ActiveCampaign vs Aritic (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, ActiveCampaign grades higher than Aritic: 2.4 against 2.0 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 17, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Oct 17, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
ActiveCampaign grades higher on value for money and platforms. They get the same grade on the free plan, features and ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
ActiveCampaign
Email marketing and multi-step automation priced by contacts
Aritic
Marketing automation suite with email, SMS, push and CRM
Which one is for you
Pick ActiveCampaign if
- Fits if your marketing is mostly automated sequences, like onboarding, nurture and win-back emails
- Works for stores on Shopify or WooCommerce that want email and a sales CRM on the same contacts
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want a free plan to grow into, as there isn't one after the 14-day trial
- Tight if you're on Starter, since each automation stops at 5 actions, there's 1 user and lists stop at 25,000
- Pricey if your list is big, at $149 a month for 10,000 contacts even on Starter
- Watch out: SMS, WhatsApp, transactional email, sales pipelines and extra users are paid add-ons
- Watch out: landing pages need Plus at $49 and conditional content Pro at $79, both for 1,000 contacts billed yearly
Pick Aritic if
- Fits if you want email and a CRM in one tool
- Works for teams that want lead scoring and landing pages together
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you want SMS or WhatsApp, as those start at $219 a month
- Skip it if you want clear steps, since the contact count behind each price wasn't readable
- Not for you if you want a free plan, as only a trial of unstated length is offered
- Watch out: CSV-imported contacts can't be deleted manually, and SMS runs through Twilio
How we grade them
| 2.4GPAActiveCampaignFair | 2.0GPAAriticFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | C$15 a month for 1,000 contacts on yearly billing, or $19 monthly, a little above the middle of what email tools charge. Starter has 1 user and 5 actions per automation, though. Unlimited steps and landing pages need Plus at $49, and Starter is $149 a month at 10,000 contacts. | DLite is $59 a month, but multichannel and SMS start on Starter at $219 and Professional is $249. The category middle is $20. |
| Free plan and trial | CNo free plan at all, but there's a 14-day trial with no credit card needed. That's two weeks to build an automation or two before you pay. | CA free trial is offered on Lite, Starter and Professional. Its length isn't stated and there's no free plan. |
| Features | BMulti-step automations, a drag-and-drop designer with 250+ templates and A/B tests, segmentation, forms, reports and AI drafting. It covers the whole job. SMS, WhatsApp, transactional email and sales pipelines cost extra on top. | BEmail, automation, landing pages, forms, a CRM, lead scoring and, higher up, SMS and WhatsApp. Nothing in the listing shows a gap in the core work. |
| Ease of use | CNo App Store rating on record, and this is a web app where the work is building automations and segments. Expect a learning curve before it pays off. | CNo store rating on record. A suite with a CRM, pipelines and scoring to set up. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb only, but it connects to Shopify, WooCommerce, WordPress, Salesforce, Stripe, Slack, Zapier and Calendly, and has an API. No desktop or phone app is listed. | CWeb with Twilio and Facebook Lead Ads listed. No phone or desktop app. |
| Best for | long automated email sequences | marketing automation with a built-in CRM |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: ActiveCampaign and Aritic. How we grade
Price against what you get
ActiveCampaign starts at $15 a month and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Aritic starts at $59 a month and scores 2.3.
ActiveCampaign scores higher and starts $44 a month lower. Of the other email marketing and newsletter tools on the chart, 3 score higher than ActiveCampaign for less, and 30 score higher than Aritic for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- ActiveCampaign also covers reports.
- Aritic also covers sMS marketing, whatsApp messaging and popups.
At a glance
| ActiveCampaign | Aritic | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free trial |
| Starts at | $15 per month for up to 1,000 contacts, billed annually ($19 monthly) | $59 per month, billed monthly, set by contact count |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | 14-day free trial, no credit card needed | Free trial offered on Lite, Starter and Professional; length not stated |
| Web | ||
| Made by | ActiveCampaign | Dataaegis Software Pvt. LTD. |
| Price read from | activecampaign.com | aritic.com |
| Checked | Oct 17, 2026 | Nov 13, 2026 |
Worth knowing
ActiveCampaign
- There is no free plan; after the 14-day trial every plan is paid.
- Monthly email sends are capped at 10 times your contact limit on Starter and Plus, 12 times on Pro and 15 times on Enterprise.
- SMS, WhatsApp, transactional email, sales pipelines and extra users are paid add-ons on top of the plan price.
- Starter has one user and stops at 25,000 contacts; landing pages need Plus and conditional content needs Pro.
Aritic
- Price depends on contacts picked on a slider; the contact count behind each displayed price was not readable.
- Contacts are counted from unique push subscribers, email subscribers and phone numbers.
- Contacts imported from a CSV cannot be deleted manually once uploaded.
- Sending to purchased or rented lists is not allowed; payments go through 2Checkout or PayPal.
Key features
ActiveCampaign
- Multi-step automations
- A visual builder links actions, waits and branches into automations. Starter allows 5 actions per automation; Plus and above have no limit.
- Email designer and AI tools
- Drag-and-drop and HTML designer, 250+ templates and A/B testing, plus an AI campaign builder and AI text and image generation.
- Segmentation and personalization
- Segmentation runs from limited on Starter to premium on Enterprise. Conditional content and predictive sending start at Pro.
- CRM and pipelines
- Every plan keeps contact profiles, tags and custom fields. Pipelines, deals, lead scoring and win probability come with the paid CRM add-ons.
- Forms, landing pages and site messages
- Starter has standard and inline forms only; Plus adds landing pages. Site messages and Google, Facebook and LinkedIn ad audiences are also available.
- Reporting and attribution
- Campaign, automation and contact reports on every plan. Attribution starts at Pro; custom reports are included on Enterprise and an add-on on Plus and Pro.
Aritic
- Email campaigns and automation
- Newsletters, list segmentation, lead scoring and automation workflows, with 10 times the contact count in free emails on Lite.
- Multi-channel messaging
- Push notification campaigns come on Lite; SMS and WhatsApp campaigns, powered by Twilio for SMS, start at Starter.
- Landing pages and forms
- Responsive landing pages, lead capture forms, on-page widgets and website tracking are on every self-serve plan.
- Built-in CRM
- A deal CRM and sales pipeline sit inside the marketing platform, with 350+ direct integrations listed.
- Personalization
- Dynamic content, dynamic email campaigns and progressive profiling start on Professional.
- Other Aritic products
- The company also sells Sales CRM, Desk ticketing and Mail transactional email as separate products with their own pricing.
Plans
ActiveCampaign
Starter$15
per month for up to 1,000 contacts, billed annually ($19 monthly)
1 user, limited segmentation, 5 actions per automation, up to 25,000 contacts. Price rises with the list: $149 a month at 10,000 contacts, billed annually.
Plus$49
per month for up to 1,000 contacts, billed annually ($59 monthly)
1 user, unlimited automation actions, standard segmentation and landing pages. $189 a month at 10,000 contacts, billed annually.
Pro$79
per month for up to 1,000 contacts, billed annually ($99 monthly)
3 users, advanced segmentation, conditional content, predictive sending and attribution. $375 a month at 10,000 contacts, billed annually.
Enterprise$145
per month for up to 1,000 contacts, billed annually ($179 monthly)
5 users, premium segmentation, custom objects, single sign-on and a dedicated account team. $589 a month at 10,000 contacts, billed annually.
Aritic
Lite$59
per month, billed monthly; price follows contact count
Marketing automation, deal CRM, pipeline, landing pages, forms, lead scoring and 1 free user.
Starter$219
per month, billed monthly; price follows contact count
Adds multi-channel drips, SMS and WhatsApp campaigns (SMS via Twilio), engagement scoring, 25 users.
Professional$249
per month, billed monthly; price follows contact count
Adds dynamic content, progressive profiling, custom reports and dashboards, team management, 50 users.
EnterpriseCustom
Starts from 10,000 contacts; adds single sign-on, audit logs, ROI analysis, SLA and dedicated rep.
Ways to pay less
ActiveCampaign
- Annual discount
About 20% off with annual billing
At 1,000 contacts, annual billing brings Starter to $15 a month from $19 monthly, Plus to $49 from $59 and Pro to $79 from $99.
- Nonprofit
20% off for nonprofits
ActiveCampaign's FAQ offers nonprofits a 20% discount on proof of nonprofit status, requested from the sales team or, for existing accounts, from support.
Aritic
- Other savings
Free migration on annual commitment
The pricing page says migration from an old platform to Aritic PinPoint is free on an annual commitment.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, ActiveCampaign or Aritic?
As of Nov 13, 2026, ActiveCampaign is cheaper to start with: $15 a month, against $59 a month for Aritic. ActiveCampaign starts at $15 per month for up to 1,000 contacts, billed annually ($19 monthly), and Aritic starts at $59 per month, billed monthly, set by contact count.
Which has a free plan, ActiveCampaign or Aritic?
As of Nov 13, 2026, neither ActiveCampaign nor Aritic has a free plan. Both have a free trial.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.