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ActiveCampaign vs. Bronto Marketing Platform (discontinued)

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    ActiveCampaign

    Score8.6 out of 10
    N/AActiveCampaign is presented as an AI-first marketing platform for marketers, agencies, and entrepreneurs. It uses Active Intelligence for goal-aware automation and personalized experiences across email, SMS, and WhatsApp. ActiveCampaign integrates with 950+ apps and generates insights to optimize every workflow.

    $180

    per year (single user)

    Bronto Marketing Platform (discontinued)

    Score7.9 out of 10
    N/AThe Bronto Marketing Platform was an email marketing solution from Oracle which was acquired from NetSuite in 2016. It was optimized for creating automated, yet personalized emails, and subscriber profile segments, analyzing click and visit behavior, and tracking geolocation. It has since been discontinued.N/A
    Pricing
    ActiveCampaignBronto Marketing Platform (discontinued)
    Editions & Modules
    Starter
    $15
    per month (billed annually)
    Pro
    $49
    per month (billed annually)
    Plus
    $79
    per month (billed annually)
    Enterprise
    $149
    per month (billed annually)
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    ActiveCampaignBronto Marketing Platform (discontinued)
    Free Trial
    YesNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    YesYes
    Entry-level Setup FeeOptionalNo setup fee
    Additional Details—Request pricing at info@bronto.com.
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    ActiveCampaignBronto Marketing Platform (discontinued)
    Considered Both Products
    ActiveCampaign
    No answer on this topic
    The Bronto Marketing Platform
    Chose Bronto Marketing Platform (discontinued)
    Bronto has so many features packed into one platform that are not all obvious. Bronto replaces a giant stack of tools I would otherwise have: Drip for marketing automation, Litmus or Glock Apps for spam testing, Zapier and Twilio for SMS, Hootsuite for social posting, and …
    Incentivized
    Chose Bronto Marketing Platform (discontinued)
    Bronto does all of it in one platform, including product recommendations. The only system that comes close is Zaius, and it’s twice the price and doesn’t do social posting.
    Incentivized
    Chose Bronto Marketing Platform (discontinued)
    They have a strong Magento integration, which is a great thing for B2C Magento e-commerce business. Also, they have all the automation features, which allows you to automatize the sendings depending on your strategy, but Bronto charges additional for each new features.
    Incentivized
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    98%
    Would buy again
    492 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Delivers good value for the price
    98%
    Delivers good value for the price
    471 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Happy with the feature set
    98%
    Happy with the feature set
    493 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    97%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    454 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation went as expected
    94%
    Implementation went as expected
    458 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Features
    ActiveCampaignBronto Marketing Platform (discontinued)
    Email & Online Marketing
    Comparison of Email & Online Marketing features of ActiveCampaign and Bronto Marketing Platform (discontinued)
    Feature
    ActiveCampaign
    8.7
    690 Ratings
    11% above category average
    Bronto Marketing Platform (discontinued)
    7.4
    58 Ratings
    8% below category average
    WYSIWYG email editor8.5609 Ratings7.050 Ratings
    Dynamic content8.7541 Ratings6.450 Ratings
    Ability to test dynamic content8.4490 Ratings6.449 Ratings
    Landing pages7.6358 Ratings4.525 Ratings
    A/B testing8.4400 Ratings9.055 Ratings
    Mobile optimization9.2549 Ratings7.850 Ratings
    Email deliverability reporting8.6658 Ratings9.458 Ratings
    List management8.8677 Ratings7.456 Ratings
    Triggered drip sequences10.0596 Ratings8.448 Ratings
    Lead Management
    Comparison of Lead Management features of ActiveCampaign and Bronto Marketing Platform (discontinued)
    Feature
    ActiveCampaign
    8.3
    543 Ratings
    4% above category average
    Bronto Marketing Platform (discontinued)
    -
    Ratings
    Lead nurturing automation8.6509 Ratings00 Ratings
    Lead scoring and grading8.5371 Ratings00 Ratings
    Data quality management8.6417 Ratings00 Ratings
    Automated sales alerts and tasks8.8366 Ratings00 Ratings
    Lead segmentation and distribution6.919 Ratings00 Ratings
    Campaign Management
    Comparison of Campaign Management features of ActiveCampaign and Bronto Marketing Platform (discontinued)
    Feature
    ActiveCampaign
    8.9
    390 Ratings
    16% above category average
    Bronto Marketing Platform (discontinued)
    -
    Ratings
    Calendaring8.8311 Ratings00 Ratings
    Event/webinar marketing9.1293 Ratings00 Ratings
    Social Media Marketing
    Comparison of Social Media Marketing features of ActiveCampaign and Bronto Marketing Platform (discontinued)
    Feature
    ActiveCampaign
    6.8
    295 Ratings
    11% below category average
    Bronto Marketing Platform (discontinued)
    -
    Ratings
    Social sharing and campaigns7.2262 Ratings00 Ratings
    Social profile integration6.4257 Ratings00 Ratings
    Reporting & Analytics
    Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of ActiveCampaign and Bronto Marketing Platform (discontinued)
    Feature
    ActiveCampaign
    8.2
    652 Ratings
    9% above category average
    Bronto Marketing Platform (discontinued)
    7.6
    57 Ratings
    0% below category average
    Dashboards8.0623 Ratings7.857 Ratings
    Standard reports8.4611 Ratings7.856 Ratings
    Custom reports8.2397 Ratings7.143 Ratings
    Platform & Infrastructure
    Comparison of Platform & Infrastructure features of ActiveCampaign and Bronto Marketing Platform (discontinued)
    Feature
    ActiveCampaign
    8.7
    511 Ratings
    13% above category average
    Bronto Marketing Platform (discontinued)
    -
    Ratings
    API8.6409 Ratings00 Ratings
    Role-based workflow & approvals8.6278 Ratings00 Ratings
    Customizability7.6437 Ratings00 Ratings
    Integration with Salesforce.com9.097 Ratings00 Ratings
    Integration with Microsoft Dynamics CRM9.964 Ratings00 Ratings
    Integration with SugarCRM9.459 Ratings00 Ratings
    Third-party software integrations7.740 Ratings00 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    ActiveCampaignBronto Marketing Platform (discontinued)
    Small Businesses
    Vbout
    Score9.9 out of 10
    Mad Mimi
    Score10 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Bloomreach
    Score9.2 out of 10
    Campaign Monitor by Marigold
    Score9 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Iterable
    Score8.2 out of 10
    Emma by Marigold
    Score8.5 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    ActiveCampaignBronto Marketing Platform (discontinued)
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.6
    (703 ratings)
    8.1
    (60 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    10.0
    (27 ratings)
    8.0
    (5 ratings)
    Usability
    9.3
    (66 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Availability
    9.1
    (5 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Performance
    7.3
    (5 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    Support Rating
    1.3
    (42 ratings)
    2.0
    (2 ratings)
    In-Person Training
    9.1
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Online Training
    7.3
    (1 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    10.0
    (16 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Configurability
    6.4
    (4 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    9.1
    (4 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    1.0
    (5 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    6.4
    (4 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    7.3
    (4 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    ActiveCampaignBronto Marketing Platform (discontinued)
    Likelihood to Recommend
    ActiveCampaign
    I've been using ActiveCampaign since around 2018-2019 and I've always been satisfied with the software. It's simple to use, connects with the other tools I use and makes it easy for me to duplicate automations, email templates and workflows as I need to. On top of that, any time I've had an issue (which I think is around twice in the past 5/6 years), the customer service has always been super helpful and my issue has been resolved quickly.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    The Bronto Marketing Platform
    If you're a mid-size to larger business and rely on regular email engagement from customers, then Bronto Marketing Platform could be a potentially great partner if not game-changer for how you've been doing email campaign management previously. Their automation tools and development interface is amicable. The amount of data that's collected and available from engagement with subscribers through their tools can be overwhelming. Still, if you enjoy digging into every kernel of possible user activity information, you'll love it.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    ActiveCampaign
    • Collects and filters emails from various lead magnets exceptionally well (especially if a user wants to re-sign up to the same lead magnet and go through it again, they can)
    • Super easy to use email creation that is aesthetically pleasing and user friendly
    • Easy email sequences and user classification from a large range of opt in trigger options
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    The Bronto Marketing Platform
    • It's easy to work with – it has seamless integration across all platforms, which helps when you're working with big clientele.
    • It's logically organized, which can't be said of all ESP's.
    • It has the LIVE CHAT support. A lot of email marketing clients simply don't have that. It's the little things!
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    ActiveCampaign
    • It took me a while to get to understand where to find things, and I used a free online course from a consultant who specialises in AC to help me get the foundations set up more easily. That said, there were lots of onboarding workshops, which were good. It just felt like it required a lot of different angles of learning to just get started.
    • The customer support took longer than other software to get back to me via email, though once I found the chat option for my most recent query, that was fast.
    • I've ended up switching to another programme where more software is more naturally integrated, and the AC equivalent is included in the price, along with many other types of software. However, design-wise, ActiveCampaign is much better.
    • I also had a problem with a form used on my WordPress website, which has a BuddyBoss platform - the colours on the form would be overridden by colour choices for the website, so they were hard to read (pink text on purple background instead of the gold text it was meant to be)
    • I couldn't always find the templates I was looking for or how to access them for automation-based emails. I think when I used it, there was a new type of template for newsletters that weren't available for automations, so I had to recreate it, which added time.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    The Bronto Marketing Platform
    • Segmenting- although there's a lot that can be done with segmenting audiences, there's a bit of a learning curve when it comes to setting up segments. Wish it was more intuitive.
    • Workflows- setting up automation workflows requires some practice and I've needed to consult a Bronto support person each time I set up a new workflow.
    • Bronto Pop-up manager- we use this feature, not sure how common it is among Bronto clients, but there is overall some improvement needed with this tool. There is limited capability to update the look and feel of the pop-up manager, and we've run into some conflicts with other pop-ups on our website interfering with the Bronto pop-up.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    ActiveCampaign
    I am committed at the moment. Rebuilding the automations I have would be a huge time drain. Plus the cost of learning a new system and the risk to deliverability of porting a 6,000 person list to a new platform. Also, AC offers everything I need ast a reasonable (but a little high) price. So, why not a 10? Because, early 2023, AC dropped a massive 2x price hike on long-term customers. They knew few would shift, so this feels like a cynical cash grab and left a bad taste, If they do something like this again, this camel will have a broken back.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    The Bronto Marketing Platform
    Never really had any issues that caused out-of-the-ordinary frustration levels. Of course, you'll have days where the learning curve of using a tool gets challenging. Still, I don't remember ever really coming across an obstacle or roadblock while using the tool because of a feature or function it just couldn't do successfully or at all. Customer support was always available as needed, and it was generally easy to find answers to questions when they arose.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Usability
    ActiveCampaign
    ActiveCampaign has been the easiest marketing automation software we have ever used. They provide tips throughout the entire process of anything you are building. Their support team through LIVE CHAT has been extremely fast and helpful. The monthly meetings provided with the enablement team has helped us through several large and urgent needs.
    Read full review
    The Bronto Marketing Platform
    Usability is great. Very intuitive drag-and-drip metaphor for building automations. And the UI is very user-centric. It constantly prompts you with suggestions and next steps such that you hardly have to refer to the (excellent) documentation.
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    ActiveCampaign
    I haven't experienced application errors or unplanned outages at all. Active Campaign is ultra reliable and I would not be using them if that were the case. Also, the helpful emails they send are welcomed and informative, and present very practical tips and guidance for using the platform. They're always demonstrating new features and I'm thankful for that.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    The Bronto Marketing Platform
    I never experienced any downtime.
    Read full review
    Performance
    ActiveCampaign
    Oh my gosh, Active Campaign's performance gets an A+++ in my book. The pages load quickly and so do the reports. I haven't noticed any slowdowns when it's integrating with other programs and it performs excellently on all levels.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    The Bronto Marketing Platform
    No issues.
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    ActiveCampaign
    This might be the best part. The chat support lady offered to make a video to help me solve my problem. I worked in customer service for years and I've never done that, lol. So, if they're offering things like that, I can only imagine that they'd be able to handle most any issue you throw at them.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    The Bronto Marketing Platform
    They used to be good, but they've evolved into a monolithic bureaucratic nightmare after the Netsuite / Oracle acquisition. Can't talk to anyone that actually knows the system and support tickets seem to go days or weeks without responses and resolution.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Online Training
    ActiveCampaign
    No answers on this topic
    The Bronto Marketing Platform
    They have lots of videos on list importing / segmentation / report customization etc. when you sign on they give a link to online tutorials and documentation which is very helpful. They have very helpful PDFs on how to import / set up platform
    Read full review
    Implementation Rating
    ActiveCampaign
    Very satisfied with our implementation in our professional medical practice, allowing us to be on top of client service, and not miss out on crucial information and insights. Marketing is often neglected in professional practices and ActiveCampaign solved this problem with aplomb.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    The Bronto Marketing Platform
    Easy to set up.
    Read full review
    Alternatives Considered
    ActiveCampaign
    I moved to ActiveCampaign from Mailchimp. Admittedly, I was using the free version of Mailchimp, but I had numerous episodes of subscriber data NOT being added to Mailchimp, despite using API to integrate with my mailing list. Obviously, I couldn't pay for clicks and not capture subscriber data, so I had to find something else. ActiveCampaign has been 100% reliable in testing.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    The Bronto Marketing Platform
    Bronto hits the sweet spot for us. It is most similar to the Salesforce family of products. Salesforce however can feel cluttered and configuration and setup can be time consuming and confusing. Bronto is much more streamlined and also has features built in that may require additional purchases in the Salesforce world. Adobe Campaign is a very powerful solution and can do many things hard to achieve in Bronto. However, Campaign is much more of a developer tool where Bronto is easy to learn and use right out of the box.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Scalability
    ActiveCampaign
    My web designer told me about Active Campaign and although I don't recall which platform I had before, I LOVE Active Campaign and its user friendliness. The transition was seamless and I've never had a problem with functionality or server failure.
    Active Campaign provides so many features, and makes it easy for non-techies to maneuver around the site with ease. They capture information and put it in an easy-to-read format.
    At this point, I don't think I'd ever use any other platform!
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    The Bronto Marketing Platform
    No answers on this topic
    Return on Investment
    ActiveCampaign
    • I haven't monetized my list yet so no clear ROI but great from a list-building perspective
    • The software is not cheap so at times I feel like I may not be getting the most out of the product because I'm not using all of the features
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    The Bronto Marketing Platform
    • Offering great reporting for tracking everything. I can see what emails are working (I track on a monthly basis) and what people are clicking.
    • A/B split testing lets us try different things. Try this and that.
    • Creating lists and segments of subscribers lets us look at who is the best performing contacts. Really get 'into the data' and understand what is working and what is not.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    ActiveCampaign Screenshots

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