ActiveCampaign vs Related Digital

ActiveCampaign is an email marketing and marketing automation platform headquartered in Chicago. Jason VandeBoom founded it in 2003 as on-premises software before it moved to SaaS. Its core job is to send the right email, SMS or WhatsApp message at the right time based on what a contact does, using a visual automation builder with branching logic.

The automation builder handles multi-step journeys with waits, conditions, goals and split tests, triggered by site visits, purchases, form fills, tags or CRM events. Campaigns use 250+ templates and, on Pro, predictive sending, conditional content and attribution. Since 2025 the Active Intelligence layer adds AI agents that build segments, automations and brand kits, a conversational workspace, and a remote MCP server; every plan includes 500 AI credits a month. Plans are priced by contacts: Starter ($19/month for 1,000 contacts billed monthly) covers email and automation, Plus adds landing pages, generative AI and SMS, Pro adds advanced segmentation and three seats, and Enterprise adds SSO, HIPAA support and custom objects. CRM pipelines, WhatsApp and transactional email are add-ons.

ActiveCampaign suits SMBs, ecommerce stores and agencies that need deep automation without HubSpot pricing. Mailchimp is easier for simple newsletters, Brevo and MailerLite are cheaper at large lists, and HubSpot is stronger as an all-in-one CRM.

Buying tip: prices rise steeply with contact count, so clean inactive contacts before upgrading. The 14-day trial needs no card, and annual billing saves roughly 17 to 21%.

Related Digital is a marketing technology company that grew out of Euro.message, one of the first email marketing service providers in Turkey, and later combined it with web personalization technology under a single brand. It serves brands in Turkey and in several international markets, with a focus on high-volume messaging and personalization for retail, banking, telecommunications and e-commerce.

The platform covers email marketing with strong deliverability practices, SMS, mobile and web push notifications, and in-app messages. Web and app personalization shows targeted content, pop-ups and product recommendations based on behavior, and a customer data platform brings together customer profiles and events for segmentation. Journey automation triggers messages on events such as abandoned carts, sign-ups or inactivity, and reporting tracks campaign and revenue performance. Related Digital is sold through custom contracts with implementation and support, and local account teams work with clients in Turkish.

It suits mid-size and large Turkish brands that send large volumes of email and SMS, need local support and want messaging and personalization from one vendor with experience of Turkish regulations such as the commercial electronic message rules and the İYS consent system. It is complex and costly for small teams and less known outside its core markets. Insider is its main local rival with a broader global footprint, Dengage is another Turkish platform in the same space, and Mailchimp, Brevo or Klaviyo are simpler self-serve choices for smaller businesses.