HubSpot vs ActiveCampaign: Which CRM will be best in 2025?

You’re trying to figure out if HubSpot or ActiveCampaign is the better CRM for your business.

It’s a tough call. You’ve probably seen tons of info, but it isn’t very clear.

You’re worried about picking the wrong one, wasting time and money.

You need clear, simple answers. 

We’ll explain HubSpot vs ActiveCampaign in a way that makes sense so you can choose the best tool for your needs.

Overview

We’ve spent countless hours diving into both HubSpot and ActiveCampaign.

Our team rigorously tested each platform, exploring their features, usability, and effectiveness in real-world scenarios.

This hands-on experience forms the basis of our detailed comparison.

What is HubSpot?

Think of HubSpot as your all-in-one growth machine.

It’s a CRM, marketing, sales, and service platform. All in one place.

Makes things simpler, right? It’s built to help you attract, engage, and delight customers.

Also, explore our favorite Hubspot alternatives…

Key Benefits

HubSpot shines with its all-in-one approach and robust free plan. Here’s what makes it stand out:

• Free CRM: Yes, you read that right! HubSpot offers a completely free CRM with unlimited users and up to 1 million contacts.
• Marketing Automation: Automate your marketing tasks, such as email campaigns and social media posting, to save time and boost efficiency.
• Sales Pipeline Management: Visualize and track your sales process, making it easier to identify bottlenecks & close deals faster.
• Extensive Integrations: Connect HubSpot with over 1,000 popular business tools to streamline your workflows.

Pricing

• Free Tools: Free for up to two users.
• Marketing Hub Starter: $15/seat/month.
• Starter Customer Platform: $15/seat/month.
• Marketing Hub Professional + three seats: $800/month, additional seats at $45/month.

What is ActiveCampaign?

ActiveCampaign focuses on automation.

Especially email and marketing. It helps you build strong customer relationships.

Think personalized messages. Think targeted campaigns. It’s built for growth.

Also, explore our favorite ActiveCampaign alternatives…

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

• Starter: $15/month.
• Plus: $49/month.
• Pro: $79/month.
• Enterprise: $145/month.

Feature Comparison

Let’s dive into the core of ActiveCampaign and HubSpot.

We’ll compare key features, showing where each platform shines.

This will help you see which aligns best with your business needs.

1. User Interface and Customization

• HubSpot:
  • HubSpot offers a clean, user-friendly interface designed for ease of use. While customization is available, the core design remains consistent.
  • Allows for customizable dashboards and reports, tailoring the experience.
• ActiveCampaign:
  • Offers a highly customizable interface, but it can be less intuitive initially. Some find it less user-friendly.
  • Provides extensive options to customize workflows and layouts.

2. Email Marketing and Campaigns

• HubSpot:
  • Email campaign creation is straightforward with drag-and-drop editors. Integrations exist with many platforms, including Salesforce.
  • Segmentation and personalization tools aid targeted marketing campaigns.
• ActiveCampaign:
  • Excels in email marketing automation: granular segmentation and dynamic content options.
  • Features like conditional content boost engagement in marketing campaigns.

3. Marketing Automation

• HubSpot:
  • Robust automation features cover various marketing and sales tasks. Visual workflow builder aids complex sequences.
  • HubSpot provides a wide range of templates for the quick setup of common flows.
• ActiveCampaign:
  • It’s a strength. Deep automation, specifically for email sequences and customer journeys.
  • Extensive automation features support detailed, trigger-based interactions.

4. CRM and Sales Tools

• HubSpot:
  • Strong, free CRM with advanced sales tools in paid tiers. Manages leads, deals, and tasks efficiently.
  • Predictive lead scoring aids prioritization for sales teams.
• ActiveCampaign:
  • CRM is integrated, but it’s less comprehensive than HubSpot’s. Focuses on sales automation.
  • Visual pipeline management relies heavily on automation within the sales process.

5. Analytics and Reporting

• HubSpot:
  • Strong analytics dashboard. Reports on various marketing efforts and sales activities.
  • Provides comprehensive customer data insights.
• ActiveCampaign:
  • Detailed reporting on email and automation performance. Lacks some deeper CRM reporting capabilities.
  • Provides data-driven information concerning marketing efforts through email campaigns.

6. Integrations and Ecosystem

• HubSpot:
  • An extensive app marketplace and a wide range of integrations, including robust Salesforce support.
  • Connects many tools, from social media to ecommerce.
• ActiveCampaign:
  • Offers many integrations, especially in email and marketing automation. Integrates with many ecommerce tools.
  • Tools like Zapier enhance its connectivity to other systems.

7. SEO and Content Marketing

• HubSpot:
  • Includes SEO tools, content creation, and blog management within its platform.
  • Helps create and optimize content within your overall marketing features.
• ActiveCampaign:
  • Lacks built-in SEO tools. Primarily focused on email and automation.
  • Drives traffic to content mainly through email and automated marketing hub functions. Information provided by G2 shows clear strength in Hubspot’s marketing features.

What to Look For When Choosing CRM Software?

• Scalability: Can the CRM grow with your business?
• Integration: Does it connect with your existing tools?
• Support: Is reliable customer support available?
• Training: How easy is it to onboard your team?
• Security: Does it protect sensitive customer data?
• Mobile Access: Can you use it on the go?
• Reporting: Does it offer the insights you need?
• Customization: Can you tailor the CRM to your specific workflows?
• Automation: Does it offer robust automation features to save time?
• Pricing Transparency: Are the costs clear and predictable, without hidden fees?
• User Reviews: What are other users saying about their experience?

Final Verdict

So, which one? For most, HubSpot wins.

It gives you more of the tools you need in one place. It’s free CRM is a great start.

The HubSpot marketing hub and sales tools work well together.

You get solid customer insights and can grow easily.

Yes, it can get pricey. But if you want a complete system, it’s worth it. We’ve used both.

We know what works. Trust us; HubSpot makes things simpler.

Hubspot Compared

We’ve explored several alternatives to Hubspot, each offering distinct strengths.

Here’s a brief comparison of Hubspot with these software solutions:

• Hubspot vs Gohighlevel: GoHighLevel is primarily tailored for marketing agencies, offering an all-in-one platform for managing various digital marketing tasks, including appointment scheduling and social media. Hubspot, conversely, caters to businesses of all sizes, excelling in inbound marketing with a broader set of marketing, sales, and service tools.
• Hubspot vs Pipedrive: Pipedrive is a sales-focused CRM known for its visual sales pipeline management and intuitive interface, which makes it ideal for tracking deals. Hubspot provides a more comprehensive, all-in-one platform that encompasses sales, marketing, and customer service.
• Hubspot vs Keap: Keap (formerly Infusionsoft) specializes in CRM and marketing automation, particularly for small businesses looking to streamline sales processes and contact management. Hubspot offers a wider range of marketing, sales, and service features, often with more robust automation and reporting.
• Hubspot vs Clickfunnels: ClickFunnels is dedicated to creating high-converting sales funnels, focusing on landing pages and sales processes. Hubspot, on the other hand, is a broader marketing and sales automation platform, offering comprehensive tools beyond just funnel building, including CRM, content management, and SEO.
• Hubspot vs Folk: Folk is a simpler CRM solution that excels in straightforward contact management and organization. It is suitable for small teams that prioritize ease of use. Hubspot offers more robust contact management, detailed analytics, and a wider array of marketing and sales features, albeit with a steeper learning curve.
• Hubspot vs Instantly: Instantly specializes in cold email outreach and lead generation automation. Hubspot provides a much broader suite of tools, including a full CRM, comprehensive email marketing with advanced design capabilities, social media integration, and more extensive automation workflows.
• Hubspot vs ClickUp: ClickUp is primarily a project management tool with extensive customization and collaboration features. It allows users to manage tasks, documents, and goals. While it offers some CRM functionalities through custom fields, Hubspot is a dedicated CRM system designed to manage customer relationships and streamline sales processes comprehensively.
• Hubspot vs Monday CRM: Monday.com is a work operating system focused on project management, collaboration, and workflow automation. In contrast, Hubspot is a fully integrated CRM offering deep sales, marketing, and customer service automation. It is designed to drive revenue and scale with businesses.
• Hubspot vs Capsule CRM: Capsule CRM is a simpler, user-friendly contact manager and sales tracker, ideal for small businesses needing organized customer information and clear pipeline views. Hubspot offers a more robust, feature-rich CRM with advanced sales pipelines, comprehensive marketing automation, and extensive integrations.
• Hubspot vs Insightly: Insightly combines CRM with strong project management features, making it versatile for businesses requiring both. Hubspot excels in marketing automation and broader sales features, offering a more comprehensive suite for inbound marketing and lead nurturing.
• Hubspot vs Freshsales CRM: Freshsales CRM is a sales-focused CRM emphasizing AI-powered lead scoring and sales automation for efficient deal management. Hubspot provides a more extensive all-in-one platform with robust marketing automation features integrated alongside sales and service tools, making it suitable for more complex sales cycles.
• Hubspot vs Salesforce: Salesforce is a powerful, highly customizable enterprise-grade CRM with robust reporting and forecasting capabilities, ideal for large organizations with complex needs. Hubspot offers a more user-friendly interface and a well-rounded set of marketing and sales tools, particularly appealing to SMBs, with a more accessible pricing model.
• Hubspot vs Zendesk: Zendesk is a specialized customer service and support platform, excelling in omnichannel support, ticketing, and advanced AI capabilities for issue resolution. Hubspot Service Hub offers integrated customer support tools as part of its broader CRM suite, providing seamless data flow between marketing, sales, and service teams, but with less emphasis on advanced AI than Zendesk.

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 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 Freshsales CRM: ActiveCampaign provides comprehensive marketing automation and email with integrated CRM functionalities. Freshsales CRM focuses on sales management and streamlining sales processes with AI-powered insights.
• 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.
• ActiveCampaign vs Zendesk: ActiveCampaign focuses on email marketing, sales automation, and customer experience management. Zendesk primarily provides customer service and support tools, including ticketing systems and help desks.

Frequently Asked Questions