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ActiveCampaign vs Substack

ActiveCampaign: Marketing automation plus CRM. Substack: Writers making money doing the work they believe in. Same fact set for both, straight from each vendor's docs.

ActiveCampaign

Free tier
No free plan; 14-day free trial
Paid from
$15/mo (Starter, 1,000 contacts); contact-based · pricing page
Public API
Yes docs
MCP server
Yes · Official remote MCP server in developer docs
Best for
Marketing automation plus CRM
Website
https://www.activecampaign.com

Substack

Free tier
Free to publish, no subscriber cap
Paid from
No monthly fee; 10% of paid subscription revenue plus Stripe fees · pricing page
Public API
Yes docs
MCP server
Community · Community servers on GitHub only
Best for
Writers making money doing the work they believe in
Website
https://substack.com

Which one?

ActiveCampaign suits marketing automation plus crm. Substack suits writers making money doing the work they believe in. Pricing changes; the fact tables above link both vendors' live pricing pages. For the rest of the field, see ActiveCampaign alternatives, Substack alternatives, or the full table.