Best HubSpot Alternatives I Actually Use

Quick Verdict

HubSpot is a bloated beast that charges you for the privilege of being locked into their ecosystem. If you have more money than patience, stay. But for everyone else? There are better tools for specific jobs, and they won’t make you hate your email list.

ActiveCampaign **** (4/5) – best overall value for mid-sized businesses. Mailchimp *** (3/5) – good free tier, but frustrating UX. Sendinblue (Brevo) *** (3.5/5) – cheapest entry point, decent automation. Salesforce ***** (4.5/5) – if you’re rich and have a team of admins. MailerLite ** (2.5/5) – minimalist, but too basic for real CRM work.

I quit HubSpot last April. Not because it’s bad software – it’s actually polished, reliable, and their support team answered my chat in 30 seconds. But I logged into my dashboard one morning and saw my bill had quietly creeped from $450 to $800 a month. For what? I was using maybe 40% of the features. Their "Marketing Hub" bundles email, landing pages, forms, and a CRM that talks to your other tools like a passive-aggressive roommate. The final straw? I tried to downgrade my plan and they made me talk to a "retention specialist" who kept saying "but you’ll lose the smart CTAs." I don’t use smart CTAs. I have three blog posts.

So I started testing. I burned three weekends migrating data, accidentally emailed my entire client list with the subject line "Testing 123" (lost 12 subscribers, learned I exist, whatever). Here’s what I found.

ActiveCampaign

This is what I switched to. Yes, I’m biased. But hear me out. Their automation builder actually makes sense – you don’t need a PhD in conditional logic. You can map out a whole customer journey visually, like drawing on a whiteboard for your computer. The email editor is fine. Not gorgeous, but fine. And the CRM part tracks deals, contacts, and notes without making you feel like you’re operating a nuclear reactor. The price? Half of what I was paying HubSpot for the same headcount and double the email sends.

What sucked: onboarding is a maze. They give you a demo, then a guide, then a checklist, and you still feel lost for two weeks. Also their A/B testing is clunky – you can’t just split a draft, you have to set up campaigns in replicas. And the reporting dashboard? Ugly. Like spreadsheets from 2008. I fixed it with a third-party app, but still. Also, if you have more than 50k contacts, the pricing jumps hard.

Mailchimp (Free)

I used Mailchimp back when it was just a fun monkey mascot. The free tier is still the best free tier in email marketing – up to 500 contacts, 1,000 sends a month, basic templates. It’s perfect if you’re a solo freelancer or a small nonprofit that just needs to blast a newsletter. The new editor is actually decent, and their audience tagging is simple.

But the moment you want to do anything CRM-ish, it falls apart. No deal pipeline, no lead scoring, and their automation is limited to "send email after signup" – that’s it. Also their UX recently got redesigned and now finding the "send" button takes three clicks where it used to be one. And they charge you for unsubscribes if you go over your contact limit. That felt slimy. So Mailchimp is great for "I just need to email people sometimes". For anything else, nope.

Sendinblue (now Brevo)

This is the budget champion. Starts at $25/month for unlimited contacts (just pay for email volume). The transaction emails are rock solid – I used their SMTP for a e-commerce side project and it never dropped a receipt. Their SMS and WhatsApp features are nice if you’re marketing to non-US audiences. And the CRM is basic but functional.

What’s the catch? Their drag-and-drop editor is painful. Everything snaps wrong. You’ll spend 20 minutes aligning a button. Also their segmentation is limited – you can’t do "has opened email AND clicked link BUT not purchased in 30 days" without writing manual filters. Support is slow, mostly email. And their templates look like they were designed by someone who thinks Comic Sans is fine. It works. It’s cheap. But it feels cheap.

Salesforce (If You’re Rich)

Look, if you have a sales team of 10+ people and a dedicated CRM admin, just buy Salesforce. It does everything. I mean everything. You can automate your invoice generation, track your chat bot conversations, forecast revenue with machine learning. Their Einstein AI actually suggested a subject line that doubled my open rates once. It’s monstrous.

But you’ll pay. $150 per user per month for the good tier. And you’ll need a consultant to set it up. And another consultant to fix what the first consultant broke. I’ve seen companies spend $20k on implementation and still have duplicate contacts. Also the UI is a firehose of tabs, buttons, and fields. I hated every minute I spent in it. But if you’re above that pain threshold and have a budget to match… it’s the best.

MailerLite

Free up to 1,000 contacts. Beautiful minimalist editor. The landing pages and pop-ups are stunning for the price. Very easy to get started – I had a campaign running in 10 minutes. They even have a nice newsletter builder that feels like writing a blog post.

The downside: no real CRM. The contacts are just an address book with tags. No deal stages, no pipeline, no tracking of phone calls or meetings. Their automation is basic – time-based triggers, behavioral triggers are limited. And they recently had a security scare that made me nervous. So MailerLite is great for hobby newsletters or very simple blogs. Not for running a business.

HubSpot (the free CRM)

I’ll give credit: their free CRM is actually decent. Unlimited contacts, deal tracking, meeting links, live chat. If you’re a solopreneur just managing leads, it’s free and it works. The mobile app is smooth too.

But they’ll upsell you constantly. Every time you look at a feature you need – like email sequences or automation – there’s a $50/month wall. And the free tier limits you to 1 million contacts, which sounds huge until you realize their "contact" definition includes anyone who opens your email. Also you can’t customize pipelines in the free version. So it’s a teaser. A good teaser, but still a teaser.

Pros & Cons

ActiveCampaign

• Powerful automation that actually makes sense
• Great for small-to-mid businesses (up to 25k contacts)
• CRM integrates well with email

• Onboarding is overwhelming
• Reports look like 2008 Excel
• Pricing jumps at higher tiers

Mailchimp (Free)

• Best free tier for 500 contacts
• Easy to use for basic newsletters
• Strong integrations (Shopify, WordPress)

• No real CRM or deal tracking
• Charges for unsubscribes over limit
• UI changes constantly

Sendinblue (Brevo)

• Cheapest for unlimited contacts
• Excellent transaction emails (SMTP)
• SMS and WhatsApp channels

• Drag-and-drop editor is infuriating
• Limited segmentation logic
• Templates are ugly

Salesforce

• Does everything – truly everything
• AI suggestions actually work
• Enterprise-grade security and support

• Crazy expensive ($150/user/mo)
• Needs dedicated admin to set up
• Overwhelming UI

MailerLite

• Free up to 1,000 contacts
• Beautiful, minimal editor
• Quick to launch

• No CRM features
• Basic automation only
• Recent security concerns

HubSpot (Free CRM)

• Good free deal tracking and chat
• Mobile app is solid
• Unlimited contacts (sorta)

• Constant upselling
• No custom pipelines in free
• "Contact" definition includes opens

Pricing at a Glance

| Tool | Starting Price | What You Actually Get | |——|—————|———————-| | ActiveCampaign | $9/mo (500 contacts) | Email + automation + basic CRM. $29 starts automations. | | Mailchimp (Free) | Free (500 contacts) | 1k sends/mo, basic editor, no CRM. Upgrading quickly costs. | | Sendinblue (Brevo) | $25/mo (unlimited contacts) | 20k emails/mo, SMS credits, clunky editor. | | Salesforce | $25/user/mo (Essentials) | Bare bones. Good tier is $150/user. Plus setup costs a house. | | MailerLite | Free (1k contacts) | Beautiful newsletters. No CRM. | | HubSpot (Free) | Free | CRM + chat + 1M contacts (but limited). Upsells everywhere. |

FAQ

Q: Is ActiveCampaign better than HubSpot for email automation? A: For most businesses, yes. HubSpot’s automation is powerful but buried under menus. ActiveCampaign’s visual builder is easier to use and 60% cheaper for equivalent features.

Q: Is Mailchimp free for real? A: Yes, but only if you have under 500 contacts and send less than 1,000 emails a month. Go over either limit and you’ll pay – and they count unsubscribes as contacts.

Q: Which HubSpot alternative is best for a real estate agent? A: ActiveCampaign or Zoho CRM (not covered here, but worth looking at). Agent needs deal tracking, email sequences, and automation. Mailchimp won’t cut it. HubSpot free is okay but lacks templates.

Q: Can I migrate my data from HubSpot to another tool easily? A: Sort of. Export CSV from HubSpot, import to most tools. But you lose all your automation workflows, tracking data, and email history. Expect to rebuild everything manually. I lost 3 days of my life.

Q: Is Salesforce worth the money for a small business? A: No. Not unless you have a sales team of 10+ and a full-time admin. It’s overkill and you’ll drown in setup fees. Stick with ActiveCampaign or even HubSpot free until you hit 20 employees.