ActiveCampaign vs. Pipedrive

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
ActiveCampaign
Score 8.5 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.
$15
per month (billed annually)
Pipedrive
Score 8.5 out of 10
N/A
Pipedrive is a customer relationship management (CRM) software built to help small teams to drive sales.
$24
per month per seat
Pricing
ActiveCampaignPipedrive
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)
Essential
$24
per month per seat
Advanced
$49
per month per seat
Professional
$69
per month per seat
Power
$79
per month per seat
Enterprise
$129
per month per seat
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
ActiveCampaignPipedrive
Free Trial
YesYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeOptionalNo setup fee
Additional DetailsMonthly plans are available. The Essentials monthly plan at $24 per month.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
ActiveCampaignPipedrive
Considered Both Products
ActiveCampaign
Chose ActiveCampaign
Mailchimp is a good easy solution for beginner marketers. I think ActiveCampaign is more robust with landing page, automated marketing integrations, plus the use of lists and tags to niche contacts. While it could be difficult to utilize AC's feature set initially, its AI …
Chose ActiveCampaign
I am stuck with ActiveCampaign
Chose ActiveCampaign
Mailchimp simply did not have all the features we were looking for, particularly with regard to list segmenting and automation. ActiveCampaign is more expensive, but it's a big step up for us. I think that Mailchimp is excellent for beginners and those who don't need all the …
Chose ActiveCampaign
pricing is quite competitive compared to similar products. It was also recommended to me from a business partner with a similar line in business
Chose ActiveCampaign
much more user friendly than these other alternatives.
Chose ActiveCampaign
ActiveCampaign feels like the professional, empowered and much more fully set up version of MailChimp. I was using MailChimp when I first started my business, but was then introduced to AC, and it's a million times better.
Chose ActiveCampaign
I used Mautic/Acquia for 4 years. It was more expensive for less features than ActiveCampaign. Also, I find ActiveCampaign is more intuitive and easier to use. The support system is more helpful. The pages are easy to navigate and the menu and submenus are well laid out. …
Chose ActiveCampaign
MailChimp, Mailer Lite, Constant Contact: ActiveCampaign is much better and much more versatile with automations, tags, and options for customizable lists and forms.
Chose ActiveCampaign
Mailchimp is in a different league to the above platforms.
Chose ActiveCampaign
ActiveCampaign has much better segmenting and more powerful automations, contact info, and integrations with other platforms.
Chose ActiveCampaign
In my opinion, ActiveCampaign is wayyyy easier to use than MailChimp. It's easier to choose your lists and to resend to unopens.
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
You'll be able to accomplish everything you need to with ActiveCampaign. A lot of these platforms distinguish themselves with bells and whistles. If a certain 'luxury' is important to you, then go with the platform that offers it. Generally speaking, they can all get the job …
Chose ActiveCampaign
It's simply intuitive! You know what to do and what you can do by just looking at it. So it goes very fast into a natural usage where You don't need to think too long. You can execute faster and build amazing funnels, because the functions are so easy and come with a great …
Chose ActiveCampaign
We selected Active Campaign several years ago due to its competitive cost and ability to integrate well with other software that we were using. With recent pricing changes, however, we will likely be shopping for alternatives.
Chose ActiveCampaign
In my opinion, not easy to use. Very limited in regards with features. I think the forms you integrate in webpages are ugly and not fully customizable. for almost the same price I have more features with ActiveCampaign.

I feel more confortable using ActiveCampaign since it is …
Chose ActiveCampaign
The level of sophistication and detail of the automations and segmentation is much higher with ActiveCampaign vs. Mailchimp resulting in much more targeted campaigns. Also, the user experience is so much more intuitive and easier to navigate with ActiveCampaign.
Chose ActiveCampaign
Clear winner on all fronts over most products, excluding HighLevel.
Pipedrive
Chose Pipedrive
Salesforce is more complex, visually Pipedrive is easier to look at at a glance to see where your opportunities fall in the stages in your funnel; whereas salesforce is not as visually appealing. Pipedrive is better for smaller businesses and more price effective than some of …
Chose Pipedrive
Hubspot is more complex with more functionality, Pipedrive is easier and more straightforward to use.
Chose Pipedrive
Much easier setup and use on basic level.
Chose Pipedrive
The reporting tools with Pipedrive are immensely more advanced and customizable than Clio Grow. We are able to adjust and tweak the reports to make sense for our firm specifically whereas with Clio Grow, you were sort of stuck with the default reports. Pipedrive beats Clio Grow …
Chose Pipedrive
Asana is much better for task management and to-do lists. Also, it has a great calendar feature.
Chose Pipedrive
Overall compared to SFDC and other CRM tools Pipedrive stacks up very well when it comes to ease of use and usability. It needs a bit better more robust reporting compared to some of the other tools. But for the cost and value provides I'd rank Pipedrive very highly in …
Chose Pipedrive
Pipedrive has a simpler interface and focuses on sales initiatives rather than digital marketing efforts which is something that our sales team needs. Pipedrive offers a good level of flexibility when it comes to customizations and they are always open to adding new features.
Chose Pipedrive
Pipedrive has an excellent UI, email tracking features, and the ability to display contact information and notes about each individual. It allows us to integrate other systems with a high degree of automation, which is crucial to our workflow. Easy to pick up and use, with …
Chose Pipedrive
We switched from Microsoft Dynamics to Pipedrive because Pipedrive was more cost effective and gave us more control over the custom fields we could make that applied directly to our company. It also was a much easier software to navigate and the sales team was using it a lot …
Chose Pipedrive
Pipedrive's integrations are so much better. Pipedrive has a much better user interface, the email tracking functionality is very handy, Pipedrive has a better interface in displaying people's contact details and our notes on them, and most importantly, Pipedrive allows us to …
Chose Pipedrive
It is easier to use and more specific. I think HubSpot has a lot and can be overwhelming or confusing at the start. It is cheaper, and the automation is easier to configure. I think it is a better option to start with Pipedrive software. Try it and check for yourself.
Chose Pipedrive
Pipedrive is less complex and far more affordable. It is missing some of the marketing tools (email marketing, adspend tracking, etc.) But for a small team this tool is far superior. It cuts out the fluff and focuses on helping you manage a pipeline. And the cost is a million …
Chose Pipedrive
Better integrations, dashboards, reporting, and tasks
Chose Pipedrive
The difference between this CMR software and similar ones is that Pipedrive is much more complete in terms of features that can be exercised in different job roles such as consulting, human resources management and marketing.
Chose Pipedrive
Pipeline Deals - prior to Pipedrive we tested Pipeline Deals. these two products are similar as in they are made for small/mid-sized businesses. We felt that Pipedrive was more intuitive and easier for our companies needs. The deal tracking was a real decision-maker for us. …
Chose Pipedrive
I much prefer the interface of Pipedive when compared to Zoho. Much more user friendly and the team is always readily available when we need them. Pipedrive allowed for many custom integrations to be added, as Zoho was a tad more complicated to manipulate. We would not go back …
Chose Pipedrive
Pipedrive is much more intuitive, fast, easy to understand and to keep tracking, BUT, it's not as customizable, as good for marketing automation, it doesn't use AI. Salesforce was the most customizable CRM I ever used, that was amazing, we could adapt to every business, but the …
Chose Pipedrive
I have not used products similar to Pipedrive.
Chose Pipedrive
Pipedrive stands ahead of SugarCRM in its ease of use, its simplicity and zero overhead information that is not needed in order to manage your leads. Pipedrive is our preferred tool since it has everything you would really need is a pretty simple, clean, and easy to use and …
Chose Pipedrive
Pipedrive was being used by a sister company and recommended. Not sure how a one on one trial would go. I like Outlook for email and Pipedrive is weak when synching with Outlook
Chose Pipedrive
Pipedrive is extremely lightweight, but extremely powerful as you get deeper into it. My 61 year old father will use it, when he won't even use email on desktop. Pipedrive is inexpensive and easy to adopt. It's also easy to adapt, adding custom fields, deal stages, and other …
Chose Pipedrive
Pipedrive is extremely simple with the pipeline management, but more time-consuming than necessary for even simpler tasks like browsing through contacts or organizations, and especially making changes to those contacts or organizations. If they were able to make it so that you …
Chose Pipedrive
Pipedrive is nowhere near as capable as Salesforce, but it's also much easier to manage. I think of Pipedrive as a simple version CRM that is good for managing inbound lead's interests in an organized way. When you have a larger sales structure with different components and …
Chose Pipedrive
Pipedrive was the best option for our company because the price is right for a small company! Before Pipedrive, we were just tracking sales in excel spreadsheets, and Pipedrive I believe is the next best step if you want to graduate from spreadsheets, but not take your company …
Features
ActiveCampaignPipedrive
Email & Online Marketing
Comparison of Email & Online Marketing features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCampaign
8.6
Ratings
12% above category average
Pipedrive
-
Ratings
WYSIWYG email editor8.40 Ratings00 Ratings
Dynamic content8.50 Ratings00 Ratings
Ability to test dynamic content8.30 Ratings00 Ratings
Landing pages7.40 Ratings00 Ratings
A/B testing8.40 Ratings00 Ratings
Mobile optimization9.10 Ratings00 Ratings
Email deliverability reporting8.70 Ratings00 Ratings
List management8.90 Ratings00 Ratings
Triggered drip sequences10.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Lead Management
Comparison of Lead Management features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCampaign
8.3
Ratings
6% above category average
Pipedrive
-
Ratings
Lead nurturing automation8.70 Ratings00 Ratings
Lead scoring and grading8.40 Ratings00 Ratings
Data quality management8.70 Ratings00 Ratings
Automated sales alerts and tasks8.70 Ratings00 Ratings
Lead segmentation and distribution7.10 Ratings00 Ratings
Campaign Management
Comparison of Campaign Management features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCampaign
9.1
Ratings
21% above category average
Pipedrive
-
Ratings
Calendaring8.90 Ratings00 Ratings
Event/webinar marketing9.20 Ratings00 Ratings
Social Media Marketing
Comparison of Social Media Marketing features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCampaign
6.8
Ratings
8% below category average
Pipedrive
-
Ratings
Social sharing and campaigns7.20 Ratings00 Ratings
Social profile integration6.50 Ratings00 Ratings
Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCampaign
8.1
Ratings
10% above category average
Pipedrive
-
Ratings
Dashboards8.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Standard reports8.30 Ratings00 Ratings
Custom reports8.10 Ratings00 Ratings
Platform & Infrastructure
Comparison of Platform & Infrastructure features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCampaign
8.8
Ratings
17% above category average
Pipedrive
-
Ratings
API8.60 Ratings00 Ratings
Role-based workflow & approvals8.60 Ratings00 Ratings
Customizability7.70 Ratings00 Ratings
Integration with Salesforce.com9.10 Ratings00 Ratings
Integration with Microsoft Dynamics CRM9.90 Ratings00 Ratings
Integration with SugarCRM9.60 Ratings00 Ratings
Third-party software integrations7.90 Ratings00 Ratings
Sales Force Automation
Comparison of Sales Force Automation features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCampaign
-
Ratings
Pipedrive
7.9
Ratings
1% above category average
Customer data management / contact management00 Ratings8.70 Ratings
Workflow management00 Ratings7.70 Ratings
Territory management00 Ratings6.50 Ratings
Opportunity management00 Ratings8.30 Ratings
Integration with email client (e.g., Outlook or Gmail)00 Ratings8.80 Ratings
Contract management00 Ratings8.30 Ratings
Quote & order management00 Ratings7.30 Ratings
Interaction tracking00 Ratings8.50 Ratings
Channel / partner relationship management00 Ratings7.10 Ratings
Customer Service & Support
Comparison of Customer Service & Support features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCampaign
-
Ratings
Pipedrive
2.9
Ratings
91% below category average
Case management00 Ratings4.70 Ratings
Call center management00 Ratings1.10 Ratings
Help desk management00 Ratings3.10 Ratings
Marketing Automation
Comparison of Marketing Automation features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCampaign
-
Ratings
Pipedrive
7.5
Ratings
3% below category average
Lead management00 Ratings7.50 Ratings
Email marketing00 Ratings7.60 Ratings
CRM Project Management
Comparison of CRM Project Management features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCampaign
-
Ratings
Pipedrive
6.7
Ratings
14% below category average
Task management00 Ratings7.80 Ratings
Billing and invoicing management00 Ratings4.10 Ratings
Reporting00 Ratings8.10 Ratings
CRM Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of CRM Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCampaign
-
Ratings
Pipedrive
7.8
Ratings
2% above category average
Forecasting00 Ratings7.70 Ratings
Pipeline visualization00 Ratings8.20 Ratings
Customizable reports00 Ratings7.50 Ratings
Customization
Comparison of Customization features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCampaign
-
Ratings
Pipedrive
6.4
Ratings
18% below category average
Custom fields00 Ratings8.50 Ratings
Custom objects00 Ratings8.50 Ratings
Scripting environment00 Ratings1.00 Ratings
API for custom integration00 Ratings7.60 Ratings
Security
Comparison of Security features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCampaign
-
Ratings
Pipedrive
6.7
Ratings
23% below category average
Single sign-on capability00 Ratings6.10 Ratings
Role-based user permissions00 Ratings7.20 Ratings
Social CRM
Comparison of Social CRM features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCampaign
-
Ratings
Pipedrive
1.1
Ratings
149% below category average
Social data00 Ratings1.10 Ratings
Social engagement00 Ratings1.10 Ratings
Integrations with 3rd-party Software
Comparison of Integrations with 3rd-party Software features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCampaign
-
Ratings
Pipedrive
3.6
Ratings
71% below category average
Marketing automation00 Ratings3.60 Ratings
Compensation management00 Ratings3.50 Ratings
Platform
Comparison of Platform features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCampaign
-
Ratings
Pipedrive
8.2
Ratings
7% above category average
Mobile access00 Ratings8.20 Ratings
Best Alternatives
ActiveCampaignPipedrive
Small Businesses
Vbout
Vbout
Score 9.9 out of 10
Salesmate
Salesmate
Score 10.0 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
PFL Direct Mail Platform
PFL Direct Mail Platform
Score 9.0 out of 10
Creatio
Creatio
Score 9.3 out of 10
Enterprises
PFL Direct Mail Platform
PFL Direct Mail Platform
Score 9.0 out of 10
Creatio
Creatio
Score 9.3 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
ActiveCampaignPipedrive
Likelihood to Recommend
8.7
(0 ratings)
8.0
(0 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.0
(0 ratings)
8.0
(0 ratings)
Usability
9.2
(0 ratings)
9.0
(0 ratings)
Availability
9.1
(0 ratings)
8.2
(0 ratings)
Performance
7.3
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
1.3
(0 ratings)
8.5
(0 ratings)
In-Person Training
9.1
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Online Training
7.3
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
8.5
(0 ratings)
8.2
(0 ratings)
Configurability
6.4
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
9.1
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
1.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
6.4
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
7.3
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
ActiveCampaignPipedrive
Likelihood to Recommend
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
Pipedrive's lead management features are top-notch, particularly the ability to automate email correspondence and receive alerts when necessary. It has an excellent pipeline, opportunity management, and sales automation without coding: —Exceptional cost-effectiveness. —User-friendliness. —Usability. —Top-notch search filter. However, its speed could be increased because adding new actions requires numerous taps and swipes.
Read full review
Pros
  • 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
  • Great visual visibility of the funnel plus easy to drag the deals across the stages
  • The email integration that collects all relevant communication (also through the possibility of adding a deal-specific Pipedrive address on BCC)
  • The integration with Pandadoc, which we use a lot, so that Pipedrive keeps a really handy overview of the documents we have sent out / which have been signed
Read full review
Cons
  • 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
  • Showing the customers name on the pipeline page. Right now I can only get it to show the brand name twice. I wish it would replace the second brand name with the main point of contact.
  • Better reporting tools. Their reporting tools are not easy to pick up. I've spent time trying to figure it out and it isn't something I can pick up on quickly.
  • Better training options. I wish I had a personal trainer to walk me through the best way to use Pipedrive so I can get the most out of it.
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
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
Unless I find something better...
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Usability
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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There is a learning curve that caused a slow adoption but overall the UI looks great and the support is helpful when there is an issue that you need to be addressed. The marketplace integrations (developed by Pipedrive) could definitely use some work as they're not as seamless as we'd hoped for!
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Reliability and Availability
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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No answers on this topic
Performance
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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No answers on this topic
Support Rating
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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Between quick video tutorials and having very quick feedback from their support teams, it is one of the main reasons I would recommend Pipedrive. It is critical, especially when setting up the platform to meet your companies needs, that a solid support team like Pipedrive has is there to make the transition easier.
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Implementation Rating
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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Experiment is the only way to start
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Alternatives Considered
I transitioned from Mailchimp to ActiveCampaign because it was so much more user friendly and allowed me to do a lot more in regards to lead magnets than Mailchimp can. For example, ActiveCampaign allows users to sign up for a lead magnet as many times as they like to keep receiving it (in case they've lost or deleted the email with access to the lead magnet). Mailchimp was unable to do this. And the categorization of users and the trigger email sequencing was a lot easier in ActiveCampaign.
Read full review
The reporting tools with Pipedrive are immensely more advanced and customizable than Clio Grow. We are able to adjust and tweak the reports to make sense for our firm specifically whereas with Clio Grow, you were sort of stuck with the default reports. Pipedrive beats Clio Grow hands down.
Read full review
Scalability
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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No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
  • Automations free up time - once set up, email campaigns execute in seconds
  • Emailing my newsletter is a second touch-point for my clients
  • The flat rate for my subscription means that I reach my clients and prospects for fractions of a cent each month
Read full review
  • Great on setup which made our work easier and less technically equipped people can manage a lot of things(compared to SalesForce where you need to hire a developer to set it up)
  • We were able to integrate our calling system easily and get things going on the lead calling aspect.
  • Great multipipeline option where we were able to manage both organisations under one roof.
Read full review
ScreenShots

ActiveCampaign Screenshots

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Pipedrive Screenshots

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