ActiveCampaign is a comprehensive platform with advanced automation, CRM, and sales features suitable for enterprises, while Drip is a streamlined ecommerce-focused email marketing tool with lower pricing ideal for small to mid-sized online retailers.
ActiveCampaign vs Drip — Side-by-side comparison on A Versus B
Enterprise-grade CRM and marketing automation platform with integrated sales and service tools.
Ecommerce-focused email marketing and automation platform optimized for online retailers.
Primary Focus. Starting Monthly Price. Built-in CRM Features. Ecommerce Integrations. Automation Workflows. Email Templates. Target Audience Size
Choose ActiveCampaign if you need a full-featured CRM with advanced sales automation, multi-channel marketing, and enterprise-grade scalability for complex B2B or hybrid business models. Choose Drip if you run an ecommerce store and want a focused, affordable email marketing platform with specialized features like post-purchase automation and abandoned cart recovery without the overhead of a full CRM.
ActiveCampaign: Plus plan ($99+/month) and above | Drip: N/A
ActiveCampaign: AI-generated email drafts included | Drip: N/A
ActiveCampaign: Advanced - conditional branching, multi-step, custom logic | Drip: N/A
ActiveCampaign: A/B testing and spam testing | Drip: N/A
ActiveCampaign: Limited platform support | Drip: N/A
ActiveCampaign: Native CRM with advanced features | Drip: N/A
ActiveCampaign: Experienced marketers preferred | Drip: N/A
ActiveCampaign: $49/month (Plus) | Drip: N/A
ActiveCampaign: 2 (Marketing & CRM) | Drip: N/A
ActiveCampaign: Nearly identical ratings | Drip: N/A
ActiveCampaign: 1,000 contacts | Drip: N/A
Average eCommerce Email Revenue Per Send
ActiveCampaign: Not published | Drip: N/A
ActiveCampaign: $9 (500 contacts) | Drip: N/A
ActiveCampaign: Full B2B/B2C CRM with lead scoring | Drip: N/A
ActiveCampaign: Available (add-on/integration) | Drip: N/A
ActiveCampaign: Supported via marketplace | Drip: Basic integration with standard e-commerce triggers
ActiveCampaign: 4,200% ROI (industry average) | Drip: N/A
ActiveCampaign: Email, SMS, web, social, chat (native) | Drip: N/A
ActiveCampaign: No (forms only) | Drip: N/A
ActiveCampaign: Full-featured with scoring | Drip: N/A
ActiveCampaign: Advanced (conditional logic, multi-branch) | Drip: N/A
ActiveCampaign: 2-4 weeks (with training) | Drip: N/A
ActiveCampaign: $149 (Pro plan, unlimited) | Drip: N/A
ActiveCampaign: Full CRM with pipeline, forecasting, and scoring | Drip: Basic contact segmentation only
ActiveCampaign: Predictive sending, lead scoring | Drip: N/A
ActiveCampaign: Unlimited advanced workflows | Drip: Core automation flows with standard conditional branching
ActiveCampaign: Moderate - requires learning | Drip: N/A
Starting Monthly Price (Annual Commitment)
ActiveCampaign: Behavioral, manual, predictive (limited AI) | Drip: N/A
ActiveCampaign: Yes (native) | Drip: N/A
ActiveCampaign: 2-4 hour sync | Drip: N/A
ActiveCampaign: 4-8 weeks | Drip: 1 week (48 hours for basic)
ActiveCampaign: Basic (via third-party apps) | Drip: Deep (pre-built workflows, order sync)
ActiveCampaign: 8-12% (varies by setup) | Drip: 15-25% (industry-leading)
ActiveCampaign: Yes (behavioral, predictive, dynamic) | Drip: Limited (tag-based, basic rules)
ActiveCampaign: None (paid only) | Drip: N/A
ActiveCampaign: 4+ (Salesforce, HubSpot, Pipedrive, native) | Drip: N/A
ActiveCampaign: 2 (last-click, first-click) | Drip: N/A
ActiveCampaign: Advanced predictive with AI priority ranking | Drip: N/A
ActiveCampaign: No (14-day trial only) | Drip: N/A
ActiveCampaign: 10-300 calls (tier-dependent) | Drip: N/A
ActiveCampaign: 100+ (plan-dependent) | Drip: N/A
ActiveCampaign: Advanced with A/B testing, dynamic content, behavior triggers | Drip: N/A
ActiveCampaign: Predictive send time, contact scoring, revenue attribution | Drip: N/A
ActiveCampaign: Unlimited (500 contacts max) | Drip: N/A
ActiveCampaign: Advanced (deals, pipelines, forecasting) | Drip: N/A
ActiveCampaign: Yes (all paid plans) | Drip: N/A
ActiveCampaign: Yes (all plans) | Drip: N/A
ActiveCampaign: 600 calls/min | Drip: N/A
ActiveCampaign: $9 (Lite tier) | Drip: N/A
ActiveCampaign: No free tier | Drip: N/A
ActiveCampaign: 500+ templates | Drip: N/A
ActiveCampaign: Full CRM with sales pipelines and deal tracking | Drip: N/A
ActiveCampaign: 500+ pre-built workflows | Drip: N/A
ActiveCampaign: 200+ professional templates | Drip: N/A
ActiveCampaign: Limited functionality | Drip: N/A
ActiveCampaign: No free plan | Drip: N/A
ActiveCampaign: Yes (paid add-on) | Drip: No
ActiveCampaign: Advanced AI-powered with predictive scoring | Drip: N/A
ActiveCampaign: $549 (10 seats @ $35 + contact tier) | Drip: N/A
Marketing Automation Workflows (Pre-built)
ActiveCampaign: Unlimited with advanced conditional logic | Drip: N/A
ActiveCampaign: Full CRM with lead scoring, pipeline, forecasting | Drip: N/A
ActiveCampaign: 24 hours (email) | Drip: N/A
ActiveCampaign: Yes - iOS and Android | Drip: N/A
ActiveCampaign: Not included | Drip: N/A
ActiveCampaign: Yes - full sales pipeline, deal tracking | Drip: N/A
ActiveCampaign: No - requires third-party integration | Drip: N/A
Mid-Tier Price (5K contacts/subscribers)
Enterprise Price (100K+ contacts/subscribers)
ActiveCampaign: Full deal pipelines with forecasting and attribution | Drip: N/A
ActiveCampaign: Separate add-on ($10+/month) | Drip: N/A
ActiveCampaign: Full sales pipeline with deal tracking | Drip: None (basic contact database only)
ActiveCampaign: 8/10 (steep) | Drip: N/A
ActiveCampaign: N/A | Drip: Limited or absent AI capabilities
ActiveCampaign: N/A | Drip: Solid but requires manual Gmail monitoring for optimal inbox placement
ActiveCampaign: N/A | Drip: Small to Mid-Market (SMB focus)
How to choose between ActiveCampaign and Drip
ActiveCampaign vs Drip — Structured Comparison Data
Machine-readable comparison dataset for ActiveCampaign vs Drip. Contains 131 attribute comparisons, 5 FAQ pairs.
ActiveCampaign vs Drip — Attribute Category Vocabulary
Taxonomy of attribute categories used to classify comparison data for ActiveCampaign vs Drip.
Drip is purpose-built for ecommerce with specialized automations like abandoned cart recovery, post-purchase sequences, and product recommendations. ActiveCampaign works for ecommerce but requires more setup and is better suited if you also need CRM functionality. For pure ecommerce focus, Drip's lower cost and ecommerce-specific features make it the better choice.
Yes, ActiveCampaign can be used for email marketing alone, but you'll pay for CRM features you don't use. If you only need email marketing and automation without sales pipeline management, Drip is more cost-effective since it's optimized for that use case.
Which has better automation capabilities?
ActiveCampaign has significantly more advanced automation with 500+ templates, conditional branching, and machine learning-powered scoring. Drip's automations are simpler but still robust for ecommerce scenarios like abandoned carts and product-triggered emails. Choose ActiveCampaign for complex multi-step workflows across multiple departments.
No. Drip charges based on the number of active campaigns, not contact overage fees. This is a major advantage over ActiveCampaign, which charges incrementally as your contact list grows, making Drip more predictable for growing ecommerce businesses.
Both integrate with Shopify, but Drip has native ecommerce-focused integrations and is specifically optimized for Shopify sellers. ActiveCampaign also works well but requires more configuration. For Shopify stores, Drip is the faster implementation.
How to Choose Between ActiveCampaign and Drip
Primary Focus: ActiveCampaign has All-in-one CRM + Marketing Automation, while Drip has Ecommerce Email Marketing & Automation.
Starting Monthly Price: ActiveCampaign has $9/month, while Drip has $19/month.
Built-in CRM Features: ActiveCampaign has Full CRM with sales pipeline, contact management, and reporting, while Drip has Basic contact segmentation only.
Ecommerce Integrations: ActiveCampaign has Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, Magento, while Drip has Shopify, WooCommerce, Klaviyo, native ecommerce focus.
Automation Workflows: ActiveCampaign has Visual builder with 500+ pre-built automations, while Drip has Simplified visual builder with 100+ ecommerce-specific automations.
Email Templates: ActiveCampaign has 300+ customizable templates, while Drip has 200+ ecommerce-optimized templates.
Target Audience Size: ActiveCampaign has Enterprise & mid-market B2B/B2C, while Drip has Small to mid-sized ecommerce businesses.