ActiveCampaign vs Loops
ActiveCampaign is a all-in-one marketing platform while Loops is a email marketing platform. ActiveCampaign has been around since 2003, giving it a 19-year head start over Loops (founded 2022). ActiveCampaign starts at $15/mo billed annually, while Loops starts at $49/mo. Their pricing is not measured the same way, so we don't rank them on price. Loops offers a free plan (1,000 contacts, 4,000 sends/month, Loops branding), while ActiveCampaign does not. ActiveCampaign has the edge with A/B testing, landing pages, SMS marketing.
Quick Verdict
ActiveCampaign wins on deliverability, integrations.
Loops wins on rating, free tier.
It's a close call — your choice depends on your specific needs.
ActiveCampaign
Marketing automation that drives growth
ActiveCampaign is widely regarded as having the best marketing automation capabilities in the email marketing space. It combines email marketing with a built-in CRM, making it ideal for businesses that need sophisticated automation workflows and sales pipeline management.
Loops
The email platform built for SaaS
Loops is a developer-first email platform designed exclusively for SaaS companies, combining marketing and transactional email in a single clean interface. Built by Y Combinator alumni, it features a Notion-style block editor, event-based automation triggered by user behavior like signups and upgrades, and contact-based pricing with unlimited sends. Its standout strength is letting small SaaS teams replace both their marketing email tool and transactional service (like SendGrid) with one unified platform.
Feature Comparison
| Feature | ActiveCampaign | Loops |
|---|---|---|
| Rating | 4.5/5 | 4.6/5 |
| Starting Price | $15/mo billed annually | $49/mo |
| Free Plan | No free plan | 1,000 contacts, 4,000 sends/month, Loops branding |
| Founded | 2003 | 2022 |
| Email Templates | 250 | 15 |
| Integrations | 900 | 24 |
| Deliverability Rate | 97.5% | 95% |
| Marketing Automation | Yes | Yes |
| A/B Testing | Yes | No |
| Landing Pages | Yes | No |
| Segmentation | Yes | Yes |
| Drag & Drop Editor | Yes | No |
| SMS Marketing | Yes | No |
| Ecommerce Features | Yes | No |
| API Access | Yes | Yes |
| Multi-Language | Yes | Yes |
| Web Push Notifications | No | No |
| Live Chat | Yes | No |
| Advanced Analytics | Yes | No |
ActiveCampaign: Pros & Cons
Pros
- + Industry-leading automation builder
- + Built-in CRM for sales teams
- + 900+ integrations (largest ecosystem)
- + Excellent deliverability
- + Powerful segmentation and contact scoring
Cons
- − No free plan available
- − Steep learning curve for beginners
- − Gets expensive with higher-tier features
- − Reporting could be more intuitive
- − Landing page builder is basic compared to dedicated tools
Loops: Pros & Cons
Pros
- + Clean Notion-style block editor with extremely fast email creation and minimal learning curve
- + Unified platform for both marketing and transactional emails eliminates need for separate services like SendGrid
- + Simple contact-based pricing with unlimited sends and no per-seat charges on all paid plans
- + Strong developer-focused API with direct integrations for Stripe, Supabase, Clerk, and webhook support
- + Founder-led customer support with direct access via live chat, email, and 1:1 Calendly calls
Cons
- − Limited automation logic — lacks advanced multi-branch workflows and conditional logic found in mature platforms
- − No built-in CRM or detailed contact history, requiring external tools for relationship management
- − Editor has reported bugs including no undo functionality, risking accidental content loss
- − Narrow SaaS-only focus makes it unsuitable for ecommerce, media, or non-tech industries
- − Very small integration ecosystem (24 native integrations) compared to competitors with hundreds
The Verdict
ActiveCampaign and Loops are closely matched — both score within 0.1 points of each other in our overall rating. Your decision should come down to specific needs rather than overall quality. On deliverability, ActiveCampaign reports 97.5% compared to 95% for Loops — a meaningful difference if inbox placement is critical for your campaigns.
| Criterion | Weight | ActiveCampaign | Loops |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starting Price | 30% | $15/mo billed annually | $49/mo |
| Deliverability | 25% | 97.5% Winner | 95% |
| Rating | 25% | 4.5/5 | 4.6/5 Winner |
| Integrations | 10% | 900 Winner | 24 |
| Free Tier | 10% | No | Yes Winner |
Weights determine how much each criterion counts toward the final score. See full methodology
Choose ActiveCampaign if…
- + You need SMS marketing
- + You need ecommerce integrations
- + You need built-in landing pages
- + You need A/B testing
Choose Loops if…
- + You need a free plan to get started
- + You're a saas startups
- + You're a developer first teams