ActiveCampaign vs HubSpot
Compare ActiveCampaign and HubSpot on features, pricing, and buyer fit using the same researched criteria.
ActiveCampaign
Email marketing automation ESP with multi-step journeys; CRM pipelines strongest on Plus+; contact-based pricing.
Best for
- • Marketing-led SMBs that need automation as the primary email job
- • Email-first GTM teams comparing HubSpot or Keap on journeys
- • Buyers comfortable with contact-tier packaging who want CRM on Plus+
Starting from $15.00/user/mo
No free plan
VS
Our verdict
No universal winner. Choose based on which criteria matter most for your team.
ActiveCampaign is better for
- ✓ Automation
HubSpot is better for
- ✓ Integrations
Tie
- • Templates
- • Analytics
Choose ActiveCampaign if: Marketing-led SMBs that need automation as the primary email job
Choose HubSpot if: SMB and mid-market teams wanting free CRM now and room to expand into hubs later
HubSpot
CRM platform with free core CRM plus Sales, Marketing, Service, and Content Hubs for growing teams.
Best for
- • SMB and mid-market teams wanting free CRM now and room to expand into hubs later
- • Organizations aligning marketing + sales + service on one customer platform
- • Teams that value Marketplace integrations and AI assistants (Breeze)
Starting from $15.00/user/mo
Free plan available
Comparison scorecard
Criterion-by-criterion results for ActiveCampaign and HubSpot. Numeric bars appear only when both products have approved scores.
- Depends
Starting pricing
Published floor price and what that floor actually includes.
ActiveCampaign researched starting price from $15/mo; HubSpot researched starting price from $15/mo; a free plan is researched. Contact-based packaging can change the real TCO.
ActiveCampaignDependsHubSpotDepends - Depends
Contact / subscriber limits
How contact or subscriber caps affect plan cost.
Contact and profile limits for ActiveCampaign and HubSpot should be confirmed on live vendor pricing — current research records plan models, not a universal cheaper winner.
ActiveCampaignDependsHubSpotDepends - Depends
Email send limits
Monthly send caps and overage behavior.
Email send limits depend on plan rungs for ActiveCampaign and HubSpot. Confirm current send and automation caps before purchase.
ActiveCampaignDependsHubSpotDepends - ActiveCampaign
Automation
Journey, drip, and workflow automation depth.
ActiveCampaign leads on automation (9/10 vs 8/10) from approved SoftwareGlimpse editorial assessments — not hands-on lab testing.
ActiveCampaignStrongerHubSpotWeaker - Tie
Templates
Email template quality and starting points.
ActiveCampaign and HubSpot are close on templates (8/10 vs 8/10) from approved SoftwareGlimpse editorial assessments — not hands-on lab testing.
ActiveCampaignTieHubSpotTie - Depends
Segmentation
Audience, behavior, and list segmentation depth.
ActiveCampaign vs HubSpot on segmentation is not a scored universal winner in current research — choose by job fit.
ActiveCampaignDependsHubSpotDepends - Depends
Landing pages
Native landing-page or form builders.
Feature evidence for landing pages is incomplete for one or both products — outcome depends on the buyer’s job.
ActiveCampaignDependsHubSpotDepends - Tie
Analytics
Campaign, conversation, or workforce reporting depth.
ActiveCampaign and HubSpot are close on analytics (8/10 vs 8/10) from approved SoftwareGlimpse editorial assessments — not hands-on lab testing.
ActiveCampaignTieHubSpotTie - HubSpot
Integrations
Important third-party integrations.
HubSpot leads on integrations (8/10 vs 9/10) from approved SoftwareGlimpse editorial assessments — not hands-on lab testing.
ActiveCampaign8/10HubSpot9/10 - Depends
AI features
Useful AI for the primary job — not marketing fluff.
ActiveCampaign vs HubSpot on ai features is not a scored universal winner in current research — choose by job fit.
ActiveCampaignDependsHubSpotDepends
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