MailerLite or ActiveCampaign: which choice for your emails in 2025?
MailerLite or ActiveCampaign?
Two e-mailing solutions with very different philosophies: on the one hand, simplicity at a low price; on the other, performance pushed to the limit.
So which should you choose in 2025 if you want to boost your customer relations, automate your marketing or convert without losing your soul (or your budget)?
Spoiler: it all depends on what you're looking for. An intuitive interface for easy newsletter creation? Or an ultra-weaponised platform for building sales tunnels as precise as a battle plan?
In this comparison, we take a look at their strengths, limitations, prices and real-life use cases.
In short, we've dug deep so that you can choose without fumbling.
What is MailerLite?
General presentation of MailerLite
MailerLite is the tool we often recommend when you want to get started quickly, without getting lost in a maze of features. It's aimed primarily at small businesses, freelancers, content creators and SMEs who want to launch their marketing campaigns without going through an agency or a 12-hour training course.
Typical use cases?
- Sending out a clear, well-designed newsletter in just a few minutes.
- Creating a registration page or form without coding.
- Launching a small automation to welcome new subscribers.
- Selling an ebook, workshop or digital product via a landing page.
Positioning: MailerLite plays the simplicity card. You don't need a marketing team to make the most of it. The interface is clear, the price very competitive, and the functions well calibrated for those who want a pragmatic and effective solution.
As far as customers are concerned, the solution attracts a varied audience, often working alone or in small teams. From bloggers to e-tailers and start-ups in the launch phase.
In short: MailerLite doesn't try to do too much. It does what it promises, and it does it well. Ideal for those who want to get straight to the point, without sacrificing quality.
MailerLite's main features
Here are the key features of MailerLite, designed for those who want to launch their marketing without technical complexity:
- Drag-and-drop email editor: simple, fluid and responsive. You choose a template, adapt it and it's ready to go.
- Light but useful automation: sequences triggered by registration, click or open, with several possible steps.
- Integrated landing pages and forms: capture pages, pop-ups, floating bars... all customisable without coding.
- Site builder and blog included: for designers or small organisations without a website, MailerLite offers a lightweight but practical CMS.
- Basic segmentation: groups, tags, simple filters to target your mailings.
- E-commerce functions: sale of digital products directly via MailerLite, integration with Stripe.
- Clear reporting: campaign statistics (opens, clicks, bounce rate), subscriber activity, heatmaps.
- Collaborative functions: user role management, campaign approval, ideal for teams.
- Developer mode: HTML access, CSS customisation, API integration for the more technical.
Mailerlite
Advantages and disadvantages of MailerLite
We love MailerLite for its uncomplicated simplicity, but like any tool, it has its comfort zones... and its blind spots.
Here's what you really need to know before taking the plunge (or migrating) with it.
✅ Advantages of MailerLite
- Quick start: no need for training, you'll understand everything in 10 minutes.
- Generous free plan: up to 1,000 subscribers, automations, landing pages, full email editor... ideal for getting started at no cost.
- Ultra-fluid interface: a UX designed for speed, without drowning in options.
- Landing pages + site + blog included: MailerLite becomes almost a mini CMS for those who want to centralise everything.
- Unbeatable value for money: one of the best on the market for small organisations.
- Good deliverability: your emails arrive safely in your inbox (and not in spam limbo).
- Useful e-commerce features: sell a product or training course directly via a MailerLite page? Easy.
❌ MailerLite drawbacks
- Limited automations: as soon as you want to manage several conditions or branches, it gets stuck.
- No integrated CRM: you'll need an external tool to manage leads, pipelines or sales cycles.
- Not very dynamic segmentation: no real-time behavioural targeting.
- Less suitable for companies in a scaling phase: the tool shows its limitations when the strategy becomes complex.
- Fewer integrations than its competitors: around 140, while others have more than 800.
MailerLite is perfect for getting off to a clean and efficient start, without complexity. But beware: if your strategy intensifies, it could become a little too "light".
What is ActiveCampaign?
Overview of ActiveCampaign
ActiveCampaign is the big brother of marketing automation. Where MailerLite seduces with its simplicity, ActiveCampaign impresses with its functional depth.
Targeted primarily at ambitious SMEs, structured marketing teams, growing start-ups or e-tailers who want to automate every last click, it stands out for its ability to centralise customer relations around a highly advanced automation logic.
Common use cases :
- Creation of multi-channel conversion tunnels (email, SMS, website, CRM).
- Complete lead management via a native CRM connected to the campaigns.
- Complex automation scenarios: behavioural follow-up, nurturing, scoring, attribution.
- Dynamic targeting: real-time segmentation based on user actions.
- Multivariate A/B testing to optimise every detail of your messages.
ActiveCampaign is not an emailing tool... it's a marketing war machine. It is designed to manage complex customer lifecycles, where every interaction can be personalised, analysed and replicated.
On the user side, you'll find :
- Scalable B2B SaaS,
- High-volume e-tailers,
- Marketing agencies,
- Publishers of premium content or online training courses.
If you have a long-term vision, love well-oiled customer journeys and have marketing processes to automate, ActiveCampaign is a powerful ally.
ActiveCampaign features
ActiveCampaign isn't just an emailing platform. It's an automated marketing control tower, where every interaction can be tracked, analysed, scripted... and replicated.
We're clearly in another dimension, designed for companies that want to industrialise their customer relations.
Here are the key features that make ActiveCampaign such a comprehensive solution:
- Advanced automation: multi-step workflows, conditions, deadlines, scores, filters, cross-triggers... all in an ultra-flexible visual interface.
- Integrated native CRM: sales pipeline, lead scoring, tasks and opportunity tracking connected to marketing actions.
- Real-time behavioural segmentation: targeting based on behaviour (clicks, visits, purchases, inactivity, etc.) updated with each user action.
- Unified multi-channel: email campaigns, SMS, in-app messages, website, ad synchronisation (Facebook, Google) in a single automated flow.
- Multivariate A/B testing: compare several versions of an email or workflow to find the winning combination.
- Dynamic personalisation: conditional fields, intelligent content, product recommendations or profile-based routes.
- Advanced reporting: campaign analysis, conversion funnels, ROI tracking, attribution of results by channel or segment.
- +900 native integrations: Shopify, Salesforce, WordPress, Zapier, Stripe... you name it.
ActiveCampaign is tailor-made for those who want to control the entire customer lifecycle, from first visit to purchase and retention.
It's a data-driven marketing factory.
ActiveCampaign
Advantages and disadvantages of ActiveCampaign
ActiveCampaign is a bit like a Formula 1 car: impressive to drive, but not necessarily designed for a leisurely spin around the neighbourhood.
Here are the real pluses... and the limitations to be aware of before committing yourself.
✅ Benefits of ActiveCampaign
- Ultra-powerful automation: everything can be customised, conditional or triggered. If you can imagine a scenario, you can make it happen.
- Integrated CRM: no need to connect an external tool to manage your leads and pipelines.
- Real-time behavioural segmentation: you target your users according to what they do, not what they did three weeks ago.
- Multi-channel: email, SMS, in-app messages, ad synchronisation, everything can be controlled from the same interface.
- Advanced personalisation: each contact has a unique experience based on their behaviour and preferences.
- Ultra-detailed reporting: funnels, attribution, conversion rates, performance by segment, everything can be measured.
- Giant ecosystem: +900 integrations, robust API, extensive documentation.
❌ Disadvantages of ActiveCampaign
- Learning curve: it takes a real amount of time to get to grips with it to exploit its full potential.
- Higher price: especially if you have a large contact base or need advanced features right from the start.
- Dense interface: rich in options... sometimes a little too much.
- No free plan: even to test it, you'll need to get out your credit card (14-day free trial only).
- Uneven support: good on the whole, but some reviews point to long response times during peak full stops.
ActiveCampaign is a digital marketing war machine, but it needs fuel (time, budget, skills) to run at full speed. It should be reserved for those who want to go beyond simple emailing, with a truly automated vision of their customer relations.
MailerLite vs ActiveCampaign: compare features
Between MailerLite and ActiveCampaign, the field is the same (email marketing and automation) but the means are radically different.
MailerLite is simple, fast and effective. The other offers a pilot cockpit for a fine-tuned marketing strategy.
Here is a detailed table of the essential features to compare:
| Function | MailerLite | ActiveCampaign |
| Marketing automation | Simple workflows (register, click, open), email sequences | Advanced automations: conditions, deadlines, scoring, multi-channel actions |
| Integrated CRM | ❌ Not included | ✅ Full CRM: pipeline, tasks, scoring, synchronised with marketing |
| Contact segmentation | By tags, groups, manual filters | Dynamic, behavioural, real-time |
| Email personalisation | Basic fields, static content | Conditional content, dynamic blocks, product recommendations |
| A/B tests | Basic: email subject or content | Multivariate: objects, blocks, entire workflows |
| Channels supported | Email only | Email, SMS, chat, Facebook Ads, website |
| Landing pages & forms | ✅ Included in all plans | ✅ Also included |
| Website & blog | ✅ Integrated CMS for designers | ❌ Not available |
| Reporting & analytics | Standard statistics (clicks, openings, unsubscriptions) | Advanced analysis: ROI, funnel, attribution, performance by segment |
| Third-party integrations | ~140 integrations (Shopify, WordPress, Stripe...) | 900+ integrations (incl. Salesforce, HubSpot, Zapier...) |
| Interface & user experience | Very intuitive, designed for beginners | More dense, powerful but less immediate |
| Free plan | ✅ Up to 1,000 subscribers | ❌ No (14-day free trial only) |
Focus 1: Marketing automations
MailerLite lets you create simple workflows: welcome sequences, follow-up after sign-up, follow-up after click.
No advanced conditional logic or cross-channel interactions.
ActiveCampaign, on the other hand, is designed to manage complex customer journeys: nested conditional logic, personalised timeframes, multiple triggers (visit, open, tag, behaviour), score management and CRM tasks.
👉 To remember
For simple onboarding or automated newsletters, MailerLite is all you need. But for lead nurturing, scoring or multi-channel, ActiveCampaign is a must.
Focus 2: CRM and customer relationship management
MailerLite is pure marketing: no CRM, no pipeline, no sales follow-up.
You can tag, group and filter, but you can't manage a structured customer relationship.
ActiveCampaign integrates a complete CRM that's synchronised with the automations. You track your leads, their scoring, your deals and interactions, and you align sales and marketing in the same tool.
For sales organisations or SaaS providers, this native CRM is a real efficiency booster.
👉 To remember
No need for CRM? MailerLite is all you need.
But if your marketing campaigns are linked to a sales strategy, ActiveCampaign is much more suitable.
Focus 3: Contact segmentation
MailerLite offers basic but functional segmentation: tags, groups, simple filters. This is more than enough for standard campaigns.
ActiveCampaign goes much further with real-time behavioural segmentation: dynamic targeting based on behaviour, contact properties or CRM data.
👉 To remember
Fine segmentation means sending the right message to the right person at the right time. ActiveCampaign excels in this area.
Focus 4: Personalising and creating emails
MailerLite shines for its simplicity: an intuitive drag & drop editor, modern templates and responsive rendering. Perfect for designers, SMEs and non-designers.
ActiveCampaign takes personalisation a step further, with conditional blocks, dynamic fields, product recommendations, content tailored to each profile and multivariate A/B testing.
👉 To remember
Create a cool newsletter? MailerLite.
Launch an ultra-targeted campaign to 10 different segments? ActiveCampaign.
Focus 5: Reporting and analysis
MailerLite offers the classic key indicators: open, click and unsubscribe rates. It's clean and easy to read, but not very in-depth.
ActiveCampaign provides detailed reports: ROI, conversion funnels, segment analysis, multi-channel attribution, performance by channel or action.
👉 To remember
If you're looking to manage your campaigns on the fly, both will do.
But if you want to optimise your campaigns with precision, ActiveCampaign is much more comprehensive.
MailerLite vs ActiveCampaign: compare prices
Price is often the sinews of war. MailerLite plays the affordability card, while ActiveCampaign assumes its role as a premium tool.
Let's see who's for which budget.
|
Software |
Free plan |
Entry plan (500 contacts) |
Intermediate plan |
Advanced plan |
Enterprise Plan |
|
MailerLite |
✅ Yes, up to 500 subscribers, unlimited emails, simple automations |
12/month (Growing Business) |
25/month (Advanced, + collaboration features, extended automations) |
/ |
On quotation (Enterprise) |
|
ActiveCampaign |
❌ No (14-day free trial) |
15/month (Starter: email, simple automations) |
49/month (Plus: CRM, advanced automations, premium integrations) |
70/month (Pro: attribution, prediction, advanced scoring) |
145/month |
👉 To remember
- If you're looking for value for money with a generous free plan, MailerLite can't be beaten.
- If your priority is power and functional depth, ActiveCampaign justifies its higher price, especially once you get beyond the basics.
MailerLite vs ActiveCampaign: which interface is more intuitive?
Choosing an email marketing tool isn't just a question of price or functionality.
It's also a question of ease of use: a fluid interface saves time, while a complex interface can quickly put you off.
| Criteria | MailerLite | ActiveCampaign |
| Getting started | Immediate, intuitive interface | Longer learning curve |
| Email editor | Quick drag & drop, simple design | Advanced, conditional blocks, very powerful |
| Automations | Easy to create but limited | Complex, rich, time-consuming |
| Navigation | Uncluttered, very accessible | Dense, sometimes a little 'busy |
| General ergonomics | Ideal for beginners and SMEs | Ideal for marketing professionals |
MailerLite:
- Uncluttered, clear interface, designed for beginners and small teams alike.
- Email creation is drag-and-drop, without complexity.
- Automations are visual but limited, keeping the experience simple.
- Ideal for launching a campaign in 15 minutes, even without training.
ActiveCampaign:
- A denser interface: the wealth of functions translates into more complex navigation.
- The workflow logic requires some learning, but once mastered, it offers total freedom.
- The tool is clearly designed for experienced marketers or dedicated teams.
- Almost everything can be customised, at the cost of a steeper learning curve.
👉 To remember
- MailerLite takes the cake for simplicity: perfect if you want a tool that's quick to learn.
- ActiveCampaign appeals to more advanced users, who will accept a denser interface in order to benefit from much richer functionality.
MailerLite vs ActiveCampaign: compare integrations
Email marketing software never lives alone: it needs to be connected to your CRM, your e-commerce, your website and your automation tools.
And when it comes to this, MailerLite and ActiveCampaign aren't exactly in the same league.
MailerLite offers around 140 integrations, covering the great classics like Shopify, WooCommerce, WordPress, Zapier and Stripe. For a small team or SME, that's more than enough, especially as the connections are easy to configure. On the other hand, the range is more limited than that of its competitors: some integrations are less advanced and, to go further, you often have to go through Zapier, with a little extra technical layer.
ActiveCampaign, on the other hand, is in a different league. With over 900 native integrations, ranging from HubSpot to Salesforce, Shopify, Typeform, Slack and Zapier, the platform enables you to build a complete marketing and sales ecosystem. Here, the automation of workflows is fluid, direct and often native, with no need to add intermediate connectors. Which makes it an ideal choice for companies that want to unify all their tools in a data-driven way and orchestrate their processes without friction.
Number of integrations:
- MailerLite ★★★☆☆
With around 140 integrations, MailerLite covers standard needs (WordPress, Shopify, Stripe). That's more than enough for a small structure, but quickly limited when you want to connect a richer ecosystem. - ActiveCampaign ★★★★★
With over 900 integrations, ActiveCampaign is the champion. CRM, e-commerce, customer services, productivity tools: it's got it all, and more than covers the needs of SMEs and large companies alike.
Ease of use:
- MailerLite ★★★★☆
Its integrations are easy to configure and require no special technical skills. The interface is designed to remain simple, which will appeal to beginners. - ActiveCampaign ★★★★☆
Despite the richness of its catalogue, the platform is easy to use. The only drawback is the sheer number of options, which can be confusing at first.
Automation via integrations:
- MailerLite ★★☆☆☆
Integrations do exist, but they often lack depth. To automate in fine detail, you need to use Zapier or an external connector. - ActiveCampaign ★★★★★
Everything here is designed for automation. Integrations plug directly into workflows, so complex scenarios can be created without third-party tools.
When to choose MailerLite or ActiveCampaign?
Choosing between MailerLite and ActiveCampaign is mainly a matter of context. Both tools are solid, but they don't meet the same needs. Here's when you should choose one or the other.
If... MailerLite is for you
Are you looking for a tool that's simple, quick to learn and affordable? MailerLite is perfect for launching your newsletters and setting up a few basic automations. Freelancers, content creators, associations or small SMEs will find it an affordable solution that covers all the essentials: unlimited sending, landing pages, forms and even an integrated website.
It's also a good choice if you're new to email marketing and want to test your campaigns without a big budget. The generous free plan (up to 1,000 subscribers) means you can get started without risk. However, if your strategy becomes very sophisticated, MailerLite will quickly reach its limits.
If... ActiveCampaign is the best option
ActiveCampaign is the best option if your aim is to scale your marketing and sales. It is designed for teams who want to orchestrate complex, multi-channel and personalised customer journeys. Thanks to its integrated CRM, it aligns marketing and sales on the same platform, making it an ideal ally for fast-growing B2B, SaaS or e-commerce companies.
It's the tool for you if you're obsessed with optimisation and data: behavioural segmentation, conditional workflows, ROI attribution, massive integrations... it's all there to build a marketing war machine. Of course, this comes at a price: both financially and in terms of learning time.
Lessons from the MailerLite vs ActiveCampaign battle
So, what's the verdict?
We've seen that MailerLite plays the simplicity and value-for-money card, while ActiveCampaign deploys a whole armada to orchestrate ultra-advanced marketing strategies.
The choice is not a question of "the absolute best tool", but of the best tool for your situation.
| Main need | Recommendation |
| Start email marketing without complexity | MailerLite |
| Have a free plan to test | MailerLite |
| Manage a few simple automations | MailerLite |
| Create a site or blog directly in the tool | MailerLite |
| Set up multi-channel scenarios | ActiveCampaign |
| Track leads and pipelines (CRM) | ActiveCampaign |
| Segment contacts in real time | ActiveCampaign |
| In-depth analysis of ROI and funnels | ActiveCampaign |
| Connect a wide ecosystem of tools | ActiveCampaign |
👉 To remember
- If you want a tool that's effective, affordable and hassle-free, choose MailerLite.
- If you're looking for a complete marketing platform to scale your business, ActiveCampaign is the solution for you.
MailerLite vs ActiveCampaign FAQs
MailerLite or ActiveCampaign: which is easier to use?
MailerLite, without hesitation. Its clear interface and intuitive editor allow you to create a campaign in just a few minutes. ActiveCampaign is denser and requires some learning, but then offers infinite possibilities.
Which software is best suited to small businesses?
MailerLite. Its free plan and competitive price make it an excellent choice for freelancers, VSEs and associations. ActiveCampaign is more expensive and better suited to structured marketing teams.
Does ActiveCampaign offer a free plan?
No. ActiveCampaign only offers a 14-day free trial. MailerLite, on the other hand, has a complete free plan for up to 1,000 subscribers.
Which tool is better for marketing automation?
ActiveCampaign is the clear winner. Its conditional workflows, integrated CRM and dynamic segmentation make it possible to manage complex scenarios. MailerLite is limited to basic automation.
Is it possible to sell online directly with these tools?
MailerLite offers integrated functions for selling digital products and accepting payments via Stripe. ActiveCampaign connects to a number of e-commerce platforms (Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento, etc.), but does not sell directly from the tool.
Which performs better in terms of deliverability?
Both are very good in this respect. MailerLite is renowned for its excellent deliverability, while ActiveCampaign regularly features among the leaders in independent tests.
Which tool should I choose if I want an integrated CRM?
ActiveCampaign, without question. Its native CRM allows you to manage pipelines, scoring and opportunities directly linked to marketing. MailerLite does not offer CRM.
Who offers the best value for money?
For small businesses: MailerLite, thanks to its free plan and competitive rates. For companies that really exploit automation and data: ActiveCampaign, because its higher price is offset by the power of its features.
Article translated from French