| Specs | ActiveCampaign | Salesforce |
|---|---|---|
| Designed For | Bloggers, business owners and email marketers in need of a user-friendly email marketing and marketing automation system. | SMEs and enterprise customers in need of a powerful marketing automation platform that integrates with other Salesforce software. |
| Email Marketing Automation | ||
| Contacts | Plans start from 500 contacts, with pricing available on request for users with lists of 100,000+ contacts. | All plans support up to 10,000 contacts. |
| Email Volume | Unlimited emails on all plans. | Unlimited emails on all plans. |
| Users | Up to three users on Lite plan, 25 users on Small Business and unlimited users on Enterprise plan. | Not provided on Salesforce Pardot website |
| Email Courses | Unlimited autoresponder series on all plans. | Unlimited autoresponder series on all plans. |
| Automation Rules | Unlimited automation funnels on all plans. | Up to 50 automation rules in Standard plan, 100 in Pro and 150 in Ultimate. |
| Responsive Email Templates | A huge selection of responsive email templates are included, with a free design customization service for Plus and Enterprise level customers. | Responsive email templates and intuitive email builder. |
| Email Split Testing | A/B email split testing is possible. | Available on Pro and Ultimate plans only. |
| Lead Scoring | Dynamic, customized lead scoring. | Lead scoring based on user activity and engagement. |
| SMS Marketing Automation | Automated SMS and subscription via SMS are available. | Automated SMS is available via the SMS Magic Interact integration. |
| Direct Mail Automation | ActiveCampaign does not support direct mail automation, although integration with direct mail tools is possible using Zapier. | Salesforce Pardot does not natively support direct mail automation. However, print marketing automation is available via the PrintSF integration. |
| UI and Usability | Designed for non-technical users, with a clean UI and simple email/automation interface. | Salesforce Pardot is designed for enterprise users, and has a complicated but sensible interface that requires some getting used to. |
| Automation Workflow Builder | Automation workflow builder uses simple yes/no conditions and rules that users with no programmming experience can understand. | Automation workflow builder is built around a visual canvas, with events and time/behavioral triggers. |
| Email Course Builder | Drag-and-drop email builder with data-driven segmentation and useful campaign insights. | Autoresponders are easy to create and configure. |
| Forms & Landing Pages | ||
| Form Builder | Form builder with inline, floating box, modal pop-up and floating bar display modes. | Web-to-lead forms can be created, however there is no user-friendly form builder as in other marketing apps. |
| Landing Page Builder | No landing page builder, although integrations are available for software like Instapage and LeadPages. | Landing page editor in Pardot allows for quick and simple landing page creation and customization. |
| Landing Page Templates | No landing page templates, although templates are available for third-party software. | Several pre-defined landing page templates are included in Pardot. |
| WordPress Plugin | ActiveCampaign WordPress plugin lets you add contact forms to pages, posts and sidebars and add tracking to your WordPress website. | Salesforce WordPress-to-lead plugin lets you automatically import CRM contacts from your WordPress website's contact form. |
| Integrations | More than 150 apps and integrations, ranging from scheduling tools to landing page software. | Hundreds of apps and integrations with HR software, marketing tools, accounting and finance platforms, administration apps and more. |
| Zapier Integration | Supported. | Supported. |
| Pricing | Monthly fee, starting from $9 per month for up to 500 contacts. Pricing available on request for high-volume email marketers. Free 14 day trial available. | Monthly fee, from $1,000 per month for the Standard plan. Free personalized demo available. |
| Minimum Contract Term | No minimum contract. Plans start from one month. | Annual contract. |
| Joining/Training Fee | No joining fee. | No joining fee. |
| Refund/Guarantee | No full or partial refunds. | No refund after payment. Customers are required to pay the agreed upon amount for the duration of their contract. |
| Support | Personalized support via phone, email and chat, as well as video walkthroughs, user community and one-on-one training. | Personalized support via email, as well as access to the Salesforce Pardot Client Learning Center. Phone support is available with Ultimate plan. Support is available 24 hours a day from Monday to Friday, ending at 8PM EST on Friday evening. |
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