Overview

HubSpot and Mailchimp are both marketing giants, but they're fundamentally different products. HubSpot is a complete CRM platform with marketing, sales, and service hubs. Mailchimp is the world's most recognized email marketing tool. See our HubSpot comparison and Mailchimp comparison for detailed breakdowns.

The question isn't which is "better" - it's which type of platform you need.

The Core Difference

HubSpot built a CRM platform that happens to include email marketing. You get contact management, deal pipelines, service tickets, and marketing automation all in one system. The email features exist to serve the broader customer relationship strategy.

Mailchimp built email marketing into an institution. For 20+ years, they've perfected email campaigns, templates, and deliverability. They've added more features over time, but email remains the core.

Pricing: $1,000+ vs $135 at 10K

The price difference is stark. HubSpot Marketing Hub Professional with 10k contacts costs $1,000+/month (including required onboarding). Mailchimp Standard is $135/month.

That 7x difference buys you HubSpot's full CRM platform - sales pipelines, service tools, and advanced automation. If you need those features, HubSpot is competitive with buying separate tools. If you just need email marketing, Mailchimp is obviously better value.

CRM: HubSpot Wins Easily

HubSpot's CRM is enterprise-grade. Contact records connect to deals, tickets, and every interaction. Sales teams can track pipelines. Service teams can manage support. Marketing can see the full customer journey.

Mailchimp's "CRM" is really a contact database. It works for email marketing but doesn't support sales processes or service management. If CRM matters, there's no comparison.

Email Marketing: Mailchimp's Specialty

For pure email marketing, Mailchimp is better. The template library is extensive. The email editor is refined. Deliverability is excellent. The analytics are focused on what email marketers need.

HubSpot's email marketing is good but not exceptional. It's designed to work within the CRM context rather than stand alone.

When Each Platform Shines

Choose HubSpot when: You need a complete CRM platform. Your sales and marketing teams need to share data. You want service ticket management. You have budget for the full suite.

Choose Mailchimp when: Email marketing is your primary need. You're budget-conscious. You want simplicity over features. You need e-commerce integrations.

For SaaS Companies

Both platforms serve SaaS companies but neither is built specifically for software. HubSpot is a general CRM, Mailchimp is email marketing.

For SaaS-specific features like Stripe integration and subscription-aware automation, consider Sequenzy. At $49/month for 10k subscribers, it costs far less than either while offering transactional email for software products.