ActiveCampaign Pricing 2026: Plans, Contacts and Cost

ActiveCampaign Starter costs $15/mo for 1,000 contacts on annual billing in 2026. Plus is $49/mo, Pro is $79/mo, and Enterprise is $145/mo at that same list size, and there is no free plan to fall back on. Those prices buy a broadcast on the cheapest card and a branching journey only once you step up. The cards show the annual charge as a monthly figure, and a 14-day trial starts with an email and no card.

ActiveCampaign bills by the contacts you store, not by seats and not by each email you send, so a second colleague does not move the invoice until you buy a seat or the list crosses a band. The plan sets automation depth, how fine the segments get, and how many people can log in, which is why a series that has to split will not fit the cheapest card.

Those rates were read on 17 October 2026 on ActiveCampaign's pricing page, and the contact-counting rule comes from ActiveCampaign's help center the same day. Where the builder is strong, and where the interface gets in the way, is the product verdict in our ActiveCampaign review.

Toolradar data: Toolradar, the software directory we run, tracks 108 email marketing tools as of 17 October 2026. ActiveCampaign is the most cross-shopped name in that set, listed as an alternative to 91 other tools. The median cheapest paid plan, across the 28 tools that publish a price, is $19/mo. The ranking is best email marketing tools, the directory record is ActiveCampaign on Toolradar, and the wider counts are on the email marketing statistics page. Dupple sends MarketingShot and its other newsletters on beehiiv, which is a different product from the one priced here. MarketingShot data: this list has 35,000+ active subscribers as of October 18, 2026, with an open rate of 32%.

At a glance

Plan	Best for	Price at 1,000 contacts	What the fee actually buys
Starter	A broadcast plus a short automation	$15/mo, billed annually	1 user, limited segmentation, 5 actions per automation, sends at 10 times the contact limit
Plus	A real journey with branches and a landing page	$49/mo, billed annually	1 user, standard segmentation, unlimited automation actions, landing pages, the same 10x send cap
Pro	Predictive content, attribution, and a small team	$79/mo, billed annually	3 users, advanced segmentation, predictive and conditional content, sends at 12 times the contact limit
Enterprise	SSO, custom objects, and a named account team	$145/mo, billed annually	5 users, premium segmentation, custom objects, single sign-on, sends at 15 times the contact limit

Every self-serve price above excludes tax and is the annual rate shown per month. Paying month to month at that same list size costs $19 on Starter, $59 on Plus, $99 on Pro, and $179 on Enterprise. Starter's annual bill is $180, which is $48 less than twelve months at the month-to-month rate, so a team that might leave inside a quarter should stay on the monthly card.

How much does ActiveCampaign cost at 1,000 contacts in 2026?

The entry band is the smallest the pricing page sells, and it is already selected when the cards load. A shorter list still pays that rate, so importing a few hundred people does not open a cheaper card. The way to pay less is a smaller plan, not a smaller import.

Starter

Starter is a sending tool with a short automation, which suits a solo marketer whose program is a newsletter plus a linear welcome. You get one user, limited segmentation, standard CRM and ecommerce integrations, and Active Intelligence with limits the card does not publish as a number. Each automation stops at five actions, a second user can be added, and the plan cannot go past two users or 25,000 contacts.

Five actions covers a welcome email, a wait, and a short follow-up, and it does not cover a branch. A flow that sends, waits, checks a click, and then writes a different message to the people who did nothing already needs another step, which is when this card stops being the cheap option. The newsletter growth guide is the cadence this plan can carry.

Plus

Plus is the first plan with unlimited automation actions, standard segmentation, and landing pages, and it is the card when a welcome series, a browse abandonment, or a lead handoff has to fork. It still includes one user, Active Intelligence still carries limits, and the send multiple does not rise. You are buying the logic that picks the next message, not more mail.

The annual total at the entry band is $588, which is $408 more per year than Starter's $180. A weekly broadcast cannot defend that gap, and that shop should stay on the cheaper card. A campaign that treats clickers differently from everyone else makes the gap the cost of the branch.

Pro

Pro drops the limits line on Active Intelligence and adds advanced segmentation, predictive and conditional content, and attribution. Three users are included, the send cap rises to 12 times the contact limit, and landing pages plus unlimited actions carry over from Plus. Buy it when two colleagues need their own login, or when the email has to change from predicted behavior rather than a tag you set by hand.

A solo marketer with a clean if/else welcome does not get that value from the extra users or the predictive block, and should stay on Plus. The annual total at this list size is $948, and it only pays off when the team or the message actually uses what that card adds.

Enterprise

Enterprise adds premium segmentation, custom objects, single sign-on, a dedicated account team, and five users, with a send cap of 15 times the contact limit. At a small list you are buying that support and those controls, not room for more people, because the same contacts fit on every plan below it, and the annual total is $1,740.

Teams that need a security review before procurement signs land here. A shop that has only outgrown the action cap will overpay if it jumps this far for features Plus already includes. The head-to-head with the suite most of those teams also price is ActiveCampaign vs HubSpot.

What does a larger list cost past the entry band?

Contact bands are steps, not a smooth per-contact meter, so one person past a step reprices the entire plan. The next step after the entry band is 2,500, and later steps include 5,000, 7,500, and 10,000. Each monthly figure in the table is that band's annual charge divided by 12.

Contacts	Starter	Plus	Pro	Enterprise
1,000	$15/mo	$49/mo	$79/mo	$145/mo
2,500	$39/mo	$95/mo	$149/mo	$255/mo
5,000	$79/mo	$145/mo	$205/mo	$375/mo
10,000	$149/mo	$189/mo	$375/mo	$589/mo

Starter ends at 25,000 contacts, while Plus, Pro, and Enterprise keep published bands well past that. Anything above 50,000 contacts is a custom conversation rather than a self-serve dropdown.

Read the 5,000-contact row against the entry row before you assume the cheap plan stays cheap. Starter at 5,000 contacts costs the same per month as Pro at the smallest band, and the same $948 over a year. Plus at 5,000 contacts matches Enterprise's annual total at that small list, that $1,740. A list that grows from the entry band to 5,000 on Plus is a much larger invoice than a small list that upgrades from Starter to Pro for the features.

The 2,500-contact step is the one that catches a list people still call small. A new account with a full entry band of people you still mail, plus a few hundred old records you have not deleted, is already off the entry card and onto the $39 Starter rate, or the $95 Plus rate, for the whole band.

Which contacts count toward the bill on a new account?

It depends on when the account was created, and ActiveCampaign's help center draws the line at November 2025. Accounts created on or after 3 November 2025 count every contact toward the limit, whatever the list status, so a new account pays for people it will never mail. Accounts created on or before 2 November 2025 count only active contacts, so unsubscribed, unconfirmed, and bounced records can stay on an older account without buying a higher band.

That split contradicts an older help article, which still says bounced and unsubscribed contacts do not count. The article that states the date split was updated on 27 August 2026, and a new account should budget against that one. Cleaning a dead list before the import is a price decision on a new account, not a chore you can postpone until the first invoice has already stepped up.

A person on ten lists still counts once, because the help center update of 14 November 2025 says the bill is unique contacts in the account, not subscriptions. A phone number stored in two formats can become two contacts, since only an exact match counts as the same person, and that duplicate quietly pushes the account up a band.

Hitting the cap does not lock the login, but it stops the mail until you raise the band, and any send-an-email step is skipped while the rest of the automation keeps moving. Forms and the API can still add people while sends are paused. CSV import still works for accounts created on or after 4 November 2025, and it is blocked for accounts created on or before 3 November 2025, so a new account can import a file it cannot send while an older one cannot import at all. Auto-upgrade is optional, so leave it off if you would rather pause the sends than take the next step's price unseen.

The costs the plan cards leave off

An added seat is a separate annual charge, and Starter barely has room for one. An added Starter seat is $96 for the year, and the plan stops at two users, so a three-person team cannot stay on Starter at any price. One extra Plus seat is $144 for the year, which is what a two-person team pays on top of the single login the card includes. The first added Pro seat is $288 for the year, on top of the three users already included, and the first added Enterprise seat is $384 for the year, on top of five.

Sends are a multiple of the contact limit, not an open pipe. Starter and Plus include 10 times the contact limit each month, Pro 12 times, and Enterprise 15 times. At the entry band that is 10,000 sends on the two lower plans. A weekly newsletter to the whole band uses about four of those sends per person and still fits. A daily promotional run, or several automations that each mail the same people, can use up the multiple. The pricing page does not put a per-send overage on the card, so the next step is a higher band or a higher plan.

SMS sits outside all four email plans, priced as credit packs rather than folded into the contact fee. The smallest pack is 1,000 credits at $21 a month, or $202 for the year. WhatsApp is a separate tab on the same pricing page, with its own Core, Advanced, and Premium plans, and Email + WhatsApp is a third tab. An email quote is not a WhatsApp quote, so price that tab on its own before you sign. What texts cost on other platforms is in our SMS marketing cost guide.

Two clocks sit under the buy button, and they are not the same offer. The trial is 14 days, with no credit card, from an email signup, which is how you enter without paying. The guarantee is a full refund if you are not satisfied after 30 days, which is how you leave after you have paid. The page also says there is no setup fee.

The pricing page says there are no hidden fees and that growing past a band means moving to the next band rather than a penalty. That is true of the contact step, and it is incomplete. The step itself is the penalty: the price jumps to the next published band, sends stop if you do not take it, and seats, SMS, and WhatsApp were never inside the card you were reading.

Is ActiveCampaign worth the annual contact plan in 2026?

For a marketer who sends a newsletter and one short automation, Starter contains the work, and the action cap is the test. If every flow fits inside that cap and one login, the next plan is a branch you will not build.

Plus is the default once a campaign has to fork: unlimited actions, standard segmentation, and a landing page, at one user unless you add a seat. Pro is the buy when the team is three people, or when the message has to change from predicted behavior and attribution rather than from a tag. Enterprise is the support and security purchase, and at a small list the lower plans already hold the people, so the named account team is the new line on that invoice.

The comparison that matters is the meter, because the other tools do not sell the same unit and a lower headline can be a smaller allowance. Mailchimp's free plan holds up to 250 contacts and 500 sends a month, with one seat, covering far less than this page's entry band. Essentials and Standard start their paid contact count at 500, with send limits of 10 times and 12 times that count, and automations on Essentials stop at four steps, so a branch may still not fit. Premium's base includes 10,000 contacts, and the live price for your list is on Mailchimp's pricing page. Our Mailchimp pricing breakdown shows how that bill is structured, and the product comparison is the Mailchimp review.

HubSpot Marketing Hub's free tools cover up to 2 users, which is not a stored-contact plan at this scale. Starter includes 1,000 marketing contacts and 500 credits and is priced per seat, so a second marketer raises that bill in a way a contact band does not. Professional includes 3 core seats, 2,000 marketing contacts, and 3,000 credits, and Enterprise includes 5 core seats and 10,000 marketing contacts. The live seat price is on HubSpot's marketing pricing page, and the fit against a full CRM is the HubSpot Marketing Hub review.

Klaviyo's free plan covers up to 250 profiles and 500 emails a month, plus $5 of mobile messages, and a list at this page's entry size is already off that free plan. The current price is on Klaviyo's pricing page, and the Klaviyo review covers what the profile meter buys. Brevo's free plan allows 300 emails a day once sending is approved, and Starter starts at 5,000 emails a month, so the meter is sends rather than stored contacts, which suits a large list you mail rarely. The current send price is on Brevo's pricing page. The Brevo review and the best email marketing software roundup cover the wider shelf, and automation depth across suites is the marketing automation guide.

None of those free plans replaces Plus, so a journey that has to branch puts you back on a paid plan, and the price for that job is the Plus row rather than the Starter card.

How we checked these prices

The 1,000-contact card rates, the included users, the send multiples, the five-action limit, the 14-day trial, the 30-day refund, and the "no setup fee" line come from ActiveCampaign's pricing page, read on 17 October 2026. The other contact bands, the month-to-month rates at 1,000 contacts, and the extra-seat and SMS pack rates come from the price list that page loads, ActiveCampaign's price list, the same day. Each monthly band figure is that list's annual charge divided by 12. Annual totals such as $180, $588, $948, and $1,740 are that multiplication, not invoices ActiveCampaign sent us.

Who counts as a contact, and what happens at the cap, comes from ActiveCampaign's help center: unsubscribed contacts and the contact limit, updated 27 August 2026, reaching the contact limit, updated 11 September 2026, and contacts on more than one list, updated 14 November 2025.

The 108-tool count, the 91-tool cross-shop figure, and the $19 median come from Toolradar's email marketing ranking on 17 October 2026. Mailchimp's contact caps and send multiples, HubSpot's included contacts and seats, Klaviyo's free-plan limits, and Brevo's send-based Starter floor were read on each vendor's pricing page the same day. Louis Corneloup, founder of Toolradar and Dupple, wrote this page. Ranking method is on how we rate, corrections are on the editorial policy, and the author note is on about. Open the pricing page once more before anyone signs the annual term.

FAQ

How much does ActiveCampaign cost per month in 2026?

At 1,000 contacts on annual billing, Starter is $15/mo and Plus is $49/mo, the two cards a small program chooses between. Pro and Enterprise cost more on the same cards, for extra logins, predictive content, or a security review. Month-to-month costs more than the annual rate, and any list past that first band steps up to the next price.

Does ActiveCampaign have a free plan or a free trial?

There is no free plan, so a new account cannot sit on a zero invoice. The trial is 14 days with no credit card, which is how you see the builder before you pay. After you pay, a full refund is available within 30 days, and that clock is separate from the trial.

Do unsubscribed contacts count toward the ActiveCampaign contact limit?

On accounts created on or after 3 November 2025, every contact counts, including unsubscribed, unconfirmed, and bounced records, so delete dead contacts before import or the account buys a higher band for people it will never mail. On accounts created on or before 2 November 2025, only active contacts count, and a person on several lists still counts once either way.

What happens if I go over my ActiveCampaign contact limit?

Campaign sends stop, and email steps inside an automation are skipped, until you move up a band. The account stays open, forms and the API can still add people, and auto-upgrade will not raise the band unless you turn it on. Starter cannot go past 25,000 contacts, so a list at that ceiling has to change plans or stop adding people.

Is the Plus plan worth the higher price over Starter?

Plus is worth it when a campaign needs more than five automation actions, standard segmentation, or a landing page. Starter is cheaper when every flow fits inside that step limit and one person logs in. The send allowance does not rise between those two plans, so the extra money buys logic and a page, not more mail.

How many users are included, and what does another seat cost?

Starter and Plus include one user, Pro includes three, and Enterprise includes five, so a second person on the lower plans is an extra annual seat. That seat is $96 on Starter, $144 on Plus, $288 for the first extra seat on Pro, and $384 for the first extra seat on Enterprise. Starter stops at two users, so a third login means leaving that plan.

Is ActiveCampaign cheaper than Mailchimp or HubSpot in 2026?

Not as a single number, because the meters differ and a lower headline can hide a smaller allowance or a per-seat bill. ActiveCampaign starts on a paid contact band, Mailchimp still has a free plan at 250 contacts, and HubSpot's free tools cover two users, with Starter sold per seat and a 1,000-marketing-contact allowance. Price your actual list on each vendor's site, then set that invoice next to the contact band above.

Cite this: MarketingShot, "ActiveCampaign Pricing 2026: Plans, Contacts and Cost", October 2026.

MarketingShot is the weekday brief for marketers who price a tool before they sign the annual term. Join at marketingshot.com.

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