ActiveCampaign vs Mailchimp: automation compared

Pricing comparison

Mailchimp Standard starts at $20/mo. ActiveCampaign no longer lists prices publicly — visit activecampaign.com/pricing to request a current quote. The price comparison is almost secondary to the use case difference: they serve different customer needs.

Mailchimp pricing verified at mailchimp.com, October 2026. ActiveCampaign does not publish prices — request a quote at activecampaign.com/pricing.

Automation depth

This is where the comparison is one-sided. ActiveCampaign's automation builder allows conditional branching, goal-tracking, custom events, site activity triggers, and complex multi-path workflows. You can build a 30-step onboarding sequence with split paths, lead scoring, and deal creation without hitting a ceiling.

Mailchimp's Customer Journey Builder is capable for basic use cases — welcome sequences, abandoned cart, post-purchase — but it can't match ActiveCampaign's conditional logic or trigger depth.

CRM

ActiveCampaign's Plus plan includes a built-in CRM with deal pipelines, task management, and sales automation. Mailchimp has no CRM — you need a third-party integration. If you need both email marketing and a sales pipeline in one place, ActiveCampaign is the only option on this list that provides it.

Which to choose

Choose Mailchimp if: you're new to email marketing, you want the easiest possible tool, and your needs are broadcast campaigns or simple automations.

Choose ActiveCampaign if: you need complex multi-step automations, lead scoring, a combined email + CRM workflow, or are running a sales-driven business where email supports a pipeline.