Vibecode ActiveCampaign
track this build5 steps, step by step0%A consolation build is possible, but the paid product's decisive value sits outside a solo rebuild. For ActiveCampaign, run a small email list and a handful of transparent automations. The hard boundary is deep lifecycle automation, crm, deliverability, integrations, and data history, plus deliverability, growth network, and integrations.
You are building a lean indie version of ActiveCampaign. Create the following project files first, then implement the application by following them. Keep the files updated as decisions change. Do not collapse this into a single README or prompt. ===== README.md ===== # ActiveCampaign indie build ## Goal Build the smallest trustworthy replacement for the core ActiveCampaign workflow for one developer or a tiny team. ## Scope Collect subscribers to a small email list, compose and send compliant campaigns with a handful of transparent automations, publish a web archive, and report basic delivery and click events. ## Quick start 1. Install the documented dependencies. 2. Copy `.env.example` to `.env`. 3. Run the development command chosen during implementation. 4. Complete the acceptance checks in `BUILD_PLAN.md`. ## Honest limits This build deliberately does not replace: - deep lifecycle automation, CRM, deliverability, integrations, and data history - inbox-placement expertise - advanced automations - commerce integrations - recommendation and ad networks If those capabilities are essential, use Listmonk instead of pretending the gap is solved. ===== AGENTS.md ===== # Agent instructions - Optimize for a working, understandable weekend build. - Prefer the fewest moving parts that satisfy the brief. - Do not invent cryptography, security guarantees, APIs, or compliance claims. - Keep secrets out of source control and logs. - Add focused tests for destructive, security-sensitive, and data-loss paths. - Run the project checks before declaring the build complete. - Record any deliberate shortcut in the README under "Tradeoffs". ===== BUILD_PLAN.md ===== # Build plan ## Original build brief Build a closest honest personal substitute for ActiveCampaign in an empty repository. Use Next.js 15, TypeScript, PostgreSQL, Drizzle ORM, and Amazon SES; do not offer alternative stacks. The core loop is: collect subscribers to a small email list, compose and send compliant campaigns with a handful of transparent automations, publish a web archive, and report basic delivery and click events. Make the first run work locally with one documented command. Store all user data locally by default and make export straightforward. Put secrets in .env, ship .env.example, and never commit credentials. Implement subscriber import, double opt-in, unsubscribe, suppression, tags, and consent timestamps. Create a Markdown campaign editor with HTML and plain-text previews. Queue sends through SES with retries, rate limits, idempotency, and resumable batches. Process delivery, bounce, complaint, open, and click webhooks without logging message content. Publish a simple issue archive and subscriber preference page. Add test sends, seed-list checks, DNS setup guidance, exports, and backups. Include clear empty, loading, success, and recoverable error states. Add input validation, safe filenames, and graceful handling of unavailable APIs. Write focused tests for the core transformation and one end-to-end happy path. Create a README with setup, architecture, permissions, data location, and backup steps. Do not add accounts, billing, telemetry, analytics, or a hosted control plane. Do not claim to reproduce proprietary data, network liquidity, regulated access, or frontier infrastructure. Deliberately leave out a newsletter recommendation marketplace. Deliberately leave out ad sales and payment infrastructure. Deliberately leave out complex lifecycle automation and enterprise deliverability support. Finish by running the tests and listing the exact commands used. ## Required capabilities - Amazon SES account - verified sending domain - PostgreSQL - public HTTPS deploy target - DNS access ## Delivery order 1. Scaffold the smallest runnable application and document its commands. 2. Implement the primary data model and core workflow. 3. Add validation, safe failure states, and persistence. 4. Cover the critical path with automated tests. 5. Exercise a clean install from the README and fix every missing step. ## Done when - A new user can go from clone to first successful workflow using only the README. - The core workflow works without paid infrastructure unless the brief requires it. - Tests cover the highest-risk behavior. - Known limitations are explicit rather than hidden. ===== .env.example ===== # Copy to .env and document every variable when it is introduced. # Never put real credentials in this file. APP_ENV=development # Add only values required by the selected implementation.
You are building a lean indie version of ActiveCampaign. Create the following project files first, then implement the application by following them. Keep the files updated as decisions change. Do not collapse this into a single README or prompt. ===== README.md ===== # ActiveCampaign indie build ## Goal Build the smallest trustworthy replacement for the core ActiveCampaign workflow for one developer or a tiny team. ## Scope Collect subscribers to a small email list, compose and send compliant campaigns with a handful of transparent automations, publish a web archive, and report basic delivery and click events. ## Quick start 1. Install the documented dependencies. 2. Copy `.env.example` to `.env`. 3. Run the development command chosen during implementation. 4. Complete the acceptance checks in `BUILD_PLAN.md`. ## Honest limits This build deliberately does not replace: - deep lifecycle automation, CRM, deliverability, integrations, and data history - inbox-placement expertise - advanced automations - commerce integrations - recommendation and ad networks If those capabilities are essential, use Listmonk instead of pretending the gap is solved. ===== AGENTS.md ===== # Agent instructions - Optimize for a working, understandable weekend build. - Prefer the fewest moving parts that satisfy the brief. - Do not invent cryptography, security guarantees, APIs, or compliance claims. - Keep secrets out of source control and logs. - Add focused tests for destructive, security-sensitive, and data-loss paths. - Run the project checks before declaring the build complete. - Record any deliberate shortcut in the README under "Tradeoffs". ===== BUILD_PLAN.md ===== # Build plan ## Original build brief Build a closest honest personal substitute for ActiveCampaign in an empty repository. Use Next.js 15, TypeScript, PostgreSQL, Drizzle ORM, and Amazon SES; do not offer alternative stacks. The core loop is: collect subscribers to a small email list, compose and send compliant campaigns with a handful of transparent automations, publish a web archive, and report basic delivery and click events. Make the first run work locally with one documented command. Store all user data locally by default and make export straightforward. Put secrets in .env, ship .env.example, and never commit credentials. Implement subscriber import, double opt-in, unsubscribe, suppression, tags, and consent timestamps. Create a Markdown campaign editor with HTML and plain-text previews. Queue sends through SES with retries, rate limits, idempotency, and resumable batches. Process delivery, bounce, complaint, open, and click webhooks without logging message content. Publish a simple issue archive and subscriber preference page. Add test sends, seed-list checks, DNS setup guidance, exports, and backups. Include clear empty, loading, success, and recoverable error states. Add input validation, safe filenames, and graceful handling of unavailable APIs. Write focused tests for the core transformation and one end-to-end happy path. Create a README with setup, architecture, permissions, data location, and backup steps. Do not add accounts, billing, telemetry, analytics, or a hosted control plane. Do not claim to reproduce proprietary data, network liquidity, regulated access, or frontier infrastructure. Deliberately leave out a newsletter recommendation marketplace. Deliberately leave out ad sales and payment infrastructure. Deliberately leave out complex lifecycle automation and enterprise deliverability support. Finish by running the tests and listing the exact commands used. ## Required capabilities - Amazon SES account - verified sending domain - PostgreSQL - public HTTPS deploy target - DNS access ## Delivery order 1. Scaffold the smallest runnable application and document its commands. 2. Implement the primary data model and core workflow. 3. Add validation, safe failure states, and persistence. 4. Cover the critical path with automated tests. 5. Exercise a clean install from the README and fix every missing step. ## Done when - A new user can go from clone to first successful workflow using only the README. - The core workflow works without paid infrastructure unless the brief requires it. - Tests cover the highest-risk behavior. - Known limitations are explicit rather than hidden. ===== .env.example ===== # Copy to .env and document every variable when it is introduced. # Never put real credentials in this file. APP_ENV=development # Add only values required by the selected implementation.
You are building a production product version of ActiveCampaign. Create the following project files first, then implement the application by following them. Keep the files updated as decisions change. Do not collapse this into a single README or prompt. ===== PRODUCT.md ===== # ActiveCampaign product brief ## Problem A consolation build is possible, but the paid product's decisive value sits outside a solo rebuild. For ActiveCampaign, run a small email list and a handful of transparent automations. The hard boundary is deep lifecycle automation, crm, deliverability, integrations, and data history, plus deliverability, growth network, and integrations. ## Product outcome Collect subscribers to a small email list, compose and send compliant campaigns with a handful of transparent automations, publish a web archive, and report basic delivery and click events. ## Target user A serious builder who needs a maintainable product foundation rather than a one-off demo. ## Required capabilities - Amazon SES account - verified sending domain - PostgreSQL - public HTTPS deploy target - DNS access ## Explicit non-goals for v1 - deep lifecycle automation, CRM, deliverability, integrations, and data history - inbox-placement expertise - advanced automations - commerce integrations - recommendation and ad networks ## Success criteria - The primary workflow is measurable end to end. - Setup is reproducible in a clean environment. - Failure, recovery, and support paths are documented. - Product claims match what the implementation actually guarantees. ===== ARCHITECTURE.md ===== # Architecture ## Starting brief Build a closest honest personal substitute for ActiveCampaign in an empty repository. Use Next.js 15, TypeScript, PostgreSQL, Drizzle ORM, and Amazon SES; do not offer alternative stacks. The core loop is: collect subscribers to a small email list, compose and send compliant campaigns with a handful of transparent automations, publish a web archive, and report basic delivery and click events. Make the first run work locally with one documented command. Store all user data locally by default and make export straightforward. Put secrets in .env, ship .env.example, and never commit credentials. Implement subscriber import, double opt-in, unsubscribe, suppression, tags, and consent timestamps. Create a Markdown campaign editor with HTML and plain-text previews. Queue sends through SES with retries, rate limits, idempotency, and resumable batches. Process delivery, bounce, complaint, open, and click webhooks without logging message content. Publish a simple issue archive and subscriber preference page. Add test sends, seed-list checks, DNS setup guidance, exports, and backups. Include clear empty, loading, success, and recoverable error states. Add input validation, safe filenames, and graceful handling of unavailable APIs. Write focused tests for the core transformation and one end-to-end happy path. Create a README with setup, architecture, permissions, data location, and backup steps. Do not add accounts, billing, telemetry, analytics, or a hosted control plane. Do not claim to reproduce proprietary data, network liquidity, regulated access, or frontier infrastructure. Deliberately leave out a newsletter recommendation marketplace. Deliberately leave out ad sales and payment infrastructure. Deliberately leave out complex lifecycle automation and enterprise deliverability support. Finish by running the tests and listing the exact commands used. ## Boundaries Separate the product into replaceable modules for interface, application logic, persistence, external integrations, and operational concerns. Keep domain logic independent from delivery frameworks and vendors. ## Production baseline - Configuration: validated at startup with safe local defaults where possible. - Security: least privilege, input validation, secret redaction, rate limits on abuse-prone paths, and no invented security primitives. - Data: explicit schema and migrations, transactional writes where integrity matters, backup and restore instructions. - Integrations: adapters around third-party providers, idempotent webhook or job processing, bounded retries, and timeouts. - Observability: structured logs with request or operation IDs, an error-tracking hook, and health/readiness checks where a server exists. - Quality: unit tests for domain rules, integration tests at module boundaries, and one end-to-end critical-path test. ## Decision records For each major dependency, document why it was chosen, its failure mode, and how it can be replaced. Do not introduce infrastructure until a requirement justifies it. ===== AGENTS.md ===== # Agent instructions - Read `PRODUCT.md` and `ARCHITECTURE.md` before changing code. - Implement milestone by milestone; keep each change reviewable and leave the application runnable. - Treat authentication, payments, encryption, imports, webhooks, and destructive actions as high-risk boundaries when present. - Never invent cryptography or silently weaken a requirement to make a test pass. - Use provider interfaces for external services and deterministic fakes in tests. - Add migrations and rollback or recovery notes for persistent data changes. - Log useful operational context without credentials, tokens, passwords, or personal data. - Update documentation and run all checks before completing a milestone. ===== MILESTONES.md ===== # Delivery milestones ## M0 — Decisions and scaffold - Confirm the runtime, persistence model, threat boundaries, and deployment target. - Create a reproducible local environment and continuous checks. ## M1 — Core workflow - Implement the smallest end-to-end product path with validation and tests. - Keep integrations behind interfaces. ## M2 — Trust layer - Add secure failure behavior, recovery paths, audit-relevant events, and data safeguards. - Test abuse cases and destructive operations. ## M3 — Operability - Add structured logs, error reporting hooks, health signals, backup/restore documentation, and deployment configuration. ## M4 — Release gate - Run a clean-install test, critical-path end-to-end test, dependency review, and documented rollback exercise. - Compare the shipped behavior with `PRODUCT.md` and publish remaining limitations. ===== OPERATIONS.md ===== # Operations ## Before release - Validate configuration and secrets at startup. - Define backup, restore, and rollback procedures and test them. - Document logs, error tracking, health signals, and alert ownership. - Set dependency update and vulnerability review expectations. ## Incident checklist 1. Contain the issue without destroying evidence or user data. 2. Record the timeline and affected scope. 3. Rotate exposed secrets and revoke compromised sessions or credentials. 4. Restore from a verified source when needed. 5. Document the root cause, remediation, and regression test. ## Launch constraint Do not market omitted ActiveCampaign capabilities as implemented. The v1 non-goals in `PRODUCT.md` remain user-visible limitations until they are deliberately delivered.
# ActiveCampaign indie build ## Goal Build the smallest trustworthy replacement for the core ActiveCampaign workflow for one developer or a tiny team. ## Scope Collect subscribers to a small email list, compose and send compliant campaigns with a handful of transparent automations, publish a web archive, and report basic delivery and click events. ## Quick start 1. Install the documented dependencies. 2. Copy `.env.example` to `.env`. 3. Run the development command chosen during implementation. 4. Complete the acceptance checks in `BUILD_PLAN.md`. ## Honest limits This build deliberately does not replace: - deep lifecycle automation, CRM, deliverability, integrations, and data history - inbox-placement expertise - advanced automations - commerce integrations - recommendation and ad networks If those capabilities are essential, use Listmonk instead of pretending the gap is solved.
# Agent instructions - Optimize for a working, understandable weekend build. - Prefer the fewest moving parts that satisfy the brief. - Do not invent cryptography, security guarantees, APIs, or compliance claims. - Keep secrets out of source control and logs. - Add focused tests for destructive, security-sensitive, and data-loss paths. - Run the project checks before declaring the build complete. - Record any deliberate shortcut in the README under "Tradeoffs".
# Build plan ## Original build brief Build a closest honest personal substitute for ActiveCampaign in an empty repository. Use Next.js 15, TypeScript, PostgreSQL, Drizzle ORM, and Amazon SES; do not offer alternative stacks. The core loop is: collect subscribers to a small email list, compose and send compliant campaigns with a handful of transparent automations, publish a web archive, and report basic delivery and click events. Make the first run work locally with one documented command. Store all user data locally by default and make export straightforward. Put secrets in .env, ship .env.example, and never commit credentials. Implement subscriber import, double opt-in, unsubscribe, suppression, tags, and consent timestamps. Create a Markdown campaign editor with HTML and plain-text previews. Queue sends through SES with retries, rate limits, idempotency, and resumable batches. Process delivery, bounce, complaint, open, and click webhooks without logging message content. Publish a simple issue archive and subscriber preference page. Add test sends, seed-list checks, DNS setup guidance, exports, and backups. Include clear empty, loading, success, and recoverable error states. Add input validation, safe filenames, and graceful handling of unavailable APIs. Write focused tests for the core transformation and one end-to-end happy path. Create a README with setup, architecture, permissions, data location, and backup steps. Do not add accounts, billing, telemetry, analytics, or a hosted control plane. Do not claim to reproduce proprietary data, network liquidity, regulated access, or frontier infrastructure. Deliberately leave out a newsletter recommendation marketplace. Deliberately leave out ad sales and payment infrastructure. Deliberately leave out complex lifecycle automation and enterprise deliverability support. Finish by running the tests and listing the exact commands used. ## Required capabilities - Amazon SES account - verified sending domain - PostgreSQL - public HTTPS deploy target - DNS access ## Delivery order 1. Scaffold the smallest runnable application and document its commands. 2. Implement the primary data model and core workflow. 3. Add validation, safe failure states, and persistence. 4. Cover the critical path with automated tests. 5. Exercise a clean install from the README and fix every missing step. ## Done when - A new user can go from clone to first successful workflow using only the README. - The core workflow works without paid infrastructure unless the brief requires it. - Tests cover the highest-risk behavior. - Known limitations are explicit rather than hidden.
# Copy to .env and document every variable when it is introduced. # Never put real credentials in this file. APP_ENV=development # Add only values required by the selected implementation.
# ActiveCampaign product brief ## Problem A consolation build is possible, but the paid product's decisive value sits outside a solo rebuild. For ActiveCampaign, run a small email list and a handful of transparent automations. The hard boundary is deep lifecycle automation, crm, deliverability, integrations, and data history, plus deliverability, growth network, and integrations. ## Product outcome Collect subscribers to a small email list, compose and send compliant campaigns with a handful of transparent automations, publish a web archive, and report basic delivery and click events. ## Target user A serious builder who needs a maintainable product foundation rather than a one-off demo. ## Required capabilities - Amazon SES account - verified sending domain - PostgreSQL - public HTTPS deploy target - DNS access ## Explicit non-goals for v1 - deep lifecycle automation, CRM, deliverability, integrations, and data history - inbox-placement expertise - advanced automations - commerce integrations - recommendation and ad networks ## Success criteria - The primary workflow is measurable end to end. - Setup is reproducible in a clean environment. - Failure, recovery, and support paths are documented. - Product claims match what the implementation actually guarantees.
# Architecture ## Starting brief Build a closest honest personal substitute for ActiveCampaign in an empty repository. Use Next.js 15, TypeScript, PostgreSQL, Drizzle ORM, and Amazon SES; do not offer alternative stacks. The core loop is: collect subscribers to a small email list, compose and send compliant campaigns with a handful of transparent automations, publish a web archive, and report basic delivery and click events. Make the first run work locally with one documented command. Store all user data locally by default and make export straightforward. Put secrets in .env, ship .env.example, and never commit credentials. Implement subscriber import, double opt-in, unsubscribe, suppression, tags, and consent timestamps. Create a Markdown campaign editor with HTML and plain-text previews. Queue sends through SES with retries, rate limits, idempotency, and resumable batches. Process delivery, bounce, complaint, open, and click webhooks without logging message content. Publish a simple issue archive and subscriber preference page. Add test sends, seed-list checks, DNS setup guidance, exports, and backups. Include clear empty, loading, success, and recoverable error states. Add input validation, safe filenames, and graceful handling of unavailable APIs. Write focused tests for the core transformation and one end-to-end happy path. Create a README with setup, architecture, permissions, data location, and backup steps. Do not add accounts, billing, telemetry, analytics, or a hosted control plane. Do not claim to reproduce proprietary data, network liquidity, regulated access, or frontier infrastructure. Deliberately leave out a newsletter recommendation marketplace. Deliberately leave out ad sales and payment infrastructure. Deliberately leave out complex lifecycle automation and enterprise deliverability support. Finish by running the tests and listing the exact commands used. ## Boundaries Separate the product into replaceable modules for interface, application logic, persistence, external integrations, and operational concerns. Keep domain logic independent from delivery frameworks and vendors. ## Production baseline - Configuration: validated at startup with safe local defaults where possible. - Security: least privilege, input validation, secret redaction, rate limits on abuse-prone paths, and no invented security primitives. - Data: explicit schema and migrations, transactional writes where integrity matters, backup and restore instructions. - Integrations: adapters around third-party providers, idempotent webhook or job processing, bounded retries, and timeouts. - Observability: structured logs with request or operation IDs, an error-tracking hook, and health/readiness checks where a server exists. - Quality: unit tests for domain rules, integration tests at module boundaries, and one end-to-end critical-path test. ## Decision records For each major dependency, document why it was chosen, its failure mode, and how it can be replaced. Do not introduce infrastructure until a requirement justifies it.
# Agent instructions - Read `PRODUCT.md` and `ARCHITECTURE.md` before changing code. - Implement milestone by milestone; keep each change reviewable and leave the application runnable. - Treat authentication, payments, encryption, imports, webhooks, and destructive actions as high-risk boundaries when present. - Never invent cryptography or silently weaken a requirement to make a test pass. - Use provider interfaces for external services and deterministic fakes in tests. - Add migrations and rollback or recovery notes for persistent data changes. - Log useful operational context without credentials, tokens, passwords, or personal data. - Update documentation and run all checks before completing a milestone.
# Delivery milestones ## M0 — Decisions and scaffold - Confirm the runtime, persistence model, threat boundaries, and deployment target. - Create a reproducible local environment and continuous checks. ## M1 — Core workflow - Implement the smallest end-to-end product path with validation and tests. - Keep integrations behind interfaces. ## M2 — Trust layer - Add secure failure behavior, recovery paths, audit-relevant events, and data safeguards. - Test abuse cases and destructive operations. ## M3 — Operability - Add structured logs, error reporting hooks, health signals, backup/restore documentation, and deployment configuration. ## M4 — Release gate - Run a clean-install test, critical-path end-to-end test, dependency review, and documented rollback exercise. - Compare the shipped behavior with `PRODUCT.md` and publish remaining limitations.
# Operations ## Before release - Validate configuration and secrets at startup. - Define backup, restore, and rollback procedures and test them. - Document logs, error tracking, health signals, and alert ownership. - Set dependency update and vulnerability review expectations. ## Incident checklist 1. Contain the issue without destroying evidence or user data. 2. Record the timeline and affected scope. 3. Rotate exposed secrets and revoke compromised sessions or credentials. 4. Restore from a verified source when needed. 5. Document the root cause, remediation, and regression test. ## Launch constraint Do not market omitted ActiveCampaign capabilities as implemented. The v1 non-goals in `PRODUCT.md` remain user-visible limitations until they are deliberately delivered.
$ choose a build depth, inspect the files, then open the complete pack in your agent · this prompt is generated from the build plan · improve it via PR
People still pay for ActiveCampaign because newsletter operators pay for inbox placement, growth mechanics, and operational confidence on publication day. The recurring cost buys DNS authentication, reputation, bounces, complaints, unsubscribe compliance, templates, queues, analytics, backups, and support, not just the visible interface.
xdeep lifecycle automation, CRM, deliverability, integrations, and data history
xinbox-placement expertise
xadvanced automations
xcommerce integrations
xrecommendation and ad networks
Don't feel like building it? These folks already made it free.
all 7 free alternatives to ActiveCampaign →· no votes, no pay-to-list · just what's real
ActiveCampaign pricing
| plan | monthly | annual (per mo) | what you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| starter | $15 | — | 1 user, 5 automation actions, limited segmentation, email sends 10x contact limit, 15 active goals, 1 brand kit. |
| plus | custom | — | 1 user, unlimited automation actions, landing pages, standard segmentation, email sends 10x contact limit, 25 active goals. |
| pro | custom | — | 3 users, advanced segmentation, email sends 12x contact limit, 200 active goals. |
| enterprise | $145 | — | 5 users, premium segmentation, email sends 15x contact limit, 200 active goals. |
free tierno free tier; 14-day trial shown, no credit card needed.
billingannual billing displayed in plan table; full monthly/annual USD table not exposed in crawled official page
hidden costsPricing scales by contacts; add-ons include AI Activities, Enhanced CRM, SMS, WhatsApp and transactional email; page says upgrades are used when list grows.
verified 2026-08-10 · source ↗
Vibecode ActiveCampaign
Not really. ActiveCampaign's value is not the code: Recheck price before merge. See the honest breakdown above.
How much does ActiveCampaign cost?
ActiveCampaign costs about $15/month (Starter, checked 2026-07-31), which is $180 per year.
What do I lose by replacing ActiveCampaign?
Honestly: deep lifecycle automation, CRM, deliverability, integrations, and data history; inbox-placement expertise; advanced automations; commerce integrations; recommendation and ad networks. If any of those are load-bearing for you, keep paying.
Is there an open-source alternative to ActiveCampaign?
Yes: Mautic (The full automation engine with no contact tax; it replaces the SaaS bill with serious server maintenance.) Plunk (Campaigns, transactional mail and workflows in one container; the sending provider still sends a bill.) Notifuse (Visual campaigns and automations in one modern compose stack; PostgreSQL and an SMTP provider still need seats.) All 7 curated free alternatives are at vibecodeit.com/activecampaign/alternatives. The prompt is for when you want it exactly your way.