I started out using ActiveCampaign. It had everything—advanced automation, CRM features, and a ton of customization options. At first, it felt like the perfect tool for growing my email list and building complex workflows.
But over time, I realized I wasn’t using half the features. Things started to feel a bit overwhelming, and I found myself spending more time setting things up than actually connecting with my audience.
That’s when someone suggested I try MailerLite.
At first, I wasn’t sure. I thought maybe it would be too basic or that I’d miss the power of ActiveCampaign. But I decided to test it out—just to see what it was like.
That’s when I realized: both tools are great, but they serve different kinds of users. And depending on your needs, one might make your life a whole lot easier.
In this MailerLite vs ActiveCampaign comparison, I’ll share my experience with both platforms—what I liked, what didn’t quite work, and how to decide which one’s the right fit for you.
MailerLite vs ActiveCampaign – Quick Overview
MailerLite
MailerLite is a clean, beginner-friendly email marketing tool perfect for small businesses and creators. It offers essential features like email automation, landing pages, and signup forms—all in a simple, intuitive interface. It’s budget-friendly, with a solid free plan, making it ideal for those just starting out. While it’s not packed with advanced features, it covers the basics really well.
ActiveCampaign
ActiveCampaign is a powerful platform built for advanced email marketing and automation. It includes deep segmentation, a built-in CRM, and robust workflow builders—great for businesses looking to scale. While it comes with a steeper learning curve and higher price tag, it’s packed with tools that help you create highly personalized customer journeys.
Email Editor: Crafting Your Perfect Message
💬 Who win For Email Editor:
MailerLite wins if you’re looking for something simple and easy to use—perfect if you’re just starting out with email marketing. ActiveCampaign is the better option if you need more customization and powerful features, especially if you’re planning to scale your email campaigns
ActiveCampaign
After using ActiveCampaign, I can say it’s definitely built for people who need a lot of control over their emails. The drag-and-drop editor was easy to get the hang of, but it took me a bit of time to realize just how powerful it really is.
You can add things like text, images, buttons, and videos without any issues. But what stood out the most for me was the dynamic content feature.
This allows you to personalize emails based on what you know about your subscribers—like their name, interests, or where they are in the sales process. It felt like I was able to send really personalized emails without doing much extra work.
Here’s what I really liked about ActiveCampaign:
Dynamic Content: I could change parts of the email depending on who was reading it. This really helped me send targeted messages.
A/B Testing: It was easy to test different versions of my emails and see which one got the best results.
Advanced Automation: This is where ActiveCampaign really shines. I set up automatic email sequences that saved me tons of time and helped me stay in touch with subscribers.
While the editor is great, it’s not the easiest for total beginners. It took me a little while to get everything just right, but the customization is worth it if you’re serious about email marketing. The templates are clean and mobile-friendly, but they don’t have as many options as some other tools.
MailerLite
When I first tried MailerLite, I was immediately impressed with how simple it was. I didn’t need to watch a tutorial or spend time figuring out how to use the editor.
Everything was so intuitive. I could drag and drop text, images, buttons, and social links into my emails within minutes. It was perfect for me when I just needed to get an email out quickly without worrying about the technical side.
Here’s what I loved about MailerLite:
Drag-and-Drop Editor: It was super easy to use. I didn’t have to think too hard to get my emails looking good.
Modern Templates: Even though there weren’t as many templates to choose from, the ones they offered looked clean and professional. Plus, they worked perfectly on mobile, which is a must.
Simple Customization: I could change colors, fonts, and layout easily, but it wasn’t overwhelming like some other tools I’ve tried.
If you’re just starting with email marketing or don’t need anything too complex, MailerLite is a great choice. It’s fast, easy, and gets the job done without a lot of fuss. For anyone looking to keep things simple, I’d recommend it.
Design and Flexibility: Making Your Emails Stand Out
💬 Who win For Design and Flexibility:
ActiveCampaign wins if you need more control over your email design and want to customize everything to fit your brand. and MailerLite is a great choice if you want something simple and quick without sacrificing style.
ActiveCampaign
When it comes to design and flexibility, ActiveCampaign is a standout. It gives you tons of control over how your emails look. The drag-and-drop editor is smooth, but what I really loved was how much I could adjust.
You can change everything from fonts and colors to layouts and images. There are also options for advanced design features, like adding custom HTML if you’re comfortable with that.
What really sets it apart is the ability to personalize designs based on your audience. So, you can design your emails differently for different groups, which makes them feel more targeted and relevant. Plus, you can use dynamic content to show specific sections of an email to different people, based on their behavior or preferences.
While there are fewer pre-made templates compared to some other tools, the ones available are professional, clean, and mobile-friendly. You can really make them your own.
What I liked about ActiveCampaign:
Complete Control: You can customize almost every part of the email.
Advanced Features: Ability to add custom HTML and dynamic content.
Professional Templates: Although limited in number, they are sleek and mobile-optimized.
MailerLite
MailerLite, on the other hand, is all about simplicity. The email editor is super easy to use, and you can create stylish emails without any design experience. The templates they offer are modern and attractive, but there are fewer of them compared to ActiveCampaign.
Customization is straightforward. You can adjust fonts, colors, and layouts with just a few clicks. It’s not as advanced as ActiveCampaign, but if you don’t need anything super complicated, it gets the job done. You can also add text, buttons, images, and other elements in a snap.
What’s great about MailerLite is how easy it is to design an email quickly. There’s no steep learning curve, and everything feels intuitive. If you’re just looking to make simple, clean emails, this is an excellent choice.
What I liked about MailerLite:
Simple and Clean: It’s easy to use with plenty of stylish templates.
Quick Customization: You can make your emails look unique without much effort.
Beginner-Friendly: No need to worry about advanced design tools—everything is ready to go.
Forms and Landing Pages
💬 Who win For Forms and Landing pages:
ActiveCampaign wins if you need powerful forms and landing pages with advanced features, integration, and customization. while MailerLite is a great choice if you want something simple and quick to set up without the need for too many extra options.
ActiveCampaign
ActiveCampaign works really well when it comes to creating forms and landing pages. It gives you a lot of ways to collect leads and turn visitors into customers. The landing page builder is easy to use, and you can make sure the pages look good on both computers and phones.
What I liked most is the advanced form features. You can create forms that do more than just collect information. For example, you can set it up so that when someone fills out a form, they automatically get a follow-up email or join a specific email list. This makes it easy to target your emails and set up automatic responses.
Even though it has a lot of great features, it can be a bit tricky to set up, especially if you are new to email marketing. But if you’re looking to have full control and add more power to your forms and pages, it’s worth learning how to use.
MailerLite
MailerLite is simpler when it comes to forms and landing pages. The setup is easy and quick, even if you’ve never created one before. The landing page builder is drag-and-drop, meaning you just move items around to design your page. There are plenty of templates to choose from, so you can get started without much effort.
For forms, MailerLite keeps it easy as well. You can add forms to your website or pop them up to collect emails from visitors. The forms work well with your email lists, but you don’t get as many customization options as you would with ActiveCampaign. You can customize the look, but it’s not as flexible if you need advanced features like sending different emails to different people based on what they fill out.
MailerLite is perfect if you just need something simple and quick to collect leads and create landing pages. It’s a great option if you don’t need many extra features or complicated setups.
Lists and Segmentation
💬 Who win For Lists and Segmentation:
ActiveCampaign is the better choice if you want to organize your contacts in smart ways and send very targeted emails. while MailerLite is easier for beginners and works well if your needs are simple.
ActiveCampaign
After using ActiveCampaign, one thing that really stood out to me was how smart it is when it comes to managing your email list. You don’t just throw all your contacts into one big list. Instead, you can tag people based on what they do—like clicking a link, buying something, or even opening a certain email.
This helps a lot when you want to send different messages to different groups. For example, I was able to send a special offer only to people who had visited a certain page on my site. That kind of targeting can really boost your results because you’re sending emails that actually matter to the person reading them.
You can also use “segments,” which are like mini-lists made from your main contacts. These update automatically based on rules you set, which saved me a lot of time. If someone stops opening emails, you can even move them to a “low activity” group and try to win them back.
Overall, it gives you full control. It’s great if you’re serious about email marketing and want to get the best results from every email.
MailerLite
MailerLite keeps things much simpler, which is great if you’re just getting started. You can create different lists and add people to them based on what they signed up for or where they came from. It also lets you create segments, but the options are more basic compared to ActiveCampaign.
When I used MailerLite, I was still able to send targeted emails to groups like “new subscribers” or “people who clicked a link,” but I couldn’t go as deep with conditions or rules. That said, it was super easy to figure out and worked fine for smaller lists or simpler email plans.
If you just want to keep your contacts organized and send basic targeted messages, MailerLite gets the job done without any stress. But if your list grows and you want to do more with it, you might eventually feel a little limited.
Email Automations
💬 Who win For Email Automations:
ActiveCampaign clearly wins if you want smart, powerful automations that can do a lot of the work for you.
MailerLite is better if you just want a simple way to send follow-up emails without getting overwhelmed.
ActiveCampaign
Using ActiveCampaign’s automation felt like having a helpful assistant who takes care of emails for me—day and night. It’s seriously powerful. At first, it took me a little time to understand how everything worked, but once I got the hang of it, I realized how much I could do.
You can build automation paths where emails are sent based on what people do. For example, if someone signs up, they get a welcome email. If they click a link in that email, they get another one with more info. If they don’t open it, maybe they get a reminder later. You set all this up once, and then it just runs on its own.
There are so many triggers and actions to choose from. I used it to send emails based on things like purchases, website visits, and even when someone didn’t do something—like not opening an email. It’s perfect if you want to build smart email journeys that feel personal but don’t require you to send every message by hand.
If you love the idea of working less while your emails still do their job, ActiveCampaign is amazing.
MailerLite
MailerLite’s automation is much simpler—and that’s not a bad thing if you’re just starting out. When I used it, I found it super easy to create basic email sequences. You can set up a welcome series, send a follow-up after a few days, or create a birthday email. It’s perfect for basic email flows.
You just choose a starting point, like “when someone joins my list,” and then add steps like “wait 2 days,” “send this email,” and so on. It’s clean and easy to follow, even if you’ve never built an automation before.
But if you’re someone who wants more control or to build more advanced paths—like sending different emails based on behavior—MailerLite starts to feel a bit limited. It does the basics well, but it’s not built for more complex campaigns.
Reports: Measuring Your Successs
💬 Who win For Reports:
ActiveCampaign wins if you want detailed insights and like digging into numbers to improve your campaigns.
MailerLite is better if you just want the basic stats in a clean, simple format.
ActiveCampaign
When I used ActiveCampaign, I was really impressed with how much data it gave me. After sending an email, I could see way more than just opens and clicks. It showed me things like where people clicked, who engaged the most, and even how much money I made from a specific email if I had sales tracking set up.
It also breaks everything down nicely by each campaign, automation, or list. I even saw reports on things like email replies and which contacts were most active. This helped me figure out what was working and what needed to change.
If you’re someone who loves to track results and keep improving your emails, ActiveCampaign gives you all the tools to do that. It’s super useful, especially when your list starts growing and you want to get serious about results.
MailerLite
MailerLite keeps reporting very simple—and honestly, that’s all many people need. After sending my emails, I could see things like how many people opened it, clicked a link, unsubscribed, or marked it as spam. It was all super easy to read and understand.
While it doesn’t give you as much detail as ActiveCampaign, it covers the basics really well. I could still track how each email performed, which helped me improve over time. And since the layout is so clean, I didn’t have to dig around to find what I was looking for.
If you’re not super into analytics and just want to keep an eye on basic performance, MailerLite’s reports are more than enough.
Deliverability: Getting Your Emails Into the Inbox (Not the Spam Folder!)
💬 Who win For Deliverability:
ActiveCampaign takes the lead here with slightly higher deliverability rates and stronger inbox performance. MailerLite still does a good job, but may occasionally fall short in reaching the main inbox.
ActiveCampaign: Deliverability
ActiveCampaign scored 94.2% in deliverability based on the January 2024 test by EmailTooltester. This means most of your emails are likely to reach your subscribers’ inboxes, not the spam folder. Out of that, 84.4% of emails went directly to the inbox, and only a small 4.1% ended up in spam.
They also support important features like SPF, DKIM, and DMARC, which help prove to email providers that your messages are trustworthy. This boosts your chances of landing in the inbox. ActiveCampaign also provides tips and tools to help you avoid common mistakes—like using spammy words or sending to inactive lists.
If your emails are important and you want to make sure they’re seen, ActiveCampaign gives you more confidence that they’ll actually show up where they’re supposed to.
MailerLite: Deliverability
MailerLite earned an 80.5% deliverability score in the same test. That means it still does a solid job, but it may not be quite as reliable as ActiveCampaign in getting your emails seen. Most of the emails land in the inbox, but a few may end up in the spam folder depending on your content and list quality.
Like ActiveCampaign, MailerLite also uses SPF, DKIM, and DMARC to improve deliverability. They offer helpful tips like sending to active subscribers and avoiding common email errors. They even have a team that keeps an eye on deliverability to help users get better results.
MailerLite is great for beginners and casual senders, but if deliverability is super important for your business, you might notice a small difference compared to ActiveCampaign.
Pricing: Getting the Best Value for Your Budget
💬 Who win For Pricing:
MailerLite is the more affordable option, especially for beginners and small businesses.
ActiveCampaign is more expensive but offers more advanced features for those who need them.
ActiveCampaign: Pricing
From my experience, ActiveCampaign is a powerful tool—but it comes with a higher price tag. There’s no free plan, and pricing starts at around $39/month for just 1,000 contacts. If you want access to automation, landing pages, and CRM features, you’ll likely need to choose one of the higher-tier plans, which can get expensive quickly as your contact list grows.
You’re definitely paying for more features—like advanced automation, better segmentation, CRM, and strong analytics. So if you need those tools and have a bigger email list or business, it could be worth the price. But if you’re just starting out, it might feel like too much.
Starter Plan: Designed for small businesses, this plan starts at $15/month and includes basic email marketing and automation features.
Plus Plan: Aimed at growing businesses, priced at $49/month, it adds advanced automation, landing pages, and CRM features.
Pro Plan: Starting at $79/month, this plan offers premium features like predictive sending, split automations, and advanced reporting.
Enterprise Plan: Tailored for large organizations, with pricing beginning at $145/month, it provides custom reporting, dedicated support, and enhanced security features.
MailerLite: Pricing
MailerLite is much more budget-friendly, which is why I often recommend it for beginners. They offer a free plan for up to 1,000 subscribers and 12,000 emails per month, which is perfect if you’re just getting started.
Their paid plans are also very affordable. Pricing starts at around $10/month for 1,000 subscribers, and even their premium features like automation and landing pages are available at a much lower cost compared to ActiveCampaign.
You won’t get all the advanced tools that ActiveCampaign has, but for most people—especially small businesses or solo creators—MailerLite gives you everything you need at a great price.
Free Plan: Ideal for beginners, this plan is free for up to 1,000 subscribers and includes 12,000 emails per month.
Growing Business Plan: Starting at $10/month for 500 subscribers, it offers unlimited emails, 3 user seats, and additional features like automation and landing pages.
Advanced Plan: Priced at $20/month for 500 subscribers, it includes all features of the Growing Business plan plus smart sending, Facebook integration, and a custom HTML editor.
Enterprise Plan: Designed for businesses with over 100,000 subscribers, pricing is customized and includes dedicated support and IP address.
✅ Final Verdict: Which Tool Is Right for You?
If you’re new to email marketing or have a smaller business, MailerLite is a fantastic choice. It’s simple, easy to use, and has a free plan that lets you get started without spending a dime. It’s perfect for people who need a straightforward tool to create and send emails without dealing with too many complicated features.
However, if you have a growing business and need more advanced features—like powerful automation, detailed reporting, and smart segmentation—ActiveCampaign is the better option. While it comes with a higher price, it offers far more customization and control, making it a great choice for marketers who need a more robust system to scale their email campaigns.
In the end, both platforms are solid, and your choice depends on your business needs, budget, and how complex you want your email marketing to be. MailerLite is ideal for simplicity and cost-effectiveness, while ActiveCampaign is perfect for businesses ready to dive into more advanced email strategies.
Contents
- 1 MailerLite vs ActiveCampaign – Quick Overview
- 2 Design and Flexibility: Making Your Emails Stand Out
- 2.1 ActiveCampaign
- 2.2 MailerLite
- 2.3 Forms and Landing Pages
- 2.4 ActiveCampaign
- 2.5 MailerLite
- 2.6 Lists and Segmentation
- 2.7 MailerLite
- 2.8 Email Automations
- 2.9 ActiveCampaign
- 2.10 MailerLite
- 2.11 Reports: Measuring Your Successs
- 2.12 ActiveCampaign
- 2.13 MailerLite
- 2.14 Deliverability: Getting Your Emails Into the Inbox (Not the Spam Folder!)
- 2.15 ActiveCampaign: Deliverability
- 2.16 MailerLite: Deliverability
- 3 Pricing: Getting the Best Value for Your Budget
- 4 ✅ Final Verdict: Which Tool Is Right for You?
