Side-by-side comparison · Marketing & Ads
ActiveCampaign vs beehiiv vs Buffer
Everything that matters when choosing between them, in one place: our rating, what each can do, what they cost, and the trade-offs.
Comparing 3 tools, the maximum.
At a glance
Pick it if: Small and mid-sized businesses that want email automations doing the follow-up for them.
Pick it if: Creators, founders and media brands who want to treat their newsletter as a proper channel.
Pick it if: Small businesses, solo founders and creators who want to post regularly across several social networks without paying for an enterprise suite.
Overview
| Attribute | ActiveCampaign | beehiiv | Buffer |
|---|---|---|---|
| In one line | Email marketing and automation for small businesses, with AI built in. | Newsletter platform with AI writing help, built-in growth tools and ways to get paid. | Schedules posts to every social network from one queue, with an AI writing helper. |
| Pricing model | Paid | Freemium | Freemium |
| Starting price | See website | From $59/mo | $6/channel/mo |
| Free plan | No | Yes | Yes |
| Works with Claude Code | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Rating breakdown
Our scores out of 5. The higher bar in each row is highlighted.
| Attribute | ActiveCampaign | beehiiv | Buffer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall rating | 3.8 | 4.2 | 4.2 |
| Ease of useHow quickly someone non-technical gets value from it. | 3.5 | 4.5 | 5.0 |
| FeaturesHow completely it covers its own job, and how well the pieces fit together. | 4.5 | 4.0 | 3.5 |
| Output qualityHow good the results are before you fix them. | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| Value for moneyWhat you get for the price, including the free plan. | 3.0 | 4.0 | 4.5 |
| Speed & reliabilityHow fast it is and how often it falls over. | 4.0 | 4.5 | 4.0 |
Feature comparison
A tick means it does this today. A dash means we haven't checked.
| Attribute | ActiveCampaign | beehiiv | Buffer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Access & platform | |||
| Free plan | No | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile app | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Desktop app | No | No | No |
| Browser extension | – | No | Yes |
| API access | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Teams & business | |||
| Team workspace | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Enterprise plan or SSO | Yes | Yes | – |
| Connects to other apps | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Open source or self-hosted | No | No | No |
| AI abilities | |||
| Works with your files | – | Yes | Yes |
| Understands images | – | – | – |
| Makes images | Yes | Yes | No |
| Makes video | No | No | No |
| Writes code | No | No | No |
| Runs agents or automations | Yes | Yes | No |
| Learns your brand or style | – | Yes | – |
| Works in many languages | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Capabilities score | 8/ 17 | 11/ 17 | 8/ 17 |
Pricing
Plans as listed on each vendor's site when we last checked. Confirm before you buy.
| Attribute | ActiveCampaign | beehiiv | Buffer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plans | Starter From about $15/mo billed yearly (1,000 contacts) Solo owners starting with email automation. | FreeOur pick Free Anyone starting a newsletter from zero. | Free Free A sole trader posting a few times a week. |
PlusOur pick From about $49/mo billed yearly (1,000 contacts) Small businesses running email, landing pages and SMS. | Lite From $59/mo, or $49/mo billed yearly Writers ready to earn from sponsors or paid tiers. | EssentialsOur pick $6/channel/mo, or $5/channel/mo billed yearly One person running a business's social accounts. | |
Pro From about $79/mo billed yearly (1,000 contacts) Teams that want advanced targeting and attribution. | Pro From $109/mo, or $95/mo billed yearly Publications that want their own brand and deeper analytics. | Team $12/channel/mo, or $10/channel/mo billed yearly Small teams who need approvals. | |
Enterprise Custom Larger companies with security and CRM needs. | Enterprise Custom Media companies with several large publications. | ||
| Which plan to pick | Plus is the sweet spot for most small businesses because it adds landing pages and generative AI. Starter is fine if you only need simple automations. Prices on ActiveCampaign's own page load per contact count, so plug in your real list size before deciding. | Stay on Free until you have a few hundred engaged readers; it has everything you need to write and grow. Move to Lite when you want sponsor revenue or paid subscriptions, and to Pro when the beehiiv branding starts to bother you or your brand. | Start on Free to see if you will actually post regularly. Move to Essentials once you need more than 10 posts queued per channel; Team is only worth it when someone else needs to approve posts. |
Key features
| Attribute | ActiveCampaign | beehiiv | Buffer |
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Pros and cons
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Who each one is for
| Attribute | ActiveCampaign | beehiiv | Buffer |
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Questions people ask
Which is better, ActiveCampaign, beehiiv or Buffer?
They tie on our overall rating (ActiveCampaign 3.8/5, beehiiv 4.2/5 and Buffer 4.2/5). ActiveCampaign is best for email automations and customer journeys and lead nurturing for service and B2B businesses. beehiiv is best for launching a newsletter and growing a list with referrals. Buffer is best for scheduling posts across many networks and small teams on a tight budget.
Which is cheaper, ActiveCampaign, beehiiv or Buffer?
ActiveCampaign: Pricing isn't published; check the vendor's site for a quote. beehiiv: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at From $59/mo. Buffer: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at $6/channel/mo.
Which is easier to use, ActiveCampaign, beehiiv or Buffer?
Buffer rates highest for ease of use in our scores. Small businesses, solo founders and creators who want to post regularly across several social networks without paying for an enterprise suite.
How we compare
Ratings are our own, from using each tool, across ease of use, features, output quality, value for money, speed & reliability.
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