Best for
Best for teams that want email marketing with deep marketing automation and a built-in CRM, and that will grow into advanced segmentation and predictive sending.
- Small and mid-sized
- Enterprise
Email Marketing Comparison
ActiveCampaign vs. Brevo
At a glance
At a glance
Best for
Best for teams that want email alongside SMS and WhatsApp on one contact base, with automation and pricing by sending volume rather than list size.
- Freelancers
- Small and mid-sized
- Enterprise
Cataleo does not name a winner. Both statements come from the vendors themselves.
Full Comparison
| Criterion | ActiveCampaign | Brevo |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | From $15 / month Starter plan, billed annually, for 1,000 email contacts and 1 user. The price rises with the number of contacts. | lower value From $9 / month Starter plan with no daily sending limit; the price scales with monthly email sending volume. A free plan sends up to 300 emails per day. |
| Free trial | 14-day free trial, no credit card required | Free plan with up to 300 emails per day and storage for up to 100,000 contacts |
| API | Yes, an API with webhooks, plus more than 1,000 integrations | Yes, a unified REST API for email, SMS and WhatsApp with contacts, events, webhooks, OAuth 2.0 and SDKs, plus an official MCP server for AI assistants |
| Hosting | Cloud (SaaS) | Cloud (SaaS) |
| Made in | Not stated | France |
| Campaign types | Yes, email campaigns with a drag-and-drop designer and more than 250 templates | Yes, email newsletters and campaigns, plus SMS and WhatsApp on the same contact base, with A/B testing |
| Automation and journeys | Yes, marketing automation, 5 actions per automation on Starter and unlimited on Plus, Pro and Enterprise | Yes, unlimited multi-step marketing automation workflows |
| Segmentation and personalisation | Yes, segmentation from limited on Starter to advanced and premium on the higher plans, with predictive sending | Yes, list segmentation and personalisation, with predictive send-time optimisation |
| Templates and editor | Yes, a drag-and-drop email designer for plain text and HTML with more than 250 pre-built templates | Yes, a drag-and-drop editor with templates, and AI-generated designs through Aura |
| Deliverability and testing | Yes, a spam check across plans and predictive sending | Yes, A/B testing and predictive sending, with a dedicated IP available as an add-on |
| Ecommerce and CRM data | Yes, contact profiles with custom fields, tags and lists, plus premium CRM integrations such as Salesforce on the higher plans | Yes, a built-in CRM plus ecommerce data sync for products and orders |
| Integrations and API | Yes, an API with webhooks plus more than 1,000 integrations | Yes, a unified REST API for email, SMS and WhatsApp with webhooks, OAuth 2.0 and SDKs, plus an official MCP server for Claude, Cursor, VS Code and other AI tools |
| AI features | Yes | Yes |
| MCP-ready | No | stated Yes |
| Deployment | Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based | Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based |
| Support | more entries Email helpdesk, Chat, Community forum | Email helpdesk, Phone |
| Onboarding | Documentation and knowledge base, Video tutorials, Guided onboarding, Live online demos and webinars | Documentation and knowledge base, Live online demos and webinars, Guided onboarding, Personal consulting |
| Company size | Small and mid-sized, Enterprise | more entries Freelancers, Small and mid-sized, Enterprise |
| Integrations | more entries Shopify, Salesforce, Zendesk, Wix, Facebook, Google Sheets, Google Ads, ChatGPT, Claude | WordPress, WooCommerce, Shopify, BigCommerce, Stripe, Zapier |
Add a tool
Adds a column to the table, from the tools in this category.
Row where the values differ The small markers point at the lower number, the longer list or the stated feature. They describe the data, they are not a verdict.
The short version
Key Differences
- Starting price ActiveCampaign From $15 / month Brevo From $9 / month
- Free trial ActiveCampaign 14-day free trial, no credit card required Brevo Free plan with up to 300 emails per day and storage for up to 100,000 contacts
- Company size ActiveCampaign Small and mid-sized, Enterprise Brevo Freelancers, Small and mid-sized, Enterprise
- Support ActiveCampaign Email helpdesk, Chat, Community forum Brevo Email helpdesk, Phone
- MCP-ready ActiveCampaign No Brevo Yes
Every line is one datapoint from the table above, picked automatically. Nothing here is written text.
The trade-offs
Strengths and Limitations
ActiveCampaign
Strengths
- Marketing automation with unlimited automation actions on Plus, Pro and Enterprise
- More than 1,000 integrations plus an API with webhooks
- Active Intelligence AI features across all plans
- Built-in CRM with contact profiles, custom fields, tags and lists
Limitations
- Starter caps automations at 5 actions each and offers only limited segmentation
- Prices scale with the number of contacts
Brevo
Strengths
- Email, SMS and WhatsApp on one contact base
- Unlimited marketing automation workflows
- Email plans priced by sending volume, with a free plan storing up to 100,000 contacts
- Unified REST API with webhooks, OAuth 2.0 and SDKs
Limitations
- The free plan is limited to 300 emails per day
- Email plan prices scale with monthly sending volume
Plans
Pricing
ActiveCampaign
- Starter $15 Per month, billed annually, for 1,000 email contacts; 1 user. Entry plan with the email designer, templates and up to 5 actions per automation. Scales with contacts.
- Plus $49 Per month, billed annually, for 1,000 email contacts; 1 user. Adds unlimited automation actions and standard segmentation. Scales with contacts.
- Pro $79 Per month, billed annually, for 1,000 email contacts; 3 users. Adds advanced segmentation and predictive sending. Scales with contacts.
- Enterprise $145 Per month, billed annually, for 1,000 email contacts; 5 users. Adds premium segmentation and premium integrations such as Salesforce and Microsoft Dynamics. Scales with contacts.
Brevo
- Free $0 / month Up to 300 emails per day and storage for up to 100,000 contacts, with the Brevo logo on emails.
- Starter From $9 / month No daily sending limit; the price scales with monthly email sending volume.
- Standard From $18 / month Adds marketing automation, A/B testing and reporting for growing teams. Scales with sending volume.
- Enterprise Not stated Custom sending volumes, advanced security and dedicated support, quoted by sales.
What users say
Review Scores · opens after launch
ActiveCampaign
- Ease of use
- Not rated yet
- User interface
- Not rated yet
- Onboarding
- Not rated yet
- Support and service
- Not rated yet
- Value for money
- Not rated yet
- Features
- Not rated yet
No reviews yet. Nothing has been published here yet, and no score is shown. How a review is checked before it appears is described below.
Brevo
- Ease of use
- Not rated yet
- User interface
- Not rated yet
- Onboarding
- Not rated yet
- Support and service
- Not rated yet
- Value for money
- Not rated yet
- Features
- Not rated yet
No reviews yet. Nothing has been published here yet, and no score is shown. How a review is checked before it appears is described below.
How we check reviews
Before sending, the author has to confirm three things: that they have used the product themselves, that they work neither for the vendor nor for a competitor, and that nobody is paying them for the review. We also ask whether the vendor invited them to write it. That answer is required, either answer is accepted, and it stays with the review.
Every review is read by a person before it appears. An email address is required and is confirmed: we send a link to it, and a review does not reach us until the author opens that link, so a review has a sender who was reachable at least once rather than being anonymous. Where what somebody writes needs backing, we ask them for evidence that they used the product, and a review that does not get it is not published. We publish positive and negative reviews alike, we pay nothing and offer nothing for a review, and we accept none that was bought or incentivised.
What we cannot do is verify a purchase. There is no shop here and no account, so whether the author really used the tool rests on their own declaration, on whatever we ask them for, and on the plausibility of what they write. We say so rather than implying a check that does not exist.
A vendor cannot buy a review, and cannot have one removed or changed because they dislike it. We remove or edit a review only if it breaks our rules or the law, for example a false statement of fact. Paid placement has no effect on which reviews appear or on any score.
Where this comes from
Where this comes from
ActiveCampaign https://www.activecampaign.com · checked against the official source on 2026-08-19
Brevo https://www.brevo.com · checked against the official source on 2026-08-19
This table lists factual criteria taken from information the vendors publish themselves. For how we put it together, see the methodology.