Compare CRMs
AllClients vs ActiveCampaign
AllClients is client management software for small business, built around follow-up. Landing pages, forms, email marketing, follow-up automation and AI are included in every plan, starting at $24 a month. It's built for the non-technical owner who sells to consumers and runs the follow-up themselves.
ActiveCampaign is a marketing automation and email platform, priced by how many contacts you store. It's built for marketers running campaigns across channels. Automation and email are the core of the product on every plan; landing pages start on their second plan, and the sales pipeline is sold as an enhanced CRM add-on.
14 days at the Premium level. No credit card.
Written by Jeff Shamus, AllClients co-founder. ActiveCampaign information last checked July 2026.
The short version
These two overlap more than most pairings on this site: both sell automation and email in the base product. One is a marketing platform, the other is client management software with the marketing built in. The difference is who each one is built for, and where the CRM sits in the package.
ActiveCampaign is the better fit if
- Marketing is somebody's job at your company, and they want deep tools
- You need advanced segmentation, conditional content, or multichannel campaigns
- Your list is the asset and email is the engine, with the CRM secondary
- You're prepared to invest real time learning a powerful platform
AllClients is the better fit if
- You're the owner, and the marketing has to run without a marketer
- You want the CRM and the pipeline in the plan, not sold as an add-on
- You want three plain plan prices, $24, $48, $96, with users and room included at each step
- You want to be sending follow-up this week, not after a setup project
Side by side
| AllClients | ActiveCampaign | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | CRM plus marketing automation for small business | Marketing automation and email platform with CRM add-ons |
| Pricing model | Per account. Three plans at $24, $48 and $96, each with users, contacts and email capacity included. Extra contacts are an optional add-on. | Priced by contact count, so the bill steps up as your list grows. One user seat on the first two plans, three on Pro, five on Enterprise, with additional seats purchasable. |
| What it takes to get a CRM with automation and email | One plan. Select at $24 a month includes all of it. | Two purchases: a Plus plan or higher, plus the Pipelines enhanced CRM add-on. Their entry plan can't add it. |
| Lead capture forms | Included on every plan | Included on every plan |
| Landing pages | Included on every plan | Start on the Plus plan, their second tier |
| Email marketing | Included on every plan | The core of the product, included on every plan |
| Follow-up automation | Included on every plan, starting at $24 | Included on every plan. The entry plan caps each automation at 5 actions; the fuller automation suites arrive on the higher tiers. |
| AI | Included on every plan | AI content generation starts on the Plus plan |
| Sales pipeline | Boards, tied to automation so contacts move themselves | Sold as enhanced CRM add-ons, Pipelines and Sales Engagement, requiring a Plus plan or higher |
| Texting | Bring your own provider and it’s built into the contact card and workflows. Pay them directly, no markup or expiring credits. | SMS is a paid add-on on Plus and up |
| Free trial | 14-day free trial, no credit card. Build in every feature; sending turns on when you subscribe. | 14-day free trial, based on their Professional plan |
| Support | US-based support, no demo or sales call required to start | Chat and ticket support, with priority support starting on Professional |
How each one is organized
Underneath the feature lists and the pricing, the two products are built for different people. That's the difference that should decide it.
The center of the product is the automation map and the send: segments, triggers, split tests, conditional content, channels. The contact database exists to feed the campaigns, which is why the pricing follows the size of your list. It's a marketer's instrument, and a genuinely excellent one.
The center is the contact record: who this person is, everything that's happened, and what happens next. Workflows, autoresponders, landing pages and Boards hang off that record, and the automation exists so the follow-up happens without anyone running campaigns as a job.
Where ActiveCampaign is the cheaper way in. ActiveCampaign's Starter plan undercuts the Select plan for a small list, and it's a real email marketing tool with forms and light automation. What it can't do is become the CRM setup above: their entry plan caps automations at 5 actions, doesn't offer landing pages, and can't add the CRM add-on at all. If email campaigns to a small list is the whole job, it's a fair way to start. It just isn't the job this page is comparing.
If your business has someone who thinks in funnels and segments, ActiveCampaign gives that person a deep instrument and they'll use all of it. If your business has you, and the marketing needs to run itself while you do the actual work, that's follow-up, and follow-up is what AllClients was built for.
The pricing follows from the same split. ActiveCampaign prices by contacts because the list is what you're operating on. AllClients prices by plan because what you're buying is a system for running your business, not capacity for campaigns.
Where ActiveCampaign is the better tool
Automation depth
Advanced trigger suites, connected automations, predictive sending and conditional content on the higher plans. If you'll build at that level, it's their territory.
Segmentation
Slicing a list by behavior, ecommerce activity and custom events is a strength of the platform, with the advanced versions arriving on Professional.
Multichannel campaigns
Ad platform integrations, WhatsApp plans and an SMS add-on let one automation reach past the inbox.
Ecommerce
Native Shopify, WooCommerce and Square integrations from the entry plan make it a natural fit for stores.
Where AllClients is the better tool
The CRM is in the plan
Boards and the pipeline come with every plan rather than arriving as an enhanced CRM add-on that requires a higher tier first.
A price that doesn't follow your list
Three plan prices at $24, $48 and $96. Growing the list is a step you choose, not a band the bill moves into on its own.
Landing pages and AI from the entry plan
Both are in every AllClients plan. On ActiveCampaign, each of them starts at the Plus tier.
Built for the owner, not the marketer
The automation is meant to run without anyone whose job is running campaigns, which is the difference between a tool you use and a tool you staff.
A person on the phone
US-based support on every plan, with no demo or sales call to get started.
Questions people ask
Is AllClients a good ActiveCampaign alternative?
For a small business that wants the CRM, the automation, the email and the landing page in one plan, yes: that's the exact job AllClients packages at $24 a month. For a marketing team that needs ActiveCampaign's automation depth and segmentation, no. The right question is whether you're buying a marketing platform or a business system.
Does ActiveCampaign include a CRM?
The sales pipeline is sold separately. The CRM capabilities, Pipelines and Sales Engagement, are enhanced add-on packages that require a Plus plan or higher. The base plans are the marketing product: email, automation, forms, and from Plus up, landing pages.
Is ActiveCampaign cheaper than AllClients?
For a small list and an email-only job, their entry plan can be. Matched on the whole job, a CRM with a pipeline, landing pages, email and automation, it takes a Plus plan or higher plus the CRM add-on, against one $24 plan. Growing your list raises the price on both sides: on AllClients it's a step from the Select plan to Premium to Elite, with more users and capacity included at each step, and on ActiveCampaign it's the contact bands, with the add-on priced alongside.
Can I move my contacts over from ActiveCampaign?
Yes. Export your contacts from ActiveCampaign as a CSV and AllClients will bring them in for you. Data migration is free and there are no setup fees.
The best way to compare is to try AllClients
Start free. No credit card, no demo, no sales call. Build your setup, then turn on sending when you subscribe.
Start your free trialSwitching from ActiveCampaign? Export your contacts as a CSV and AllClients will bring them in for you, free.
The two plans compared above are Select at $24 and Premium at $48. Elite is $96 for five users, and there's also EasyContacts, a $9 contact manager with no marketing layer. See full pricing
How we put this together. Every ActiveCampaign claim on this page comes from ActiveCampaign's own pricing page and help center plan documentation, last checked July 2026. No reviews, roundups or third-party pricing trackers. If something here is out of date, tell us and we'll fix it.