If you want to communicate with your existing customers and acquire new ones, you don’t have to go for the underdog. Straight from Adobe comes Marketo Engage, a powerful marketing automation platform that helps teams scale personalized buyer journeys and send the right message, at the right time.
But it doesn’t come without its downsides. There is a lack of transparent pricing, an outdated user experience, an overwhelming number of features and much more. In short, there are many considerations to keep in mind when it comes to Marketo.
So, should you purchase it, and what should you get instead? Let’s find out.
What is Marketo Engage?
Marketo Engage is an AI-powered marketing and email automation platform that helps businesses send the right personalized messages to the right audiences, at the right time.
Top features in Marketo Engage
As a part of the Marketo cloud offer, Engage has a few interesting features:
Highly targeted profiles and audiences
Build precise customer profiles by integrating data from multiple sources, including CRM systems, behavioral tracking, and demographic insights.
The platform uses advanced segmentation to create highly targeted audiences, ensuring marketing campaigns reach the right people based on attributes like industry, job title, engagement history, and more.
Omnichannel engagement
Interact with prospects and customers across multiple channels, including email, web, social media, mobile, and offline touchpoints.
Marketo Engage provides a unified experience, helping maintain consistency in messaging and engagement regardless of the platform a user interacts with.
Personalized content thanks to AI features
Use AI-driven personalization to deliver tailored content to each user. The AI analyzes user behavior, preferences, and interactions to recommend relevant emails, website content, and ads. This helps increase engagement since you can make sure that prospects receive messaging that aligns with their needs and interests.
Campaign operations builder
Design, execute, and manage marketing campaigns. Marketo Engage offers workflow automation, pre-built templates, and collaboration features to help teams plan and launch campaigns efficiently. Marketers can also track performance and make adjustments in real time.
Sales intelligence and engagement
Get insights into prospect behavior, including website visits, email interactions, and content consumption. These insights help sales reps understand a lead’s interests and readiness to buy, allowing them to engage at the right time with the right message.
Integration with CRM platforms like Salesforce makes it easy for sales and marketing teams to align their efforts.
Marketing analytics
Access advanced analytics and reporting tools that help marketers measure campaign performance, track ROI, and identify trends.
Features like attribution modeling, predictive analytics, and customizable dashboards provide deep insights into marketing effectiveness, helping teams optimize their strategies for better results.
How much does Marketo Engage cost?
There are four plans available, but the pricing is not publicly available, so you’ll have to reach out to sales and get a quote.
What are users saying about Marketo Engage?
There are a lot of features, and it can take months to learn everything, and you’ll see this sentiment mentioned in most of the reviews on Marketo Engage:
“If you’re new to marketing automation (like i was), this could definitely be a daunting tool. Especially the learning curve. Over the course of 7 months I used it about biweekly. It wasn’t easy to use at first, especially as a team of one. Customer support can be time consuming so I turned to youtube a lot for help. Also the abundance of features can be overhwhelming.” – Source
This tool is not meant for beginners to marketing automation. It’s pretty expensive, which can be a limiting factor for small businesses.
These are the things I hate about Adobe Experience Cloud; it is too expensive and complicated. The numerous options can be confusing, particularly towards people who are not very conversant with technology. The learning curve is steep, and you will find that a lot of time and effort go into getting to grips with all the tools available here. Further, there is the issue of cost which might become a challenge especially for smaller businesses or start-ups operating on limited budgets. Investing in setup, training and other ongoing support work could quickly accumulate to tons of cash. On top of this, it would be nice if there existed more pocket-friendly pricing plans or scaled-down versions of these products meant for small ventures.” – Source
The user experience feels very dated, especially compared to the competitors, which can be a major obstacle if you’re used to working with modern tech:
“Marketo still feels dated and years behind some of its other competitors. The user experience feels similar to that of a Windows 98 computer and the customer support could be more helpful. I oft find myself relying on non-Adobe materials to help me get through the learning curve.” – Source
The best Marketo Engage alternatives to use in 2025
Marketo Engage is powerful, but you can’t find out how much it costs and you probably don’t need all of its features. No worries, here’s what you can get instead.
Woodpecker
Woodpecker is a cold email automation tool designed for sales teams, agencies, and businesses looking to scale their outbound outreach. Unlike Marketo Engage, which is built for complex, enterprise-level marketing automation, Woodpecker is focused on personalized cold outreach, making it the better alternative for teams of all shapes and sizes that need email-based prospecting.
Key features
- Automated follow-ups – Send personalized follow-ups based on recipients’ behavior to increase reply rates and conversions.
- A/B testing – Test different email variations to optimize messaging and improve performance for your exact target audience.
- Deliverability monitoring – Advanced tools for email warmup, spam detection, and reputation protection.
- Customizable sequences – Set up multi-step campaigns that adapt to recipient engagement.
- Integrations with CRMs and lead sources – Connect with tools like HubSpot, Pipedrive, and Zapier for seamless workflow automation.
Pricing
Woodpecker starts at $20 per month per user. The pricing scales based on the number of emails sent and additional features like AI-driven personalization and advanced analytics. You can get started with a free trial before getting a paid plan.
Downsides
Compared to Marketo Engage, Woodpecker is not an all-in-one marketing automation platform. It’s specifically tailored for cold outreach, lacking advanced lead nurturing, multi-channel automation, and deep CRM analytics. However, Woodpecker is much more cost-effective and easier to use for teams that primarily rely on cold email as a customer acquisition channel.
User reviews
- “The automation works well, but I’d love more built-in LinkedIn outreach options.”
- “The biggest plus is email deliverability tools—it really helps avoid spam folders.”
- “Great for cold email campaigns, but a bit expensive if you’re only sending a small volume of emails.”
- “Integrates nicely with my CRM, but some features take time to learn.”
Constant Contact
Constant Contact is an email marketing and automation platform that helps businesses create, manage, and optimize their outreach campaigns. Compared to Marketo Engage, Constant Contact offers a more user-friendly experience, which makes it a decent alternative for small and medium-sized businesses that need powerful email marketing tools without the complexity of an enterprise-level system.
Key features
- Drag-and-drop email builder – Easily create professional emails with customizable templates and a simple interface.
- Automation and segmentation – Set up automated email sequences based on user actions and segment audiences for targeted messaging.
- Event marketing tools – Built-in RSVP and registration tools for webinars, fundraisers, and live events.
- Social media and SMS marketing – Manage social posts, ads, and SMS campaigns alongside email marketing efforts.
- Ecommerce integrations – Connect with Shopify, WooCommerce, and other platforms to drive sales with automated abandoned cart emails.
Pricing
Constant Contact has two main pricing plans based on the number of contacts:
- Lite – Starts at $12 per month and includes basic email marketing, automation, and reporting.
- Standard – Starts at $35 per month and includes advanced automation, SMS marketing, audience segmentation, and ecommerce features.
A free trial is available, but there is no free plan.
Downsides
Constant Contact is easier to use than Marketo Engage, but it lacks the advanced B2B lead nurturing, AI-driven personalization, and deep CRM integrations that Marketo offers. It’s a better fit for small businesses rather than large enterprises that need complex automation workflows.
Active Campaign
ActiveCampaign is a customer experience automation (CXA) platform that combines email marketing, sales automation, and CRM features. Compared to Marketo Engage, ActiveCampaign provides a more user-friendly interface, stronger automation capabilities, and a more affordable pricing structure.
Key features
- Advanced automation builder – Create complex, multi-step email sequences with triggers based on user behavior, site visits, or CRM data.
- Sales and CRM integration – Track leads, manage pipelines, and automate follow-ups within a built-in CRM.
- Personalized email marketing – Dynamic content, predictive sending, and behavior-based segmentation help improve engagement.
- Multi-channel automation – Automate email, SMS, site messages, and Facebook ads in one platform.
- Machine learning insights – AI-powered recommendations for the best send times, predictive content, and lead scoring.
Pricing
ActiveCampaign has four pricing tiers:
- Starter – Starts at $15 per month (billed annually) and includes basic email marketing and automation.
- Plus – Starts at $49 per month for 1,000 contacts and includes CRM, landing pages, and SMS marketing.
- Pro – Starts at $79 per month and adds split automation, predictive sending, and site messages.
- Enterprise – Starts at $145 per month, includes dedicated support and advanced reporting.
A free trial is available, but there is no free plan.
Downsides
ActiveCampaign offers extensive automation, but the sheer number of features can be overwhelming for beginners. Pricing increases as contact lists grow, and while it integrates well with third-party CRMs, it lacks the native depth of Marketo Engage when it comes to large-scale enterprise marketing teams.
Mailerlite
MailerLite is a streamlined and budget-friendly email marketing platform that serves as a strong alternative to Marketo Engage. In fact, Marketo is built for large enterprises with complex marketing automation needs, but MailerLite offers a more accessible, easy-to-use solution for small to mid-sized businesses.
Key features
- Drag-and-drop email editor – Easily create professional-looking emails without coding.
- Marketing automation – Build automated workflows to nurture leads and engage subscribers.
- Landing pages & signup forms – Capture leads and grow your audience with built-in page builders.
- A/B testing & campaign reporting – Optimize email performance by testing different subject lines, content, and designs.
- Ecommerce integrations – Connect MailerLite with Shopify, WooCommerce, and other platforms for seamless email campaigns.
Unlike Marketo Engage, which requires technical expertise and expensive onboarding, MailerLite is intuitive and beginner-friendly, making it ideal for startups, small businesses, and marketing teams that need email automation without complexity.
Pricing
- Free plan – Up to 1,000 subscribers and 12,000 emails per month, with basic email automation.
- Growing Business plan – Starts at $9 per month for up to 500 subscribers and unlimited emails, unlocking features like auto resend and email templates.
- Advanced plan – Starts at $18 per month, adding features like Facebook integration, custom HTML editor, and priority support.
- Enterprise plan – Custom pricing for high-volume senders with dedicated support and advanced features.
Considerations
- Affordable & scalable – MailerLite is far more budget-friendly than Marketo, with simple, transparent pricing.
- Easier to use – Unlike Marketo, which requires extensive setup and training, MailerLite is built for teams that need quick and effective email automation.
- Fewer advanced integrations – Marketo offers deep CRM and marketing automation integrations, whereas MailerLite is more focused on email campaigns and lead capture.
Brevo
Brevo is a cost-effective and user-friendly marketing automation platform that serves as a strong alternative to Marketo Engage.
While Marketo is built for enterprise-level marketing teams with complex automation needs, Brevo is a more accessible solution that offers email marketing, automation, SMS campaigns, and CRM tools—all in one platform. It’s designed for growing businesses that need advanced marketing features without the steep learning curve and high costs associated with Marketo.
Key features
- Multichannel automation – Create automated workflows that trigger emails, SMS messages, and WhatsApp notifications based on user actions.
- Drag-and-drop email editor – Design beautiful, responsive emails without needing coding skills.
- Transactional email & SMS – Send order confirmations, appointment reminders, and custom notifications with high deliverability rates.
- Sales CRM – Manage leads and track interactions within an integrated CRM system.
- A/B testing & analytics – Optimize campaigns by testing different email subject lines, content, and sending times.
Marketo Engage is known for its deep enterprise integrations and customization, Brevo, on the other hand, provides a simpler, more agile alternative that’s easier to set up and use, especially for small to mid-sized teams.
Pricing
- Free plan – Send up to 300 emails per day with unlimited contacts.
- Starter plan – Starts at $8.08 per month for 20,000 emails, with basic email automation.
- Business plan – $16.17 per month, unlocking advanced automation, A/B testing, and reporting tools.
- Enterprise plan – Custom pricing for larger teams needing dedicated support and advanced features.
Considerations
- More budget-friendly – Unlike Marketo, which has a high starting price and requires long-term contracts, Brevo offers flexible plans with monthly billing options.
- Not as complex – Brevo is easier to use, but it doesn’t have the same level of in-depth customization and integrations as Marketo.
- Ideal for scaling businesses – Small and mid-sized teams benefit from its automation and CRM features without the technical overhead of an enterprise tool.
Klaviyo
Klaviyo is an eCommerce-focused email marketing and automation platform designed to help businesses personalize their marketing campaigns and drive higher engagement.
Compared to Marketo Engage, Klaviyo offers a more intuitive interface and built-in eCommerce integrations, making it a strong alternative for businesses that rely on direct-to-consumer sales.
Key features
- Advanced segmentation and personalization – Use behavioral and transactional data to send targeted emails based on customer interactions.
- Pre-built eCommerce integrations – Connect seamlessly with Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, and other platforms to sync customer and purchase data.
- Email and SMS automation – Build multi-step automated flows for cart abandonment, welcome series, post-purchase engagement, and more.
- AI-powered predictive analytics – Get insights into customer lifetime value, churn risk, and optimal send times.
- Drag-and-drop email builder – Create customized emails without needing design or coding skills.
Pricing
Klaviyo’s email-only pricing starts at $20 per month for up to 500 contacts. If you want to add SMS marketing, the email + SMS plan starts at $35 per month for 500 contacts and 1,250 SMS credits. Klaviyo also offers a free plan for businesses with up to 250 contacts and 500 email sends per month.
Downsides
Klaviyo’s pricing increases rapidly as your contact list grows, making it costly for larger businesses. Some users find the platform overwhelming due to the number of features. Additionally, while its eCommerce integrations are excellent, it lacks built-in CRM functionality, unlike Marketo Engage.
Conclusion
Marketo Engage is undoubtedly one of the best B2B marketing automation platforms, but it can be the exact opposite of what you need. It’s overly complex and clunky, difficult to use, with a UX that leaves much to be desired. And for the average business, it can be too expensive.
So why not try a tool with all the communication features in one place, at a lower, transparent pricing point? With Woodpecker, you can reach out to prospects with cold emails and turn email into a revenue-generating channel.
Just sign up for free and get started!