ActiveCampaign vs Apollo: Complete Comparison (2026)
An in-depth comparison of ActiveCampaign and Apollo to help you choose the right tool for your business.
Last updated: November 2026
ActiveCampaign
6.5/10
Marketing automation platform with email, SMS and WhatsApp campaigns plus optional deal-pipeline CRM add-ons, aimed at small and mid-sized businesses.
Apollo
6.5/10
Apollo is a sales intelligence and engagement platform that combines a B2B contact database, email sequencing, a dialer and deal tracking for outbound sales teams.
Feature-by-Feature Comparison
| Feature | | |
|---|---|---|
| Scores | ||
| Overall Rating | 6.5/10 | 6.5/10 |
| Customization | 7/10 | 6/10 |
| Analytics | 6/10 | 6/10 |
| Integration | 8/10 | 7/10 |
| Support | 6/10 | 4/10 |
| Ease of Use | 6/10 | 8/10 |
| Security | 7/10 | 6/10 |
| Cost | 5/10 | 7/10 |
| Scalability | 7/10 | 6/10 |
| Pricing | ||
| Free plan | No | Yes |
| Cheapest paid plan | Contact for pricing | $49/user/mo Basic |
| Estimated cost for 10 users | Contact for pricing | Free Free |
| Features | ||
| Contact Management | ||
| Integrations | ||
| Lead Management | ||
| Opportunity Management | ||
| Reporting & Analytics | ||
| Sales Automation | ||
| Built-in Calling | Not listed | |
| Collaboration | Not listed | |
| Marketing Automation | Not listed | |
| Mobile Access | Not listed | |
ActiveCampaign vs Apollo cost by team size
| Team size | ActiveCampaign | Apollo |
|---|---|---|
| 1 user | Contact for pricing | FreeFree |
| 5 users | Contact for pricing | FreeFree |
| 10 users | Contact for pricing | FreeFree |
| 25 users | Contact for pricing | FreeFree |
| 50 users | Contact for pricing | FreeFree |
The plan that fits each team size, billed monthly, before add-ons and usage charges. Each cost opens that tool's pricing calculator for the team size.
Which One Should You Choose?
Why choose ActiveCampaign
- Higher Support score (6/10 vs 4/10)
- Higher Customization score (7/10 vs 6/10)
- Better fit for marketing teams (9/10 vs 4/10)
Why choose Apollo
- Has a free plan (ActiveCampaign does not)
- Higher Ease of Use score (8/10 vs 6/10)
- Higher Cost score (7/10 vs 5/10)
- Better fit for sales teams (9/10 vs 5/10)
- Better fit for startups (8/10 vs 6/10)
Pros & Cons
ActiveCampaign
Pros
- Every plan, including Starter, has multi-step automation and AI campaign builders, so small teams can run nurture sequences cheaply.
- Pro adds predictive sending, conditional content and attribution tracking at a list price of about 79 USD a month for 1,000 contacts on annual billing.
- Enterprise covers compliance-heavy buyers with SSO, HIPAA support, custom objects and a Salesforce integration.
- Review sites rate it highly, at about 4.4 on G2 from around 14,700 reviews and 4.6 on Capterra.
- iOS and Android apps let users create and manage deals, assign tasks and log calls on the go.
Cons
- Pricing is tied to contact count and rises sharply as lists grow, and there is no permanent free plan.
- Deal pipelines and inbox sales email cost extra through CRM add-ons, which adds a lot to the total cost for sales teams.
- Starter allows only 5 actions per automation and 1 user, and it has no landing pages.
- Reviewers often mention a steep learning curve and slow support on lower tiers.
- Reporting customisation is limited, and deals cannot be exported without the API.
Apollo
Pros
- Prospect database, email sequencing, dialer and enrichment come in one subscription, so teams buy fewer tools.
- The free plan has no time limit and lets a team try the full prospecting workflow.
- Reviewers rate ease of use highly, and G2 shows about 4.7 out of 5 from roughly 9,700 reviews.
- Admins can pool credits across the team and set per-user caps.
Cons
- Many reviews report inaccurate data, especially mobile numbers and contacts outside North America.
- Credits expire each cycle, phone reveals cost about eight times as much as an email, and credits are spent even on bad records.
- Support is the lowest-rated G2 subcategory, and Trustpilot shows a TrustScore of about 3.1.
- API access and SSO require the top Custom plan, and every seat must be on the same plan.
Not sold on either?
Frequently Asked Questions
ActiveCampaign and Apollo both score 6.5/10 on our CRM criteria. The largest gap is in Cost: 5/10 for ActiveCampaign and 7/10 for Apollo.
Apollo has a free plan; ActiveCampaign does not list one.
ActiveCampaign is the better fit for marketing teams: we rate it 9/10 for them, against 4/10 for Apollo.
