ActiveCampaign vs Brevo
We give ActiveCampaign a 2.4 GPA and Brevo a 2.6, out of 4.0. Brevo grades higher on value for money. They get the same grade on the free plan, features, ease of use and platforms.
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
Brevo
Email, SMS and WhatsApp marketing priced by emails sent, with a CRM
How we grade them
| 2.4GPAActiveCampaignFair | 2.6GPABrevoGood | |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | BStarter is $9 a month for 5,000 emails, inside the cheaper quarter of email tools, and from 20,000 emails the contact cap jumps to 500,000. Automations and A/B tests need Standard at $18, and taking the Brevo logo off Starter is $12 a month more. |
| Free plan and trial | CNo free plan at all, but there's a 14-day trial with no credit card needed. Long enough to build an automation or two and see if it clicks. | CFree for good with no card: 300 emails a day, campaigns and transactional email by API. Once your list passes 300 people, though, a single newsletter can't all go out on the same day. |
| 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. | BCampaigns, transactional email, automations, SMS, segments, forms, AI writing and a sales CRM, all from one contact list. That covers the whole job and then some. WhatsApp, popups and push wait for the $499 Professional plan. |
| Ease of use | CNo App Store rating on record, and this is a web app where the work is building automations and segments. Powerful, but expect a learning curve before it pays off. | CNo App Store rating on record. It's a big web app with campaigns, automations, a CRM and SMS in it, so you'll be setting things up before it earns its keep. |
| 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 only, with Shopify, WordPress, Stripe, Zapier, ChatGPT and Claude connections and an API. No desktop or phone app is listed. |
| Best for | long automated email sequences | big lists you only email now and then |
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 Brevo. 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. Brevo starts at $9 a month and scores 2.7.
They score the same, and Brevo starts $6 a month lower. Of the other email marketing and newsletter tools on the chart, 3 score higher than ActiveCampaign for less, and none scores higher than Brevo 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 starts at $15 per month for up to 1,000 contacts, billed annually ($19 monthly). Brevo starts at $9 per month for 5,000 emails and up to 500 contacts, billed monthly.
- Brevo has a free plan. ActiveCampaign does not, though it has a free trial.
- ActiveCampaign also covers reports.
- Brevo also covers live chat.
At a glance
| ActiveCampaign | Brevo | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free plan |
| Starts at | $15 per month for up to 1,000 contacts, billed annually ($19 monthly) | $9 per month for 5,000 emails and up to 500 contacts, billed monthly |
| Free plan | None | Up to 300 emails a day (campaigns and transactional), 1 marketing seat and transactional email by API and SMTP. No credit card needed. |
| Free trial | 14-day free trial, no credit card needed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | ActiveCampaign | Brevo |
| Price read from | activecampaign.com | brevo.com |
| Checked | Oct 17, 2026 | Oct 17, 2026 |
Who each one suits
ActiveCampaign
- Businesses that run long automated sequences rather than one-off newsletters
- Teams that want email marketing tied to a sales CRM
- Online stores on Shopify, WooCommerce or Square that tie orders to email
Brevo
- Senders with a large list who email it only now and then
- Businesses that want marketing and transactional email in one account
- Small teams adding SMS or WhatsApp to email campaigns
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.
Brevo
- Starter and Standard cap contacts by email volume: 500 contacts at 5,000 emails a month, 2,500 at 15,000, and 500,000 from 20,000.
- The Free plan is limited to 300 emails a day.
- Starter has a single seat and shows the Brevo logo unless you pay $12 a month; extra seats on Standard cost $12 a month each, up to 3.
- SMS credits are bought separately and priced by volume and destination; WhatsApp campaigns start at the $499 Professional plan.
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.
Brevo
- Email campaigns and transactional email
- A drag-and-drop editor and templates for campaigns, plus transactional email over an API and SMTP relay on every plan, Free included.
- Marketing automation
- Standard and above allow unlimited multi-step workflows triggered by sign-ups, website activity and custom events.
- SMS and WhatsApp
- SMS campaigns are sold as credits priced by volume and destination on every plan. WhatsApp, popups and web and mobile push come with Professional.
- Sales CRM
- Sales seats add pipelines, deals and sales automation to the same contact database, sold as a separate monthly charge per seat.
- Segments and forms
- Paid plans can save unlimited segments filtered by website activity, campaign engagement and custom events, and build branded sign-up forms.
- AI tools
- An AI writer drafts subject lines and copy from Starter, send-time optimization comes with Standard, and Aura AI segmentation and data questions come with Professional.
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.
Brevo
Free$0
300 emails a day, 1 seat, campaigns and transactional email. Upgrading removes the daily sending limit.
Starter$9
per month for 5,000 emails and up to 500 contacts, billed monthly
1 seat, forms, segmentation and AI writing help; removing the Brevo logo costs $12 a month. Price rises with volume: $17 a month at 10,000 emails.
Standard$18
per month for 5,000 emails and up to 500 contacts, billed monthly
Automation workflows, A/B testing, send-time optimization, no Brevo logo, up to 3 seats. $69 a month at 20,000 emails, where the contact cap rises to 500,000.
Professional$499
per month for 150,000 emails, billed monthly
10 seats, WhatsApp, popups and push, contact scoring, AI segmentation, phone support and up to 2 million contacts.
EnterpriseCustom
For 1 million or more contacts: multiple brands under one account, dedicated IP, SSO and SAML, custom data integrations.
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.
Brevo
- Annual discount
Save 10% with yearly billing
Brevo's pricing page takes 10% off Starter, Standard and Professional when billed yearly: Starter at 5,000 emails is $97 a year instead of $108.
