If you have a legacy ActiveCampaign plan from pre 2021 you need to know how to navigate the price hikes from March 2023 without losing your mind.

If you don’t have the right information, you risk paying more than you need to for ActiveCampaign, or losing time and money on a migration that wasn’t the right move for you.

Legacy pricing has been a long happy ride for long-term ActiveCampaign users, but that changed this week as the pricing moved towards current pricing for most accounts. The biggest and oldest accounts are getting the biggest price hikes, so if that’s you, you should definitely know your options before taking action.

I’m Kay Peacey, and I’ve written this blog to help legacy ActiveCampaign users know which move is right for their business, so that everyone gets the best ROI they can from their email marketing automation platform.

Follow these steps to navigate legacy ActiveCampaign price hike

Learn about the ActiveCampaign price hike with Kay Peacey (12 mins)

Understand which legacy accounts are in this price hike from ActiveCampaign

ActiveCampaign accounts affected by the March 2023 price increases are the all-in-one legacy plans (equivalent to the new Bundle product) that buy direct from ActiveCampaign, and have been paying less than the cost of the equivalent contact limit and feature set on current pricing.

Affected accounts should have received an email to the main admin of the account on March 15th 2023 if they are impacted.

If the main account admin inbox did not get an email about it on March 15th 2023, you’re probably fine, and don’t need to read this blog – but do check your junk mail and your next billing info in ActiveCampaign to be sure.

Until Jan 2023, ActiveCampaign was a single product that could be purchased at four plan levels (Lite, Plus, Pro and Enterprise) combined with pricing based on how many active contacts were in the account

Following a change to the model in January 2023, the core features of ActiveCampaign are now split into two separate products – Marketing and Sales. The Marketing and Sales products can be purchased separately, or together as a Bundle, and you can find out more about that current ActiveCampaign pricing and product model here.

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Know your options if you are facing an ActiveCampaign price increase

It can be tempting to make a quick, emotional decision when we get a price-increase notice. But it’s not always the smart move.

Stay and pay the asking price for ActiveCampaign – you’re still paying less than new AC users

Do nothing, and on your next payment date after March 2023 you’ll pay the higher cost shown in the email.

You will still be paying less than a new customer would pay for the same service, features and contact limit.

You will still have good value access to one of the best email marketing platforms on the market right now.

This is the easiest option.

If you decide to stay and pay, do reply to that price-increase email and ask for a reduced increase as soon as possible

Go to Annual ActiveCampaign payments to lock in lower cost for 12 months

If you’re on Monthly or Quarterly, a switch to Annual before March 26th 2023 will lock in your lower pricing for the next 12 months.

If you have the cash, this is a smart move as it buys you time.

For the biggest, oldest, highest level plans, this one is a no-brainer choice in my view.

If you decide to go to Annual make sure you do it before March 26th 2023

Reduce ActiveCampaign service level so you don’t pay for contacts & features you don’t use

Make one or more of these changes to your ActiveCampaign plan and you will move to current ActiveCampaign pricing, but potentially pay less than the increase on your existing plan.

If you decide to change something, check the new pricing you will move to carefully, and be clear about which features you will retain access to.

Reduce your ActiveCampaign contact limit to lower costs

• Only active contacts are counted towards your limit
• Clean your account by fully unsubscribing or removing contacts who are dormant or inactive
• Use engagement monitoring information to help you to decide which contacts are not earning their keep

For expert fast help with keeping your contact limit at the right level, with lean clean profitable contacts, complete our flagship Better Engagement and Deliverability with ActiveCampaign training, available to all members of the ActiveCampaign Academy.

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Reduce your ActiveCampaign plan level to lower costs

Many ActiveCampaign account holders are paying for a higher level plan than they need, as they do not use the features added in at the highest levels.

If you’re on Pro or Enterprise, especially if you were offered an incentive to choose that plan level, check which features you’re using.

• Beginner businesses mostly should start with the Lite plan level of ActiveCampaign
• Established and growing businesses typically need the Plus plan level of ActiveCampaign
• Ambitious and expanding businesses who are using paid traffic sources usually want the Pro level plan for ActiveCampaign
• Big global businesses with a high number of employees may need the Enterprise plan level of ActiveCampaign

Reduce your ActiveCampaign features by moving to Marketing only

ActiveCampaign features in the new product model are now split across products – Marketing and Sales

Legacy accounts are equivalent to the Bundle product, whihc includes Marketing AND Sales

Many ActiveCampaign users do not use the Sales features at all, and could safely move to Marketing only.

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Bear this in mind if changing your ActiveCampaign legacy plan

1. Changing contact limit will move your account to higher pricing
2. Changing access to features will move your account to split Marketing and Sales
3. Choosing just Marketing only will likely reduce or remove access to features
4. Choosing the Bundle will move your account to higher pricing
5. Access to your legacy pricing track is lost permanently with the move

Move your account to a reputable reseller to at least delay the price increase

This price increase on legacy accounts has not rolled out to resold accounts yet (it may well reach them, and we don’t know when that will happen at time of writing)

Moving to a reseller will at least delay the increase in price for you.

But it does change things for you as an ActiveCampaign user:

• You pay the reseller for your ActiveCampaign account and deal with them on all billing matters
• Your reseller is responsible for front-line support
• You lose the Live Chat option

We recommend Campaign Builder Pro as a reputable UK reseller for ActiveCampaign.

If you want to move your account to them, start here for their application form or to message them with questions.

If you move your ActiveCampaign account to a reseller before March 26th 2023 your price will not be increased at this time

Migrate your email marketing to an ActiveCampaign alternative

This is the nuclear option – it involves researching the alternatives, and then planning and implementing the migration.

Bear these things in mind before considering migration

• ActiveCampaign remains a strong option in the email automation market
• ActiveCampaign’s current pricing is in line with comparable alternatives
• Migration can be hard and time consuming
• The more stuff you have in ActiveCampaign the longer and harder it is to migrate
• Email deliverability can be damaged by migration if not handled with care

If you go, do your homework first, plan the move, and go with my blessing – we can still be friends 🙂

Some ActiveCampaign alternatives rated highly by Kay Peacey

I haven’t personally used these much because right now ActiveCampaign is my main thing. But they’re strong in the market, and I trust their teams.

• MailerLite
• ConvertKit
• Groundhogg
• FluentCRM
• HighLevel

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Compare the features of different ActiveCampaign plans to help you choose

Use this chart for a quick easy overview of the main features on different plan levels and product with ActiveCampaign.

Look for your must-have features first.

This ActiveCampaign features matrix was created by Kay Peacey in Jan 2023 – please do not reproduce without permission, and please do check latest features in full detail here.

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Compare your costs with ActiveCampaign’s current pricing

Use this chart for a quick easy overview of pricing for ActiveCampaign on different plan levels and contact limits.

All prices below are in USD and show the equivalent monthly cost if paying yearly.

If you choose to pay monthly, it’s approx 25% increase on these figures

You will need to balance features and contact limit with your available budget.

This ActiveCampaign pricing matrix was created by Kay Peacey in Jan 2023 – please do not reproduce without permission, and please do check latest pricing in full detail here.

We can support you to make the best choices for your business, helping you get the optimal combination of features you will use, and a lean clean contact hygeine process, in our ActiveCampaign Academy. Join today for immediate access to expert support and training.

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Get the best ROI from your ActiveCampaign account

Whatever plan level, features and contact limit you have with ActiveCampaign, above all else, make sure you so these things

1. Use as many as possible of the features you have available on your ActiveCampaign plan
2. Fill your contact spaces with valuable contacts who will buy from you

Truth Moment: Trying to figure it out on your own, or trying to get the ActiveCampaign support desk to guide your learning, will get you entry level ROI with ActiveCampaign at best.

ActiveCampaign is a brilliantly capable and effective tool – but you do need to learn how to use it. Walking in and hoping to pick it up as you go along is slow, ineffective, and frustrating.

So get the best help there is, sooner rather than later, to save yourself time and get way better return on your ActiveCampaign investment.

Our ActiveCampaign Academy is here to serve users, and you can join today to rocket-boost what you get done confidently and quickly with ActiveCampaign, and increase your ROI on email marketing forever.

Check out what Janine Coombes had to say just a few days after joining (spoiler: immense and immediate relief is involved)

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Fast, effective training & support for ActiveCampaign users everywhere

Get more help to make the right ActiveCampaign decisions for your business

In the ActiveCampaign Academy we support every person to make smart choices on what plan level and contact limit they need for ActiveCampaign – and sometimes that means we advise them to migrate to another platform too.

Email marketing tech costs more in 2023 wherever you buy it, but remember that email drives typically 30% of revenue. We’ll teach you how to get more ROI on a little cost as possible, with lean clean contact lists, and effective email sending to drive sales reliably.

So come on in to the ActiveCampaign Academy, and you’ll have Kay Peacey and the Slick Business team, and all your lovely fellow members, to guide you every step of the way to fabulousness with ActiveCampaign, and you won’t ever pay more than you should for the features you need and use.

Learn more about our ActiveCampaign Academy membership
Fast, effective training & support for ActiveCampaign users everywhere