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Marketing Automation

ActiveCampaign vs Keap: Which Marketing Platform Fits Your Business in 2026?

ActiveCampaign pairs deep automation with a light CRM at a contact-tier price; Keap bundles CRM, sales pipeline, invoicing, checkout and payments into one flat price built for small businesses. Here is what each actually costs.

By Bill Belcamino · Last updated September 23, 2026 · Our methodologyResearched and fact-checked by the HelpCompare team
ActiveCampaign logoStarter — From $15/mo (1,000 contacts, 1 user)

ActiveCampaign

VS
Keap logoSingle platform plan — $299/mo flat (2 users included, $39/mo per extra user)

Keap

Run the cost calculator Compare pricing tiers
ActiveCampaign vs KeapVerified Sep 23, 2026
Bottom line Editorial assessment

Which is better, ActiveCampaign or Keap?

Choose ActiveCampaign for deep marketing automation and a light CRM at a low price; choose Keap if you need invoicing, checkout forms and payment processing bundled in too. ActiveCampaign starts at $15/mo versus Keap's $299/mo flat.

Quick verdict: ActiveCampaign is far cheaper to start — $15/mo against Keap’s $299/mo flat — and already includes a standard CRM and ecommerce integrations at that price, making it the closer of the two to Keap in feature scope. Where Keap pulls ahead is native invoicing, checkout forms and payment processing, none of which ActiveCampaign offers; ActiveCampaign pulls ahead on pure marketing-automation depth (15 active goals, granular segmentation) at a fraction of the price. A business that needs to get paid through the same tool leans Keap; one that wants the deepest automation for the lowest price leans ActiveCampaign.
Verified data

ActiveCampaign vs Keap: quick facts

At a glanceActiveCampaignKeap
CategoryMarketing Automation
Entry priceStarter — From $15/mo (1,000 contacts, 1 user)Single platform plan — $299/mo flat (2 users included, $39/mo per extra user)
Free planNo free plan — 14-day free trial, no card requiredNo free plan — free trial only (capped at 25 emails, no payments or texting)

Is ActiveCampaign cheaper than Keap?

ActiveCampaign, by a wide margin: $15/mo (1,000 contacts, 1 user) against Keap’s $299/mo flat (2 users included). ActiveCampaign’s Starter plan already includes a standard CRM, which narrows the practical feature gap with Keap more than the price gap suggests — the remaining difference is mainly invoicing, checkout and payment processing, which only Keap offers.

Verified data

ActiveCampaign vs Keap at a glance

CategoryActiveCampaignKeap
Entry priceStarter $15/mo (1,000 contacts, 1 user)Keap $299/mo flat (2 users included)
Free planNone — 14-day trial onlyNone — free trial only
CRM includedYes, standard CRM & ecommerce integrationsYes, built in
Invoicing & checkoutNot offeredIncluded
Payment processingNot offeredIncluded (Keap Pay or third-party)
Automation depth15 active goals, 5 actions/automation on StarterIncluded, but a less granular builder than ActiveCampaign
Appointment schedulingNot offeredIncluded

Verified September 23, 2026Prices recorded from each vendor’s own pricing page. See sources

Prices in USD from activecampaign.com/pricing and keap.com/pricing, both checked September 23, 2026.

Editorial assessment

How they actually differ

Both pair marketing automation with a CRM, but they diverge on how far past marketing each one goes.

Where the feature overlap actually is

ActiveCampaign Starter already includes a standard CRM and ecommerce integrations, so the automation-plus-CRM combination both tools offer is closer than the ten-times price difference suggests. The real gap is that Keap adds invoicing, checkout forms, payment processing and appointment scheduling — a small business’s entire client-facing operation — while ActiveCampaign stays focused on marketing and light sales tracking.

Automation depth vs. operational breadth

ActiveCampaign’s automation builder is more granular at this price point: 15 active automation goals and detailed segmentation on Starter. Keap’s automation is capable but built to support its wider operational toolkit rather than to be the deepest marketing-automation engine on its own.

Moving between them

ActiveCampaign advertises a free contact-migration service on every plan. Keap’s implementation packages include data import and migration services for a fee. Neither publishes a dedicated importer specifically for the other.

Editorial assessment

Pros & cons

ActiveCampaign

Pros

  • $15/mo entry price, far cheaper than Keap
  • Standard CRM and ecommerce integrations included
  • Deeper automation logic at this price point
  • Free contact-migration service on every plan

Cons

  • No invoicing, checkout forms or payment processing
  • No appointment scheduling
  • No free plan, 14-day trial only
  • Starter caps at 1 user

Keap

Pros

  • Invoicing, checkout and payment processing included
  • Appointment scheduling built in
  • One platform for the whole client-facing operation
  • Text/SMS marketing included at the base tier

Cons

  • $299/mo is a steep entry price versus ActiveCampaign’s $15
  • No free plan, trial only
  • Less granular automation builder than ActiveCampaign
  • Implementation services often required, at extra cost
Verified data

Cost calculator: what does your team actually pay?

ActiveCampaign

 
$0/mo

Keap

 
$0/mo
 

ActiveCampaign’s $15/mo is a flat rate for its lowest contact tier (1 user) and does not change with the number above. Keap’s $299/mo includes 2 users, then $39/mo per additional user entered above. Checked September 23, 2026.

Choose ActiveCampaign if…

You want deep marketing automation and a light CRM at a low price, and do not need invoicing, checkout or payments in the same tool.

Choose Keap if…

You want one platform to run marketing, sales, invoicing, checkout and payments together, and can absorb a higher flat price.

Total cost over time

Uses your selections above. Estimate excludes add-ons, overages, and negotiated discounts.

Ready to pick your marketing platform?

Both offer a trial rather than a permanent free plan. Map your must-have features — especially invoicing and payments — before comparing the sticker prices.

See ActiveCampaign pricing See Keap pricing

Frequently Asked Questions

Is ActiveCampaign cheaper than Keap?

Yes, substantially: $15/mo against Keap’s $299/mo flat. ActiveCampaign already includes a standard CRM at that price, narrowing the practical feature gap even though the price gap is large.

Does ActiveCampaign include invoicing or payment processing?

No. That is one of Keap’s main differentiators — invoicing, checkout forms and built-in payment processing are all included in its flat price, and ActiveCampaign offers none of them.

Which has deeper marketing automation?

ActiveCampaign, at this price point — 15 active automation goals and granular segmentation on its Starter plan, versus a less specialized automation builder inside Keap’s broader platform.

Do both include a CRM?

Yes — ActiveCampaign Starter includes a standard CRM and ecommerce integrations, and Keap’s CRM is built into its single plan.

Migration Guides

Already decided? Here’s how to actually switch.

Step-by-step migration guides covering what transfers automatically, what doesn’t, and how to handle the gap — in both directions.

Switching from ActiveCampaign to Keap Switching from Keap to ActiveCampaign
Editorial assessment

When to Buy — and When to Walk Away

Every “best marketing platform” listicle tells you why to buy. Here’s the other half: the specific conditions under which ActiveCampaign or Keap is the wrong purchase for your team.

ActiveCampaign

Buy ActiveCampaign if:

  • You want deep marketing automation at a low price
  • A light CRM alongside your marketing is enough
  • You do not need invoicing, checkout or payments in the same tool

Do NOT buy ActiveCampaign if:

  • You need to invoice clients or take payments through the same platform
  • You want appointment scheduling built in
  • More than 1 user needs to log in on your entry plan

Keap

Buy Keap if:

  • You want marketing, sales, invoicing, checkout and payments in one platform
  • You need appointment scheduling built in
  • You are running the whole client-facing side of a small business through one tool

Do NOT buy Keap if:

  • You want the lowest possible entry price
  • You want the deepest, most granular marketing-automation builder
  • You want a free plan to start on

Canonical data for the tools on this page

Every pricing fact, rating, AI billing model and switching guide we hold on each tool, on one page, with the date each figure was last verified.

ActiveCampaignPricing, free plan, AI cost & every comparison›KeapPricing, free plan, AI cost & every comparison›
ActiveCampaign vs KlaviyoHead-to-head comparisonActiveCampaign vs MailchimpHead-to-head comparisonHubSpot vs KeapHead-to-head comparisonKeap vs KlaviyoHead-to-head comparisonKeap vs MailchimpHead-to-head comparisonGoHighLevel vs ActiveCampaignHead-to-head comparison

Sources

Prices on this page were recorded from each vendor’s own pricing page on the date shown at the top of the page. Vendors change pricing often — check the live source before you buy.

Every figure is also in our open dataset (JSON and CSV, CC BY 4.0), with its source page and verification date. See how we research pricing.

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01 · CompareWhich tool fits your team, side by side.113 comparisons 02 · Price & approveSourced, dated pricing and a one-page brief for sign-off.Decision brief 03 · SwitchWhat moves, what you rebuild, what it costs.226 guides 04 · ShareDownload and cite the data. CC BY 4.0.Open data
Bill Belcamino, founder of HelpCompare
About the author

Bill Belcamino

Founder and author, HelpCompare

Engineer by training, operator by experience, marketer by choice. Bill spent nine years as an engineer at HP, was COO of Auctiva (the number one third-party selling platform on eBay, past 200,000 users) and ran Google’s $70M/year search syndication partnership at Alot.com. Then he spent 13 years building his own web properties with his own money at stake. He has bought, trialled, integrated and cancelled more SaaS tools than he can count, and started HelpCompare because the real cost of switching tools is the part nobody covers.

“I’ve sat on both sides of the table: the agency recommending the tool and the client paying for it.”

Researched and fact-checked by the HelpCompare team. Pricing on this page was last verified on September 23, 2026. No paid sponsorships, no affiliate commissions.

Read Bill’s story How we verify pricingSpot an error? Tell Bill