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7 min read

Drip Vs. ActiveCampaign: Which One To Choose?

Written by Andriy Boychuk
7 min read
Table of Contents

    There are hundreds of email marketing platforms on the market at this moment. But when it comes to email marketing software, we strongly recommend Klaviyo. As an ESP specifically designed for online stores, Klaviyo offers robust features to help you sell, not just send emails.

    In case you’re also looking to connect with your customers through SMS, Klaviyo provides an SMS platform that works in sync with your emails, for even better results.

    However, there are only a few that make an impact or try to do so.

    Drip Vs. ActiveCampaign

    Drip.com is a relatively new company, which was purchased by Leadpages in recent years. It is an amazing platform.

    In this article, I would like to compare Drip vs ActiveCampaign. I will compare all features and pricing structures.

    So let’s start with the side by side feature comparison and see which one is better for you.

    While doing this, one must keep in mind basic email marketing software essentials that have to be considered when choosing between these two platforms.

    Drip.Co has numerous advanced features which makes it difficult for smaller companies to fit in their budgets.

    On the other hand, ActiveCampaign has simpler and limited features, thus offering more value for money.

    Let’s take a look at the details and see which one will be better suited to your business needs.

    What is Drip.co?

    Drip is a marketing automation platform built for Ecommerce. It gathers and organizes customer data and then enables retailers using eCommerce to utilize that data to create personalized omnichannel customer journeys at scale.

    In simple words, it provides online retailers with the tools to connect with their customers and be competitive in the marketplace.

    What is ActiveCampaign?

    ActiveCampaign like Drip is also a software platform offering customer experience automation but for small to mid-sized businesses.

    It combines email marketing, sales automation and CRM with marketing automation, thereby effectively enabling the connection and engagement with customers.

    It also automates a lot of data with the objective of creating optimized customer experiences.

    What ActiveCampaign does is the following:

    • Behind-the-scenes marketing
    • Sales
    • Support processes.

    Drip vs ActiveCampaign: Feature Comparison

    FeaturesActiveCampaignDrip.co
    Drag & Drop Email DesignerYesNo
    Free Email TemplatesYesNo
    Opt-in FormsYesYes
    API AccessYesYes
    Email marketing automationYesYes
    Marketing AutomationYesNo
    3rd-Party integrationsYesYes
    Purchase notifications (e-commerce)No (lite)
    Yes (plus)
    Yes (professional)
    Yes
    Contact & Lead ScoringNo (lite)
    Yes (plus)
    Yes (professional)
    Yes
    CRM w/ Sales AutomationNo (lite)
    Yes (plus)
    Yes (professional)
    No
    SMS MarketingNo (lite)
    Yes (plus)
    Yes (professional)
    No
    Email SendsUnlimitedUnlimited
    Users3 (lite)
    25 (plus)
    50 (professional)
    Unlimited
    Site & Event TrackingYesYes
    Site MessagesNo (lite)
    No (plus)
    Yes (professional)
    No
    AttributionNo (lite)
    No (plus)
    Yes (professional)
    No
    Auto RespondersYesNo
    GEO TrackingYesNo
    Segments & Conditional ContentYesYes
    Custom User PermissionsNo (lite)
    Yes (plus)
    Yes (professional)
    No
    Web HooksYesNo

    Analyzing Drip vs ActiveCampaign Features

    In general, both platforms are similar.

    They serve the same purpose and offer similar features.

    But there are some features that are available with ActiveCampaign and not with Drip.co, such as:

    • Drag and drop email designer
    • Free email templates
    • Marketing automation
    • CRM w/ Sales Automation
    • SMS marketing
    • Site messages
    • Attribution
    • Auto responders
    • GEO tracking
    • Custom User Permissions
    • Web hooks

    The main downside for Drip is that they do not offer email designs and templates. Drag and drop templates are easy to create in Mailchimp and ActiveCampaign. It is a very useful feature.

    On the other hand, Drip offers e-commerce and lead scoring for all plans, while ActiveCampaign offers these features only for upgraded accounts.

    When comparing Drip vs ActiveCampaign, you should take into consideration that some of the ActiveCampaign features are only available in the Plus and/or Professional plan, and not in the Lite one.

    This brings us to our next point of comparison: Drip vs ActiveCampaign pricing.

    Drip co vs ActiveCampaign: Pricing

    Now, let’s talk about prices. Here is a tab recapitulating the costs for Drip co vs ActiveCampaign (Lite version) depending on the number of subscribers.

    # of subscribersActiveCampaignDrip.co
    0 - 500$9$49
    501 - 1,000$17$49
    1,001 - 2,500$19$49
    2,501 - 5,000$45$99
    5,001 - 10,000$70$149
    10,001 - 25,000$135$149
    25,001 - 50,000$225$254
    50,001 - 75,000$325$429
    75,001 - 100,000$415$604

    As you can see, ActiveCampaign Lite version is much cheaper than Drip. But remember, two features are missing:

    • Purchase notifications (e-commerce)
    • Contact & Lead Scoring.

    These two features, present in Drip but not in ActiveCampaign Lite, are useful for e-commerce owners.

    Let’s take a look at what ActiveCampaign has to offer and the four different plans.

    ActiveCampaign Pricing Plans

    ActiveCampaign has four pricing plans with increasing advanced features. These are annual plans based on 500-1000 subscribers.

    • Lite– The first plan is the ‘Lite’ plan, which offers powerful email automation with an editor and design options and also the benefits of website tracking. It is priced at $9 USD/month.
    • Plus– If you have a larger team or need CRM features, you could upgrade to the ‘Plus’ plan which provides additional features such as the landing page editor and SMS and custom sending domain. It is priced at $49 USD/month.
    • Professional– The next higher plan which according to ActiveCampaign, is their most popular plan is the ‘Professional’ plan. It accommodates up to 50 user accounts, provides site messages and more detailed attribution, therefore making it a more all-in-one automation software.It is priced at $129 USD/month.
    • Enterprise– Lastly, the plan with the most sophisticated features and unlimited users is the ‘Enterprise’ plan. It offers a dedicated account manager for strategy and consulting along with unlimited training, more suited for large organizations with a big budget. It is priced at $229 USD/ month.

    Drip vs ActiveCampaign: Which One is Better?

    If you do not need e-commerce integration and/or lead scoring, then ActiveCampaign is surely the winner in terms of price and features.

    But if you need the two mentioned above e-commerce features, then Drip can be taken into consideration. Unless you prefer to upgrade to a higher ActiveCampaign plan?

    If you have any additional questions about features or prices for both platforms, please leave them below in the comments section.

    Read the in-depth comparison from Emailtech on ActiveCampaign vs Drip.

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