ActiveCampaign vs. FreshMail

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
ActiveCampaign
Score 8.4 out of 10
N/A
ActiveCampaign 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)
FreshMail
Score 7.1 out of 10
N/A
FreshMail is a browser based email marketing solution used to create and send newsletter campaigns. This solution leads users from campaign planning and creation to final reports.N/A
Pricing
ActiveCampaignFreshMail
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
ActiveCampaignFreshMail
Free Trial
YesYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoYes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
YesYes
Entry-level Setup FeeOptionalRequired
Additional DetailsFreshMail is absolutely free if you send less than 2000 emails to up to 500 subscribers per month.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
ActiveCampaignFreshMail
Features
ActiveCampaignFreshMail
Email & Online Marketing
Comparison of Email & Online Marketing features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCampaign
8.6
688 Ratings
12% above category average
FreshMail
8.4
3 Ratings
5% above category average
WYSIWYG email editor8.3605 Ratings8.53 Ratings
Dynamic content8.1539 Ratings8.53 Ratings
Ability to test dynamic content8.1488 Ratings9.03 Ratings
Landing pages7.1356 Ratings9.02 Ratings
A/B testing8.7398 Ratings8.03 Ratings
Mobile optimization8.8545 Ratings7.03 Ratings
Email deliverability reporting9.0654 Ratings10.03 Ratings
List management9.3673 Ratings7.03 Ratings
Triggered drip sequences10.0594 Ratings8.53 Ratings
Lead Management
Comparison of Lead Management features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCampaign
8.7
541 Ratings
11% above category average
FreshMail
-
Ratings
Lead nurturing automation9.0507 Ratings00 Ratings
Lead scoring and grading8.4370 Ratings00 Ratings
Data quality management9.6413 Ratings00 Ratings
Automated sales alerts and tasks8.5365 Ratings00 Ratings
Lead segmentation and distribution7.917 Ratings00 Ratings
Campaign Management
Comparison of Campaign Management features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCampaign
9.7
388 Ratings
27% above category average
FreshMail
-
Ratings
Calendaring9.9308 Ratings00 Ratings
Event/webinar marketing9.4291 Ratings00 Ratings
Social Media Marketing
Comparison of Social Media Marketing features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCampaign
7.0
295 Ratings
5% below category average
FreshMail
-
Ratings
Social sharing and campaigns7.3262 Ratings00 Ratings
Social profile integration6.6257 Ratings00 Ratings
Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCampaign
8.0
650 Ratings
9% above category average
FreshMail
8.2
3 Ratings
6% above category average
Dashboards8.2619 Ratings8.03 Ratings
Standard reports8.0607 Ratings8.03 Ratings
Custom reports8.0394 Ratings8.53 Ratings
Platform & Infrastructure
Comparison of Platform & Infrastructure features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCampaign
9.0
509 Ratings
19% above category average
FreshMail
-
Ratings
API8.6407 Ratings00 Ratings
Role-based workflow & approvals8.6278 Ratings00 Ratings
Customizability7.9435 Ratings00 Ratings
Integration with Salesforce.com9.297 Ratings00 Ratings
Integration with Microsoft Dynamics CRM9.964 Ratings00 Ratings
Integration with SugarCRM9.859 Ratings00 Ratings
Third-party software integrations9.037 Ratings00 Ratings
Pre-Send Testing
Comparison of Pre-Send Testing features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCampaign
-
Ratings
FreshMail
8.4
2 Ratings
4% above category average
URL Validation00 Ratings8.52 Ratings
Link Tracking00 Ratings9.52 Ratings
Image Validation00 Ratings8.02 Ratings
Inbox Display00 Ratings8.02 Ratings
Email Accessibility Tools00 Ratings9.02 Ratings
Spelling and Grammar Check00 Ratings8.02 Ratings
Spam Testing00 Ratings8.02 Ratings
Email Previews00 Ratings8.02 Ratings
Best Alternatives
ActiveCampaignFreshMail
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 9.0 out of 10
VerticalResponse
VerticalResponse
Score 10.0 out of 10
Enterprises
PFL Direct Mail Platform
PFL Direct Mail Platform
Score 9.0 out of 10
Emma by Marigold
Emma by Marigold
Score 8.7 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
ActiveCampaignFreshMail
Likelihood to Recommend
8.9
(699 ratings)
8.5
(3 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.0
(25 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
9.3
(62 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Availability
9.1
(5 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
7.3
(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
8.5
(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
ActiveCampaignFreshMail
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
FreshMail
The platform works very well for sending emails with simple layouts, it also allows you to keep track of the opening data of those who receive the emails. The platform could improve its ability to modify databases and integrate with other platforms in order to automate some of the marketing actions.
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
FreshMail
  • Location targeting to filter people based on their region
  • Auto responding to questions and similar inquiries related to content
  • Engaging and building interest in the product
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.
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FreshMail
  • My campaign got delayed because of their moderation process. When I wrote them to ask what was going on they said they have some kind of anti-spam moderation process that was taking longer than usual.
  • I don’t like the fact that you can’t edit your template in HTML in their editing program (FreshMail Designer). This is probably isn’t a big deal for most people but some of us like to take over every detail of the template.
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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
FreshMail
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.
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FreshMail
No answers on this topic
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
FreshMail
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.
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FreshMail
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
FreshMail
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.
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FreshMail
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
FreshMail
FreshMail stands out for its ease of email design. Being a specialised email tool, it is more versatile when it comes to obtaining data from users, it is more intuitive, as the amount of time that needs to be invested in learning how to design emails, landing pages, a/b testing and others, is much less than the competition
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!
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FreshMail
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
FreshMail
  • Better Outreach
  • Hitting the objective of marketing prospects qualified
  • Return on cost
Read full review
ScreenShots

ActiveCampaign Screenshots

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FreshMail Screenshots

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