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Despite the increasing number of channels available to ecommerce businesses to communicate with customers, email continues to be one of the most effective ways to keep them engaged.

But with the increasing amount of competition, it’s becoming tougher to even get emails noticed — let alone read. This is where the importance of an ecommerce marketing automation tool comes into play to help you send the right message at the right moment, with the right level of personalization!

But as you start to look for email marketing automation tools, the endless number of options available may overwhelm you. And two common names that often come up in conversations include Omnisend and ActiveCampaign.

While both these tools are great for businesses to run successful email marketing campaigns on auto-pilot, let’s head-on-head compare their core functionalities to see which tool works best for your needs.

Today we’ll look at:

• Omnisend vs. ActiveCampaign comparison
• Email campaigns
• Marketing automation
• Email list building
• Segmentation
• Analytics and reporting
• Pricing
• Customer support

Omnisend vs. ActiveCampaign comparison

Before exploring each feature closely, here’s a quick overview of Omnisend vs. ActiveCampaign for ecommerce email marketing :

	Omnisend	ActiveCampaign
Email campaigns	Has ecommerce-oriented email campaign templates for every stage of the buyer’s journey. Includes a built-in campaign booster for more enriched campaigns.	Has an extensive but plain template library for generic email campaign use cases like newsletters, opt-ins, promotional alerts, etc.
Automation workflows	Advanced automation features for email, SMS, and web push. Ecommerce-specific workflows that can be set up in a few clicks. The workflow builder has a user-friendly UI.	Advanced automation for email and SMS. Has a steep learning curve needing technical help.
Email list building	Easy drag-and-drop email list builder with plenty of options for ecommerce, like landing pages, signup forms, pop-ups, Wheel of Fortune, and teasers.	Has limited list building options like landing pages, in-line and pop-up forms. Landing pages are charged additionally. The Module editor has a complicated UI.
Segmentation	Offers advanced segmentation options based on customers’ past purchases, email engagement, website behaviors, interests, demographics, etc.	Offers advanced segmentation, too. Automatically adds a ‘tag’ every time your customer performs a set action.
Analytics and reporting	Has advanced analytics and reporting features to track multiple KPIs and optimize efforts.	Has more advanced reporting, such as automation, deal, contact, conversion, web personalization reports, etc.
Pricing	Free plan available; paid plans start at $16/month.	Doesn’t offer a free plan. Paid plans start from $19/month. For email automation, plans start from $49/mo.
Customer Support	24/7 live chat & email support, Customer Success Manager from $400/month, dedicated help center.	24/7 chat & email support, and free resources.

By the look of it, both tools fare well in most areas. But ActiveCampaign’s complex automations and the somewhat cluttered interface are not beginner-friendly.

Also, ActiveCampaign’s advanced features, like Modules and Module editor, have a considerable learning curve and need some technical expertise, making it a challenging tool for non-technical users. Meanwhile, Omnisend is more beginner-friendly despite its advanced features.

If at any point you want more information or an in-depth view of Omnisend, feel free to reach out to us.

Let’s get started with the in-depth feature comparisons.

Campaign builder

ActiveCampaign has a large but basic template library for multiple email campaign use cases, such as newsletters, welcome series, opt-in emails, promotional alerts, and more.

You could also start from scratch and build a custom template. The Email Campaign Builder and Module editors have a slight learning curve; most users may need additional help.

Omnisend has an easy-to-use, intuitive campaign builder with more ecommerce-related customizations. You can easily drag and drop campaign elements, add custom branding, edit themes, and much more.

The email campaign builder and editor is easy to use for even beginners:

Email campaigns

Omnisend and ActiveCampaign have generous email marketing features with plenty of competitive features.

But ActiveCampaign lacks ecommerce-focused features, whereas Omnisend is solely focused on ecommerce, making it easy for you to send more personalized email campaigns to suit various stages of the buyer’s journey.

Promotional emails, welcome offers, order shipping alerts, personalized recommendations, and abandoned cart recoveries are popular ecommerce email campaigns you can easily create and schedule using Omnisend.

Omnisend ensures you achieve more email clicks and opens with its in-built campaign booster:

Automation workflows

ActiveCampaign and Omnisend have advanced automation features for email and SMS, which most other marketing automation tools don’t offer. These are both key channels to target broader user demographics.

ActiveCampaign has a powerful marketing automation builder with many advanced features beyond email marketing. These include CRM and sales automations, social media integration, and a tool for running limited-time deals.

However, ActiveCampaign has a steeper learning curve than most of its competitors.

Omnisend is an equal contender for setting up robust marketing automation workflows. It goes an extra mile and lets you connect more channels to emails, such as web push notifications and SMS, for more contextual communications and customized user experiences.

With Omnisend, you get tons of pre-built workflows custom-made for ecommerce businesses that are missing in ActiveCampaign.

To simplify workflows, Omnisend lets you choose an ecommerce-specific goal, like building loyalty, recovering abandoned carts, welcoming users, etc., and offers fitting templates.

Further, you can A/B test marketing workflows to spot and pursue the best-performing ones for better ROI.

Email list building

Due to high rates of email inflow, receivers are more likely to mark emails or businesses as spam — especially if they don’t recall signing up for them.

Building an email list lets you start on the right foot. It helps turn website visitors into high-quality leads and, ultimately, paying customers.

Your preferred tool should help you create email list building strategies by understanding buyer psychology. For instance, a website visitor will most likely submit their email when asked to play a game of Wheel of Fortune for exclusive product offers.

ActiveCampaign has limited list building options like landing pages, in-line and pop-up forms to help you capture website visitor emails. However, it offers landing pages as an additional paid feature.

Omnisend, on the other hand, has a quick and easy drag-and-drop email list builder with plenty of options for ecommerce, like landing pages, signup forms, pop-ups, Wheel of Fortune , and teasers. These features add fun elements to your website and gamify user experience.

Omnisend’s forms builder lets you visually enhance form layouts and add branding colors or tones for more eye-catching designs.

Segmentation

The secret behind curating more personal emails and receiving high engagement is user segmentation. It ensures the right information is delivered to the right people at the perfect time.

Segmentation is when you group website visitors, potential/current customers, and leads into targeted groups with similar characteristics. For instance, by segmenting a group of website visitors who’ve clicked on a particular offer, you can send them follow-up emails to increase the possibility of a conversion.

Omnisend and ActiveCampaign, offer advanced segmentation options based on customers’ past purchase activities, email engagement, website behaviors, interests, demographics, and many more.

ActiveCampaign’s segmentation strategy lets you automatically add a “tag” every time a consumer performs an action, such as clicking on a link, visiting a web page, etc.

However, Omnisend has the upper hand with segmentation, which includes other key channels like SMS and web push notifications for broader targeting.

Analytics and reporting

Ecommerce businesses must monitor how well their campaigns perform to bring consistency in sales and reduce churn.

Both Omnisend and ActiveCampaign offer detailed campaign reports and analytics that help you measure performance and improve your future marketing efforts.

ActiveCampaign has more advanced, easy-to-download reports, such as automation, deal, contact, conversion, and web personalization, to name a few.

Omnisend’s advanced reporting summarizes your campaigns’ performance for better decision-making. It offers valuable insights into KPIs like segment-wise performance; i.e., open rates, click-through rates, email, and SMS audience growth trends, etc. — all in a single view.

Pricing

ActiveCampaign has various pricing plans for marketing and sales teams. However, there’s no free plan. You only get a 14-day limited access free trial. This does not help businesses looking to explore the tool’s features before committing.

The lowest-priced plan starts from $19/mo, which includes only sending transactional emails and has no integrations with ecommerce platforms like Shopify, WooCommerce, etc.

If you need email marketing automation features and ecommerce-related integrations, pricing starts from $49 with SMS at an additional price.

Also, custom reports are only available for the Enterprise plan (custom pricing).

Omnisend’s pricing is based on your email list size. It offers the flexibility to select the number of subscribers you own and get a custom-priced plan.

Omnisend has a Free Forever plan with access to all features. You can send up to 500 emails monthly and up to 60 SMS for free. Also, A/B test campaigns and get around-the-clock support before you decide on the tool.

Omnisend’s plans start for as low as $16/mo, perfect for growing ecommerce businesses. Brands needing advanced reporting and unlimited emails with SMS automation can opt for the Pro plan, starting from just $59/mo. You can also opt for a dedicated Customer Success Manager at an additional $400 — which is cheaper than most competitors in the market.

Use our email pricing calculator below to quickly compare price rates and features with ActiveCampaign. Simply input your desired number of contacts, select ActiveCampaign from the list, and see how Omnisend stacks up against it.

Customer support

Both tools offer 24/7 live chat and email support for all its paid and free trial/plan users.

Considering ActiveCampaign’s steep learning curve, around-the-clock help is a must. You can also access the tool’s various self-help docs and resources that help you get started.

Omnisend is noted for its award-winning customer support team. It also has a dedicated Help Center with useful resources for multiple searchable topics, from ecommerce integrations to email builders and automations.

Final thoughts

Omnisend or ActiveCampaign: which tool meets your needs? Ultimately, you must choose a more ecommerce-focused tool that offers smooth integrations with your ecommerce platform.

Here’s a quick wrap-up of the features we’ve discussed so far:

• Omnisend has more ecommerce-oriented support for setting up and running email campaigns with its templates and features.
• Omnisend’s marketing automation workflows are easier to set up for beginners and do not need extra technical intervention like ActiveCampaign.
• Along with email, Omnisend supports SMS and push notifications for a complete marketing solution for ecommerce brands.
• Omnisend and ActiveCampaign have advanced segmentation features.
• Both tools offer analytics. ActiveCampaign has more advanced custom reports for its Enterprise plan users.
• Omnisend has a Free Forever plan and has more affordable plans in the market.
• Omnisend has an award-winning 24/7 customer support team and a dedicated help center for all customers.

If you’re a growing ecommerce brand looking for a tailored email and SMS automation solution at an affordable price, we suggest you try Omnisend.