Short answer
ActiveCampaign is our top pick for small businesses, scoring 88/100 when price and ease of use carry more weight. Paid plans start at $15/mo (Starter, 1,000 contacts, billed yearly; Plus $49, Pro $79, Enterprise $145).
This list uses the same tools and ratings as our main marketing automation tools ranking, reweighted for teams of roughly 1 to 50 people: price and ease of use count for more, and enterprise depth counts for less. Tools that score 70 or higher on the small-business weights are included.
Compared for small teams
Starting prices are the cheapest paid plan on each vendor's pricing pages on Oct 31, 2026, at the smallest contact or email tier shown. ActiveCampaign is billed yearly for 1,000 contacts; its pricing page didn't display amounts to us, so its prices are from ActiveCampaign's own HubSpot comparison page. HubSpot's pricing page shows Marketing Hub Starter at both $7 and $20 per seat and labels lower Starter prices as limited-time offers for new customers. Brevo's prices are from its help center and billed monthly (10% off yearly). Salesforce bills Account Engagement on an annual contract. Adobe Marketo Engage, Ortto and Zoho Marketing Automation didn't show prices we could verify, so they aren't scored.
The reviews
Starting price$15/moStarter, 1,000 contacts, billed yearly; Plus $49, Pro $79, Enterprise $145
Free trial / plan14-day trial, no card needed
Main score86/100
ActiveCampaign is a marketing automation platform built around a visual automation builder with branching and multiple triggers. Starter ($15 a month at 1,000 contacts, billed yearly) caps automations at 5 actions each; Plus ($49) removes the cap and adds landing pages and sales automation; Pro ($79) adds split testing inside automations, predictive sending and attribution, with 3 users; Enterprise ($145) adds custom objects, custom reporting and 5 users.
Who it's best for
Small and mid-sized B2B and B2C teams that want branching, multi-step journeys without paying enterprise prices.
Strengths
- Unlimited automation actions from $49 a month at 1,000 contacts
- Attribution and predictive sending on the $79 Pro plan
- 14-day trial with no credit card
Watch-outs
- Lead scoring and pipelines are in a paid Pipelines add-on
- Starter and Plus include 1 user; Pro 3
- Custom reporting is an add-on below Enterprise
Skip it if: You need built-in lead scoring and custom reports on one plan without add-ons.
Read our full ActiveCampaign review →
Starting price$9/moStarter, 5,000 emails a month, billed monthly; Standard $18 with automation
Free trial / planFree plan (300 emails a day)
Main score82/100
Brevo (formerly Sendinblue) combines email, SMS and WhatsApp marketing and prices by emails sent rather than contacts. Standard (from $18 a month for 5,000 emails) adds unlimited multi-step workflows, A/B testing, AI send-time optimization and a landing page, with up to 3 users. Professional (from $499 a month for 150,000 emails) adds contact scoring and 10 users. Yearly billing saves 10%.
Who it's best for
Small teams with large lists that want automation and A/B testing for under $20 a month.
Strengths
- Unlimited multi-step workflows from $18 a month
- Priced by emails sent, not contacts
- Free plan sends 300 emails a day
Watch-outs
- Starter has no marketing automation
- Contact scoring starts on Professional at $499 a month
- Standard allows up to 3 users
Skip it if: You need lead scoring and B2B attribution on a mid-priced plan.
Read our full Brevo review →
Starting price$7/seat/moStarter, 1,000 marketing contacts (also listed at $20/seat); Professional $800/mo billed annually
Free trial / planFree plan (up to 2 users)
Main score85/100
HubSpot Marketing Hub is the marketing suite on HubSpot's CRM. Starter includes 1,000 marketing contacts and limited automation (up to 10 automated actions for email). Professional ($800 a month billed annually, $890 monthly) includes 3 seats, 2,000 contacts, omni-channel workflows (up to 300), lead scoring (up to 5 scores) and up to 100 custom reports, with a $3,000 one-time onboarding fee. Enterprise ($3,600 a month, 5 seats, 10,000 contacts, $7,000 onboarding) adds A/B testing, multi-touch revenue attribution and up to 1,000 workflows.
Who it's best for
Mid-sized B2B teams that want marketing, CRM and reporting in one system and can budget for Professional.
Strengths
- Workflows, lead scoring and custom reports together on Professional
- Multi-touch revenue attribution on Enterprise
- Free plan for up to 2 users
Watch-outs
- Professional costs $800 a month plus a $3,000 onboarding fee
- Starter automation is limited to 10 actions for email
- Extra seats cost $45 a month on Professional and $75 on Enterprise
Skip it if: You need multi-step automation on a budget under a few hundred dollars a month.
Read our full HubSpot Marketing Hub review →
Starting price$100/moEssentials, 5,000 profiles and 1 million emails a month, billed monthly
Free trial / planFree trial (length not stated)
Main score74/100
Customer.io is a messaging automation platform that triggers journeys from product and behavioral data. Essentials ($100 a month) includes 5,000 profiles, 1 million emails, the visual workflow builder, journeys, segments and 2 object types; extra profiles cost $0.009 each and extra emails $0.12 per 1,000. Premium (from $1,000 a month, billed annually) adds 10 object types, premium support, 90-day onboarding and HIPAA compliance at extra cost.
Who it's best for
SaaS and app companies whose engineers send event data and whose marketers build lifecycle journeys from it.
Strengths
- Journeys triggered by product events and objects
- 1 million emails a month on Essentials
- Startup program: 12 months free for qualifying startups
Watch-outs
- No lead scoring or CRM listed
- Needs developer help to send event data
- Premium starts at $1,000 a month
Skip it if: You're a B2B team that needs lead scoring and a sales handoff.
Read our full Customer.io review →
How we weighted this list
| Criterion | Main ranking | Small business |
|---|
| Automation & journeys | 25% | 16% |
| Lead management & scoring | 15% | 10% |
| Email & channels | 15% | 10% |
| Reporting & attribution | 15% | 10% |
| Ease of use & setup | 10% | 20% |
| Price & value | 20% | 34% |
FAQ
What are the best marketing automation tools for small businesses?
ActiveCampaign scores highest (88/100) once price and ease of use carry more weight, followed by Brevo, HubSpot Marketing Hub.
How is this different from your main ranking?
Same tools and the same 0 to 5 ratings, but price and ease of use count for more, because small teams rarely have an admin or a big budget. The weights are in the table on this page.
Which marketing automation tools are cheapest for a small team?
See the starting prices in the comparison table; free plans and trials are listed next to them. Price the plan that covers your team size, not only the entry plan.
What should a small business look for?
A free plan or low entry price, quick setup without an admin, and the two or three features you need on day one. Avoid paying for enterprise controls you won't use yet.
Vettlo Editorial TeamResearched and written by the Vettlo editorial team using our methodology. Prices and plan details come from each vendor's public pricing page.
ActiveCampaign