ActiveCampaign vs. Constant Contact

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
Constant Contact
Score 7.7 out of 10
N/A
Constant Contact is a full-featured email marketing solution with capabilities such as social media integration, drag-and-drop editing, and real-time reporting. It is a bulk email tool designed for SMB customers. Since 2019, Constant Contact also offers marketing automation features, a website and landing page builder, and other tools to support midsize businesses.
$12
per month
Pricing
ActiveCampaignConstant Contact
Editions & Modules
Starter
$15
per month
Pro
$49
per month
Plus
$79
per month
Enterprise
$159
per month
Lite
Starting at $12.00
per month
Standard
Starting at $35.00
per month
Premium
Starting at $80.00
per month
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
ActiveCampaignConstant Contact
Free Trial
YesYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeOptionalNo setup fee
Additional DetailsThe SMS Marketing tool can be added to any Standard or Premium Constant Contact account. SMS is only available in the US for Standard and Premium paid plans. SMS can be added when logged in to an account after purchase. Plans start at $10/month for up to 500 messages.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
ActiveCampaignConstant Contact
Considered Both Products
ActiveCampaign
Chose ActiveCampaign
much more user friendly than these other alternatives.
Chose ActiveCampaign
ActiveCampaign feels like the professional, empowered and much more fully set up version of MailChimp. I was using MailChimp when I first started my business, but was then introduced to AC, and it's a million times better.
Chose ActiveCampaign
I used Mautic/Acquia for 4 years. It was more expensive for less features than ActiveCampaign. Also, I find ActiveCampaign is more intuitive and easier to use. The support system is more helpful. The pages are easy to navigate and the menu and submenus are well laid out. …
Chose ActiveCampaign
MailChimp, Mailer Lite, Constant Contact: ActiveCampaign is much better and much more versatile with automations, tags, and options for customizable lists and forms.
Chose ActiveCampaign
Mailchimp is in a different league to the above platforms.
Chose ActiveCampaign
ActiveCampaign has much better segmenting and more powerful automations, contact info, and integrations with other platforms.
Chose ActiveCampaign
In my opinion, ActiveCampaign is wayyyy easier to use than MailChimp. It's easier to choose your lists and to resend to unopens.
Chose ActiveCampaign
Salesforce is a beast! The learning involved to use the system is prohibitive. Mailerlite is limited in functionality but ConvertKit is a solid alternative. Both are easy to use but clunky to navigate, while ActiveCampaign is logical. Mailchimp is great for small businesses …
Chose ActiveCampaign
You'll be able to accomplish everything you need to with ActiveCampaign. A lot of these platforms distinguish themselves with bells and whistles. If a certain 'luxury' is important to you, then go with the platform that offers it. Generally speaking, they can all get the job …
Chose ActiveCampaign
It's simply intuitive! You know what to do and what you can do by just looking at it. So it goes very fast into a natural usage where You don't need to think too long. You can execute faster and build amazing funnels, because the functions are so easy and come with a great …
Chose ActiveCampaign
We selected Active Campaign several years ago due to its competitive cost and ability to integrate well with other software that we were using. With recent pricing changes, however, we will likely be shopping for alternatives.
Chose ActiveCampaign
In my opinion, not easy to use. Very limited in regards with features. I think the forms you integrate in webpages are ugly and not fully customizable. for almost the same price I have more features with ActiveCampaign.

I feel more confortable using ActiveCampaign since it is …
Chose ActiveCampaign
The level of sophistication and detail of the automations and segmentation is much higher with ActiveCampaign vs. Mailchimp resulting in much more targeted campaigns. Also, the user experience is so much more intuitive and easier to navigate with ActiveCampaign.
Chose ActiveCampaign
Clear winner on all fronts over most products, excluding HighLevel.
Chose ActiveCampaign
I don't like MailerLite and Flodesk because they only offer segments, no tags. I like to add many tags to my contacts depending on the products they purchase, and this gets too cluttered when there's only segments. They also don't have clear insights on the home page of people …
Chose ActiveCampaign
I used to use the free version of Mailchimp, but it did not allow me to construct automated email marketing campaigns the way I wanted to do it. So I decided to migrate all my list to ActiveCampaign. The migration process was easy enough. I am happy I did it.
Chose ActiveCampaign
The really big difference between ActiveCampaign the the competition, is the power of the automation that you can get with AC.
Chose ActiveCampaign
ActiveCampaign focuses much more on automation and email marketing. It also has highly advanced customization in both marketing campaigns and contacts, allowing them to tag and send content based on the interaction that the contact has had. ActiveCampaign offers custom email, …
Constant Contact
Chose Constant Contact
Constant Contact destroys Microsoft 365 when it comes to mass emailing. Microsofts max email recipients is like twenty people at once. Constant Contact you can email thousands at a time WITH dynamic content. Meaning if some clients are in New York and some in New Jersey, you …
Chose Constant Contact
The ease of use and segmentation of Constant Contact makes it superior!
You can upload images easily and it is pretty easy to walk someone through how to design and email and upload an email list for sending.
Chose Constant Contact
1. Constant Contact provides features that were well suited for us being a mid-size organization.
2. Implementation of Constant Contact with Wordpress and WooCommerce was easy as compared to Brevo.
3. Peer-recommendations, brand reputation and research by our internal team also …
Chose Constant Contact
It's been a long time since I used MailChimp. I do remember being impressed the first time I used Constant Contact after having used MailChimp exclusively for a couple of years.
Chose Constant Contact
i have not used any other products that are similar to Constant Contact
Chose Constant Contact
Mailchimp is pretty comparable in a lot of ways to Constant Contact, but Constant Contact just continues to win when it comes to deliver-ability and user-interface. It's clean, simple, and intuitive.
There are other platforms like ActiveCampaign and Klaviyo that have some …
Chose Constant Contact
Constant Contact is quite intuitive making it easy to distribute the workload such as one person creates conntent, one migrates it to the template, one edits the content, and so on. However, it is easy for any one of us to do each others work.
Chose Constant Contact
We selected Constant Contact due to pricing constraints. However, if the pricing were to increase, we may look at alternative products that offer more features. We are looking for a product that will allow us to stand out from other organizations like ours that are appealing to …
Chose Constant Contact
Constant Contact allows a more in-depth look at our audience, what they like, etc.
Chose Constant Contact
I know what CC offers (but not sure if the others offer this or Retargetting - CC automatically retargets any of our customers with abandoned carts. We also set triggers on our promotional email system, and for follow-ups. This has been very helpful in targeting and retargeting …
Chose Constant Contact
They’re both pretty similar software, however mailchimp maybe more intuitive. I think they are similar in terms of deliverability at this point. Constant Contact might be more bang for the same buck.
Chose Constant Contact
Very similar in nature. I feel it's more just what works for your organization as to what solution you are more familiar with and the pricing structure that fits your needs. For most organizations with sales departments, I would recommend a email platform that is linked with …
Chose Constant Contact
In my view, If I were made aware of Constant Contact's lack of performance, I would have never created an account. I would rather use Wix, or even just social media! It would be more effective, user-friendly, and less costly or stressful, I believe.
Chose Constant Contact
it is the youngest sibling compared to the much more competent and capable older brother that is Marketo Engage. The reports, database management, and complete control of email designs, and interaction of recipients does not compare. Constant Contact is a great entry-level …
Chose Constant Contact
We use BEE Pro to create our emails; we like their email builder. However, when sending emails, Constant Contact is much better. They allow more emails to be sent out at once and let us store more contacts within the program. Constant Contact has greater flexibility and variety …
Chose Constant Contact
Constant Contact is much more intuitive for people who are not tech-savvy. Also, while SendGrid offered more options in it's drag and drop interface, it displayed differently across different email clients, which made it very cumbersome to use. It also took much longer to …
Chose Constant Contact
Overall, Constant Contact is the easiest to use with one of the lower price points. It is a great entry-level tool for a beginner in order to graduate into more sophisticated platforms. The design features are a good start along with the subject line testing which is helpful …
Chose Constant Contact
Constant contact was perfect for our needs for many clients, it wasn’t overly robust, but powerful enough to see strong ROI. With regards to the competitor tools, amongst standard ESP there’s not a huge difference as they all essentially work the same, it’s just about pricing …
Chose Constant Contact
Overall we chose Constant Contact over MailChimp because we felt the price was a better use of our non-profit funding. Reviews of MailChimp showed led us to believe that Constant Contact was easier to use and had better customer service. We've found that Constant Contact has …
Chose Constant Contact
Constant Contact does not have as good of a UI as other tools like Mailchimp or Emma, but the price for our list size was less.
Features
ActiveCampaignConstant Contact
Email & Online Marketing
Comparison of Email & Online Marketing features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCampaign
7.3
Ratings
4% below category average
Constant Contact
8.0
Ratings
1% above category average
WYSIWYG email editor5.30 Ratings8.40 Ratings
Dynamic content4.20 Ratings7.70 Ratings
Ability to test dynamic content4.20 Ratings8.50 Ratings
Landing pages4.70 Ratings7.80 Ratings
A/B testing9.90 Ratings7.10 Ratings
Mobile optimization7.80 Ratings8.60 Ratings
Email deliverability reporting9.70 Ratings9.00 Ratings
List management9.90 Ratings8.30 Ratings
Triggered drip sequences10.00 Ratings7.20 Ratings
Lead Management
Comparison of Lead Management features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCampaign
8.0
Ratings
3% above category average
Constant Contact
-
Ratings
Lead nurturing automation9.90 Ratings00 Ratings
Lead scoring and grading7.60 Ratings00 Ratings
Data quality management7.90 Ratings00 Ratings
Automated sales alerts and tasks7.10 Ratings00 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
Constant Contact
-
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
Constant Contact
-
Ratings
Social sharing and campaigns7.20 Ratings00 Ratings
Social profile integration6.40 Ratings00 Ratings
Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCampaign
6.6
Ratings
10% below category average
Constant Contact
8.0
Ratings
4% above category average
Dashboards6.60 Ratings8.40 Ratings
Standard reports6.60 Ratings8.30 Ratings
Custom reports6.60 Ratings7.50 Ratings
Platform & Infrastructure
Comparison of Platform & Infrastructure features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCampaign
8.7
Ratings
15% above category average
Constant Contact
-
Ratings
API8.40 Ratings00 Ratings
Role-based workflow & approvals8.40 Ratings00 Ratings
Customizability6.70 Ratings00 Ratings
Integration with Salesforce.com9.80 Ratings00 Ratings
Integration with Microsoft Dynamics CRM9.90 Ratings00 Ratings
Integration with SugarCRM9.90 Ratings00 Ratings
Third-party software integrations8.10 Ratings00 Ratings
Pre-Send Testing
Comparison of Pre-Send Testing features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCampaign
-
Ratings
Constant Contact
8.1
Ratings
1% above category average
URL Validation00 Ratings8.20 Ratings
Link Tracking00 Ratings7.90 Ratings
Image Validation00 Ratings8.90 Ratings
Inbox Display00 Ratings8.60 Ratings
Email Accessibility Tools00 Ratings7.90 Ratings
Spelling and Grammar Check00 Ratings8.20 Ratings
Spam Testing00 Ratings6.00 Ratings
Email Previews00 Ratings9.30 Ratings
Best Alternatives
ActiveCampaignConstant Contact
Small Businesses
Vbout
Vbout
Score 9.9 out of 10
Mad Mimi
Mad Mimi
Score 10.0 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
PFL Direct Mail Platform
PFL Direct Mail Platform
Score 9.0 out of 10
VerticalResponse
VerticalResponse
Score 10.0 out of 10
Enterprises
PFL Direct Mail Platform
PFL Direct Mail Platform
Score 9.0 out of 10
Emma by Marigold
Emma by Marigold
Score 9.4 out of 10
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User Ratings
ActiveCampaignConstant Contact
Likelihood to Recommend
9.3
(0 ratings)
8.3
(0 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.0
(0 ratings)
9.9
(0 ratings)
Usability
7.9
(0 ratings)
9.0
(0 ratings)
Availability
9.1
(0 ratings)
9.0
(0 ratings)
Performance
7.3
(0 ratings)
10.0
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
1.3
(0 ratings)
10.0
(0 ratings)
In-Person Training
9.1
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Online Training
7.3
(0 ratings)
10.0
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
8.5
(0 ratings)
10.0
(0 ratings)
Configurability
6.4
(0 ratings)
10.0
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
9.1
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
1.0
(0 ratings)
10.0
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
6.4
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
7.3
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
ActiveCampaignConstant Contact
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.
Read full review
Constant Contact is great when trying to target specific market segments. We typically like to segment our master list by region, but also have product segments, as well. They do provide pre-made segments to start you off too. We don't usually use their email builder, we find others to be more flexible, intuitive, and have more variety. We do prefer emailing from Constant Contact, however.
Read full review
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.
Read full review
  • Constant Contact allows the users to send unlimited emails and just pay per list size.
  • The software does welcome emails pretty well and allows you to set up all sorts of automation.
  • The branded templates and starter templates are very useful and look good.
Read full review
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.
Read full review
  • Sometimes some software provides outdated and useless features and functions, but this email marketing tool gives advanced kinds of functionalities with modern features.
  • I like the ease of use of this platform also appreciate its professional customer support team.
  • I am no longer desperate after getting this tool at my work.
Read full review
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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There is no doubt that we are going to renew Constant Contact. We have not just invested a lot of time in learning and creating a great looking product but we have developed a strong database of information that allows us to track how we are doing for each newsletter. This supports our goals of creating products that residents desire and are excited to receive.
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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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There is always room for improvement. I don't know how they test their systems, but they should invite not-so computer savvy people to test it. If I, as an expert have problems, they need to think like the technophobe. Since I've used Constant Contact in the past as part of my former employment, I have not viewed any of the tutorials and just jumped in to work on my client's newsletter. With that said, I found some areas easy and some a bit cumbersome
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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 major problems in sending out the email campaigns and accessing the analytics
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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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The system seemed quite slow sometimes. Specifically, there was sometimes a delay in sends if it was during a high traffic period. There were time-outs when uploading new code for an email, and a lag in reporting analytics which was sometimes as long as 72 hours
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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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I think the overall support for Constant Contact has always been incredible; I have nothing negative to say. Our customer support representative was attentive, easy to understand, and very knowledgeable. I never felt like I wasn't a priority of his and my issues, while very small, were fixed in a very short time frame.
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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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Implementation is very easy for someone who wants to send out the “batch and blast” type newsletters. If you want to use their templates with no customizations, the product works fine. However, the more customizations you get into involving link color, etc, that’s where things can get tricky for someone who may not be familiar with coding
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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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We selected Constant Contact due to pricing constraints. However, if the pricing were to increase, we may look at alternative products that offer more features. We are looking for a product that will allow us to stand out from other organizations like ours that are appealing to the same customers—a product that will set our company apart from the others.
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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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Very reliable in sending email campaigns and controlling the recipients so that no contact is sent the same email more than once, even if they are on a resent list
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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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  • I can't report hard numbers, however, being able to execute sales and marketing campaigns led to a noticeable increase in brand awareness in our industry.
  • We were able to offer white-labeled email communication services to clients, which is not something that other administrators typically offer. This helped us win and retain business.
Read full review
ScreenShots

ActiveCampaign Screenshots

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

Constant Contact Screenshots

Screenshot of the AI Content Generator that can be used to create content for emails, social posts, or SMS.Screenshot of Curate Advanced Automation workflows to make sure your marketing is always on - even when you're not.Screenshot of Edit one of our hundreds of pre-built email templates or start from scratch with our simple to use drag-and-drop email editor.Screenshot of Plan and post your social media messaging across platforms with our Social Posting tool.Screenshot of Reach your customers wherever they are with SMS Marketing.Screenshot of Integrate with powerful  tools to grow more using Constant Contact.