Overview

Brevo (formerly Sendinblue) and ActiveCampaign both offer email marketing with automation, but at very different price points. Brevo emphasizes affordability. ActiveCampaign emphasizes automation depth. See our Brevo comparison and ActiveCampaign comparison for more details.

The 6x price difference at 10,000 contacts ($25 vs $149) makes this an important choice.

The Pricing Gap

At 10,000 contacts, Brevo costs $25/month for 20,000 emails. ActiveCampaign costs $149/month on the Starter plan with annual billing.

Brevo charges per email sent with unlimited contacts. ActiveCampaign charges per contact regardless of email frequency. For large lists with moderate sending, Brevo is dramatically cheaper.

Automation Comparison

ActiveCampaign has the best automation in the email marketing industry. Conditional logic, split testing within workflows, lead scoring, and deep CRM integration make complex customer journeys possible.

Brevo's automation is functional and handles common workflows. It's not as sophisticated - fewer conditions, less granular control - but it works for most use cases.

One catch: ActiveCampaign's Starter plan limits automations to 5 steps without conditional branching. You need Plus ($59/month at 1k contacts, more at 10k) for real automation power.

Multichannel Features

Brevo includes SMS, WhatsApp, and live chat natively. You get multichannel marketing from one dashboard with integrated pricing.

ActiveCampaign has SMS as an add-on. For true multichannel from one platform, Brevo is more comprehensive and cost-effective.

CRM and Sales

ActiveCampaign's CRM is more mature. Pipeline management, deal scoring, and sales automation are built for B2B sales teams with long cycles.

Brevo has a CRM but it's simpler. It works for basic contact management but lacks the depth for complex sales processes.

When Each Platform Shines

Choose Brevo when: Budget matters. You need SMS and WhatsApp. Your automation needs are moderate. You have a large list with less frequent sending.

Choose ActiveCampaign when: Automation is critical. You need sophisticated customer journeys. Your sales team needs CRM integration. You're willing to pay for the best workflows.

For SaaS Companies

Neither platform is built for SaaS specifically. ActiveCampaign's automation is powerful but doesn't understand subscriptions or billing. Brevo is affordable but also lacks SaaS-specific features.

For Stripe integration and subscription-aware automation, consider Sequenzy. It costs less than ActiveCampaign ($49 vs $149) while offering SaaS-specific triggers that neither platform has.