Is Kit or ActiveCampaign cheaper?

Kit. Its free plan covers up to 10,000 subscribers, and ActiveCampaign has no free plan. At 1,000 contacts for a 3-person team, Kit Pro is $66/month billed annually against ActiveCampaign Pro at $79/month billed annually.

Does ActiveCampaign have a free plan?

No. It offers a 14-day trial with no card, then you pick a paid plan. Starter is the cheapest, at $15/month billed annually at the first contact band.

Does Kit have a real free plan?

Yes. It covers up to 10,000 subscribers with 1 seat and no trial needed. Automations and paid subscriptions are listed on Creator and Pro.

Which is better for selling digital products and a paid newsletter?

Kit. Paid subscriptions and digital product sales are part of the platform, with Kit keeping 0.6% of each sale. ActiveCampaign doesn't document selling to your audience as a feature.

Which is better for CRM and sales automation?

ActiveCampaign. It bundles Standard CRM & ecommerce integrations from Starter, adds an Enhanced CRM add-on from Plus up, and offers Advanced segmentation on Pro. Kit doesn't document a CRM.

Which handles a 3-person team better?

Kit. Creator includes 2 seats and Pro is unlimited. ActiveCampaign's Starter and Plus include 1 seat, so a team needs Pro, which includes 3 seats.

Kit vs ActiveCampaign: a free plan for creators, or CRM and automation depth you pay for?

Email marketing and CRM platforms · Verified 1 Oct 2026 · By Joonas Rotko

Kit

Desk research

From Creator, billed annually

$33/mo

$39/mo billed monthly

ActiveCampaign

Desk research

From Starter, billed annually

$15/mo

Quick answer

Kit is the better buy for most small lists. Its free plan covers up to 10,000 subscribers, so both a 500-contact and a 5,000-contact list cost nothing, while ActiveCampaign has no free plan. For a 3-person team on 1,000 contacts, Kit Pro is $66/month billed annually against ActiveCampaign Pro at $79/month billed annually. ActiveCampaign is the pick when CRM, deeper segmentation and sales automation are the point of the tool. Kit is built for creators who sell newsletters and digital products. Prices as of 1 Oct 2026.

Across the three setups below: Kit in 3 of 3 scenarios.

Which one fits you?

Solo marketer or small business, a list just past the free tier
Kit
My pick
$0/mo billed annually
At 500 contacts Kit's free plan covers the whole list at no cost, with room up to 10,000 subscribers. ActiveCampaign has no free plan. Its cheapest option is Starter at $15/month billed annually, with 5 actions per automation and one seat.
Why this pick, and when to skip it
Skip it if you want CRM and ecommerce tools inside the same account from day one. ActiveCampaign bundles them from its entry plan; Kit's free plan doesn't aim at that.
See Kit plans
Growing list, sending regularly
Kit
My pick
$0/mo billed annually
At 5,000 contacts Kit's free plan still covers the list at no cost. ActiveCampaign has no free plan, and its cheapest option at this size is Starter at $79/month billed annually, with one seat.
Why this pick, and when to skip it
Skip it if you need pipelines, lead scoring or sales automation next to your email. That is ActiveCampaign's territory, and it's what the higher price pays for.
See Kit plans
Small team managing one list together
Kit
My pick
$66/mo billed annually
Three people on a 1,000-contact list need more than one seat. Kit's Creator plan includes 2 seats, so a team of three goes to Pro, which has unlimited seats and costs $66/month billed annually. ActiveCampaign's Starter and Plus include 1 seat, so a team lands on Pro at $79/month billed annually, which includes 3 seats. On annual billing against annual billing, Kit Pro is the cheaper of the two and has no seat ceiling.
Why this pick, and when to skip it
Skip it if your team lives in a CRM all day. ActiveCampaign Pro adds Advanced segmentation and premium ecommerce integrations that Kit doesn't document.
See Kit plans

Neither fits? See the alternatives, or take the 2-minute recommendation.

How are Kit and ActiveCampaign really different?

Free plan or no free plan
Kit
A real free plan, up to 10,000 subscribers, with 1 seat.
ActiveCampaign
No free plan. A 14-day trial with no card, then a paid plan.
A list of any size up to 10,000 subscribers costs nothing on Kit. On ActiveCampaign you pay from the first day after the trial.
Entry paid price, annual billing
Kit
Creator: $33/month billed annually at the entry band.
ActiveCampaign
Starter: $15/month billed annually at the entry band.
ActiveCampaign's Starter looks cheaper on paper, but it caps automations at 5 actions per automation and includes one seat. It reads more like a taste of the platform than a working plan. Both are annual-billed rates at the first contact band.
Seats for a small team
Kit
1 on Free, 2 on Creator, unlimited on Pro.
ActiveCampaign
1 on Starter and Plus, 3 on Pro, 5 on Enterprise.
A 3-person team gets to a plan with enough seats sooner on Kit, and Pro never runs out of seats. ActiveCampaign forces the jump to Pro.
CRM and segmentation depth
Kit
No CRM or sales pipeline documented; Kit is built around email, landing pages and digital product sales.
ActiveCampaign
Standard CRM & ecommerce integrations on Starter, up to Premium CRM & ecommerce integrations on Enterprise, with Limited segmentation on Starter rising to Premium.
This is the real split. If you need a CRM next to your inbox, ActiveCampaign is built for it and Kit isn't.
Selling to your audience
Kit
Paid subscriptions and digital product sales, with Kit keeping 0.6% of each sale, inside an all-in transaction fee that already covers card processing.
ActiveCampaign
Not a documented feature.
Creators who sell a newsletter or digital products can do it inside Kit without a separate tool.

What will Kit or ActiveCampaign cost for your setup?

The cheapest plan that covers each setup, add-ons included. Prices exclude VAT.

Solo marketer or small business, a list just past the free tier

500 subscribers · mailed 3 times a month (for tools priced by emails sent) · 1 user

MonthlyYearly, per month

Kit

My pick

Free

Above 10,000 subscribers: Creator (+$141/mo, billed annually).

ActiveCampaign

Annual only

$15

Starter

Above 25,000 subscribers: Plus (+$434/mo, billed annually).

See Kit plans

Usage, limits and billing

Kit

Uses 500 of 10,000 subscribers.
On monthly billing: $0 a year.
On annual billing: $0 a year.

ActiveCampaign

Uses 500 of 25,000 subscribers.
On annual billing: $180 a year.
Starter is sold on annual billing only.

Growing list, sending regularly

5,000 subscribers · mailed 3 times a month (for tools priced by emails sent) · 1 user

MonthlyYearly, per month

Kit

My pick

Free

Above 10,000 subscribers: Creator (+$141/mo, billed annually).

ActiveCampaign

Annual only

$79

Starter

Above 25,000 subscribers: Plus (+$370/mo, billed annually).

See Kit plans

Usage, limits and billing

Kit

Uses 5,000 of 10,000 subscribers.
On monthly billing: $0 a year.
On annual billing: $0 a year.

ActiveCampaign

Uses 5,000 of 25,000 subscribers.
On annual billing: $948 a year.
Starter is sold on annual billing only.

Small team managing one list together

1,000 subscribers · mailed 3 times a month (for tools priced by emails sent) · 3 users

MonthlyYearly, per month

Kit

My pick

$79

$66

Pro

Above 400,000 subscribers: nothing published fits.

ActiveCampaign

Annual only

$79

Pro

Above 50,000 subscribers: nothing published fits.

See Kit plans

Usage, limits and billing

Kit

Uses 1,000 of 400,000 subscribers.
On monthly billing: $948 a year.
On annual billing: $792 a year.

ActiveCampaign

Uses 1,000 of 50,000 subscribers.
On annual billing: $948 a year.
Pro is sold on annual billing only.

How I calculated this

For each tool I price every current plan plus the add-ons a setup needs, from the vendor's published prices only, and take the cheapest. Monthly and annual billing are priced separately. When a limit or price isn't published, the tool shows as not fitting instead of a guess.

Solo marketer or small business, a list just past the free tier: A list of about 500 contacts, just past the free tiers most vendors offer. One login. Tools priced by emails sent are costed at three mailings per subscriber a month.ActiveCampaign, monthly billing: Not sold on monthly billing.
Growing list, sending regularly: A list of 5,000 contacts, sending regularly. One login. Tools priced by emails sent are costed at three mailings per subscriber a month.ActiveCampaign, monthly billing: Not sold on monthly billing.
Small team managing one list together: Three people logging in to the same 1,000-contact list. Seats, not list size, are the deciding limit. Tools priced by emails sent are costed at three mailings per subscriber a month.ActiveCampaign, monthly billing: Not sold on monthly billing.

Kit vs ActiveCampaign side by side

I compare email/CRM platforms on: Real cost per list size, both billing bases; Free-tier contact ceiling before you must pay anything; Team seats included, and the seat price past that; List segmentation depth; Automation workflow depth and any step/action limits; Deliverability and sending limits (emails per month, per day, or per rolling window); CRM and ecommerce integration depth; What happens past your plan's contact ceiling (overage pricing vs a forced upgrade).

Kit and ActiveCampaign compared on the main buying criteria
Criterion	Kit	ActiveCampaign
Free plan	Yes, up to 10,000 subscribers.	No; 14-day trial only.
Entry paid price at the entry band, annual billing	Creator: $33/month billed annually.	Starter: $15/month billed annually.
Entry paid price at the entry band, monthly billing	Creator: $39/month billed monthly.	No monthly rate on any plan; every ActiveCampaign price is billed annually.
Team seats included	1 on Free, 2 on Creator, unlimited on Pro.	1 on Starter and Plus, 3 on Pro, 5 on Enterprise.
Automation limits	Automations on Creator and Pro.	5 actions per automation on Starter; Unlimited automation actions from Plus up.

All details, including automation and AI workflows

All compared details for Kit and ActiveCampaign
Criterion	Kit	ActiveCampaign
CRM and ecommerce integrations	No CRM documented.	Standard CRM & ecommerce integrations on Starter and Plus; Enhanced CRM add-on from Plus up, not on Starter.
Trial terms	14 days on paid plans, no card required.	14 days, no card required.
Refund terms	Refunds within the first 30 days of signup, on monthly or annual plans.	30-day money-back guarantee on a first paid subscription.
Full price ladder	Free (up to 10,000 subscribers). Creator: $39/month billed monthly, or $33/month billed annually, at the entry band, then rising with list size up to 400,000 subscribers. Pro: $79/month billed monthly, or $66/month billed annually, up to 400,000 subscribers.	Starter: $15/month billed annually. Plus: $49/month billed annually. Pro: $79/month billed annually. Enterprise: $145/month billed annually. These are the rates at the first contact band.
How pricing scales	Priced by subscriber count on both billing bases, with published prices on Creator and Pro from the first band up to 400,000 subscribers. Above that, Kit doesn't publish a price.	Priced by contact count on top of the plan tier, from a 1,000-contact first band. Every plan has a published price ladder: Starter up to 25,000 contacts, Plus, Pro and Enterprise up to 50,000 contacts. Above that it is Talk to Sales.
Annual billing discount	Creator and Pro both drop on annual billing ($33/month billed annually against $39/month billed monthly on Creator).	Annual billing only. ActiveCampaign publishes no monthly rate on any plan, so there is no discount to measure.
Extra seats past what's included	Not stated; seat counts are fixed per tier.	Extra seats can be added in the app, but no per-seat price is published.
Branding and custom domain	Custom domain on every plan, Free included.	Lower-tier accounts can only remove ActiveCampaign branding and swap the logo via a Settings > Appearance checkbox; they cannot customize the domain or edit CSS/HTML. Full white-labeling (custom domain, CSS/HTML rebrand) is Enterprise-only.
API, Zapier and WordPress	Not broken out by tier.	API and Zapier on every plan, including Starter; WordPress available account-wide.
Refund and money-back terms	Refunds within the first 30 days of signup, on monthly or annual plans.	A 30-day guarantee, first-ever paid subscription only.

Who should pick Kit, and who should pick ActiveCampaign?

Kit

Desk research

Best for solo marketers and small businesses
Best for growing lists sending regularly
Best for small teams sharing one account

Kit is a creator-first email platform with a free tier up to 10,000 subscribers and automations on the paid plans. The paid tiers add advanced automation, engagement analytics and unlimited team members, and the bundle is the strength: email, digital product sales and paid subscriptions all come standard, not as add-ons, with Kit keeping 0.6% of each sale. It suits creators who want a complete toolkit in one place.

Best for: Email creators and small publishers who need email and product sales in one place, and are fine with a small platform fee on subscriber revenue.

Strengths

A real free plan up to 10,000 subscribers, with 1 team member and no trial required.
Kit keeps only 0.6% of each digital product or subscription sale, inside an all-in transaction fee that already covers card processing.
Unlimited visual automations and paid subscriptions from the Creator plan ($39/month billed monthly at the entry list size).

Limits

The free tier goes up to 10,000 subscribers, so paying only makes sense once you need automation, paid subscriptions or more seats rather than more room.
Creator includes 2 team seats; unlimited seats only arrive at the Pro plan ($79/month billed monthly at the entry list size).
Published prices run up to 400,000 subscribers; above that Kit asks you to request a custom plan.

Skip it if you need more than 1 team seat on Free.

Kit review Kit pricing Kit alternatives

ActiveCampaign

Desk research

ActiveCampaign prices by contact list size on top of the plan tier, and the plan cards only show the annual rate; there's no published monthly-billing number to compare against. Starter caps you at 5 actions per automation and one seat, so it reads more like a taste of the platform than a real working plan.

Best for: A small business that wants CRM and ecommerce integrations bundled with email marketing from the entry tier.

Strengths

API and webhook access on every plan, including Starter.
Zapier is available on every plan, not gated to the top tier.
A 14-day trial with no card, plus a 30-day money-back guarantee on the first paid subscription.

Limits

Starter automations are capped at 5 actions per automation; Plus and up remove the cap.
Full white-labeling (custom domain, CSS/HTML rebrand) is Enterprise-only.
The Enhanced CRM add-on (pipelines, sales engagement) isn't offered on Starter at all.

Skip it if you need more than 5 actions per automation or a second seat without upgrading past Starter.

ActiveCampaign review ActiveCampaign pricing ActiveCampaign alternatives

My pick: Kit in 3 of 3 scenarios.

See Kit plans See ActiveCampaign plans

Neither Kit nor ActiveCampaign? Try these

MailerLite
From $10.80/mo billed annually
Pick it if you want a simple email tool with a permanent free plan and a lower entry price than ActiveCampaign, without a CRM.
MailerLite review MailerLite alternatives
Mailchimp
From $27/mo billed monthly
Pick it if you want the best-known name and a free plan, and don't need Kit's creator tools or ActiveCampaign's CRM.
Mailchimp review Mailchimp alternatives
Brevo
From $8.08/mo billed annually
Pick it if you want a free plan and email, SMS and basic CRM under one account.
Brevo review Brevo alternatives

Switching between Kit and ActiveCampaign

Neither vendor documents a migration tool or list-transfer guarantee for this switch. Expect to export and re-import your contacts and rebuild automations by hand in either direction. Kit's free plan lets you set up and test a rebuild without paying, and ActiveCampaign's 14-day trial needs no card.

What would change my pick?

A published monthly rate for ActiveCampaign would let me compare it with Kit's monthly billing, which I can't do today.
If your work is mostly sales follow-up, pipelines and lead scoring rather than newsletters, ActiveCampaign becomes the pick whatever the price gap.
If Kit's free plan lowered its subscriber ceiling or ActiveCampaign added a free plan, the cost picks would need a second look.
A price change on either side. The scenario picks recalculate when a vendor changes a price.

Kit vs ActiveCampaign: questions people ask

Is Kit or ActiveCampaign cheaper?: Kit. Its free plan covers up to 10,000 subscribers, and ActiveCampaign has no free plan. At 1,000 contacts for a 3-person team, Kit Pro is $66/month billed annually against ActiveCampaign Pro at $79/month billed annually.
Does ActiveCampaign have a free plan?: No. It offers a 14-day trial with no card, then you pick a paid plan. Starter is the cheapest, at $15/month billed annually at the first contact band.
Does Kit have a real free plan?: Yes. It covers up to 10,000 subscribers with 1 seat and no trial needed. Automations and paid subscriptions are listed on Creator and Pro.
Which is better for selling digital products and a paid newsletter?: Kit. Paid subscriptions and digital product sales are part of the platform, with Kit keeping 0.6% of each sale. ActiveCampaign doesn't document selling to your audience as a feature.
Which is better for CRM and sales automation?: ActiveCampaign. It bundles Standard CRM & ecommerce integrations from Starter, adds an Enhanced CRM add-on from Plus up, and offers Advanced segmentation on Pro. Kit doesn't document a CRM.
Which handles a 3-person team better?: Kit. Creator includes 2 seats and Pro is unlimited. ActiveCampaign's Starter and Plus include 1 seat, so a team needs Pro, which includes 3 seats.

How I verified this

Every price and limit here comes from the vendors' own pages, last checked 1 Oct 2026. Kit: desk research. ActiveCampaign: desk research.

Sources and changelog

39 facts from 7 source pages, oldest checked 30 Sep 2026.

Kit plans and pricing (checked 30 Sep 2026)
ActiveCampaign plans and pricing (checked 30 Sep 2026)
ActiveCampaign: add and manage users (checked 30 Sep 2026)
ActiveCampaign money-back guarantee terms (checked 30 Sep 2026)
ActiveCampaign white-labeling guide (checked 30 Sep 2026)

1 Oct 2026: New page. Kit keeps a small percentage of each paid-subscription sale and documents a refund window. All three scenarios pick Kit: its free plan covers a 500-contact and a 5,000-contact list at no cost, and for a 3-person team on 1,000 contacts Kit Pro undercuts ActiveCampaign Pro on annual billing. ActiveCampaign is the pick for CRM and sales automation depth.

Spot something out of date?Vendors and readers, send me the correct fact.

Software sites change almost every week, and I want every claim on this page to be factually correct. If you are a vendor or a reader, send me the correct fact and a link to the official page. I will check it and update the page. The opinions and rankings stay mine.

Kit vs ActiveCampaign: a free plan for creators, or CRM and automation depth you pay for?

Quick answer

Which one fits you?

How are Kit and ActiveCampaign really different?

Free plan or no free plan

Entry paid price, annual billing

Seats for a small team

CRM and segmentation depth

Selling to your audience

What will Kit or ActiveCampaign cost for your setup?

Solo marketer or small business, a list just past the free tier

Growing list, sending regularly

Small team managing one list together

Kit vs ActiveCampaign side by side

Who should pick Kit, and who should pick ActiveCampaign?

Kit

ActiveCampaign

Neither Kit nor ActiveCampaign? Try these

Switching between Kit and ActiveCampaign

What would change my pick?

Kit vs ActiveCampaign: questions people ask

Is Kit or ActiveCampaign cheaper?

Does ActiveCampaign have a free plan?

Does Kit have a real free plan?

Which is better for selling digital products and a paid newsletter?

Which is better for CRM and sales automation?

Which handles a 3-person team better?

How I verified this

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