ActiveCampaign vs. Freshsales

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
ActiveCampaign
Score 8.0 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.
$19
per month
Freshsales
Score 8.2 out of 10
N/A
Freshsales is a sales force automation solution for sales teams. It provides features that help salespeople to attract quality leads, engage in contextual conversations, drive deals with AI-powered insights, and nurture customer relationships. With built-in email, phone, chat, and telephony, Freshsales gives sales teams more time for selling by automating the sales process. It includes Freddy AI, salespeople can get insights into the best deals to go after and what actions to take and predict…
$9
per month per user
Pricing
ActiveCampaignFreshsales
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
Growth
$9
per month per user
Pro
$39
per month per user
Enterprise
$59
per month per user
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
ActiveCampaignFreshsales
Free Trial
YesYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoYes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoYes
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
ActiveCampaignFreshsales
Considered Both Products
ActiveCampaign
Chose ActiveCampaign
Others were either way overpriced, or way less user-friendly. The best value is ActiveCampaign. I felt like all other options I explored, (many more than listed), I felt like I couldn't get them up and running quickly enough, and I also felt ripped off by all of the other …
Freshsales

No answer on this topic

Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
ActiveCampaignFreshsales
Email & Online Marketing
Comparison of Email & Online Marketing features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCampaign
8.9
664 Ratings
13% above category average
Freshsales
-
Ratings
WYSIWYG email editor9.3581 Ratings00 Ratings
Dynamic content9.0520 Ratings00 Ratings
Ability to test dynamic content8.7471 Ratings00 Ratings
Landing pages8.0338 Ratings00 Ratings
A/B testing9.0380 Ratings00 Ratings
Mobile optimization9.3526 Ratings00 Ratings
Email deliverability reporting7.4631 Ratings00 Ratings
List management9.6650 Ratings00 Ratings
Triggered drip sequences9.6574 Ratings00 Ratings
Lead Management
Comparison of Lead Management features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCampaign
7.4
524 Ratings
4% below category average
Freshsales
-
Ratings
Lead nurturing automation9.1491 Ratings00 Ratings
Lead scoring and grading8.1359 Ratings00 Ratings
Data quality management9.1401 Ratings00 Ratings
Automated sales alerts and tasks9.1355 Ratings00 Ratings
Lead segmentation and distribution1.81 Ratings00 Ratings
Campaign Management
Comparison of Campaign Management features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCampaign
9.5
374 Ratings
22% above category average
Freshsales
-
Ratings
Calendaring9.6295 Ratings00 Ratings
Event/webinar marketing9.4286 Ratings00 Ratings
Social Media Marketing
Comparison of Social Media Marketing features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCampaign
9.5
287 Ratings
24% above category average
Freshsales
-
Ratings
Social sharing and campaigns9.6254 Ratings00 Ratings
Social profile integration9.4250 Ratings00 Ratings
Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCampaign
8.3
627 Ratings
10% above category average
Freshsales
-
Ratings
Dashboards8.0597 Ratings00 Ratings
Standard reports8.0584 Ratings00 Ratings
Custom reports9.0377 Ratings00 Ratings
Platform & Infrastructure
Comparison of Platform & Infrastructure features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCampaign
9.2
491 Ratings
19% above category average
Freshsales
-
Ratings
API9.5391 Ratings00 Ratings
Role-based workflow & approvals9.2267 Ratings00 Ratings
Customizability9.4420 Ratings00 Ratings
Integration with Salesforce.com9.292 Ratings00 Ratings
Integration with Microsoft Dynamics CRM9.760 Ratings00 Ratings
Integration with SugarCRM9.756 Ratings00 Ratings
Third-party software integrations7.520 Ratings00 Ratings
Sales Force Automation
Comparison of Sales Force Automation features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCampaign
-
Ratings
Freshsales
6.6
52 Ratings
15% below category average
Customer data management / contact management00 Ratings7.352 Ratings
Workflow management00 Ratings8.150 Ratings
Territory management00 Ratings8.040 Ratings
Opportunity management00 Ratings5.844 Ratings
Integration with email client (e.g., Outlook or Gmail)00 Ratings5.551 Ratings
Interaction tracking00 Ratings5.451 Ratings
Channel / partner relationship management00 Ratings6.438 Ratings
Marketing Automation
Comparison of Marketing Automation features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCampaign
-
Ratings
Freshsales
5.6
49 Ratings
30% below category average
Lead management00 Ratings5.747 Ratings
Email marketing00 Ratings5.548 Ratings
CRM Project Management
Comparison of CRM Project Management features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCampaign
-
Ratings
Freshsales
8.9
50 Ratings
16% above category average
Task management00 Ratings8.947 Ratings
Reporting00 Ratings8.949 Ratings
CRM Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of CRM Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCampaign
-
Ratings
Freshsales
7.4
51 Ratings
3% below category average
Forecasting00 Ratings5.443 Ratings
Pipeline visualization00 Ratings9.751 Ratings
Customizable reports00 Ratings7.245 Ratings
Customization
Comparison of Customization features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCampaign
-
Ratings
Freshsales
4.9
49 Ratings
43% below category average
Custom fields00 Ratings3.949 Ratings
Custom objects00 Ratings8.039 Ratings
API for custom integration00 Ratings2.937 Ratings
Security
Comparison of Security features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCampaign
-
Ratings
Freshsales
7.1
45 Ratings
16% below category average
Single sign-on capability00 Ratings7.239 Ratings
Role-based user permissions00 Ratings7.045 Ratings
Platform
Comparison of Platform features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCampaign
-
Ratings
Freshsales
9.9
46 Ratings
28% above category average
Mobile access00 Ratings9.946 Ratings
Best Alternatives
ActiveCampaignFreshsales
Small Businesses
Vbout
Vbout
Score 9.4 out of 10
Salesmate
Salesmate
Score 9.8 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
PFL Direct Mail Platform
PFL Direct Mail Platform
Score 9.3 out of 10
Creatio
Creatio
Score 9.1 out of 10
Enterprises
PFL Direct Mail Platform
PFL Direct Mail Platform
Score 9.3 out of 10
Creatio
Creatio
Score 9.1 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
ActiveCampaignFreshsales
Likelihood to Recommend
7.9
(676 ratings)
7.2
(52 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
8.4
(25 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
7.6
(38 ratings)
7.3
(7 ratings)
Availability
9.1
(5 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
6.9
(5 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
1.4
(41 ratings)
7.0
(6 ratings)
In-Person Training
9.1
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Online Training
7.3
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
8.6
(14 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Configurability
6.5
(4 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
8.9
(4 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
1.6
(5 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
6.5
(4 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
7.2
(4 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
ActiveCampaignFreshsales
Likelihood to Recommend
ActiveCampaign
ActiveCampaign is brilliant for small businesses wanting a secure, reliable and user friendly email capture software that filters users emails into the appropriate category/tags and have endless options when it comes to having different lead magnets and ways users may sign up. It's been super handy for my small business to send regular emails and be able to analyse the success rates and open rates of emails and the ability to resend them with a different subject line. It's made email marketing really easy peasy.
Read full review
Freshworks Inc
If you are a smaller organization you are probably ok to use [Freshworks CRM (formerly Freshsales)] vs Salesforce - you will save money and still get some great features. I would not recommend for a very large enterprise. It is also challenging to have the support come from another region although they do try to be very responsive.
Read full review
Pros
ActiveCampaign
  • The graphic design is very good, especially fonts, colours and templates
  • Flexibility of design and functionality
  • Takes a little while to learn it, but generally user-friendly
  • Looks very professional but doesn't cost much to get started
  • There are masses of integrations for ActiveCampaign, and the ones I tried all worked well and didn't take long to figure out.
Read full review
Freshworks Inc
  • It helps you automate your onboarding process for new leads.
  • It has lots of integrations with other apps, so you can interact with other things like calendars and calls.
  • It's pretty easy to set sequences so the platform automatically follows up with people for you. This is not only helpful for your sales pipeline, but also for client communication when working on a project that requires their input.
Read full review
Cons
ActiveCampaign
  • The email designing part could be easier to use. There are certain simple shortcuts that don't work, for example, adding links is more complicated than it should be, moving blocks around is hard, etc.
  • There's no good way to filter by 'active' and 'inactive' subscribers when editing en-mass.
  • I'd like more reporting data on one page.
Read full review
Freshworks Inc
  • Persistent and pervasive down time
  • Lack of scalable integrations with data source (e.g., their Segment integration is barely functional and they won't improve it)
  • Slow and unhelpful customer service
  • Account management doesn't understand our business or what we're trying to accomplish
  • Email campaign feature is barely functional and only allows you to have 10 campaigns, even with the most expensive plan
  • Lead and contact records have gone missing and FreshSales is unable to recover data
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
Freshworks Inc
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
Freshworks Inc
I would give Freshworks CRM's overall usability a 7 out of 10. Although the software has improved since we first obtained it, it still could use improvements to make functionality more intuitive and easier for the average user. It is not that challenging but there is definitely a learning curve
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
Freshworks Inc
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
Freshworks Inc
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.
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Freshworks Inc
When you initially log in to Freshworks, you get snippets to guide you on how to set up. You have a chat option on every page so you can reach out to the support agent and get your issues resolved in real time. The agents are fast, responsive, and experienced in handling even a person who introduced CRM to the world...
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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
Freshworks Inc
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
Freshworks Inc
Close.io has less features, costs more, and equally has an inside sales team focus, rather than being just as suitable for both inside and outside sales. Having said this, Close.io has important features and smart automations, a cleaner interface (easier for non-techs to use), and has very strong integrations using Zapier, plus SMS-based support. Where Freshsales won for us is that it ended up being nearly half the cost of Close.io, as well as included telephony support for our local country (Australia), whereas Close.io comes with USA/Canada numbers and requires the top pricing tier to include calls to other countries. We needed a telephony system that worked well for making and receiving from Australia. Freshsales won for us because their pricing is at a good point, had the telephony requirements we needed, and all the features that we required were good enough, or we found a workaround.
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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!
Read full review
Freshworks Inc
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
Freshworks Inc
  • It is too soon to make a determination on ROI, but I do think it will help me be more efficient.
  • The reporting functions help me stay on track of sales opportunities.
  • The task reminders help me accelerate how quickly deals come together.
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

Freshsales Screenshots

Screenshot of Contact viewScreenshot of DashboardsScreenshot of WorkflowsScreenshot of Lead Sc