ActiveCampaign vs. Omnisend: a data-backed comparison

Explore how ActiveCampaign and Omnisend compare across features, pricing, and ideal use cases to help you determine which marketing automation platform aligns with your business goals.

ActiveCampaign vs. Omnisend at a glance

ActiveCampaign and Omnisend both offer marketing automation, but serve different business needs. ActiveCampaign offers comprehensive automation integrated with CRM and sales tools, making it ideal for growing businesses that manage leads and customer relationships.

Omnisend, in contrast, specializes in ecommerce automation with built-in shopping behavior triggers and multi-channel messaging, suited for online retailers focused on sales conversion.

Metrics

ActiveCampaign

Omnisend

Relative cost

1% lower cost than category average

136% higher cost than category average

Adoption trend

11% QoQ adoption growth

16% QoQ adoption growth

Primary user segment

Best for

Startups and small teams seeking accessible marketing automation tools without enterprise-level complexity or pricing.

Growing businesses that need user-friendly email marketing tools with room to scale from basic campaigns to advanced automation.

ActiveCampaign overview

ActiveCampaign combines marketing automation, CRM, and project management in one platform. Designed for growing businesses, it helps automate email campaigns, customer journeys, and internal tasks across sales and marketing teams. Its strength lies in the visual workflow builder and the tight link between marketing and sales.

ActiveCampaign key features

Features

Description

Email marketing automation

Creates behavior-triggered email sequences with a visual automation builder that requires minimal technical knowledge

Built-in CRM

Tracks contacts, deals, and conversations in one system with pipeline visualization and sales automation capabilities

Customer experience automation

Orchestrates personalized experiences across email, messaging, site, and sales based on customer behavior and preferences

Predictive sending

Uses AI to determine optimal send times for individual contacts, improving open rates and engagement metrics, reflecting current predictive analytics trends

Segmentation

Divides audiences based on behaviors, custom fields, and engagement levels for targeted messaging

Reporting and analytics

Provides accessible insights into campaign performance with conversion tracking and ROI measurement tools, similar to how finance automation can enhance business intelligence

Omnisend overview

Omnisend focuses on e-commerce-first automation. It connects email, SMS, and push into unified campaigns triggered by user activity. It pulls in data from Shopify, WooCommerce, and other e-commerce platforms to segment customers and personalize outreach based on browsing or purchasing history. Marketers can also measure revenue directly from each campaign.

Omnisend key features

Features

Description

eCommerce integration

One-click connection with major platforms, particularly strong with Shopify

Product blocks

Dynamic product recommendations, carousels, and automated content insertion

Advanced automation

Conditional branching logic workflows available on all plans including free

SMS marketing

Integrated text messaging capabilities within the same platform

Template library

336 templates with full access on all plans

Auto-branding

Automatically pulls store branding (logo, colors, fonts) into emails

Interactive elements

Scratch cards, gift boxes, and other engagement-boosting components

Real-time analytics

Direct attribution of sales to specific campaigns with revenue tracking, aiding in tracking e-commerce performance

Pros and cons

Tool

Pros

Cons

ActiveCampaign

  • User-friendly interface with intuitive automation builder
  • Transparent, scalable pricing model
  • Quick implementation and faster time-to-value
  • Built-in CRM functionality without additional cost
  • Extensive integration library with simpler setup
  • Strong email deliverability performance
  • Limited depth for complex enterprise requirements
  • Fewer advanced ABM features for sophisticated B2B needs
  • Less robust for multi-region global compliance
  • Can become costly as contact lists grow significantly
  • Limited content management capabilities
  • Fewer options for complex approval workflows

Omnisend

  • All features available on every plan, including free
  • eCommerce-specific functionality like product recommendations
  • Integrated SMS marketing included in pricing
  • Advanced automation with conditional logic on all plans
  • Auto-branding from connected stores saves design time
  • Lower email deliverability rate
  • Fewer total integrations than Mailchimp
  • Requires connecting a store before accessing all features
  • Smaller user community and knowledge base
  • Limited free plan capacity

Use case scenarios

ActiveCampaign works better for service-based or B2B companies wanting to unify marketing and sales in one platform, while Omnisend is stronger for e-commerce brands focused on customer behavior and driving purchases.

When ActiveCampaign is the better choice

  • Small to mid-sized businesses that need powerful automation without technical complexity
  • Companies that have limited marketing tech resources
  • Teams that require built-in CRM and sales pipeline tools
  • Organizations that want lead scoring and multi-touch workflows
  • Businesses that are scaling outreach across email and internal collaboration

When Omnisend is the better choice

  • E-commerce businesses that need specialized features for cart recovery and product promotion
  • Brands that want integrated email and SMS without paying for multiple platforms
  • Online stores that use Shopify, WooCommerce, or BigCommerce
  • Teams that prioritize revenue attribution in marketing reports
  • Marketers who need pre-built ecommerce journeys, like order confirmation and post-purchase flows

Other email marketing tools

  • Constant Contact: User-friendly marketing project platform for beginners seeking simple email campaigns, event management features, and basic automation.
  • Klaviyo: E-commerce-focused marketing project system offering deep customer analytics, granular segmentation, and predictive insights for online retailers.
  • Marketo: Enterprise marketing project suite for large organizations demanding account-based marketing, sophisticated lead scoring, and extensive third-party integrations.
  • SendGrid: Developer-oriented marketing project service built for high-volume transactional and promotional email with powerful APIs and industry-leading deliverability.

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