ActiveCampaign vs. HubSpot CRM

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.
$19
per month
HubSpot CRM
Score 8.5 out of 10
N/A
HubSpot’s CRM enables growth-minded businesses to optimize their relationships with leads and customers. Through harnessing the power of carefully crafted sales, marketing, customer service, content management, and operations tools, the software aims to make it easy to unify team strategy and drive conversion. Additionally, the software allows users to connect with over 875 integration apps, APIs, and solutions partners to create a customizable user experience that suits the way teams work.…
$0
Per Month [Unlimited Users]
Pricing
ActiveCampaignHubSpot CRM
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
Free Forever
$0
Per Month [Unlimited Users]
CRM Bundle
$50
per month
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
ActiveCampaignHubSpot CRM
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
ActiveCampaignHubSpot CRM
Considered Both Products
ActiveCampaign
Chose ActiveCampaign
Active campaign was chosen for our team due to its ability to give us the landing pages and automations at a base level price without having to get add ons or make our subscription price out of this world. Also, the customer service was better and the discount on our yearly …
Chose ActiveCampaign
Activecampaign is far more powerful than Mailchimp, with lots of functionality and great engagement tracking. While it is a bit more expensive than Mailchimp, it is perfect for a small or medium business looking to have a professional CMS and CRM without the high costs of …
Chose ActiveCampaign
ActiveCampaign is perfect for mid to small sized businesses. It's well-rounded and has enough channels to aid a growing business' growth. While it is less powerful than Iterable, I have found it better suited to HubSpot or Mailchimp due to its strong automation functions
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 …
Chose ActiveCampaign
The fact that it combines email, CRM, and automations between them makes it such a force to be reconned with. Its plans are reasonable and moving up from a basic plan allows 25 users for one price. This is great compared to Hubspot. It's much smoother than Mailchimp and much …
Chose ActiveCampaign
HubSpot is definitely built for large organizations and can be incredibly cumbersome to use as well as extremely expensive for anyone who isn't at a company with many hundreds of employees siloed into specific niches.
Chose ActiveCampaign
I used to be a big fan of HubSpot. However, as I work with a lot of start-ups and scale-ups, it is increasingly hard to recommend it, as the price keeps going up. And in the early stages, it cannot provide the required ROI. ActiveCampaign offers most of the functionality, for a …
Chose ActiveCampaign
ActiveCampaign is easier to use than ANY platform we're ever implemented, and I've been an entrepreneur for three decades. It is flexible, effective and trustworthy when it comes to data security. We are able to customize campaigns easily and track results effectively. Our …
Chose ActiveCampaign
ActiveCampaign provides more value than the other platforms I've used. Nimble couldn't compete with the functionality or robustness of AC. For the price point I'm at (ActiveCampaign Plus, the lowest paid tier), HubSpot can't compare either. I would be paying hundreds of dollars …
Chose ActiveCampaign
I've used Hubspot, Mailchimp, and Campaign Monitor extensively for other clients. All of them have their benefits. But many of them either have limited functionality or are incredibly expensive. ActiveCampaign is robust enough to handle the integrations and automatons we need …
Chose ActiveCampaign
ActiveCampaign is much more affordable and has just the right amount of features for my business size and stage. It is well supported and widely used so getting help is not a struggle.
Chose ActiveCampaign
Honestly, I liked HubSpot better. I found the user design to be fancier than ActiveCampaign. The easy deciding factor, though, was that automation was not included at the same price point. Instant dealbreaker! It made it easy to go with ActiveCampaign. I'm glad I did. I …
Chose ActiveCampaign
ActiveCampaign has a great price, which makes it very lucrative, compared to other marketing automation platforms.
Chose ActiveCampaign
The integration of both marketing automation and sales logging (CRM) in ActiveCampaign for a very competitive price makes ActiveCampaign the best option from our point of view. Insightly had very limited marketing automation options and was mainly serving as a CRM, while …
Chose ActiveCampaign
I've used these, and other crm's and emails systems - and I've stayed with AC for several years now.

Primarily, EASE OF USE is the reason. It's just easier, for me, to flow through how to build emails, templates, etc... and interact with my clients through AC!
Chose ActiveCampaign
Hubspot, I've only heard and dread by the thoughts of it that it will become expensive over time
SugarCRM, didn't have a 360 degree approach to it.
Mautic, complete open-source and had to be managed by us.
Chose ActiveCampaign
Mailchimp used to be a great place to start with email automation, but they have started to charge more for their entry plans. ActiveCampaign offers more for the price. Hubspot is a great system. It is very powerful and extensive, but it is also VERY expensive. This, again, …
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
Hubspot seemed really complicated, I found ActiveCampaign much easier to set up & the support is instant & well above expectation. Hubspot sales team are very pushy & it makes me feel really uncomfortable - they still contact me a year after advising it wasn't the right fit. It …
Chose ActiveCampaign
We switched from Hubspot, which we liked a lot, however, we have found ActiveCampaign to be on par but less expensive.
Chose ActiveCampaign
  • Better value for money
  • Better pricing per email address
  • Improved marketing automation
Chose ActiveCampaign
Same thing, but more affordable.
HubSpot CRM
Chose HubSpot CRM
Hubspot CRM is designed to fit within their ecosystem of marketing, sales, and support tools, so it's a little different beast than the other tools I've used. Base CRM is a powerful tool, but it's more of a stand-alone sales CRM platform with tools designed exclusively around a …
Chose HubSpot CRM
While for marketing purposes ActiveCampaign was amazing, we needed a proper CRM and software that caters to the needs of our sales team and allows smooth communication between different departments. HubSpot [CRM] definitely does much more than ActiveCampaign. I don't know if a …
Chose HubSpot CRM
Depending on the client and what I am doing, determine whether I recommend Hubspot or ActiveCampaign. ActiveCampaign has very similar Customer Experience Automation at a fraction of the cost. The UX isn't as good and it doesn't log emails per contact (only on deals), but it is …
Chose HubSpot CRM
Salesforce was extremely cumbersome for me and my previous team to use. Everyone was scared of messing something up so we barely used it unless were told we had to. It was not intuitive at all. ActiveCampaign was great for the marketing team, but not sales-focused enough. For …
Chose HubSpot CRM
Hubspot is much easier to use, way more features, and a better overall experience.
Chose HubSpot CRM
It all comes down to the User interface, user experience, and ease of customisation I have selected HubSpot in the past after reviewing multiple options because it was often cheaper but had a UX that my team and staff would actually use. Salesforce does have the most advanced …
Chose HubSpot CRM
For front to end use HubSpot does the job as I would prefer to use Keap any day of the week for what we ideally need to do with lead and call status tagging, contingencies and automations, but it requires I use a Calendly plug-in and other 3rd-party apps where HubSpot has all …
Chose HubSpot CRM
HubSpot CRM had a wealth of features that made learning easier. I liked that I could pay for what I wanted, not qualities I wouldn't need for years. Learning features, on-demand customer support, and scalable
Chose HubSpot CRM
The free version of Agile CRM was nowhere near [...] what our sales teams have been able to achieve after migrating to HubSpot CRM. The main reason [is] the number of features offered and the ease of use of the platform. Also, if in [the] future we decide to buy the premium …
Chose HubSpot CRM
It's a bit more expensive than others I've used (besides Salesforce), but not by much. And with that extra cost comes miles more of functionality and customization.
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
ActiveCampaignHubSpot CRM
Email & Online Marketing
Comparison of Email & Online Marketing features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCampaign
8.9
664 Ratings
13% above category average
HubSpot CRM
-
Ratings
WYSIWYG email editor9.4581 Ratings00 Ratings
Dynamic content9.1520 Ratings00 Ratings
Ability to test dynamic content8.8471 Ratings00 Ratings
Landing pages8.0338 Ratings00 Ratings
A/B testing9.1380 Ratings00 Ratings
Mobile optimization9.3526 Ratings00 Ratings
Email deliverability reporting7.2631 Ratings00 Ratings
List management9.6650 Ratings00 Ratings
Triggered drip sequences9.7574 Ratings00 Ratings
Lead Management
Comparison of Lead Management features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCampaign
7.5
524 Ratings
3% below category average
HubSpot CRM
-
Ratings
Lead nurturing automation9.2491 Ratings00 Ratings
Lead scoring and grading8.0359 Ratings00 Ratings
Data quality management9.2401 Ratings00 Ratings
Automated sales alerts and tasks9.2355 Ratings00 Ratings
Lead segmentation and distribution1.81 Ratings00 Ratings
Campaign Management
Comparison of Campaign Management features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCampaign
9.6
374 Ratings
23% above category average
HubSpot CRM
-
Ratings
Calendaring9.6295 Ratings00 Ratings
Event/webinar marketing9.5286 Ratings00 Ratings
Social Media Marketing
Comparison of Social Media Marketing features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCampaign
9.5
287 Ratings
23% above category average
HubSpot CRM
-
Ratings
Social sharing and campaigns9.6254 Ratings00 Ratings
Social profile integration9.5250 Ratings00 Ratings
Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCampaign
8.4
627 Ratings
11% above category average
HubSpot CRM
-
Ratings
Dashboards8.0597 Ratings00 Ratings
Standard reports8.0584 Ratings00 Ratings
Custom reports9.1377 Ratings00 Ratings
Platform & Infrastructure
Comparison of Platform & Infrastructure features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCampaign
9.2
491 Ratings
19% above category average
HubSpot CRM
-
Ratings
API9.6391 Ratings00 Ratings
Role-based workflow & approvals9.2267 Ratings00 Ratings
Customizability9.4420 Ratings00 Ratings
Integration with Salesforce.com9.392 Ratings00 Ratings
Integration with Microsoft Dynamics CRM9.860 Ratings00 Ratings
Integration with SugarCRM9.856 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
HubSpot CRM
7.9
1543 Ratings
3% above category average
Customer data management / contact management00 Ratings8.61491 Ratings
Workflow management00 Ratings8.31457 Ratings
Territory management00 Ratings6.5184 Ratings
Opportunity management00 Ratings8.21394 Ratings
Integration with email client (e.g., Outlook or Gmail)00 Ratings8.41500 Ratings
Contract management00 Ratings8.0185 Ratings
Quote & order management00 Ratings7.41011 Ratings
Interaction tracking00 Ratings8.31446 Ratings
Channel / partner relationship management00 Ratings7.8186 Ratings
Customer Service & Support
Comparison of Customer Service & Support features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCampaign
-
Ratings
HubSpot CRM
7.4
1023 Ratings
1% below category average
Case management00 Ratings7.4953 Ratings
Call center management00 Ratings7.6822 Ratings
Help desk management00 Ratings7.3874 Ratings
Marketing Automation
Comparison of Marketing Automation features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCampaign
-
Ratings
HubSpot CRM
8.4
1360 Ratings
11% above category average
Lead management00 Ratings8.41282 Ratings
Email marketing00 Ratings8.51292 Ratings
CRM Project Management
Comparison of CRM Project Management features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCampaign
-
Ratings
HubSpot CRM
7.6
1409 Ratings
0% above category average
Task management00 Ratings8.01351 Ratings
Billing and invoicing management00 Ratings7.0697 Ratings
Reporting00 Ratings7.71246 Ratings
CRM Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of CRM Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCampaign
-
Ratings
HubSpot CRM
7.9
1376 Ratings
4% above category average
Forecasting00 Ratings7.51079 Ratings
Pipeline visualization00 Ratings8.31304 Ratings
Customizable reports00 Ratings7.81267 Ratings
Customization
Comparison of Customization features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCampaign
-
Ratings
HubSpot CRM
7.4
1314 Ratings
2% below category average
Custom fields00 Ratings8.11287 Ratings
Custom objects00 Ratings7.81115 Ratings
Scripting environment00 Ratings6.3132 Ratings
API for custom integration00 Ratings7.6909 Ratings
Security
Comparison of Security features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCampaign
-
Ratings
HubSpot CRM
8.4
1273 Ratings
1% above category average
Single sign-on capability00 Ratings8.41136 Ratings
Role-based user permissions00 Ratings8.51211 Ratings
Social CRM
Comparison of Social CRM features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCampaign
-
Ratings
HubSpot CRM
7.2
867 Ratings
1% below category average
Social data00 Ratings7.3850 Ratings
Social engagement00 Ratings7.2839 Ratings
Integrations with 3rd-party Software
Comparison of Integrations with 3rd-party Software features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCampaign
-
Ratings
HubSpot CRM
7.6
974 Ratings
6% above category average
Marketing automation00 Ratings7.7967 Ratings
Compensation management00 Ratings7.5630 Ratings
Platform
Comparison of Platform features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCampaign
-
Ratings
HubSpot CRM
7.9
1158 Ratings
5% above category average
Mobile access00 Ratings7.91158 Ratings
Best Alternatives
ActiveCampaignHubSpot CRM
Small Businesses
Vbout
Vbout
Score 9.5 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
ActiveCampaignHubSpot CRM
Likelihood to Recommend
7.8
(676 ratings)
8.4
(1586 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
8.4
(25 ratings)
9.8
(29 ratings)
Usability
7.7
(38 ratings)
8.3
(1444 ratings)
Availability
9.1
(5 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
7.0
(5 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
1.4
(41 ratings)
7.1
(23 ratings)
In-Person Training
9.1
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Online Training
7.3
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
8.6
(14 ratings)
7.9
(8 ratings)
Configurability
6.4
(4 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
9.0
(4 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
1.5
(5 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
6.4
(4 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
7.2
(4 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
ActiveCampaignHubSpot CRM
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
HubSpot
In my last position at a SAAS company, I used Salesforce and HATED IT. It was so clunky, and when I used HubSpot, it was like a breath of fresh air. Any company that does customer interactions and sales needs Hubspot. There is a TON of room for customization, which is AMAZING. I don't see anywhere that it wouldn't be a good fit.
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
HubSpot
  • It tracks emails including opens, clicks, and keeps a great log.
  • I love how they give you options to build your own reports as well as some templated reports as well.
  • It creates an easy way to work with your colleagues even if its remote positions.
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
HubSpot
  • Pricing - HubSpot offers a number of great features in the free version however the paid options can be pricey.
  • The free version could do with more options in some of the additional areas such as the marketing platform. Although there are some options included, they are very limited.
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.
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HubSpot
To be honest there are some barriers due to which we are unable to use Hubspot at it's full potentials. The region that we work in has some restrictions that don't allow us to make calls or text which leaves us to just Email to the client.
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.
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HubSpot
I think the usability is great. I am able to train a new agent with zero experience in our process with HubSpot in a day or less. They can be proficient in using HubSpot quickly, the way I've designed it to work, in less than a week. I am able to load new leads, set calling campaigns, and start prospecting quickly. I've even had to call customer service for help, and they were super helpful.
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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.
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HubSpot
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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HubSpot
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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HubSpot
Because when I needed help HubSpot responded immediately and provided me with the information I needed which enabled me to realize that HubSpot was even more customizable and easier to use than I thought! And I already thought HubSpot was very user friendly and easy to use, and then Support showed me how to manipulate the settings, columns and the appearance of the tool.
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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.
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HubSpot
If you've had any prior experience with cloud based marketing automation or group communication tools, you can do the implementation without paid outside support. Though getting to a SLA (service level agreement) would be best achieved with the help of a third party who can facilitate
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.
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HubSpot
Salesforce requires a lot of in-depth knowledge both to implement and to manage. I found it to be quite clunky and there was an additional overhead for any marketing functionality, that wasn't up to par. Whilst Zoho had some good features, in practice the CRM was difficult to manage, customer support was non-existent, and like Salesforce, required 3rd party support agents in order make simple changes. comparison, HubSpot allows the user to make many changes themselves such as adding and mapping properties, and also has excellent customer service. Combined with a well-rounded offer in terms of marketing, analytics and a good CRM, HubSpot stands out as the clear winner.
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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!
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HubSpot
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
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HubSpot
  • Automation helps to save time so that we can reach out to more prospecting or save time that can be spent on more strategic sales tasks like deal management
  • Visibility/collaboration helps connect marketing and sales efforts vs them being siloed
  • Connection with salesforce helps us to get more out of our CRM spend as we have valuable data insights coming from Hubspot
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

HubSpot CRM Screenshots

Screenshot of Store, track, manage, and report on the deals (sometimes referred to as “opportunities”) your sales team is working.Screenshot of Our contact record enables your team to record and retrieve information on anyone your business interacts with, helping everyone to stay on the same page.Screenshot of The product library gives you visibility into the goods and services you sell, then associates them with individual deals. With products, you can easily track what you're selling to your customers and from what channels.