Sendinblue vs ActiveCampaign (Feb 2023) – Which One Is the Absolute Best?

The Battle of The Email Platforms

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When it comes to picking the right email platform for your business, there are loads to choose from. So, to help narrow down your search, we're comparing two of the industry's major players: Sendinblue and ActiveCampaign.

Hopefully, by the end of this Sendinblue vs ActiveCampaign review, you'll have a better idea of which (if either) software is best for your needs.

There's lots to cover, so let's hop to it!

Sendinblue vs ActiveCampaign: Pricing

It doesn't matter whether Sendinblue and ActiveCampaign are the best things to happen since sliced bread; if they don't work with your budget, they're a no-go (at least for the time being). So let's see how these two platforms compare on price…

SendinBlue Pricing

Sendinblue pricing

Sendinblue offers a free plan, which is great if you're on the fence about spending your hard-earned cash on this software. With the free program, you can send 300 emails per day and register unlimited contacts.

Going upwards from there, SendinBlue's cheapest paid-for plan comes in at $25 a month, which entitles you to:

  • Send up to 100,000 emails
  • There isn't a daily sending limit
  • Email support
  • A/B testing
  • The removal of Sendinblue's logo
  • Advanced statistics

Sendinblue's priciest plan is their Enterprise package. You'll need to contact them directly for a quote as this requires Sendinblue to create a program customized to your organization's needs.

For more information on Sendinblue pricing, click here for our full review on the topic.

ActiveCampaign Pricing

ActiveCampaign pricing

There are four pricing plans to choose from, which scale in price per your email list's size. The cheapest package is the Lite at $9 a month (based on annual billing), and it's most expensive is the Enterprise program at $229 a month (again, based on annual billing).

Unsurprisingly, as you upgrade your ActiveCampaign subscription, you'll unlock more sophisticated features. That said, even Lite plan boasts basic marketing tools like automation recipes, segmentation, site, and event tracking, to name a few.

Then, when you upgrade to ActiveCampaign's Premium plan, you get the benefit of being able to launch retargeting and Facebook ads from within your ActiveCampaign account.

For more information on ActiveCampaign pricing, click here for our full review on the topic.

Sendinblue vs ActiveCampaign: Email Templates and Editing

When picking an email marketing software, you want a decent array of professional templates to choose from, and you want to be able to edit them to reflect your brand…with ease. Let's see how these two platforms square up to one another in this department…

Sendinblue

Sendinblue design

Sendinblue offers users over 60 professional-looking and responsive templates to choose from. These plug-and-play frameworks are ready to use from the get-go. Just make whatever aesthetic changes you want, insert your own content, and you're good to go.

Alternatively, if you already have a specific vision of what your emails will look like, you can create your own templates from scratch.

At this point, it's also worth mentioning that Sendinblue's drop and drag email editor is nothing short of intuitive. With just a few clicks, you can add headers, text boxes, and your own logo.

That said, you can't insert social media buttons inside your email content. Some users complain that when it comes to modifying their email backgrounds, Sendinblue's design options are limited.

ActiveCampaign

In contrast, ActiveCampaign‘s selection of email templates is much smaller, with just 30 to choose from! That said, these themes are gorgeous and are equally as customizable as Sendinblue's.

Also, just like Sendinblue, you can create your own email templates from scratch, and you get access to an easy-to-use drag and drop email builder.

That said, ActiveCampaign does enable you to add social media buttons – which is a huge plus!

So, as you can see, it's swings and roundabouts when it comes to Sendinblue's and ActiveCampaign's email templates and editing. In essence, you have to decide whether a greater selection of templates or adding social media buttons is more critical to your business.

Sendinblue vs ActiveCampaign: API

If you have some coding smarts, you might be interested in hearing about the API that Sendinblue and ActiveCampaign have to offer…

Sendinblue

Sendinblue's API allows you to dig deep into all of Sendinblue's features using a standardized programmatic interface.

ActiveCampaign

ActiveCampaign's API's based on REST, HTTP, and JSON and requires basic authentication.

Sendinblue vs ActiveCampaign: Autoresponders and Automation

Chances are, one of the main reasons you're looking to invest in an email marketing tool is to start automating your email workflows. So, with that in mind, let's see what both Sendinblue and ActiveCampaign offer in this arena…

Sendinblue

Sendinblue vs ActiveCampaign

Where automation is concerned, Sendinblue offers a variety of automated workflows to choose from. Just select the scenario that best fits your needs, and then customize it using Sendinblue's drag-and-drop funnel builder. You can add events, triggers and develop your autoresponder strategy based on pre-set objectives. Also, with regards to list management, you can automatically add contacts to specific lists.

Sendinblue allows you to create basic automation workflows like sending welcome emails when you get a new subscriber or pinging automated messages on customer birthdays. Perhaps you could even offer a discount with these messages?

Although this all sounds very impressive, some say that Sendinblue's automation builder isn't as intuitive or as advanced as ActiveCampaign's.

ActiveCampaign

Sendinblue vs ActiveCampaign

As we've just hinted at, ActiveCampaign offers more advanced marketing, segmentation, and sales automation. Most notably, ActiveCampaign makes it easy to create automated workflows based on lists and tags either in bulk or manually.

You can program pre-set conditions that automatically tag subscribers based on their behavior, which, needless to say, saves you tons of time. In contrast to Sendinblue, ActiveCampaign boasts even more flexible segmentation within its automation builder. This empowers you to tailor the journey of individual contacts based on whatever pre-set conditions you choose.

For instance, you can trigger specific emails to send based on behavior like abandoning their carts, making a purchase, level of loyalty, or even demographic-based attributes like their location, gender, age, etc.

Sendinblue vs ActiveCampaign: CRM

Nurturing strong relationships with your audience is key to business success. As you'll know already, the easiest way to achieve this is with a robust CRM – so how do Sendinblue and ActiveCampign measure up as CRM's go?

Sendinblue

Sendinblue vs ActiveCampaign

As a CRM, Sendinblue shines where sending transactional emails and eCommerce marketing is concerned. It provides all the basics you need to establish and nurture relationships with subscribers. Most notably, through email, SMS marketing, and live chat.

Where Sendinblue's live chat functionality is concerned, you can connect with your website visitors in real-time, and which web page they're on. Best of all, it's easy to get up and running with Sendinblue live chat. Just copy the snippet of code and paste it into the header of your site, and you're good to go!

Sendinblue also makes it easy to keep track of customers from one centralized place and design and publish opt-in forms and landing pages with its easy-to-use landing page builder. On top of that, you'll benefit from lead scoring functionality, you can send automated follow-up emails, and you get access to contact list management tools.

It's also worth noting that you can create tasks from inside your Sendinblue CRM and assign these jobs to specific team members along with deadlines.

ActiveCampiagn

Like Sendinblue, ActiveCampaign also comes with a built-in CRM complete with lead scoring (with the Plus package onwards), and you can automate typical customer relationship building tasks. On top of that, ActiveCampaign makes it easy to integrate with third-party CRM's like Zendesk.

ActiveCampaign's live messaging functionality empowers you to connect with customers in real-time while they're perusing your online store. For instance, you can ping them messages about promotions you're running, upcoming events, or store-wide announcements, which works wonders for boosting customer engagement!

ActiveCampaign's ‘conversations' feature also permits you and your team to view all previous interactions with the customer. This information is compiled in one easy-to-access place, across all your comms channels, allowing customer service reps to pick up exactly where the customer left off. Gone are the days when online shoppers have to repeatedly explain their situation to a million different customer service reps!

Sendinblue vs ActiveCampaign: Spam Testing

The last thing you want is for your email newsletters to be flagged as spam! This is where spam testing comes into its own. Let's explore how Sendinblue and ActiveCampaign handle this in more detail…

Sendinblue

Enhancing your deliverability rates with SendinBlue is easy. The platform automatically blacklists contacts that trigger a hard bounce so that you immediately stop sending emails to them. On top of that, Sendinblue boasts dedicated IPs that help ensure your sender's reputation isn't damaged by other people's inappropriate behavior.

ActiveCampaign

In contrast to Sendinblue, ActiveCampaign offers more in this department. Most notably, ActiveCampaign makes every effort to ensure subscribers receive emails in their primary inbox rather than their promotional folder. Consequently, your recipients are far more likely to receive and engage with your messages.

Sendinblue vs ActiveCampaign: Integrations

If you're already using other platforms to run your online business, you'll want to ensure your chosen email software integrates seamlessly with your existing tech stack. With that in mind, let's see what Sendinblue and ActiveCampaign have to offer…

Sendinblue

Sendinblue vs ActiveCampaign

When compared to ActiveCampaign, Sendinblue doesn’t offer as much in the ways of native plugins.

That said, Sendinblue comes with basic integrations like:

  • Google Analytics
  • WooCommerce
  • Zapier
  • Salesforce
  • Shopify
  • OptinMonster
  • Magento

ActiveCampaign

Sendinblue vs ActiveCampaign

In comparison, ActiveCampaign literally comes with hundreds of integrations. However, you have to shell out for their more expensive subscriptions to access their more sophisticated plugins.

Sendinblue vs ActiveCampaign: Reporting

As with most things in business, you need to follow the data – and your email campaigns are no exception. So, what does Sendinblue and ActiveCampaign offer in terms of reporting?

Sendinblue

Sendinblue vs ActiveCampaign

With Sendinblue‘s vast array of reporting functionalities, it's easy to monitor your campaign performance. With its metric tracking feature, it's a breeze to keep an eye on your:

  • Open rates
  • Click rates
  • Unsubscribe rates

It's also straightforward to test different subject lines, content, and sending times to see what produces the best results. With this info to hand, you're better positioned to optimize your email marketing campaigns for the best possible results.

ActiveCampaign

Sendinblue vs ActiveCampaign

In contrast, ActiveCampaign takes reporting one step further. On top of everything Sendinblue offers, ActiveCampign also enables you to generate stats on individual campaigns.

Sendinblue vs ActiveCampaign: Customer Support

Whenever you purchase new software, there's always a learning curve. So, before taking the plunge, you'll want to know your email provider has a friendly customer support team. One that's willing to help you when you need it most…

SendinblueSendinblue vs ActiveCampaign

 

If you prefer the self-help route, you'll be pleased to hear that Sendinblue's online help center is pretty extensive. Here, you'll find a vast array of support documentation and tutorials across a broad range of topics. Alternatively, if you rather a more personal touch, you can contact their customer service team via live web chat, email, and telephone – even with Sendinblue‘s lower-tier plans!

ActiveCampaign

Sendinblue vs ActiveCampaign

One of the best things about ActiveCampaign's customer support staff is that they only employ WordPress experts. On top of that, just like Sendinblue, ActiveCampaign also has a rich online knowledge brimming with guides and tutorials across a breadth of topics.

Sendinblue vs ActiveCampaign: Mobile Apps

We're pleased to report that ActiveCampain has a mobile app (for both ios and Android). Here you can review email reports, track customer activity, and manage CRM data while you're on the run!

ActiveCampaign vs Sendinblue: Which Is Better for You?

So, there you have it, our SendinBlue vs ActiveCampaign review. Hopefully, you now have a better idea of which platform is best for your needs.

However, if you want our verdict, we believe Sendinblue is better suited to smaller business owners looking for an easy-to-use platform to get started with marketing automation.

In contrast, if you're looking to purchase a marketing platform with more sophisticated CRM and automation features, then ActiveCampaign is the better bet. This is definitely the superior option for more experienced online marketers and scaling businesses.

For more information about Sendinblue feel free to check out our more comprehensive Sendinblue review. Likewise, for more info on ActiveCampaign, click here.

Which platform will you opt for? Or, do you think you'll go for one of their competitors like MailChimp? Whichever you decide, tell us all about your experiences in the comments box below. We'd love to hear from you!

Rosie Greaves

Rosie Greaves is a professional content strategist who specializes in all things digital marketing, B2B, and lifestyle. She has over three years of experience crafting high-quality content. Check out her website Blog with Rosie for more information.

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