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It's a split decision.
Choose ActiveCampaign for deeper automation: its plans list unlimited automation actions from Plus upward, while Starter includes five actions per automation. Its listed entry price is $15 per month for 1,000 contacts with annual billing. Choose Constant Contact for a lower starting price and broader channel mix, including social and events. Lite starts at $12 monthly or $10.20 per month with annual prepayment. Neither product lists a free plan; compare contact limits, seats, and the features your team needs.
01Side by side
| ActiveCampaign | Constant Contact | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $15/month, annual billing; 1,000 contacts | $12 monthly; $10.20/month with annual prepayment |
| Free plan | No free plan listed | No free plan listed |
| Best for | Teams prioritizing marketing automation and segmentation | Businesses combining email, social, SMS, and events |
| Core strength | Automation, AI campaign drafts, and automated account audits | Email, SMS, social media, and event marketing |
| Learning curve | Ease-of-use score: 6.5/10; learning time not specified | Ease-of-use score: 4.5/10; learning time not specified |
| Integrations/data | Integration and data-transfer details not specified | Integration and data-transfer details not specified |
| Team/seat costs | Starter: 1 seat; Pro: 3 seats; Enterprise: 5 | Lite: 2 seats; Standard: 3; Premium: unlimited |
| Support | Review support score: 5.5/10 | Review support score: 4/10 |
ActiveCampaign Choose ActiveCampaign if
- Choose ActiveCampaign if automation depth matters more than the entry price.
- Choose ActiveCampaign if you need AI-assisted campaign drafting and account audits.
- Choose ActiveCampaign if your team can work within its contact-based pricing.
Constant Contact Choose Constant Contact if
- Choose Constant Contact if a lower listed starting price is the priority.
- Choose Constant Contact if you need email, social, SMS, and event tools.
- Choose Constant Contact if your team needs more seats on entry plans.
02Pricing compared
ActiveCampaign Starter is $15 per month for 1,000 contacts when billed annually. It includes one user seat and 10,000 monthly email sends. Plus is $49, Pro is $79, and Enterprise is $145 per month, each listed for 1,000 contacts with annual billing. Monthly non-annual rates are not published. Starter caps automations at five actions each; Plus and higher list unlimited actions.
Constant Contact Lite starts at $12 monthly, or $10.20 per month with annual prepayment. Standard is $35 monthly or $29.75 annually; Premium is $80 monthly or $68 annually. Lite includes two users and one automation template; Premium includes unlimited users and custom automations. Neither lists a free plan. ActiveCampaign lists a 14-day trial; Constant Contact’s pricing information does not state a free trial. Compare the included limits, not just the starting prices.
03Features and depth
ActiveCampaign is the stronger fit if automation depth is the main requirement. Its listed Active Intelligence features include drafting campaigns and automations from a brief, auditing account setup, reporting results, and automatically testing email and SMS sends. It also describes automated segmentation and campaign drafts for email, SMS, WhatsApp, and ads. Plan limits still matter: Starter has five actions per automation, while Plus and higher list unlimited actions.
Constant Contact covers more types of marketing in one product description: email, SMS, social media, and events. Its email tools include AI copy drafting, subject-line testing, and scheduling. Automations include welcome, birthday, re-engagement, and abandoned-cart messages. It also lists social scheduling, lead-generation ads, contact segmentation, forms, landing pages, and event registration tools. Its plan limits vary: Lite includes one automation template, Standard three, and Premium unlimited custom automations and segments. Premium also includes 500 SMS messages per month; SMS for Lite and Standard is an add-on.
04Ease of use and learning curve
Neither product’s feature list makes a clear case that it will be easier for every team. ActiveCampaign’s brief-based campaign drafting and automated audits are designed to reduce manual setup, but its automation limits differ by plan. Teams on Starter need to account for the five-action cap; deeper workflows require Plus or higher.
Constant Contact groups email, social, SMS, and event tools together, but access depends on the tier and add-ons. Lite has one automation template, and SMS costs extra on Lite and Standard. Our review notes also flag reported editor problems, so teams that depend on email editing should check whether the workflow suits them before switching. The pricing pages do not publish a detailed learning curve or onboarding time.
Questions people ask
Is there anything better than Constant Contact?
That depends on what you need. In this comparison, ActiveCampaign lists deeper automation on Plus and higher, with unlimited automation actions. Constant Contact offers social and event tools alongside email and SMS. Compare the channels, automation limits, user seats, and total price that match your workload.
Is ActiveCampaign a good CRM?
ActiveCampaign lists Enhanced CRM as an add-on, but its price is not published on the vendor's site. The core product is described here as marketing automation, with email, segmentation, and automation features. If CRM functionality is central, confirm what the add-on includes and costs before choosing.
Which is better for automation, ActiveCampaign or Constant Contact?
ActiveCampaign lists unlimited automation triggers and actions from Plus upward; Starter allows five actions per automation. Constant Contact lists one automation template on Lite, three on Standard, and unlimited custom automations on Premium. The better fit depends on the workflows you need and the plan budget.
Which is cheaper, ActiveCampaign or Constant Contact?
Constant Contact has the lower listed entry price: Lite is $12 monthly or $10.20 per month with annual prepayment. ActiveCampaign Starter is $15 per month for 1,000 contacts with annual billing. Those prices have different stated bases, so compare the plan limits and contact requirements before deciding.