ActiveCampaign Pricing: Plans, Costs & Alternatives [2026]

‘ActiveCampaign offers four pricing plans in 2026 (billed annually) — Starter at $15/mo, Plus at $49/mo, Professional at $79/mo, and Enterprise at $145/mo, all for 1,000 contacts.’‘ There is no free plan, but ActiveCampaign offers a 14-day free trial on all tiers. Prices scale with contact count, and hidden add-on costs (CRM pipelines, SMS, custom reporting) can significantly increase your bill beyond the advertised prices.’

‘Below we break down every plan, feature differences, discounts, refund policy, hidden costs, and how ActiveCampaign compares to more affordable alternatives like ‘SendX.

Table of Contents

How Much Does ActiveCampaign Cost?

Here's a snapshot of ActiveCampaign's pricing and features for you.

Pricing:

Marketing:

Sales:

Automation:

Campaign:

ActiveCampaign Pricing Quick Summary

ActiveCampaign does not offer a free plan, but offers a 14-day free trial on all paid plans. For 1000 subscribers, ActiveCampaign's paid plans start at $15/month (billed yearly) on the Starter plan, and scale up to $1059+/month (billed yearly) on Enterprise, which offers features like 10X contact email send limit, subscription forms, marketing automation, chat, email and phone support, custom Mailserver domain and much more.

Activecampaign pricing model is pay-per-subscriber or pay-per-feature. All plans are based on the number of subscribers or the features you get.

There is a 10X contact email send limit on each plan. The cheapest is the Starter plan, billed annually for 1000 subscribers for $15/mo.

Now, you will have to read more than this short summary to know which of their four different offers would we recommend.

Starter Plan

Starter

1000 subscribers
$15/mo (billed annually)

Even the most basic plan from ActiveCampaign has powerful email automation, design options, and social media integration. You can even track the actions of your website visitors.

This plan is great if you have a newsletter and you are building your audience as you go, as it provides basic things to get you started - subscription form, email marketing, sending newsletters and 10X contact email send limit.

Here are exact functionalities you will get with this plan:

• 1 user account

• Send Newsletters

• Email Marketing

• Marketing Automation

• Subscription forms - basic/ inline only

• In-Depth Reporting

• GEO Tracking

• 10X contact email send limit

• Auto Import From Other Services

• Site & Event Tracking

• Social Media Tools & Integrations

• API & WebHooks

• Live Chat & Email Based Support

• Managed Email Delivery

This plan is good for small teams or independent businesses that don’t require rigorous sales processes.

But it won’t work if you are conscious about ActiveCampaign’s log showing at the bottom of emails. Any email you send or any subscription form that you build with the Starter tier of ActiveCampaign will come with the company's branding attached.

Plus Plan

2500 subscribers
$95/mo (billed annually)

This plan includes everything in Starter plus unlocks the capability to have 3 users and features like built-in CRM, Sales Automation, lead scoring.
That’s not all.

You also get SMS subscription service, integration with Facebook and Shopify. Since you get some powerful automation features, they will also provide consultation on your automation strategy.

It also removes ActiveCampaign branding from your emails and forms. If you feel like you will need help making the most of all these features, you can benefit from the 1-month 1-1 training that they provide with this plan.

It’s good for any e-commerce, sales-focused company with a mid-size team of fewer than 25 users.

Professional Plan

2500 subscribers
$149/mo (billed annually)

This plan has everything from the first two plans and adds advanced marketing features like Predictive Sending, Site Messaging, and Attribution that help you create even more personalized experiences for your customers.

With the increase in cost comes the ability to use machine learning features like predictive sending and split automation - The split automation action lets you test entire automation workflows against one another. Instead of a narrow point of view of "which email got the most clicks", look at the bird’s eye view and ask "which funnel won the most customers."

Enterprise Plan

2500 subscribers
$255/mo (billed annually)

Two words that define this plan are - sophisticated and custom.

Made for companies with heavy budgets for email marketing, this plan provides custom email domain, customer SMS. You also get phone support, SMS guidance, and unlimited one-on-one training to ensure that you're making the best use of all the features.

It is designed for companies that can afford to have custom features, need priority support and an ever-growing team that will need 10 user accounts.

Try me, before you buy me

They don’t have a forever free plan but that shouldn’t stop you from checking it out. You can go for their 14-day free trial and even request a demo from their sales reps. And I have to tell you that their sign up process is as quick as posting an Instagram story.

Unsubscribed, Duplicate or Unconfirmed Contacts

Does ActiveCampaign charge for Unsubscribed, Duplicates or Unconfirmed Contacts?

I can give you an easy answer but it’s important for you to understand the basics first so you don’t stay confused. Trust me, it’s helpful.

Contacts on your list(s) can have one out of these four statuses: Active, Unconfirmed, Unsubscribed, or Bounced.

An Active contact is someone that has confirmed their subscription to your list (if you are using opt-in confirmation) and has not unsubscribed or bounced. A contact will no longer be counted as “Active” if your campaigns bounce or they unsubscribe from your lists.

An active contact counts as only one contact regardless of how many lists they are on.

A contact is labeled as unconfirmed if they submit a form that includes an opt-in confirmation email (double opt-in), but have not yet clicked the confirmation link.
Only active contacts count toward your contact limit (the number that is used to determine your billing plan).

Ok, you deserve a straightforward answer now.

No, ActiveCampaign doesn’t charge you for unsubscribed, duplicates or unconfirmed. Cheers!

Discounts are always delicious

If you commit for a year, you can get a 20-25% discount on any plan. That’s surprisingly bountiful!

For non-profits, offer a 20% discount, on top of the yearly plan discount. You can just contact them with proof of non-profit status.

What happens if you outgrow your Subscribers’ limit?

If you are close to approaching your contact limit, you will get an email notification once every 15 days until you upgrade your account. Your account will not be automatically upgraded.

You will not be able to create or send any campaigns and your contacts won’t be added to automation. This is a bummer but at least it informs you well before you expect a new, higher bill. So do let your finances know to keep some cash handy.

Does ActiveCampaign play fair when you want to Upgrade or Downgrade?

Yes, the system automatically calculates and makes adjustments for you & makes the bill on a prorated basis.

For example, let's say you are on a Starter plan and are paying $39 per month. In the middle of your billing cycle, you choose to upgrade to a Plus plan at $95 per month. We would then charge you a prorated fee of $56 to cover your upgrade for the rest of the half of your billing cycle. You will then be charged $95 when your new billing cycle begins.

I got 99 problems, and a fine print is also one

If you don’t love reading, you would never notice the tiny print under the pricing from ActiveCampaign & guess what's there...

Should you read it?

No, something that you might want to read and decide if that is deal-breaking for you.

Did you buy your account for a huge discount from a reseller? Well, you don’t get one-on-one training then.

Thankfully, the fine print ends here. *phew*

ActiveCampaign's Hidden Costs & Add-Ons

The plan prices above don't tell the full story. ActiveCampaign charges extra for several features that many businesses consider essential:

These add-ons can significantly increase your monthly bill. For example, a Plus plan at $95/mo with CRM pipelines and SMS quickly becomes $180+/mo — nearly double the advertised price.

By comparison, SendX includes unlimited emails, advanced segments, and email templates at a fraction of the cost with no hidden add-on fees.

ActiveCampaign's Refund Policy

There are no full or partial refunds offered by ActiveCampaign. So before you make a commitment, try it out for free for 14-days.

ActiveCampaign vs SendX: Pricing Comparison

ActiveCampaign is a strong choice if you need powerful automation features. But if you want similar capabilities at a fraction of the cost, SendX starts at $7.49/mo for 1K subscribers with unlimited emails, advanced segments, and email templates included — no hidden add-on fees. Try it free for 14 days, no credit card required.

FAQs

1. Does ActiveCampaign have a free plan?

No — ActiveCampaign does not offer a free plan. They offer a 14-day free trial on all paid plans. The lowest-cost option is the Starter plan at $15/mo (billed annually) for 1,000 contacts.

2. How much does ActiveCampaign cost for 10,000 contacts?

For 10,000 contacts (billed annually), ActiveCampaign costs $149/mo on Starter, $189/mo on Plus, $375/mo on Professional, and $589/mo on Enterprise.

3. Does ActiveCampaign charge for unsubscribed contacts?

No — ActiveCampaign only charges for active contacts. Unsubscribed, unconfirmed, and bounced contacts do not count toward your contact limit.

4. What is a cheaper alternative to ActiveCampaign?

SendX starts at $7.49/mo (billed annually) for 1,000 subscribers with unlimited emails, advanced segments, and email templates — making it 50% cheaper than ActiveCampaign's Starter plan.