Seeking a suitable ActiveCampaign alternative for email marketing? Though ActiveCampaign is a popular email tool, it has limitations that may not align with your marketing plans. Which is why you might look for some good ActiveCampaign alternatives.
So, be ready to walk through a comparison path to decide whether MailBluster is the best choice over ActiveCampaign.
In this blog, I will compare ActiveCampaign vs MailBluster with a detailed review of these two renowned email marketing platforms (2026) and show how MailBluster can be the best ActiveCampaign alternative for you.
Table of Contents
- TL;DR Overview: Active Campaign vs MailBluster
- ActiveCampaign
- MailBluster
- Comparing user ratings according to G2 Crowd
- Comparing Features and Facilities: ActiveCampaign vs MailBluster
- Pricing Plans Comparison
- Email sending cost comparison
- Verdict: Which One is the Winner?
- Wrap Up
- FAQ
TL;DR Overview: Active Campaign vs MailBluster
Don’t have much time for a thorough read? Get the key details on ActiveCampaign vs MailBluster at a glance.
| ActiveCampaign | vs | MailBluster |
|---|---|---|
| Multi-step marketing automation | Best known for | Affordable and flexible pricing |
| No | Free pricing plan | Yes |
| Starts at $15/1000 contacts monthly | Paid pricing plan | Starts at $0.6/1000 emails monthly |
| Yes | Free trial | No, but the free plan works as a free trial |
| No | Money-back guarantee | Yes |
| Email, chat, and phone (higher tier) | Customer support | Email and live chat support |
| 4.5 | G2 rating | 4.7 |
ActiveCampaign
What is ActiveCampaign?
ActiveCampaign is a full marketing automation platform that includes more than just email. It combines CRM, multi-channel messaging that consists of email, SMS, WhatsApp, deep automation, and analytics into a single solution for businesses of all kinds.
Target Audience
ActiveCampaign targets businesses needing sophisticated marketing automation, CRM integration, and don’t mind paying premium prices for advanced features and ease of use.
Key ActiveCampaign features
- Automation
- AI tools
- Transactional email
- API and SMTP
- Multiple templates
- Drag-and-drop email builder
- Advanced email deliverability monitoring and analytics
- Team collaboration and permission roles
- Email verification tools and real-time logs
- 24/7 support on paid plans
ActiveCampaign pricing
Let’s learn their pricing plans.
ActiveCampaign pricing offers 4 plans:
- Starter: For 1000 contacts, $15 monthly.
- Comes with limited features
- Billed annually
- Plus: For 1000 contacts, $49 monthly.
- Comes with standard features and facilities
- Billed annually
- Pro: For 1000 contacts, $79 monthly.
- Comes with advanced features and facilities
- Billed annually
- Enterprise: for 1000 contacts, $145 monthly.
- Comes with premium features and facilities
- Billed annually
ActiveCampaign review
G2 review: 4.5
Pros of ActiveCampaign
- Advanced email automation and workflows
- Powerful segmentation and personalization
- Built-in CRM with sales automation
- AI tools facilities
- Detailed analytics and reporting
- Supports multi-channel marketing, such as SMS and WhatsApp marketing
- Offers a demo and a free 14-day trial
Cons of ActiveCampaign
- No free plan, only a limited trial.
- Steep learning curve for beginners
- Highly expensive, especially as the contact list grows
- No clear per-email sending cost
- Overkill for simple newsletter campaigns
- No money-back guarantee
- Phone support is available only for the Enterprise plan (the highest tier)
MailBluster
What is MailBluster?
MailBluster is a robust email marketing platform that is currently working by connecting SMTP providers such as Amazon SES, Postmark, Mailgun, and SMTP2GO to deliver marketing email campaigns. It’s highly affordable and designed for users who want a full suite of email marketing tools without paying high monthly fees, such as subscription fees or per-contact fees.
Target Audience
MailBluster is designed for budget-conscious users, freelancers, and businesses that send high email volumes. It’s particularly attractive if you’re comfortable with technical setup and want the absolute lowest cost per email.
MailBluster is best for
High-volume email senders on a tight budget
If you’re sending tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of emails monthly, MailBluster’s pay-per-use model through Amazon SES becomes incredibly cost-effective compared to traditional platforms.
Startups and small businesses
MailBluster is best suited for startups and small businesses. Companies that are watching every dollar and need reliable email delivery without the premium price tag.
Newsletter-focused businesses
Bloggers, content creators, and media companies that primarily need to send regular newsletters without complex marketing funnels will find MailBluster handles this straightforwardly and affordably.
E-commerce stores with large subscriber lists
WooCommerce users who have built big email lists but mainly need basic promotional emails and product announcements rather than sophisticated automation.
Key MailBluster features
- Unlimited contacts
- List segmentation
- Lead management
- Advanced automation
- Responsive email newsletter templates
- Drag-and-drop editor
- Forms
- Double opt-in
- A/B testing
- Integrations
- Developer API access
- Real-time analytics
All these essential email marketing features make MailBluster ideal for email marketing campaigns and startups that need both functionality and flexibility.
MailBluster pricing
MailBluster pricing offers 2 simple plans. One is a free plan, and the other is a paid plan that uses a pay-as-you-go (PAYG) model. Review the pricing details to see how MailBluster can be a super affordable solution and serve as an ActiveCampaign alternative.
- Starter: For 3,000 emails, $0 per account for one-time use.
- Meaning free. Perfectly equivalent for trial purposes.
- Meaning free. Perfectly equivalent for trial purposes.
- Pro: Per 1,000 emails, $0.60 monthly and a $60 yearly subscription fee.
- Comes with advanced email marketing features and facilities.
- Comes with advanced email marketing features and facilities.
MailBluster review
G2 rating: 4.7
Pros of MailBluster
- Ensures ease of use
- High deliverability
- Free pricing plan
- Highly affordable pricing plans
- Offers responsive email templates so you don’t need to start from scratch
- Offers a 30-day money-back guarantee
- 24/7 rigid and trusted customer support
Cons of MailBluster
- Need to connect to their available third-party SMTP providers
- Customer support available only in English
MailBluster client review:
Let’s go through some of the most recent client reviews of MailBluster.
Client review 1:
Review highlights:
- Rating: 4.5/5
- Effortless automation
- User-friendly tools
Client review 2:
Review highlights:
- Rating: 4.5/5
- Super fast delivery
Client review 3:
Review highlights:
- Rating: 4/5
- Low cost
- User-friendly
- Quicker than other options
Choose MailBluster if:
- You’re sending high email volumes (50,000+ monthly)
- Budget is your primary concern
- You’re comfortable with the technical setup
- You need basic email marketing without complex automation
- You already have or can set up an Amazon SES, Postmark, Mailgun, or SMTP2GO account.
Comparing user ratings according to G2 Crowd
Now let’s review ActiveCampaign vs MailBluster user ratings comparison from G2 Crowd:
| Rating categories | ActiveCampaign | MailBluster |
|---|---|---|
| Meets requirements | 8.8 | 9.5 |
| Ease of use | 8.2 | 9.2 |
| Ease of setup | 8.0 | 8.4 |
| Ease of admin | 8.4 | 9.4 |
| Quality of support | 8.5 | 9.2 |
| Has the product been a good partner in doing business? | 8.8 | 9.6 |
| Product direction (% positive) | 8.2 | 10.0 |
As you can see, MailBluster beats ActiveCampaign by scoring higher across all rating categories.
Comparing Features and Facilities: ActiveCampaign vs MailBluster
Now, review the key features comparison between ActiveCampaign and MailBluster.
| ActiveCampaign | Feature & facilities | MailBluster |
|---|---|---|
| Yes | Marketing email | Yes |
| Yes | Automation | Yes |
| Yes | Segmentation | Yes |
| Yes | Drag and drop editor | Yes |
| Yes | Email templates | Yes |
| Yes | Double opt-in | Yes |
| Yes | A/B test | Yes |
| Yes | Integrations | Yes |
| Yes | CRM | No |
| Yes | Multi-channel marketing | No |
| Yes | Analytics and reporting | Yes |
It’s clear that ActiveCampaign is well-suited for businesses with complex marketing processes, as it focuses on CRM and multichannel marketing, including WhatsApp and SMS. On the other hand, MailBluster keeps things simple and low-cost by focusing on email marketing features that are essential and leaving out extras like CRM or SMS. This makes MailBluster a great option for companies, especially startups and small businesses that want to send a lot of emails at a low cost without adding extra complexity or cost.
Pricing Plans Comparison
ActiveCampaign pricing offers 4 plans, whereas MailBluster pricing has 2 simple plans. Compare the ActiveCampaign vs. MailBluster pricing from the given charts to learn their pricing details at a glance. See whether MailBluster is the best fit for you as an ActiveCampaign alternative.
| Pricing plans | ActiveCampaign | Pricing plans | MailBluster |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | $15/moUp to 1000 contacts | Starter | $0 for up to 3,000 emails (one-time use) |
| Plus | $49/moUp to 1000 contacts | Pro | Unlimited emails starting from $0.60/moPer 1000 emails |
| Pro | $79/moUp to 1000 contacts | ||
| Enterprise | $145/moUp to 1000 contacts |
As you can see, MailBluster tends to be a simpler pricing solution than ActiveCampaign. Whose multiple high-priced plans are not only expensive but also can be confusing for some users.
Email sending cost comparison
Let’s compare ActiveCampaign vs MailBluster email sending cost.
ActiveCampaign email sending cost calculation
As you already know, in ActiveCampaign, the least expensive pricing plan is Starter, which starts at $15 for up to 1000 contacts. Let’s see what this approach would cost for email sending in ActiveCampaign.
Here, you are allowed to send emails 10x contact limit in their Starter plan. Meaning, for 1,000 contacts, they will allow (10 x 1,000) 10,000 email sends, and if you want to send more than that, then you have to upgrade your plan.
So, at $15 in their Starter plan, you will be able to send 10,000 emails.
MailBluster email sending cost calculation
Now, let’s see how much MailBluster can cost you for sending this same amount, 10,000 emails.
As you know, MailBluster Pro starts with $0.6/1000 emails.
So, sending 10,000 (10000/1000 = 10) emails will cost you:
$0.6 x 10 = $6 only.
So, as clear as day, MailBluster costs you way less than ActiveCampaign for sending emails.
Verdict: Which One is the Winner?
As seen, MailBluster costs way less than ActiveCampaign’s least expensive pricing plan does. Plus, unlike ActiveCampaign, with MailBluster, you are able to send the same number of emails using all the advanced features because ActiveCampaign allows basic features in this plan. So, if you can get more advanced facilities to send emails at a way too cheap rate in MailBluster, then choosing MailBluster as an ActiveCampaign alternative would be a wise decision.
Therefore, ActiveCampaign vs MailBluster: the winner is MailBluster! Especially for startups and small businesses with reasonable budgets, MailBluster can be the right fit.
Moreover, MailBluster represents exceptional value for volume senders willing to handle setup complexity, while ActiveCampaign offers enterprise-grade automation for businesses that need powerful marketing capabilities and are prepared to invest accordingly. Your choice depends on whether you prioritize cost savings or more advanced functionality.
Wrap Up
Let’s conclude our comparison of ActiveCampaign vs MailBluster. Choose an ActiveCampaign alternative that fits your needs. This blog compares ActiveCampaign and MailBluster in depth and explains why MailBluster is the best alternative to ActiveCampaign, especially for small businesses and startups looking to avoid high costs. Hence, give it a try by joining MailBluster without much hesitation!
FAQ on ActiveCampaign Alternative
MailBluster can be a better option than ActiveCampaign if you are looking for an affordable, scalable email marketing platform for sending unlimited emails.
No, ActiveCampaign doesn’t have a permanent free plan. But they do offer a free trial that lasts for 14 days.
MailBluster stands out as a strong choice for a cost-effective, scalable email marketing platform for sending unlimited emails.
MailBluster can be the best ActiveCampaign alternative in terms of pricing and features, especially for startups and small businesses with reasonable budgets.
Yes, significantly. For high-volume senders, MailBluster can be cheaper. For example, sending 100,000 emails monthly costs $60/month with MailBluster, while ActiveCampaign could cost $200-400+, depending on your contact list size.
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