ActiveCampaign vs. Salesforce Starter

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
Salesforce Starter
Score 8.2 out of 10
Small Businesses (1-50 employees)
Salesforce Starter (formerly Salesforce Essentials) is a small business CRM that replaces the former SalesforceIQ product. It is priced at $35 per user, on a monthly basis, or at $25 per month for if billed annually ($300) and can be tried free for 14 days on a trial.
$35
per month per user
Pricing
ActiveCampaignSalesforce Starter
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
ActiveCampaignSalesforce Starter
Free Trial
YesYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoYes
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
ActiveCampaignSalesforce Starter
Considered Both Products
ActiveCampaign
Chose ActiveCampaign
Salesforce is more CRM based, so requires more manual work. For AC it is easy to manage various contacts and contact them all at the same time, whilst personalizing the content. Besides, AC makes it easier to track e-mail opening and click-through data than Salesforce.
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 …
Salesforce Starter

No answer on this topic

Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
ActiveCampaignSalesforce Starter
Email & Online Marketing
Comparison of Email & Online Marketing features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCampaign
8.9
664 Ratings
13% above category average
Salesforce Starter
-
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
Salesforce Starter
-
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
Salesforce Starter
-
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
Salesforce Starter
-
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
Salesforce Starter
-
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
Salesforce Starter
-
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
Salesforce Starter
9.1
3 Ratings
17% above category average
Customer data management / contact management00 Ratings10.03 Ratings
Territory management00 Ratings8.03 Ratings
Opportunity management00 Ratings10.03 Ratings
Integration with email client (e.g., Outlook or Gmail)00 Ratings10.03 Ratings
Quote & order management00 Ratings8.02 Ratings
Interaction tracking00 Ratings8.03 Ratings
Channel / partner relationship management00 Ratings10.02 Ratings
Marketing Automation
Comparison of Marketing Automation features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCampaign
-
Ratings
Salesforce Starter
7.0
3 Ratings
7% below category average
Lead management00 Ratings7.03 Ratings
CRM Project Management
Comparison of CRM Project Management features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCampaign
-
Ratings
Salesforce Starter
9.0
2 Ratings
17% above category average
Task management00 Ratings10.02 Ratings
Billing and invoicing management00 Ratings7.02 Ratings
Reporting00 Ratings10.02 Ratings
CRM Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of CRM Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCampaign
-
Ratings
Salesforce Starter
10.0
2 Ratings
27% above category average
Forecasting00 Ratings10.02 Ratings
Pipeline visualization00 Ratings10.02 Ratings
Customizable reports00 Ratings10.02 Ratings
Customization
Comparison of Customization features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCampaign
-
Ratings
Salesforce Starter
10.0
3 Ratings
28% above category average
Custom fields00 Ratings10.03 Ratings
Custom objects00 Ratings10.02 Ratings
Scripting environment00 Ratings10.02 Ratings
API for custom integration00 Ratings10.02 Ratings
Security
Comparison of Security features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCampaign
-
Ratings
Salesforce Starter
10.0
3 Ratings
18% above category average
Single sign-on capability00 Ratings10.03 Ratings
Role-based user permissions00 Ratings10.03 Ratings
Social CRM
Comparison of Social CRM features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCampaign
-
Ratings
Salesforce Starter
5.0
2 Ratings
37% below category average
Social engagement00 Ratings5.02 Ratings
Integrations with 3rd-party Software
Comparison of Integrations with 3rd-party Software features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCampaign
-
Ratings
Salesforce Starter
5.0
2 Ratings
35% below category average
Marketing automation00 Ratings6.02 Ratings
Compensation management00 Ratings4.02 Ratings
Platform
Comparison of Platform features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCampaign
-
Ratings
Salesforce Starter
10.0
3 Ratings
29% above category average
Mobile access00 Ratings10.03 Ratings
Best Alternatives
ActiveCampaignSalesforce Starter
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
ActiveCampaignSalesforce Starter
Likelihood to Recommend
7.9
(676 ratings)
10.0
(3 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
8.4
(25 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
7.6
(38 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Availability
9.1
(5 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
6.9
(5 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
1.4
(41 ratings)
-
(0 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
ActiveCampaignSalesforce Starter
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
Salesforce
If you own a business that has complex selling processes or requires integrations with 3rd party tools/systems, you should look at Professional, Enterprise, or Unlimited editions. Salesforce operates very well across pretty much every industry, but not all sales, marketing, and operational processes are created equal. If your marketing process requires a long list of sendable contacts then I would recommend adding on Pardot or Hubspot. Always start small and scale up, to avoid boxing yourself in down the road.
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
Salesforce
  • Tracking phone calls is extremely easy when using the app on the iphone. After a phone call is complete it prompts the user to enter in call details.
  • SalesforceIQ also automatically logs emails for us. This has saved us time from entering in information manually.
  • SalesforceIQ was easy to set up and allowed us customization for fields that were relevant to our business.
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
Salesforce
  • Price point for smaller startups. Not budget friendly.
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
Salesforce
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
Salesforce
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
Salesforce
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
Salesforce
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
Salesforce
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.
Read full review
Salesforce
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.
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Salesforce
Salesforce Starter is exactly what it says. It's specific to getting a small business up and running effectively, without unnecessary development or internal overhead required. It doesn't allow for a ton of customization, but it provides more than most other providers across sales, service, and integration/automating business processes. Some tools are more specific to organizations that want to focus on a specific area to grow or manage their business. That's where the other package types and integrations with specific tools come in
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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Salesforce
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
Salesforce
  • We have noticed since we have started using SalesforceIQ to communicate items on customer account notes we have freed up hours of phone time between employees allowing us to better answer customer phone calls. This is especially true in our parts department where we have inside and outside sales.
  • We tied in use of Salesforce to our bonus structure to encourage employees to use the software. It is the direction our business is going and we needed everyone to participate to make it work. The newer the employee the better they are about logging information and visits.
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

Salesforce Starter Screenshots

Screenshot of Screenshot of Screenshot of Screenshot of