MailerLite vs ActiveCampaign: Don’t Choose Before Reading This

Last Updated: 29 Dec 2025

I remember the point when my email marketing needs outgrew “basic tools.”

I didn’t want anything overly complex.
I just needed a platform that could send reliable campaigns, handle automations when needed, and still feel easy to use.

Like most marketers, ActiveCampaign was the first name I kept hearing.
It’s known for powerful automations and advanced segmentation — a serious tool for serious marketers.

But during my research, I also came across MailerLite.
A simpler, cleaner platform that promised solid features without the overwhelm.

So instead of choosing based on hype, I tested both tools myself.

Not just clicking around dashboards —
but sending real emails, managing real subscribers, and using both platforms in real-world scenarios.

This MailerLite vs ActiveCampaign comparison is based on hands-on experience, not theory.

Let’s dive in.

Short on Time? Here’s My Quick Verdict for MailerLite vs ActiveCampaign

After testing both tools across automation, forms, analytics, deliverability, and templates — here’s the straight-to-the-point takeaway:

ActiveCampaign is the more advanced platform, offering powerful automation, deep analytics, and advanced integrations.
It’s built for marketers who need complex workflows and detailed audience insights.

MailerLite is simpler and beginner-friendly, with easy-to-use templates, landing pages, forms, and 24/7 support.
It’s perfect for fast, hassle-free email marketing without complexity.

Final Score:

✅ MailerLite – 3 | ActiveCampaign – 4

🥇 Winner: Depends on your needs:

• Want advanced automation, analytics, and business-grade features → ActiveCampaign.

• Want simplicity, fast setup, and easy email marketing → MailerLite.

Ease of Use

This round is very simple — there is a clear winner.

Getting started with MailerLite is extremely easy, especially if you are new to email marketing.

 
The signup process is fast, simple, and beginner-friendly. You can start without confusion or stress.

Once inside, MailerLite helps you set things up step by step.
You can turn on only the features you need, like:

• Email campaigns

• Automations

• Websites

• Transactional emails

The dashboard is clean and easy to understand. Everything is in the right place, so managing your email work feels smooth.

The drag-and-drop email editor is very intuitive.
You can easily add text, images, buttons, and sections without any technical knowledge.

ActiveCampaign is also easy to sign up for and offers a drag-and-drop editor, but it feels more complex once you start using it.

First, ActiveCampaign does not offer a free plan.
You only get a 14-day free trial, and after that, you must upgrade to keep using the account.

Second, the dashboard can feel confusing for beginners.
ActiveCampaign has many advanced features, which is great for experts — but it also means more time is needed to learn the tool.

If you are planning advanced automation and detailed targeting, this extra complexity may be useful.
But for beginners, it can feel overwhelming.

Winner:
If ease of use is important, MailerLite clearly offers a smoother and simpler experience.

One point to MailerLite.

✅ Score: ActiveCampaign 0️⃣ – MailerLite 1️⃣

Email Editor

MailerLite’s email editor feels clean and easy from the first use.

You can choose between:

• Drag-and-drop editor

• Plain text emails

• Custom HTML uploads

The best part is the ready-made content blocks.
If you want to add blog posts, products, or images, just drag the block — and you’re done in seconds.

This saves a lot of time and feels perfect for beginners.

MailerLite also includes an AI writing helper.
When you’re stuck with headlines or ideas, it gives useful suggestions that help you write faster.

You also get around 90 email templates.
The eCommerce templates look modern, while the newsletter templates are a bit basic.

One small downside: once you choose a template, you can’t switch to another later.

ActiveCampaign’s email editor is more powerful and flexible.

It comes with many blocks, including:

• Text, images, videos, spacers

• Countdown timers

• Banners

• eCommerce product blocks

The biggest strength here is flexibility.
You can design almost any layout you imagine.

A very useful feature is saving custom blocks.
If you use the same sections in every email, you can save them and reuse them anytime.

ActiveCampaign also performs better on mobile formatting and offers conditional content.

You can easily set if/then rules, like:

• Show different content to different users

• Decide what happens when someone clicks a link or image

Even though it has advanced features, the logic is surprisingly easy to understand.

Winner:
If you want simple, fast, and beginner-friendly, MailerLite is the better choice.
If you want more control, advanced layouts, and smart content rules, ActiveCampaign clearly wins here.

✅ Score: ActiveCampaign 1️⃣ – MailerLite 1️⃣

Design & Flexibility

I’ve used both Brevo and MailerLite for real email campaigns, and the difference becomes clear once you start designing emails regularly.

MailerLite

While using MailerLite for my newsletters, I found its design experience simple and stress-free.

MailerLite gives you around 60 mobile-responsive templates, so emails automatically look good on phones and desktops.
However, I noticed that these templates are only available on paid plans, which felt a bit limiting when I tested the free version.

The editor itself is very easy to use.
I could quickly adjust layouts, colors, and fonts without breaking anything. For regular newsletters, this worked perfectly.

That said, when I wanted more design freedom, I started to feel slightly limited. It’s great for clean and simple emails, but not ideal if you want heavy customization.

ActiveCampaign

When I used ActiveCampaign for my email campaigns, the biggest thing I noticed was design freedom.

It offers 250+ modern email templates, which gave me many options to test different styles. I didn’t feel stuck with one layout.

The drag-and-drop editor is powerful, and I liked that I could:

• Create emails from scratch

• Use plain layouts

• Add custom HTML when needed

This helped me build emails exactly the way I wanted.

I also found mobile formatting more reliable, and the ability to save and reuse custom blocks saved me time across campaigns.

The only downside is that it takes a little longer to learn because there are more options. But once you get used to it, the flexibility really helps.

Winner

Both tools are strong, but ActiveCampaign wins if you want:

• More templates

• More creative freedom

• Better flexibility for advanced email designs

Score

✅ Score: ActiveCampaign 2️⃣ – MailerLite 1️⃣

Email Marketing Automation

This is the area where I personally felt the biggest difference between the two tools.

ActiveCampaign

While using ActiveCampaign for my own email marketing campaigns, automation is where it truly shines.

ActiveCampaign offers ready-made automation templates (called automation recipes) that helped me set things up quickly.
I used these for things like:

• Following up after a purchase

• Sending emails to people who didn’t complete checkout

• Nurturing leads automatically

I could edit everything — email content, tags, custom fields — or even build automations from scratch.

One thing I really liked is that one automation can have multiple triggers.
I also tested split paths to see which automation flow worked better — this was super helpful for optimization.

The only downside I noticed is that advanced eCommerce and lead-scoring automations are available only on the Plus plan, which is more expensive.

MailerLite

I also used MailerLite’s automation builder, and it’s much simpler and easier to understand.

With its visual workflow builder, I could create multi-step automations based on:

• Email opens

• Link clicks

• Subscriber actions

You can still use custom fields and segments, which works well for basic automation needs.

However, during real usage, I felt limited.
MailerLite does not support advanced triggers, such as:

• Page visits

• Specific product actions

• Deep eCommerce events

For simple automation, it works fine. But for complex funnels, it falls short.

Winner (based on my personal use):
For powerful, flexible, and advanced automation, ActiveCampaign clearly wins this round.

Score

✅ Score: ActiveCampaign 3️⃣ – MailerLite 1️⃣

List Management & Segmentation

Segmentation is essential for personalized email marketing, and both ActiveCampaign and MailerLite provide tools to organize contacts efficiently.

ActiveCampaign

ActiveCampaign’s Segment Builder stands out with powerful options.

Lists can be filtered using:

• Tags

• Subscriber actions

• Email behavior

• Event data

Each segment can combine up to 20 conditions, offering detailed control.

Lead scoring is another advantage, allowing contacts to be ranked based on actions like opens, clicks, or purchases. This makes it easier to focus on highly engaged subscribers.

A particularly useful feature is the ability to create or adjust segments directly while building campaigns, streamlining the workflow for advanced targeting.

MailerLite

MailerLite takes a simpler approach.

Subscribers can be organized into groups, and automations can move contacts based on actions or custom fields.
For example, a subscriber can automatically shift from “New customer” to “Repeat customer” after a purchase.

MailerLite also provides a preference center, letting subscribers manage:

• Which newsletters they receive

• How often they receive them

However, it lacks some advanced features:

• Comprehensive tagging

• Granular control over segments

• Lead scoring capabilities

Winner:
For detailed segmentation, advanced targeting, and lead management, ActiveCampaign pulls ahead.

Score

✅ Score: ActiveCampaign 4️⃣ – MailerLite 1️⃣

Registration Forms & Landing Pages

Building an email list is key for any successful email marketing strategy. Both MailerLite and ActiveCampaign offer tools to capture subscriptions from website visitors, but there are some differences.

MailerLite

MailerLite provides two main form options:

• Pop-up forms

• Embedded forms

It also offers a variety of ready-made form templates, making setup fast and easy.

Forms can be customized to appear based on rules, such as:

• After a set time

• When a visitor scrolls down the page

In addition, MailerLite lets you create landing pages with features like:

• Videos

• Quizzes

• Testimonials

• Image carousels

All of this is included even on lower-tier plans, which is convenient for small businesses and beginners.

ActiveCampaign offers several form types, including floating forms, inline forms, and pop-ups, but it doesn’t provide ready-made templates. This means more time is needed to design forms that look good.

Forms can be customized with fields, actions, and triggers, such as:

• Redirecting users after signup

• Tagging subscribers automatically

• Adding them to specific lists or automations

Landing pages are available, but only on the Plus plan or higher, which can feel restrictive for smaller budgets. These landing pages are flexible, allowing you to add sections, images, videos, and custom HTML. However, because templates are limited, more design work is often needed compared to MailerLite.

For businesses that want full control over signup forms and landing page design, ActiveCampaign gives the tools — but it requires more setup time and higher-tier plans to access all features.

Winner:
Thanks to its ready-made templates and landing page builder included in lower plans, MailerLite makes list building much easier.

Score

✅ Score: ActiveCampaign 3️⃣ – MailerLite 2️⃣

Reporting & Analytics

Tracking email performance is crucial for improving campaigns, and both ActiveCampaign and MailerLite offer reporting tools — but the depth and detail vary significantly.

ActiveCampaign

ActiveCampaign offers a full suite of reports, making it easy to stay on top of email marketing KPIs.
You can track:

• Campaign performance

• Marketing automation metrics

• Contact engagement

• CRM and e-commerce stats

One feature that stood out is the option to exclude ‘Apple Privacy opens’, which is especially useful since Apple’s privacy updates can skew open rates.

For e-commerce users, ActiveCampaign provides detailed sales insights, along with automation and engagement metrics that help identify which workflows and emails drive results.

MailerLite

MailerLite keeps things simpler, covering the basics:

• Email opens

• Clicks

• Unsubscribes

For e-commerce stores, MailerLite only tracks purchases on Shopify or WooCommerce, which is more limited.
It also doesn’t provide insights into social media performance or which email clients your subscribers are using.

While this is enough for small campaigns or beginners, it lacks the depth required for advanced marketing analysis.

Winner:
For detailed, comprehensive, and advanced analytics, ActiveCampaign clearly takes the lead.

Score 

✅ Score: ActiveCampaign 5️⃣ – MailerLite 2️⃣

Deliverability

Deliverability isn’t just about landing in the inbox — it’s about maintaining a healthy sender reputation over time.
Key tools to look for include:

• Authentication

• Bounce handling

• Spam complaint management

• IP warmup support

Here’s how MailerLite and ActiveCampaign compare:

Winner:
It’s a tie. Both platforms provide a solid set of features for maintaining deliverability.
ActiveCampaign edges slightly ahead if you value in-platform visibility and dashboards, but for most users, either platform works well.

Score

✅ Score: ActiveCampaign 5️⃣ – MailerLite 3️⃣

Integrations & App Support

Email marketing platforms work best when they connect easily with the tools you already use. Both MailerLite and ActiveCampaign offer integrations, but the scale and depth differ.

MailerLite

MailerLite provides around 150 integrations with:

• Website builders

• E-commerce platforms

• Social media

• CRMs

It also supports Zapier and LeadsBridge, which help expand the integrations even further.
For most small to medium businesses, this covers the essentials.

ActiveCampaign

ActiveCampaign takes integrations to the next level with 950+ options.
You can connect not only marketing and website apps but also business software like:

• Accounting tools

• Analytics platforms

• Human resources systems

• Project management tools

Zapier is also supported, giving even more flexibility.

The sheer number of integrations means ActiveCampaign fits into almost any tech stack, from simple newsletters to complex business workflows.

Winner:
This round comes down to numbers and flexibility — ActiveCampaign clearly wins with its almost 1,000 integrations, compared to MailerLite’s 150.

Score 

✅ Score: ActiveCampaign 6️⃣ – MailerLite 3️⃣

Support

Customer support can make or break your experience with an email marketing platform. Let’s see how MailerLite and ActiveCampaign compare.

Both platforms offer a variety of support channels, including email, live chat, and educational resources.

ActiveCampaign provides one-on-one training, which is useful since the platform can be more complex. However, its knowledge base is extensive, and sometimes it can be tricky to find the exact answer.

MailerLite’s live chat support is quick and responsive, with replies usually coming within a few minutes. The agents provide clear and detailed answers, and the knowledge base is easier to navigate.

Winner:
It’s a close call, but MailerLite takes the edge with 24/7 support and a more user-friendly knowledge base.

Score

✅ Score: ActiveCampaign 6️⃣ – MailerLite 4️⃣

Pricing

As you’ve seen, MailerLite and ActiveCampaign differ not just in features, but also in price. Here’s a straight comparison of their lowest paid plans for different list sizes (excluding MailerLite’s free plan — ActiveCampaign doesn’t offer a free plan):

At first glance, MailerLite is clearly cheaper across all list sizes.

What you get for the price

MailerLite’s Growing Business plan includes:

• Landing pages

• Website builder

But it doesn’t include:

• Promotional popups

• Full HTML email editor

• Preference centers

• Multiple triggers in automations

• All automation templates

To access these, you need to upgrade to MailerLite Advanced, which can be a significant jump for smaller lists.

ActiveCampaign’s Starter plan also lacks some key features, like:

• Landing pages

• SMS

• E-commerce integration

• Advanced automations

For these, you’d need Plus plan ($59/month). Adding CRM features costs extra, starting at $50/month.

Winner:
While ActiveCampaign offers more advanced tools, MailerLite wins on price for most users, especially smaller businesses or beginners.

Score

✅ Score: ActiveCampaign 7️⃣ – MailerLite 5️⃣

Who Should Use MailerLite — and Who Should Use ActiveCampaign?

Choose MailerLite if…

• You’re a small business, blogger, or creator who wants a simple, beginner-friendly email platform.

• You want quick setup with ready-made templates, forms, and landing pages.

• You need essential automation and segmentation without the complexity.

• You want a cost-effective solution without paying for features you don’t need.

• You prefer 24/7 support and a clean knowledge base to guide you.

👉 Best for small businesses, creators, solo marketers, and beginners who want simplicity, speed, and essential email marketing features.

Choose ActiveCampaign if…

• You need advanced automation with multiple triggers, branching logic, and conditional workflows.

• You rely on detailed analytics and reporting to track engagement, revenue, or eCommerce performance.

• You want deep segmentation and lead scoring for highly targeted campaigns.

• You need integration with multiple business tools — from CRM and project management to accounting and analytics.

• You don’t mind paying more for enterprise-grade capabilities and long-term scalability.

👉 Best for businesses, eCommerce brands, and marketers who want advanced automation, deep analytics, and full control over email marketing.

MailerLite vs ActiveCampaign — Final Verdict

After testing both platforms side-by-side, here’s the real takeaway:

👉 ActiveCampaign is the more advanced platform — with powerful automation, detailed analytics, lead scoring, and nearly 1,000 integrations.
If your business relies on complex workflows, segmentation, and eCommerce or CRM data, ActiveCampaign will take you further.

You can learn using ActiveCampaign with this [tutorial link].

But here’s the simplicity-friendly truth:

👉 MailerLite keeps things clean, simple, and beginner-friendly.
Intuitive email editor, ready-made templates, landing pages, forms, and 24/7 support make email marketing fast and easy, without overwhelming features.

So here’s the simple rule:

• Want advanced automation, analytics, and enterprise-level control? → Go with ActiveCampaign.

• Want a simple, cost-effective platform that gets email marketing done efficiently? → MailerLite is your daily driver.

If your goal is to send emails consistently, grow your audience, and manage campaigns without stress…

👉 MailerLite is the platform you’ll enjoy using every day.

Brevo vs MailerLite