mailchimp’s form builder, I’ve published a 4-minute video walkthrough. This video shows how Mailchimp’s builder works and highlights its customization capabilities. Watch the video here:

Winner

After testing both Mailchimp and ActiveCampaign’s form builders, I found ActiveCampaign to be the stronger option for form customization and user experience. ActiveCampaign offers a broader range of customization options, allowing for more tailored forms to meet specific needs. Editing forms is also more straightforward, particularly when adding CSS styling. Additionally, ActiveCampaign provides more intuitive form actions, with flexible post-submission options like displaying a thank-you page, redirecting to a different URL, or customizing the double opt-in message. Overall, based on my testing, ActiveCampaign delivers a more comprehensive and user-friendly solution for form management.

Double-optin setup

A double opt-in setup requires users to confirm their subscription after entering their contact information. Once they submit the form, they receive a confirmation email with a link or button to verify their email address and confirm their intention to subscribe. This extra step helps ensure email authenticity, reduces fake sign-ups, and ensures that only genuinely interested users receive your emails, which can improve deliverability and engagement rates.

Winner

The main difference between the two platforms is flexibility. ActiveCampaign allows you to customize the opt-in process for each form individually. For instance, you can enable double opt-in for Form X, while using single opt-in for Form Y. You can also customize the confirmation email (double opt-in email) on a per-form basis, tailoring the message for each specific form.

Mailchimp, however, doesn’t offer this level of control. If you enable double opt-in in Mailchimp’s settings, it applies to all forms globally, without the option to adjust this setting for individual forms. Additionally, Mailchimp does not allow you to edit or personalize the confirmation email for each form; instead, there is one general double opt-in confirmation email for all forms. This lack of customization can be limiting for users aiming to tailor their email marketing strategy.

In the screenshot below, you can see Mailchimp’s form builder settings, where you can adjust the confirmation email. However, as noted, this setting applies to all forms, not individual ones.

Branding on forms

Some email marketing tools include their logo or branding on sign-up forms when you’re on a free or lower-tier paid plan. This branding, usually displayed as a small banner or text, promotes the tool’s service but can make your forms appear less professional or personalized.

ActiveCampaign

With ActiveCampaign, the Starter tier doesn’t allow you to remove the ActiveCampaign logo from your sign-up forms. To remove it, you need to upgrade to the Plus tier. This limitation can be frustrating, as even on a paid plan, the branding remains unless you pay for a higher tier. While it’s common for free plans to include branding, it feels restrictive to not have the option to remove it on a paid plan.

Mailchimp

Mailchimp also adds their logo to sign-up forms, but only on the free plan. Once you upgrade to the Essentials plan, the first paid tier, you can remove the branding if you choose.

Mailchimp vs ActiveCampaign: Support Features

ActiveCampaign

ActiveCampaign offers live chat support for its paid customers. The downside, however, is that it’s not available 24/7, and the schedule is based on American Central Time (CT). This can be inconvenient for users in other time zones. For example, I’m from the Netherlands, and as you can see below, the live chat hours aren’t the worse but also not the best. For your reference, CEST is my timezone in the netherlands to where I can contact live chat support of activecampaign.

ActiveCampaign’s live chat availability:

• Monday – Thursday: 3 am – 11 pm (CT) / 10 am – 6 am (CEST)
• Friday: 3 am – 4:30 pm (CT) / 10 am – 11 pm (CEST)
• Sunday: 6 pm – 11 pm (CT) / 1 am – 6 am (CEST)

To check how these hours align with your own time zone, you can use tools like World Time Buddy to plan accordingly.

Mailchimp

Mailchimp offers 24/7 chat support for all paid users. The free plan has support for only the first 30 days.

A Note on Customer Support

Having reviewed numerous marketing software tools, I’ve interacted with many support teams. In my experience, responses are often slow, likely due to high volumes of support requests. Additionally, many replies feel like generic, copy-pasted answers from a knowledge base rather than personalized responses. This can result in long delays for even straightforward questions, as support agents may not fully understand email marketing topics or may not be carefully reading your inquiries.

To help you avoid these challenges, I’m offering an alternative. With over 10 years of experience in marketing and email marketing tools, I can provide personalized assistance. When you sign up for ActiveCampaign using my link, you’ll receive six months of free, one-on-one email support from me. This offer is available only until [wpcode id=”5614″]. For more details, click here.

Mailchimp vs ActiveCampaign: Integrations

Both ActiveCampaign and Mailchimp provide a wide variety of integrations, making them versatile platforms for businesses looking to connect their marketing tools with other apps. If integrations are a key factor for you, it’s essential to explore whether the platform supports the specific tools you rely on, such as e-commerce platforms, CRMs, and automation services. Popular integrations include Shopify, Salesforce, WordPress, and Zapier. Checking the integrations page on either platform’s website will give you a clear picture of what they offer and ensure compatibility with your existing software stack.

Click here to see all of ActiveCampaign’s integrations.

Click here to see all of Mailchimp’s integrations.

Mailchimp vs ActiveCampaign: Ecommerce Features

From this part of my review, I’ll focus specifically on the ecommerce features of both ActiveCampaign and Mailchimp. Of course, some of the earlier topics we discussed, like popups and segmentation, are also relevant for ecommerce businesses, but this section will dive deeper into the tools and features that are uniquely tailored for ecommerce. This includes options like abandoned cart emails, product recommendations, coupon blocks, and integrations with ecommerce platforms.

Ecommerce blocks in newsletter editor

Most email marketing tools include a newsletter editor with standard blocks like text, headers, images, and more. Additionally, there are specialized ecommerce blocks, such as product listings, recommended products, and discount codes. In this section, we’ll see whether Mailchimp or ActiveCampaign offers better options for these ecommerce blocks, helping you create effective and visually appealing promotional emails for your online store.

For this test, I connected my Shopify store to both Mailchimp and ActiveCampaign. Once connected, you can add product blocks directly to your newsletters.

ActiveCampaign

ActiveCampaign provides ecommerce blocks that include product blocks and a coupon block.

Mailchimp

Mailchimp also offers product blocks and coupon blocks. However, one point of confusion with Mailchimp is that it has two newsletter builders: the Classic Builder and the New Builder. While the Classic Builder includes a coupon block, I couldn’t locate this feature in the New Builder. This can be a drawback for ecommerce users since the coupon block allows you to pull discount codes directly from sources like your Shopify store. Without this feature in the New Builder, you’d have to add discount codes manually, which isn’t ideal for ecommerce operations.

Winner

In my testing, I found that while both Mailchimp and ActiveCampaign offer similar ecommerce blocks, Mailchimp provides slightly fewer customization options for these blocks compared to ActiveCampaign.

Ecommerce automation templates

In this section, I’ll review the ecommerce automation templates provided by ActiveCampaign and Mailchimp. These templates are pre-designed workflows that allow you to set up automated email sequences quickly. They cover common tasks such as welcome series, abandoned cart reminders, and re-engagement campaigns, helping you create effective automations tailored to your needs without starting from scratch.

ActiveCampaign

ActiveCampaign offers around 120 ecommerce automation templates. These templates cover various ecommerce platforms, including Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento, and more.

Mailchimp

Mailchimp provides 23 ecommerce automation templates that you can easily import into your account. While you can also create these automations yourself, templates can help spark ideas for automating your email marketing to increase revenue. Note that these automation templates are available only on the Standard plan or higher.

Winner

Both tools offer ecommerce automation templates, but ActiveCampaign provides a larger selection, potentially offering more inspiration for your email marketing strategies.

Mailchimp vs ActiveCampaign: Reporting Features

For anyone serious about email marketing or marketing in general, understanding your metrics is crucial. Let’s compare to see which platform offers the best reporting capabilities.

Keep track of subscriber growth

Tracking subscriber growth on a monthly basis using a custom date range is essential for understanding audience trends.

ActiveCampaign

On ActiveCampaign’s contacts report page, you’ll find a comprehensive view of contact growth and engagement trends. You can filter data by list and time period, allowing you to analyze specific segments of your audience. The report provides key metrics, including total contact growth, average daily growth, and the number of unsubscribed contacts.

Mailchimp

Mailchimp’s audience analytics page also provides an overview of subscriber activity over a chosen time period. You can adjust the date range to monitor subscriber growth, unsubscribes, and other engagement metrics.

Winner

Both ActiveCampaign and Mailchimp allow you to set a custom date range to view subscriber metrics, making it easy to track trends, compare monthly growth, and make informed decisions based on engagement data. This custom date range feature is a significant advantage, as it’s not commonly offered by many email marketing tools. However, neither platform currently offers the ability to compare one custom period against another.

Email Reporting

Most email marketing tools provide performance metrics for individual campaigns, allowing you to track metrics like opens and clicks. However, a broader overview of all campaigns over a specific period is equally important for understanding overall trends and effectiveness. In this section, I’ll review how ActiveCampaign and Mailchimp handle this.

ActiveCampaign

ActiveCampaign’s email reporting dashboard offers a detailed view of campaign performance. A key feature is the ability to filter and differentiate between various campaign types, such as regular newsletters, automated campaigns, split tests, autoresponders, and more. You can set a custom date range to analyze campaign performance over specific periods, making it easier to identify trends and assess results.

The dashboard includes essential metrics like open rate, click-through rate, unsubscribe rate, and revenue generated from email campaigns. At the bottom of the table, you’ll see totals for all campaigns, providing a clear, comprehensive summary of your email marketing performance. This dashboard is a strong tool for tracking and managing the success of your campaigns.

Mailchimp

Mailchimp’s Marketing Dashboard provides a clear, customizable overview of your email campaign performance:

1. Custom Date Range & Comparison: You can select a custom date range and compare it to another period, which helps track growth and seasonal trends.
2. Key Metrics Overview: Displays essential stats like revenue, orders, open rate, and click rate at a glance, offering a quick snapshot of campaign effectiveness.
3. Performance Over Time: A timeline view of metrics like open rate, shown by day, week, or month, to spot trends and spikes in engagement.
4. Delivery Details: Tracks emails sent, bounces, unsubscribes, and abuse reports, allowing you to monitor deliverability and list health.

Automation reports

Of course, both Mailchimp and ActiveCampaign allow you to view the results of individual automated campaigns (or “Journeys” as Mailchimp calls them). But the question is, can you get an overall view of all your automations in one place? That’s what we will find out in this section.

ActiveCampaign

In the screenshot below, you can see ActiveCampaign’s report page for its automations. This dashboard allows you to track the performance of all your automation workflows over a specific period. You can filter by different automation labels, select individual automations, or view all automations at once to get a complete overview. Key metrics such as the number of contacts entered, total sends, open rate, click rate, unsubscribe rate, and bounce rate are displayed, giving you a detailed look at how well each automation is performing.

The option to set a custom date range makes it easy to analyze performance trends over time, allowing you to identify which automations are most effective and where improvements can be made. This is an excellent tool for tracking the success of automated email sequences, helping you optimize your automated marketing efforts.

Mailchimp

Mailchimp doesn’t offer a feature similar to ActiveCampaign’s, where you can quickly see an overview of how all your automated workflows (customer journeys) are performing. While you can view individual journey performance (as shown in the screenshot below), there’s no single reporting page for automated workflows, like the one Mailchimp provides for individual campaign emails.

Sign up form & landing page reports

ActiveCampaign

The sign-up form reporting page in ActiveCampaign lets you adjust the date range to see the total number of form submissions within that period (see screenshot below). However, it doesn’t show the conversion rate because it doesn’t track the number of views for each form.

Landing page reports in ActiveCampaign do track views and show the conversion rate (see screenshot below). Knowing both the conversion rate and the number of page views is helpful for identifying opportunities for optimization.

If you add a form to your ActiveCampaign landing page, its submissions will also appear in the form reports, giving you a combined total for all submissions at a glance.

Mailchimp

Mailchimp currently doesn’t offer reporting for sign-up forms, so there’s no way to track their performance in terms of views or conversions. I confirmed this by reaching out to Mailchimp support.

For landing pages, Mailchimp provides general analytics similar to those in ActiveCampaign, although it does not include the conversion rate. You can access individual landing page reports (see screenshot below), but there’s no summary view to see the total number of form submissions or page views across all landing pages.

Below is an example of an individual landing page report in Mailchimp.

Winner

Since ActiveCampaign offers a summary of all form submissions and allows for custom date range selection, it stands out as the better option for reporting on forms and landing pages.

Transactional Emails

Transactional emails are different from marketing emails as they are triggered by specific actions, such as order confirmations, password reset requests, shipping notifications, or account creation verifications. These emails provide essential information related to a user’s action, unlike marketing emails, which aim to promote products or services.

Both ActiveCampaign and Mailchimp offer transactional emailing.

Pricing

In the graph below, you can see on the horizontal axis the number of transactional monthly emails, while the bars represent the monthly price. As you can see, Mailchimp’s transactional email pricing (blue bars) is generally lower at smaller volumes, starting at $20 for 10,000 emails. However, as the volume increases, ActiveCampaign (red bars) becomes more competitive, especially at the 1,000,000 email mark, where its price is slightly lower than Mailchimp’s. This comparison only looks at pricing, of course, and does not take into account the specific features or capabilities of each platform’s transactional email service, which may also impact your decision.

Usability

While you can use ActiveCampaign’s transactional email service, Postmark, directly through ActiveCampaign’s workflow/automation builder (as shown in the screenshot below), Mailchimp doesn’t offer a similar integration. This means that with ActiveCampaign, you can seamlessly set up transactional emails within the same interface as your marketing automation. In contrast, Mailchimp requires you to use its separate transactional email service, called Mandrill, which cannot be set up via Mailchimp’s Journey builder. This makes Mailchimp’s process less user-friendly, in my opinion, as it requires switching between platforms to manage transactional emails.

🎁 Free limited-time offer 🎁

To provide the best tools and support for my readers, I reached out to both ActiveCampaign and Mailchimp to explore potential collaborations. While Mailchimp didn’t respond, ActiveCampaign was happy to partner with me. Through this partnership, they compensate me when someone signs up using my link.

Because of this, I’m able to offer you 6 months of free, personalized email support when you sign up for ActiveCampaign through my link. This allows me to give back and ensure you get the most out of the platform. This exclusive offer is available only until [wpcode id=”5614″]. Have questions? Email me at info@creatoregg.com.

To access this offer:

• Sign up for ActiveCampaign using my link before [wpcode id=”5614″].
• Get 6 months of direct email support from me to help you succeed with the platform! If you’ve signed up for ActiveCampaign trough my link, feel free to email me your first question at info@creatoregg.com.

While Mailchimp hasn’t partnered with me, you’re still welcome to explore their platform. However, with ActiveCampaign, you’ll also receive my personalized support to guide you along the way.

FAQ

1. How does it work? How can you see if someone uses your link? – I have a dashboard from ActiveCampaign that shows me when someone signs up using my link. It’s important that you click my link and sign up immediately afterward. If you use a different link to sign up later, I won’t be able to track it, and the offer won’t apply.
2. What kind of support will I receive during the 6 months? – You’ll get personalized email support directly from me, where I can answer your questions about setting up and using ActiveCampaign, optimizing email campaigns, or tackling any challenges you face with the platform. I’ll be available to help you make the most of its features and ensure you’re getting real value from the tool.
3. Is the support really free, and why do you offer it? – Yes, the support is completely free for 6 months! I offer it because ActiveCampaign compensates me when you sign up using my link. This allows me to give back by providing valuable, personalized help to ensure you succeed with the platform.
4. Will the pricing be different if I use your link? – No, the pricing remains exactly the same whether you use my link or sign up directly through ActiveCampaign. The only difference is that by using my link, you’ll receive my 6 months of free email support as an added bonus!
5. How do I claim the 6 months of free support? – It’s simple! Just sign up for ActiveCampaign using this link before the deadline of [wpcode id=”5614″]. Once you’ve signed up, email me at info@creatoregg.com with your first question, and we’ll get started!

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An email welcome series is a sequence of automated emails sent to new subscribers, customers, or members when they first join a mailing list or register on a website. The primary purpose of this series is to introduce the new subscriber to the brand, provide valuable information, build a relationship, and encourage engagement.

Here’s a breakdown of what typically comprises an email welcome series:

1. Welcome Email:
   • Sent immediately after signup.
   • Thanks the subscriber for joining.
   • Introduces the brand, company, or website.
   • Sets expectations for future emails (e.g., frequency, type of content).
2. Introduction Email:
   • Provides more in-depth information about the brand’s story, values, and mission.
   • May include testimonials or social proof to build credibility.
3. Educational/Value-Driven Email:
   • Offers helpful content or resources, such as guides, tutorials, or blog posts.
   • Aims to provide immediate value to the subscriber.
4. Product/Service Overview Email:
   • Highlights key products or services.
   • May include special offers or discounts to encourage first-time purchases.
5. Engagement Email:
   • Encourages subscribers to follow the brand on social media, join a community, or participate in a survey.
   • Aims to deepen the relationship and engagement.
6. Customer Story/Case Study Email:
   • Shares success stories or case studies from existing customers.
   • Builds trust and demonstrates the value of the products/services.
7. Feedback/Survey Email:
   • Asks for feedback on the welcome series or the brand.
   • Helps to gather insights and improve future communications.

Benefits of an Email Welcome Series

• First Impressions: Creates a positive first impression and sets the tone for future interactions.
• Engagement: Encourages immediate engagement with the brand.
• Education: Educates new subscribers about the brand, products, and services.
• Trust Building: Builds trust and credibility through valuable content and social proof.
• Conversion: Can drive early conversions through special offers or incentives.

Best Practices

• Personalization: Use the subscriber’s name and tailor content based on their interests or behaviors.
• Clear CTA: Each email should have a clear call-to-action (CTA) guiding the subscriber on what to do next.
• Consistency: Maintain a consistent tone and branding throughout the series.
• Mobile-Friendly: Ensure emails are optimized for mobile devices.
• Testing: A/B test different elements (subject lines, content, CTAs) to optimize performance.

An effective email welcome series can significantly improve subscriber retention, engagement, and conversion rates, setting a strong foundation for long-term customer relationships.

Email Welcome Series Workflow Example

The image above shows a workflow diagram for an email welcome series for an ecommerce business. The primary goal of this welcome series automation is to educate new subscribers about your brand and products, build initial trust, and encourage them to make their first purchase.

Here is an explanation of the diagram:

1. Trigger: An automated trigger is set off when a new contact joins the list. This trigger initiates the email welcome series. For ecommerce businesses, the most common use case for new subscribers is a discount pop-up (e.g., “Join our newsletter for 10% off”).
2. Wait Period: After the trigger, the system waits for a specified number of hours or days before sending the first email. This wait period can be adjusted based on the desired timing.
3. Email 1: The first email in the series is sent to the new subscriber.
4. Check for Purchase: After sending Email 1, the system checks if the subscriber has made a purchase. Whenever someone makes their first purchase during this automation (e.g., after email 4), they should ideally be filtered out of the series. Since the goal is to ensure subscribers make their first purchase, once this goal is achieved, they should no longer receive the remaining emails in the series.
   • Yes: If a purchase is made, the workflow ends for that subscriber.
   • No: If no purchase is made, the workflow proceeds to the next step.
5. Wait Period: Another waiting period is observed before sending the next email.
6. Email 2: The second email in the series is sent.
7. Check for Purchase: The system checks again if the subscriber has made a purchase after receiving Email 2.
   • Yes: If a purchase is made, the workflow ends.
   • No: If no purchase is made, the workflow proceeds to the next step.
8. Continue Workflow: This process of waiting, sending an email, and checking for a purchase is continued for approximately 10 emails.

This structured approach helps in nurturing new subscribers, encouraging engagement, and driving conversions.

The post Email Welcome Series appeared first on Creatoregg.com.

Omnisend 1-minute summary: Pros & Cons

Omnisend has affordable pricing, strong automation, excellent newsletter features, and comprehensive reporting. It offers great value compared to competitors like Klaviyo. However, it is not recommended for non-e-commerce businesses. While Omnisend has pros such as a robust free plan and effective automation, it has cons including limited segmentation filters, lack of full unsubscribe automation, subpar reporting for forms and landing pages, inability to use custom domains, and mediocre customer support.

You can trust our reviews✔️ We spend days testing and comparing this software to help you find the best marketing tool. Click here to find out more about how we test products.

Omnisend Review: Pricing

In this pricing section of my Omnisend review, we’ll cover:

1. Different plans & Prices Omnisend
2. Available discounts
3. Omnisend’s pricing structure
4. Price comparison with its biggest competitor, Klaviyo

In short, Omnisend is more affordable than its biggest competitor, Klaviyo.

Want more details? Keep reading …

Different plans Omnisend

1. Forever free ($0)
2. Standard – Email (starting at $16)
3. Pro – Email+SMS (starting at $59)

Prices Omnisend

1) Omnisend Standard (Tier 1)

The table below shows Omnisend’s Standard tier prices and the number of emails you can send monthly. For the Standard tier, they use a multiplier of 12. For example, if you have 1,000 contacts, you can send 12,000 emails (1,000 times 12). This tier also includes roughly 60 one-time SMS credits, with the option to purchase more if needed.

2) Omnisend Pro (tier 2)

The table below details Omnisend’s Pro tier, which allows you to send unlimited emails, unlike the Standard tier. Regarding SMS credits, which we will discuss later in this review, the monthly subscription price you pay is also the amount you receive in SMS credits. For instance, with a plan for 1,000 contacts costing $59 per month, you would receive $59 worth of SMS credits. This equates to 3,933 SMS credits in the U.S., given that the charge is $0.015 per SMS in the U.S.

3) Omnisend SMS credits

All Omnisend plans—Free, Standard, and Pro—include the option to purchase SMS credits. Both the Free and Standard plans offer a small number of one-time SMS credits as a trial.

In contrast, the Pro plan provides a more substantial benefit in “free” SMS credits, matching the amount of your monthly subscription. For example, if your subscription is $100 per month, you receive $100 in SMS credits. Additional credits are available for purchase.

SMS pricing varies significantly depending on the recipient’s country. Sending an SMS to the Netherlands costs $0.14 each, while sending one to the United States is much cheaper at $0.015 each—nine times less.

For detailed information on SMS credits and their usage, visit this page on Omnisend’s website.

Omnisend Discounts

Discounts for Paying Upfront

Omnisend offers a 30% discount when you pay for 3 months upfront. This is a generous offer, as most email marketing companies require a 12-month upfront payment to provide similar discounts. This makes it an attractive option.

However, this discount only lasts for 3 months. Most other email marketing companies offer annual billing, where the discount continues after the initial 12 months. Unfortunately, Omnisend’s discount is a one-time offer for new customers.

Omnisend Discount Code (10% Off)

Omnisend offers a special 10% discount on their Standard or Pro plans for the first 3 months of your billing cycle. You can find the discount code on this page.

The downside is that you can’t combine this discount code with the 30% discount for the 3-month billing cycle, so you have to choose one or the other.

To use the discount code, first create an account. Then go to the upgrade page inside the dashboard, where you can enter the discount code.

Pricing Structure

Omnisend’s pricing is based on the number of subscribers you have. While many email marketing platforms use a similar subscriber-based pricing model, some tools charge based on the number of emails you send. If your email volume is relatively low each month, you might consider Brevo, which price is based on email volume.

Understanding Contacts: Subscribers vs. Non-subscribers vs. Unsubscribers

Omnisend differentiates between three types of contacts:

1. Subscribers – These customers have opted in for your email, SMS, or push notifications. They can receive both marketing and transactional messages. Omnisend charges for these contacts.
2. Non-subscribers – These contacts may have purchased from your store but did not opt into your newsletter. If they didn’t select the newsletter checkbox, they are considered non-subscribers. Despite being “non-subscribers,” Omnisend still charges for these contacts because you can send them transactional emails. You can find more information on this page on Omnisend’s website.
3. Unsubscribers – These were previously subscribers who actively unsubscribed. They can no longer receive promotional emails but can still receive some transactional communications like order confirmations. Omnisend doesn’t charge for these contacts. Mailchimp, for example, charges for unsubscribed contacts as well.

Further reading: Omnisend Pricing Plans 2024.

As illustrated in the example screenshot below, there’s a higher total contact count than the total number of subscribers in my list. This is because one of the two contacts unsubscribed and therefore I have a total of 1 email subscriber and 2 total contacts.

Price comparison

Omnisend vs Klaviyo

I have thoroughly compared Omnisend’s prices with Klaviyo’s, and the bottom line is that Omnisend is cheaper for both SMS credits and email marketing. For more details, including pricing graphs, check out my Omnisend vs Klaviyo comparison review.

Omnisend Review: Free Plan

Omnisend, like many other email marketing tools, offers a forever free plan.

Is it the best free plan though?

One great aspect of Omnisend’s free plan is that you get access to almost all its features, which is not common among email tools for free plan users. Additionally, they offer 24/7 email and chat support, which can be a game changer when setting up your email marketing because you will inevitably have questions (trust me).

The only downside of the free plan is the relatively low number of maximum contacts and monthly emails compared to some other email marketing tools. However, Omnisend is not like other email tools since its features are heavily focused on e-commerce companies. If you’re looking for an email tool for your e-commerce company, starting with Omnisend’s free plan might be the best choice. You’ll have ample time to set everything up with access to all its features and 24/7 support, without any limits on the number of days of support, unlike many other email marketing companies.

Bottom line? Is it the best free plan compared to others? Not necessarily, but it’s definitely one of my top favorites because of the access to all its features and 24/7 support.

Omnisend Review: Newsletter Features

So, how impressed am I with Omnisend’s newsletter features? Before I answer that, let me clarify what I don’t mean by newsletter features:

• I don’t mean email automation features. Those are reviewed separately (see: Email Marketing Automation)
• I also don’t mean sign-up forms or landing page features. Those are covered separately (see: Popup & Opt-in Form Features)
• I don’t mean e-commerce features
• Nor reporting features (see: Reporting features)

So, many aspects do not fall under my definition of newsletter features. What does fall into this category is:

• User-friendliness: Does Omnisend use user-friendly language or a lot of jargon?
• Maximum contact or monthly/daily email limitations: What are my thoughts on these limitations? Would they be restrictive for me?
• Newsletter editor: How easy is it to send a simple newsletter or design a beautiful one?
• Custom fields: Custom fields allow flexibility in segmenting your audience. How flexible is Omnisend with custom fields, and how easy is it to create them?
• Email scheduling: Some email tools offer advanced scheduling features like timezone-based email scheduling. Does Omnisend offer such features?
• Google Analytics UTM builder: This is essential, but some email tools don’t provide a simple Google Analytics UTM builder. Does Omnisend include this?
• Segmentation features: While all email tools offer segmentation, some are easier to use or more flexible than others. How does Omnisend compare to other email tools in this regard?

User-friendliness

How would I rate Omnisend in terms of user-friendliness? I’d give it a solid 4-star rating (Good).

Here are five reasons why:

1. No jargon used – While email marketing is inherently technical, Omnisend keeps jargon to a minimum, making it more accessible.
2. Inbox preview feature – The inbox preview may not be groundbreaking, but it’s very useful for those new to email marketing. It quickly shows how changes, like adjusting the pre-header content, will appear.

3. Use your brand logo and colors for every email – Once you import your logo and choose your brand colors, every pre-designed template will automatically use these settings. This is similar to how social media and website links are managed.

4. Quickly set up for a re-send campaign (Campaign Booster) – The campaign booster feature lets you re-send the same campaign with a different subject line or content to the same recipients. This automation saves you time, as you don’t need to remember to go back and set it up manually.

5. Already subscribed contacts – Omnisend allows you to show a different success page for contacts who are already subscribed and submit their email address through your opt-in forms. This feature is relatively rare among email marketing platforms.

Maximum Contacts & Monthly Emails

Email marketing tools with various pricing tiers often limit the number of monthly emails you can send and the number of contacts you can maintain at each tier. While not all tools have these restrictions, many do. For instance, some might cap your email sends at ten times your contact limit. So, with a 1,000-subscriber plan, you could send up to 10,000 emails each month.

How does Omnisend do?

In short, Omnisend offers a tier with unlimited emails, which is ideal for high-volume senders. If you don’t need to send that many emails, the Standard tier might be sufficient. Also, there’s no cap on the number of contacts you can have in both the Standard and/or Pro plan.

My rating: 4-stars (Good)

Longer version: Omnisend uses a 12x contact limit restriction on its Standard tier. For example, if you have 5,000 contacts, you can send up to 60,000 emails (12 * 5,000). Omnisend’s Pro tier has no such restrictions, allowing unlimited emails.

Omnisend also offers a feature called Safe Send Volume. Essentially, it prevents you from suddenly sending a massive volume of emails, like 100,000 in one day. This automated process gradually increases your email sending capacity to build a good sender reputation and ensure high email deliverability.

When creating a newsletter campaign, you’ll see a banner at the top showing your current safe sending volume. The Standard tier initially restricts you to 20,000 emails per day. This limit increases by 25% each time you reach it until you hit 400,000 emails. After that, it grows by 15% at each step. For more details about Omnisend’s Safe Send Volume, see this page.

Newsletter Editor

In this part of the review I’m exploring Omnisend’s newsletter editor features which means its email templates, and other features that are part of the process of creating an email newsletter and obivously also the newsletter editor itself.

Short version: the Omnisend newsletter editor offers essential features for creating and customizing email newsletters efficiently, similar to many other email marketing tools. The newsletter editor is, in most cases, not the primary reason to choose a particular email newsletter tool, as most email marketing tools offer great newsletter builders.

My rating: 4-stars (Good)

Longer version: Omnisend’s email tool is primarily geared towards e-commerce companies, so their pre-designed email templates are tailored to such businesses. Although I’m not sure of the exact number of templates, there are a lot!

However, I do miss an option to start from scratch. You can only select an email template; there doesn’t seem to be a way to begin with a blank template. While you can delete everything from a chosen template to start fresh, many marketers prefer to design their emails from scratch.

Another drawback is the inability to search for pre-designed templates by keyword. There are filters on the left-hand side, but no keyword search option.

A handy feature is the ability to choose your branded colors and fonts. Each time you select a new email template, it will automatically use your colors, fonts, and logo.

Once you’ve chosen an email template, you can start editing the content to your liking, as illustrated in the screenshot below. On the left-hand side, you’ll see a variety of tools.

The Omnisend newsletter editor is a straightforward and functional tool for creating email campaigns. Its drag-and-drop interface allows you to easily add and organize various elements within your emails. The sidebar includes options for adding text, images, buttons, and spacers, which can be arranged as needed.

You can customize the preheader and header sections for branding purposes and include a hero image to make a strong visual statement. The main email body can contain text, media, and product listings, which is useful for e-commerce businesses. Additionally, users can insert image galleries and create a tailored footer with additional information or links.

The editor allows adjustments to the canvas width to ensure the email looks good on different devices. Theme settings enable changes to the background and button styles to match your brand’s look. Before finalizing the email, users can send a test email to check the formatting and content. Personalization options, such as inserting customer names or discount codes, are also available to make the emails more relevant to recipients.

Overall, the Omnisend newsletter editor offers essential features for creating and customizing email newsletters efficiently, similar to many other email marketing tools. The newsletter editor is, in most cases, not the primary reason to choose a particular email newsletter tool, as most email marketing tools offer good newsletter builders.

My rating: 4-stars (Good)

Email Scheduling

Feature description: Some email tools provide advanced email scheduling features, such as sending emails in batches or at specific times, regardless of your audience’s time zone. Additionally, some tools offer send time optimization, determining the most likely time when your subscriber will open the email based on their previous interactions with your emails.

My evaluation: Besides the standard ‘schedule for later‘ option that every newsletter tool offers, Omnisend also allows you to schedule emails based on the subscriber’s time zone. This feature is particularly useful if you have a global audience. Keep in mind that not every email tool offers this option.

UTM tags for Google Analytics

When you send a newsletter, whether it’s a regular campaign or an automated email, Omnisend will automatically add UTM tags to the links in your emails, making it easy to track them. For more information on how this works, see this page on their website.

Omnisend Review: Email Marketing Automation

Given Omnisend’s focus on e-commerce companies, I will evaluate their email marketing automation features from an e-commerce perspective.

What does an e-commerce business need in terms of email marketing automation features?

While I appreciate advanced automation features like complex split testing, the most impactful features are often the basic ones, as many businesses haven’t yet implemented them.

The essential email automations that can generate about 80% of your email automation results are:

1. Welcome Series (3-10 emails)
2. Site Browsing Abandonment Campaign (1-3 emails)
3. Product Browse Abandon Campaign (3-4 emails)
4. Abandoned Cart Recovery
5. Abandoned Checkout Recovery
6. Post-Purchase Follow-Up (3-4 emails)
7. Win-back Campaign (2-8 emails)
8. VIP Campaign (3-5 emails)
9. Sunset Campaign (1 email)

Welcome Series

The welcome series automation triggers when someone joins your list. For e-commerce businesses, the most common use case for new subscribers is a discount pop-up (e.g., “Join our newsletter for 10% off”).

The primary goal of this welcome series automation is to educate new subscribers about your brand and products, build initial trust, and encourage them to make their first purchase.

This welcome series should consist of around 10 emails. The content of these emails should focus on:

• Educating future customers about your brand and products.
• Building initial trust with the subscribers.
• Encouraging subscribers to make their first purchase.

Whenever someone makes their first purchase during this automation (e.g., after email 4), they should ideally be filtered out of the series. Since the goal is to ensure subscribers make their first purchase, once this goal is achieved, they should no longer receive the remaining emails in the series.

Below, you can see an example template for a welcome series.

Creating a Welcome Series in Omnisend

So, can Omnisend do the things we just described above?

1. Can Omnisend trigger the automation when someone joins the list using a popup?

Yes, Omnisend allows us to start an automation (workflow, as Omnisend calls it) when someone joins your list using a specific popup. The setup process for creating such a workflow is relatively easy and doesn’t require any technical knowledge.

2. Can Omnisend support a series of 10 emails?

Yes, Omnisend supports up to 10 emails for a welcome series. It might even be unlimited, as I’m not aware of any cap on the number of emails you can add. Generally, most email marketing tools offer unlimited emails for a welcome series.

3. Does Omnisend allow filtering out subscribers who make their first purchase during the series?

Yes, Omnisend allows you to automatically remove subscribers from the workflow once they place an order, as shown in the screenshot below.

So, in terms of a welcome series, Omnisend does exactly what you need for an e-commerce company.

My rating: 5-stars (Great)

Site Browsing Abandonment Campaign

As an e-commerce business, it’s crucial to re-engage visitors who leave your website without making a purchase. Below is an example template for a Site Browsing Abandonment Campaign.

Creating a Site Browsing Abandonment Campaign in Omnisend

I tested Omnisend’s capabilities to set up a Site Browsing Abandonment Campaign, particularly focusing on its integration with Shopify. Here’s what I found:

Shopify Integration: Omnisend integrates seamlessly with Shopify. Once you install the Omnisend app, the site tracking feature activates automatically, enabling you to start capturing visitor behavior without any additional setup. For other platforms like WooCommerce, the integration process may vary (I haven’t tested those), but Omnisend offers comprehensive documentation to assist with different setups.

Tracking Capabilities: As shown in the screenshot below of Omnisend’s workflow builder, I configured this workflow to trigger when someone views a page on our website. I also set up ‘exit conditions,’ where Omnisend removes them from the workflow if they view a product page, place an order, or add an item to their cart.

Note that you need to add a waiting action within your workflow (e.g., a 1-hour delay as shown in the example) so Omnisend can exclude contacts once they visit a product page.

Omnisend provides the necessary tools to create and run a Site Browsing Abandonment Campaign effectively. Its integration with Shopify ensures an easy setup for site tracking.

My rating: 5-stars (Great)

Below is an example Site Browsing Abandonment Campaign email.

Product Browse Abandon Campaign

As an ecommerce business, re-engaging with visitors who viewed product pages but didn’t purchase anything is defitenly helpful. Below you can see an example template for a Product Browsing Abandonment Campaign.

Creating a Product Browse Abandon Campaign in Omnisend

I’ve tested Omnisend’s capabilities to set up a Product Browse Abandonment Campaign, focusing on its integration with Shopify. Here’s my experience:

Omnisend integrates with Shopify. Once the Omnisend app is installed, the site tracking feature becomes active automatically, allowing you to start capturing visitor behavior without additional setup. For other platforms (e.g., WooCommerce), the integration process may differ, but Omnisend provides documentation to assist with various setups.

Allow me te explain the screenshot above, which is a screenshot of Omnisend’s workflow builder.

1. I’ve set this workflow up to be triggered once someone views a product page on our website. Also, I’ve added an extra filter that this workflow should only be triggered when the status of the product is in stock since you don’t want to email people reminding them to purchase the product of it is out of stock.
2. I’ve set up these so called ‘exit conditions’ where Omnisend removes the contact from the workflow if they add a product to their cart, or place the order since I want to send them a different email/more personalized email if they would do that and didn’t purchase the product.
3. Omnisend allows you to skip contacts who’ve been in this automation before. It’s on 1 week as default.
4. Don’t forget to add waiting actions at the start of yoru automation before sending emails. Else someone will receive the abandoment email immediately after browsing a product page, which wwould be weird.

Anyhow, the bottom line is that Omnisend allows us to set up a Product Browse Abandon Campaign.

My rating: 5-stars (Great)

Below you can see an example email for a Product Browse Abandon Campaign.

Abandoned Cart Recovery

Abandoned cart and checkout campaigns usually have the highest conversion rates, making them crucial for e-commerce businesses to set up properly.

Below is an example template for a Abandoned Cart Recovery Campaign. It might seem confusing at first, but the idea is to send personalized emails based on the product a contact has added to their cart. For instance, you could create personalized abandoned cart emails for the most important products in your store to highlight their key benefits.

Creating an Abandoned Cart Recovery Campaign in Omnisend

Omnisend offers 50 pre-built workflow templates. As shown in the screenshot below, if you search for “cart,” you’ll find five pre-built templates ready to use.

Here’s an explanation of the screenshot above, which shows Omnisend’s workflow builder:

1. I set this workflow to trigger when someone adds a product to their cart.
2. I’ve set up these so-called ‘exit conditions’ where Omnisend removes the contact from the workflow if they start the checkout process or place the order.
3. Omnisend allows you to skip contacts who have been in this automation before. In this example, I set it so that contacts who have been in this automation in the last 14 days won’t be emailed again.
4. Remember to add waiting actions at the start of your automation before sending emails. Otherwise, someone will receive the abandonment email immediately after adding a product to their cart, which would be odd.

In conclusion, Omnisend enables us to set up a Cart Abandon Campaign effectively.

My rating: 5-starts (Great)

Abandoned Checkout Recovery

The checkout recovery campaign is similar to the cart recovery campaign (see above), but I recommend setting up a separate workflow to measure the different conversion rates of the two.

Creating an Abandoned Checkout Recovery in Omnisend

The setup process is the same as the cart recovery campaign with a few minor adjustments:

1. Instead of using the “Added to cart” trigger, use the “Started checkout” trigger.
2. Instead of two exit conditions like in the cart recovery campaign, use only one: the “Placed order” exit condition.

My rating: 5-starts (Great)

Post-Purchase Follow-Up

In addition to standard post-purchase emails like order confirmations, shipping updates, and delivery notifications, you can also send more personalized post-purchase emails.

The purpose of post-purchase emails can be multifaceted. Firstly, you want to ensure customers feel good about their purchase so they don’t regret buying from you. Reinforce that they made a great decision by highlighting product benefits and sharing customer testimonials and success stories.

Additionally, it’s a perfect time to provide tips and tricks on how to use your product. For instance, if a customer buys a non-fiction book, you could send tips to help them get started with the book’s content, such as how to achieve the best results. If you sell washing machines, you could share a video or how-to guide on installation.

Furthermore, selling to existing customers is often easier than acquiring new ones. So, take this opportunity to cross-sell your other products!

Lastly, ask for a review. Simply requesting a review may not be enough; you should offer some incentive for them to leave feedback.

Creating a Post-Purchase Follow-Up in Omnisend

The bottom line: Omnisend allows us to send post-purchase emails.

The setup process for a post-purchase workflow is similar to other workflows we’ve set up. In this case, you would use the “Placed order” trigger to start the workflow. There are no exit conditions like before since we want everyone to receive the post-purchase emails.

Win-back Campaign

The goal of a Re-Engagement Campaign is to encourage customers who haven’t purchased anything in a while to buy another item from your store, thereby increasing their lifetime value (LTV). Here is an example template:

The screenshot below shows a Re-Engagement Campaign example within Omnisend.

1. The workflow is triggered when someone places an order in your store.
2. Add an exit condition to remove the contact from this workflow once they make a purchase.
3. Set a wait period of X days (e.g., 45 days) before sending them a Re-Engagement email.

My rating: 5 stars (Great)

VIP Campaign

The goal of the VIP campaign is to reward and nurture your best customers, encouraging them to spend more in your store.

The first step is to create segments of your VIP customers. Examples of VIP segments are:

• Big spenders
  • Who are they: Imagine you’re a furniture company with customers who spend a lot on your products but only purchase 1 to 3 times a year.
  • Your goal: Turn big spenders into frequent spenders. Offer them early access to limited edition products or services, and remind them of the benefits of being a VIP. Promote related or complementary products to encourage new purchases.
• Frequent spenders
  • Who are they: Perhaps you’re a clothing brand with customers who buy often but don’t spend large amounts.
  • Your goal: Increase their average yearly spend. Offer exclusive discounts on related products, early access to complementary items, or admission to exclusive events.
• Blended
  • Who are they: If you’re a cosmetic brand with customers who purchase frequently and spend a lot, create a blended segment.
  • Your goal: These are your best customers. Reward and nurture them with perks like 1-day shipping and exclusive access to new products, services, or events.
• Potential VIPs
  • Who are they: All businesses can benefit from a segment that identifies potential VIPs. These customers have purchased or spent slightly less than your regular VIPs.
  • Your goal: Move potential VIPs to one of your VIP segments like Big Spenders, Frequent Buyers, or Blended. Show them the benefits of your loyalty program and offer VIP discounts on their next purchase to encourage them to join your VIP community.

Create the VIP segment ‘Big Spenders’ in Omnisend

In short: Unfortunately, it is not possible to create a big spenders segment within Omnisend. This also means the blended segment cannot be created.

Longer version: To create a big spenders segment, I want to identify contacts with a revenue slightly higher than my average customer’s yearly spend. For example, if I know my customer’s average yearly spend, I would set up a filter like this:

Revenue is greater than $120 in the last 300 days

Here is where I encountered a limitation with Omnisend. Omnisend does not offer the option to filter contacts based on the amount of money spent in your store (I confirmed this with their support).

Create the VIP segment ‘Frequent Spenders’ in Omnisend

In short: It is possible to create a frequent spenders segment in Omnisend.

To create a VIP segment of frequent spenders in Omnisend, you need to create a new segment. Use a number slightly higher than your average customer’s number of orders per year for your segment conditions:

Create the VIP segment ‘Potential VIPs’ in Omnisend

Longer version: Suppose your average customer’s number of orders per 365 days is 10, and your VIP segment condition for Frequent Spenders is at least 11 placed orders within 365 days. Then, a potential VIP would be a customer who has placed 10 orders in that period. One more order would push them into the VIP Frequent Spenders category.

The segment you want to create is:

Exlude all contacts that are in VIP segments

and

Include all contacts that have X orders or more in the last X days

The limitation with Omnisend is that it doesn’t allow you to exclude other segments when creating a segment. Here’s a workaround (see screenshot below):

1. The first condition is to exclude contacts that have ordered 11 times or more, which essentially represents the ‘Frequent Buyers’ Segment. It would be simpler if Omnisend allowed excluding a segment directly, but this isn’t possible.
2. The second condition is to find contacts that have ordered 10 times in the last X days, identifying your Potential VIPs.

Sunset Campaign

A “Goodbye” or “Sunset” campaign is an effective strategy for maintaining a healthy email list by removing unengaged subscribers. This campaign also serves as a final attempt to re-engage them before you unsubscribe them, ensuring you aren’t paying for inactive contacts on your monthly Omnisend bill.

Let’s see if Omnisend can facilitate this …

Create a Sunset Segment in Omnisend

Short version: Yes, Omnisend allows us to set up a sunset segment, but it’s not fully automated. There are some manual steps involved, which I’ll detail below. Because of this, I’ll rate this feature 3 stars (It’s fine).

Longer version: In the screenshot below, you can see that Omnisend provides the features to create a segment of “inactive” customers. Here’s a detailed explanation of how to create this segment. Note that this is an example sunset segment and you can customize it to fit your business needs.

1. Subscribed Contacts: First, ensure only contacts subscribed to your email list are included.
2. Inactive Subscribers: Add a condition to include only those who haven’t been added to your email list in the last X weeks. For instance, use 75 weeks, though this may vary depending on your store’s average order frequency.
3. Recent Orders: Exclude contacts who have placed an order in the last X weeks. In this example, it’s 75 weeks.
4. Checkout Activity: Exclude contacts who have started a checkout process in the last 75 weeks.
5. Website Visits: Exclude contacts who have visited your website, as they aren’t inactive.
6. Engagement: Exclude contacts who have clicked on a message in the last X weeks (e.g., 75 weeks).

Create a Sunset Workflow (Automation) in Omnisend

Now that we have defined the segment conditions for our sunset workflow, it’s time to create the workflow. Below is the workflow I created in Omnisend:

1. Trigger: The workflow starts when a contact enters the Sunset segment, meaning they have been inactive for the last 75 weeks or whatever timeframe you chose.
2. Exit: A contact will be removed from this workflow when they leave the Sunset segment, automatically exiting the segment if they become active again for any reason.
3. Initial Email: When a contact is added to the Sunset segment, the workflow will be triggered for that contact, and the “Is this a goodbye?” email will be sent.

Example email text:

Our email system shows that you aren't interacting with our emails. You're probably busy living your life, and that's totally fine!

We just don't want to send unwanted emails, so we will remove your email address from our newsletter, and you will not receive any more emails from us in the future.

If you think this is a mistake and still want to receive our emails, please click here and you will NOT be removed.

If they click the link in the email (indicating they want to stay on the list), they will be removed from the automation/workflow as they will exit the Sunset segment by clicking the link.

Of course, you can add more emails or be more creative with the emails, but this is an example you could use.

4. Waiting Period: The next step in the automation is a waiting period of, let’s say, 7 days. This gives your subscriber time to open the email and potentially click the link.
5. Tagging: If the contact doesn’t click the link in the email, the next step is to add a tag (e.g., Unengaged). Omnisend doesn’t allow automatic unsubscription from the email list within the workflow builder, so you need to manually unsubscribe them. The tag helps identify which contacts need to be unsubscribed.

Delete Inactive Contacts in Omnisend

The final step of the Sunset workflow is to delete contacts who didn’t click the link to stay on the list.

Unfortunately, Omnisend doesn’t support automating the unsubscription process, so this step must be done manually. If Omnisend had this feature, we could have added an extra step after the 7-day waiting period to automatically unsubscribe contacts. Since Omnisend lacks this option, a few extra manual steps are required.

See the screenshot below for detailed instructions:

1. Create a New Segment: Start by creating a new segment in Omnisend. Give it a clear name, such as “Unengaged contacts [delete this],” so you know its purpose. You will periodically need to visit this segment to delete the contacts within it. The frequency doesn’t matter much, but this manual process must be done regularly.
2. Segment Conditions: The first condition should identify contacts with the tag Unengaged.
3. Ensure only subscribed contacts are included.
4. Although you checked for inactivity in the Sunset workflow, you might add a condition to filter out contacts who haven’t clicked a link in the last X days. This extra check can help ensure accuracy.

Once you have created this segment, you can periodically unsubscribe the contacts in this segment.

Omnisend Review: Popup & Opt-in Form Features

In this section of my Omnisend review, I discuss its popup and sign-up form features. You can read more details below, but the bottom line is that Omnisend provides excellent features for e-commerce stores to set up high-converting popups for email or SMS, with extensive customization options.

My rating: 5 stars (Great)

Pre-designed templates

While I haven’t counted every template, Omnisend offers a very long list of pre-designed templates, giving you plenty of options to choose from.

Popup and Opt-in Form Builder

In addition to pre-designed templates, Omnisend offers a wide range of options to customize your sign-up forms to your liking.

The opt-in forms come with various behavior settings, as shown in the screenshot below.

Here are a few examples:

• Audience Management: Easily enable a double-opt-in email if desired.
• Scheduling: Set a start and end time for your popup, which is useful for special discount events.
• Display: Choose how you want the popup to be triggered, such as by the number of page visits, time on page, scroll depth, or exit intent.
• Visibility: Show a popup only on mobile, for instance, allowing you to create different popups for mobile and desktop. This is highly recommended.
• A/B Testing: Test different elements on your popup to determine what converts best.

Micro-Yes (Two-Step Process)

Another useful feature is adding a micro-yes step in your popup. The first step, as shown in the screenshot below, asks whether the visitor wants a 10% discount. When they click ‘Yes,’ they proceed to the second step, where they enter their email address to receive the discount. This psychological marketing technique can increase your conversions because once visitors say yes to the first question, they are more likely to say yes to the second, which is the email opt-in.

The screenshot below shows the second step, which requests the email address.

You can also use this multi-step process to first ask for the email address and then for the phone number (see the screenshot below for an example). Having both input fields on one screen can lower the conversion rate of your popup form, so splitting them into two different steps is more effective and recommended.

Alternate Features (Countdown Timer & Wheel of Fortune)

While a countdown timer or wheel of fortune feature isn’t essential for creating a high-converting popup, it might be worthwhile to test these extras once you’ve set up the basic email marketing components for your e-commerce store.

The screenshot below shows Omnisend’s wheel of fortune.

In the screenshot below, you can see how the wheel of fortune is set up. You can adjust the probabilities to suit your needs. Pretty cool!

Omnisend Review: Landing Page Features

In this section, I’m examining Omnisend’s landing page features. The bottom line? It’s essentially the same as the form/pop-up feature, with the main difference being that you can link to the landing page. While some email tools offer a more robust, website-like builder for their landing pages, Omnisend doesn’t. It’s a basic page where you can add a form, but for e-commerce businesses, that’s usually sufficient.

My rating: 3-stars (It’s fine)

Landing Page Strategies

Although discount popups are the most common way for e-commerce companies to gain new subscribers, landing pages can still be useful for other techniques:

1. Birthday Discounts: When sending a non-promo newsletter, include a message at the bottom like: “Want a 10% discount as a birthday present on your birthday? Share your birthday with us.” Link this to a landing page where existing contacts can update their details, enabling you to gather more information and send more targeted emails.
2. Extra Discounts for Contact Information: Include a link in your newsletter that says: “Click here for an extra 10% discount on your next order.” This directs to a landing page where subscribers can get the discount by sharing their phone number, which you can use for SMS marketing.

Pre-designed Landing Page Templates

Creating a landing page with Omnisend is similar to creating a popup. You click on forms and then select “landing page” in the filter. Omnisend offers eight pre-designed templates for creating a landing page.

Landing page settings

All the features available for popup forms are also available for landing pages. You can refer back to the popup & opt-in form section of this review to explore all the form features.

Custom domain

When publishing your Omnisend landing page, you have to use its default URL, which doesn’t look very nice:

https://omniform1.com/forms/v1/landingPage/664c51ddb57b0d72cbe17a67/664dcfabfbff0b5b335bfa84

The downside of using such a URL is the lack of branding, which doesn’t appear very professional if you are directing traffic to that URL.

A better URL would be something like:

https://creatoregg.com/name-of-your-landing-page

Omnisend Review: Support

Support for Free Plan Users

Omnisend offers 24/7 chat and email support to all its users, including those on the free plan.

Long Waiting Times

Despite the 24/7 chat support claim, you won’t always get an immediate response.

In most cases, I had to wait over 60 minutes for a reply to my chat question. One example reason was: “I apologize for the delay. I was on my break. Thank you so much for your patience and understanding.”

I understand that breaks are necessary, but promoting 24/7 chat support implies immediate assistance, which isn’t always the case. It also seems like there’s only one person answering questions at a time.

During chats, it often takes several minutes to get another reply, which is counterproductive. With chat, I expect a quick response. With email, I’m not constantly checking for a reply. With chat, I anticipate a quick response, so it’s frustrating when it takes up to 60 minutes.

No Expert Support Employees

Waiting for replies is even more frustrating because not all support employees know Omnisend well, resulting in longer delays: 24 to 48 hours.

For example, I asked whether it was possible to add a custom domain to Omnisend’s landing pages.

Instead of using the default landing page URL:

https://omniform1.com/forms/v1/landingPage/6641c3f085eafbd14bcd71b5/664478f0fbff0b5b335bf09c

I wanted to change it to something like:

Creatoregg.com/landing-page-1

I had to explain my question twice before the support employee understood. If you’re familiar with email marketing and landing pages, this should be an easy question to answer.

The chat support answer was that she needed to check with their tech team. Eventually, I found out it wasn’t possible, and they would put in a feature request.

Not Focused on Solving the Issue Quickly

I asked the following question at 7:15 am:

“Can I also trigger the browse abandonment workflow as someone just visited my website? I don’t want to specify a specific page.”

Ten minutes later, I received this answer:

“Hello Robbin, sure, so you would like it to be for all the pages of your website?”

It’s pretty obvious I want it to be for ALL pages. Now the support employee asks me another question instead of solving my issue. I saw her reply 1.5 hours later and responded:

“Correct. How do I do that?”

I didn’t get a reply for another 45 minutes. Instead of answering the question and solving my issue, she asked for the URL of my automation.

“Sure, would you please share with me the URL link of your automation on your Omnisend account?”

The employee goes back and forth when the answer is simple. Does Omnisend allow me to trigger automation when someone visits my website, or can it only be triggered with a specific page? This question could have been answered quickly, but it took ages.

Overall, I’m not the biggest fan of Omnisend’s chat support. Take their “top-notch 24/7 support” claim with a grain of salt.

My rating: 2-stars (Meh)

Omnisend Review: Reporting Features

In this section of my Omnisend review, I’ll take an in-depth look at several reporting dashboards of Omnisend. The bottom line? It has some limitations but offers solid features with its Pro tier.

Keep Track of Subscriber Growth

When reporting to yourself, your manager, or your client, you want to share monthly reports and compare them to determine whether your list is growing.

When you visit Omnisend’s dashboard, you’ll see a report similar to the one in the screenshot below. While this dashboard shows the number of new subscribers, it is limited in the timeframe you can choose. For example, if you want to see the report from two months ago, you can’t, as it only goes back one month. Additionally, you can’t compare months directly, meaning you’ll have to do this separately in a different datasheet. Bottom line? Not the best.

Newsletter Reporting

In short: Omnisend’s reporting features are great, but you must be on the Pro tier to access its advanced reporting features.

Longer version: Every email tool offers individual campaign reporting features, showing you the performance of individual newsletters. While it’s essential to know how your campaigns are performing, it’s equally (if not more) important to have a clear overview of all your campaigns over any given period.

To access the “clear overview” reports in Omnisend, you need to subscribe to its Pro tier, which grants access to ‘Advanced Reporting’. Without advanced reporting, the basic reporting isn’t the best.

In the screenshot above, you can see an example of Omnisend’s advanced reporting capabilities:

1. To visit the reporting dashboard, click on Reports.
2. If you are on the Pro tier, you can access its advanced reporting features.
3. I appreciate that it distinguishes between campaigns and workflows, allowing you to clearly see the results of both instead of having a combined view.
4. The advanced reporting dashboard allows you to filter by a custom date range, which is crucial for effective reporting.
5. You can also filter by email and SMS or view both.

Overall, the reporting features are quite good. However, a comparison feature to compare custom date ranges would make it even better.

My rating: 4-stars (Good)

Automation Reports

In short: Omnisend’s automation reports are excellent, but you must be on the Pro tier to access the advanced reporting features.

Longer version: The screenshot above shows an example of Omnisend’s advanced reporting capabilities for automation reports:

1. To access advanced reporting, you need to subscribe to the Pro tier.
2. Omnisend distinguishes between regular newsletters (campaigns) and automations (workflows).
3. It allows you to select a custom date range, which is a key feature of any advanced reporting system.
4. You can create a filter to select all channels (email, SMS, and push messages) or just one channel.
5. It also allows you to select all workflows or specific workflows, which is very useful. For example, you could filter for abandonment campaigns to see how they are performing.

Overall, the reporting features are quite good. However, a comparison feature for custom date ranges would make them even better.

My rating: 4-stars (Good)

Sign-up Form and Landing Page Reports

In the screenshot above, you can see an example of Omnisend’s sign-up form reporting.

1. Unfortunately, there isn’t a tab for forms and landing pages in the advanced reporting feature. Instead, you have to navigate to the Forms tab to see your form reports, which is far less impressive than the advanced reporting features for newsletters and automated messages.
2. The date range filter only offers three options: last 7 days, last 30 days, and show all-time data. This means you can’t select a custom time period or compare different periods.
3. The data provided includes the number of views your form received, the number of submissions, and the conversion rate. However, without a good time period selection feature, it’s not very useful for comparing different periods. Additionally, there’s no option to see aggregated data; you can only see individual form results, but I want to see all data at a glance.

Bottom line? I’m not a big fan of the sign-up form and landing page reporting features.

My rating: 2-stars (Meh)

Frequently asked questions

Omnisend’s History

Omnisend is a privately held company without any outside investors, founded in 2014.

According to co-founder Rytis Lauris’s LinkedIn profile, he had a digital marketing agency called Soundest, founded in 2009. He quit that agency in 2013, and as shown in the screenshot below, they became 100% focused on their new product: email marketing for e-commerce.

It’s interesting to see how the essence of the product hasn’t changed. They started with email marketing for e-commerce, and that’s still their mission. Now, they also focus on SMS marketing in addition to email.

Currently, Omnisend’s headquarters are in London, and the company was founded in Lithuania, Europe.

One of Omnisend’s biggest competitors is Klaviyo, which is also 100% focused on e-commerce companies and launched a few years before Omnisend, in 2012.

In the video below, you can listen to an interview with the founder of Omnisend published in 2019.

The post Omnisend Review appeared first on Creatoregg.com.

Different plans Omnisend

1. Forever free ($0)
2. Standard – Email (starting at $16)
3. Pro – Email+SMS (starting at $59)

Different plans Klaviyo

1. Forever free ($0)
2. Email (starting at $20)
3. Email and SMS (starting at $20)

Do note, although it appears Klaviyo offers two different paid plans (Email only, and Email plus SMS), it’s actually just one tier because the price is exactly the same. The only difference is that once you add more than 150 SMS credits to your account, you’ll see the price for the Email and SMS tier go up.

Prices Omnisend

1) Omnisend Standard (tier 1)

The table below shows Omnisend’s Standard tier prices, including the number of emails you can send monthly. They use a multiplier of 12 for its Standard tier, i.e., if you have 1,000 contacts, you can send 12,000 emails (1,000 times 12 is 12,000). Also, it’s good to note that this tier offers roughly 60 one-time SMS credits, with the option to buy more if needed.

2) Omnisend Pro (tier 2)

The table below details Omnisend’s Pro tier, which allows you to send unlimited emails—there’s no upper limit like in the Standard tier. Regarding SMS credits, which we will later discuss more in this review, the subscription price you pay monthly is also what you receive in SMS credits. For example, with a plan for 1,000 contacts costing $59 monthly, you would receive $59 worth of SMS credits. This equates to 3,933 SMS credits in the U.S., since the charge is $0.015 per SMS in the U.S..

3) Omnisend SMS credits

All Omnisend plans—Free, Standard, and Pro—include the option to purchase SMS credits. Both the Free and Standard plans offer a small number of one-time SMS credits as a trial.

In contrast, the Pro plan provides a more substantial benefit in “free” SMS credits, matching the amount of your monthly subscription. For example, if your subscription is $100 a month, you receive $100 in SMS credits. Additional credits are available for purchase. This approach is notably different from Klaviyo, which provides 150 free SMS credits; beyond that, more must be bought.

SMS pricing varies significantly depending on the recipient’s country. Sending an SMS to The Netherlands cost $0.14 each, while sending one to the United States is much cheaper at $0.015 each—nine times less.

Unlike Omnisend, Klaviyo uses a credit system, charging five credits to send an SMS to the UK, while Omnisend charges a straightforward $0.065 per SMS.

For detailed information on SMS credits and their utilization, visit this page on Omnisend website.

Prices Klaviyo

To clarify Klaviyo’s pricing structure, it appears at first that there are two distinct paid plans. However, both fall under the same pricing tier, as the base cost is identical. The only variable is the addition of more than 150 SMS credits, which raises the price for the Email and SMS plan.

The table below details Klaviyo’s pricing, including how many emails you can send each month. They use a multiplier of 10; this means if you have 1,000 contacts, you can send 10,000 emails. There’s no need to worry about exceeding your email allowance, as Klaviyo offers an automatic account upgrade if needed. Also, note that Klaviyo imposes a daily limit, allowing you to send four times the number of your contacts in emails each day. For example, with 1,000 subscribers, you can send up to 4,000 emails daily.

2) Klaviyo SMS credits

Klaviyo provides 150 free SMS credits monthly. If you find yourself needing more, you can easily add them through the billing section of your Klaviyo account, as shown in the provided screenshot.

You can increase your SMS credits any time by accessing your Klaviyo dashboard.

The cost per SMS credit at Klaviyo starts at $0.012 but decreases with larger purchases. The lowest rate available is about $0.009 per credit when you buy at least 5,000 credits. The minimum purchase is 1,250 credits.

It’s worth mentioning that Klaviyo’s system differs from Omnisend’s. Klaviyo charges 1 SMS credit for messages sent within the USA and 5 credits for those sent to the UK. In contrast, Omnisend applies fixed rates per message, charging $0.015 for messages to the USA and $0.065 for those to the UK. Klaviyo uses a credit system, whereas Omnisend states the cost directly in monetary terms.

Omnisend vs Klaviyo

Let’s delve into a detailed comparison of their prices.

1) Comparing email marketing prices

The provided graph outlines the pricing for Omnisend’s Standard tier alongside Klaviyo’s pricing excluding SMS credits.

The horizontal axis (x-axis) shows the range of contacts in your account, from 1,000 to 100,000. The vertical axis (y-axis) lists the corresponding monthly costs.

From the graph, it’s evident that Klaviyo consistently charges more than Omnisend. The price disparity grows significantly with larger contact lists, reaching nearly a $500 difference per month for 100,000 contacts.

2) Comparing the price per SMS

Initially, it’s important to note that Omnisend serves more countries than just the nine featured in the table below; however, since Klaviyo’s SMS functionalities are limited to these nine countries, they are the focus of this comparison.

The table reveals that Klaviyo generally offers lower SMS pricing than Omnisend in eight of the nine comparisons, based on a $0.009 per SMS credit rate. Yet, it’s crucial to remember that Omnisend provides a number of SMS credits equivalent to the subscription cost on the Omnisend Pro tier, which can alter the perception of cost-effectiveness in this comparison. Later, when we review the overall costs, you’ll see that Omnisend ultimately offers a cheaper price than Klaviyo.

3) Price Comparison of the Entire Toolset (Email + SMS)

Let’s examine two scenarios to determine which email marketing tool provides the most cost-effective pricing.

The graph below displays Klaviyo’s combined pricing for email marketing and SMS credits. Here is how to interpret the graph:

The horizontal axis (x-axis) indicates both the number of contacts and the number of SMS credits, such as:

• 1,000 contacts and 1,000 SMS credits
• 5,000 contacts and 5,000 SMS credits
• And so on

The blue shaded columns show the cost for just email marketing with Klaviyo.

The red shaded columns indicate the costs for Klaviyo’s SMS credits.

For instance, at the 50,000 contact level, adding both the email and SMS credit costs—$720 for email and $450 for SMS—the total comes to $1,170 for Klaviyo.

Now let’s take a look at Omnisend:

Below is Omnisend’s Pro tier (tier 2) pricing for email marketing and SMS credits.

A key distinction between Klaviyo and Omnisend is that Omnisend’s Pro tier automatically includes SMS credits equal to your subscription fee.

For additional context on how the graph is structured, please refer back to the earlier explanation of the Klaviyo graph.

Additional insights:

• In the scenario of 1,000 contacts, the subscription fee is $59. This fee directly translates into SMS credits, granting you $59 worth, or 3,933 credits at $0.015 each—this calculation assumes SMS is sent to recipients within the USA. Sending SMS to other countries usually incurs higher costs, which would result in fewer SMS credits per dollar.
• For 5,000 contacts and SMS credits, the $90 subscription provides 6,000 credits, ample for covering the needs without extra purchases, again assuming these messages are directed to the US.
• At 20,000 contacts, the $375 fee equates to 25,000 SMS credits, sufficient for the required volume without additional purchases, provided the SMS are sent to US recipients.
• For 50,000 contacts, the $715 monthly fee translates to 47,667 SMS credits. To reach the full 50,000 credits, an additional purchase of 2,333 credits at $0.015 each, totaling $35, is required, assuming all texts are sent within the US.
• At the highest tier of 100,000 contacts, the $1,334 fee provides 88,933 credits. To achieve 100,000 credits, you’d need to buy an additional 11,067 credits, costing an extra $166 per month, under the assumption that all messages are dispatched to the USA.

The graph below consolidates the information from the previous two graphs. It clearly demonstrates that Klaviyo is generally more expensive than Omnisend, with the exception of the smallest case scenario. Particularly, at the 100,000 contacts and 100,000 SMS credits level, Klaviyo exceeds Omnisend’s cost by more than $700 per month.

Ultimately, despite Klaviyo’s lower individual SMS pricing, the overall cost analysis shows that Klaviyo’s total package price is substantially higher than Omnisend’s.

Winner: Omnisend

The post Omnisend vs Klaviyo appeared first on Creatoregg.com.

Check out my quick, 1-minute summary of Bento:

Bento’s website: www.bentonow.com.

Bento Video Tutorial & Demo

Bento Email Review: Pricing

Bento stands out for its cost-effectiveness, particularly for those with a smaller number of subscribers. However, when it comes to larger subscriber bases (20,000+), Bento’s pricing model—charging $0.01 per subscriber without scaling discounts—could be improved to remain competitive. A tiered pricing strategy, where the cost per subscriber decreases as the total number increases, could be more attractive. This approach encourages growth by making it more economical for businesses as they expand. Furthermore, considering Bento is still enhancing its feature set, prioritizing more competitive pricing in the interim could be a strategic move to attract and retain users. For more details, visit Bento’s pricing page here.

Discounts

When you opt for an annual plan with Bento, you’re eligible for a discount ranging from 10 to 15%. This discount isn’t advertised on their website and varies based on the size of your account. In the charts provided below, I’ve factored in these discounts.

Pricing structure

Bento’s pricing is based on the number of subscribers you have. While many email marketing platforms use a similar subscriber-based pricing model, there are also tools that charge based on the number of emails you send. If your email volume is relatively low each month, it might be beneficial to explore options like Brevo, which offer pricing based on email volume.

The number of contacts (subscribed vs unsubscribed)

It’s important to understand the distinction between marketing and transactional emails, particularly when it comes to EU citizens. EU privacy laws are very strict, requiring you to obtain consent from your subscribers before you can legally send them marketing emails. However, transactional emails, such as shipping updates or password resets, don’t require this explicit consent.

If you manage an email list, you’ll have both subscribed and unsubscribed contacts. For instance, if someone bought something from your store but didn’t opt into marketing emails, you cannot send them promotional newsletters.

Regarding email marketing tools, some only bill you for active, subscribed members of your list. Others, however, charge for both subscribed and unsubscribed addresses.

Bento, for example, charges for both. This approach means your costs could increase if a portion of your list, say 5%, is unsubscribed.

However, there are exceptions. If your business attracts many new email subscribers daily and you market to them for just a short period (30 to 60 days), you might qualify for a special arrangement with Bento. Suppose you’re adding 50,000 to 100,000 new sign-ups monthly and choose to unsubscribe those who don’t make a purchase within a certain timeframe. In such scenarios, reaching out to Bento’s support may allow you to adjust your account so that you’re billed only for active subscribers.

Price comparison

In the following section, I’ll compare Bento’s pricing with popular email marketing tools.

Bento vs MailerLite

MailerLite stands as a competitor to Bento, and it’s evident that Bento offers competitive pricing for lower subscriber levels when compared to MailerLite. However, as your subscriber count reaches 20,000 or especially surpasses 100,000, Bento’s costs significantly increase, making MailerLite a more budget-friendly option at these levels. Bento provides a versatile email marketing tool, which is more suitable for users with a background in computer science or coding. For those seeking a more user-friendly option without the need for technical expertise, MailerLite is an excellent choice.

Click here and explore MailerLite’s website for a forever free plan and a 30-day free trial of premium features.

Bento vs ConvertKit

ConvertKit poses another competition to Bento and is priced higher than MailerLite, as the comparison graphs show. Similar to the Bento vs. MailerLite scenario, Bento offers lower costs at smaller subscriber counts but becomes considerably more expensive as the subscriber base grows, with a noticeable price jump at the 100,000 subscriber mark compared to ConvertKit.

Why opt for ConvertKit over Bento? ConvertKit is an extremely user-friendly email marketing platform that focuses on efficiency and simplicity, without unnecessary complications. It’s ideal for those who prefer straightforward tools over complex ones, making it a better fit for users without a technical background.

Click here and discover ConvertKit’s offerings, including a forever free plan and a 30-day free trial for its premium features.

Bento vs Mailchimp

In comparing Bento with Mailchimp, it’s important to note that Mailchimp offers three subscription tiers. However, the lowest tier lacks several essential features, making it less advisable. The Standard tier—Mailchimp’s mid-level offering—includes valuable features but comes at a relatively high price compared to other email marketing tools that may offer similar or more features for less. The Premium tier is deemed significantly overpriced. For this comparison, only the Standard tier of Mailchimp is considered, as it strikes a balance between cost and features, despite being somewhat pricey. Additionally, Mailchimp does not offer an annual purchase option, meaning no discounts are available for long-term commitments, unlike Bento, which does offer an annual discount. Given that email marketing is a long-term strategy, the comparison below includes Bento’s prices with a 15% annual discount.

My evaluation: The comparison shows that Mailchimp’s Standard tier is pricier at lower subscriber levels. However, once the subscriber count exceeds 50,000, Bento becomes the more expensive option. This is concerning since Mailchimp is already considered quite expensive. Furthermore, Mailchimp is generally more user-friendly than Bento (in my experience as a non-tech person). Notably, even with a 15% annual discount applied to Bento’s pricing, it remains more costly than Mailchimp at the 100,000 subscriber level. On the other hand, if you prefer the flexibility Bento offers and are tech-savvy, Bento is more up your alley than Mailchimp.

Mailchimp’s website: www.mailchimp.com.

Bento vs Klaviyo

It’s essential to remember that the prices listed for Bento reflect a 15% discount for annual purchases. Klaviyo does not offer such discounts or pricing plans based on annual payment, so no comparative discount exists.

Klaviyo consistently comes out as more expensive than Bento across all subscriber levels. However, it’s crucial to consider the differences in tool functionality and target markets. Klaviyo shines as the most user-friendly option for Shopify e-commerce businesses, boasting superior email + SMS marketing solutions aimed at elevating e-commerce marketing strategies. Its standout features include advanced segmentation, personalization, and reporting, particularly tailored to e-commerce brands (see my review here.) Furthermore, Klaviyo has a significant advantage in terms of resources, with substantial funding, including a $100 million investment from Shopify, making it one of the largest investors. In contrast, Bento is a bootstrapped company with a smaller team.

Although Bento also caters to e-commerce needs, Klaviyo’s offerings are far more advanced and tailored to this sector. For businesses seeking the pinnacle of e-commerce marketing tools, Klaviyo is the recommended choice. This comparison suggests that Bento and Klaviyo target different audiences, making a direct comparison challenging in terms of aligning with specific market needs.

Klaviyo’s website: www.klaviyo.com.

Bento vs GetResponse

Firstly, it’s important to note that the prices mentioned here are for annual subscriptions, including discounts for both tools. These are the monthly rates when you opt for an annual plan. Also, GetResponse uniquely offers 24-month plans, coming with a 30% discount off the monthly rate. The GetResponse prices listed reflect an 18% discount (the annual plan).

GetResponse has been around since 1997, making it a more established platform than Bento, which launched in 2018. This longevity has given GetResponse ample time to refine its offerings. It’s an excellent choice for start-ups in the B2B software sector or businesses selling high-ticket information products. GetResponse provides a comprehensive suite of marketing tools without breaking the bank: email marketing, advanced automation, live chat, and webinar capabilities.

Test GetResponse with a free plan at: www.getresponse.com

Bento vs ActiveCampaign

The graph below compares Bento’s pricing against two of ActiveCampaign’s plans: Marketing Professional and Bundles Professional. While ActiveCampaign offers more affordable options than only these two (Marketing Professional and Bundles Professional), these lower-tier ActiveCampaign plans limit access to its best features. The price comparison stops at 50,000 subscribers because ActiveCampaign does not disclose rates for larger lists.

ActiveCampaign stands out despite its higher cost, especially for businesses prioritizing email marketing and personalized sales. It combines top-notch email automation with CRM functionalities (like pipelines, deals, and tasks). If your business is heavily focused on email marketing and one-on-one sales, ActiveCampaign’s comprehensive marketing and sales features make it worth considering.

Visit ActiveCampaign at: www.activecampaign.com.

Bento vs Brevo

Brevo is an excellent email marketing tool that, similar to ActiveCampaign, offers CRM features, though in a less sophisticated manner. However, it compensates with a more appealing price point. While Brevo may not be the easiest tool to navigate, it boasts a wide range of email marketing and sales features at a competitive price.

Important to note:

• Bento bills based on the number of subscribers, allowing for unlimited emails.
• Brevo’s pricing model is based on the number of emails sent, but it allows for an unlimited number of subscribers.

This means that if you typically send only one or two emails to your subscribers each month, Brevo could be a more cost-effective option.

For more information, visit Brevo’s website at www.brevo.com.

When comparing email tools, it’s vital to differentiate between those that charge based on emails sent, like Brevo, and those that charge based on subscriber count, like Bento. Brevo’s model is particularly beneficial for those who send emails less frequently. For example, with a subscriber base of 50,000 but only one newsletter sent per month, you would need a plan that covers sending 50,000 emails per month.

Below is an illustration assuming a 1:1 ratio of subscribers to emails sent monthly. Here, with 10,000 subscribers and the same number of emails sent, Brevo’s pricing becomes significantly more attractive compared to Bento. This highlights the potential savings with Brevo for those sending only a single newsletter monthly.

The pricing examples are calculated on an annual basis, including discounts for yearly payments.

Consider the following scenarios based on the graph provided:

• 2,500 subscribers sending 2,500 emails per month
• 10,000 subscribers sending 10,000 emails per month
• 50,000 subscribers sending 50,000 emails per month

For detailed pricing and more information, visit Brevo’s website at www.brevo.com.

Bento Email Review: Free plan

Unlike some email marketing solutions, Bento doesn’t offer a forever free plan. However, they do provide a 30-day trial that lets you explore all its functionalities. But do note, you’ll need to provide your credit card details to access this.

Bento Email Review: Newsletter Features

User-friendly langauge

Bento struggles with simplicity in its language. It often relies on programming terms, which can be a barrier for users not familiar in such language (like myself).

For instance, take the “if/else split” feature in its automation tool (called “flow”.) The if/else setting works just like an IF statement in Excel. You create a rule that says if a condition is met, do one thing; if it’s not met, do another.

In these settings, terms like “is null” or “is not null” are used. If you’re not already familiar with these terms, they can be puzzling. I found myself needing to search for their meanings online.

To put it simply, “is null” means “lacks a value” or “is empty,” showing that nothing was filled in. In simpler terms, you could say “If the ‘Sequence (Finished)’ field is empty…” This way, you keep the same meaning without using complex words.

In terms of user-friendly language, I would say it falls short.

My rating: 2 stars (Meh)

Maximum contacts & monthly emails

Feature Description: Email marketing tools with multiple pricing tiers often impose limits on the number of monthly emails you can send and the number of contacts you can maintain at each tier. While not all tools implement these restrictions, many do. For instance, some may cap your email sends at ten times your contact limit. Therefore, with a 1,000-subscriber plan, you could send up to 10,000 emails each month.

My Evaluation: Bento operates differently from most email marketing tools, possibly due to its relatively recent entry into the market and its lack of tiered pricing options (for now). As Bento expands, it may introduce various pricing levels and potentially impose sending limits, but that remains speculative. Currently, Bento allows for unlimited email sends and contacts within its plan, though it does charge for each new contact added to your account ($0.01 per contact). Your email sending frequency does not affect the cost.

In summary, the freedom from monthly sending limits is particularly beneficial for those who send emails frequently.

My rating: 5 stars (Great)

Newsletter editor

Bento provides three options for crafting your newsletters:

1. Plain Text Editor (referred to as Shoij)
2. Drag and Drop Editor (referred to as Stripo)
3. HTML Editor (referred to as Raw)

Plain text editor (Shoij)

One limitation of the plain text editor is its somewhat technical nature. For example, adding a button to the newsletter doesn’t simply display the button for easy editing; instead, it presents the code required to generate the button.

In the screenshot provided below, the button text turns orange when I hover over it with the mouse, a color choice that, in my opinion, is not the best. I asked support how to change the color, and it turns out you need to use CSS coding. A simpler, less technical way to edit this would be better.

It’s worth noting that Bento supports the use of Liquid for crafting its emails, a feature shared with only a couple of other email marketing tools like ConvertKit and Bento.

Liquid is a flexible template language created by Shopify that allows for a more programming-like approach to composing newsletters, rather than simply writing them. This can offer a more personalized touch but also requires more effort and time.

Take, for instance, the scenario where you’ve gathered an email list including first names. Ideally, you’d want to personalize your emails by addressing each recipient by their first name. However, if someone enters their name in all capital letters, it might look odd in the email, such as “Hello ROBBIN.”

Liquid offers a solution for this by enabling the use of specific code snippets, like {{ visitor.pretty_name }}, to ensure names appear appropriately. While Liquid’s versatility and customization options are significant advantages, newcomers might find its breadth of capabilities and the necessary learning curve somewhat daunting.

Drag and drop Editor (called Stripo)

Bento also offers a drag-and-drop email editor known as Stripo. This feature is something you might already be familiar with if you’ve dabbled in other email marketing tools. It’s straightforward, letting you add buttons and tweak designs without needing to dive into code. Plus, Bento keeps things flexible by ensuring the Liquid templating language works smoothly in this drag-and-drop environment, just like it does in all of Bento’s editors.

Email lists

While many email marketing platforms let you craft multiple lists to keep your audience segments organized. Bento takes a different path. There’s no option to create multiple email lists.

Is that a drawback? Not necessarily. It’s more about what you need. If you’re just stepping into the world of email marketing, the lack of multiple list options in Bento probably won’t bother you. However, if you’re coming from a tool where extensive list segmentation is part of your routine, you’ll find Bento requires a shift in how you think about and manage your audience.

(Custom) fields

Feature Description: (Custom) fields are a flexible way to collect information about your contacts. For example, you can record basic details like a contact’s First Name or Email Address. Beyond that, (custom) fields allow you to capture more specific information—such as whether a subscriber prefers weekly or monthly newsletters, or if they’re interested in men’s or women’s clothing, useful for ecommerce stores. Essentially, the possibilities are limitless.

My Evaluation: As you can see in the screenshot below, this is how it looks when you want to add a new field inside Bento. After doing a bit of research myself, since I had never heard of Integer, Float, or Boolean before, it appears these are common terms in the world of computer science and data management. This is a recurring theme I’ve noticed while using and testing Bento: they don’t really use user-friendly language, or in other words, they often don’t speak in plain English.

For instance, consider the screenshot below which demonstrates how to add a new field in Mailchimp, an email marketing tool. Suppose you want to add a new field with radio buttons.

Once you select the radio buttons, you will immediately see how they will appear (refer to the screenshot below), giving you a clear idea of what they are.

However, I must admit that this is merely my personal preference. As someone not well-versed in computer science jargon, I prefer plain English.

My rating: 1-star (bad)

Unsubscribe features

Suppose you send a newsletter using Bento, and someone decides to unsubscribe. In that case, Bento redirects them to the ‘Manage preferences’ page, where they can pause or unsubscribe altogether.

If they select the pause option, Bento will redirect them to a page that notifies them that their emails are on pause. However, it’s worth noting that you can’t edit the content on this page. Currently, it mentions ‘marketing’ emails and ‘promotional broadcasts,’ which might not accurately reflect your newsletter’s content. For example, if you share tips about growing a newsletter, it might not make sense to say that subscribers will not receive any ‘promotional’ emails. Instead, you might want to say, “If you’d like to receive our high-value emails again, please adjust your settings.” Despite this, the pause option is a great feature that not many email marketing tools offer.

Email scheduling

Feature description: Some email tools provide advanced email scheduling features, such as sending emails in batches or at a specific time, regardless of your audience’s time zone. Furthermore, some tools offer send time optimization, which can determine the most probable time when your subscriber will open the email based on their previous interactions with your emails.

My evaluation: Bento provides two valuable features for email management – scheduling and batching. As shown in the screenshot below, batching allows you to simultaneously avoid sending emails to your entire list. According to Bento, this helps improve deliverability.

You can use Bento’s email batching tool to schedule and send emails to many recipients. However, it does not offer advanced scheduling features such as time zone or predictive sending. Instead, it provides an alternative method for finding the best time and day to send a newsletter through batching.

For instance, Bento suggests that if you have a list of 20,000 subscribers and want to determine the best day and time to send a newsletter, you can use their batching tool to send 120 emails per hour. The idea is that this tool will help you find your newsletter’s optimal time and day. 

However, it is important to revise this method when conducting A/B tests. To do a reliable test, you must ensure that you have sufficient people in each variation. In this case, you need more than 120 people per variation to have a reliable outcome of the A/B test. You can use a sample size calculator to determine the sample size per variation.

To test different sending times, you can use the batching tool. For instance, if you have a subscriber list of 5,000 and want to determine the best sending time between 6 am and 5 pm, you can schedule your email to be sent at 6 am and divide it into batches. For example, you can email every 2 hours, as shown in the screenshot below. In this case, the newsletter will be sent to 833 people every 2 hours, starting at 6 am. If you have a list of 5,000 people, it will take six different batches to send the newsletter to all subscribers, which will be completed after 12 hours.

My rating: 3-stars (It’s fine)

Google Analytics UTM builder

Bento enables you to add UTM parameters to the HTML links in your emails. The screenshot below displays the default setting for regular broadcasts (newsletters). You can modify this setting as per your preference.

Can this process be more user-friendly? Currently, if I want to change the UTM tracking code, the entire default code disappears, meaning I have to re-enter the entire UTM code. Other email marketing tools have a more user-friendly approach, where you can edit the content of the separate parameters. Another issue is that there is no option to set a dynamic tag, so every time you send a new newsletter, the parameters of the Google UTM tag have to be manually changed.

My rating: 3-stars (It’s fine)

Segmentation

Bento provides a feature to create and save new segments like other email marketing tools. These segmentation builders usually work with and/or filters. The segment in the screenshot below performs the following search: it looks for email addresses that have “robbin” in their email field and also have “Bart” or “Joe” in their email field. Once you have created this segment, you can save it and use it later to target your audience while making your newsletter.

When you write and send a newsletter, you can access the same segmentation builder shown in the screenshot above. Accessing this same builder is convenient because you won’t have to navigate to a separate window to create the segment while creating your newsletter.

Remember that the segmentation builder in Bento’s automations (flows) has fewer options. Read more about this in the Email Marketing Automation section of this review.

What’s the main point? Although Bento’s segmentation builder is good, it offers fewer options than ActiveCampaign.

For instance, ActiveCampaign has a better tool for this. If you’re looking at emails sent, you’ll notice in the image below that Bento lets you choose only one campaign.

In the image below, you’ll see an example from ActiveCampaign. It shows that you have many more choices for selecting campaigns (like picking a specific one, any campaign, or a one-on-one email). Plus, ActiveCampaign allows you to filter sent emails by specific date ranges, including the last few days or any time.

This is just one example, but it shows how ActiveCampaign offers more flexibility.

My rating: 3-stars (It’s fine)

Bento Email Review: Email Marketing Automation

Different types of automation

It’s confusing that Bento has multiple tabs for automation/flows: sequences, flow emails, and flows.

Sequences

When might you need sequences?

Actually, you don’t have to use sequences since you can achieve the same results with the Flows feature. You might prefer using sequences because you find them easier or more to your liking than setting up the same thing in Flows. But it’s important to understand there’s no strict need or requirement to use sequences.

Add the “Add To Sequence” action to start a sequence in a flow (see the Flow section below for more details).

Screenshots:

On the Sequences tab, you can view the various email sequences that you have created.

If you click on one of the sequences, you’ll see an overview of all the emails in that sequence. You can add new emails, change their order, and more here. There’s also a ‘stats’ button. Clicking on it takes you to the email dashboard, where you can view the performance statistics of each email.

My evaluation: I’m not really into having separate tabs for sequences and flows because it’s puzzling, especially for new software users. I’ve noticed questions about this in Bento’s support group, which could be resolved by combining the two features into a single tool. ConvertKit, an email marketing tool, is a great example of how combining the two can be done. Their setup is similar to Bento’s, but ConvertKit’s approach is much more user-friendly and straightforward.

Flows

The screenshot below shows Bento’s flow dashboard and displays all the flows you created in Bento.

As you can see in the screenshot below, we can perform the same action as in the Sequence tab, where we created multiple emails and a waiting period. You can continue adding emails to this list. However, the difference between this flow setup and the sequence is that it may appear slightly less organized due to other bells and whistles.

It’s worth noting that in the Flow dashboard, there is an action called “Add to Sequence” that triggers a sequence created in the Sequence tab.

Automation templates

Using automation templates is an excellent way to start with the automation builder in an email marketing tool. Not only do they serve as a source of inspiration for what’s possible, but some email marketing tools also allow you to import these templates into your account. This feature saves you from creating automation workflows from scratch and will enable you to try out good automation ideas for your business.

Unfortunately, Bento offers no automation templates that can be explored or imported into your account. The absence of templates makes it difficult for users to understand the tool’s full potential. While Bento has a ‘share’ feature where you can share the automation flow you’ve created with others, there is no central location where we can view these flows to explore the tool’s possibilities. No templates means that users have to make all automation flows from scratch. Although the founder of the tool, Jesse, has shared some flow ideas through how-to videos, this is only a handful of ideas. It would be helpful to have a searchable marketplace of flows to speed up the automation process.

All in all, not having automation templates is a big downside for me.

My rating: 1-star (Bad)

Starting an automation

When setting up your Bento automation (also known as a flow in Bento), they will ask you how you’d like to begin the automation process.

Feature Description: Automating email marketing tasks, such as sending emails, updating contact fields, or unsubscribing people from a list, begins with a trigger – the start of the automation. Some email marketing tools offer only a few trigger options, while others offer more variety. More options allow you to be more creative with what you’re trying to automate. 

Bento offers many trigger options, such as sign-up form completions, new tags added to contacts, website page views, email link clicks, and more.

My evaluation: Does Bento offer the most wide-ranging options for triggering your automations?

No, that is not the case. For instance, ActiveCampaign provides more trigger options than Bento. However, Bento offers only a few options. Other tools, like MailerLite, have fewer trigger options.

Does Bento provide the most user-friendly experience in terms of its starting triggers?

No, it does not. Most other email marketing tools are more user-friendly than Bento. For example, MailerLite is a user-friendly email tool, and one of the triggers it offers is when a subscriber completes a form. It gives you a dropdown of all your sign-up forms, and you can quickly select them.

In the screenshot below, you can see how it works within Bento. First, you have to choose the trigger custom event. You then have to enter the ID of the sign-up form you created in the past. Do note that Bento doesn’t save your sign-up forms. Once you make one, it’s gone—more information on that in the opt-in form section. Anyway, you have to enter the ID of the sign-up form yourself in this field, which is error-sensitive. If you mistype the automation, it won’t trigger.

Overall, although it’s not that Bento offers the most extensive list of triggers, it still does provide a decent list of triggers; aside from that, it could be more user-friendly.

My rating: 3-stars (It’s fine)

Freebie delivery

Feature Description: If you want to grow your newsletter, one of the best tactics is to offer something for free in exchange for a contact’s email address. This could be anything from a free checklist to an ebook, video, or discount code. Some email marketing tools make it easy to create and deliver these freebies, while others can be more challenging to use.

My evaluation:

In my evaluation, I’ll outline how Bento handles the process of delivering freebies, and I will share the pros and cons.

My rating: 3-stars (It’s fine)

Split automation

If/else split

Feature Description: Bento refers to this functionality as the Split feature. It operates by checking for a specific condition, and if a contact meets that condition (for instance, if they open an email), then the contact will proceed along the “True” path (or the left path). Conversely, if the contact does not meet the selected condition, they will follow the “False” path (or the right path). This feature is known in other email marketing tools as the if/else split feature.

In the screenshot provided below, you can see how the feature works.

1. If the visitor matches specific criteria, do this; otherwise, do that. This feature is very similar to the IF statement in Excel, which checks whether something is true. If it’s true, do this; if not, do that.
2. Here, you must choose a rule (if/else criteria)
3. To do so, click on the dropdown menu at number two, which will display a list of available rules and filters.

My evaluation:

Bento’s if/else split feature has a few drawbacks:

1. Limited Instructions: Bento offers many choices for if/else split automation with a wide range of filters. However, the complete list isn’t shown in the image above and is even longer. Some filters are confusing because it’s unclear what they do or how to use them. Bento’s website doesn’t have enough guides or explanations (see the support section of this review), making it hard to understand all these options. While asking the support team might be an option, asking them to explain every filter feels odd. For comparison, ActiveCampaign has detailed guides that are available online.
2. Complex Language: Bento tends to use technical terms or jargon, making it less accessible. For example, they use terms like “dma_code” in the if/else split feature, which isn’t explained in their documentation. This use of complex language is a recurring theme in their software, making it harder for users to understand.
3. Lack of Nested Conditions: While you can add “and/or” conditions to the filters, Bento doesn’t support nested conditions. Some other email marketing tools offer this feature, making them more flexible and powerful regarding segmentation. You can find more about nested conditions in the segmentation features section of this review.

Overall, the if/else split feature in Bento works, but it’s limited by insufficient documentation and the use of complex language.

My rating: 3-stars (It’s fine)

Randomize (split) feature

Feature Description: Bento’s Randomize feature lets you split your audience into two or more groups, like 50/50 or any other ratio you choose. This split feature is helpful in many cases. For example, imagine you want to offer your email subscribers different discount codes—sometimes 10% and sometimes 20%—to see which works better. This method helps you determine which discount is more effective over time, and it could save you money if the smaller discount works just as well. This example is just one way to use it. You can also use this feature for things like A/B testing your email subject lines to see which one gets more opens.

My Evaluation: Many email marketing tools let you do A/B testing or split your contacts, just like Bento does. Some, like MailerLite, are even cheaper than Bento. Tools like Mailchimp have a similar 50/50 split feature to Bento’s. However, tools like ActiveCampaign and MailerLite give you more options or are easier to use. So, while it’s great that Bento has this feature, it’s not the best compared to others.

Below is an example of how MailerLite’s A/B testing feature works.

ActiveCampaign, for example, offers a wide range of customization options. When creating a split automation, you can choose between an even split or a conditional split. If you choose the even split, you can either let ActiveCampaign choose the winner based on specific conditions or let it split indefinitely – a feature commonly found in most other email marketing tools. On the other hand, if you choose the conditional split option, you can specify unique conditions for each group of recipients. For instance, offer a discount to the first 100 people who sign up and a smaller discount to those who sign up after that.

Here’s a simple way to set up a conditional split:

• Path A: Early Bird Discount – The first 100 people to click the sign-up link in your email get a 20% discount code.
• Path B: Standard Discount – After 100 people have signed up, anyone new who clicks the link receives a 10% discount code.

You can set up this example with ActiveCampaign’s conditional split feature but not with Bento’s split feature.

My rating: 3-stars (It’s fine)

Segmentation features

Feature Description: Email segmentation is helpful for both regular newsletters (broadcasts) and automated emails, which Bento calls “flows.” For instance, you might create a flow that filters contacts differently. For example, you might want to keep already paid customers out of a flow that starts when someone signs up for your newsletter.

My Evaluation: Bento lets you exclude or filter contacts from a flow using its Segment split feature (as shown in the screenshot below).

Is Bento’s segmentation feature for its automations the most user-friendly? Not really, because you must create a segment in its segment builder and cannot make a segment in the same window you’re in while creating a flow. The steps are as follows: First, you have to create a segment in the segment builder, and then you can select the segment in the segment block in the flow. These are two separate pages inside Bento’s dashboard.

Does Bento offer the most sophisticated segmentation builder? No, other platforms like Mailchimp and ActiveCampaign provide more options and flexibility in their segmentation builders.

My rating: 3-star (It’s fine)

Automatically unsubscribe inactive contacts

Feature Description: If you’re familiar with email marketing, you know the importance of maintaining a clean and healthy list. An active list means having most of your contacts interact with your emails, for example, by opening, clicking, and replying.

The challenge lies in the fact that, for most email marketing tools, unsubscribing inactive contacts is a manual process. An automated feature that removes inactive contacts would be highly beneficial.

My Evaluation: Unfortunately, Bento does not offer the option to automatically cleanse your list. Currently, the only email tool that provides this feature is ActiveCampaign.

Delivery by timezone

Feature description: Every email marketing tool allows you to schedule your emails according to the time zone of your contacts. Some tools offer this feature for their regular broadcast newsletters, while others also provide it in their automations/flows. This functionality is particularly useful when your audience is based in different time zones, and you wish to send your newsletter at 6 AM in their local time.

My evaluation: Unfortunately, Bento does not offer the option to schedule your emails based on the time zone of your audience. This feature is absent for both its automations and regular broadcasts. Email tools that do provide such an option include ActiveCampaign, Mailchimp, and AWeber.

Auto-save automations

Feature description: Typically, software tools auto-save your work automatically. This means that if you refresh your page or close it and come back later, you should see the latest version of what you were working on.

My evaluation: Bento’s automations/flows display a notification at the bottom of the screen indicating that auto-save is disabled by default. To enable it, you must click on this notification for every new flow you create. This setup is somewhat unusual and can be very frustrating if you forget to save your work when creating a new flow and, for whatever reason, navigate away from the page. This could result in the loss of all your work if you didn’t enable the auto-save option or click the ‘save’ button in the top right corner.

My rating: 1-star (Bad)

Testing automations (flows)

Typically, when you want to test your automation, you might use your own email address to verify if everything is set up correctly.

Bento offers an additional feature for testing your automation, which I haven’t encountered in any other email marketing tools: the testing automations feature. While it’s not revolutionary, it’s quite handy.

This feature demonstrates the steps your automation will execute after a specific action. For example, let’s assume I have an automation set up so that if someone signs up through a specific signup form, they will be subscribed to my newsletter. Moreover, they will receive an email. These three steps are depicted in the screenshot below: the first one is sign-up form signup, the second is subscribing the contact to the newsletter, and the third is sending them an email. If I perform a test to see what happens when someone signs up through my sign-up form, it will indicate “Found match.” This confirmation means that when someone signs up through my signup form, the contact will proceed through these three steps where it says “Found match.” If the purpose of your automation is for it to execute all three steps upon signup, then this automation (flow) is functioning correctly. However, if it only progresses through the first two steps without a “match” on the last step, then something is amiss, and you should investigate further.

Send time optimization

Feature description: Some email tools offer a feature that calculates the best send time for maximum engagement based on historical data.

My evaluation: Unfortunately, Bento does not offer this feature. It does provide a feature called Batching for regular newsletters (broadcasts), which is further described in the Newsletters Features section of this review. However, it does not offer a similar feature for automations (flows).

The email tools that do offer send time optimization include Mailchimp and GetResponse.

Organizing your automations

Feature description: Particularly when you have numerous automations (flows), organizing them with folders, labels, or similar methods is essential to avoid wasting time searching for a specific flow.

My evaluation: Unfortunately, Bento does not provide any features that allow you to filter, search, or group your flows, as demonstrated in the screenshot below. It simply lists all your flows/automations, but there’s no way to filter them based on, for example, active or non-active status, or by certain groups, labels, triggers, etc. Most other email tools (e.g., Mailchimp, MailerLite, Brevo, ActiveCampaign) do offer such organizational features. Among these, ActiveCampaign boasts the most advanced features for organizing automations.

My rating: 1-star (Bad)

Bento Email Review: Landing Page Features

Feature description: Landing pages function similarly to websites and are used to capture new leads. This could be for a variety of purposes such as webinar landing pages, freebie giveaways, product launches, event registrations, and more.

My evaluation: Bento does not offer a landing pages feature. This is confirmed by the founder of Bento, Jesse, in the chat screenshot from February 12, 2024.

It’s important to note that most other email marketing tools do include a landing page feature.

Bento Email Review: Opt-in Form Features

1-Minute Summary of Bento’s Form Features: For newcomers, Bento’s forms may initially seem unclear and confusing due to the three different form options it offers, as explained in this section below. Working with these forms isn’t the most straightforward, and it might take some time to become accustomed to their system. In my opinion, it’s not a plug-and-play solution. Additionally, Bento’s double opt-in process is cumbersome and not user-friendly. Setting this up takes significantly more time compared to other email marketing tools that have this feature natively built into their platforms.

Opt-in form templates

Feature description: The availability of pre-designed templates for your sign-up form enhances user-friendliness and saves time. Most email marketing tools provide a selection of pre-designed templates that you can easily select and customize to your preference.

In the screenshot below, you can see three pre-designed examples from the email marketing tool GetResponse.

My evaluation: Bento does not offer pre-designed templates for its sign-up forms, aside from its default design.

Installing the sign-up form

I installed the Bento script on my website using the Bento WordPress plugin, but as you can see in the screenshot below, there are plenty of other ways to do so. Once you’ve installed the initial script, you can get the popup forms working. This same script also enables website tracking, should you wish to monitor your visitors when they visit your site.

Different sign-up forms

Bento offers three distinct form features: HTML forms, popups, and surveys.

HTML builder

One of the form options Bento offers is its HTML form builder, as shown in the screenshot below.

I’m not a big fan of the HTML form builder because:

• It lacks a visual form builder: You cannot rearrange elements or add components like images, which restricts design flexibility.
• Redirect is required: Unlike most other email marketing tools that offer the option to display a success message or redirect to a separate page upon signup, Bento only provides the redirect URL option. This means you must create a dedicated thank-you page URL for every form. While you can use the same page for all your forms, it’s mandatory to set this up.
• You can’t save your forms: Bento’s inability to save forms is unique and introduces multiple drawbacks:

Drawback 1: Without saved forms, creating an automation (flow) triggered by a sign-up form is challenging. You need to use the event name of your signup form as the automation trigger (see screenshot below.) Since Bento doesn’t remember your forms, you must keep track of all event names yourself, which is cumbersome and prone to errors. Essentially, you’re forced to maintain a spreadsheet listing all your events and signup forms to avoid confusion and duplication.

Drawback 2: Can’t Use Checkboxes, Dropdowns, etc. (GDPR) – Most email marketing tools that allow you to create sign-up forms enable you to add GDPR checkboxes, other checkboxes, dropdowns, etc. In the screenshot below, you can see an example from the email marketing tool MailerLite, where I use a field called “Interest” to let new subscribers choose whether they also want to receive updates on other marketing tools or only ActiveCampaign updates.

Below, you can find another example that I built with the email marketing tool ActiveCampaign. This sign-up form offers a free ebook, and people can download the ebook without signing up for the newsletter. This approach is a way to receive consent because downloading a free ebook doesn’t necessarily imply consent to receive the newsletter.

Popups

Popups are one of the three sign-up form types that Bento offers.

Bento provides two types of popup forms to choose from: the bottom banner or a regular popup.

In the image below, you can see the form popup builder for the bottom banner. Here are a few things to keep in mind:

• The popup feature offers more options than the HTML form builder.
• It allows you to display a thank you message upon form submission instead of requiring a redirect, which is mandatory with the HTML form builder.
• However, you still can’t add dropdowns or checkboxes to these forms, similar to the limitations within the HTML form builder.
• I’m not fond of when software tools offer different processes for creating similar outcomes. For instance, the HTML form builder and the popup forms require learning two separate processes, akin to learning two different software products. The process should be exactly the same.
• The UI (User Interface) is not the best and has much room for improvement. It’s challenging to detail every issue in words, but if you use this form editor, you’ll understand what I mean by the UI not being the best and how it detracts from user-friendliness.

Regarding popup settings, Bento currently allows you to display the popup after X seconds or trigger it when the mouse leaves the page (exit popup).

Surveys

In addition to the HTML builder and popup forms, Bento also offers the option to create surveys. This tool is quite flexible, allowing you to create entire surveys, but you can also craft simple sign-up forms to embed on your website if you’d like (see the example below).

In the screenshot below, you can see an example of a sign-up form I created with Bento’s survey tool. It’s a bit cumbersome since it’s primarily a survey tool rather than one designed for creating sign-up forms, but it can effectively serve both purposes. A useful feature they could add is the provision of templates, so people can quickly select, for example, a sign-up form template like the one I created below. Notice I also included radio buttons for the “Do you want to receive the newsletter?” question. This approach helps ensure compliance with privacy regulations. Not everyone who downloads your free offerings also wants to receive additional emails. Asking this question aids in obtaining that consent. You can then set up an automation (flow) with Bento that unsubscribes anyone who opts for “No, just send me the free PDF.”

Double-optin setup

In my view, the way Bento handles the double opt-in setup feature is quite cumbersome, giving the impression they don’t actually offer this feature directly, though there is a workaround to send out the double opt-in confirmation email.

Typically, most other email marketing tools provide the option to enable a double opt-in email directly when you’re setting up your sign-up form. For instance, as shown in the screenshot below from the email marketing tool ActiveCampaign, there’s a simple switch you can toggle to decide whether you want to use the double opt-in confirmation email for that specific sign-up form.

With Bento, when you create a sign-up form, there is no option to activate a confirmation email. There isn’t even a mention of it on the sign-up form creation page. It’s also important to note that creating a sign-up form in Bento does not automatically subscribe people to your newsletter if they opt in through that form. You need to set up a separate automation to subscribe them if they opt in, which adds an additional step. More details on this are available in the sign-up form review section of this review.

Anyway, if you want to set up a double opt-in confirmation email within Bento, you need to create an automation that looks something like the one below. I’ve added orange numbers to explain what these four elements are:

1. The first block/element is the trigger for this automation (flow), which, in this example, occurs if someone signs up through one of my sign-up forms.
2. Then, after signing up, I send them an email to confirm their subscription. In that email, I need to include a link to somewhere on my website, e.g., creatoregg.com/welcome or creatoregg.com/subscription-confirmed, or something similar.
3. The next element is a link click trigger. In other words, when someone clicks the link in the email in step 2, the next automation is triggered, which is the automation that confirms the subscription.
4. In the last one, number 4, we add the contact to our newsletter, i.e., we subscribe them to our list.

As you can see, it’s a feasible process for confirming their subscription, but I must say it’s a bit cumbersome compared to simply having a setting that you can turn on or off while creating your sign-up form. It’s more like you might forget about this double opt-in process step when setting up your sign-up forms within Bento, while other email marketing tools remind you.

Overall, Bento’s double opt-in confirmation email setup process is less favorable compared to how easily I can configure it with other email marketing tools. The issue is that you have to repeat this process every time a new sign-up form is created, and it’s not a one-time setup.

My rating: 2-stars (Meh)

Bento Email Review: Support features

Guides, tutorials, help docs

While Bento does provide online help documentation (https://bentonow.com/docs), it offers far fewer articles than some of the more established email marketing companies.

For context, Mailchimp has approximately 80,000 pages indexed by Google on their website, which includes numerous helpful guides and step-by-step instructions. For instance, if you’re trying to find an answer to a question with well-known email marketing tools like Mailchimp, a quick Google search often reveals someone else who has asked the same question, along with an article or video guide on what to do.

In contrast, Bento’s website has fewer than 500 pages listed in Google. Moreover, since it is a relatively new website, it doesn’t rank as well in Google. Therefore, searching for guides or help by typing your problem into Google is unlikely to quickly find you help. This can be problematic when setting up email marketing software, as you are bound to encounter questions/issues. I say this from experience, having set up email marketing accounts with numerous companies.

Another drawback is the lack of categories on their help page. It simply presents a long list of doc articles without any categorization, making it challenging to find answers to specific questions using this resource.

So, in terms of the number of guides, tutorials, and help docs, I can’t say I’m satisfied as a Bento user.

My rating: 2-stars (Meh)

Other support options (phone, email, and Discord)

Feature Description: Besides help docs, Bento also allows you to email them (support@bentonow.com), book a phone call, or ask your question on Discord. For those unfamiliar with Discord, it’s a voice/chat platform where you can create a server and channels for a community to hang out, ask questions, and talk. It’s somewhat like WhatsApp but more organized, though it retains the group element. Here’s a link to their Discord channel if you want to check it out: https://bentonow.com/community.

My Evaluation: A few downsides of Bento’s Discord support: