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Honesty note: we have not run our own hands-on test of ActiveCampaign yet. Everything on this page is source-based research: the vendor's pricing, plan and help pages, each linked with the date we read it. Ease of use and support quality are not scored until we test.
ActiveCampaign in short
ActiveCampaign's core plan for a small team is Plus + Pipelines at $88 per month for the account with annual billing ($108 billed monthly). For a team of 5, that is $1,632 in the first year. There is no free plan, but a 14-day trial without a credit card.
Choose it if
- Teams that primarily need email/marketing automation and want a light sales pipeline layered on top (Plus + Pipelines from $88/mo annual-billing at 1,000 contacts)
- Ecommerce or lead-gen businesses that want tracking, segmentation and automation depth at low contact counts
- Healthcare-adjacent marketers needing a HIPAA BAA (Enterprise plan only)
Skip it if
- Teams that want CRM-first pricing per seat: cost scales by contact count, and seats are limited (1 on Plus, 3 on Pro, 5 on Enterprise)
- Buyers needing pipelines on the cheapest plan: Starter has no CRM add-on available
- Large lists on a tight budget: Plus at 10,000 contacts is $189/mo annual-billing before CRM add-on
How much does ActiveCampaign cost?
Prices in USD as published on ActiveCampaign's pricing page, read Oct 3, 2026. Pricing model: Per account by contact count (prices at 1,000 contacts) with seats included; CRM pipelines are a paid add-on.
| Plan | Billed monthly | Billed annually | Unit | What it adds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | $19 | $15 | per month at 1,000 contacts, 1 user incl., email only · 1 users incl. · +$8/extra user | 1 seat included (max 2; extra seat $10/mo monthly, $8/mo annual). 5 actions per automation, limited segmentation, 15 business goals. No CRM/Pipelines add-on available on this plan. Basic onboarding/support.[2] |
| Plus | $59 | $49 | per month at 1,000 contacts, 1 user incl., no CRM · 1 users incl. · +$12/extra user | 1 seat included (extra seat from $15/mo monthly, $12/mo annual). Unlimited automation actions, landing pages, standard segmentation, Slack/PayPal/Stripe/ads integrations, custom user permissions. CRM requires add-on.[2] |
| Plus + Pipelinescore plan | $108 | $88 | per month at 1,000 contacts incl. CRM add-on, 1 user incl. · 1 users incl. · +$12/extra user | Adds pipeline management, deal records, account records, lead scoring. 1 seat included.[2] |
| Pro | $99 | $79 | per month at 1,000 contacts, 3 users incl., no CRM · 3 users incl. · +$24/extra user | 3 seats included (extra seat from $30/mo monthly, $24/mo annual). Advanced segmentation, predictive sending/content, conditional content, DocuSign, premium ecommerce integrations, priority support/onboarding. CRM requires add-on.[2] |
| Pro + Pipelines | $184 | $147 | per month at 1,000 contacts incl. CRM add-on, 3 users incl. · 3 users incl. · +$24/extra user | Pipeline management, deal/account records, lead scoring. 3 seats included.[2] |
| Enterprise | $179 | $145 | per month at 1,000 contacts, 5 users incl., no CRM · 5 users incl. · +$32/extra user | 5 seats included (extra seat from $40/mo monthly, $32/mo annual). Custom objects, SSO, HIPAA support, premium CRM integrations (Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics), dedicated account team, uptime SLA. CRM requires add-on.[2] |
| Enterprise + Pipelines | $298 | $240 | per month at 1,000 contacts incl. CRM add-on, 5 users incl. · 5 users incl. · +$32/extra user | Pipeline management, deal/account records, lead scoring. 5 seats included.[2] |
Monthly cost on Plus + Pipelines by team size
| Users | Billed annually | Billed monthly |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $88 | $108 |
| 5 | $136 | $156 |
| 10 | $196 | $216 |
| 25 | $376 | $396 |
Per month, before tax. "—" means the vendor does not publish the price for that team size.
What each ActiveCampaign plan includes
What the core plan (Plus + Pipelines) includes, and what costs more. Levels come from the vendor's plan comparison.
| Capability | Availability | Details from vendor sources |
|---|---|---|
| Sales pipeline / deals | paid add-on | add-on (Pipelines CRM add-on on Plus/Pro/Enterprise; not available on Starter) |
| Email sync & tracking | ✓ all plans | yes (Gmail and Outlook integration on all plans; site and link tracking) |
| Workflow automation | ✓ all plans | yes (Starter limited to 5 actions per automation; unlimited actions from Plus) |
| Email marketing | ✓ all plans | yes (core product; all plans; email sends cap is a multiple of contact limit, 10x on Starter/Plus, 12x Pro, 15x Enterprise) |
| Built-in calling | ✗ no | not listed on pricing page; SMS and WhatsApp messaging are paid add-ons |
| AI assistant / AI features | ✓ all plans | Active Intelligence: AI workspace and sidebar on all plans (limits apply on Starter and Plus); generative AI from Plus; AI Activities and AI actions are paid add-ons; win probability only in Sales Engagement add-on |
| Reports & dashboards | ✓ from Plus + Pipelines | business goals (15 Starter, 25 Plus, 200 Pro/Enterprise); sales and revenue reporting from Plus; custom reporting included on Enterprise, add-on on Plus/Pro |
| Custom objects | higher plans only | from Enterprise |
| API access | ✓ all plans | yes (API and webhooks on all plans per comparison table) |
| Mobile app | ✓ all plans | yes (all plans) |
| HIPAA BAA | available | 'Eligible plans' only; ActiveCampaign's HIPAA marketing guide (published 2026-01-29, updated 2026-09-16) cites an Enterprise plan with BAA at about $229/month for 10,000 contacts. Full list of eligible plans not published on pages read. · Guide states 'Business Associate Agreement (BAA): Available on eligible plans to cover the use and disclosure of PHI'. The Conversations Platform must not be used to process, store or transmit PHI (Conversations Policy section 2.2). ActiveCampaign's Trust Center lists HIPAA among its compliance items. Confirm eligible plan and covered features with ActiveCampaign Customer Success before sending PHI. |
| Gmail / Outlook | — | yes (all plans) |
ActiveCampaign pros and cons
What holds up
- Starter from $15/mo (annual billing) at 1,000 contacts; Plus $49, Pro $79, Enterprise $145[2]
- API and webhooks, Gmail and Outlook integration, and the mobile app are listed on every plan including Starter[1]
- No setup costs; free contact migration; 30-day money-back guarantee stated on pricing page[1]
- Custom objects, SSO, HIPAA support, dedicated account team and uptime SLA on Enterprise[1]
- HIPAA Business Associate Agreement is available on the Enterprise plan per ActiveCampaign's own HIPAA marketing guide[3]
What to watch
- Pipelines/deals are a separate add-on (Plus: +$49/mo monthly or +$39 annual-equivalent); lead scoring is in Pipelines add-on, win probability and automated 1:1 email only in the Sales Engagement add-on[2]
- Starter cannot buy the CRM add-on; Starter limits automations to 5 actions each and allows max 2 seats[2]
- Price is contact-based and rises quickly: Plus is $49/mo at 1,000 contacts but $145/mo at 5,000 and $189/mo at 10,000 (annual billing equivalent)[2]
- Plus includes only 1 seat; extra seats are paid, and CRM add-ons list their own seat price lines in the billing catalog[2]
- Pricing page shows prices only after JS loads and a contact slider is set; displayed price depends on selected contacts and currency[1]
- HIPAA support, SSO, custom objects, and Zendesk/Salesforce/Microsoft Dynamics integrations are Enterprise-only[1]
How the 8.8 fact score is built
| Part | Weight | Points (0-10) |
|---|---|---|
| Cost for a small team | 30% | 8.9 |
| Feature coverage (core plan) | 30% | 8.0 |
| Pricing transparency | 20% | 10.0 |
| Risk-free start | 10% | 7.0 |
| Room to grow | 10% | 10.0 |
| Ease of use, support, reliability | — | not scored yet |
Same formula for every CRM; affiliate data cannot change it. Methodology →
The money trail
ActiveCampaign, LLC runs an affiliate program (PartnerStack): 30% recurring commission on monthly recurring revenue (PartnerStack program page, application form and affiliate terms updated 2025-09-02), 90-day cookie. We are not an approved affiliate yet, so every link on this page goes straight to the vendor and earns us nothing. Either way, the score above is computed without this information.
What we could not verify
Listed so you know where to ask the vendor directly.
- Seat pricing: billing catalog lists price steps for additional seats per plan, and each CRM add-on has its own 'user-seats' price line (Plus $19, Pro $29, Enterprise $49 monthly). Whether CRM add-on seat fees are charged in addition to plan seat fees is not confirmed
- Affiliate page is internally inconsistent on commission (flat 30% for 12 months vs 20% rising to 30%); cookie duration not stated
- QuickBooks integration not listed on pricing page; availability unverified (null)
- Interpretation of price-step 'quantity' for seats as additional seats beyond included is inferred from catalog limits
- ActiveCampaign's HIPAA guide quotes '~$229/mo for an Enterprise plan with BAA' at 10,000 contacts, which does not match the catalog price for Enterprise at 10,000 contacts ($589/mo annual-equivalent, $739 monthly); treat the blog figure as unreliable
- Prices at 1,000 contacts only; 'contacts' are marketing contacts, and the page lets users select up to 250,000+ contacts with a request-pricing path above
Sources
- ActiveCampaign pricing page (comparison table, FAQ, trial, guarantee) · vendor source · fetched 2026-10-03
- ActiveCampaign billing product catalog (the data feed the pricing page reads), USD · vendor source · fetched 2026-10-03
- ActiveCampaign: HIPAA-compliant marketing (Enterprise plan with BAA) · vendor source · fetched 2026-10-03
- ActiveCampaign Affiliate Partner program · vendor source · fetched 2026-10-03
- Wikipedia: ActiveCampaign (founding, HQ, funding) · secondary · fetched 2026-10-03