ActiveCampaign vs. Zendesk Sell

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
Zendesk Sell
Score 7.7 out of 10
N/A
Zendesk Sell (formerly Base CRM) is a CRM that aims to give reps access to integrated tools that provide the full context of a customer account. This keeps them in the loop and allows them to capitalize on opportunities. Zendesk Sell can be extended with Reach, a lead generation and engagement tool that automates the process of finding and keeping leads interested, so reps can focus more on building relationships and crushing their quotas. Base CRM was founded in 2009, and acquired by Zendesk…
$19
per seat/month billed annually
Pricing
ActiveCampaignZendesk Sell
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
Sell Team
$19.00
per seat/month billed annually
Reach prospecting enrichment add-on (requires a Sell Subscription)
$27.00
Per User Per Month (billed annually)
Sell Professional
$49.00
per seat/month billed annually
Sell Enterprise
$99.00
per seat/month billed annually
Sell Elite
$199.00
per seat/month billed annually
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
ActiveCampaignZendesk Sell
Free Trial
YesYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
ActiveCampaignZendesk Sell
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
ActiveCampaignZendesk Sell
Email & Online Marketing
Comparison of Email & Online Marketing features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCampaign
8.9
664 Ratings
13% above category average
Zendesk Sell
-
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
Zendesk Sell
-
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
Zendesk Sell
-
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
Zendesk Sell
-
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
Zendesk Sell
-
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
Zendesk Sell
-
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
Zendesk Sell
6.6
15 Ratings
15% below category average
Customer data management / contact management00 Ratings8.914 Ratings
Workflow management00 Ratings6.115 Ratings
Territory management00 Ratings4.98 Ratings
Opportunity management00 Ratings7.813 Ratings
Integration with email client (e.g., Outlook or Gmail)00 Ratings6.915 Ratings
Contract management00 Ratings5.410 Ratings
Quote & order management00 Ratings3.97 Ratings
Interaction tracking00 Ratings7.915 Ratings
Channel / partner relationship management00 Ratings7.811 Ratings
Customer Service & Support
Comparison of Customer Service & Support features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCampaign
-
Ratings
Zendesk Sell
9.0
12 Ratings
18% above category average
Case management00 Ratings9.07 Ratings
Call center management00 Ratings9.08 Ratings
Help desk management00 Ratings9.011 Ratings
Marketing Automation
Comparison of Marketing Automation features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCampaign
-
Ratings
Zendesk Sell
6.9
12 Ratings
9% below category average
Lead management00 Ratings6.012 Ratings
Email marketing00 Ratings7.89 Ratings
CRM Project Management
Comparison of CRM Project Management features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCampaign
-
Ratings
Zendesk Sell
5.3
13 Ratings
35% below category average
Task management00 Ratings8.013 Ratings
Billing and invoicing management00 Ratings1.05 Ratings
Reporting00 Ratings7.013 Ratings
CRM Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of CRM Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCampaign
-
Ratings
Zendesk Sell
8.2
15 Ratings
7% above category average
Forecasting00 Ratings7.812 Ratings
Pipeline visualization00 Ratings7.814 Ratings
Customizable reports00 Ratings9.014 Ratings
Customization
Comparison of Customization features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCampaign
-
Ratings
Zendesk Sell
4.2
15 Ratings
57% below category average
Custom fields00 Ratings7.815 Ratings
Custom objects00 Ratings4.910 Ratings
Scripting environment00 Ratings1.16 Ratings
API for custom integration00 Ratings3.08 Ratings
Security
Comparison of Security features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCampaign
-
Ratings
Zendesk Sell
9.5
14 Ratings
13% above category average
Single sign-on capability00 Ratings9.912 Ratings
Role-based user permissions00 Ratings9.011 Ratings
Social CRM
Comparison of Social CRM features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCampaign
-
Ratings
Zendesk Sell
4.0
5 Ratings
58% below category average
Social data00 Ratings1.04 Ratings
Social engagement00 Ratings6.95 Ratings
Integrations with 3rd-party Software
Comparison of Integrations with 3rd-party Software features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCampaign
-
Ratings
Zendesk Sell
5.4
7 Ratings
28% below category average
Marketing automation00 Ratings9.87 Ratings
Compensation management00 Ratings1.03 Ratings
Platform
Comparison of Platform features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCampaign
-
Ratings
Zendesk Sell
8.0
13 Ratings
6% above category average
Mobile access00 Ratings8.013 Ratings
Best Alternatives
ActiveCampaignZendesk Sell
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
ActiveCampaignZendesk Sell
Likelihood to Recommend
7.8
(676 ratings)
8.9
(15 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
8.4
(25 ratings)
3.0
(1 ratings)
Usability
7.7
(38 ratings)
8.9
(4 ratings)
Availability
9.1
(5 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
7.0
(5 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
1.4
(41 ratings)
8.8
(4 ratings)
In-Person Training
9.1
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Online Training
7.3
(1 ratings)
7.0
(1 ratings)
Implementation Rating
8.6
(14 ratings)
8.0
(1 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
ActiveCampaignZendesk Sell
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
Zendesk
Zendesk sell is best for organizations that want a clean and simple, yet powerfully effective CRM tool. It's intuitive, extremely user-friendly, supplies lots of video tutorials and access to the California team for FAQ's, and has all the features other, more complicated, expensive CRM's have. Great for institutions that have a need to tailor their database to fit your needs; and track sales, tasks, and pipeline projects in graphic form. It's affordable and has a great app for mobile phones that allows access to contacts, notes, tasks, and a workable platform while on the go in real time. It's simple to teach new users how to navigate and utilize. Adding or deleting users is simple, and access to the CRM information can be limited/private or made public for the entire team to access. Not as costly as some of the competing products, so if you are on a tight budget this may be the tool for you.
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
Zendesk
  • My favorite piece is the Tasks connected to the Clients OR the Deals themselves that keep the process moving with the right steps, and helps our team from doubling our work, or missing a piece that is crucial for the completion of the sale.
  • The email integration helps to keep all things housed in one place also, so that you're not bouncing back and forth in multiple platforms to stay on top of the orders.
  • Customizations are a HUGE part of why we use Base CRM right now. We can make sure we are recording all of the right information, and not wasting time by having to fill in or skip over content that doesn't apply to our business model.
  • I also like the ability to tied Deals to multiple people, especially as Referrals come across, so we don't forget how we got in touch with different clients.
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
Zendesk
  • There was no ability to add prospects from a company domain or email to auto-fill any data.
  • You had to type in all of the data you gathered about that prospect.
  • The default only gave you two phone numbers for the company, too few.
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
Zendesk
We have moved on to a more robust option of CMS.
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.
Read full review
Zendesk
I received about two hours worth of training on Zendesk Sell (formerly Base CRM). I will say it's a clean look and the ability to change views is extremely helpful. I do wish there were other features that allowed the views to be more simplistic. Some views can be overwhelming to look at. Nevertheless with the minimum training, I am still able to navigate through Zendesk Sell (formerly Base CRM) successfully due to the ease of usability.
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
Zendesk
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
Zendesk
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
Zendesk
Due to the ease of the product, I have not had the chance to reach out to support yet. I’ve had no reason. The resources provided to clients are extremely helpful and detailed. So far my questions have been pretty basic and I generally just ask my colleague or teammate. They're able to assist with the answer.
Read full review
Online Training
ActiveCampaign
No answers on this topic
Zendesk
This product has a great backing of users, but needs more options direct from Base CRM on all operations of the software. YouTube videos do a great job of helping implement, and the back end support is a great help as well. The CRM is a great free option, and should be treated as such.
Read full review
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
Zendesk
Simple, and straight forward.
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.
Read full review
Zendesk
Simpler than most CRMs, which can be good if your sales team is not very tech savvy. We switched to HubSpot which provides a lot more value than Base did, but it isn't right for everyone. HubSpot is focused on capturing in-bound leads and has its own flaws and limitations, but overall it's a better fit for our needs.
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!
Read full review
Zendesk
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
Zendesk
  • Using Base has allowed us to double the number of active sales and partner engagements that we can keep track of and make progress on.
  • This has led to us being able to follow up on many smaller deals that were falling through the cracks.
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