ActiveCampaign Pricing Breakdown 2026: Every Tier, Hidden Fee & True Cost

ActiveCampaign pricing starts at $15/month for the Starter plan and goes up to $145/month for Enterprise, but those are base prices at 1,000 contacts. Your actual bill depends heavily on your contact list size and the features you need.

Here’s exactly what each plan costs, what you get, and what will catch you off guard.

What you actually pay: the contact scaling trap

ActiveCampaign’s headline pricing assumes 1,000 contacts. Here’s how costs scale on the Starter plan alone:

Contacts	Monthly	Annual (per mo)
1,000	$15	$8
2,500	$39	$25
5,000	$69	$45
10,000	$139	$95
25,000	$259	$175

That’s a 17x price increase from 1,000 to 25,000 contacts on the same plan. The sticker price is almost meaningless unless your list is tiny.

Tier-by-tier breakdown

Starter: $15/month

Best for: Solo operators who just need email marketing and basic automation.

You get email marketing, automation workflows, inline forms, site tracking, and API access. It’s a solid email tool at this price, but that’s all it is. No CRM, no landing pages, no lead scoring.

The catch: Limited to 1 user. If you have a team of 2, you’re forced to the Plus plan.

Plus: $49/month

Best for: Small teams that need CRM + email in one tool.

This is where ActiveCampaign gets interesting. You get everything in Starter, plus CRM with sales automation, landing pages, lead scoring, SMS marketing, and 3 users included.

The catch: SMS marketing is available but requires buying credits separately. The landing page builder is functional but basic compared to dedicated tools like Unbounce or Leadpages.

Pro: $79/month

Best for: Growing businesses that need advanced automation and reporting.

Adds predictive sending, split automations, site messages, attribution reporting, and Salesforce integration. The predictive sending feature (AI-optimized send times) is genuinely useful and not available on cheaper plans.

The catch: 5 users included. If you have a mid-sized sales team, you’ll need to add seats.

Enterprise: $145/month

Best for: Larger teams that need custom reporting and dedicated support.

Adds custom objects, custom reporting, unlimited email testing, HIPAA support, and a dedicated account rep. The free design services are a nice touch.

The catch: Still contact-priced. A 25,000-contact Enterprise plan costs significantly more than the $145 base price.

What’s missing from the marketing page

1. The contact overage math is brutal. ActiveCampaign doesn’t show you the pricing curve upfront. You see “$15/mo” and think that’s what you’ll pay. In reality, a growing business with 10K contacts on the Plus plan pays $189/month, 4x the advertised price.

2. No free plan means higher switching costs. Unlike HubSpot or Mailchimp, there’s no free tier to fall back on. Once you’re in, you’re paying or you’re migrating.

3. CRM is Plus-only. If you came for the “all-in-one marketing + sales” pitch, know that CRM requires the $49/month plan at minimum. The Starter plan is email-only.

4. SMS costs extra even on plans that “include” it. Plus and above list SMS marketing as a feature, but you need to buy SMS credits on top of your plan price.

Who should (and shouldn’t) use ActiveCampaign

Use it if:

• You need powerful email automation at a reasonable price
• You want CRM + email marketing in one platform (Plus plan)
• Your contact list is under 10,000, and pricing is still competitive here
• You value deliverability, as ActiveCampaign consistently ranks well in deliverability tests

Skip it if:

• You need a free plan: check HubSpot or Mailchimp
• Your list is 25,000+ contacts; at that scale, compare with Moosend which is significantly cheaper
• You just need simple newsletters: ConvertKit or Moosend are simpler and cheaper
• You need advanced landing pages: pair a cheaper email tool with Unbounce or Leadpages

The verdict

ActiveCampaign’s automation engine is legitimately best-in-class for the price. If email automation is your primary need and your list is under 10K contacts, the value is hard to beat, especially on the Plus plan where you get CRM included.

But go in with eyes open about the contact-based pricing curve. That $15/month Starter plan becomes $259/month at 25K contacts. Budget based on where your list will be in 12 months, not where it is today.

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Pricing sourced from ActiveCampaign’s official pricing page and their help documentation. Last checked February 2026.