ActiveCampaign vs. ConvertKit

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
ActiveCampaign
Score 7.9 out of 10
N/A
ActiveCampaign helps small teams power big businesses with a platform for intelligent marketing automation. It provides email marketing, marketing automation, and CRM tools that help businesses to create incredible customer experiences.
$15
per month
ConvertKit
Score 8.7 out of 10
N/A
ConvertKit, from the company of the same name headquartered in Boise, is presented as email marketing software for online creators - the authors, makers, podcasters, photographers, YouTubers, teachers, and artists. The vendor boasts 19,500 paying customers, sending 500 million emails per month, and rapid growth.
$29
per month
Pricing
ActiveCampaignConvertKit
Editions & Modules
Starter
$15
per month
Plus
$49
per month
Pro
$79
per month
Enterprise
$145
per month
Creator
$29.00
per month
Creator Pro
$59.00
per month
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
ActiveCampaignConvertKit
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional DetailsNo matter what plan you choose, our services are designed to help you get the most out of your investment — so you can focus on running your business. ActiveCampaign services included in all plan tiers: ActiveTraining Community access Contact migration Customer enablement workshops Video tutorials Chat and ticket support Knowledge base & help guides
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
ActiveCampaignConvertKit
Considered Both Products
ActiveCampaign
Chose ActiveCampaign
I like ActiveCampaign because compared to ConvertKit, I think it has a lot more capability and there’s a lot more room to grow with customization in automation. I am on the first tier, so I have limited access to some of the more advanced features, but I like that even on the …
Chose ActiveCampaign
ConvertKit is great if you want to also build landing pages. But funnel wise, ActiveCampaign is more professional.
Chose ActiveCampaign
ActiveCampaign is so much more easy to use, so much simpler. I had such a hard time with Mailchimp (not as much with ConvertKit) that is was a night mare for me and my team as we we beginning at that time. If we'd started straight on ActiveCampaign it would have been a lot less …
Chose ActiveCampaign
AWeber is way too limiting. ConvertKit wasn't as intuitive and also very limiting. Mailchimp was ultra basic. ActiveCampaign was easy to figure out, enough to keep simple but have the ability to add more complexity. I'd say anyone should use ActiveCampaign. From what I've seen, …
Chose ActiveCampaign
ActiveCampaign specializes in email and that's what they do best. I've tried "all in one" platforms like Keap and Ontraport, which couldn't keep up with the details of email. Other competitors like ConvertKit and Mailchimp just didn't have the firepower necessary to do all the …
Chose ActiveCampaign
ActiveCampaign has a huge advantage over the other platforms in that there is enough power under the hood to offer the same automation as the other platforms but without creating a headache in the process of organizing it all. Mailchimp at its heart is still a freemium tool …
Chose ActiveCampaign
ActiveCampaign is SO much better. We started with Mailchimp and hit its limitations so quickly. We then moved to ConvertKit and while it was significantly better, it didn’t have the ability to really customize a contact’s journey. Finally, we moved to ActiveCampaign and …
Chose ActiveCampaign
I used to use ConvertKit but liked the customization ability of ActiveCampaign better. Also, ConvertKit limits on the size of your email list were smaller than ActiveCampaign and it was the best fit for me.
Chose ActiveCampaign
We needed something with more customability and that could handle the systems that we wanted to create. Mailchimp was too clunky for what we needed and ConvertKit was too basic (while oddly being complicated at times). ActiveCampaign was recommended by a colleague and we …
Chose ActiveCampaign
Salesforce is a beast! The learning involved to use the system is prohibitive. MailerLite is limited in functionality but ConvertKit is a solid alternative. Both are easy to use but clunky to navigate, while ActiveCampaign is logical. Mailchimp is great for small businesses …
Chose ActiveCampaign
The really big difference between ActiveCampaign the the competition, is the power of the automation that you can get with AC.
Chose ActiveCampaign
I don't like MailerLite and Flodesk because they only offer segments, no tags. I like to add many tags to my contacts depending on the products they purchase, and this gets too cluttered when there's only segments. They also don't have clear insights on the home page of people …
Chose ActiveCampaign
For the price, what it offers, and how easy it is to adapt and use. I think it is a better option than all of them.
Chose ActiveCampaign
ActiveCampaign was more affordable and had more features than I needed. In particular, the automation, sequences, and integrations plus the ability for custom webhooks. While I like the other platforms too for various reasons, the automation and webhooks features, integrations, …
Chose ActiveCampaign
In comparison to all the other systems (except Keap), ActiveCampaign goes above and beyond for email marketing, marketing automation, and CRM functionality. It's the closest you can get to an all-in-one system.

And while Infusionsoft is also robust, it's not very intuitive. …
Chose ActiveCampaign
ActiveCampaign is the most intuitive out of all of the ones I've used. Their visual automation builder is great. I felt like every other option that I had previously played with just felt more confusing. I tested out many other tools while also using ActiveCampaign and I just …
Chose ActiveCampaign
ActiveCampaign is the best of the best among other CRM and emails autoresponders because of its features like the visual workflow, triggers, opt-in page, landing page, customer service, user interface. It's very user-friendly. You can literally use it for the first time and the …
Chose ActiveCampaign
The key reasons I've chosen ActiveCampaign over others are:
  1. Combined CRM and email marketing in one place
  2. Contact tagging (some other email apps have this, some don't)
Chose ActiveCampaign
Active Campaign is great compared to the platforms that I have used. Mailchimp is also fairly easy to use but isn't as pretty in the email content; however it does have better reporting. Convert kit has a higher deliverable rate due to it being mainly a text email service …
Chose ActiveCampaign
While other products may have features that ActiveCampaign only releases to higher-tier customers (landing pages for example), the benefits of ActiveCampaign far outweigh this. ActiveCampaign is great to use, easy to use, has a lot of power under the hood, and is quite …
Chose ActiveCampaign
Overall, we selected ActiveCampaign based on the features offered, the ease of use (and therefore the ease of training others to use), and the overall value for the price. The competitors I have used or evaluated in the past may occasionally be better than ActiveCampaign in one …
Chose ActiveCampaign
ActiveCampaign is easier to use, customize, and set up specifically for your business than most other platforms.
Chose ActiveCampaign
I always recommend ActiveCampaign to clients primarily because we can import funnels into their accounts which saves us a tremendous amount of time. I also feel that ActiveCampaign's automation is a step above other platforms. They are easier for me to visualize what's …
Chose ActiveCampaign
Pardot is in my opinion overpriced and because it relies on Salesforce as a CRM limiting as a choice. HubSpot CRM is great even in the free version, but once you need to add email automation in the mix the cost become a big factor.
ConvertKit

No answer on this topic

Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
ActiveCampaignConvertKit
Email & Online Marketing
Comparison of Email & Online Marketing features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCampaign
8.5
679 Ratings
11% above category average
ConvertKit
8.9
6 Ratings
11% above category average
WYSIWYG email editor7.9596 Ratings8.86 Ratings
Dynamic content7.4532 Ratings8.96 Ratings
Ability to test dynamic content7.3482 Ratings8.96 Ratings
Landing pages6.8349 Ratings8.36 Ratings
A/B testing9.5391 Ratings8.76 Ratings
Mobile optimization8.8538 Ratings9.76 Ratings
Email deliverability reporting8.6645 Ratings9.76 Ratings
List management9.9664 Ratings8.46 Ratings
Triggered drip sequences10.0586 Ratings8.76 Ratings
Lead Management
Comparison of Lead Management features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCampaign
8.5
534 Ratings
9% above category average
ConvertKit
-
Ratings
Lead nurturing automation9.9500 Ratings00 Ratings
Lead scoring and grading8.4365 Ratings00 Ratings
Data quality management9.1407 Ratings00 Ratings
Automated sales alerts and tasks7.8360 Ratings00 Ratings
Lead segmentation and distribution7.510 Ratings00 Ratings
Campaign Management
Comparison of Campaign Management features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCampaign
9.9
383 Ratings
28% above category average
ConvertKit
-
Ratings
Calendaring9.9303 Ratings00 Ratings
Event/webinar marketing9.9288 Ratings00 Ratings
Social Media Marketing
Comparison of Social Media Marketing features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCampaign
7.6
291 Ratings
1% above category average
ConvertKit
-
Ratings
Social sharing and campaigns7.8258 Ratings00 Ratings
Social profile integration7.4253 Ratings00 Ratings
Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCampaign
7.4
642 Ratings
1% above category average
ConvertKit
8.4
6 Ratings
9% above category average
Dashboards7.6611 Ratings8.56 Ratings
Standard reports7.4599 Ratings9.56 Ratings
Custom reports7.3386 Ratings7.15 Ratings
Platform & Infrastructure
Comparison of Platform & Infrastructure features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCampaign
9.4
503 Ratings
23% above category average
ConvertKit
-
Ratings
API9.0401 Ratings00 Ratings
Role-based workflow & approvals9.1273 Ratings00 Ratings
Customizability8.4429 Ratings00 Ratings
Integration with Salesforce.com9.894 Ratings00 Ratings
Integration with Microsoft Dynamics CRM9.961 Ratings00 Ratings
Integration with SugarCRM9.957 Ratings00 Ratings
Third-party software integrations9.931 Ratings00 Ratings
Pre-Send Testing
Comparison of Pre-Send Testing features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCampaign
-
Ratings
ConvertKit
9.5
6 Ratings
17% above category average
URL Validation00 Ratings10.05 Ratings
Link Tracking00 Ratings10.05 Ratings
Image Validation00 Ratings9.55 Ratings
Inbox Display00 Ratings9.76 Ratings
Email Accessibility Tools00 Ratings9.55 Ratings
Spelling and Grammar Check00 Ratings9.25 Ratings
Spam Testing00 Ratings8.45 Ratings
Email Previews00 Ratings10.06 Ratings
Best Alternatives
ActiveCampaignConvertKit
Small Businesses
Vbout
Vbout
Score 9.9 out of 10
Mad Mimi
Mad Mimi
Score 10.0 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
PFL Direct Mail Platform
PFL Direct Mail Platform
Score 9.2 out of 10
VerticalResponse
VerticalResponse
Score 10.0 out of 10
Enterprises
PFL Direct Mail Platform
PFL Direct Mail Platform
Score 9.2 out of 10
Emma by Marigold
Emma by Marigold
Score 9.5 out of 10
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User Ratings
ActiveCampaignConvertKit
Likelihood to Recommend
8.9
(691 ratings)
8.4
(6 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
8.9
(25 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
8.9
(53 ratings)
9.0
(3 ratings)
Availability
9.1
(5 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
7.2
(5 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
1.3
(41 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
In-Person Training
9.1
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Online Training
7.3
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
8.7
(14 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Configurability
6.4
(4 ratings)
-
(0 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
ActiveCampaignConvertKit
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.
Read full review
ConvertKit
It is perfect for artists and content creators. It is perfect for service based providers who want to house their potential leads. Entry level entrepreneurs can also benefit. It is not an all in one type of platform, but it is useful for list building and setting up automation. If you have less than 1K subscribers, this is the route to go until you need to use automation. Then, just feel free to upgrade.
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
Read full review
ConvertKit
  • Literally unlimited templates for designing the Email campaigns
  • Launching a landing page to capture leads (emails) quickly
  • Analytics to track almost everything including delivery rates gives the ability to optimise next/future campaigns accordingly
  • Newly launched journey or drip email campaigns is great as well
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.
Read full review
ConvertKit
  • I think the dashboard could benefit form allowing more customization
  • The way you format email templates is pretty limited
  • The saved footer options seems glitchy. I can never get it to work right.
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.
Read full review
ConvertKit
No answers on this topic
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
ConvertKit
Can be summed up in three words that 'It just Works'. Crafted for creators and artists in mind, it offers all they need for start building up list. Free tier is really a good move to test out stuff. I am staying with them considering their good email delivery and simple interface and easy integration with our website software. WYSIYG Editor, Standard reporting but not deep level analytics gives all the basic tools needed to support the business.
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.
Read full review
ConvertKit
No answers on this topic
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.
Read full review
ConvertKit
No answers on this topic
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.
Read full review
ConvertKit
No answers on this topic
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.
Read full review
ConvertKit
No answers on this topic
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.
Read full review
ConvertKit
The other products I have used are not available on TrustRadius. I used ConvertKit before I used these other products because I need an all in one platform.
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!
Read full review
ConvertKit
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
Read full review
ConvertKit
  • Prospect follow up is much easier than it used to be with fewer real prospects slipping through the cracks
  • My return clients percentages have increased since I started using Convertkit
Read full review
ScreenShots

ActiveCampaign Screenshots

Screenshot of tagging, that when combined with conditional content helps to put the right message in front of each customer.Screenshot of marketing automationScreenshot of audience segmentation based on engagement, purchase activity, lead score, or any other dimensionScreenshot of live chat, site messaging, email, and a unified inbox that can be used to build relationships with customers.Screenshot of the CRM, which helps sales reps to get more done in less time