ActiveCampaign vs HubSpot (2026): Pricing, Automation and Which to Choose

ActiveCampaign is the cheaper automation platform in 2026, and HubSpot is the stronger CRM. ActiveCampaign Plus costs $49/mo at 1,000 contacts with unlimited automation actions. HubSpot's first plan with unlimited actions, Marketing Hub Professional, starts at $890/mo plus a $3,000 onboarding fee. Pick HubSpot when sales and marketing have to share one CRM record.

Every price below was read on the vendors' own pages on October 10, 2026: ActiveCampaign's comparison page, its pricing myths post, and HubSpot's marketing pricing guide (updated September 14, 2026) and product catalog. ActiveCampaign's published pages give no dollar figure for Plus or Pro above 1,000 contacts, or for Starter at 25,000, so those cells say "Not published" instead of an estimate.

Toolradar data: Toolradar tracks 347 marketing automation tools as of October 10, 2026. HubSpot is listed as an alternative to 163 of them and ActiveCampaign to 91. The category ranking is at toolradar.com/best/marketing-automation, with tool pages for ActiveCampaign and HubSpot. MarketingShot's own newsletter is sent on beehiiv, and this page does not rank newsletter platforms.

At a glance: who wins each question

The entry plans are close enough at 1,000 contacts that the winner depends on which HubSpot price you are quoted. The next section shows the arithmetic.

What it costs at 1,000, 10,000 and 25,000 contacts

These are monthly list prices, one Starter seat and the three core seats that Professional includes. Each cell uses only the vendor's own figures and the arithmetic written out below the table.

ActiveCampaign's $149 figure at 10,000 contacts comes from its own cost-of-email post, dated March 17, 2026. Its Starter, Plus and Pro figures are the per-month prices for 1,000 contacts on its comparison page.

HubSpot charges for contacts above the included amount in blocks. Its own guide gives an example where a Professional account at 2,001 contacts moves up a block and adds about $250 a month, so a single contact over the line bills a full block. The catalog's Starter bands add $50 per 1,000 contacts from 1,001 to 3,000, $45 per 1,000 from 3,001 to 5,000, and $40 per 1,000 above that. Ten thousand contacts therefore add $390 to one $10 seat, and 25,000 add $990.

On Professional, the catalog adds $250 per 5,000 contacts from 2,001 to 22,000 and $225 per 5,000 from 22,001 to 42,000. That makes 10,000 contacts cost $500 more than the base, and 25,000 contacts cost $1,225 more. HubSpot's annual base for Professional is $800 a month, but the catalog quotes the contact add-on monthly and does not say annual billing discounts it. The table keeps the base price for that reason.

Over a year, 1,000 contacts cost $588 on ActiveCampaign Plus, against $13,680 on HubSpot Professional in year one, which includes the onboarding fee. At 10,000 contacts, ActiveCampaign Starter comes to $1,788 a year, and HubSpot Professional comes to $16,680 before onboarding. The middle tier matters most, because Plus and Professional are the first plans with unlimited automation on each side.

The entry tier is the close call. HubSpot's guide lists Starter at $10 per seat a month billed monthly, and its catalog lists $20 per seat. At $10, HubSpot's single Starter seat is $5 under ActiveCampaign Starter. At $20, it is $5 over. The guide carries a September 2026 update date, the catalog is the contract text, and the two disagree, so confirm the seat price on your own quote before you decide on price alone.

Automation: the cap sits on the plan you can afford

ActiveCampaign's pricing page lists Starter at 5 actions per automation. Plus, Pro and Enterprise all carry unlimited automation actions. A five-action cap covers a short welcome message, but a longer onboarding series needs Plus, the plan with unlimited actions at 1,000 contacts.

HubSpot's catalog lists up to 10 automated actions on Starter form and email automations, and unlimited actions on Professional and Enterprise. Starter's cap is twice ActiveCampaign's, so HubSpot wins the entry tier on that line. The first unlimited HubSpot plan is Professional, though, and at its base price the feature gap is a budget question rather than a feature question.

For a marketer who wants unlimited automation without paying for a CRM suite, ActiveCampaign is the better buy. Its Plus plan gives the same action count as HubSpot's Professional for about one-eighteenth of the monthly cost at 1,000 contacts. That is the clearest case in this comparison.

CRM depth: where HubSpot pulls ahead

ActiveCampaign's CRM covers contacts, pipelines, deals and tasks, and it sells the deeper pipeline and sales engagement tools as Enhanced CRM add-ons. Its pricing page names those add-ons without showing their prices, so the table leaves them out.

HubSpot's Marketing Hub connects to Smart CRM, so the marketing record, the deal and the support ticket sit in one database. If your sales team runs the pipeline inside the CRM and wants the marketing record to match it, HubSpot's model fits better. That fit is the reason to pay the base price and the onboarding fee.

Use the CRM question to settle the decision. A team that wants automation on a contact list, and a separate CRM for deals, is better served by ActiveCampaign at a lower cost. A team that wants one system for marketing, sales and service should accept HubSpot's price and its mandatory onboarding.

Onboarding: the one-time fee

ActiveCampaign says it has no setup fees and includes free migration and onboarding on its plans. Its pricing myths post also says it does not charge onboarding fees, and that a plan can start month-to-month. HubSpot's catalog and guide list a required one-time onboarding fee of $3,000 on Professional and $7,000 on Enterprise.

This is the one line that does not change with contact count. ActiveCampaign charges nothing to start. HubSpot Professional requires that fee once, and the fee alone equals more than three months of the base price.

Who should pick which

Pick ActiveCampaign if the job is email and automation, the list is growing, and you want unlimited actions at the middle tier without an onboarding bill. Plus at 1,000 contacts gives unlimited actions with no setup fee. Ask for the Plus price at 10,000 contacts before you assume it stays below HubSpot's $1,390, because ActiveCampaign's published pages do not show it.

Pick HubSpot if sales, marketing and service must work from one CRM record, and the budget can carry the base price plus onboarding. HubSpot's pricing guide also lists a free marketing tier at $0 for up to 2 users, with 2,000 email sends a month and no marketing contacts. That tier is the free way to start.

Pick neither if the work is ecommerce flows or a newsletter business. Read the marketing automation software roundup for the wider shelf, or the email marketing software roundup if the list is the product. For journeys that run across channels, see the lifecycle marketing tools roundup. If the list runs on Mailchimp, the Mailchimp pricing breakdown and the Mailchimp vs Klaviyo comparison show how that platform prices a growing list. For a newsletter-first setup, the beehiiv vs Kit comparison covers the creator side.

Both products have full reviews on this site: the ActiveCampaign review and the HubSpot Marketing Hub review. Read them for the feature detail this page leaves out.

How we compared

We read ActiveCampaign's comparison page for the 1,000-contact prices and its onboarding wording, its pricing page for the automation caps and user counts, and its cost-of-email post, dated March 17, 2026, for the 10,000-contact Starter price. For HubSpot we used its marketing pricing guide, updated September 14, 2026, and its product and services catalog for the contact bands, seat prices, onboarding fees and the Starter and Professional automation limits. All figures were read on October 10, 2026.

The monthly totals assume one Starter seat and the included core seats on Professional, with contact add-ons rounded up to whole blocks as HubSpot's own example shows. Annual totals multiply the monthly figure by 12. The table does not include taxes, SMS, HubSpot credits, extra seats beyond the included count, or promotional prices.

Third-party comparisons quote HubSpot prices that differ from HubSpot's own pages, including the Starter seat and the contact costs. We used only the two vendors' pages for every price and limit on this page, and our own Toolradar count for the tool totals. Dupple has not tested either product for this page, so the verdicts rest on published prices and limits.

FAQ

Is ActiveCampaign cheaper than HubSpot in 2026?

Yes at the middle tier. ActiveCampaign Plus is $49 a month at 1,000 contacts with unlimited automation actions, while HubSpot Professional, its first unlimited plan, is $890 a month plus a one-time onboarding fee. At 10,000 contacts, ActiveCampaign Starter is $149 a month against HubSpot Starter at $400 a month with its contact add-on.

How much does HubSpot Marketing Hub Professional cost at 10,000 contacts?

It costs $1,390 a month billed monthly: the base plus $500 for the two 5,000-contact blocks above the 2,000 included. HubSpot's annual base is $800 a month, and its catalog quotes the contact add-on monthly. Add the onboarding fee in year one, which brings the first-year total above $19,000 before seats.

Does ActiveCampaign have a free plan?

The ActiveCampaign tiers on its comparison page are all paid, and its pricing myths post describes a trial of up to 100 contacts and 100 emails. HubSpot's pricing guide lists a free marketing tier at $0 for up to 2 users, with 2,000 email sends a month and no marketing contacts.

Which tool has better automation?

For unlimited automation on a paid plan, ActiveCampaign is the better buy: Plus has unlimited actions at 1,000 contacts for a fraction of HubSpot's Professional price. HubSpot's entry plan allows up to 10 actions per form or email automation, against 5 on ActiveCampaign Starter. Choose by the plan you can pay for, because the cap that matters is the one on that plan.

Does ActiveCampaign charge onboarding fees?

No. Its comparison page says there are no setup fees, and it includes free migration and onboarding on its plans. HubSpot requires a one-time onboarding fee of $3,000 on Professional and $7,000 on Enterprise, according to its catalog and pricing guide.

Should a sales team choose HubSpot over ActiveCampaign?

Usually yes when the sales team runs its pipeline in the CRM and wants marketing records to match it. ActiveCampaign sells its deeper pipeline features as Enhanced CRM add-ons, while HubSpot's Marketing Hub connects to Smart CRM. Budget the base price and the onboarding fee before you compare features.

Cite this: MarketingShot, "ActiveCampaign vs HubSpot (2026): Pricing, Automation and Which to Choose", October 2026.

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