ActiveCampaign alternative
Branching automations, without the per-contact bill
ActiveCampaign is good at automation, and it charges by the contact for it. ReplaMail gives you a visual flow builder that branches on opens, clicks and tags, plus forms and landing pages, for $299 once.
ActiveCampaign prices read from activecampaign.com/pricing on 6 October 2026.
What ActiveCampaign costs
ActiveCampaign has four plans, Starter, Plus, Pro and Enterprise, priced by contacts. Paying yearly takes 20% off, in one payment, with a one-year commitment that renews automatically.
| Contacts | Starter | Plus | Pro | Enterprise |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1,000 | $15 / $19 | $49 / $59 | $79 / $99 | $145 / $179 |
| 2,500 | $39 / $49 | $95 / $119 | $149 / $189 | $255 / $319 |
| 5,000 | $79 / $99 | $145 / $179 | $205 / $259 | $375 / $469 |
| 10,000 | $149 / $189 | $189 / $239 | $375 / $469 | $589 / $739 |
| 25,000 | $391 / $489 | $389 / $489 | $629 / $789 | $879 / $1,099 |
Where the plan you need is not the plan you pay for
The starting price is Starter, and Starter is limited where automation is concerned:
- Starter caps each automation at 5 actions and has no If/Else, Go to or Webhook steps. Those start on Plus.
- Split paths inside automations, predictive sending and conditional content start on Pro.
- Landing pages are not on Starter.
- The CRM (pipelines, deals, one-to-one sales email) is a paid add-on on Plus and up.
- Users: 1 on Starter and Plus, 3 on Pro, 5 on Enterprise.
So the honest comparison for branching automations is Plus, and for split paths, Pro.
The rules that changed in November 2025
Every contact counts
Accounts created on or after 3 November 2025 pay for all contacts, unsubscribed and bounced included. Older accounts still pay for active ones only, which is why older comparison articles say inactive contacts are free.
At the limit, sending stops
Unless auto-upgrade is on, campaigns will not send and automations skip their email steps once you reach your contact limit. The pricing page says you will not be “locked out”; the help centre describes this.
Send limits and overage
You may send 10 times your contacts a month on Starter and Plus, 12 on Pro, 15 on Enterprise. Beyond that it is $0.005 an email, and sending switches off until next month if overage reaches three times the limit.
The trial
14 days, limited to 100 contacts and 100 emails. Enough to click around; not enough to test a real automation on a real list.
Five years of ActiveCampaign against one licence
| Five years, billed yearly | 5,000 contacts | 10,000 contacts |
|---|---|---|
| ActiveCampaign Starter | $4,740 | $8,940 |
| ActiveCampaign Plus | $8,700 | $11,340 |
| ActiveCampaign Pro | $12,300 | $22,500 |
| ReplaMail | $1,069–$1,265 | $1,189–$1,385 |
What ReplaMail does instead
Automations that branch
- A visual builder: send, wait, ask a question, tag, add to a list, call a webhook
- Branches on behaviour: opened it, clicked it, has a tag, is on a list, a detail matches
- Starts when someone joins a list, gets a tag, clicks a link, or your software says so
Forms and pages, included
- Its own signup forms and landing pages, on your domain
- Accepts signups from forms you already have
- Rules on arrival: this answer adds that tag, this form starts that flow
No contact meter
- Unlimited contacts, lists and brands on one licence
- Unsubscribing pulls a person out of every automation at once
- As many people signing in as you like, each an owner, editor or viewer
- Imports ActiveCampaign’s CSV export, with your own fields
ActiveCampaign also has an official MCP server for AI assistants; ReplaMail has one too, with a deliberate difference: it drafts, tags and reports, and has no send tool. More on that in Mailchimp MCP, which compares every platform’s server.
What ActiveCampaign has that ReplaMail does not
A CRM
Deals, pipelines and sales email. ReplaMail has none of it, and is not trying to.
Predictive sending and content
ActiveCampaign’s Pro features that pick send times and content per person. ReplaMail sends when you schedule it.
Sending included
ActiveCampaign delivers the email. With ReplaMail you connect Amazon SES, SMTP2GO or another provider, and look after your own sender reputation.
SMS and shop integrations
ReplaMail does email only, and has no Shopify or WooCommerce connection yet.
If your automations mostly welcome people, nurture them, react to clicks and tag them, ReplaMail covers it. If they hang off a sales pipeline, ActiveCampaign is the better tool.
Questions people ask
How much does ActiveCampaign cost?
From $15 a month (Starter, 1,000 contacts, billed yearly) or $19 month to month. At 5,000 contacts Plus is $145 a month billed yearly and Pro $205; at 10,000, $189 and $375. US prices, checked 6 October 2026.
Do unsubscribed contacts count on ActiveCampaign?
For accounts created on or after 3 November 2025, yes: every contact counts, including unsubscribed and bounced ones. Older accounts still pay for active contacts only. Archiving a contact takes it out of the count.
What happens when I reach my ActiveCampaign contact limit?
Unless auto-upgrade is on, campaigns stop sending and the “Send an email” steps in your automations are skipped while the automations keep running. Forms and the API can still add contacts.
Can ReplaMail import from ActiveCampaign?
Yes, from ActiveCampaign’s CSV export. Paste the addresses of people who unsubscribed into ReplaMail’s blocked list and they are never emailed from that brand again.
Does ReplaMail have a CRM like ActiveCampaign?
No. There are no deals, pipelines or sales email. ReplaMail is email marketing: campaigns, automations, forms, landing pages and lists. If the CRM is why you use ActiveCampaign, keep it.
Is there an ActiveCampaign nonprofit discount?
20%, with proof of nonprofit status, applied to future payments. New accounts ask sales; existing ones ask support.
Own your list.
$299 once. Every brand you run, unlimited contacts, your own sending account. Nobody bills you again because the list grew.
The demo signs in with demo / demo and is read-only. Questions first? hello@replamail.com