ActiveCampaign: what it costs at your list size and which plan has the AI

What ActiveCampaign is

ActiveCampaign is an email platform built around automation. An automation is a set of steps that runs on its own. Someone joins your list and gets a welcome email, then a follow-up that depends on what they clicked.

ActiveCampaign puts multi-step automation on Starter, its cheapest plan, beside 250+ email templates (pricing page). A CRM (a sales pipeline that tracks deals) is a separate add-on from Plus up.

There is no free plan. You get a 14-day trial with no card, then a yearly contract. The AI email marketing hub sets ActiveCampaign beside the other 14 email tools we track.

What ActiveCampaign costs at your list size

ActiveCampaign prices by contacts, and every price on its page is “Billed yearly”. No month-to-month figure is published. The table gives the cheapest plan at four list sizes.

The smallest tier sold is 1,000 contacts, so a list of 500 pays the 1,000 price. Starter then climbs fast with the list. It costs $149 a month at 10,000 contacts.

Billed yearly, that is one bill of $1,788 a year. Pick the band your list reaches within the year, because you pay all twelve months upfront.

At 50,000 contacts the selector offers no Starter at all. Plus is the cheapest plan there, at $609 a month.

Sends are capped too. Starter and Plus allow 10 times your contact limit in emails a month; Pro allows 12 times and Enterprise 15. The ActiveCampaign pricing page breaks down every plan at every step.

Which ActiveCampaign plan has the AI features

ActiveCampaign calls its AI layer Active Intelligence. Some of it sits on every plan, and the parts that write for you start on Plus.

Starter already includes the AI automation builder and the AI campaign builder: you describe the journey and it drafts the steps. AI-suggested segments (groups of contacts picked from their behaviour) are on all four plans too (archived feature table, 26 October 2026).

What Starter lacks matters more for most buyers. AI content generation and AI image generation start on Plus. So does the AI campaign calendar, which suggests send times from your own account’s data. Pro adds industry data and predictive sending at each contact’s best time.

Every plan includes 500 AI credits. The FAQ says credits pay for “advanced” actions such as generating images or sending translated campaigns. Core AI keeps working when they run out; advanced actions pause until you buy more.

ActiveCampaign’s pricing page publishes no price for extra credits.

Does ActiveCampaign train AI on your list

Its terms allow it. Section 4 lets ActiveCampaign use your email content to “train and improve the Services”, and your contact data “to train” them too. The clause names no AI models and gives no opt-out.

Terms of Service, 4

As a part of the Services, we may view, copy, and internally use Marketing Content to help us train and improve the Services, including their functionality and effectiveness for you and your campaigns, as well as to assist us in detecting issues.

The terms are dated 23 December 2025.

On the output side, section 5.3 says ActiveCampaign “does not claim ownership” of your prompts or the content its AI generates. The same clause warns that output may not be unique across users. You warrant that you hold the rights.

Compare that with Kit, whose help centre says it trains no AI on Kit data. The AI-training guide lines up all 15 tools’ clauses.

Contact counting and deliverability traps

ActiveCampaign bills by contact band. Its FAQ says a growing list lets you “upgrade to the next contact band or plan without penalties”. The pricing page does not say whether unsubscribed or bounced contacts count towards the band.

Deliverability is whether your email reaches the inbox or the spam folder. Inbox preview, which shows how an email renders and whether spam filters flag it, is missing from Starter. Plus and Pro get 5 previews a month; Enterprise is unlimited (archived feature table, 26 October 2026).

A spam check is on every plan, beside site and link tracking. Two long-term reviewers say they stay for familiarity and reliability despite the cost (2 of 21 sources, on Trustpilot).

ActiveCampaign wins praise for automations; support and AI draw complaints

We read 21 public reviews dated 4 November 2025 to 30 October 2026: 19 on Trustpilot, one G2 summary and one Reddit thread.

Automation leads the praise (5 of 21 sources: Trustpilot, G2). Reviewers like building automations and landing pages in one place, then measuring them there.

Support divides people. Four reviewers report quick answers. Four others report chatbot-first help, no phone line and tickets left open for months (4 of 21 sources each, on Trustpilot).

The AI gets a cool reception. Four reviewers call the AI features hit or miss, unhelpful or in the way (4 of 21 sources, on Trustpilot). Four reviewers complain about price rises and costs that grow with the list (4 of 21 sources: Trustpilot, G2). Two find the learning curve steep (2 of 21 sources: G2, Trustpilot).

A creator’s 20-minute set-up video shows the interface a new user starts with.

ActiveCampaign Tutorial for Beginners (2026) - Complete Setup in 20 MinutesSimon Crowe

ActiveCampaign pros and cons

How ActiveCampaign compares

The best AI email marketing tools list ranks ActiveCampaign against eight rivals on AI by plan and price at 2,500 and 10,000 contacts. For a shop, email marketing for ecommerce weighs it against Klaviyo and Omnisend.

GetResponse and Brevo both publish monthly prices, if a yearly contract is the sticking point. The email price table prices all 15 tools at your own list size.

Questions buyers ask about ActiveCampaign

Is ActiveCampaign worth it?

For automation on a small list, yes: Starter includes multi-step journeys. For AI writing or monthly billing, look at Plus or another tool.

Does ActiveCampaign have a free plan?

No. It offers a 14-day free trial with no credit card, then yearly billing.

Is ActiveCampaign good for email marketing?

Reviewers praise its automations most (5 of 21 sources). The common complaints are support, price rises and bugs.

Does ActiveCampaign use AI?

Yes. Active Intelligence builds automations and campaigns on every plan; it writes email copy and images from Plus up.

Does ActiveCampaign train AI on my contacts?

Its terms let it use your content and contact data to “train and improve the Services”, with no opt-out named.

Every email tool, with its price at your list size, is in the AI email marketing hub →