Before you start#
You'll need:
- An ActiveCampaign account with contact-export permission (Admin role)
- An AcelleMail installation up and running
- ~45 minutes for <100k contacts + custom fields + tags
Export from ActiveCampaign#
In ActiveCampaign's left sidebar, click Contacts → Manage Contacts. Top-right toolbar → Export.
The Export dialog asks for filters (all contacts vs. specific list/tag). Pick the scope you want. Format: CSV.
ActiveCampaign emails you the file when ready (usually <10 minutes for <100k contacts). The CSV includes: email, first name, last name, phone, all custom fields, tags (comma-separated), list memberships, account-level fields.
Import into AcelleMail (the same 6 clicks for every source)#
Once you have the CSV exported from your previous platform, the import flow in AcelleMail is identical regardless of where the data came from.
1. Open your destination list#
In AcelleMail's sidebar, click Audience → choose the list that will receive the migrated subscribers (or create a new one — New list button top-right).
You'll see a per-list overview card with subscriber counts:
2. Click "Import" in the list toolbar#
The wizard entrypoint is on the list detail page:
3. Upload your CSV#
Drop the CSV file from the previous platform into the upload area:
AcelleMail parses the file and confirms detection:
4. Map the columns#
The wizard auto-detects standard columns (email, first_name, last_name) and shows green Mapped to EMAIL chips. Adjust manually for any non-standard column from the source:
5. Pick duplicate handling#
In the same screen, choose what AcelleMail does when a subscriber already exists in this list:
- Skip — keep the existing row, don't overwrite
- Update — overwrite name/tags/custom fields with values from the CSV
- Unsubscribe — mark existing rows as unsubscribed (rare; used when re-importing an opted-out list)
6. Run the import#
Click Start import. The job runs in the background — close the popup, work elsewhere, return to Audience → [list] → Import to see progress:
You'll see Pending → Running → Complete per import job, with rows-imported / rows-skipped / errors counts.
After the import#
- Verify list count matches your expected size (rows that failed validation appear in the Errors column with a downloadable error CSV).
- Re-tag if needed — for behavioural data that doesn't fit a CSV column (e.g. "opened campaign X"), you may need to re-create the tag via segmentation rules.
- Pause for warm-up — if the imported list is large (>10k) and your sending IP is new or recently rotated, run a short warm-up campaign to your most-engaged 10% before the full send. See IP warm-up best practices for the schedule.
Rebuilding ActiveCampaign automations#
ActiveCampaign's automations map to AcelleMail's Automations. Equivalent triggers:
| ActiveCampaign trigger |
AcelleMail trigger |
| Subscribes to list |
Subscribed to list |
| Tag added |
Tag added |
| Custom field changes |
Field value change |
| Opens/clicks email |
Link clicked |
| Date-based field |
Date relative |
| Site/event tracking |
Custom event (API) |
| Goal achieved |
(rebuild as workflow exit) |
ActiveCampaign's "conditional content" inside emails (different blocks per segment) maps to AcelleMail's tag-driven email variants — set up separate campaigns per tag, OR use Liquid-style conditionals in the email body referring to {{ subscriber.tags }}.
Merge-tag syntax differences#
| ActiveCampaign |
AcelleMail |
%FIRSTNAME% |
{{ subscriber.first_name }} |
%LASTNAME% |
{{ subscriber.last_name }} |
%EMAIL% |
{{ subscriber.email }} |
%UNSUBSCRIBELINK% |
{{ unsubscribe_url }} |
%FORWARDLINK% |
{{ web_view_url }} |
Advanced: API-driven migration with ActiveCampaign's contacts endpoint
For >250k contacts or scheduled sync:
Export from ActiveCampaign via API:
# AC API URL + token from Settings → Developer
curl -X GET "https://<account>.api-us1.com/api/3/contacts?limit=100&offset=0" \
-H "Api-Token: <AC_API_TOKEN>" \
-o ac-contacts.json
Paginate via offset; AC returns max 100 per page.
Import into AcelleMail:
ACELLE_TOKEN="..."
ACELLE_LIST_UID="..."
jq -c '.contacts[] | {email: .email, first_name: .firstName, last_name: .lastName}' ac-contacts.json \
| while read sub; do
curl -X POST "https://acellemail.com/api/v1/subscribers" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $ACELLE_TOKEN" \
-d "{\"list_uid\":\"$ACELLE_LIST_UID\",\"subscriber\":$sub}"
done
ActiveCampaign's "deals" / "accounts" CRM features don't have direct AcelleMail equivalents — for CRM-adjacent workflows you'd typically keep ActiveCampaign for CRM + use AcelleMail for marketing email, syncing tags via Zapier or webhook bridges.
Related articles#
