email marketing tools · Tool Face-Off

HubSpot vs Mailchimp

Quick answer

HubSpot wins on depth and CRM integration; Mailchimp wins on simplicity and price for pure email marketing. Choose based on whether you need a full growth platform or just solid email campaigns.

HubSpot

The all-in-one CRM beast that also does email

4★

Mailchimp

The OG email tool that's easy enough for your grandma

3.8★

Free Plan

Up to 1,000 contacts, 2,000 emails/mo

Up to 500 contacts, 1,000 emails/mo

Paid Starting Price

~$15/mo (Marketing Starter)

~$13/mo (Essentials)

Contacts at Mid Tier

Up to 5,000 (Marketing Hub Professional ~$800/mo)

Up to 5,000 (~$75/mo Standard)

Built-in CRM

Yes — full-featured, free CRM included

Basic contact profiles only

Marketing Automation

Advanced multi-branch workflows

Moderate — Customer Journey builder

A/B Testing

Yes, including multivariate

Yes, up to 3 variants on paid plans

Landing Pages

Yes, included on paid plans

Yes, included on free plan

Email Templates

~100+ templates

100+ templates, slightly more polished

Reporting & Analytics

Deep — revenue attribution, funnel reports

Solid email-level stats, limited funnel view

Transactional Email

Via separate HubSpot Transactional add-on

Yes, via Mandrill add-on (~$20/mo)

SMS Marketing

Yes, on higher tiers

Yes, US-based on paid plans

Native Integrations

1,000+ apps + Salesforce, Slack, Shopify

300+ apps, strong e-commerce focus

HubSpot

Pricing★★½☆☆

Support★★★★☆

Ease of Use★★★½☆

Integrations★★★★½

Deliverability★★★★☆

Email Features★★★★½

CRM & Automations★★★★★

Mailchimp

Pricing★★★½☆

Support★★★☆☆

Ease of Use★★★★½

Integrations★★★★☆

Deliverability★★★★½

Email Features★★★★☆

CRM & Automations★★★☆☆

Worth knowing

HubSpot's free CRM is genuinely free — no credit card, no time limit, no tricks.
Mailchimp pioneered the freemium email model back in 2009, basically inventing the category.
HubSpot Professional tier jumps sharply in price, making it overkill for small senders.
Mailchimp's deliverability consistently scores above 96% in third-party tests.
HubSpot tracks website visits, email opens, and deals all in one timeline per contact.

Mailchimp's logo mascot is a chimpanzee named Freddie — he's been winking at marketers since 2001 and has survived more rebrands than most marketing departments.

If you want

You want a true CRM + email combo without duct-taping tools together

HubSpot's native CRM means your sales and marketing data actually talk to each other.

→ Pick HubSpot

If you want

You just need great email campaigns on a tight budget

Mailchimp delivers polished emails at a fraction of HubSpot's cost with zero learning curve.

→ Pick Mailchimp

If you want

You run an e-commerce store and want smart product recommendations

Mailchimp's Shopify/WooCommerce integrations and predicted demographics are purpose-built for online retail.

→ Pick Mailchimp

If you want

You're scaling a B2B funnel with multiple touchpoints and reps

HubSpot's lead scoring, deal tracking, and multi-step workflows make it the obvious choice for B2B growth.

→ Pick HubSpot

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