ActiveCampaign vs. ClickFunnels: Which Marketing Powerhouse is Right for Your Business?

Published May 14, 2025 | By Matt

Navigating the landscape of marketing and sales software can feel like charting a course through a dense fog. Two prominent platforms—ActiveCampaign and ClickFunnels—stand out. Both help businesses attract, engage, and convert customers, but they do so in very different ways.

This guide compares their features, strengths, pricing, and ideal use cases to help you choose the right platform for your goals in 2025.

Quick Comparison Table

Feature	ActiveCampaign	ClickFunnels
Primary Use	Email marketing, automation, CRM	Funnel building, landing pages, sales tools
Sales Funnels	Basic (no funnel builder)	Robust, built for funnels
Email Marketing	Advanced personalization & automation	Basic, supports broadcasts & follow-ups
CRM	Full-featured, visual pipelines	Basic contact & order tracking
Automation	Multi-channel, AI-assisted workflows	Funnel-centric sequences
Integrations	900+ native integrations	~100 native, Zapier-supported
Ease of Use	Intuitive, clean UI	Moderate learning curve
Pricing (Start)	~$15/month (contact-based)	~$97/month

Core Feature Comparison

Email Marketing & Lead Capture

ActiveCampaign offers powerful email tools: personalized campaigns, 250+ templates, and advanced automation. Its form builder supports inline, pop-up, and floating formats.

ClickFunnels includes basic email capabilities mainly used to support its funnels. Lead capture is done via funnel pages. Automation and segmentation are less flexible.

Choose ActiveCampaign if email is a major part of your strategy.

Sales Funnels & Landing Pages

ClickFunnels dominates this category. Its drag-and-drop funnel builder, upsells, order bumps, and templates make launching funnels fast.

ActiveCampaign provides landing pages but lacks a full funnel builder. You’d need to manually tie automations, pages, and CRM stages together.

Choose ClickFunnels if your business runs on converting leads through sales funnels.

Marketing Automation

ActiveCampaign includes a visual automation builder with over 30 triggers and 40+ actions. Automations can span email, SMS, CRM, and more.

ClickFunnels focuses on automations within the funnel, like abandoned cart sequences and upsell follow-ups. Broader customer lifecycle automations are limited.

Choose ActiveCampaign for lifecycle marketing; ClickFunnels for funnel-specific automation.

CRM Functionality

ActiveCampaign offers a full CRM with deal pipelines, task management, and lead scoring. It integrates with automations.

ClickFunnels includes basic CRM functions like contact tracking and purchase history, mainly within funnels.

Choose ActiveCampaign if pipeline and team sales tracking are important.

Integrations

ActiveCampaign integrates natively with over 900 tools and platforms. It also supports Zapier.

ClickFunnels has fewer native integrations (~100+), but Zapier expands its flexibility.

Choose ActiveCampaign for broader tool compatibility.

Ease of Use

ActiveCampaign has a clean UI, guided setup, and strong user reviews for ease of use.

ClickFunnels has a learning curve but rewards users with powerful funnel-building capabilities.

Choose ActiveCampaign if you want a smoother onboarding. ClickFunnels if you’re ready to dive into funnel strategy.

Pricing Overview

Platform	Starting Price	Notes
ActiveCampaign	~$15/month	Tiered by features and contact size
ClickFunnels	~$97/month	Higher upfront cost, but includes all funnel tools

Choose ActiveCampaign if you’re budget-conscious or just starting out. Choose ClickFunnels if funnels are your main revenue driver.

Final Recommendation

Choose ActiveCampaign if:

You focus on long-term lead nurturing and lifecycle marketing.
Email personalization, segmentation, and CRM are crucial.
You want deep automation across channels.
Your tech stack is diverse and needs strong integrations.

Choose ClickFunnels if:

You rely on funnels to generate leads, sales, or webinar signups.
Speed and simplicity of funnel creation are top priorities.
You want upsells, downsells, and optimized conversion paths.

FAQs

Is ClickFunnels better than ActiveCampaign?
Not better—just different. ClickFunnels excels at funnel creation. ActiveCampaign is stronger for email marketing and automation.

Can I use both together?
Yes. Many businesses use ClickFunnels for funnel pages and ActiveCampaign for emails and CRM.

Which is cheaper?
ActiveCampaign generally starts cheaper, especially for small lists. ClickFunnels has a higher monthly cost but includes all funnel tools.

Do either have free trials?
Yes. Both offer trials (often 14 days), though ClickFunnels may require payment info upfront.

By aligning your choice with your actual needs—whether that’s funnel conversion or customer nurturing—you can pick the platform that powers your marketing growth in 2025 and beyond.