HubSpot vs Mailchimp: Do You Need a CRM or an Email Tool?
Mailchimp is the better choice if email marketing is your primary need and you want to start cheap. HubSpot is the better choice if you need CRM, sales pipeline, and marketing automation in one platform and are willing to pay more for it. Most small businesses start with Mailchimp and upgrade to HubSpot when they outgrow it.
TL;DR
It depends on your needs.
These tools solve different problems. Mailchimp is a focused email marketing platform that does one thing well at a low price. HubSpot is an all-in-one customer platform that includes email marketing alongside CRM, sales tools, and service tools. If you only need email, Mailchimp wins on price and simplicity. If you need to manage contacts, deals, and marketing in one place, HubSpot wins on capability.
HubSpot vs Mailchimp: At a Glance
| Feature | HubSpot | Mailchimp |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $20/mo per seat | $13/mo |
| Free plan | ||
| G2 rating | 4.4/5 | 4.3/5 |
| Primary purpose | All-in-one CRM + marketing | Email marketing |
| CRM included | Basic | |
| Sales pipeline | ||
| Email marketing | ||
| Landing pages | ||
| Marketing automation | Professional+ | Essentials+ (limited) |
| Best for | Growing teams needing CRM + marketing | Small business email marketing |
Which is better for email marketing?
HubSpot
HubSpot includes email marketing in its Marketing Hub. The drag-and-drop editor is solid, templates are modern, and you get personalization tokens, A/B testing, and smart send times. But email is one feature inside a larger platform. If you only need email, you're paying for a lot you won't use.
Mailchimp
Mailchimp was built for email marketing and it shows. The editor is fast and intuitive, the template library is extensive, and features like Creative Assistant (AI design) and Content Optimizer are purpose-built for email. For pure email marketing, Mailchimp offers more depth at a lower price.
Winner: Mailchimp. Mailchimp was built for email marketing and it shows.
Which has a better CRM?
HubSpot
HubSpot's CRM is its core product. Contact management, deal pipelines, task tracking, meeting scheduling, and reporting are all built in. The free CRM supports up to 1,000,000 contacts. For teams that need to track deals alongside marketing, HubSpot is purpose-built for this workflow.
Mailchimp
Mailchimp has a basic 'audience management' system that stores contacts with tags and segments. It's not a CRM in the traditional sense. There are no deal pipelines, no task management, no sales forecasting. If you need to track sales activity alongside email marketing, Mailchimp can't do it.
Winner: HubSpot. HubSpot's CRM is its core product.
Which has better marketing automation?
HubSpot
HubSpot's automation engine is powerful. Workflows can trigger across email, CRM, deals, tickets, and custom objects. You can build complex multi-branch sequences with if/then logic, delays, and internal notifications. The catch: real automation requires the Professional plan at $100/seat/mo.
Mailchimp
Mailchimp's Customer Journey Builder handles email-focused automation: welcome sequences, abandoned carts, re-engagement flows. The Essentials plan limits you to 4 journey steps. Standard unlocks behavioral targeting and send time optimization. It's capable for email automation but can't trigger actions across a CRM or sales pipeline.
Winner: HubSpot. HubSpot's automation engine is powerful.
Which is easier to use?
HubSpot
HubSpot has a steeper learning curve because there's more to learn. The interface is well-organized, but navigating between Marketing Hub, Sales Hub, and CRM features takes time. Most teams need a week or two to feel comfortable. The upside: once you learn it, everything is connected.
Mailchimp
Mailchimp is one of the simplest email tools to learn. You can create and send your first campaign in under 30 minutes. The interface is clean and focused. There's less to configure because there's less to the product. For non-technical users who just need to send emails, Mailchimp wins on time-to-value.
Winner: Mailchimp. Mailchimp is one of the simplest email tools to learn.
Which is cheaper?
HubSpot
HubSpot's free CRM is generous (1M contacts, basic email). But paid plans are expensive. Starter is $20/seat/mo, Professional is $100/seat/mo with a $1,500 onboarding fee. Marketing Hub pricing also scales with contact count. A 5-person team on Professional can easily spend $500+/mo before adding contacts.
Mailchimp
Mailchimp starts at $13/mo for 500 contacts on Essentials. The free plan covers 250 contacts and 500 emails. At 10,000 contacts, Essentials costs $100/mo. The pricing is straightforward but scales with contacts, and unsubscribed contacts count toward your limit. For email-only needs, Mailchimp is significantly cheaper than HubSpot.
Winner: Mailchimp. Mailchimp starts at $13/mo for 500 contacts on Essentials.
Which has better reporting?
HubSpot
HubSpot reports across the full customer journey: marketing attribution, deal pipeline metrics, email performance, website analytics, and custom dashboards. You can see which marketing campaign generated which deal. This cross-functional reporting is HubSpot's biggest advantage for teams that do both marketing and sales.
Mailchimp
Mailchimp reports on email performance: open rates, click rates, revenue from campaigns, audience growth, and comparative reporting across campaigns. It's good for understanding email effectiveness but can't connect email activity to sales outcomes or track a contact's full journey from first touch to closed deal.
Winner: HubSpot. HubSpot reports across the full customer journey: marketing attribution, deal pipeline metrics, email performance, website analytics, and custom dashboards.
Pricing Comparison
HubSpot
Free plan available · 14-day free trial
Free Tools
$0
Starter
$20/mo per seat
$15/mo per seat billed annually
Professional
$100/mo per seat
Enterprise
$150/mo per seat
Mailchimp
Free plan available
Free
$0
Essentials
$13/mo
Standard
$20/mo
Premium
$350/mo
Final Verdict
Mailchimp is the better choice if email marketing is your primary need and you want to start cheap. HubSpot is the better choice if you need CRM, sales pipeline, and marketing automation in one platform and are willing to pay more for it. Most small businesses start with Mailchimp and upgrade to HubSpot when they outgrow it.
Choose HubSpot if you...
- ✓Need CRM and email marketing in one platform
- ✓Want to track deals and sales pipeline alongside marketing
- ✓Have a team doing both marketing and sales
- ✓Need marketing attribution (which campaign drove which deal)
- ✓Plan to scale into advanced automation and workflows
Choose Mailchimp if you...
- ✓Only need email marketing, not a full CRM
- ✓Want the cheapest option for sending newsletters and campaigns
- ✓Are a solo operator or very small team
- ✓Prefer simplicity and fast setup over feature depth
- ✓Need a generous free plan to start without commitment
Frequently Asked Questions
Only if you only need email marketing. Mailchimp can't replace HubSpot's CRM, sales pipeline, deal tracking, or cross-functional automation. If you're using HubSpot for CRM + marketing, Mailchimp would only cover the email portion.
Yes. Some companies use Mailchimp for email marketing and HubSpot for CRM. There are third-party integrations that sync contacts between them. But this creates data fragmentation. HubSpot's built-in email marketing eliminates the need for a separate tool, which is why most teams pick one or the other.
They're good at different things. HubSpot's free plan includes CRM for up to 1M contacts, basic email marketing, live chat, and forms. Mailchimp's free plan covers 250 contacts, 500 emails, landing pages, and a simple CRM. HubSpot's free plan is better if you need CRM. Mailchimp's is better if you just need email.
Neither is the best for e-commerce. Klaviyo is purpose-built for online stores with deep Shopify integration. Between these two, Mailchimp has better e-commerce features (product recommendations, abandoned cart emails, store integrations). HubSpot's e-commerce capabilities are more limited. See our Klaviyo vs Mailchimp comparison for the e-commerce angle.
When you need to manage sales alongside marketing. If you're tracking deals in a spreadsheet, following up on leads manually, or can't tell which marketing campaigns generate revenue, it's time for a CRM. HubSpot's free CRM lets you test this without switching email platforms immediately.