# ActiveCampaign Alternative: Self-Hosted Email Automation, Pay Once > Looking for an ActiveCampaign alternative? Broadcast runs on your own server with a one-time license: own your data and drop per-contact pricing. Honest comparison. Source: https://sendbroadcast.net/compare/activecampaign-alternative 1. [Compare](https://sendbroadcast.net/compare) 2. / 3. ActiveCampaign alternative Self-hosted, one-time license # An ActiveCampaign alternative you host yourself ActiveCampaign is a powerful hosted automation suite, but you can't self-host it, and its per-contact pricing rises as your list grows. Broadcast runs on your own server for a one-time license: own your data, escape per-contact billing, and keep the email automation most teams actually use. [Buy Broadcast for $250](https://sendbroadcast.net/pricing) [Calculate your savings](https://sendbroadcast.net/calculator) ## At a Glance Hosting ActiveCampaign: SaaS only Broadcast: Self-hosted Pricing ActiveCampaign: Monthly, per contact Broadcast: $250 one-time Data & residency ActiveCampaign: Their US servers Broadcast: Your server Best at ActiveCampaign: Deep CRM/automation Broadcast: Owned, focused email **Straight answer:** there's no self-hosted edition of ActiveCampaign: it's SaaS only. If you specifically want to run email automation on your _own_ infrastructure and stop paying per contact, Broadcast is the closest self-hosted, buy-once option. If you rely on ActiveCampaign's deep CRM, lead scoring, and multi-channel journeys, it's still more powerful, and this page is honest about that trade. ## Feature Comparison Where Broadcast and ActiveCampaign each pull ahead | Feature | Broadcast | ActiveCampaign | | --- | --- | --- | | Self-hosted | Yes, your server | No (SaaS only) | | Pricing | $250 one-time | Monthly, scales w/ contacts | | Subscribers/contacts | Unlimited | Tiered by count | | Drip / automations | Built-in (conditions) | Advanced | | CRM / sales | No | Yes | | Lead scoring | No | Yes | | Multi-channel (SMS, etc.) | Email-focused | Yes | | Segmentation | Tags, lists, custom fields | Advanced | | ESP choice | SES, Postmark, any SMTP | Built-in only | | Data ownership / residency | Your server (EU-friendly) | US-based SaaS | | Setup & maintenance | You self-host | Fully managed | | Updates | Every 2.x release included. You choose when to install. | Automatic, on their schedule | | Public changelog | Yes, 139 releases since Nov 2025 | No versioned changelog | | Support | Email and Discord, included | Varies by plan | ActiveCampaign genuinely out-features Broadcast on CRM, scoring, and multi-channel. The question is whether you'll use that depth, and whether owning your platform and dropping per-contact billing matters more. For plan-by-plan prices, see [ActiveCampaign pricing](https://sendbroadcast.net/compare/activecampaign-pricing). ## Broadcast ships every week Releases since November 2025 139 releases, 72 with new features. The last one was yesterday. ### Shipped in the last 90 days - v2.51.0 Sequences now list the subscribers that stopped with an error. You can retry the failed step for one subscriber, or retry or dismiss all of them at once. - v2.51.0 Sequence webhooks report retried and dismissed subscribers (sequence.subscriber_resumed with reason "retry", sequence.subscriber_removed with reason "dismissed"). - v2.50.0 Sequences have a Reply-To address in their settings, so replies to sequence emails go to the inbox you choose instead of the sender address. - v2.50.0 Each Send Email step in a sequence can set its own Reply-To address, which overrides the sequence's. - v2.50.0 Each Send Email step on the sequence canvas shows how many emails it sent, opened and clicked, with open and click rates and bounces. [See the full release chart →](https://sendbroadcast.net/compare/release-speed) | [Read the changelog](https://sendbroadcast.net/changelog) ## Who Should Choose What ### Choose Broadcast if you… - • Want to self-host and own your data (ActiveCampaign can't be self-hosted) - • Are tired of per-contact pricing that climbs with your list - • Need solid email automation, not a full CRM - • Care about EU data residency / GDPR control - • Prefer a one-time license to a monthly subscription ### ActiveCampaign may be better if you… - • Need a built-in CRM and sales pipeline - • Rely on lead scoring and complex multi-channel journeys - • Want a fully managed tool with no server to run - • Use its large ecosystem of native integrations ## Frequently Asked Questions No. ActiveCampaign is a hosted SaaS only: there's no self-hosted edition. If self-hosting is a requirement, you need a different platform; Broadcast is a self-hosted alternative you run on your own server. For email campaigns and drip automation, yes. For a built-in CRM, lead scoring, and multi-channel journeys, no: Broadcast is focused email marketing, not a sales-and-marketing suite. Replace ActiveCampaign with Broadcast when email is the part you actually use. Yes. Export your contacts, tags, and custom fields to CSV and import them into Broadcast. You'd rebuild the automations you actually use. Because you self-host, your data stays yours throughout. Self-hosting lets you keep subscriber data on your own EU server. See our [ActiveCampaign & DSGVO assessment](https://sendbroadcast.net/compare/active-campaign-dsgvo) for the Schrems II / US-transfer details. ## Own your email automation Self-hosted, buy-once, no per-contact billing. Every 2.x update is included. Version 2.0 shipped on March 16, 2026. A license bought that day has received all [97 releases of version 2](https://sendbroadcast.net/changelog) at no extra cost. [Try the live sandbox](https://demo.sendbroadcast.net) [Buy Broadcast for $250](https://sendbroadcast.net/pricing) ### Related [ActiveCampaign & DSGVO EU data-transfer assessment](https://sendbroadcast.net/compare/active-campaign-dsgvo) [Pay Once, Not Monthly The one-time-license case](https://sendbroadcast.net/email-marketing-one-time-payment) [Best Self-Hosted Email Software All options compared](https://sendbroadcast.net/self-hosted/email-marketing-software)