ActiveCampaign vs Resend
ActiveCampaign and Resend are both email marketing tools. ActiveCampaign is aimed at small businesses and E-commerce, while Resend is aimed at developers. ActiveCampaign costs less, from $19/mo versus $20/mo for Resend. Only Resend has a free plan.
Email marketing and automation platform for SMBs and ecommerce
Email API for developers
| Pricing | Paid · $19 | Freemium · $20 |
| Starting price | $19/mo | $20/mo |
| Free plan | No | Yes |
| Free trial | 14 days | — |
| Built for | Small businesses, E-commerce, Agencies | Developers |
| Platforms | web, ios, android | web |
| Country | US · 2003 | US · 2023 |
| Rating | — | — |
Choose ActiveCampaign if
Small and mid-sized businesses and ecommerce brands that want sophisticated, behaviour-based email and SMS automation at a mid-range price.
- One of the most powerful automation builders in its price range
- Strong ecommerce triggers and deep integrations
- AI agents included on every plan
Look elsewhere if: Teams sending simple newsletters to large lists on a tight budget, or wanting a full CRM suite (MailerLite, Brevo, HubSpot).
Choose Resend if
Developers and startups who want transactional email that is a pleasure to integrate.
- Best developer experience in email APIs
- React Email templates are a joy
- Free tier for small projects
Look elsewhere if: High-volume senders needing advanced deliverability tooling or full marketing automation.
ActiveCampaign vs Resend pricing
ActiveCampaign
- Starter$19/mo$15/mo billed annually; 1,000 contacts, 1 seat
- Plus$59/mo$49/mo annually; landing pages, SMS add-on, 1 seat
- Pro$99/mo$79/mo annually; predictive sending, attribution, 3 seats
- Enterprise$179/mo$145/mo annually; SSO, HIPAA support, 5 seats
Resend
- Free$03,000 emails/mo, 100/day, 3 domains, 30-day retention
- Pro$20/mo50,000 emails/mo, 10 domains, no daily limit
- Scale$90/mo100,000 emails/mo, 1,000 domains, dedicated IP add-on
- EnterpriseCustom99.99% SLA, dedicated CSM, SSO included
ActiveCampaign · Key features
- Visual automation builder with branching, goals and split tests
- Triggers from site visits, purchases, forms, tags and CRM events
- Email, SMS and WhatsApp messaging from one platform
- Active Intelligence AI agents for segments, automations and brand kits
- Predictive sending and conditional content on Pro
- Landing pages and site messages from the Plus plan
Cons
- Costs climb quickly as contact lists grow
- CRM pipelines and transactional email are extra
- Starter and Plus include only one seat
Resend · Key features
- Simple REST API and SDKs for Node, Python, Go, Ruby, PHP, Java
- React Email for component-based templates
- Domains with DKIM/SPF guidance and dedicated IPs
- Webhooks, idempotency keys and batch sending
- Broadcasts for marketing with audiences and unsubscribe
- Logs, analytics and suppression lists
Cons
- Short log retention on lower plans
- Fewer advanced features than SendGrid
- Younger provider; reputation building
ActiveCampaign vs Resend: FAQ
Which is cheaper, ActiveCampaign or Resend?
ActiveCampaign starts at $19/mo and Resend at $20/mo. Both prices are checked on the vendors' own pricing pages.
Do ActiveCampaign and Resend have a free plan?
ActiveCampaign has no free plan, a 14-day free trial. Resend has a free plan.
Which is better for small businesses, ActiveCampaign or Resend?
ActiveCampaign lists small businesses as a core audience, while Resend is aimed more at developers.