Active Campaign vs Mailchimp: Which Email Tool Wins?

As an entrepreneur or marketer, you need to use email, period. And Active Campaign VS Mailchimp is a common question because of how popular these tools are.

This debate isn’t just about choosing a tool. It’s about selecting a partner that aligns with your email marketing goals and operational needs. Both platforms offer unique features and benefits, and both also have major problems in my opinion. This makes the decision anything but straightforward. The choice between ActiveCampaign vs Mailchimp significantly influences other marketing outcomes, engagement, and ultimately, your business growth.

Which email marketing tool to use = one of the biggest and earliest decisions small businesses and have to make. And while you can always change email tools down the road, it sure is a hassle.

Navigating through the maze of features, pricing, usability, and customer support differences between ActiveCampaign and Mailchimp can be daunting. That’s why I’m here to dissect and compare these email marketing giants head-to-head.

Comparing Apples to Apples Active campaign vs mailchimp

Reviewing email marketing tools and helping people decide on a better choice is challenging. Every tool has it’s benefits and downsides, and what works for you might not work for someone else. When it comes to email marketing software, pricing is a huge factor in the beginning. MailChimp became popular for having a free entry level option. However, if you insist on a free tool, I might actually refer you to Mailerlite instead of MailChimp. At the free price point, Mailerlite is the best toll for featues. The main differences are that they have popups and laniding pages at every price point. I’m about to get to the point where I need to upgrade my own email marketing tool. I currently use ActiveCampaign, and am approaching 10,000 subscribers. At that point, I’ll have to upgrade to the next tier.

Additionally, I only use ActiveCampaign for email marketing and automations. I don’t use the CRM component. So, I’m going to review these tools based on the features I personally use, which I think are the most common ways you’ll use them as well. Unless you have a complex lead flow that involves sales people and other team members, it’s likely you won’t need a CRM for a while in your business.

Overview of Active Campaign

ActiveCampaign is a cloud-based platform designed to streamline your marketing, sales, and customer service efforts. It’s tailored to help businesses automate and personalize customer experiences across various channels, enhancing overall business growth. They’re most well-known as an email marketing tool, but at higher levels of their plans you can also add customer relationship management (CRM) functionality, landing pages and more.

Features

ActiveCampaign offers a robust suite of tools that cater to diverse business needs. Key features include advanced email marketing capabilities, marketing automation, and a CRM system for sales automation. The platform is also equipped with messaging services and extensive analytics to track performance and optimize strategies. Unique to ActiveCampaign are its visual automation workflows that simplify campaign management with a drag-and-drop editor, making it accessible even to beginners. Additionally, the platform supports a wide range of integrations, enhancing its functionality and flexibility.

• Email list: Managing my email list is straightforward, but it can be a bit tricky to segment properly without some initial setup time.
• Email automation: The email automation is robust and flexible, though the learning curve can be steep for beginners.
• Detailed analytics: The detailed analytics are comprehensive, but sometimes it takes a while to filter through all the data to find what you need.
• Knowledge base: The knowledge base is helpful, but occasionally lacks depth for more advanced questions.
• Form builder: The form builder is easy to use and integrates well, though the customization options could be more extensive.
• Landing page builder: The landing page builder is decent, but it doesn’t have as many design options as some other tools.
• Email templates: The email templates are convenient and look professional, but they can feel a bit generic without customization.
• Transactional emails: Transactional emails are handled efficiently, but there are occasional delays in delivery.

Pricing

ActiveCampaign provides a variety of pricing plans that scale with your business needs. Starting from under $10 per month for a basic Starter account, prices increase based on features, contact limits, and the number of users. The platform offers four main plan levels: Starter, Plus, Professional, and Enterprise. Each tier is designed to cater to different stages of business growth, from small startups to large enterprises. It’s important to select a plan that balances the features you need with your budget, ensuring you don’t overpay for unused capabilities. ActiveCampaign also offers a two-week free trial to test out Pro features, allowing you to make an informed decision before committing.

User Experience

ActiveCampaign is praised for its user-friendly interface, particularly its automation builder which utilizes a visual, drag-and-drop format. This feature has set a standard in the industry, making complex automations easier to manage and visualize. However, some users find the email editor a bit clunky compared to competitors, and editing multiple emails within automations can be cumbersome. Despite these minor setbacks, the platform’s overall performance and the ability to integrate with numerous other tools make it a strong candidate for businesses looking to enhance their email marketing efforts effectively.

Support

Overview of Mailchimp

Mailchimp stands as a versatile platform, tailored to meet your email marketing needs, whether you’re just starting out or managing a growing business. It offers a range of plans designed to accommodate various stages of business growth.

Features

Mailchimp equips you with a comprehensive set of tools to enhance your email marketing campaigns. Notable features include A/B testing, an email builder for creating impactful emails, and a customer journey builder to automate your campaigns. The platform also offers advanced audience management tools like segmentation and behavioral targeting, which help you send more targeted messages. Additionally, Mailchimp’s marketing automation tools are robust, featuring integrations that connect your favorite apps, enhancing the functionality of your campaigns.

• Email list: Managing my email list in Mailchimp is user-friendly, but the free plan limits the number of subscribers and other features. ActiveCampaign doesn’t offer a free plan.
• Email automation: Mailchimp’s email automation is simpler to set up, though it lacks the depth and flexibility found in ActiveCampaign.
• Detailed analytics: Mailchimp provides solid analytics, but it doesn’t go as deep as ActiveCampaign’s detailed insights.
• Knowledge base: The knowledge base is extensive and easy to navigate, generally offering more beginner-friendly content compared to ActiveCampaign.
• Form builder: The form builder is intuitive and integrates well with websites, but like ActiveCampaign, it could use more customization options.
• Landing page builder: Mailchimp’s landing page builder is easy to use, though it offers fewer advanced design features than ActiveCampaign.
• Email templates: Mailchimp’s email templates are stylish and varied, but I also find them fussy and dated. I prefer minimalist email templates.
• Open rates: Deliverability and open rates for MailChimp and ActiveCampaign are similar.
• Transactional emails: Mailchimp handles transactional emails smoothly, though it doesn’t offer as many advanced features as ActiveCampaign’s transactional email system.

Pricing

Mailchimp provides several pricing tiers to suit different needs and budgets. You can choose from the Free, Essentials, Standard, and Premium plans based on your contact count and desired features. The Free plan supports up to 500 contacts and 1,000 sends per month, with a daily limit of 500 sends. For more extensive needs, the Premium plan offers advanced support and capabilities for larger audiences. Mailchimp also offers a flexible Pay As You Go plan, ideal if you prefer not to commit to a monthly fee. This plan allows you to purchase email credits as needed and includes the same features as the Essentials plan.

User Experience

Mailchimp is renowned for its user-friendly interface, which makes it easy for you to manage your email marketing without needing extensive technical knowledge. The platform’s design tools, like the email builder and content studio, help you create visually appealing emails quickly. Additionally, Mailchimp’s onboarding process is streamlined, offering support from onboarding specialists and access to a community of Mailchimp experts to ensure you make the most out of your email marketing efforts.

By providing a range of tools and support options, Mailchimp helps you effectively communicate with your audience, fostering better engagement and driving business growth. Whether you’re looking to enhance your email marketing tactics or expand your digital presence, Mailchimp adapts to your business needs, offering scalable solutions that grow with you.

Support

Head-to-Head Feature Comparison

Customization

When you dive into customization, ActiveCampaign clearly takes the lead. It offers extensive options like mobile formatting adjustments, conditional content, and the ability to edit HTML code directly below the WYSIWYG builder. This flexibility allows you to tailor your emails precisely to your audience’s needs. On the other hand, Mailchimp provides a solid but more limited customization experience, focusing mainly on basic template adjustments.

Automation

In terms of automation, both platforms offer robust tools, but ActiveCampaign extends beyond the basics. It allows you to integrate SMS blocks and website messages into your automated campaigns, a feature not available with Mailchimp. Moreover, ActiveCampaign’s automation capabilities include advanced options like split testing by conversions and date, not just contact numbers. This means you can more effectively measure campaign success and make data-driven decisions. Mailchimp, while offering basic A/B testing and segmentation, requires more manual effort to achieve similar results.

User Interface

Mailchimp is renowned for its user-friendly interface, with a design that makes it easy for beginners to create effective campaigns. The drag-and-drop functionality in Mailchimp’s email builder allows easy customization of email elements. ActiveCampaign, while not as intuitive initially, has significantly improved over the years. Its interface now offers a competitive, user-friendly experience with similar drag-and-drop capabilities. However, where it excels is in the visual representation of automation workflows, making it easier to manage complex sequences.

Both platforms strive to provide tools that enhance your email marketing efforts, but your choice might depend on the level of customization and automation sophistication you need. ActiveCampaign offers more depth in these areas, making it suitable for more complex marketing strategies, while Mailchimp keeps things straightforward and user-friendly, ideal for those new to email marketing or with simpler needs.

Which Tool is Best for You?

Business Needs

Deciding between ActiveCampaign and Mailchimp hinges on understanding the specific needs of your business. If your focus is on leveraging advanced features like marketing automation, CRM, and detailed subscriber insights, ActiveCampaign is the superior choice. It’s particularly beneficial if marketing automation is at the core of your business operations. ActiveCampaign allows for deep customization and gives you a more comprehensive view of your customer interactions, making it ideal for those ready to move beyond basic email marketing tools.

On the other hand, if you’re just starting out or your primary concern is ease of use, Mailchimp might be the better fit. It’s known for its user-friendly interface and simplicity, which makes it accessible even if you’re not deeply technical. Mailchimp is designed to scale with your business up to a point, but once you outgrow the small business phase, you might find yourself needing a tool that can handle more complex marketing strategies.

Budget Considerations

Your budget is a crucial factor in deciding which tool to adopt. Mailchimp offers a free plan, which is perfect if your budget is tight or if you’re just dipping your toes into email marketing. This plan is quite accommodating for new businesses or those with minimal email marketing needs. However, as your needs grow, you might find the more advanced features of the paid plans necessary.

ActiveCampaign, while not offering a free tier, does provide a more robust set of features even at its lower-cost plans. It’s worth considering if you have a budget allocated for email marketing and you need sophisticated tools to execute complex campaigns. The pricing structure of ActiveCampaign is designed to grow with your business, ensuring that you only pay for the features you need at each stage of your growth.

In summary, your choice between ActiveCampaign and Mailchimp should be guided by a clear understanding of your business needs and budget. Both platforms offer significant advantages, but the right one for you depends on what you value most: advanced features and customization or simplicity and ease of use. If you’re still undecided, consider testing each platform to see which one aligns best with your marketing strategies and goals.

Summary: Active Campaign vs Mailchimp

Choose Mailchimp if:

• You tried Mailerlite and hated it for some reason
• Your budget is $0
• You’re just getting started with email marketing

Choose ActiveCampaign if:

• Marketing automation is at the core of your business
• Customization is a high priority
• You want a more detailed view of your subscribers

Generally, ActiveCampaign is one of the best alternatives to Mailchimp for those ready to move beyond simpler automation tools—making it a favorite among experienced marketing professionals.

Conclusion: active campaign vs mailchimp

Through insightful comparison and detailed analysis, this article positions active campaign vs mailchimp as pivotal tools in the arsenal of email marketing. It highlights how each platform caters to varied business needs, from the advanced automation and customization capabilities of ActiveCampaign to the intuitive, user-friendly experience offered by Mailchimp. Recognizing these distinctions, businesses can align their choice with strategic marketing goals and operational requirements, ensuring they opt for a partner that not only matches but elevates their email marketing endeavors.

Ultimately, the decision between active campaign vs mailchimp boils down to a balance of sophistication versus simplicity, coupled with budgetary considerations. Each tool provides unique advantages, and the ideal choice varies based on the specific demands and growth stage of your business. By carefully assessing these needs against what each platform offers, businesses can make an informed selection, setting the stage for enhanced engagement, growth, and success in their email marketing campaigns. Remember, the most effective tool is the one that best integrates with your marketing strategy, amplifying your efforts and propelling your business forward.

FAQs

1. Which is superior, ActiveCampaign or Mailchimp?
ActiveCampaign is considered to be significantly superior to Mailchimp in terms of marketing and sales automation. It features an advanced automation map, dynamic CRM, artificial intelligence capabilities, and comprehensive split-testing options.

3. Who should use ActiveCampaign when considering active campaign vs mailchimp? 
ActiveCampaign is best suited for experienced marketers who prioritize marketing automation. Over the years, it has developed to include a variety of features for marketing, sales, CRM, and transactional messages, making it a highly effective tool for these users.

4. How do Mailchimp’s automation and campaigns differ?
Mailchimp’s regular email campaigns are dispatched at a scheduled time chosen by the user. In contrast, Mailchimp’s classic automations send emails automatically to specific contacts based on predefined triggers and sending criteria. Users need to create the automation, design the emails, and set these criteria.