With the tons of options available on the internet, it is easy to get lost. I’m sure you might have heard of the two of the most used email marketing softwares, SendGrid and ActiveCampaign. Most people find it difficult to choose between the two.
Both platforms have been on the market for over a decade now. ActiveCampaign is more of an email marketing system and sales automation and CRM. SendGrid mainly focuses only on email marketing.
There is no denying that the features provided by each software are outstanding; however, there are a few differences that might catch your attention. The comparison below will help you spot those differences and choose better.
Overview – SendGrid vs. ActiveCampaign
It is essential to know a little about the history and the features of any software in general before starting with their comparisons. SendGrid was started in the year 2009. It provides you cloud-based service that helps better and quick delivery of emails and other messages.
SendGrid is known for its smooth services and excellent support. It also manages the internet service, domain keys, SPF, etc. The company has offices in major states such as Colorado, Denver, California, London, etc.
Similar to SendGrid, ActiveCampaign is also a cloud-based software. It was initially designed for small or medium-sized businesses. However, many large companies and enterprises use ActiveCampaign as their email marketing platform.
It was founded in the year 2003 and since then has had its share of ups and downs. However, today ActiveCampaign is one of the largest email marketing and CRM platforms in the world.
Email Marketing – SendGrid vs. ActiveCampaign
SendGrid lets you raise the bar higher when it comes to email marketing. You can enhance your emails through the marketing campaign. SendGrid has it all covered, right from email designs to its deliverability.
You get to choose the type of workflow you like. It has a library of beautiful templates based on various themes, designs, and occasions. If you do not like the templates, you could start from scratch.
The Drag & Drop tool makes it convenient for you to build your templates within minutes. Their deliverability rates are 96%. It shows that your message will reach the targeted audience without any disruption.
It also helps in building strong and healthy relations with your customers. Whether you are a developer or a marketer, SendGrid is the one platform that caters to all your needs equally.
ActiveCampaign has a load of different emails that you could use to stand out amongst the other common emails that companies usually send. To pick a few, Broadcast emails, triggered emails, targeted emails, etc.
You could also use email funnels to help in promoting your products. There is a feature that lets you schedule your email for a specific date and time. This schedule is in terms of birthday remembrances and anniversary wishes.
Another feature that plays a very crucial role in making ActiveCampaign what it is today is segmentation. For instance, the people interested in a particular product get emails related to that product and its schemes alone. Through it, you get to deliver different messages to different people.
It helps in building better contact and also getting more profits. ActiveCampaign has more than 125 beautifully designed email templates. These are ready-to-use templates that leave a lasting impression.
ActiveCampaign also gives you other tools that are very needed to have successful email marketing. For example – conditional content, managed deliverability, mobile optimized, etc. You could also use your sales engagement tactics in email marketing, thereby increasing the chances of getting more profits.
Automations – SendGrid vs. ActiveCampaign
SendGrid Automations are straightforward to use. You can create your workflows, personalized experiences, etc. Through automations, you can send the customers series of welcome and other emails that help them get to know more about your business.
If you aren’t well versed with the software, you can use the pre-existing triggers. These triggers make your work easier and more light. You could also automate time-based series. The best feature of SendGrid Automation is that you get an entire report of how your automations are doing.
In one single view, you get the group’s data as well as individual data. Honesty, once you get started with the SendGrid Automation, there is no turning back.
Similar to SendGrid, ActiveCampaign lets you automate your emails and keep track of the total contact engagement. The performance reporting helps you find the most engaged contacts and get them to buy more of your products.
ActiveCampaign provides you with a drag & drop automations builder that reduces your effort and helps create an automated workflow with ease. There are also other things that you could automate, such as lead nurturing, FaceBook Ads, lead scoring, etc.
Segmentation ensures that you reach out to the right person with the right information. Most often, huge companies make mistakes while sending out emails. For instance, even I have received a wrong email on my email id for an order I’d made.
However, with ActiveCampiagn, that will never be this possibility.
Pricing – SendGrid vs. ActiveCampaign
Pricing always is a major decision-making factor. SendGrid and ActiveCampaign offer four different plans based on the number of subscribers you choose.
Let us begin with SendGrid. The first plan it offers is the Free plan. This plan includes template editor, insightful analytics, delivery optimization, etc. Next, you have the Essentials plan that starts at $14.95 per month. You can send up to 40,000 emails through this plan.
It comprises some of the major features offered by SendGrid, such as chat and ticket support, guaranteed response times, etc. Then you have the Pro plan starting at $89.95 per month.
Lastly, there’s the Premier plan which is meant for huge enterprises and businesses. The price for the same is customizable and would require the help of a business expert.
The first plan is the lite plan that begins at only $6.75 per month. ActiveCampaign, on the other hand, does not have a free plan but yet offers quite reasonable prices. It provides you with various features such as email marketing, marketing automations, segmentations, newsletters, etc.
One of the most used plans of ActiveCampaign is the Professional plan starting at $96.75 per month. Next in line is the Plus plan, starting at $36.75 per month. It is the closest to the Enterprise plan and comprises almost all the cool features of ActiveCampaign.
The last plan offered by ActiveCampaign is the Enterprise plan beginning at $171.75 per month. You get custom reporting, custom domain, free design services, etc., with this plan. Most largescale companies use this plan.
You can also check our article on SalesForce vs ActiveCampaign.
Conclusion
Based on the prices and the features, I feel SendGrid is a better option. However, as ActiveCampaign has been on the market for a greater time, most people would vote for it irrespective of the price. Even though ActiveCampaign does not have a free plan, it does offer a free 14-day trial.
I hope the comparisons above were of some help to you in making your decision for your email marketing campaigns. Good luck.