MIGRATION
Switch from ActiveCampaign to Moosend and choose what depth to keep
Your contacts and fields move fine; the real decision is automation depth. ActiveCampaign's branching workflows, scoring and CRM handoff have no full equivalent in Moosend, so plan which logic you rebuild simply and which you drop. Import subscribers, unsubscribes and bounces, map lists and tags, then rebuild the few automations that earn their keep before you cut over.
What actually transfers
Contacts are portable. An ActiveCampaign export carries email, names and phone, your custom fields, lead and deal scores as numbers, tags gathered into a single column, and the most recent IP address, browser and operating system. Moosend takes a CSV or TXT file and lets you map each column onto the email field or any custom field, or ignore it.
Two things need care rather than effort. Contact notes cannot be exported at all, so copy anything you rely on before you close the account. And suppression is a one way door: once an address sits on Moosend's suppression list it can never be added to a list again, so import your unsubscribes and bounces, then archive them, in that order.
Object by object: what comes across
| Object | Comes across | What to watch |
|---|---|---|
| Contacts with names and phone | Yes, through a CSV | Exported by ActiveCampaign, imported by Moosend with column mapping. |
| Custom fields | Yes, mapped | Map each column onto an existing or new Moosend field, or ignore it. |
| Tags | Partly | ActiveCampaign exports them in one column. Moosend has no tag object: the column becomes a field you segment on. |
| Unsubscribes and bounces | Yes, as suppression | Import them, then archive to mark them unsubscribed. A suppressed address can never be added to a Moosend list again, so get this order right. |
| Lead scores and deal scores | As numbers only | The values export, the scoring rules that produced them do not. |
| Contact notes | No | The ActiveCampaign help centre states notes cannot be exported. |
| Automations and workflows | No | Not part of a contact export. Every workflow is a rebuild, and branching depth is where the two products differ most. |
| Deals and CRM pipeline | No | Moosend has no equivalent object. |
| Site tracking history | No | Not part of a contact export. |
Read from each provider's own export and import documentation, listed under the table. We have not run this migration on a paid pair of accounts, so nothing here is a test result. Anything a provider does not document, we leave out rather than guess.
What the ActiveCampaign export gives you
- Email address, first name, last name and phone number
- Custom fields
- Tags, gathered into a single column
- Lead scores and deal scores
- The most recent IP address, browser and operating system
- A per-list export filtered by status (Active, Unconfirmed, Unsubscribed, Bounced or Any), with a Status column and a Date Unsubscribed field
What it leaves behind
- Contact notes, which the help centre states cannot be exported
- Automations, which are not part of a contact export
Source: the official export documentation, plus the second official page (official help articles on exporting all contacts and exporting a list, read through a search index: the pages refuse direct requests from our address).
What the Moosend import accepts
- CSV or TXT files up to 40 MB, with a custom separator when yours is unusual
- Column by column mapping onto the email field or any custom field, or Ignore for a column you do not want
What it refuses or rebuilds
- Suppressed addresses: once an address is on the suppression list it cannot be added to any list again
- Bounces and spam complaints are added to the suppression list automatically
- Unsubscribed status is not an import field: you import the contacts, then archive them to mark them unsubscribed
Source: the official import documentation (docs.moosend.com/users/moosend/en/import-recipients.html), plus the second official page (docs.moosend.com/users/moosend/en/work-with-the-suppression-list.html) (read the official import documentation).
The depth you give up
ActiveCampaign is automation-first: deep branching, conditional waits, lead scoring, site tracking and CRM deals. Moosend covers the automation basics well but not that depth. Before migrating, list every workflow and mark what it really does. A ten-branch nurture that scores and hands off to sales will not rebuild one-to-one; a welcome series or a simple date trigger will. Decide which logic is essential, which you can flatten into a shorter linear flow, and which you retire. Scoring and CRM handoff in particular are the pieces most likely to have no Moosend equivalent, so plan where that data and those decisions live after the move.
What actually simplifies
Some of the move is a relief. Moosend prices simply and includes unlimited sends, so send-volume maths stops driving plan choices. The editor and list handling are lighter to operate, and a smaller feature surface means fewer settings to misconfigure. If your ActiveCampaign account grew complicated by accretion, dozens of half-used automations and stale tags, migration is a chance to keep only what you actually run. Compare the cost of the same list on each first: from $19/mo against from $9/mo, and check the tier your list size falls on in the Moosend plans by subscriber count. The simplification is real, but it trades away depth, so make it on purpose rather than discovering it after cutover. The Moosend review sets out what its automations can and cannot do without the depth of a CRM-style tool.
Map, then test before cutover
Map objects before importing. ActiveCampaign lists and tags map to Moosend lists and segments; static tags become segment membership, behavioural tags become segment rules you rebuild. Custom fields map by type. Automations are rebuilds, not imports. Then test: import into one list, check it against your inventory, rebuild a single automation, send a seed campaign, and walk a real signup end to end before real contacts enter anything. Keep the ActiveCampaign account read-only for a billing cycle as rollback. For more options in this class, see ActiveCampaign alternatives; if you want to keep more workflow depth than Moosend offers, the ActiveCampaign to GetResponse migration inventory runs the same export into a tool with deeper workflows.
Questions people also ask
Will my scoring and CRM data survive the move?
Not as working logic. Score values can be exported as a field, but the rules that calculate them and the CRM deal pipeline have no Moosend equivalent. Decide before migrating where scoring and sales handoff will live afterward.
Can I rebuild branching automations in Moosend?
Simple ones, yes. Welcome series, date triggers and short linear flows rebuild cleanly. Deep multi-branch workflows with scoring and conditional waits need to be flattened or retired, so inventory each workflow and decide its fate before you import.
What happens to my unsubscribes?
You import them like any other contact, then archive them so Moosend marks them unsubscribed. Do it in that order: an address already on the suppression list cannot be added to a list again, and bounces or spam complaints land there automatically.
Have you run this migration yourselves?
No. This page is built from ActiveCampaign's export documentation and Moosend's import and suppression documentation, both linked above. We have not moved a paid account between the two, so nothing here is presented as a test result.