ActiveCampaign vs Benchmark Email Pricing (2026)
How do these two stack up on price? Here's what each one costs, what you get, and where the value sits.
| ActiveCampaign | Benchmark Email | |
|---|---|---|
| Starts at | $15/mo | $19/mo |
| Number of plans | 4 | 3 |
| Free plan | — | |
| Free trial | — | |
| Pricing model | hybrid | hybrid |
Enterprise
- Active Intelligence
- Marketing automation
- Email Marketing
- Premium segmentation
- Unlimited automation actions
- Premium CRM & ecommerce integrations
- Landing pages
- Predictive & conditional content
- Attribution & conversion tracking
- Custom objects
- Single Sign-On (SSO)
- Dedicated account team
- 5 users
Pro
Popular- Active Intelligence
- Marketing automation
- Email Marketing
- Advanced segmentation
- Unlimited automation actions
- Standard CRM & premium ecommerce integrations
- Landing pages
- Predictive & conditional content
- Attribution & conversion tracking
- 3 users
Plus
- Active Intelligence (limits apply)
- Marketing automation
- Email Marketing
- Standard segmentation
- Unlimited automation actions
- Standard CRM & ecommerce integrations
- Landing pages
- 1 user
Starter
- Active Intelligence (limits apply)
- Marketing automation
- Email Marketing
- Limited segmentation
- 5 actions per automation
- Standard CRM & ecommerce integrations
- 1 user
Free
- Includes 500 contacts.
Pro
Popular- Everything you need to send impactful email marketing campaigns.
Enterprise
- Have more than 100,000 contacts?
- Customized for large senders, backed by premium email marketing support.
ActiveCampaign vs Benchmark Email FAQ
- Which one is cheaper?
- ActiveCampaign starts lower at $15/mo, compared to $19/mo for Benchmark Email.
- Can I use either one for free?
- Benchmark Email has a free plan. ActiveCampaign doesn't — though they do offer a free trial.
- How do they charge?
- Both use a hybrid model, so the comparison is straightforward — it comes down to features and limits at each price point.
- Which one is a better deal?
- Depends on what you need. ActiveCampaign: Sitting mid-market against Mailchimp and Klaviyo, ActiveCampaign undercuts on entry price but the contact-based scaling means it's not actually cheap once your list grows past a few thousand. They're chasing teams that want marketing automation depth without paying HubSpot-level prices for it. Benchmark Email: At $19/mo for 1,000 contacts, Benchmark sits in the budget-to-mid range of the email marketing pack, undercutting the likes of Mailchimp and Klaviyo at similar list sizes. They're clearly chasing small businesses and solopreneurs who want cheap entry pricing without a free trial gate to jump through.
Still deciding? See the best ActiveCampaign alternatives or the best Benchmark Email alternatives, ranked with verified pricing.
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