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Email Marketing · head to head

ActiveCampaign vs Sendy

ActiveCampaign logo

ActiveCampaign

Email Marketing

CRM, marketing automation, and sales platform

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Sendy logo

Sendy

Email Marketing

Self-hosted newsletter app bought once for $69 that sends through your own Amazon SES account

From
$69/one-time
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; Sendy free updates run only to the next major version, so the one-time purchase is really one purchase per major release and the long-term cost is not zero.
  • They diverge on capability: ActiveCampaign covers Contact management, Sendy covers One-time licence.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which ActiveCampaign and Sendy actually diverge.

Attributes where ActiveCampaign and Sendy differ
AttributeActiveCampaignSendy
Starting priceFree$69/one-time
Pricing modelsubscriptionOne-time purchase
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsCloud-based SaaSWeb, Linux
Founded2003Unknown

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Email Marketing).

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
  • Automation
  • Zapier
  • Slack

Only in Sendy

  • One-time licence
  • Amazon SES delivery
  • Multiple brands
  • Autoresponders
  • Segmentation
  • Bounce and complaint handling
  • Client access

Both cover

  • Reporting

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 Sendy
  • Marketing teams needing AI-driven lead scoring and automationnot Sendy

Sendy

  • A publisher with a large list sending frequently, where a hosted platform bills by subscriber count month after monthnot ActiveCampaign
  • An agency managing newsletters for several clients who each get their own brand and login under one licencenot ActiveCampaign
  • A business that must keep subscriber data on its own infrastructure for privacy or contractual reasonsnot ActiveCampaign
  • A developer wiring signups from a custom application into a mailing list without paying platform API feesnot 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

Sendy

  • Free updates run only to the next major version, so the one-time purchase is really one purchase per major release and the long-term cost is not zero.
  • Deliverability becomes entirely your problem: SES gives you a raw sending pipe and no warm-up guidance, reputation dashboards or deliverability consultants when a campaign starts landing in spam.
  • Amazon SES requires production access approval and will suspend accounts on high bounce or complaint rates, which can take a list offline mid-campaign with little warning.
  • The template editor and design tooling are basic next to Mailchimp or Klaviyo, so anything visually ambitious means hand-written HTML email.
  • You own the server: PHP upgrades, database backups and patching are yours, and an unmaintained Sendy install holding a subscriber list is a data breach waiting to happen.

Pricing, plan by plan

ActiveCampaign

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the ActiveCampaign review.

Sendy

$69/one-time
  • Sendy licence$69/one-time
    • One-time purchase, no subscription
    • Free updates only up to the next major version
    • Unlimited lists, subscribers and campaigns
  • AI Assistant bundle$39/one-time
    • Optional add-on, listed at a discount from $49
    • AI writing assistance inside the campaign editor
  • Installation service$79/one-time
    • Optional one-off setup by the vendor
    • For buyers who do not want to configure hosting and SES themselves

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 Sendy if

  • You need one-time licence.
  • You work on Web, Linux.
  • You also want amazon ses delivery.
Sendy review

Questions people ask

Is ActiveCampaign or Sendy better?
Neither clearly leads. ActiveCampaign starts at Free and Sendy at $69/one-time, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, ActiveCampaign or Sendy?
ActiveCampaign has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for ActiveCampaign and $69/one-time for Sendy.
Does ActiveCampaign or Sendy run on more platforms?
ActiveCampaign runs on Cloud-based SaaS. Sendy runs on Web, Linux.
Can I use ActiveCampaign for free?
Yes. ActiveCampaign has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Sendy starts at $69/one-time.
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 Sendy is typically brought in for.
What can ActiveCampaign do that Sendy cannot?
ActiveCampaign covers Contact management, Sales pipeline, Marketing automation, Email marketing. Sendy covers One-time licence, Amazon SES delivery, Multiple brands, Autoresponders. Both handle Reporting.

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
Sendy: What does it actually cost to send?

The licence is $69 once. Delivery is Amazon SES at roughly $1 per 10,000 emails, plus your own hosting, so a 50,000-contact weekly newsletter costs a few dollars a month to send.

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
Sendy: Are updates free forever?

No. Updates are free up to the next major version, for example within 7.x. Moving from 7.x to 8.x is a paid upgrade.

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
Sendy: Do I need to know how to set up a server?

Standard PHP and MySQL hosting is enough and the vendor compares it to installing WordPress, but the SES side needs AWS configuration. An $79 installation service is offered if you would rather not.

Sendy: What happens if Amazon suspends my SES account?

Your sending stops until you resolve it with AWS. There is no alternative delivery route built in, and this is the single biggest operational risk of the model.

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