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Email Marketing · head to head

ActiveCampaign vs Drip

ActiveCampaign logo

ActiveCampaign

Email Marketing

CRM, marketing automation, and sales platform

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Drip logo

Drip

E-Commerce

Ecommerce email marketing and automation priced purely on contact count

From
$39/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only ActiveCampaign has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: ActiveCampaign starter tier capped at 5 automation actions per automation; unlimited actions require Plus tier or higher; Drip drip SMS is closed to new accounts and was US-only when it was open, so the multichannel positioning that competitors offer is not actually available to a new customer.
  • They diverge on capability: ActiveCampaign covers Contact management, Drip covers Ecommerce data sync.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which ActiveCampaign and Drip actually diverge.

Attributes where ActiveCampaign and Drip differ
AttributeActiveCampaignDrip
Starting priceFree$39/month
Pricing modelsubscriptionPer month by contact count
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsCloud-based SaaSWeb, API
CategoryEmail MarketingE-Commerce
Founded2003Unknown

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in ActiveCampaign

  • Contact management
  • Sales pipeline
  • Marketing automation
  • Email marketing
  • Customer service
  • Reporting
  • Automation
  • Zapier

Only in Drip

  • Ecommerce data sync
  • Visual workflow builder
  • Behavioural segmentation
  • Onsite forms and popups
  • Unlimited sends
  • No feature gating
  • Product recommendations
  • A/B testing

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

ActiveCampaign

  • Businesses automating cross-channel campaigns (email, SMS, WhatsApp)not Drip
  • Marketing teams needing AI-driven lead scoring and automationnot Drip

Drip

  • A Shopify retailer wants abandoned cart, winback and post-purchase automation without the tier-by-tier feature gating that makes Mailchimp and ActiveCampaign quotes unpredictable.not ActiveCampaign
  • A store with a mid-sized list finds Klaviyo expensive for the volume it sends and wants a comparable ecommerce data model at a lower monthly cost.not ActiveCampaign
  • A marketer needs onsite capture forms and popups included rather than paying separately for a popup tool alongside the email platform.not ActiveCampaign
  • A team sends high email volume to a modest list, such as daily deals or frequent restocks, where unlimited sends on a contact-based price is materially cheaper than send-metered plans.not ActiveCampaign

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

ActiveCampaign

  • Starter tier capped at 5 automation actions per automation; unlimited actions require Plus tier or higher
  • Active Intelligence (AI features) limited or excluded in Starter and Plus tiers; Advanced Intelligence only available in Pro and Enterprise
  • SSO and advanced CRM integrations only available in Pro and Enterprise tiers
  • Multiple users scaling limited: Starter allows 1 user, Plus allows 3, Enterprise allows 5 users

Drip

  • Drip SMS is closed to new accounts and was US-only when it was open, so the multichannel positioning that competitors offer is not actually available to a new customer.
  • Pricing scales on total contacts regardless of engagement, so an unpruned list of lapsed subscribers costs the same as an active one and list hygiene becomes a direct budget item.
  • Analytics and revenue attribution are thinner than Klaviyo, with no predictive lifetime value or churn scoring, so a data-led ecommerce team hits the ceiling on measurement before it hits it on sending.
  • The integration catalogue is far smaller than Klaviyo or Mailchimp, and outside the main ecommerce platforms and Zapier you will often be writing against the API yourself.
  • It sits inside Leadpages rather than being an independent company, and as the smaller of the two products its roadmap is subject to a parent whose primary business is landing pages rather than ecommerce email.

Pricing, plan by plan

ActiveCampaign

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the ActiveCampaign review.

Drip

$39/month
  • Up to 2,500 contacts$39/month
    • Unlimited email sends
    • All workflows and segmentation
    • Onsite forms and popups
  • Up to 5,000 contacts$89/month
    • Identical feature set
    • Unlimited email sends
  • Up to 10,000 contacts$154/month
    • Identical feature set
    • Unlimited email sends
    • Price continues to scale with contact count above this

Which should you pick?

Choose ActiveCampaign if

  • You need contact management.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Cloud-based SaaS.
  • You also want sales pipeline.
ActiveCampaign review

Choose Drip if

  • You need ecommerce data sync.
  • You work on Web, API.
  • You also want visual workflow builder.
Drip review

Questions people ask

Is ActiveCampaign or Drip better?
Neither clearly leads. ActiveCampaign starts at Free and Drip at $39/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, ActiveCampaign or Drip?
ActiveCampaign has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for ActiveCampaign and $39/month for Drip.
Does ActiveCampaign or Drip run on more platforms?
ActiveCampaign runs on Cloud-based SaaS. Drip runs on Web, API.
Can I use ActiveCampaign for free?
Yes. ActiveCampaign has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Drip starts at $39/month.
What is ActiveCampaign best used for?
ActiveCampaign is most often used for businesses automating cross-channel campaigns (email, sms, whatsapp), marketing teams needing ai-driven lead scoring and automation. Of those, businesses automating cross-channel campaigns (email, sms, whatsapp) and marketing teams needing ai-driven lead scoring and automation are not what Drip is typically brought in for.
What can ActiveCampaign do that Drip cannot?
ActiveCampaign covers Contact management, Sales pipeline, Marketing automation, Email marketing. Drip covers Ecommerce data sync, Visual workflow builder, Behavioural segmentation, Onsite forms and popups.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

ActiveCampaign: Is there a free trial without providing a credit card?

Yes, ActiveCampaign offers a 14-day free trial that requires only an email address for sign-up. No credit card is needed and setup is instant.

Source
Drip: Does Drip do SMS?

Not for new customers. Drip SMS is closed to new accounts and was only ever available in the United States, so treat Drip as an email and onsite platform.

ActiveCampaign: How is pricing determined for my account?

Pricing is custom and based on your contact volume, which ranges from fewer than 500 to more than 250,000 contacts. ActiveCampaign states they will put together a pricing package specific to your needs after you submit the pricing request form.

Source
Drip: How is Drip priced?

Entirely by contact count, from 39 US dollars a month for 2,500 contacts. Email sends are unlimited and no features are held back on lower tiers.

ActiveCampaign: Do I need to talk to sales to access the platform?

No, the 14-day free trial provides full access to the autonomous marketing platform without requiring sales contact. After the trial ends, you must complete a pricing request form to move forward.

Source
Drip: Who owns Drip?

Leadpages, which acquired it in 2016. Drip retains its own name, site and product.

Drip: How does it compare to Klaviyo?

Cheaper at small and mid list sizes with a similar ecommerce data model, but weaker on analytics, predictive segmentation and the breadth of its app ecosystem.

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