ActiveCampaign vs. Retainly

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
ActiveCampaign
Score 8.0 out of 10
N/A
ActiveCampaign is presented as an AI-first marketing platform for marketers, agencies, and entrepreneurs. It uses Active Intelligence for goal-aware automation and personalized experiences across email, SMS, and WhatsApp. ActiveCampaign integrates with 950+ apps and generates insights to optimize every workflow.
$15
per month
Retainly
Score 9.2 out of 10
N/A
Retainly is an automated engagement platform that helps businesses maximize customer retention. The app enables users to automate emails, web push notifications, and SMS messages to retain customers and drive lifetime value. Retention & LTV: Increasingly business leaders are expecting marketing and product teams to play a key role in the growth – and customer retention is the critical platform on which…N/A
Pricing
ActiveCampaignRetainly
Editions & Modules
Starter
$15
per month
Pro
$49
per month
Plus
$79
per month
Enterprise
$159
per month
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
ActiveCampaignRetainly
Free Trial
YesYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeOptionalNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
ActiveCampaignRetainly
Features
ActiveCampaignRetainly
Email & Online Marketing
Comparison of Email & Online Marketing features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCampaign
7.4
Ratings
3% below category average
Retainly
8.3
Ratings
9% above category average
WYSIWYG email editor5.50 Ratings8.80 Ratings
Dynamic content4.40 Ratings9.20 Ratings
Ability to test dynamic content4.40 Ratings9.20 Ratings
Landing pages4.80 Ratings00 Ratings
A/B testing9.90 Ratings7.70 Ratings
Mobile optimization7.90 Ratings3.60 Ratings
Email deliverability reporting9.60 Ratings9.20 Ratings
List management9.90 Ratings9.20 Ratings
Triggered drip sequences10.00 Ratings9.60 Ratings
Lead Management
Comparison of Lead Management features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCampaign
8.0
Ratings
2% above category average
Retainly
9.1
Ratings
15% above category average
Lead nurturing automation9.90 Ratings9.60 Ratings
Lead scoring and grading7.70 Ratings9.10 Ratings
Data quality management7.90 Ratings8.20 Ratings
Automated sales alerts and tasks7.10 Ratings9.60 Ratings
Lead segmentation and distribution7.30 Ratings00 Ratings
Campaign Management
Comparison of Campaign Management features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCampaign
9.9
Ratings
29% above category average
Retainly
-
Ratings
Calendaring9.80 Ratings00 Ratings
Event/webinar marketing9.90 Ratings00 Ratings
Social Media Marketing
Comparison of Social Media Marketing features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCampaign
6.8
Ratings
10% below category average
Retainly
-
Ratings
Social sharing and campaigns7.20 Ratings00 Ratings
Social profile integration6.50 Ratings00 Ratings
Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCampaign
6.6
Ratings
10% below category average
Retainly
9.0
Ratings
21% above category average
Dashboards6.70 Ratings8.50 Ratings
Standard reports6.70 Ratings9.20 Ratings
Custom reports6.60 Ratings9.20 Ratings
Platform & Infrastructure
Comparison of Platform & Infrastructure features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCampaign
8.8
Ratings
16% above category average
Retainly
8.5
Ratings
13% above category average
API8.50 Ratings9.60 Ratings
Role-based workflow & approvals8.50 Ratings9.60 Ratings
Customizability6.70 Ratings00 Ratings
Integration with Salesforce.com9.80 Ratings6.40 Ratings
Integration with Microsoft Dynamics CRM9.90 Ratings00 Ratings
Integration with SugarCRM9.90 Ratings00 Ratings
Third-party software integrations8.10 Ratings00 Ratings
User Ratings
ActiveCampaignRetainly
Likelihood to Recommend
9.3
(0 ratings)
9.2
(0 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
8.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Availability
9.1
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
7.3
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
1.3
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
In-Person Training
9.1
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Online Training
7.3
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
8.5
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Configurability
6.4
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
9.1
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
1.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
6.4
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
7.3
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
ActiveCampaignRetainly
Likelihood to Recommend
I've been using ActiveCampaign since around 2018-2019 and I've always been satisfied with the software. It's simple to use, connects with the other tools I use and makes it easy for me to duplicate automations, email templates and workflows as I need to. On top of that, any time I've had an issue (which I think is around twice in the past 5/6 years), the customer service has always been super helpful and my issue has been resolved quickly.
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As for me, the workflow creation process is just great. It allows for creating custom interaction with the client base. Also, our team adored the way A/B tests can run as part of different workflows.
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Pros
  • The graphic design is very good, especially fonts, colours and templates
  • Flexibility of design and functionality
  • Takes a little while to learn it, but generally user-friendly
  • Looks very professional but doesn't cost much to get started
  • There are masses of integrations for ActiveCampaign, and the ones I tried all worked well and didn't take long to figure out.
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  • Segments creation
  • Workflow creation
  • Workspace creation
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Cons
  • The email designing part could be easier to use. There are certain simple shortcuts that don't work, for example, adding links is more complicated than it should be, moving blocks around is hard, etc.
  • There's no good way to filter by 'active' and 'inactive' subscribers when editing en-mass.
  • I'd like more reporting data on one page.
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  • Analytics can be improved
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Likelihood to Renew
I am committed at the moment. Rebuilding the automations I have would be a huge time drain. Plus the cost of learning a new system and the risk to deliverability of porting a 6,000 person list to a new platform. Also, AC offers everything I need ast a reasonable (but a little high) price. So, why not a 10? Because, early 2023, AC dropped a massive 2x price hike on long-term customers. They knew few would shift, so this feels like a cynical cash grab and left a bad taste, If they do something like this again, this camel will have a broken back.
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No answers on this topic
Usability
ActiveCampaign has been the easiest marketing automation software we have ever used. They provide tips throughout the entire process of anything you are building. Their support team through LIVE CHAT has been extremely fast and helpful. The monthly meetings provided with the enablement team has helped us through several large and urgent needs.
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No answers on this topic
Reliability and Availability
I haven't experienced application errors or unplanned outages at all. Active Campaign is ultra reliable and I would not be using them if that were the case. Also, the helpful emails they send are welcomed and informative, and present very practical tips and guidance for using the platform. They're always demonstrating new features and I'm thankful for that.
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No answers on this topic
Performance
Oh my gosh, Active Campaign's performance gets an A+++ in my book. The pages load quickly and so do the reports. I haven't noticed any slowdowns when it's integrating with other programs and it performs excellently on all levels.
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No answers on this topic
Support Rating
This might be the best part. The chat support lady offered to make a video to help me solve my problem. I worked in customer service for years and I've never done that, lol. So, if they're offering things like that, I can only imagine that they'd be able to handle most any issue you throw at them.
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No answers on this topic
Implementation Rating
Very satisfied with our implementation in our professional medical practice, allowing us to be on top of client service, and not miss out on crucial information and insights. Marketing is often neglected in professional practices and ActiveCampaign solved this problem with aplomb.
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No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
I transitioned from Mailchimp to ActiveCampaign because it was so much more user friendly and allowed me to do a lot more in regards to lead magnets than Mailchimp can. For example, ActiveCampaign allows users to sign up for a lead magnet as many times as they like to keep receiving it (in case they've lost or deleted the email with access to the lead magnet). Mailchimp was unable to do this. And the categorization of users and the trigger email sequencing was a lot easier in ActiveCampaign.
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Retainly is more user-friendly and less complicated than eSputnik. Retainly does not have odd features you do not need. eSputnik has more email templates and that is why I used to like it a lot. But for me, Retainly is more comfortable now.
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Scalability
My web designer told me about Active Campaign and although I don't recall which platform I had before, I LOVE Active Campaign and its user friendliness. The transition was seamless and I've never had a problem with functionality or server failure.
Active Campaign provides so many features, and makes it easy for non-techies to maneuver around the site with ease. They capture information and put it in an easy-to-read format.
At this point, I don't think I'd ever use any other platform!
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No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
  • Automations free up time - once set up, email campaigns execute in seconds
  • Emailing my newsletter is a second touch-point for my clients
  • The flat rate for my subscription means that I reach my clients and prospects for fractions of a cent each month
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  • Set - up automated workflow sequences across the customer journey
  • Less manual intervention to manage campaign
  • 15 % Reduce of drop-offs in the customer experience
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ScreenShots

ActiveCampaign Screenshots

Screenshot of Screenshot of Screenshot of Screenshot of Screenshot of Screenshot of

Retainly Screenshots

Screenshot of Here you can access your project overview and other important project-wide information.Screenshot of Create simple and extended dynamic Segments.Screenshot of Create new and manage existing workspaces.Screenshot of Connect Retainlys' and 3d party integrations.Screenshot of Access and create automated workflows, review workflow analytics.