Selecting the best email marketing software for your business can be difficult, but we want to help make that decision easier. That’s why Forbes created this guide comparing MailerLite vs. ActiveCampaign head-to-head. We examined features offered, ease of use, overall costs and reputation for customer support. Once you know how MailerLite and ActiveCampaign stack up against each other, you can choose the best email software for your specific needs.
Featured Partners
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Constant Contact
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Omnisend
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AI email content generator
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Brevo
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MailerLite vs. ActiveCampaign: At a Glance
MailerLite is a budget-friendly email marketing software that delivers all the essentials for setting up and deploying email marketing campaigns. Even better, you can use MailerLite for more than just managing your contact list and sending emails—use the software to build websites, create a blog, collect leads and sell products.
A limited-feature free MailerLite plan is available, and premium plans start at just $9 monthly. MailerLite is ideal for beginners and small businesses looking for reliable email software that won’t break the bank.
ActiveCampaign is a comprehensive email marketing and marketing automation platform that delivers extraordinary flexibility, making it an excellent option for those with advanced marketing needs. Plan prices start at $29 per month. The feature-rich software includes a drag-and-drop editor, landing pages, e-commerce integrations and automations, lead scoring, AI content generation, predictive sending and advanced tracking and reporting tools.
MailerLite
Starting price
Free or $9 per month paid yearly for up to 500 contacts
Free trial
30 days
Standout features
Email automation builder, AI writing assistant, landing page builder and unlimited emails
Free or $9 per month paid yearly for up to 500 contacts
30 days
Email automation builder, AI writing assistant, landing page builder and unlimited emails
MailerLite is a beginner-friendly all-in-one email marketing platform. Even those who’ve never worked with email software will find it easy to create professional-looking emails using MailerLite’s drag-and-drop editor and pre-built templates. Other features you get with MailerLite include a landing page and website builder, a rich-text newsletter editor, an image library, email automations, A/B testing and a survey builder.
MailerLite is a terrific option for those on a tight budget. A limited-feature free plan lets you have up to 1,000 contacts and send up to 12,000 emails per month. Premium plans start at $9 per month for 500 users or $13.50 for up to 1,000 contacts.
Learn more: Read our MailerLite review.
- Affordable plans
- Beginner-friendly
- Send unlimited emails
- Excellent mobile-responsive email templates
- Auto resend campaigns
- Average five-minute response time on live chat
- No phone support
- Limited design customization
- Fee charged for list migration services
- HTML editor only available on Advanced and Enterprise plans
ActiveCampaign
Starting price
$29 per month paid yearly for up to 1,000 contacts
Free trial
14 days
Standout features
Advanced marketing automations, free migration services and advanced reports
$29 per month paid yearly for up to 1,000 contacts
14 days
Advanced marketing automations, free migration services and advanced reports
ActiveCampaign is a feature-rich platform popular among businesses with relatively sophisticated email marketing and marketing automation needs. The software offers essential email marketing tools—including an intuitive drag-and-drop email editor—and over 125 templates. The software also has an excellent reputation for high email deliverability.
ActiveCampaign stands out among other email software providers for its stellar marketing automation suite and comprehensive sales engagement tools. The software comes with advanced tracking, data collection and reporting tools, a built-in customer relationship management (CRM) platform, lead scoring and link and event tracking. It also integrates with over 870 third-party applications, allowing extensive flexibility and customization.
Learn more: Read our ActiveCampaign review.
- Straightforward email design
- 870-plus integrations
- Good email deliverability
- Audience segmentation on all plans
- Lead scoring available
- E-commerce integrations and automations on top-tier plans
- No free plan
- SMS is an add-on feature
- Not as beginner-friendly as other email software
- Reputation for customer service is mixed
- Salesforce integration only on Professional and Enterprise plan
How MailerLite and ActiveCampaign Stack Up
MailerLite and ActiveCampaign are popular email software platforms that let users build and deploy effective email campaigns. While there are many similarities, there are also key differences between the two solutions, as you can see in the chart below.
| MailerLite | ActiveCampaign | |
|---|---|---|
|
Free Plan
|
Yes
|
No
|
|
Free Trial
|
30 days
|
14 days
|
|
Starting Price for up to 1,000 Contacts
|
$13.50 per month paid yearly
|
$29 per month paid yearly
|
|
Monthly Send Limits
|
Unlimited*
|
10x to 15x contact limit (except on free trial)
|
|
Pre-Built Email Templates
|
50-plus
|
150-plus
|
|
Drag-and-Drop Email Editor
|
✔
|
✔
|
|
Dynamic Email Content
|
✔
|
✔
|
|
Marketing Automation
|
Basic
|
Advanced
|
|
A/B Testing
|
✔
|
✔
|
|
Audience Segmentation
|
✔
|
✔
|
|
Reporting and Analytics
|
✔
|
✔
|
|
Landing Pages
|
✔
|
On all plans except Lite
|
|
SMS Marketing
|
Available on Transactional Email and SMS plans only
|
Add-on feature on all plans except Lite
|
|
Support
|
Email support on all plans; live chat on Advanced plan
|
Phone, chat and email support on all plans
|
|
Read Reviews
|
*MailerLite allows unlimited monthly emails until you reach 60,000 subscribers/contacts, at which time MailerLite begins to impose monthly send limits
Ease of Use
MailerLite has a solid reputation for being beginner-friendly. ActiveCampaign users report a more modest learning curve—which can be steeper for those less technically savvy.
Free Plans and Free Trials
MailerLite offers a free plan, and ActiveCampaign does not. MailerLite also has a 30-day free trial of its paid plans, while ActiveCampaign only lets you test its email platform for free for 14 days.
Most software providers—including Mailchimp, Drip and GetResponse—offer at least a 30-day free trial. Constant Contact offers 60 days. ActiveCampaign’s short 14-day trial falls short of the industry standard, which makes it far more difficult for users to thoroughly test the email platform before making a purchase decision.
Design Features
MailerLite and ActiveCampaign both offer a drag-and-drop email editor, pre-built email templates and dynamic email content. MailerLite has over 50 templates, which are only available on paid plans. ActiveCampaign has more than 125 templates, giving it an edge over MailerLite in terms of design flexibility.
Marketing Automation
MailerLite delivers marketing automation essentials. For example, you can set up a workflow that automatically sends an email when a trigger is activated—such as when someone completes a sign-up form. Those on advanced MailerLite plans can set up to three triggers per automation, but that’s about as sophisticated as it gets.
With ActiveCampaign, you can access more than 850 automation recipes or workflows—which you can adapt for your business’s specific needs. ActiveCampaign includes goal tracking, smart segmentation, custom fields and multiple trigger points, allowing for extraordinary flexibility and customization. Bottom line: ActiveCampaign is the better choice for those with sophisticated marketing automation needs.
Short Message Service (SMS) Marketing
ActiveCampaign offers SMS marketing (also known as text marketing) as an add-on feature to its email marketing software. The company does not publicly reveal SMS pricing, stating costs depend on specific users’ needs.
MailerLite offers SMS marketing via its transactional plans. With a MailerLite transactional email and SMS service, you pay a monthly plan fee plus a transactional fee based on the total transactions processed and the number of contacts you have. For example, if you have 3,000 contacts, you’ll pay $1.40 per 100 texts sent; if you have 100,000 contacts, you’ll pay $1.30 per 100 texts sent.
Service and Support
MailerLite provides 24/7 email support to all its users and 24/7 live chat support for Advanced plan subscribers. ActiveCampaign offers phone support plus delivers 24/7 support via live chat and email to all plan subscribers; the company states its average response time to live chat support requests is five minutes.
In addition to email and chat support, both software providers offer extensive online support via their online resource centers, which include blogs, video tutorials and helpful knowledge bases.
MailerLite hosts a free Academy where you can get certified as an email expert. ActiveCampaign hosts the ActiveCampaign University, where you can learn for free; the company also sponsors an online Forum where you can seek advice about any ActiveCampaign or related email issue from other users.
Cost of MailerLite and ActiveCampaign
Cost is not the only factor to consider when selecting an email software solution for your business, but it’s certainly something that most businesses can’t afford to ignore. If you’re looking for email software that’s relatively easy on your wallet, MailerLite could be the better choice for you, as its plans are considerably more affordable than ActiveCampaign’s plans.
MailerLite Costs
MailerLite offers a free email marketing plan that lets you have up to 1,000 contacts and send up to 12,000 emails monthly. All emails sent via a free plan will include MailerLite branding, but you can remove that by purchasing a paid plan.
There are three paid MailerLite email marketing plans; the chart below shows monthly pricing for each MailerLite plan based on your contact count. Prices below are for annual plans, though month-to-month pricing is also available.
| Number of MailerLite Contacts | Growing Business | Advanced | Enterprise |
|---|---|---|---|
|
500
|
$9
|
$18
|
Not available
|
|
1,000
|
$13.50
|
$27
|
Not available
|
|
5,000
|
$35.10
|
$45
|
Not available
|
|
10,000
|
$65.70
|
$99
|
Not available
|
|
50,000
|
$260.10
|
$306
|
Not available
|
|
100,000-plus
|
No available
|
$396
|
Custom priced
|
MailerLite also offers transactional email and SMS plans. The Starter transactional plan does not charge a monthly fee, but you pay $1 for every 1,000 emails sent; you cannot send SMS via the Starter plan. The Premium transactional plan starts at $24 per month for up to 3,000 contacts, and you’ll pay 90 cents for every 1,000 emails sent and $1.40 per 100 SMS.
While plan fees vary by the number of contacts, the plan tier you select determines which features you can access. For example, all MailerLite plans include one user seat, an email automation builder, a drag-and-drop editor, sign-up and pop-up forms, comparative reporting and landing page tools.
You will need a MailerLite Growing Business plan to sell digital products or set up an auto-resend campaign. The Growing Business plan also has three seats, newsletter templates, unlimited websites and landing pages. The MailerLite Advanced plan offers even more features, including unlimited seats, a custom HTML editor, Facebook integration, password-protected pages, promotion pop-ups, A/B split testing and an AI writing assistant.
ActiveCampaign Costs
ActiveCampaign offers four email and marketing automation plans. Unlike most other email software providers, ActiveCampaign does not have a free plan, though it offers a limited 14-day free trial.
Plan pricing varies by the number of contacts you need and the plan tier you select. The chart below illustrates what each ActiveCampaign plan will cost per month at various contact levels when you commit to an annual plan.
| Number of ActiveCampaign Contacts | Lite | Plus | Professional | Enterprise |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1,000
|
$29
|
$49
|
Not available
|
Not available
|
|
5,000
|
$79
|
$149
|
$209
|
Custom priced
|
|
10,000
|
$139
|
$229
|
$339
|
Custom priced
|
|
50,000
|
$389
|
$559
|
$809
|
Custom priced
|
ActiveCampaign plans are priced by tier based on the features included. The Lite plan includes one user seat, email marketing and marketing automation tools, a drag-and-drop email editor, AI content generation, API and webhooks, site and event tracking, inline forms and access to more than 870 integrations.
When you upgrade to an ActiveCampaign Plus plan, you get three user seats, access to landing pages, Facebook custom audiences, e-commerce integrations, lead scoring and abandoned cart features. Professional and Enterprise plans include five to 10 user seats, custom reports, predictive sending and larger email send limits.
Customer Reviews and Reputation
It’s important to choose email software that has a solid reputation for delivering the features and service you require. We examined thousands of comments on top customer review sites including Trustpilot, G2 and Capterra ratings to see how MailerLite and ActiveCampaign compare from a customer’s perspective.
MailerLite consistently ranks higher in customer reviews for ease of use, ease of setup and quality of support. Customers also give high marks to MailerLite for its drag-and-drop email builder, email templates and landing page builder. Users like ActiveCampaign’s CRM, email deliverability and marketing automation capabilities, but several users complained about ActiveCampaign’s inconsistent service quality and escalating prices.
Top MailerLite and ActiveCampaign Alternatives
Several MailerLite and ActiveCampaign alternatives are worth a closer look. For example, Forbes recently named Mailchimp its top choice for email marketing software. Mailchimp is a user-friendly all-in-one email campaign management platform that is competitively priced and comes with a full suite of advanced features, including landing pages, social media integrations and a free website builder.
Zoho Campaigns and Drip are two other highly rated email campaign software options you may want to check out. Zoho Campaigns offers a free version for up to 2,000 contacts as well as budget-friendly premium plans. Drip is an excellent alternative for e-commerce businesses, particularly if you need your email software to integrate with Shopify, WooCommerce or BigCommerce.
Other top MailerLite and ActiveCampaign alternatives include Campaigner, GetResponse, Moosend, Brevo and Constant Contact. You can learn more about all these alternatives by reading Forbes’ review of the 10 Best Email Marketing Software platforms.
Bottom Line
MailerLite is value-priced all-in-one email software with a solid reputation for being user-friendly; it’s an excellent solution for budget-conscious beginners and small businesses. ActiveCampaign is more expensive than MailerLite, but its design flexibility and advanced automation, analytics and reporting features make it a more robust email platform for those with advanced business requirements.
MailerLite is best for:
- Bloggers, entrepreneurs and small businesses that require an affordable email software solution that can scale as their needs grow
- Those looking for email software that also comes with eye-catching landing page development capabilities
- Active emailers who need unlimited email send volumes
ActiveCampaign is best for:
- Medium to large businesses that need advanced marketing automation features
- Technically savvy users who require a higher degree of customization
- Businesses that require considerable email design flexibility
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Why use MailerLite?
Many people use MailerLite because it is a beginner-friendly email marketing tool with several helpful features, including a drag-and-drop editor, a website and blog builder, design templates, an image library and email automations. You can get started with a free MailerLite account that includes up to 1,000 subscribers; paid plans start at just $9 monthly. Read our review to find out if MailerLite is the right email marketing platform for your needs and budget.
Is Mailchimp better than MailerLite?
Mailchimp is a popular email platform that Forbes ranks as its choice for top overall email marketing software. Forbes ranks MailerLite as a top Mailchimp alternative. MailerLite is known for being extremely user-friendly as well as affordable.
Which is better, Mailchimp or ActiveCampaign?
Both Mailchimp and ActiveCampaign appear on the Forbes list of best email software, though Mailchimp was ranked as the best overall option thanks to its budget-friendly plans, intuitive interface and feature-rich platform. ActiveCampaign is better suited to businesses with more advanced needs.
Who is ActiveCampaign best for?
ActiveCampaign’s advanced automation and predictive analytics make it an excellent email marketing platform for well-funded businesses with advanced email marketing requirements. Read our review to help you decide if it’s the right solution for your company’s specific needs and preferences.
