The short answer
GoHighLevel vs ActiveCampaign comes down to what you need to run. ActiveCampaign is the better fit for businesses whose growth runs on email: newsletters, ecommerce flows and long lead nurture sequences. HighLevel is the better fit for businesses that need texting, calling, booking and reviews next to email, and agencies that want client sub-accounts included. ActiveCampaign's Starter plan is $19/month billed monthly, or $15/month billed annually (1,000 contacts); HighLevel starts at $97 a month with usage billed on top.
ActiveCampaign is an email marketing and marketing automation platform for small and mid-sized businesses and online stores. Plans are priced by contact count; at 1,000 contacts they run from $15 a month for Starter to $145 a month for Enterprise on annual billing. Every plan includes landing pages and Active Intelligence AI features, and users and automation limits rise by tier. Sales pipelines come as a CRM add-on, SMS is a separate add-on, and agencies can resell or white-label the product through ActiveCampaign's partner program.
Independent comparison. We are a HighLevel affiliate, not HighLevel or ActiveCampaign, and we do not speak for either company. Prices come from each vendor's own website, checked 2026-09-29.
At a glance
| Feature | HighLevel | ActiveCampaign |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $97/mo (Starter) | $19/month billed monthly, or $15/month billed annually (1,000 contacts) (Starter) |
| Pricing model | Flat plan plus usage for texts, calls, email and AI | ActiveCampaign prices each plan by contact count; these figures are for 1,000 contacts from the pricing data the official page loads (the page fills prices in with JavaScript), and CRM pipelines and SMS cost extra. |
| CRM and pipelines | Yes | Add-on |
| Funnels | Yes | Limited |
| Websites | Yes | Not listed |
| Email marketing | Yes | Yes |
| Two-way texting | Yes | Add-on |
| Calling | Yes | Not listed |
| AI voice agent | Yes, billed by use | Not listed |
| Review requests | Yes | Not listed |
| Courses and memberships | Yes | Not listed |
| White label for agencies | Yes, from Unlimited | Yes |
ActiveCampaign pricing
| Plan | Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Starter | $19/month billed monthly, or $15/month billed annually (1,000 contacts) | 1 user; limited segmentation |
| Plus | $59/month billed monthly, or $49/month billed annually (1,000 contacts) | 1 user; unlimited automation actions |
| Pro | $99/month billed monthly, or $79/month billed annually (1,000 contacts) | 3 users; predictive and conditional content |
| Enterprise | $179/month billed monthly, or $145/month billed annually (1,000 contacts) | 5 users; custom objects, SSO, dedicated account team |
Where ActiveCampaign is stronger
ActiveCampaign advantages
- A mature email builder with segmentation and automation, and unlimited automation actions from Plus.
- Landing pages on every plan, with predictive sending and conditional content on Pro and above.
- More than 1,000 app integrations, with premium ecommerce connectors such as BigCommerce, Magento and Shopify Plus on higher plans.
- Agencies can resell it at a discount or white-label it through the partner program.
Where ActiveCampaign falls short
- Sales pipelines are an add-on, and no built-in calling or phone numbers are listed.
- The bill rises with every contact tier, while HighLevel includes unlimited contacts on all plans.
- No website builder, course hosting or review request tool is listed.
- Starter and Plus include a single user; HighLevel does not limit users.
Where HighLevel is stronger
HighLevel puts CRM, funnels, websites, two-way texting, calling, review requests, courses and an AI phone agent in one login, and agencies can put their own brand on it from the Unlimited plan. The trade-off is a steeper learning curve and usage charges on top of the plan, which our cost calculator adds up. For the full picture read our GoHighLevel review.
Who should pick which
| Choose ActiveCampaign | Businesses whose growth runs on email: newsletters, ecommerce flows and long lead nurture sequences. |
|---|---|
| Choose HighLevel | Businesses that need texting, calling, booking and reviews next to email, and agencies that want client sub-accounts included. |
Switching
Export ActiveCampaign contacts with their tags, lists and custom fields, and import them into HighLevel with matching tags so your automations can target the same groups. Save email templates as HTML and rebuild them in HighLevel's builder. Automations do not transfer, so map each trigger and step before rebuilding it as a HighLevel workflow. Ramp up sending volume gradually on the new email service rather than blasting your whole list on day one.
Verdict
ActiveCampaign is the stronger pure email platform of the two, with a longer track record in segmentation, conditional content and ecommerce automation. It is priced by contact count, and texting, sales pipelines and calling are add-ons or absent. HighLevel's email tools are simpler, but it bundles texting, calling, booking, funnels, reviews and client sub-accounts at a flat price with unlimited contacts. If most of your revenue comes from email to a large list, ActiveCampaign earns its cost. If you need to answer leads by text and phone and book them into a calendar, HighLevel covers more of the job.
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