What is the difference between ActiveCampaign and Brevo?

ActiveCampaign is best for Businesses wanting advanced email automation and CRM, while Brevo is best for Small businesses wanting email, SMS, and chat in one. ActiveCampaign starts at $29/mo and Brevo starts at Free.

Is ActiveCampaign or Brevo cheaper?

ActiveCampaign starts at $29/mo. Brevo starts at Free with a free tier.

Is there a free alternative to ActiveCampaign?

Yes, Brevo offers a free tier (Free for 300 emails/day).

ActiveCampaign vs Brevo

ActiveCampaign is email marketing and CRM platform with sophisticated automation workflows and machine learning, while Brevo is all-in-one marketing platform for email, SMS, chat, and CRM at accessible pricing. The biggest difference up front: Brevo is free, while ActiveCampaign starts at $29/mo. ActiveCampaign is built for businesses wanting advanced email automation and crm, whereas Brevo targets small businesses wanting email, sms, and chat in one.

At a glance

	ActiveCampaign	Brevo
Best for	Businesses wanting advanced email automation and CRM	Small businesses wanting email, SMS, and chat in one
Starting price	$29/mo	Free
Free tier	—	✓
Open source	—	—
Free tier available	—	✓
Open source	—	—
Automations	✓	—
CRM	✓	✓
Chat	—	✓
Email	—	✓
SMS	—	✓
Site Tracking	✓	—
Split Testing	✓	—

ActiveCampaign

Strengths

Built-in automations handle repetitive tasks like status changes and assignments
Includes CRM as a core feature, purpose-built for email marketing workflows
Pricing starts at $29/mo, which includes the full email marketing feature set
Established product with 23+ years on the market and a mature ecosystem

Weaknesses

Starts at $29/mo — on the expensive side, especially for small teams or solo users
Fewer built-in features means you may need additional tools to cover gaps
Deliverability depends on your sender reputation, which takes time to build
Per-user pricing at $29/mo makes it hard to justify for large teams

Try ActiveCampaign → Full review

Brevo

Strengths

Includes Email as a core feature, purpose-built for email marketing workflows
Includes SMS as a core feature, purpose-built for email marketing workflows
Free for 300 emails/day — generous enough for most small teams to get real work done
Established product with 14+ years on the market and a mature ecosystem

Weaknesses

Free plan exists but key features are locked behind the paid upgrade
Fewer built-in features means you may need additional tools to cover gaps
Deliverability depends on your sender reputation, which takes time to build
Limited team/admin features if your organization eventually scales up

Try Brevo → Full review

The bottom line

Pricing: Brevo is completely free (Free for 300 emails/day), which makes it the obvious pick if budget is the top concern. ActiveCampaign starts at $29/mo. That cost buys you a more polished or feature-rich experience, so it comes down to whether the extras justify the spend.

Feature gaps: ActiveCampaign offers Automations, Site Tracking and Split Testing that Brevo lacks. Brevo brings Chat, Email and SMS that ActiveCampaign does not have. Both share CRM.

Team fit: ActiveCampaign is geared toward mid-size teams teams, while Brevo is aimed at small teams teams. Pick the one that matches where your team is today and where it is headed — migrating tools later is always painful.

Where each tool shines: ActiveCampaign's biggest strengths are: built-in automations handle repetitive tasks like status changes and assignments. includes crm as a core feature, purpose-built for email marketing workflows. Brevo's biggest strengths are: includes email as a core feature, purpose-built for email marketing workflows. includes sms as a core feature, purpose-built for email marketing workflows.

Watch out for: With ActiveCampaign, users commonly note that starts at $29/mo — on the expensive side, especially for small teams or solo users. With Brevo, the main complaint is that free plan exists but key features are locked behind the paid upgrade.

Choose ActiveCampaign if...

Your profile matches its sweet spot: businesses wanting advanced email automation and crm
You specifically need Automations and Site Tracking
You care about includes crm as a core feature, purpose-built for email marketing workflows
Your team size fits the mid-size teams profile ActiveCampaign is designed for

Choose Brevo if...

You need a tool built for small businesses wanting email, sms, and chat in one
Budget is a hard constraint — Brevo is free, ActiveCampaign is not
You specifically need Chat and Email
You care about includes sms as a core feature, purpose-built for email marketing workflows
Your team size fits the small teams profile Brevo is designed for