⚡ Quick Verdict:
- Pricing: ActiveCampaign starts at $15/month. Thryv starts at $244/month in our pricing data.
- Best for: ActiveCampaign for email marketing automation and sales pipeline work. Thryv for local service businesses that need booking, invoices, and listings.
- Key difference: ActiveCampaign is built around advanced automation and email campaigns. Thryv is customer relationship management plus front-office admin.
- Our pick: ActiveCampaign, rated 4.0 against Thryv’s 2.6, with a built in CRM on every plan.
Most people land on this page with one small business problem.
Leads come in, then nothing happens for three days.
ActiveCampaign and Thryv both promise to fix that gap.
But they are not the same kind of software.
One is a marketing and sales automation engine.
The other is a front-office CRM platform for local businesses.
Overview
This ActiveCampaign vs Thryv comparison covers pricing, key features, and ease of use.
We also break down who each tool works best for.
Our sources include published specs, documentation, and G2 reviews.
Our writers also spent hands-on time inside both accounts.
Those notes sit in the “What Our Team Noticed” sections below.
What is ActiveCampaign?
ActiveCampaign is a marketing automation and CRM platform for growing teams.
It handles email marketing, sales automation, and contact management in one account.
The company calls it Customer Experience Automation, or CXA.
In plain terms, ActiveCampaign marketing automation reacts to what each contact does.
Someone opens a page, and the follow up email fires on its own.
You can build automations with a drag-and-drop editor and no code.
🏆 Winner: ActiveCampaign
Over 900 automation templates and a built in CRM on every plan. The 14-day free trial needs no card.
ActiveCampaign Pricing
ActiveCampaign offers four pricing tiers. Costs also rise with your contact count.
| Plan | Price | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Starter | $15/month | Small teams sending first email campaigns |
| Plus | $49/month | Lead scoring and sales pipeline work |
| Pro | $79/month | More advanced features like split-path testing |
| Enterprise | $145/month | Big businesses needing custom objects and reports |
Pricing verified September 2026.
Free trial: 14 days with most Professional-tier features. No credit card is required to start.
Money-back guarantee: No blanket refund window. Yearly billing carries a 20% discount, so test monthly first.
📌 Note: Every tier includes the built in CRM. The Starter plan caps you at 5 actions per automation, which small businesses outgrow fast. Transactional email, SMS add ons, and CRM add ons are priced separately.
⚠️ Warning: The $15 entry price is tied to a low contact tier. Published figures elsewhere list the cheapest plan at $19, so check the slider on the pricing page before proceeding to checkout.
Key Benefits of ActiveCampaign
Here is what makes ActiveCampaign worth a look:
- Advanced automation: Multi-step workflows with conditional logic go well past basic drip campaigns. You can A/B test entire automation paths.
- 900+ pre built templates: Automation recipes are built for specific outcomes. Users report saving an average of 20 hours per month.
- Advanced segmentation: Group contacts by website visits, location, purchase history, or interaction history. Custom fields sharpen the targeting further.
- Multi-channel reach: Run email, SMS, WhatsApp, ads, and social from one dashboard. You can send SMS and text messages inside the same workflow.
- 950+ integrations: Shopify, Salesforce, WordPress, Microsoft Dynamics, and Zapier all connect. Integration events can trigger actions on their own.
- Strong deliverability: ActiveCampaign’s deliverability scores well in independent inbox tests. That matters more than any feature list.
- Free migration: Switching from another newsletter tool is free, and onboarding includes a personalized checklist.
What Our Team Noticed
Our writer set up an ActiveCampaign account and built two live workflows. Here is what stood out from that hands-on time:
ActiveCampaign Pros & Cons
✅ Pros
- Built in CRM is included on all four plans
- Over 900 automation templates and 950 integrations
- 14-day free trial with no credit card needed
- Free migration from your old email marketing platform
- GDPR compliant with data stored on US servers
❌ Cons
- Overkill if you only send a simple newsletter
- Starter plan limits you to 5 actions per automation
- Price climbs quickly as your contact list grows
- No free plan, only a 14-day trial
What is Thryv?
Thryv is customer relationship management software built for small business owners.
Thryv Holdings, Inc. is a publicly traded SaaS company based in Dallas, Texas.
It began as a group of Yellow Pages companies.
That history still shapes the product today.
Thryv software helps local businesses reach more customers, stay organized, and get paid faster.
It operates in 48 states and supports over 50,000 businesses across the U.S., Canada, and Australia.
The company reported $1.3 billion in revenue over a twelve-month period in June 2020.
More than 2,400 employees work there.
Runner Up: Thryv
Booking, invoices, and listings in one place. Best for service businesses that answer the phone all day.
Thryv Pricing
Thryv sells its centers as bundles. Here are the pricing details in our data.
| Plan | Price | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Marketing Center | $244/month | Enhanced local listings, reviews, and SEO services |
| Keap | $299/month | Bundled package tier in our pricing sheet |
Pricing verified September 2026.
Free trial: No standard trial. Thryv offers a free plan with limited features instead.
Money-back guarantee: None published. Pricing is quoted by a sales rep, so ask about contract length before you sign.
📌 Note: Thryv charges a one time onboarding fee of $250 on its packages. Entry-level seats are published at $20.00 per user per month, so the real number depends on which centers you bundle.
⚠️ Pricing conflict: Our sheet lists a $299 tier labelled “Keap,” which is a different vendor and looks like a labelling error on our side. Treat the $244 Marketing Center line as the reliable figure and confirm your own quote with Thryv before proceeding.
Key Benefits of Thryv
Here is where Thryv earns its keep:
- Thryv Command Center: A unified inbox that pulls email, SMS, social, and web chat together. Fewer missed customer interactions across channels.
- 24/7 online scheduling: Clients book appointments any hour. Typical users report a 61% jump in bookings.
- Client portal estimates: Customers schedule, pay, share documents, and view their account in a secure portal.
- Enhanced local listings: Business details sync across 50+ listing sites, including Yahoo, and reviews are managed in one page.
- Get paid faster: ThryvPay handles online payments, invoices, and digital document signing for service businesses.
- Admin time back: Owners report saving around 20 hours per week by moving invoicing, scheduling, and file storage into one tool.
- TeamChat and mobile access: Staff message each other in-app and manage workflows from any browser or phone.
What Our Team Noticed
Our writer walked through the Thryv Business Center demo and tested the booking and invoice flow. Here is what stood out:
Thryv Pros & Cons
✅ Pros
- One tool for booking, invoices, and listings
- 24/7 support and a free plan to test
- Website builder and client portal included
- AI Response Tool drafts replies to reviews
❌ Cons
- Weak automation next to a real marketing platform
- One time onboarding fee of $250 on packages
- Pricing is quoted by sales, not self-serve
- Lowest user rating of the two at 2.6
Feature Comparison
Here are the key features that decide this matchup. We line up the ActiveCampaign features against Thryv across ten areas, then close with cost.
| Feature | ActiveCampaign | Thryv |
|---|---|---|
| Starting Price | $15/month | $244/month |
| Free Plan | ❌ (14-day trial) | ✅ |
| Advanced Automation | ✅ | ❌ |
| Built In CRM | ✅ | ✅ |
| Lead Scoring | ✅ | ❌ |
| Landing Pages | ✅ | ✅ (website builder) |
| Appointment Booking | ❌ | ✅ |
| Invoices & Payments | ❌ | ✅ |
| Local Listings & Reviews | ❌ | ✅ |
| Phone Support | Higher tiers | 24/7 |
| Best For | Email marketing automation | Local service businesses |
1. Email Marketing and Campaigns
ActiveCampaign: This is the core product. The email builder ships with email templates, and the drag-and-drop editor includes AI content generation. You can measure results per campaign and track opens by segment.
Thryv: Email is one channel among many, not the main event. Campaign analytics cover sends and responses, but the depth of a dedicated newsletter tool is not here.
2. Marketing and Sales Automation
ActiveCampaign: Intelligent marketing automation is the reason most people sign up. Active Intelligence agents can build campaigns and suggest high-value segments from live data. You set the entry trigger, the branches, and the end automation step yourself.
Thryv: Automation is trigger-based email and text, not branching logic. The AI Response Tool drafts replies to reviews, which saves time on a different job.
3. CRM and Contact Management
ActiveCampaign: The ActiveCampaign CRM tracks each sales pipeline and scores leads. You can add notes to a deal, set custom fields, and use custom objects on the Enterprise plan.
Thryv: Contact management is built around jobs and appointments rather than sales engagement. TeamChat keeps staff notes on a customer in the same place as the booking.
4. Segmentation and Lead Scoring
ActiveCampaign: Advanced segmentation groups people by location, page visits, or purchase history. Lead scoring then tells your sales team who to call first.
Thryv: Website analytics show traffic and source data for your site. There is no scoring model that ranks leads by buying intent.
5. Landing Pages and Website Tools
ActiveCampaign: Custom landing pages capture leads, and a form submission can start an automation instantly. This suits digital marketing teams running paid traffic.
Thryv: The Market Builder and website builder create a professional site without a developer. It is a full website rather than a campaign page.
6. Dynamic and Conditional Content
ActiveCampaign: Dynamic content swaps blocks based on subscriber data. Conditional content shows or hides sections per recipient, and RSS triggered emails send new blog posts on their own.
Thryv: Social media management posts and schedules across accounts from one screen. Message personalization exists, but it does not reach block-level rules.
7. AI Features
ActiveCampaign: Integrated AI handles predictive sending and picks delivery times from past behavior. New features here lean toward autonomous agents rather than chat prompts.
Thryv: Online reputation management uses AI to draft review replies. For a business that lives on local reviews, that is the more useful ability.
8. Content Creation and Reach
ActiveCampaign: Content creation tools draft subject lines and body copy inside the editor. Ads in ActiveCampaign let you push the same audience to paid channels.
Thryv: SEO services are sold as an add on to lift local search visibility. That is a service layer, not a content editor.
9. Reporting and Custom Reports
ActiveCampaign: Analysis and reporting covers campaign, automation, and deal data. Custom reports arrive on higher tiers, alongside single sign-on and a dedicated account team.
Thryv: Billing and invoicing reports show what was sent, paid, and outstanding by date. Money reporting is stronger here than marketing reporting.
⚠️ Warning: Neither vendor advertises HIPAA support on standard plans. ActiveCampaign is GDPR compliant and follows a published data privacy framework with US servers, but clinics should confirm security terms in writing first.
10. Pricing & Cost
Let’s compare the plans side by side.
| Plan Level | ActiveCampaign | Thryv |
|---|---|---|
| Free | ❌ | ✅ Free plan, limited features |
| Entry | Starter: $15/month | Marketing Center: $244/month |
| Mid | Plus: $49/month | — |
| Upper | Pro: $79/month | $299/month bundle |
| Top | Enterprise: $145/month | Custom quote |
| Setup Fee | None | $250 one time onboarding fee |
ActiveCampaign: You can start at $15/month and grow into more advanced features later. Annual billing cuts 20%, and email marketing services like transactional email or SMS add ons are priced on top.
Thryv: The entry bundle costs more than ActiveCampaign’s top tier. That price buys booking, payments, and listings, so compare it against the tools you would otherwise pay for separately.
Different Scenarios
| If You Need… | Choose | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Lowest entry cost | ActiveCampaign | $15 vs $244 per month |
| Email marketing automation | ActiveCampaign | 900+ pre built templates |
| Appointment booking and payments | Thryv | Client portal and ThryvPay |
| Local listings and reviews | Thryv | Syncs 50+ listing sites |
| Lead scoring and sales pipeline | ActiveCampaign | Built in CRM on every plan |
| A free plan to start | Thryv | ActiveCampaign has no free tier |
💰 Your Budget
ActiveCampaign’s Starter tier costs less than one Thryv onboarding fee. Thryv only makes financial sense if it replaces three or four separate tools.
🔌 Your Tech Stack
ActiveCampaign has over 950 integrations, so it slots into an existing stack. Thryv prefers to be the stack, which suits owners who want one login.
📝 Your Daily Workflow
If your day is campaigns and pipelines, ActiveCampaign fits. If your day is calls, quotes, and invoices, Thryv fits.
🎓 Your Experience Level
Both interfaces are user friendly, with an intuitive menu structure and a searchable knowledge base. A more advanced user will hit ActiveCampaign’s ceiling much later than Thryv’s.
🆓 Free Trials and Demos
ActiveCampaign gives you 14 days without a card. Thryv runs a demo call, so book time with a human rep before you commit.
🛟 Support Options
Thryv offers 24/7 support to every account. ActiveCampaign reserves phone support and a dedicated account team for upper tiers.
Switching Guide
Already paying for one of these? Here is what changes if you move.
🔄 Switching from ActiveCampaign to Thryv?
✅ What you’ll gain:
- Online booking that runs 24/7 without staff involvement
- Invoices, estimates, and payments through ThryvPay
- Listings sync and review management in one page
❌ What you’ll lose:
- Branching automation with conditional logic
- Lead scoring and deep advanced segmentation
- 950+ integrations, including Microsoft Dynamics
📋 How to switch:
- Export contacts, tags, and custom fields to CSV
- Book a Thryv demo and confirm your quote
- Import contacts during the paid onboarding session
🔄 Switching from Thryv to ActiveCampaign?
✅ What you’ll gain:
- A far lower monthly bill at the entry tier
- Advanced automation with A/B tested paths
- Transactional emails, SMS marketing messages, and ads in one flow
❌ What you’ll lose:
- Appointment scheduling and the client portal
- Invoicing, document signing, and payment collection
- Local listings sync and reputation tools
📋 How to switch:
- Export your customer list and open invoices from Thryv
- Start the 14-day ActiveCampaign trial, no card needed
- Request the free migration, then rebuild your first automation
What Our Review Didn’t Cover
This comparison focused on small businesses and small teams. We did not test bulk seat licensing, agency reseller terms, or how either platform handles non profits with donation workflows. Thryv’s pricing is quoted per business, so your number may differ from ours. Our notes reflect the September 2026 versions of both products, and the technology on both sides changes often.
Final Verdict
| Category | Winner |
|---|---|
| 💰 Pricing | ActiveCampaign |
| 🚀 Automation | ActiveCampaign |
| 📧 Email Marketing | ActiveCampaign |
| 🎯 CRM Depth | ActiveCampaign |
| 🔌 Integrations | ActiveCampaign |
| 🗓️ Booking & Invoicing | Thryv |
| ⭐ Local Reviews & Listings | Thryv |
| 🛟 Support Access | Thryv |
| 🏆 Overall Winner | ActiveCampaign |
🏆 WINNER: ACTIVECAMPAIGN
ActiveCampaign wins 5 of 8 categories and rates 4.0 against Thryv’s 2.6.
Best for: email campaigns, sales automation, lead nurturing, contact management
These two products answer different questions. ActiveCampaign asks how you turn a list into revenue. Thryv asks how you keep a service business organized and paid.
Thryv is the better fit for a plumber, salon, or clinic that needs appointments, documents, and a website in one account. Its 24/7 support and free plan lower the risk of trying it.
For everyone else, we recommend ActiveCampaign. It costs less to start, scales to an advanced user, and stays GDPR compliant with a clear security posture. If neither fits, our ActiveCampaign alternatives page lists other options worth a look.
More of ActiveCampaign Compared
Here is how ActiveCampaign lines up against its closest rivals:
ActiveCampaign wins on: cheaper entry price, deeper automation branching, no forced bundle purchase
HubSpot wins on: free CRM tier, reporting dashboards, larger partner and app directory
ActiveCampaign wins on: lower monthly cost, stronger inbox placement, wider integration list
Keap wins on: built-in quoting and invoicing, phone line included, guided setup coaching
ActiveCampaign vs Pipedrive
ActiveCampaign wins on: native email marketing, automation templates, multi-channel campaigns
Pipedrive wins on: simpler deal boards, faster rep onboarding, sales-first reporting
ActiveCampaign wins on: email deliverability record, cleaner editor, fewer moving parts to configure
GoHighLevel wins on: agency sub-accounts, white-label rebilling, bundled call and funnel tools
More of Thryv Compared
Thryv competes with a mix of all-in-one platforms. This video walks through the main ones:
Thryv wins on: listings sync across 50+ sites, 24/7 phone help, payment collection built in
GoHighLevel wins on: automation depth, funnel builder, per-client sub-account structure
Thryv wins on: appointment booking, invoicing and estimates, local reputation management
HubSpot wins on: free starting tier, marketing analytics, scaling past a single location
Thryv wins on: website builder included, client portal, listings and review replies
Keap wins on: campaign automation logic, email template library, transparent public pricing
Thryv wins on: customer-facing booking, ThryvPay checkout, done-for-you SEO services
Monday CRM wins on: flexible boards, cheaper per-seat pricing, project and task tracking
Frequently Asked Questions
What is ActiveCampaign used for?
It handles marketing and sales automation for growing companies. You send email campaigns, score leads, and trigger follow-ups from customer behavior, all from one dashboard.
Is ActiveCampaign a CRM?
Yes. Every plan includes a CRM platform for tracking deals, adding notes, and scoring leads. It sits beside the email tools rather than in a separate product.
Is ActiveCampaign legit?
Yes. It is an established platform with published GDPR compliance, US-based data storage, and strong inbox placement scores in independent deliverability tests.
What is Thryv used for?
Small service businesses use it to book appointments, send invoices, manage listings, and respond to reviews. It replaces several front-office tools with one login.
Is Thryv part of yellow pages?
It grew out of a group of Yellow Pages companies. Today it is a publicly traded software business headquartered in Dallas, Texas, with over 2,400 employees.
English 
Spanish 
Chinese 
German 
French 
Arabic 
Russian 
Portuguese 
Japanese 
Korean 
Italian 
Turkish 
Dutch 
Polish 
Indonesian 
Thai 
Vietnamese 