Online Business Tools
HubSpot vs Mailchimp
HubSpot and Mailchimp are both built for marketing, but they are not built around the same starting point. Mailchimp feels more natural when email campaigns are the main job, while HubSpot starts to make more sense when marketing needs to connect with CRM, sales follow-up and customer data.
Last updated: May 17, 2026
HubSpot
HubSpot
A CRM-centred marketing platform for teams that want campaigns, contacts, sales activity and customer data working together.
VS
Mailchimp
Mailchimp
An email and SMS marketing platform for building audiences, sending campaigns and running customer journeys without starting from a full CRM system.
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Specifications
Pros & Cons
HubSpot — Pros
✓HubSpot is a strong fit when marketing is no longer just about sending emails. It helps connect forms, leads, campaigns, contacts, sales activity and reporting in one place.
✓The built-in CRM is one of its biggest advantages. You can see more than opens and clicks. You can also understand where a lead came from, what they did next and how they moved through the customer journey.
✓Marketing Hub includes useful tools for automation, campaign planning, analytics, social media management, reporting and lead generation.
✓It can grow with the business. A small team might start with free CRM and basic marketing tools, then add more advanced marketing, sales, service, content or data features later.
✓HubSpot’s AI tools feel broader because they sit across the wider platform, not only inside the email editor.
HubSpot — Cons
✕HubSpot can feel too heavy if all you want is a simple newsletter tool.
✕It works best when your contact records, lists, forms, lifecycle stages and pipelines are set up properly, so it needs more planning at the beginning.
✕Some of the strongest automation, reporting and customer journey features are tied to higher plans.
✕Pricing can become harder to compare once you factor in seats, hubs, marketing contacts and advanced features.
✕For a very small business with a simple email list, HubSpot may feel like more system than you actually need.
Mailchimp — Pros
✓Mailchimp is easier to approach when your main goal is clear: build an audience, send campaigns and keep customers engaged.
✓It suits small businesses, creators and online stores that want practical email marketing without setting up a full CRM structure.
✓The campaign workflow feels direct. You can create, test, schedule and monitor emails without feeling like you are building a whole sales system around them.
✓Mailchimp includes useful tools such as audience management, segmentation, templates, A/B testing, customer journeys and campaign reporting.
✓The free plan can still be useful for testing the platform, although the contact and sending limits are small and should be checked before publishing.
Mailchimp — Cons
✕Mailchimp is not as strong as HubSpot if you need deep CRM visibility, sales pipeline tracking or full customer lifecycle reporting.
✕The cost can rise as your contact list grows, so the starting price does not always show the long-term cost.
✕The Free plan is limited, so it may not last long once a business starts building a serious list.
✕Advanced features depend on the selected plan, which means some users may need to upgrade sooner than expected.
✕If your team later wants marketing, sales and customer service data in one shared customer record, Mailchimp can start to feel limited.
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Our Verdict
HubSpot and Mailchimp are easy to compare on a feature list, but they feel quite different when you imagine using them every week. Mailchimp makes sense when email marketing is the centre of the job. You have an audience, you want to send newsletters or promotions, you want to build a few customer journeys, and you do not want the process to become heavier than it needs to be. For many small businesses, that is exactly enough. HubSpot comes from a different direction. It becomes more useful when your contacts are not just subscribers, but leads, prospects, customers and sales opportunities. If someone fills out a form, downloads a guide, opens an email, speaks to sales and later becomes a customer, HubSpot gives that journey a more connected place to live. For a small business that mostly wants to send campaigns, Mailchimp will probably feel faster, lighter and easier to manage. For a growing team that wants marketing, CRM and sales activity working from the same customer record, HubSpot is the stronger long-term system.
Which One Should You Choose?
Choose HubSpot if...
→You want marketing, CRM and sales activity connected in one place.
→Your team needs to track leads beyond email opens and clicks.
→Sales follow-up, lifecycle stages and customer history matter to your process.
→You want stronger full-funnel reporting as your business grows.
→You are willing to spend more time setting up a system that can scale later.
Choose Mailchimp if...
→Your main focus is newsletters, email campaigns, promotions or simple journeys.
→You want something lighter and easier to start using.
→You run a small business, creator brand or online store with email-first marketing needs.
→You do not need a full CRM platform yet.
→You want to create and send campaigns without building a larger customer management system.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Can Mailchimp do the same job as HubSpot?
A: Mailchimp can cover some of the same marketing needs, especially email campaigns, audience management, landing pages, automations and basic customer journeys. But it does not feel like the same kind of system as HubSpot. HubSpot is stronger when you want marketing activity to sit inside a wider CRM. That matters if your contacts also move through forms, lead stages, sales follow-ups, deals, support conversations and reporting. Mailchimp can manage marketing contacts, but HubSpot is built more deeply around the full customer record.
Q: Is HubSpot too much if I only need email marketing?
A: For many small businesses, yes. If your main goal is to send newsletters, product updates, promotions or simple automated emails, HubSpot may feel heavier than necessary. Mailchimp is usually the more natural choice for email-first marketing. HubSpot makes more sense when email is only one part of a wider sales and customer management process.
Q: Does Mailchimp have a CRM like HubSpot?
A: Mailchimp does offer CRM-style audience and contact management tools. It can help you capture leads, organise contacts and automate messages to your audience. However, it is not as deep as HubSpot’s CRM setup. HubSpot is built around CRM records, pipelines, lifecycle stages, sales activity and customer history. So Mailchimp can work for basic customer management, but HubSpot is the better fit when CRM is central to how the business operates.
Q: Which is better for newsletters, HubSpot or Mailchimp?
A: Mailchimp is usually the easier and more comfortable choice for newsletters. Its workflow is direct: manage your audience, design the email, schedule it and review the campaign results. HubSpot can also handle newsletters well, but it becomes more valuable when the newsletter connects to forms, lead scoring, CRM activity, sales follow-up or broader reporting.
Q: Which is better for lead generation?
A: HubSpot is usually stronger for lead generation if you want to track the full journey from form submission to sales follow-up. It is better suited to businesses that care about lifecycle stages, lead nurturing, sales handoff and full-funnel reporting. Mailchimp can still work well for simpler lead capture and email follow-ups, especially for small businesses, creators or stores that do not need a structured sales pipeline yet.
Q: Which is better for e-commerce marketing?
A: Mailchimp is often the easier fit for e-commerce stores that mainly want product emails, offers, abandoned cart messages, customer journeys and SMS add-ons. HubSpot can also work for e-commerce, but it makes more sense when store data needs to connect with CRM, sales, support, customer history or more detailed reporting. In simple terms, Mailchimp feels better for campaign-driven e-commerce, while HubSpot feels better for relationship-driven customer management.
Q: Can I use Mailchimp and HubSpot together?
A: Yes. HubSpot has a Mailchimp integration. HubSpot says the integration can add contacts from non-HubSpot forms to Mailchimp lists and can show certain Mailchimp email activities, such as sends, opens, clicks and bounces, on HubSpot contact records. There are limits, though. HubSpot notes that the integration does not sync contacts both ways by default, and some historical campaign data is limited.
Q: Which has better automation, HubSpot or Mailchimp?
A: HubSpot is better for CRM-based automation. For example, it is stronger when actions depend on lead status, lifecycle stage, form submission, sales handoff or customer journey data. Mailchimp is better for simpler email and audience-based automations. It works well for welcome emails, campaign follow-ups, product messages and e-commerce-style journeys. The better option depends on whether your automation is mainly about email campaigns or the whole customer journey.
Q: Which platform becomes more expensive as you grow?
A: Both can become more expensive, but in different ways. Mailchimp pricing is strongly affected by contact count, send limits and the plan you choose. HubSpot pricing can grow through seats, hubs, marketing contacts, advanced features and higher-tier plans. Mailchimp may feel cheaper early on, but HubSpot may offer better value later if it replaces separate CRM, sales and reporting tools.
Q: Should a small business start with HubSpot or Mailchimp?
A: A small business should usually start with Mailchimp if the immediate need is email marketing, newsletters, promotions and simple customer journeys. A small business should consider HubSpot if it already needs CRM, lead tracking, sales follow-up, forms, pipelines and more organised customer records. Mailchimp is the lighter starting point. HubSpot is the more structured long-term system.
Sources & References
Prices, features and specifications in this comparison were verified from official sources.
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