Marketing tools should make growing your business simpler. But for a lot of companies, the software they start with ends up being too pricey, too complicated, or just doesn’t do enough.
As businesses grow, they often realize their current software just can’t keep up with what they need—whether it’s automating tasks, personalizing messages, or staying within budget.
That’s why thousands of businesses are making the switch to ActiveCampaign.
ActiveCampaign is known for its powerful automations, great email delivery, and pricing that won’t break the bank. That’s helped it become one of the world’s fastest-growing marketing platforms.
If you’re thinking about changing providers, this guide will show you why so many businesses are moving to ActiveCampaign, and why it might be a better fit than other options out there.
Why ActiveCampaign stands out
Most businesses don’t just switch marketing platforms for no reason. It takes time and effort, so they usually only do it when their current software starts giving them real headaches.
Here are some of the biggest frustrations businesses run into:
- Costs keep going up as their contact list grows
- Not enough automation features
- Emails not landing in inboxes
- Complicated software that slows everyone down
- Having to pay extra for things that should be included
These problems only get worse as a business grows and tries to do more with its marketing.
Instead of piling on more tools to patch things up, a lot of businesses decide it’s easier to just move to a platform that’s built for automation from the start.
That’s exactly where ActiveCampaign makes a difference.
ActiveCampaign vs HubSpot: The key differences
A lot of people end up comparing ActiveCampaign and HubSpot.
HubSpot is a popular all-in-one marketing and CRM tool, but it’s mostly made for bigger teams with more money to spend.
ActiveCampaign, on the other hand, gives you strong marketing automation—without all the confusing extras or high costs that come with big-company software.
Here’s a simple look at the biggest differences between them.
Email deliverability: where ActiveCampaign dominates
Email marketing success depends on one critical factor: whether your emails actually reach the inbox.
Independent deliverability testing conducted across multiple platforms ranked ActiveCampaign first overall with a 93.4% deliverability rate.
In the same testing, HubSpot scored 79.8%, placing 12th overall.
That gap matters more than most marketers realize.
If you send 100,000 emails:
- With ActiveCampaign, roughly 93,400 reach inboxes
- With HubSpot, about 79,800 reach inboxes
That’s 13,600 additional emails reaching subscribers when using ActiveCampaign.
For businesses that rely on email marketing for revenue, that difference alone can justify switching platforms.
Marketing automation: built for advanced customer journeys
Automation is one of ActiveCampaign’s biggest strengths.
The platform provides a powerful visual automation builder that allows businesses to create complex customer journeys based on real user behavior.
You can automate actions based on:
- Email engagement
- Website visits
- Purchases
- CRM activity
- Tags and segmentation
- Customer lifecycle stages
ActiveCampaign also provides pre-built automation recipes, making it easy to deploy advanced workflows quickly.
While HubSpot also offers automation, many users find it less intuitive and more complex to manage, especially when building multi-step workflows.
For marketing teams that rely heavily on automation, ActiveCampaign often provides greater flexibility with a simpler interface.
CRM and pipeline management
ActiveCampaign comes with its own built-in CRM, made to help marketing and sales teams work together.
One of the best parts? Every plan lets you set up as many pipelines as you want.
That means you can create and customize sales pipelines for every product, team, or customer journey—no limits.
HubSpot, on the other hand, limits how many pipelines you get, based on which plan you’re on.
If you’re running lots of campaigns or have different product lines, those limits can get frustrating fast.
ActiveCampaign’s flexible pipelines make it easy for sales teams to see the whole customer journey, from the very first lead to the closed deal.
Email templates and customization
ActiveCampaign gives you a lot more flexibility when it comes to email design.
You get over 250 professionally designed email templates, and it’s easy to make them fit your brand.
HubSpot only offers 99 free templates, so you have fewer options to pick from.
If you’re sending lots of campaigns, having so many templates means you can work faster and keep your brand’s look consistent every time.
ActiveCampaign’s editor lets you make quick changes—no design or coding experience needed.
A/B testing availability
A/B testing is a must for making your campaigns work better.
ActiveCampaign gives you A/B testing no matter which plan you’re on—everyone gets it.
That means you can test things like:
- Subject lines
- Email copy
- Send times
- Content layouts
HubSpot, on the other hand, usually keeps A/B testing locked away in its more expensive plans. So some businesses have to pay extra just to use these tools.
With ActiveCampaign, even small businesses can keep making their campaigns better—right from the beginning.
Integrations with your existing tools
Another big plus for ActiveCampaign is how many other tools it connects with.
It works with over 950 different apps, including:
- Shopify
- WooCommerce
- WordPress
- Stripe
- Zapier
- Facebook Ads
- Salesforce
That means you can easily connect ActiveCampaign to the tools you already use—no messy setups needed.
No matter what kind of business you have—online store, SaaS, or content site—chances are ActiveCampaign already works with the tools you use every day.
Onboarding and support: a surprising advantage
One thing that really sets ActiveCampaign apart is how it helps new customers get started.
ActiveCampaign gives you full onboarding and support with every plan, so you can get up and running fast and start building automations right away.
Some other platforms make you pay extra for onboarding, which can make switching much more expensive.
If you’re changing platforms for the first time, having this kind of support makes switching a whole lot easier.
Pricing: A major reason companies switch
Price is one of the main reasons businesses leave big-name marketing platforms.
Platforms like HubSpot can get really expensive as your contact list grows, you add more people to your team, or you want access to extra features.
ActiveCampaign has flexible pricing, so you get powerful automation tools without paying those sky-high enterprise prices.
You can take a look at the latest pricing plans anytime.
For a lot of companies, switching to ActiveCampaign means getting the same great features but paying a lot less each month.
Why deliverability, automation, and pricing matter together
The real power of ActiveCampaign isn’t just in one feature—it’s how all the parts work together.
Businesses that make the switch usually see improvements in three important areas:
Higher email performance
With deliverability rates around 93.4%, your emails are much more likely to land in people’s inboxes.
Better marketing efficiency
Automation takes care of the repetitive work, so your team can easily run bigger campaigns without extra hassle.
Lower operational costs
ActiveCampaign gives you powerful tools for a lot less money than most big-name platforms.
When you put all of this together, you get a marketing platform that actually makes things easier—and gets better results.
Who should consider switching to ActiveCampaign?
ActiveCampaign is a great fit for businesses that want powerful automation, but don’t want to deal with expensive or complicated enterprise software.
It’s especially helpful for:
Growing startups
Companies that need automation that can grow with them, but aren’t ready to pay big enterprise prices.
E-commerce businesses
Brands that want to send personalized campaigns based on what people buy or look at online.
Digital creators and online businesses
Anyone who wants to build long-term relationships with their audience using email marketing.
Sales-driven teams
Teams that want their CRM and marketing automation to work together.
If your current platform feels limiting, costs too much, or is just hard to use, switching to ActiveCampaign could make your marketing work much better.
Going forward…
Picking the right marketing platform is a huge decision for any growing business.
The best platform should give you powerful automations, emails that land in inboxes, connections to your favorite tools, and pricing that grows with your business.
ActiveCampaign checks all those boxes.
It’s got 93.4% deliverability, works with over 950 other tools, offers 250+ email templates, and gives you unlimited pipelines. It’s a flexible system that supports your business every step of the way.
If you’re thinking about switching, the best way to see what ActiveCampaign can do is to try it yourself.
Start a free trial.
Explore everything the platform can do.
Check out the pricing plans.
For a lot of businesses, switching to ActiveCampaign isn’t just changing platforms—it’s a big step toward smarter, more scalable marketing.
