What does marketing automation software really cost?
Nine marketing automation platforms priced by list size, counting only plans that can run a multi-step journey and branch it on a condition. The cheapest plan that can send a sequence often can't branch, and the step up costs more than you'd expect, so pick your list size.
Last checked: 7 Nov 2026 · every price read off the vendor's own page, monthly billing, before VAT · no affiliate links
If you only need to send a newsletter, see what a newsletter really costs.
Jump to: the short answer · what a plan must do to count
The short answer
The big jump is from "sends a sequence" to "branches on behaviour". Zoho's Standard plan branches only on contact data; branching on whether someone opened or clicked needs Professional, £23 / £75 / £191 a month at 1,000 / 10,000 / 50,000 contacts against £15 / £51 / £127. GetResponse's Starter allows one custom workflow of up to 6 elements; Marketer, with unlimited workflows, is £44 / £89 / £259 against £13 / £59 / £219. ActiveCampaign's Starter (£16 at 1,000) has no If/Else; Plus is £50. Mailchimp's Essentials (£19.97) has no branching; Standard is £33.91.
Cheapest at 1,000 contacts: Brevo Starter, £12, though its automation stops at 2,000 contacts; then GetResponse £13, Omnisend $20 (about £14.94) and Zoho £15.
Cheapest at 10,000 and 50,000: Zoho Standard, £51 and £127, with the contact-data-only branching above. Next are GetResponse Starter (£59, one workflow) and Brevo Standard (£68) at 10,000, and Brevo Standard (£197) and GetResponse Starter (£219) at 50,000.
HubSpot is in a different price bracket. On estimates of a Professional seat plus email sending, it is about £542.20 a month at 1,000 contacts, £2,585.86 at 10,000 and up to £4,504.41 at 50,000, where every other platform here costs £12 to £73.96 at 1,000 and £51 to £203 at 10,000. Professional also needs a one-time onboarding fee of €2,500 / £2,180.
Who counts as a contact varies. Mailchimp bills unsubscribed contacts too, Klaviyo only profiles it can email, Omnisend non-subscribers who got automated messages, Encharge anonymous people who entered a flow, and Zoho only marketing contacts.
Lead scoring often sits a plan above branching: on ActiveCampaign it starts with Plus, on HubSpot with Professional, on Brevo with Professional (from £429), on GetResponse with Marketer. Encharge includes it on Growth.
Watch the small steps and add-ons. Brevo's £6 step holds only 500 contacts, so a 1,000-contact list needs the £12 step. ActiveCampaign's checkout pre-fills an optional AI credit pack, £9 a month at 1,000 contacts.
When the cheapest is not the answer
- Check what the cheapest plan can branch on. Zoho Standard's journeys branch on contact data only, and GetResponse Starter allows a single workflow: fine for one welcome series, tight for a programme of them.
- HubSpot sells a platform, not a marketing plan. Its Marketing Hub is no longer priced on its own: you buy seats on one price list, and every marketing email uses credits, which is why its figures are estimates.
- Seats are limited. ActiveCampaign Plus includes 1 user, GetResponse Starter 3, Mailchimp Standard 5 and Zoho Standard 10; Encharge allows unlimited team members.
- Several pages open on yearly prices. ActiveCampaign's pricing page shows only yearly prices, Zoho's and GetResponse's open on yearly, and Omnisend's opens on paying 3 months upfront. Every figure here is the monthly price.
- Prices are before VAT. Dollar and euro prices move with the exchange rate and may attract UK VAT at checkout.
Who made this page
An AI agent read each platform's pricing page, checkout and help centre in a real browser, picked monthly billing and set each list size with the page's own controls, and copied the sentence behind every figure; code checked each sentence was really on the page before it could be used.
This page replaces an older list of marketing automation software on this site. There are no affiliate links on this page and nothing on it earns a commission.
How the numbers are worked out
monthly cost = the cheapest plan that passes the rule below and holds the list, at its regular month-to-month price before VAT
The rule. A plan counts only if it can do both:
- run a multi-step journey: a trigger, then more than one email or action with waits between them;
- branch that journey on a condition: if/else, a split, or a yes/no path on contact data or behaviour.
Where a plan is priced or capped by emails sent or by credits, the list is assumed to get 5 emails per contact a month (5,000 / 50,000 / 250,000). That is why some plans sold as automation don't count here:
- Mailchimp Essentials: flows of up to 4 steps, no branching
- ActiveCampaign Starter: 5 actions per automation, no If/Else
- HubSpot Starter: simple automations with no branches, and no emails to contacts
- Brevo Free and Starter: automation limited to 2,000 contacts, so they don't count above that
| Platform | 1,000 contacts | 10,000 contacts | 50,000 contacts |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zoho Marketing Automationunlimited emails and 10 users; bills marketing contacts only | £15.00Standard: journeys branch on contact data only; branching on email opens or clicks needs Professional (£23) | £51.00Standard: branches on contact data only; branching on opens or clicks needs Professional (£75) | £127.00Standard: branches on contact data only; branching on opens or clicks needs Professional (£191) |
| GetResponseunlimited monthly email sends; prices net of VAT | £13.00Starter: one custom workflow of up to 6 elements; unlimited workflows, tags and scoring need Marketer (£44) | £59.00Starter: one custom workflow of up to 6 elements; unlimited workflows need Marketer (£89) | £219.00Starter: one custom workflow of up to 6 elements; unlimited workflows need Marketer (£259) |
| Brevopriced by emails a month; its £6 step holds only 500 contacts | £12.00Starter, 10k emails a month: automation for up to 2,000 contacts; 'Sent with Brevo' footer unless +£8 a month | £68.00Standard, 50k emails a month (Starter's automation stops at 2,000 contacts) | £197.00Standard, 250k emails a month |
| Omnisendcustom workflows start on Standard; bills non-subscribers who got automated messages | £14.94Standard, 501-1,000 contacts, 12,000 emails a month · $20.00 | £98.62Standard, 9,001-10,000 contacts, 120,000 emails a month · $132.00 | £308.56Standard, 45,001-50,000 contacts, 600,000 emails a month · $413.00 |
| Mailchimpunsubscribed contacts count toward the price | £33.91Standard, 501-1,500 contacts; Essentials (£19.97) has 4 flow steps and no branching | £101.73Standard, 5,001-10,000 contacts, regular price; Essentials (£82.89) can't branch | £339.10Standard, 40,001-50,000 contacts, regular price; Essentials (£290.12) can't branch |
| Klaviyoflows with splits on every plan; bills only profiles it can email | £22.41Email plan, 1,000 active profiles · $30.00 | £112.07Email plan, 10,000 active profiles · $150.00 | £537.92Email plan, 50,000 active profiles · $720.00 |
| Enchargecounts anonymous people who entered a flow; lead scoring included | £73.96Growth, its smallest tier, 'up to 2,000 subscribers', so 1,000 pays the 2,000 price · $99.00 | £186.03Growth, up to 10,000 subscribers · $249.00 | £410.91Growth, up to 50,000 subscribers · $550.00 |
| ActiveCampaignIf/Else and contact scoring start on Plus; its checkout pre-fills an optional AI credit pack | £50.00Plus, monthly price from its own checkout (the pricing page shows yearly only: £42); Starter (£16) has 5 actions and no If/Else | £203.00Plus, monthly price from its own checkout (yearly: £161); Starter has no If/Else | £645.00Plus, monthly price from its own checkout (yearly: £518); Starter is sold only up to 25,000 contacts |
| HubSpotMarketing Hub is no longer priced separately; Professional also needs a one-time onboarding fee of €2,500 / £2,180, not in these figures; priced in euros | £542.20Estimate: Professional seat (from €100) + Plus Marketing Pack €550 (5,000 email sends) · €650.00 | £2,585.86Estimate: Professional seat (€100) + 100,000-sends pack €3,000 · €3,100.00 | £4,504.41Estimate: Professional seat (€100) + 250,000 sends on credits = €5,400, or about €3,750 if pack sends count toward the cheaper tiers (HubSpot doesn't say) · €5,400.00 |
Exchange rates. ECB euro reference rates of 2026-11-06 (the latest published: 7 November 2026 is a Saturday and the ECB publishes on working days only): 1 EUR = 0.83415 GBP, 1 EUR = 1.1165 USD, so 1 USD = 0.74711 GBP.
Left out: Customer.io — built for product messaging from your own app's event data, and its 50,000 figure is only a floor ('$505+').
There are no affiliate links on this page. GetResponse, Encharge, HubSpot, ActiveCampaign, Omnisend, Zoho and Brevo run affiliate programmes; this site hasn't joined any of them. The research is done by AI agents reading each vendor's own pages. Product names and logos are trademarks of their owners, used only to identify the products compared. No analytics cookies, no tracking scripts, no third-party requests. A personal project, separate from the author's day job.
Questions people ask
What is the cheapest marketing automation software?
Counting only plans that can run and branch a multi-step journey: at 1,000 contacts Brevo Starter is £12 a month, though its automation stops at 2,000 contacts. At 10,000 and 50,000 contacts Zoho Standard is cheapest at £51 and £127, but it branches on contact data only; branching on opens or clicks needs Professional at £75 and £191.
Can Mailchimp Essentials do marketing automation?
Only simple flows: Essentials allows up to 4 flow steps and no branching. The conditional split starts on Standard, £33.91 a month at 1,000 contacts, £101.73 at 10,000 and £339.10 at 50,000.
How much does ActiveCampaign cost per month?
Plus, the first plan with If/Else, is £50 a month at 1,000 contacts, £203 at 10,000 and £645 at 50,000 on monthly billing, from ActiveCampaign's own checkout. Its pricing page shows only yearly prices: £42, £161 and £518 a month. Starter (£16 at 1,000) has 5 actions per automation and no If/Else.
How much does HubSpot marketing automation cost?
HubSpot no longer prices Marketing Hub on its own; this page estimates a Professional seat plus email sending at about £542.20 a month for 1,000 contacts, £2,585.86 for 10,000 and up to £4,504.41 for 50,000. Professional also needs a one-time onboarding fee of €2,500 / £2,180.
Answers use the figures on this page, last checked 7 Nov 2026.