ActiveCampaign vs. Zoho Marketing Automation

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
ActiveCampaign
Score 8.0 out of 10
N/A
ActiveCampaign is presented as an AI-first marketing platform for marketers, agencies, and entrepreneurs. It uses Active Intelligence for goal-aware automation and personalized experiences across email, SMS, and WhatsApp. ActiveCampaign integrates with 950+ apps and generates insights to optimize every workflow.
$15
per month
Zoho Marketing Automation
Score 9.2 out of 10
N/A
Zoho Marketing Automation is a marketing automation software that helps businesses manage their marketing activities across multiple channels. It is designed to help users generate more leads, convert them into customers, and also retain them for a longer duration. Businesses can use the tool to influence, educate, and engage the potential customers, and pass on the best ones to the sales team. Users can get an understanding of all activities of their leads and create a superior personalized…
$19
per month 1000 contacts
Pricing
ActiveCampaignZoho Marketing Automation
Editions & Modules
Starter
$15
per month
Pro
$49
per month
Plus
$79
per month
Enterprise
$159
per month
Standard
$19
per month 1000 contacts
Premium
$29
per month 1000 contacts
Enterprise
$59
per month 1000 contacts
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
ActiveCampaignZoho Marketing Automation
Free Trial
YesYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeOptionalOptional
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
ActiveCampaignZoho Marketing Automation
Features
ActiveCampaignZoho Marketing Automation
Email & Online Marketing
Comparison of Email & Online Marketing features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCampaign
7.4
Ratings
3% below category average
Zoho Marketing Automation
8.0
Ratings
5% above category average
WYSIWYG email editor5.50 Ratings7.90 Ratings
Dynamic content4.40 Ratings7.90 Ratings
Ability to test dynamic content4.40 Ratings7.90 Ratings
Landing pages4.80 Ratings6.70 Ratings
A/B testing9.90 Ratings8.20 Ratings
Mobile optimization7.90 Ratings8.50 Ratings
Email deliverability reporting9.60 Ratings8.50 Ratings
List management9.90 Ratings8.20 Ratings
Triggered drip sequences10.00 Ratings8.20 Ratings
Lead Management
Comparison of Lead Management features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCampaign
8.0
Ratings
2% above category average
Zoho Marketing Automation
8.0
Ratings
2% above category average
Lead nurturing automation9.90 Ratings7.90 Ratings
Lead scoring and grading7.70 Ratings7.60 Ratings
Data quality management7.90 Ratings8.50 Ratings
Automated sales alerts and tasks7.10 Ratings8.20 Ratings
Lead segmentation and distribution7.30 Ratings00 Ratings
Campaign Management
Comparison of Campaign Management features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCampaign
9.9
Ratings
29% above category average
Zoho Marketing Automation
7.3
Ratings
1% below category average
Calendaring9.80 Ratings7.00 Ratings
Event/webinar marketing9.90 Ratings7.60 Ratings
Social Media Marketing
Comparison of Social Media Marketing features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCampaign
6.9
Ratings
9% below category average
Zoho Marketing Automation
7.7
Ratings
2% above category average
Social sharing and campaigns7.20 Ratings7.90 Ratings
Social profile integration6.50 Ratings7.60 Ratings
Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCampaign
6.6
Ratings
10% below category average
Zoho Marketing Automation
7.8
Ratings
6% above category average
Dashboards6.70 Ratings7.90 Ratings
Standard reports6.70 Ratings7.30 Ratings
Custom reports6.60 Ratings8.20 Ratings
Platform & Infrastructure
Comparison of Platform & Infrastructure features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCampaign
8.8
Ratings
16% above category average
Zoho Marketing Automation
8.0
Ratings
7% above category average
API8.50 Ratings7.90 Ratings
Role-based workflow & approvals8.50 Ratings7.90 Ratings
Customizability6.70 Ratings8.20 Ratings
Integration with Salesforce.com9.80 Ratings00 Ratings
Integration with Microsoft Dynamics CRM9.90 Ratings00 Ratings
Integration with SugarCRM9.90 Ratings00 Ratings
Third-party software integrations8.10 Ratings00 Ratings
User Ratings
ActiveCampaignZoho Marketing Automation
Likelihood to Recommend
9.3
(0 ratings)
8.2
(0 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
8.0
(0 ratings)
8.5
(0 ratings)
Availability
9.1
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
7.3
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
1.3
(0 ratings)
8.2
(0 ratings)
In-Person Training
9.1
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Online Training
7.3
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
8.5
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Configurability
6.4
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
9.1
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
1.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
6.4
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
7.3
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
ActiveCampaignZoho Marketing Automation
Likelihood to Recommend
I've been using ActiveCampaign since around 2018-2019 and I've always been satisfied with the software. It's simple to use, connects with the other tools I use and makes it easy for me to duplicate automations, email templates and workflows as I need to. On top of that, any time I've had an issue (which I think is around twice in the past 5/6 years), the customer service has always been super helpful and my issue has been resolved quickly.
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I could not begin to think of a situation where marketing
automation is not appropriate, particularly for small and medium-sized
businesses that often times are challenged with fewer resources. Lead
generation, customer acquisition, conversion, and reselling all require the
consistency and fluidity that marketing automation can provide. For Capitol
Corridor, we are limited by the capacity of our trains, so we cannot oversell. By
doing so, we would lose business. And we’ve leveraged marketing automation to
help us manage our train capacity as well as create transparency in our service
available to help close deals successfully.
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Pros
  • The graphic design is very good, especially fonts, colours and templates
  • Flexibility of design and functionality
  • Takes a little while to learn it, but generally user-friendly
  • Looks very professional but doesn't cost much to get started
  • There are masses of integrations for ActiveCampaign, and the ones I tried all worked well and didn't take long to figure out.
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No answers on this topic
Cons
  • The email designing part could be easier to use. There are certain simple shortcuts that don't work, for example, adding links is more complicated than it should be, moving blocks around is hard, etc.
  • There's no good way to filter by 'active' and 'inactive' subscribers when editing en-mass.
  • I'd like more reporting data on one page.
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  • Some of the field mappings between Leads and Deals are not always perfect.
  • Social media interactions are not captured (i.e. you cannot make a case from a post)
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Likelihood to Renew
I am committed at the moment. Rebuilding the automations I have would be a huge time drain. Plus the cost of learning a new system and the risk to deliverability of porting a 6,000 person list to a new platform. Also, AC offers everything I need ast a reasonable (but a little high) price. So, why not a 10? Because, early 2023, AC dropped a massive 2x price hike on long-term customers. They knew few would shift, so this feels like a cynical cash grab and left a bad taste, If they do something like this again, this camel will have a broken back.
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No answers on this topic
Usability
ActiveCampaign has been the easiest marketing automation software we have ever used. They provide tips throughout the entire process of anything you are building. Their support team through LIVE CHAT has been extremely fast and helpful. The monthly meetings provided with the enablement team has helped us through several large and urgent needs.
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It's flexibility allowed for 100% adoption in our company
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Reliability and Availability
I haven't experienced application errors or unplanned outages at all. Active Campaign is ultra reliable and I would not be using them if that were the case. Also, the helpful emails they send are welcomed and informative, and present very practical tips and guidance for using the platform. They're always demonstrating new features and I'm thankful for that.
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No answers on this topic
Performance
Oh my gosh, Active Campaign's performance gets an A+++ in my book. The pages load quickly and so do the reports. I haven't noticed any slowdowns when it's integrating with other programs and it performs excellently on all levels.
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No answers on this topic
Support Rating
This might be the best part. The chat support lady offered to make a video to help me solve my problem. I worked in customer service for years and I've never done that, lol. So, if they're offering things like that, I can only imagine that they'd be able to handle most any issue you throw at them.
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Zoho custom support is fantastic. Quick responses from knowledgeable staff!
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Implementation Rating
Very satisfied with our implementation in our professional medical practice, allowing us to be on top of client service, and not miss out on crucial information and insights. Marketing is often neglected in professional practices and ActiveCampaign solved this problem with aplomb.
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No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
I transitioned from Mailchimp to ActiveCampaign because it was so much more user friendly and allowed me to do a lot more in regards to lead magnets than Mailchimp can. For example, ActiveCampaign allows users to sign up for a lead magnet as many times as they like to keep receiving it (in case they've lost or deleted the email with access to the lead magnet). Mailchimp was unable to do this. And the categorization of users and the trigger email sequencing was a lot easier in ActiveCampaign.
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No answers on this topic
Scalability
My web designer told me about Active Campaign and although I don't recall which platform I had before, I LOVE Active Campaign and its user friendliness. The transition was seamless and I've never had a problem with functionality or server failure.
Active Campaign provides so many features, and makes it easy for non-techies to maneuver around the site with ease. They capture information and put it in an easy-to-read format.
At this point, I don't think I'd ever use any other platform!
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No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
  • Automations free up time - once set up, email campaigns execute in seconds
  • Emailing my newsletter is a second touch-point for my clients
  • The flat rate for my subscription means that I reach my clients and prospects for fractions of a cent each month
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No answers on this topic
ScreenShots

ActiveCampaign Screenshots

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Zoho Marketing Automation Screenshots

Screenshot of Get a comprehensive 360 degree view of your leads across channels. Know what stage your leads are at, identify top lead generating sources and how your campaigns are performing all from one single dashboard.Screenshot of Connect your e-store, run promotions and grow your online business using modern marketing strategies from Zoho Marketing Automation.Screenshot of Design amazing emails which your users will love engaging with and schedule them at the optimal open time for maximum engagement.Screenshot of Automate your entire marketing efforts using simple but advanced user journeys. Do more with powerful journeys, from nurturing leads with personalized content to updating lead score, setting drip campaigns and automating communications across channels.Screenshot of Design beautiful landing pages and host it freely. Library of templates to chose from, heatmap analysis, Customisable forms and easy lead management for your business.Screenshot of Ideate, build, execute and measure your entire marketing plan from a single place. Set Goals with objectives, assign budget for tasks, collaborate with team members, and run planned executions for your marketing strategy. Plus measure ROI and key metrics.