Picking the right CRM is tough, right?
You’re looking at ActiveCampaign vs Freshsales CRM, and honestly, they both seem good.
But which one is really the best for you in 2025?
It’s like choosing between two cool video games, but you only have time for one.
Don’t worry; we’re going to break down ActiveCampaign vs Freshsales CRM in a way that’s easy to understand.
Overview
We’ve put both ActiveCampaign and Freshsales CRM through their paces, testing features, ease of use, and overall performance.
Our hands-on experience lets us give you a clear, honest comparison, so you can see which CRM truly fits your needs.
Ready to explore the power of ActiveCampaign? Sign up for free & see how it could transform your marketing & sales efforts!
Pricing: It has a free plan. The premium plan starts at $15/month.
Key Features:
- Automation
- Email Marketing
- CRM
Want to see Freshsales in action? Start your free trial and visit their website and experience more to see the difference!
Pricing: It has a free plan. The premium plan starts at $9/month.
Key Features:
- Built-in phone and email
- AI-powered insights
- Customizable reports
What is ActiveCampaign?
ActiveCampaign? It’s a powerhouse. Think marketing automation, email, and CRM all in one spot.
Do you want to automate your sales? This tool can help.
It also enables you to keep track of customers and makes your marketing smarter.
Also, explore our favorite ActiveCampaign alternatives…
Ready to explore the power of ActiveCampaign? Sign up for free and see how it could transform your marketing and sales efforts!
Key Benefits
- Visual automation builder: No coding needed! Design complex workflows with easy drag-and-drop tools.
- Advanced segmentation: Go beyond basic lists—target contacts based on behavior, interests, and more.
- Built-in CRM: Organize your contacts, track interactions, and score leads for better follow-up.
- Over 850+ integrations: Connect with your favorite tools and streamline your workflow.
- Personalized email marketing: Send emails that feel like a one-on-one conversation.
Pricing
ActiveCampaign offers you a tiered pricing based on the number of contacts and features you need.
- Starter: $15/month.
- Plus: $49/month.
- Pro: $79/month.
- Enterprise: $145/month.
Pros
Cons
What is Freshsales?
Freshsales? It’s a CRM. Think of it as a tool to help you sell better.
It tracks your customers, smooths your sales process, and is built for sales teams.
Also, explore our favorite Freshsales CRM alternatives…
Unlock the power of an all-in-one marketing platform. GoHighLevel gives you everything to manage your marketing.
Key Benefits
- Intuitive Interface: Get up and running in minutes; no tech skills required.
- Visual Sales Pipeline: See precisely where your deals stand at a glance.
- Built-in Phone and Email: Connect with customers directly within the platform.
- AI-Powered Insights: Get intelligent recommendations to close more deals.
Pricing
Freshsales CRM offers four pricing tiers:
- Growth + 500 Marketing Contacts: $9/user/month.
- Pro + 500 Marketing Contacts: $39/user/month.
- Enterprise + 500 Marketing Contacts: $59/user/month.
Pros
Cons
Feature Comparison
Let’s dive into the core differences.
We’ve broken down the key features of both ActiveCampaign and Freshsales CRM so you can easily compare ActiveCampaign and Freshsales and decide which fits your business best.
1. Lead Management
Freshsales offers strong lead management tools designed to help you manage leads efficiently.
It’s built for sales pipeline management, making it easy to track your sales cycle.
ActiveCampaign’s CRM also has solid lead management, but its strength lies in segmentation and personalization, allowing for targeted outreach.
This is a key difference between ActiveCampaign.
2. Sales Automation
ActiveCampaign’s automation is a major selling point.
It excels in sales automation with robust sales workflows, allowing you to automate complex tasks.
Freshsales also provides sales automation, but ActiveCampaign offers a wide range of more advanced features.
Freshsales also integrates with Freddy AI for some automation assistance.
3. CRM Capabilities
Both provide strong CRM capabilities, but they cater to different needs. ActiveCampaign CRM is a powerful CRM solution that integrates marketing and sales.
Freshsales suite is a robust CRM focused on sales management and closing deals faster.
Choosing depends on the kind of customer relationship management you need.
4. Reporting and Analytics
For analytics, both platforms give you actionable insights.
ActiveCampaign provides detailed reporting and analytics on marketing campaigns and sales funnel performance.
Freshsales offers strong reporting and analytics on sales performance, helping you improve sales.
5. Email Marketing and Campaign Management
ActiveCampaign is well-known for its email marketing platforms and campaign management.
It goes beyond simple email tracking and provides advanced marketing tools and marketing automation platform features.
It is a strong alternative to Mailchimp and similar marketing platforms.
While Freshsales includes email capabilities, it focuses more on sales-driven emails.
6. User-Friendly Interface and Generative AI
Freshsales is often praised for its user-friendly interface, making it easy for businesses of all sizes to get started quickly and easily.
ActiveCampaign is also user-friendly, but its more complex features might require a steeper learning curve, especially for solopreneurs or SMBs.
Freshsales has begun to integrate generative AI into its platform.
7. Customer Engagement and Social Media Integration
ActiveCampaign excels in customer engagement, offering tools to connect with customers across various social media channels.
This helps you engage your audience and build stronger customer relationships.
Freshsales also integrates with some social media platforms, focusing more on direct sales interactions and managing leads and deals within the entire sales process.
What to Look for in CRM Software?
- Scalability: Can the CRM grow with your business?
- Customization: Does it adapt to your unique workflows?
- Support: Is reliable customer support available?
- Mobile Access: Can you manage your CRM on the go?
- Security: Does it protect your customer data?
- Industry-Specific Features: Does the CRM have features geared toward your industry?
- Training & Onboarding: Are there resources to help your team learn the software?
- Reporting Capabilities: Can you generate the specific reports you need?
- Data Migration: How easy is moving your existing data into the new CRM?
- User Permissions: Can you control who has access to what information?
- Updates & Maintenance: How often is the software updated, and what is the maintenance process?
Final Verdict
After thorough testing, we lean towards ActiveCampaign for businesses needing comprehensive marketing automation alongside strong CRM functions.
If your focus is primarily on streamlining sales management and having a user-friendly experience, Freshsales is a solid choice.
However, ActiveCampaign’s deep segmentation, robust automation.
Strong customer engagement tools give it a slight edge for those seeking a more unified approach to customer relationship management.
We’ve provided this detailed compare ActiveCampaign analysis so you can make an informed decision and choose the CRM platform that best helps businesses like yours succeed.
More of ActiveCampaign
Here’s a comparison of ActiveCampaign with its alternatives:
- ActiveCampaign vs GoHighLevel: ActiveCampaign focuses on advanced email marketing and customer journey automation. In contrast, GoHighLevel provides an all-in-one suite for agencies, including funnels, websites, and extensive sales/marketing tools.
- ActiveCampaign vs Pipedrive: ActiveCampaign excels in marketing automation and lead nurturing with integrated CRM. Pipedrive, however, is a sales-centric CRM that emphasizes visual pipeline management and efficient deal tracking.
- ActiveCampaign vs Keap: ActiveCampaign offers robust marketing automation and email capabilities. Keap is tailored for small businesses, blending CRM with sales and email for an integrated approach.
- ActiveCampaign vs HubSpot: ActiveCampaign is a leader in email marketing automation and customer engagement. HubSpot provides a more comprehensive, all-in-one platform covering marketing, sales, service, and content management.
- ActiveCampaign vs ClickFunnels: ActiveCampaign is ideal for email marketing automation and lead nurturing within a CRM context. ClickFunnels specializes in building sales funnels and landing pages for direct conversions.
- ActiveCampaign vs Folk: ActiveCampaign is known for sophisticated marketing automation and detailed customer segmentation. Folk offers a simpler, collaborative CRM for contact management, email campaigns, and basic sales pipelines.
- ActiveCampaign vs Instantly: ActiveCampaign delivers advanced marketing automation and a comprehensive CRM. Instantly focuses more on cold email outreach and lead finding with basic CRM features for simplified sales.
- ActiveCampaign vs ClickUp: ActiveCampaign excels in marketing-specific automation and customer relationship management. ClickUp is a versatile work management platform that can be customized for CRM and emphasizes project management.
- ActiveCampaign vs Monday CRM: ActiveCampaign provides powerful marketing automation and email campaigns with strong CRM integration. Monday CRM emphasizes visual collaboration and customizable boards for lead and deal management.
- ActiveCampaign vs Capsule: ActiveCampaign offers robust email marketing and advanced automation for sales and customer journeys. Capsule CRM provides straightforward contact management and sales pipeline features, ideal for basic CRM needs.
- ActiveCampaign vs Insightly: ActiveCampaign focuses on deep marketing and sales automation with lead scoring and tracking. Insightly combines CRM with project management, suiting teams needing both sales and project delivery.
- ActiveCampaign vs Salesforce: ActiveCampaign specializes in marketing automation and email engagement for small to medium businesses. Salesforce is an extensive, scalable CRM platform for large enterprises, covering sales, service, and marketing.
More of Freshsales CRM
Here’s a brief comparison of Freshsales CRM with these software solutions:
- Freshsales CRM vs Gohighlevel: Freshsales CRM focuses on AI-driven sales automation and pipeline management, while GoHighLevel is a broader platform offering extensive marketing, sales, and agency automation features.
- Freshsales CRM vs Pipedrive: Freshsales CRM provides a comprehensive sales solution with integrated communication and AI, whereas Pipedrive excels in visual sales pipeline organization and deal tracking.
- Freshsales CRM vs Keap: Freshsales CRM emphasizes intuitive sales management and AI-powered insights; Keap offers powerful sales and marketing automation with a focus on contact management.
- Freshsales CRM vs Hubspot: Freshsales CRM offers AI-powered sales tools and a quicker setup; HubSpot provides an extensive all-in-one suite covering marketing, sales, and customer service.
- Freshsales CRM vs Clickfunnels: Freshsales CRM is a sales-focused CRM for managing customer interactions, whereas ClickFunnels is a specialized tool for building sales funnels and landing pages.
- Freshsales CRM vs Folk: Freshsales CRM offers a comprehensive sales platform with AI and automation; Folk focuses on simple, collaborative contact management and visual pipeline organization.
- Freshsales CRM vs Instantly: Freshsales CRM is a full-fledged sales CRM with robust features; Instantly is primarily an email outreach and cold email automation tool.
- Freshsales CRM vs ClickUp: Freshsales CRM is designed for streamlining sales processes and managing pipelines; ClickUp is a versatile work OS that encompasses project management, tasks, and CRM functionalities.
- Freshsales CRM vs Monday CRM: Freshsales CRM provides a dedicated sales solution with intelligent insights, while Monday CRM offers highly customizable boards for managing workflows, including CRM.
- Freshsales CRM vs Capsule CRM: Freshsales CRM offers a more robust sales CRM with AI features; Capsule CRM focuses on straightforward contact management and sales opportunity tracking.
- Freshsales CRM vs Insightly: Freshsales CRM is a dedicated sales tool with AI and comprehensive sales automation; Insightly provides a broader CRM experience, including strong project management capabilities.
- Freshsales CRM vs Salesforce: Freshsales CRM offers an intuitive, AI-powered sales platform with competitive pricing; Salesforce is a highly customizable, enterprise-grade CRM with an extensive ecosystem and advanced features.
- Freshsales CRM vs Zendesk: Freshsales CRM focuses on sales automation and pipeline management, while Zendesk is primarily a customer service platform with robust ticketing and support features.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is better for small businesses, ActiveCampaign or Freshsales?
For small businesses prioritizing ease of use and streamlined sales management, Freshsales is often preferred. However, if your small business needs strong marketing automation, ActiveCampaign can be a powerful tool, though it may have a steeper learning curve.
Can I integrate ActiveCampaign with other marketing platforms?
Yes, ActiveCampaign is designed to integrate with a wide range of marketing platforms, including popular email marketing platforms. Its robust API and extensive integrations make it a versatile tool for connecting your entire marketing stack.
Does Freshsales offer email marketing capabilities?
While Freshsales includes email functionalities, its primary focus is sales management. It provides tools for email tracking and personalized outreach within the sales process, but ActiveCampaign is the stronger choice for in-depth marketing campaigns.
How does ActiveCampaign handle lead segmentation?
ActiveCampaign’s strength lies in its advanced segmentation capabilities. It allows you to segment leads and deals based on various criteria, enabling highly targeted personalization in your marketing campaigns and sales workflows.
What are the main differences between ActiveCampaign and Freshsales CRM?
The main difference between ActiveCampaign and Freshsales CRM is that ActiveCampaign is a marketing automation platform with strong CRM functions. At the same time, Freshsales is a dedicated CRM solution focused on sales management and closing deals faster.
