The main difference between Drip and ActiveCampaign is that Drip has powerful e-commerce marketing automation features, designed to assist online retailers in creating personalized customer experiences. It emphasizes email marketing automation, customer segmentation, and behavioral tracking to drive sales and engagement. ActiveCampaign, on the other hand, provides a versatile marketing automation platform that caters to a wide range of industries and business types.
It offers robust email marketing, marketing automation, CRM, and sales automation features to help businesses automate their marketing efforts and streamline customer relationships.
In this versus, we compare Drip vs ActiveCampaign in-depth to help you choose one of them. If you want to know more details, we recommend you to read our Drip review and ActiveCampaign review.
However, you can also directly find the Best Email Marketing Software Page, we list them by ranking (based on our review rating), you can find all the comparisons we made and we explain how you should choose the proper one.
Here is what we will talk about in the rest of this article:
Quick overview
Drip vs ActiveCampaign at a Glance
To make your choice quick and efficient, here is a short summary about our comparison of Drip vs ActiveCampaign. Find out their ratings, features, prices and then discover the winner of the versus.
Pros and Cons comparison
Drip Review – The Ecommerce Revenue Engine
ActiveCampaign Review – Email Marketing
Specifications comparison
| Details | Drip | ActiveCampaign |
|---|---|---|
| Features | Ecommerce / Email marketing / SMS Marketing | CRM Marketing / Marketing automation |
| Best suited for | Small businesses, Mid size businesses | Small businesses, Mid size businesses |
| Website languages | English | Deutsch / English / French / Italian / Portuguese |
| Website URL | Visit official website | Visit official website |
| Support link | Support page | Support page |
| Support email | support@drip.com | info@activecampaign.com |
| Live chat | Yes | Yes |
| Company address | 251 N. 1st Avenue, Suite 400, Minneapolis, MN 55401 | 1 North Dearborn Street, 5th Floor, Chicago, IL 60602 |
| Year founded | 2013 | 2003 |
Pricing comparison
Compare the price between Drip vs ActiveCampaign
Find out which software has the best valuable pricing, which one offers a free trial and money back guarantee.
| Pricing comparison | Drip | ActiveCampaign |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing range | From $19 per month | From $9 to $149 per month |
| Pricing types | Monthly subscription | Annual subscription / Monthly subscription |
| Free plan | No | No |
| Free trial | Yes, 14 days | Yes, 14 days |
| Money back guarantee | No | No |
| Pricing page link | See plans | See plans |
Drip Pricing details
Drips basic plan starts from only $19 per month for email marketing but if you spend only $3 more per month you will get email + sms marketing automation services with the additional features also.
Drip offers three pricing plans from which you can choose. For software such as Drip that is valuable and immensely helpful in driving and generating sales, it wouldn’t be surprising if nothing about it is free. However, this is not the case as drip offers not only three subscribers/businesses suited pricing plans, but also affords you the opportunity of taking advantage of their two weeks (14 days) free trial usage… and that is without even submitting your credit card details! Hence, drip offers the following pricing plans:
- Free Trial
- Basic Pricing Plan
- Pro Pricing Plan
- Enterprise Varies Pricing Plan
Please note that all of Drip’s three pricing plans come with 14 days free trial period. Within the trial period, you will get access to that specific plan’s automation service after which you may then decide to pay and continue enjoying the service. It is like giving you a taste of what you’ll be getting if you subscribe to that plan. This is a nice strategy on the part of the developers of Drip because having seen just how effective this marketing automation software can be, users would certainly want to continue enjoying the sales-driven benefits and thereby pay for the plan. Below, therefore, is a breakdown of what you’ll be getting when you subscribe to any of Drip’s pricing plans.
Free 14 Days Trial
Within the stipulated two weeks of a free trial, you will be granted access to use all of Drip’s workflows and marketing automation (including email marketing, and SMS marketing). However, you can only send between 1 and 500 emails.
Drip’s Basic Pricing Plan
Drip’s lowest and most basic pricing plan starts at $19 per month. If you choose this most basic plan, you will be able to send unlimited emails to between 1 and 500 email contacts you may have plus full integration services. However, you wouldn’t be able to utilize their SMS automation service. This is because Drip offers two variants for every monthly pricing plan; the first is for users who want access to only email marketing automation and the second variant is for users who want access to both email and SMS marketing automation. This means that Drip charges a little extra if you wish to use its SMS marketing automation. While the most basic email marketing automation monthly plan costs $19, the most basic email + SMS marketing automation plan costs $22 monthly. However, it doesn’t stop there; there are other basic pricing plans all of which are dependent on the number of contacts you’ll be sending emails to and the number of SMS messages you’ll be sending. Please note that the default number of messages (SMS) is 200 but this can be increased but would also lead to an increase in the plan’s price.
Drip’s Pro Pricing Plan
The pro pricing plan was initiated to cater to the business needs of subscribers with a higher email contact volume (5,000+ contacts). The lowest pro plan starts at $99 as it offers the added benefit of being able to chat with Drip’s customer care/support. To be able to utilize both email and SMS marketing automation, however, the most basic pro plan starts at $102 per month with the default 200 SMS messages. With $99 per month, users get to be able to send unlimited emails to as many as 6,000 contacts. If you opt for the $102 per month pricing plan, you’ll get the added advantage of 200 SMS messages.
Enterprise Varies Pricing Plan
This is the most exclusive and expensive of Drip’s pricing plans as it is reserved for only the crème de la crème business enterprises. It is meant for varying business enterprises with numerous email and SMS contacts. Those enterprises with nothing less than 160,000 email contacts and the need to send up to 1,920,000 emails and above fall within this category. The maximum number of email contacts is 10 million, and the maximum number of emails that can be sent under this pricing plan is 120 million emails. When you subscribe to the Enterprise Varies Pricing Plan, you get the perks and benefits that come with both the basic and pro plans plus the option of discussing with an expert, and you are assigned a dedicated customer success manager to help with whatever marketing automation, workflows, and business-related advise you may require.
Pricing is a pivotal factor when selecting a marketing automation platform. Drip offers a free plan along with a tiered pricing model, with plans starting at $39 per month for 1 to 2500 contacts. As your subscriber list grows, you can choose higher-tier plans with more advanced features. ActiveCampaign also employs a tiered pricing structure, starting with a Lite plan at $29 per month for up to three users. The pricing increases with the number of contacts and features required.
While both platforms offer competitive pricing, ActiveCampaign’s lower starting price point for basic features gives it an edge.
🏆 Winner: ActiveCampaign
Learn more in the section below with our comparison of the different features of Drip vs ActiveCampaign .
Features comparison
We highlight the main differences between Drip vs ActiveCampaign
Here is a quick summary of the differences between the features and services offered by Drip vs ActiveCampaign:
Features overview
In this section, we will compare only the big differences between Drip and ActiveCampaign, and we will assign a winner for each feature or service.
So we will compare first:
- Email Marketing
- Marketing Automation
- Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
- Sales Automation
- Reporting and Analytics
- Integration and E-commerce
Email Marketing
Both Drip and ActiveCampaign excel in email marketing. Drip offers powerful email automation tools that let customers build customized email campaigns based on client interactions and behavior. To successfully engage subscribers, it provides drip campaigns and editable email templates. A/B testing, list segmentation, and automation sequences are just a few of the capabilities that ActiveCampaign’s extensive email marketing solutions include.
It enables highly targeted and customized email marketing campaigns to nurture prospects and close sales.
🏆 Winner: Tie
Marketing Automation
Drip specializes in e-commerce marketing automation, focusing on cart abandonment recovery, personalized product recommendations, and customer reactivation. It provides automation workflows tailored to the needs of online retailers. ActiveCampaign offers versatile marketing automation capabilities suitable for various industries. It allows users to create complex automation sequences, automate lead scoring, and trigger actions based on user behavior, making it adaptable for diverse marketing strategies.
🏆 Winner: Drip
Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
ActiveCampaign integrates CRM functionality seamlessly into its platform, providing a unified solution for marketing and sales teams. It allows users to track leads, manage pipelines, and automate follow-up tasks. Drip, while primarily an e-commerce marketing platform, does not offer built-in CRM functionality to the same extent as ActiveCampaign. It focuses more on customer segmentation and personalized marketing.
🏆 Winner: ActiveCampaign
Sales Automation
ActiveCampaign shines in sales automation, providing tools to automate follow-up emails, track lead interactions, and manage sales pipelines. It bridges the gap between marketing and sales teams, streamlining the conversion process. Drip, while not as comprehensive in sales automation, offers features to automate e-commerce-related actions, such as sending product recommendations based on customer behavior and recovering abandoned carts.
🏆 Winner: ActiveCampaign
Reporting and Analytics
To monitor the effectiveness of email campaigns and automation sequences, Drip and ActiveCampaign both include reporting and analytics options. They offer information on several metrics, including open rates, click-through rates, and conversion rates.
🏆 Winner: Tie
Integration and E-commerce
Drip excels in e-commerce integration, offering seamless connections with popular e-commerce platforms like Shopify and WooCommerce. It provides specific e-commerce automation features to drive sales and revenue. ActiveCampaign also offers e-commerce integrations and can adapt to e-commerce needs. While it may not specialize exclusively in e-commerce like Drip, it provides a broader range of capabilities suitable for businesses in various industries.
🏆 Winner: Drip
User Reviews
Find out what current users think about Drip and ActiveCampaign
If you need some external reviews of Ciroapp, you can read the reviews written by their users. Feel free to add your own on these platforms once you are an experienced user of Drip or ActiveCampaign, to help our community to choose.
Drip Reviews
Drip Review – The Ecommerce Revenue Engine
ActiveCampaign Reviews
ActiveCampaign Review – Email Marketing
Now that you have read everything and know all the differences between Drip and ActiveCampaign, it’s time to define a winner! Find out in the following whom the winner of this versus is ⚡.
Winner
Drip vs ActiveCampaign: Who is the winner?
Drip emerges as the clear winner due to its specialization in e-commerce marketing automation, seamless integration with popular e-commerce platforms, and robust features tailored for online retailers. Drip empowers businesses to create highly personalized customer experiences and drive sales effectively. While ActiveCampaign offers a versatile marketing automation platform, its capabilities extend to a broader range of industries and marketing strategies.
While ActiveCampaign is a strong contender with its adaptable platform and CRM functionality, Drip’s dedicated e-commerce solutions give it a competitive edge in meeting the specific needs of online retailers.
Poll
ActiveCampaign vs Drip: Which one will you use?
At Ciroapp, we are always striving to provide the best possible experience for our readers. We understand that making a decision between two software can be a difficult task. That’s why we want to hear from you! Your valuable opinion can help us improve our future versus articles and guide our readers in making informed decisions. By casting your vote, you not only help us, but also the community of readers who rely on our content. So, share your thoughts with us and let us know which software you prefer!
