ActiveCampaign vs beehiiv

Updated 2026 — Side-by-side comparison of features, pricing, and scores.

Quick Verdict

Choose ActiveCampaign if you are a business that needs CRM, lead scoring, and multi-step sales automations. Choose beehiiv if you are building a newsletter as a standalone media business with paid subscriptions and ad revenue. They rarely compete for the same customer. ActiveCampaign scores 7.7/10, beehiiv 7.4/10.

ActiveCampaign

7.7/10
Great
Ease of Use6.5
Value for Money7
Support7.5
Features9
Scalability8
Integrations8.5

beehiiv

7.4/10
Good
Ease of Use8
Value for Money8.5
Support7
Features7
Scalability8
Integrations5.5

ActiveCampaign and beehiiv serve completely different use cases despite both handling email. ActiveCampaign is a marketing automation and CRM platform for businesses that need complex workflows. beehiiv is a newsletter platform for media creators who want to grow and monetize a publication. Comparing them is like comparing a marketing department toolkit to a publishing platform.

Feature Comparison

FeatureActiveCampaignbeehiiv
Email Templates
250+ templates
Drag and Drop Editor
Automation Workflows
Industry-leading
~
Basic sequences
A/B Testing
Email and automation
Advanced Segmentation
500+ triggers
Landing Pages
On Plus+
Website builder
Signup Forms
Analytics and Reporting
Attribution on Pro+
Revenue tracking
Built-in CRM
Full CRM on Plus+
SMS Marketing
On Plus+
Transactional Emails
Add-on
API Access
On Scale plan
Free Plan Available
14-day trial only
2500 subscribers
Ecommerce Integration
Deep Shopify/WooCommerce
~
Premium subscriptions
Webinar Hosting
Full support~ Limited Not available

Pricing Comparison

ActiveCampaign Pricing

Starter$15/mo
$1/mo billed annually
PlusPopular$49/mo
$4/mo billed annually
Pro$79/mo
$7/mo billed annually
Enterprise$145/mo
$12/mo billed annually

beehiiv Pricing

EnterpriseCustom
LaunchFree
ScalePopular$43/mo
$43/mo billed annually
Max$96/mo
$96/mo billed annually

Best Use Cases

B2B sales teams need ActiveCampaign for its deal pipelines and predictive sending. Newsletter creators need beehiiv for its referral program, ad network, and premium subscription infrastructure. If you are not sure which camp you fall into, ask yourself: am I building a business that uses email, or am I building a media property?

FAQ

Can beehiiv replace ActiveCampaign for business email?
No. beehiiv lacks CRM, lead scoring, SMS marketing, and complex conditional automations. It is purpose-built for newsletters.
Can ActiveCampaign run a paid newsletter?
Not natively. You would need to integrate with a payment processor and manage access manually. beehiiv handles this out of the box.

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