ActiveCampaign vs Smartly

Comprehensive side-by-side comparison — features, pricing, performance, and more.

Data last refreshed October 2026

ActiveCampaign

Cut 13 hours of marketing busywork each week with autonomous marketing.

Paid

81% verification coverage

Smartly

Smartly.io Solutions Oy

AI Advertising Platform

Enterprise

73% verification coverage

Trust & Reliability

ActiveCampaign

Uptime:99.85%Status page

Users:100K-500K

Customers (per vendor):Pit Boss Grills, Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago, Ducks Unlimited Canada +5

GDPR

SOC 2

HIPAA

Smartly

Customers (per vendor):Samsung, Spotify, Uber +7

GDPR

Overall Winner: ActiveCampaign

8.0/10 vs Smartly at 4.8/10

Leads in:

Integration

Customization

Support

Scores are AI-estimated from publicly available data — not an independent test or a verified user rating. How we rank →

AI Comparison Summary

ActiveCampaign

8.0

avg score

Smartly

4.8

avg score

ActiveCampaign leads overall — particularly in Ease of Use and Customization and 3 more.

Based on 6 dimensions

Scores are AI-estimated from publicly available data — not an independent test or a verified user rating. How we rank →

Overall Winner

ActiveCampaign

8.0 / 10

ActiveCampaign

Best For

Mid-market marketing teams seeking to automate customer journeys

Businesses looking to integrate AI tools like ChatGPT and Claude into their marketing stack

Ecommerce and retail companies needing personalized email and SMS campaigns

Agencies managing multiple client brands with cross-channel marketing needs

Smartly

Best For

Agency teams streamlining client workflows

Performance teams optimizing campaigns with intelligent creative

Brand teams scaling messaging across platforms

Creative teams automating ad production at scale

* Verdict is based on our algorithmic scoring of publicly available data. Learn about our methodology

ActiveCampaign is best for

🤖Automation & Agents7.0📊Data & Analytics6.4💻Coding & Dev5.0

Smartly is best for

🎧Customer Support9.0🤖Automation & Agents7.8🎨Image & Design5.8

Filter by your use case:

Limitations

ActiveCampaign

Cons

Active Intelligence features have limits on lower-tier plans
SMS marketing is an add-on and MMS is only available in the US and AU
WhatsApp messaging is an add-on.
Transactional email is an add-on.
Custom reporting is an add-on for Plus and Pro plans and is not available on Starter

Smartly

Cons

Pricing is not publicly available and requires contacting sales
Product updates require login to access (footer)
Smartly does not control personal data processing by online advertising platforms or third-party services
Only the Google Chrome browser is officially supported

Weighted Score — Adjust What Matters to You

Pick a profile or drag sliders — scores and radar update instantly on the right.

Quick profiles:

Ease of Use5

Customization5

Support5

Integration5

Compliance & Data Protection5

Performance5

Planning Quality5

Dimension Comparison

ActiveCampaign

8.0

/ 10

Clear winner

Smartly

4.8

/ 10

Dimension Breakdown

Ease of Use

How intuitive is onboarding, UI navigation, and day-to-day usage for the target audience?

ActiveCampaign

6.0▲ +3.0

Smartly

3.0

Customization

Calculated

How much can users tailor workflows, settings, prompts, or outputs to their needs?

ActiveCampaign

8.0▲ +5.0

Smartly

3.0

Support

How strong is the documentation, customer support, community, and learning resources?

ActiveCampaign

8.0▲ +1.0

Smartly

7.0

Integration

Calculated

How well does it connect with other tools, APIs, and workflows?

ActiveCampaign

10.0▲ +5.0

Smartly

5.0

Compliance & Data Protection

Calculated

Compliance certifications and data-protection posture, counted from ten verified signals: SOC 2 Type II, GDPR compliance, HIPAA, WCAG AA/AAA, PII redaction, licensed-only training, a published sub-processor list, a downloadable DPA, not training on user data, and a documented deletion path

ActiveCampaign

8.0▲ +2.0

Smartly

6.0

Performance

Calculated

Latency + throughput speed

ActiveCampaign

8.0▲ +3.0

Smartly

5.0

Planning Quality

Calculated

Multi-step planning depth + replanning capability

ActiveCampaign

—

Smartly

—

Calculated = derived from structured signals (integration count, API/open-source config, compliance certs, response-time). AI = LLM-assessed from public website content. Methodology

Task Performance

ActiveCampaign

Task

Smartly

9.0

Campaign Creation

9.0

8.0

Audience Targeting

7.0

8.0

Performance Analytics

9.0

6.0

Content Calendar

3.0

4.0

Brand Monitoring

6.0

5.0

Competitive Analysis

3.0

Budget Optimization

9.0

8.0

Multi Channel Management

9.0

8.0

Lead Scoring

2.0

7.0

Attribution Tracking

7.0

3.0

Blog Writing

1.0

3.0

Article Generation

1.0

* Task scores (1–10) are algorithmically generated from publicly available data.

Data is sourced from public information and vendor websites. It may not always be up-to-date — verify pricing and features directly with the vendor before purchasing.Report inaccuracy

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the main differences between ActiveCampaign and Smartly?

ActiveCampaign — "Cut 13 hours of marketing busywork each week with autonomous marketing". Smartly — "AI Advertising Platform". The Features section on this page compares them side by side.

Who is ActiveCampaign best for compared with Smartly?

ActiveCampaign is best for Mid-market marketing teams seeking to automate customer journeys; and for Businesses looking to integrate AI tools like ChatGPT and Claude into their marketing stack. Smartly is best for Agency teams streamlining client workflows; and for Performance teams optimizing campaigns with intelligent creative.

How does the pricing of ActiveCampaign compare with Smartly?

ActiveCampaign is paid, offers a free trial. Smartly is enterprise-priced (custom quote). Always verify current pricing with the vendor.

Does ActiveCampaign or Smartly have a free plan?

ActiveCampaign lists no free plan and offers a free trial. Smartly does not list a free plan in our data. Always verify current pricing with the vendor.

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