Email Marketing · head to head
ActiveCampaign vs Five9
ActiveCampaign
Email Marketing
CRM, marketing automation, and sales platform
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
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; Five9 a 50 seat minimum applies to the published rates, so the entry cost on the $119 Digital plan is $5,950 a month
- They diverge on capability: ActiveCampaign covers Contact management, Five9 covers Intelligent routing.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which ActiveCampaign and Five9 actually diverge.
| Attribute | ActiveCampaign | Five9 |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Free | $149/month |
| Free tier | Yes | No |
| Platforms | Cloud-based SaaS | Web, Desktop |
| Category | Email Marketing | Telecommunications |
| Founded | 2003 | 2001 |
Identical on both: pricing model (subscription), 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 Five9
- Intelligent routing
- IVR
- ACD
- Dialer
- WFM
- Quality management
- Analytics
- ServiceNow
Both cover
- Salesforce
- SOC2
- GDPR
- Web support
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 Five9
- Marketing teams needing AI-driven lead scoring and automationnot Five9
Five9
- Cloud contact centre across voice, chat, email and social messagingnot ActiveCampaign
- Routing and managing high volume customer interactionsnot 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
Five9
- A 50 seat minimum applies to the published rates, so the entry cost on the $119 Digital plan is $5,950 a month
- Prices are per concurrent user rather than per named agent, which changes what a seat means when shifts overlap
- Voice is excluded from the Digital plan and requires a quote
- Usage based charges apply on top of the per seat rate
- Three of the five tiers publish no price at all
Pricing, plan by plan
ActiveCampaign
FreeNo published plan breakdown. See the ActiveCampaign review.
Five9
$149/month- Core$149/month
- Inbound/outbound
- IVR
- Basic CTI
- Premium$169/month
- Core + Chat/email
- Quality management
- Optimum$199/month
- Premium + WFM
- Proactive chat
- Ultimate$229/month
- Full suite
- Advanced analytics
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.
Questions people ask
- Is ActiveCampaign or Five9 better?
- Neither clearly leads. ActiveCampaign starts at Free and Five9 at $149/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, ActiveCampaign or Five9?
- ActiveCampaign has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for ActiveCampaign and $149/month for Five9.
- Does ActiveCampaign or Five9 run on more platforms?
- ActiveCampaign runs on Cloud-based SaaS. Five9 runs on Web, Desktop.
- Can I use ActiveCampaign for free?
- Yes. ActiveCampaign has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Five9 starts at $149/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 Five9 is typically brought in for.
- What can ActiveCampaign do that Five9 cannot?
- ActiveCampaign covers Contact management, Sales pipeline, Marketing automation, Email marketing. Five9 covers Intelligent routing, IVR, ACD, Dialer. Both handle Salesforce, SOC2, GDPR, Web support.
Related pages
More on ActiveCampaign
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