AWeber vs ActiveCampaign: do you need automation, or just a newsletter?
You want email to bring in customers, but a paid tool is hard to justify before you know how much automation you will use. If you are comparing these two, you are probably a small business or creator choosing between plain newsletters and emails that react to what subscribers do. Both bills climb as your list grows, so the choice also decides what you pay at 10,000 contacts.
Both tools are affiliate partners of ours: we may earn a commission if you sign up through a button on this page, at no extra cost to you. That is why we also say when to pick neither.
AWeber and ActiveCampaign side by side
| AWeber | ActiveCampaign | |
|---|---|---|
| Price we read | Free plan (500 subscribers, separate signup page); Lite $12.49/mo billed annually ($15 monthly) at 0-500 subscribers, Plus $19.99/mo ($30 monthly); both scale by subscriber count (read 12 Nov 2026) | Starter from $15/mo billed annually (1 user); Plus from $49, Pro from $79, Enterprise from $145 (read 9 Oct 2026) |
| Entry price | Free plan to 500 subscribers; Lite $12.49/mo billed yearly, $15 monthly, at 500 (read 12 Nov 2026) | Starter $15/mo billed yearly at 1,000 contacts; Plus from $49 (read 9 Oct 2026) |
| How you pay | By subscriber count, monthly or yearly billing | By contact count, yearly billing only on the page; CRM, SMS and extra users are add-ons |
| Free plan or trial | Free plan via a separate signup page; the Lite trial asked for a card first in our test | No free plan; 14-day trial without a card, plus a 30-day money-back guarantee |
| Best for | Small businesses and creators who want simple, dependable email | Teams that will really use deep automation and lifecycle email with a light CRM |
| Main catch | Lite caps you at 3 automations and excludes behavioural automation | Starter allows 5 actions per automation, and add-ons stack up fast |
Which one fits you
Pick AWeber if
- You are just starting: AWeber's free plan covers up to 500 subscribers and 3,000 emails a month, through its separate free signup page.
- You only send newsletters: our ActiveCampaign dossier points newsletter-only senders to AWeber, since ActiveCampaign has no free plan and Starter climbs from $15 to $149 a month between 1,000 and 10,000 contacts.
- Your list is mid-size and price matters: at up to 10,000 subscribers AWeber Plus is $112.50 a month billed yearly, against $189 for ActiveCampaign Plus at 10,000 contacts (both read 9 Oct 2026).
Pick ActiveCampaign if
- You want emails that react to behaviour: AWeber excludes behavioural automation and webpage tracking from Lite, while ActiveCampaign Plus lists unlimited automation actions from $49 a month.
- You want sequences built quickly: in our 30 Sep 2026 trial, ActiveCampaign's AI set up a welcome flow of three emails with three-day waits in about a minute.
- You need more than one seat with deeper segmentation: Pro, from $79 a month billed yearly, gives 3 users, advanced segmentation and attribution tracking.
When to pick neither
Your list is large and mostly inactive, or growing faster than your budget. Both bills track list size, and buyers report that on ActiveCampaign accounts opened since 3 Nov 2025, unsubscribed and bounced contacts count toward the bill too.
Look at Brevo instead. Both of our dossiers name Brevo as the alternative for fast-growing and mostly inactive lists, and ActiveCampaign's lists it among simpler, cheaper email tools. Read our Brevo review.
What it costs at a real size
A list of 10,000 on yearly billing, read 9 Oct 2026. AWeber: Lite $83.33 a month, Plus $112.50. ActiveCampaign: Starter $149 a month, Plus $189. Plus against Plus: $189 minus $112.50 = $76.50 a month more for ActiveCampaign, or $76.50 × 12 = $918 a year. Paid monthly, AWeber Plus at that size is $135; ActiveCampaign's page offers no monthly option.
Where to start
AWeber
Free plan (up to 500 subscribers, 3,000 emails a month). Then Lite at $12.49 a month billed yearly, or $15 monthly, at 500 subscribers (read 12 Nov 2026); Plus ($19.99 yearly, $30 monthly) once you need more than 3 automations.
Start with AWeber →ActiveCampaign
Plus, from $49 a month billed yearly at 1,000 contacts (read 9 Oct 2026). It lifts Starter's cap of 5 actions per automation to unlimited.
Start with ActiveCampaign →Questions buyers ask
Does AWeber still have a free plan?
Yes, but through its separate free signup page, not the pricing page: up to 500 subscribers and 3,000 emails a month. Both limits were still there on 1 Oct 2026.
Does ActiveCampaign bill for contacts I cannot email?
SendX and buyer reports say that on accounts created on or after 3 November 2025, unsubscribed, unconfirmed and bounced contacts count toward the billed limit. The pricing page does not state it, so check your own invoice.
What happens when my ActiveCampaign list crosses a tier?
Reviewers say crossing a contact tier re-prices the whole plan, not just the extra contacts. Ask about it before you import a list.
What did our own tests show?
AWeber (29 Oct 2026): the free account opened, but our made-up example.com addresses were rejected on import, and the Lite trial checkout asked for a card first. ActiveCampaign (30 Sep 2026): the trial AI built a clean welcome automation, but image generation returned nothing in eight tries. We tested real sends on neither.
Where these facts come from
AWeber: aweber.com/pricing.htm read 9 Oct 2026, the free signup page checked 1 Oct 2026, and our test of 29 Oct 2026. ActiveCampaign: activecampaign.com/pricing read 9 Oct 2026 in a browser, and our trial test of 30 Sep 2026; buyer reports from G2, GetApp, TrustRadius, Software Advice and Trustpilot, Aug 2026. Prices change: each one carries the date we read it, and our reviews are re-checked against the vendor pages.