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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)

    Cordial

    Score9.9 out of 10
    Mid-Size Companies (51-1,000 employees)
    Cordial Intelligent Messaging is an email marketing solution built around features such as triggered messaging, real-time data segmentation, and robust integrations.N/A

    Customer.io

    Score9.1 out of 10
    Small Businesses (1-50 employees)
    Customer.io is a customer engagement platform that enables marketers to build sophisticated automated messaging campaigns. With access to real-time behavioral data, users can create personalized and relevant messages to engage and retain customers. This includes sending emails, push notifications, SMS, in-app messages, and more through a visual building experience. Built for scale, Customer.io boasts users among over 5,300 companies, sending over 17 billion messages per year.

    $100

    per month

    Pricing
    ActiveCampaignCordialCustomer.io
    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
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    ActiveCampaignCordialCustomer.io
    Free Trial
    YesNoYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    YesNoYes
    Entry-level Setup FeeOptionalNo setup feeOptional
    Additional DetailsEssentials: For startups and small teams engaging customers on their mobile and web apps. - Up to 5,000 profiles*, Send Emails, Push, In-App, and SMS, Visual Workflow Builder, Segmentation, Two Workspaces, Email Support, Customer Community Premium: For high-growth companies looking for greater control over their messaging outcomes. - Everything in Essentials, Custom Data + Message Volume, Premium Product Features, Additional Workspaces, 90-day Onboarding Program, Premium Email & Chat Support, Managed Deliverability, Dedicated IPs, Parcel Pro Licenses, HIPAA Compliance Enterprise: For at-scale companies looking to create world-class customer experiences. - Everything in Premium, Managed Infrastructure*, Customer Success Manager, Quarterly Success Reviews, Technical Account Manager*, Audit Logging & Data Governance*, Parcel Business Licenses, Migration Support*, *Available by consultation.
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    ActiveCampaignCordialCustomer.io
    Considered Multiple Products
    ActiveCampaign
    Chose ActiveCampaign
    ActiveCampaign is good for a small sized company like us with the right pricing unlike some of the others where you need to buy an Annual plan. It also has all the basic features which we needed. It is great for a Marketing team but might not be up to the mark for Sales team …
    Incentivized
    Chose ActiveCampaign
    Pricing is comparable. Automation is easiest (and quickest) with AC. Mailchimp has a better editor in my opinion. Constant Contact is quickest to set up (again in my opinion). None have as good of analytics as ActiveCampaign.
    Incentivized
    Chose ActiveCampaign
    ActiveCampaign is probably the best budget automation platform in my opinion. It has pretty advanced automation, similar to a Hubspot or Marketo, but at a much lower price. Platforms like Marketo have more advanced features, but most startups don't need that. ActiveCampaign has …
    Incentivized
    Cordial
    No answer on this topic
    Customer.io
    Chose Customer.io
    Customer.io is one of the tools we use or suggest based on the situation. Customer.io is in a place between basic email marketing and marketing automation (in my opinion). And suits well with clients who wants to advance or start with marketing automation.

    It's easy, the price …
    Incentivized
    Chose Customer.io
    I think Customer.io is a unique product. Most of the other email marketing products you'll find are more B2B focused and don't provide a good solution for high volume emails at a low price. If you're a B2C company, I can't think of any email product I'd rather use than …
    Incentivized
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    98%
    Would buy again
    492 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Would buy again
    14 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    98%
    Delivers good value for the price
    471 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    11 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    98%
    Happy with the feature set
    493 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    14 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    97%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    454 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    9 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    94%
    Implementation went as expected
    458 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    10 Answers
    Features
    ActiveCampaignCordialCustomer.io
    Email & Online Marketing
    Comparison of Email & Online Marketing features of ActiveCampaign and Cordial and Customer.io
    Feature
    ActiveCampaign
    8.7
    690 Ratings
    12% above category average
    Cordial
    7.4
    5 Ratings
    9% below category average
    Customer.io
    -
    Ratings
    WYSIWYG email editor8.4609 Ratings4.04 Ratings00 Ratings
    Dynamic content8.7541 Ratings6.35 Ratings00 Ratings
    Ability to test dynamic content8.4490 Ratings6.85 Ratings00 Ratings
    Landing pages7.6358 Ratings10.01 Ratings00 Ratings
    A/B testing8.4400 Ratings7.04 Ratings00 Ratings
    Mobile optimization9.2549 Ratings7.55 Ratings00 Ratings
    Email deliverability reporting8.6658 Ratings8.44 Ratings00 Ratings
    List management8.8677 Ratings7.55 Ratings00 Ratings
    Triggered drip sequences10.0596 Ratings9.34 Ratings00 Ratings
    Lead Management
    Comparison of Lead Management features of ActiveCampaign and Cordial and Customer.io
    Feature
    ActiveCampaign
    8.3
    543 Ratings
    6% above category average
    Cordial
    -
    Ratings
    Customer.io
    -
    Ratings
    Lead nurturing automation8.6509 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Lead scoring and grading8.5371 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Data quality management8.6417 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Automated sales alerts and tasks8.8366 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Lead segmentation and distribution6.919 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Campaign Management
    Comparison of Campaign Management features of ActiveCampaign and Cordial and Customer.io
    Feature
    ActiveCampaign
    9.0
    390 Ratings
    20% above category average
    Cordial
    -
    Ratings
    Customer.io
    -
    Ratings
    Calendaring8.8311 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Event/webinar marketing9.1293 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Social Media Marketing
    Comparison of Social Media Marketing features of ActiveCampaign and Cordial and Customer.io
    Feature
    ActiveCampaign
    6.8
    295 Ratings
    9% below category average
    Cordial
    -
    Ratings
    Customer.io
    -
    Ratings
    Social sharing and campaigns7.2262 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Social profile integration6.4257 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Reporting & Analytics
    Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of ActiveCampaign and Cordial and Customer.io
    Feature
    ActiveCampaign
    8.2
    652 Ratings
    11% above category average
    Cordial
    7.0
    5 Ratings
    10% below category average
    Customer.io
    -
    Ratings
    Dashboards8.0623 Ratings8.55 Ratings00 Ratings
    Standard reports8.4611 Ratings6.55 Ratings00 Ratings
    Custom reports8.2397 Ratings6.05 Ratings00 Ratings
    Platform & Infrastructure
    Comparison of Platform & Infrastructure features of ActiveCampaign and Cordial and Customer.io
    Feature
    ActiveCampaign
    8.7
    511 Ratings
    14% above category average
    Cordial
    -
    Ratings
    Customer.io
    -
    Ratings
    API8.6409 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Role-based workflow & approvals8.6278 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Customizability7.6437 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Integration with Salesforce.com9.097 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Integration with Microsoft Dynamics CRM9.964 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Integration with SugarCRM9.559 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Third-party software integrations7.740 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    ActiveCampaignCordialCustomer.io
    Small Businesses
    Vbout
    Score9.9 out of 10
    Mad Mimi
    Score10 out of 10
    Simplify360
    Score7.8 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Bloomreach
    Score9.2 out of 10
    Campaign Monitor by Marigold
    Score9 out of 10
    Braze
    Score8.7 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Iterable
    Score8.2 out of 10
    Emma by Marigold
    Score8.5 out of 10
    SAP Service Cloud
    Score8.5 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    ActiveCampaignCordialCustomer.io
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.6
    (703 ratings)
    6.0
    (5 ratings)
    9.1
    (20 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    10.0
    (27 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Usability
    9.3
    (66 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.2
    (12 ratings)
    Availability
    9.1
    (5 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Performance
    7.3
    (5 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    1.3
    (42 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    In-Person Training
    9.1
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Online Training
    7.3
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    10.0
    (16 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Configurability
    6.4
    (4 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    9.1
    (4 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    1.0
    (5 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    6.4
    (4 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    7.3
    (4 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    ActiveCampaignCordialCustomer.io
    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
    Cordial
    Cordial has multiple options to create a message: single campaign, automation, orchestration and sculpt templates, which are drag-and-drop type functionalities but each of these blocks are based on HTML content so a user needs to be technically savvy. I would avoid using HTML includes as it is not possible to see which include a customer received. The team is fabulous, they know the tool and are dedicated to the success of the business. They are quick to respond and provide feedback. Reporting and analytics are very manual if you are combining multiple days in a test.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Customer.io
    Talking from the perspective of a marketer at a SaaS with average. 50K email subscribers, Customer IO has been an excellent tool for us. Our requirements include sending users newsletters, marketing emails, and transactional emails, running lead-nurturing campaigns, and more. For a comprehensive use case like ours, CustomerIO is great. While it also has a learning curve, when you have such requirements, it’s worth it. I don’t think CustomerIO is the best fit if you have basic requirements like only weekly newsletter emails.
    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
    Cordial
    • Provides helpful desktop and mobile previews.
    • Sends emails reliably.
    • Allows for pretty robust audience rules.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Customer.io
    • Managing users, attributes and events. You are easily able to modify any user, based on their ID, and add or remove attributes, assign events to them. That makes it very easy to segment later and to assign them to several campaigns based on behavior. Just a warning: this integration isn't so easy (at least it wasn't for us).
    • Creating workflows of campaigns is very easy. You can quickly create behavioral campaigns based on attributes, segments and add elements to the workflow. You can send an email, then wait, then send another, then exit the campaign if they converted, etc. The workflow is easy to configure and very powerful for automation.
    • We don't use many email templates (we make them in MJML) but it's very easy to add senders, to change templates and in general to test designs.
    • Deliverability works very well, at least for us. It sends emails pretty fast and without issues.
    • Exporting is very quick and easy. Importing wasn't a feature until recently, but it works well too.
    • Seeing activity it's also useful. In general, logs are awesome (be it of a customer, of activity on the site, email sends, etc.).
    • We don't use environments, but it might be very useful for a bigger company.
    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
    Cordial
    • Some of the tasks on the platform are still technical in nature and often requires the help of a developer or technical marketer. But I've witnessed great strides towards accessibility and ease of use for non-technical marketers over the past three years.
    • A lot of the templating must be built from scratch.
    • Deliverability insights (out of the box) could be expanded further.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Customer.io
    • Price is quite expensive for Premium or once you get into high volumes of contacts.
    • Depending on how you'll use it, it may require some help from developers to set up.
    • Despite the support being great, you have to email them, there's not chat feature.
    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
    Cordial
    No answers on this topic
    Customer.io
    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
    Cordial
    No answers on this topic
    Customer.io
    Super intuitive and easy interface to start off with. There are not a lot of guides and the documentation is helpful but not super extensive, but even if you're a little technical, you can easily figure most of the things out by yourself. Everything is super easy to start with and the platform does not overwhelm you with a lot of options, or data.
    Incentivized
    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
    Cordial
    No answers on this topic
    Customer.io
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cordial
    No answers on this topic
    Customer.io
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cordial
    No answers on this topic
    Customer.io
    My experience with their support team has always been great. Very quick to respond, have an online chat, and are very helpful. They helped me resolve any issues I've had every time in a professional and knowledgeable manner. We've now switched to another tool, and I can't even compare the service level we get there to customer.io
    Incentivized
    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
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    Cordial
    No answers on this topic
    Customer.io
    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.
    Incentivized
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    Cordial
    Cordial by far has the best UI for simple navigation
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Customer.io
    Customer.io was really the first pure, full-featured drip email program on the market and as far as I know, it's still the simplest and best overall for that specific function. SendGrid has also added drip campaign features, but I would seriously evaluate Customer.io against any other drip email provider because they really have all the key elements you need to make it work.
    Incentivized
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    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
    Cordial
    No answers on this topic
    Customer.io
    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
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    Cordial
    • Best to manage your clients' business.
    • Not ideal for freelancers.
    Incentivized
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    Customer.io
    • Positive impact on the sales side. I'm not sure about the specific ROI (you have to include the designer and the time it takes to set up) but you certainly get back the investment in a few months, once you are able to scale your email marketing.
    • Customer experience is way better by having more segmented, contextual and accurate messages sent to them.
    • Integration is costly and it will take several days or weeks to be fully achieved. Expect to invest some money on this.
    Incentivized
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    ScreenShots

    ActiveCampaign Screenshots

    Product screenshotProduct screenshotProduct screenshotProduct screenshotProduct screenshotProduct screenshot

    Cordial Screenshots

    Screenshot of Testing Powered by Machine-Learning: Never wait for an answer again. Test multiple message variations in real-time.Screenshot of Testing Powered by Machine Learning: Never wait for an answer again. Test multiple message variations in real-time.Screenshot of Native Drag-and-drop Email Builder: Build completely custom 1:1 personalized messages in seconds.Screenshot of Effortless Campaign Orchestration: Create sophisticated cross-channel message streams based on simple if/then statements.Screenshot of Up-to-the-Second Analytics and Reporting: Track customer behavior across all of your digital properties.Screenshot of Native Drag-and-Drop Editor: Build completely custom 1:1 personalized messages in seconds.

    Customer.io Screenshots

    Screenshot of data-driven or manual segments that can be created in the no-code builder for recipient lists, campaign triggers, filters, and conversion goals.Screenshot of the code editor for email, that helps navigate code and iterate.Screenshot of account performance, visible at a glance from the Dashboard view.Screenshot of drag and drop messages, time delays, and branches where desired, to build cross-channel campaigns.Screenshot of triggered campaigns based on forms submissions, customer attributes, customer actions, and dates.Screenshot of localization for global audiences. One message can be delivered in multiple languages.