When talking about top-class email marketing platforms, Mailchimp and Active Campaign comes out on top. These platforms are great for basic email marketing campaigns, thanks to their amazing features. While they are both great, there’s a need to compare which one is best.
To make your decision easier, we have analyzed the difference between Active Campaign and Mailchimp. The guide will also point out the key features and capabilities of each platform.
Furthermore, we will dive deep into the pricing details, similarities, and alternatives. With the knowledge gathered from these sections, you should be able to make an informed decision.
Main Differences Between Active Campaign vs Mailchimp (Summarized)
Here’s a table that highlights the main differences between Active Campaign vs Mailchimp;
| Active Campaign | Mailchimp | |
| User Interface | Beginner-friendly platform layout | Easy to navigate user interface |
| Basic Features | Pre-built automation tools for email marketing campaigns | Great automation tools with an easy-to-use drag-and-drop email editor |
| Integrations | 850+ apps and integrations | 1000+ apps and integrations |
| Pricing | It doesn’t offer a free plan but comes with a 14-day free trial on Premium | It offers a free plan that allows you to send up to 10,000 emails monthly |
| Customer Support | It offers support through chat, email, and mobile phone on all plans | It offers limited human representative support based on your paid plan |
Active Campaign vs Mailchimp: Features and Capabilities
Active Campaign and Mailchimp differ in features and capabilities. Here are key highlights;
Key Features and Capabilities of Active Campaign:
Here’s a breakdown of Active Campaign’s key features and capabilities;
- Multi-Step Automations: send emails based on different customer actions or events
- Powerful Segmentation: use lists, tags, and custom fields to group your customers
- SMS Automation: send a text message to contacts within an automation
- Automation Map: see how your automation connects to each other
- Contact Tagging: attach sticky notes to your contacts by grouping and sorting
- Automation Workflow Recipes: build common workflows with pre-built automation
- Lead & Contact Scoring: track engagement so you can reach out to lead at the right time
- Dynamic Automations: use multiple goals and go-to actions to create flexible workflows
- Integrations: connect multiple eCommerce stores with deep data integration
- Team Notifications: get notified via email when customers take actions
- Task Management: loop in team members to call, email, or manage customer deals
Key Features and Capabilities of Mailchimp:
Here’s a breakdown of Mailchimp’s key features and capabilities;
- Inspirations: access to a collection of entrepreneurial podcasts and series
- Expert Insights: case studies and how-to to take you from start-up to scale-up
- Marketing Library: explore a collection of resources to help build your business
- Industry Trends: dive deep into profiles of fascinating businesses and founders
- Marketing API: use custom data from the app to power timely marketing campaigns
- Transactional API: send targeted and event-driven emails and handle inbound emails
- Landing Pages: design landing pages that grow your business and help you sell more
- Digital Ad: reach out to people on Facebook, Instagram, and across the web
Active Campaign vs Mailchimp: Pricing
Active Campaign and Mailchimp differ in pricing. So, here’s what you need to know;
Active Campaign Pricing Details:
- Lite – $9 per month, paid yearly (USD)
- Plus – $49 per month, paid yearly (USD)
- Professional – $149 per month, paid yearly (USD)
Note: You can customize the plan that is right for you with the Enterprise package.
Mailchimp Pricing Details:
- Free – $0/month (access to multi-channel tools for website building)
- Essentials – starts at $11/month (great for email-only senders)
- Standard – starts at $17/month (data-driven automation and optimization tools)
- Premium – starts at $299/month (advanced features for professionals)
Note: The pricing details above highlight Mailchimp’s marketing plans for growing businesses.
Reasons to Choose Active Campaign over Mailchimp:
Here are the reasons why you should choose Active Campaign over Mailchimp;
- Active Campaign offers more advanced features than Mailchimp
- Active Campaign offers better customer support than Mailchimp
- You can easily build powerful automated templates with Active Campaign
- You will get a dedicated IP and more email templates on Active Campaign
- Active Campaign offers dynamic personalization and advanced segmentation
Reasons to Choose Mailchimp over Active Campaign:
Here are the reasons why you should choose Mailchimp over Active Campaign;
- Mailchimp offers a free plan and affordable pricing on its paid plans
- You will get access to tools designed specifically for freelancers and agencies
- It offers two-factor authentication to enable maximum security
- Mailchimp offers more apps and integrations than Active Campaign
- Mailchimp offers helpful in-app tips and support tools
- Mailchimp offers advanced reporting and analytics
The Similarities between Active Campaign and Mailchimp
Here are some of the major similarities between Active Campaign and Mailchimp;
- They both have landing page builder
- They both offer excellent email marketing automation
- They both offer integration and authentication features
- You can store unlimited data and images on both platforms
- They both offer advanced segmentation, reporting, and analytics features
You are free to decide which of the email marketing platforms you prefer based on features.
Active Campaign and Mailchimp Alternatives
Here are notable alternatives to Active Campaign and Mailchimp;
- Klaviyo: a marketing automation platform that automates SMS and email marketing
- HubSpot: an easy-to-use CRM platform that provides tools for marketing and sales
- Benchmark: a simple email marketing tool for sending personalized emails
- GetResponse: a simplified and powerful tool to send emails and automate marketing
- Marketo: best-in-class marketing automation software that keeps customers engaged
- Constant Contact: a digital and email marketing platform for growing your business
There are so many alternatives to Active Campaign and Mailchimp. So, the choice is yours.
Active Campaign vs Mailchimp: Final Verdicts
Understanding what Active Campaign and Mailchimp offer will help you decide which one is best for your business. Mailchimp might save you money but Active Campaign offers more.
Active Campaign is a customer experience automation platform that helps businesses to engage their customers in the best way. It’s the clear choice for serious business owners.
However, Mailchimp appeals to a wider audience because it offers a free plan and the user interface is easy to navigate. So, you can go with Mailchimp if you don’t need the advanced features. But we can all agree that advanced features will come in handy for a better email marketing campaign. Hence, Active Campaign is worth the extra price if you don’t mind.
While Mailchimp services are cheaper, Active Campaign offers more advanced features. This includes a series of templates, more integrations, more personalized options, and better customer support. Therefore, Active Campaign is the superior email marketing platform.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are some helpful frequently asked questions;
Is Active Campaign better than Mailchimp?
Despite Mailchimp’s popularity in the field of email marketing automation, Active Campaign tends to offer better email marketing automation services. Active Campaign offers more features and better analytics tools with an unlimited number of emails to send monthly.
Can I integrate Active Campaign with Mailchimp?
No. The option to integrate Active Campaign with Mailchimp is not available. However, you can use third-party apps like Leadsbridge to import data across both email marketing platforms.
Does Active Campaign Offer SMS Marketing Solution?
While Active Campaign offers both SMS and email marketing solutions. To access the SMS marketing features, you will have to subscribe to the “Plus” plan. It will give you access to contact leads via text messaging.
Resource Links
- https://zapier.com/blog/activecampaign-vs-mailchimp/
- https://www.dreamgrow.com/activecampaign-vs-mailchimp/
- https://www.websiteplanet.com/blog/activecampaign-vs-mailchimp/
- https://www.emailtooltester.com/en/blog/activecampaign-vs-mailchimp/
- https://www.marketingautomationinsider.com/active-campaign-vs-mailchimp/
- https://thedigitalmerchant.com/crm/email-marketing/mailchimp-vs-activecampaign/