ActiveCampaign vs Dotdigital (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, ActiveCampaign grades higher than Dotdigital: 2.4 against 2.0 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 17, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 17, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
ActiveCampaign grades higher on the free plan. They get the same grade on value for money, 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
Dotdigital
Cross-channel marketing automation for ecommerce and B2B teams
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 Dotdigital if
- Fits if you run an online store on Shopify, BigCommerce or Adobe Commerce
- Makes sense if you want email and other channels from one vendor
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want a published price, as we could not confirm one
- Not for you if you want a free plan or trial, because none is shown
- Watch out: loyalty is a separate product from the main platform
- Watch out: the home page does not say which plans include the AI agents
- Skip it if all you send is a monthly newsletter
How we grade them
| 2.4GPAActiveCampaignFair | 2.0GPADotdigitalFair | |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | CNo price could be confirmed, because the vendor's pricing pages refused automated reads. Nothing on record to set against the category. |
| 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. | FThe pages that could be read state no free plan or trial. |
| 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. | BMarketing automation, several channels, AI agents and an MCP server. The listing shows no gap in the core job, though loyalty is a separate product. |
| 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. | CWeb, with channels and a catalogue to connect. No rating on record. |
| 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, BigCommerce, Adobe Commerce, Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics, Oracle, Shopware and Trustpilot connections. |
| Best for | long automated email sequences | retail and ecommerce brands with a sales call |
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 Dotdigital. How we grade
Where they differ
- ActiveCampaign also covers sales pipeline, forms and reports.
- Dotdigital also covers sMS marketing and whatsApp messaging.
At a glance
| ActiveCampaign | Dotdigital | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Paid |
| Starts at | $15 per month for up to 1,000 contacts, billed annually ($19 monthly) | Not published |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | 14-day free trial, no credit card needed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | ActiveCampaign | dotdigital EMEA Limited |
| Price read from | activecampaign.com | Not confirmed |
| Checked | Oct 17, 2026 | Nov 12, 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.
Dotdigital
- Prices could not be confirmed: the vendor's pricing pages refused automated reads, so none are listed.
- The pages that could be read state no free plan or trial.
- Loyalty is a separate product, and the home page does not say which plans include the AI agents.
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.
Dotdigital
- Marketing automation
- Customer journeys that trigger messages, such as cart recovery emails and SMS offer reminders, from one platform.
- Channels
- Email, SMS/MMS, WhatsApp, mobile app push, web personalization and ads and retargeting.
- AI agents
- A Segment Agent that builds audiences from a plain description and a Content Agent that writes messaging for any channel.
- MCP server
- A Model Context Protocol server that lets an AI tool read Dotdigital results and add leads to a list.
- Loyalty and retention
- A loyalty product for rewarding and retaining customers, sold alongside the marketing platform.
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.
Dotdigital
Pricing could not be confirmed. See dotdigital.com.
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.
Dotdigital
No public discounts listed.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, ActiveCampaign or Dotdigital?
As of Nov 12, 2026, ActiveCampaign starts at $15 per month for up to 1,000 contacts, billed annually ($19 monthly), and Dotdigital has no price we could confirm.
Which has a free plan, ActiveCampaign or Dotdigital?
As of Nov 12, 2026, neither ActiveCampaign nor Dotdigital has a free plan. ActiveCampaign has 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.