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Email Marketing

ActiveCampaign vs Buttondown: Pricing Comparison 2026

Side-by-side pricing comparison of ActiveCampaign and Buttondown. See all plans, features, and costs at a glance.

Bottom line: ActiveCampaign starts at $15/mo and Buttondown starts at Custom pricing. Compare all 9 pricing tiers side by side.

Last updated: June 22, 2026

Data compiled by Arthur Jacquemin
Updated June 22, 2026
Try ActiveCampaign freeAffiliateTry Buttondown freePrice updated todayUpdated this month

ActiveCampaign vs Buttondown: Quick Pricing Facts

FeatureActiveCampaignButtondown
Starting Price$15/moCustom pricing
Number of Plans72
Free TierNoYes
Pricing Modelusage-basedusage-based
Annual DiscountN/AN/A

ActiveCampaign and Buttondown are both priced at $15/mo, making them equally accessible Email Marketing tools. Together they offer 9 pricing plans with 125 features compared, so the best choice comes down to which features match your needs.

Buttondown stands out with a free plan for getting started.

Review the detailed tier-by-tier comparison above to see exactly which features are included at each price point and find the best fit for your Email Marketing needs.

Pricing Plans
ActiveCampaign
ActiveCampaign
Try freeAffiliate
Buttondown
Buttondown
Try free
Tier 1
Enterprise
$145/month
Includes
  • Active Intelligence
  • Marketing automation
  • Email Marketing
  • Premium segmentation
  • Unlimited automation actions
  • Premium CRM & ecommerce integrations
  • Landing pages
  • Predictive & conditional content
  • Attribution & conversion tracking
  • Custom objects
  • Single Sign-On (SSO)
  • Dedicated account team
  • 5 users
  • Active Intelligence
  • Marketing automation
  • Email Marketing
  • Premium segmentation
  • Unlimited automation actions
  • Premium CRM & ecommerce integrations
  • Landing pages
  • Predictive & conditional content
  • Attribution & conversion tracking
  • Custom objects
  • Single Sign-On (SSO)
  • Dedicated account team
  • 5 users
Start with Enterprise
Free
$0/monthCheapest
Includes
  • Rich text or markdown editor
  • Send from a custom domain
  • Hosted newsletter archives
  • Privacy-first
Start with Free
Tier 2
ProPopular
$79/monthCheapest
Includes
  • Active Intelligence
  • Marketing automation
  • Email Marketing
  • Advanced segmentation
  • Unlimited automation actions
  • Standard CRM & premium ecommerce integrations
  • Landing pages
  • Predictive & conditional content
  • Attribution & conversion tracking
  • 3 users
  • Active Intelligence
  • Marketing automation
  • Email Marketing
  • Advanced segmentation
  • Unlimited automation actions
  • Standard CRM & premium ecommerce integrations
  • Landing pages
  • Predictive & conditional content
  • Attribution & conversion tracking
  • 3 users
Start with Pro
Paid Add-ons
Custom pricing
Includes
  • Tagging & segmentation (+$9/month)
  • Paid subscriptions (+$9/month)
  • Comments and surveys (+$9/month)
  • Analytics (+$9/month)
  • RSS-to-email support (+$9/month)
  • Email attachments (+$9/month)
  • Archives on a custom domain (+$29/month)
  • Multiple newsletters (+$29/month)
  • Automations (+$29/month)
  • Whitelabeling (+$79/month)
  • Teams (+$79/month)
Start with Paid Add-ons
Tier 3
Plus
$49/monthCheapest
Includes
  • Active Intelligence (limits apply)
  • Marketing automation
  • Email Marketing
  • Standard segmentation
  • Unlimited automation actions
  • Standard CRM & ecommerce integrations
  • Landing pages
  • 1 user
  • Active Intelligence (limits apply)
  • Marketing automation
  • Email Marketing
  • Standard segmentation
  • Unlimited automation actions
  • Standard CRM & ecommerce integrations
  • Landing pages
  • 1 user
Start with Plus
-
Tier 4
Starter
$15/monthCheapest
Includes
  • Active Intelligence (limits apply)
  • Marketing automation
  • Email Marketing
  • Limited segmentation
  • 5 actions per automation
  • Standard CRM & ecommerce integrations
  • 1 user
  • Active Intelligence (limits apply)
  • Marketing automation
  • Email Marketing
  • Limited segmentation
  • 5 actions per automation
  • Standard CRM & ecommerce integrations
  • 1 user
Start with Starter
-
Tier 5
Premium
$218/monthCheapest
Includes
  • Shared team inbox
  • Broadcast and automated messaging
  • Advanced flows
  • Team assignments
  • Dedicated account team
  • Up to 5 lines
  • 8 users
  • Shared team inbox
  • Broadcast and automated messaging
  • Advanced flows
  • Team assignments
  • Dedicated account team
  • Up to 5 lines
  • 8 users
Start with Premium
-
Tier 6
AdvancedPopular
$99/monthCheapest
Includes
  • Shared team inbox
  • Broadcast and automated messaging
  • Advanced flows
  • Team assignments
  • Up to 5 lines
  • 5 users
  • Shared team inbox
  • Broadcast and automated messaging
  • Advanced flows
  • Team assignments
  • Up to 5 lines
  • 5 users
Start with Advanced
-
Tier 7
Core
$99/monthCheapest
Includes
  • Shared team inbox
  • Broadcast and automated messaging
  • Up to 2 lines
  • 3 users
  • Shared team inbox
  • Broadcast and automated messaging
  • Up to 2 lines
  • 3 users
Start with Core
-

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ActiveCampaign

Email marketing, automation, and CRM for customer experience

View all ActiveCampaign plans

Buttondown

Minimal newsletter tool for writers and indie publishers

View all Buttondown plans

What Reviewers Say

Which Should You Choose?

Choose ActiveCampaign if:

  • •You need marketing automation, CRM, and behavioral triggers beyond simple email delivery
  • •Your team runs complex drip campaigns with conditional branching and lead scoring
  • •E-commerce integrations and site tracking are core to your email strategy

Choose Buttondown if:

  • •You're a writer or developer who wants a minimalist newsletter tool with Markdown support
  • •Buttondown's free plan for up to 100 subscribers is the simplest way to start a newsletter
  • •You value a clean, distraction-free email tool with great developer API access

Buttondown is a minimalist newsletter tool built for writers and developers - Markdown-first, simple API, no feature bloat. ActiveCampaign is a full marketing automation platform for businesses. These tools don't compete in practice. Buttondown is for independent writers and developers who want to send newsletters simply and cheaply. ActiveCampaign is for marketing teams running complex campaigns. If you're a developer who wants to write newsletters in Markdown and pay almost nothing, Buttondown is the right tool.

Try ActiveCampaign freeFrom $15/mo
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Frequently Asked Questions: ActiveCampaign vs Buttondown

How many pricing plans does ActiveCampaign have vs Buttondown?
ActiveCampaign offers 7 pricing plans, while Buttondown offers 2 plans. More plans typically means more flexibility to match your exact needs and budget.
Does ActiveCampaign or Buttondown offer a free plan?
Buttondown offers a free plan, while ActiveCampaign does not. If budget is a concern, Buttondown lets you get started at no cost.
What is the most popular ActiveCampaign plan?
The Pro plan is ActiveCampaign's most popular tier, priced at $79/mo. Key features include Active Intelligence, Marketing automation, Email Marketing.
Does ActiveCampaign or Buttondown offer custom enterprise pricing?
Buttondown offers a custom-priced enterprise tier for larger teams. ActiveCampaign lists all its pricing publicly.
How do ActiveCampaign and Buttondown compare for Email Marketing?
Both ActiveCampaign and Buttondown are Email Marketing tools. ActiveCampaign offers 7 plans starting at $15/mo, while Buttondown offers 2 plans starting at Custom pricing. Review the feature breakdowns above to see which better fits your Email Marketing needs.
AI Recommendations

Sources

  1. ActiveCampaign Official Pricing- Vendor pricing page
  2. Buttondown Official Pricing- Vendor pricing page

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