ActiveCampaign vs BenchmarkONE (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, ActiveCampaign and BenchmarkONE share a 2.4 GPA, and only BenchmarkONE has a free plan.
Checked Oct 17, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Oct 17, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
They get the same grade on all five counts.
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
BenchmarkONE
Small-business CRM with email marketing and automation
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 BenchmarkONE if
- Fits if you are a small business that wants contacts and email together
- Works for agencies, which get bundled accounts and co-branding
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you stay free: 250 contacts and 500 emails a month
- Pricey if you want the CRM, since Pro is $179 against $29 for Lite at 500 contacts
- Watch out: prices climb to $319 on Lite and $619 on Pro at the largest tier
- Watch out: agency pricing isn't published and goes through a sales conversation
How we grade them
| 2.4GPAActiveCampaignFair | 2.4GPABenchmarkONEFair | |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | CLite is $29 a month for 500 contacts on annual billing, but the CRM sits on Pro at $179, and 10,000 contacts costs $119 on Lite and $269 on Pro. |
| 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 plan of 250 contacts and 500 emails a month, with unlimited users. A cap you will meet. |
| 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, popups, a CRM and Gmail and Outlook tools. The full CRM is Pro only. |
| 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 web app where you build lists, automations and pipelines. |
| 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. | BWeb app and Chrome extension with Zapier, Gmail and Outlook. |
| Best for | long automated email sequences | email marketing plus a small 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 BenchmarkONE. 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. BenchmarkONE starts at $29 a month and scores 2.7.
They score the same, and ActiveCampaign starts $14 a month lower. Of the other email marketing and newsletter tools on the chart, 3 score higher than ActiveCampaign for less, and 3 score higher than BenchmarkONE 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 forms.
At a glance
| ActiveCampaign | BenchmarkONE | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free plan |
| Starts at | $15 per month for up to 1,000 contacts, billed annually ($19 monthly) | $29 per month for up to 500 contacts, billed annually ($49 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | None | Lite and Pro both start at 250 contacts and 500 emails a month for $0, with unlimited users. |
| Free trial | 14-day free trial, no credit card needed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | ActiveCampaign | BenchmarkONE |
| Price read from | activecampaign.com | benchmarkone.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.
BenchmarkONE
- The free plans stop at 250 contacts and 500 emails a month.
- Pro costs much more than Lite at the same contact count: $179 against $29 a month at 500 contacts, billed annually.
- Agency pricing is not published and is sold through a sales conversation.
- Prices step up with the contact count, reaching $319 a month for Lite and $619 for Pro at the largest listed tier, billed annually.
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.
BenchmarkONE
- Email marketing
- Send personalized email to the contact list; available on the free Lite plan within its 500-emails-a-month limit.
- Marketing automation
- Follow-up workflows that send targeted messages to leads; listed on Lite and Pro.
- CRM and deal pipeline
- Pro adds a full CRM with a deal pipeline, social profiles, a live activity feed and user permissions.
- Landing pages and popups
- Build landing pages and popups to capture leads into the contact list.
- Gmail and Outlook tools
- A Gmail integration and an Outlook add-in create contacts, notes and tasks from the inbox; a Chrome extension adds leads from web pages.
- Agency features
- The agency plan adds bundled accounts, co-branding and a master template library for agencies serving several clients.
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.
BenchmarkONE
Lite (free)$0
per month for up to 250 contacts
Unlimited users, 500 emails a month, contact management, email marketing, marketing automation and landing pages.
Lite$29
per month for up to 500 contacts, billed annually ($49 billed monthly)
Email-focused plan. The price rises with the list: $119 a month at 10,000 contacts, billed annually ($159 billed monthly).
Pro$179
per month for up to 500 contacts, billed annually ($219 monthly)
Adds the full CRM, deal pipeline, Gmail and Outlook integration, a mobile web app and user permissions. $269 a month at 10,000 contacts, billed annually ($329 billed monthly).
AgenciesCustom
Special pricing for qualifying agencies, with bundled accounts, co-branding, a master template library and partner certification.
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.
BenchmarkONE
- Annual discount
Lower price with yearly billing
The pricing page shows lower monthly prices when billed yearly: for example Lite at 500 contacts is $29 a month against $49 billed monthly.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, ActiveCampaign or BenchmarkONE?
As of Nov 13, 2026, ActiveCampaign is cheaper to start with: $15 a month, against $29 a month for BenchmarkONE. ActiveCampaign starts at $15 per month for up to 1,000 contacts, billed annually ($19 monthly), and BenchmarkONE starts at $29 per month for up to 500 contacts, billed annually ($49 billed monthly).
Which has a free plan, ActiveCampaign or BenchmarkONE?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only BenchmarkONE has a free plan. ActiveCampaign does not, though it has a free trial.
Which platforms do ActiveCampaign and BenchmarkONE run on?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only BenchmarkONE lists a browser extension. Both list a web app. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
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.