HubSpot vs. MailChimp: A Comprehensive Comparison for Your Business Needs

When we think about how we interact with our audience, we often reach for a tool or a mechanism in order to do it. As much as we try, we can’t simply think our brand and customer interactions into existence. That’s why the process of making our business known to the world starts with the right marketing automation platform. Whether you're just getting started on your journey, or you’re more advanced and looking to streamline your marketing efforts, nurture leads effectively, and/or drive growth. Two popular options that are most often considered are HubSpot and MailChimp. While both platforms offer robust features and tools to quite literally share your message with the world, on a deeper level they each cater to different business needs and priorities to differing degrees. If you’re not sure which step of the journey you’re on, or you’re simply doing some research into which tool may serve you best, you’ve come to the right place. Let’s take a dive into the world of HubSpot and MailChimp so you can see why industry leaders are boasting about both of these platforms, and help you make an informed decision for your business.

What are we doing?

Or in a broader sense, what are HubSpot and MailChimp’s main purposes? HubSpot functions primarily as an inbound marketing and sales platform. It offers advanced features and functionalities on the CRM side of things and helps businesses attract, engage, and delight customers through their Flywheel Model. However, HubSpot also specializes in marketing automation, email marketing, content management, and analytics. MailChimp on the other hand, excels as an email marketing platform designed to simplify the creation, sending, and tracking of email campaigns. No matter the size of your business, MailChimp can help manage your email marketing efforts including building subscriber lists, creating engaging email campaigns, and analyzing campaign performance.

How to choose between the best and…the best?

Every business has its own needs and motivations, so no solution is really an out-of-the-box, one-size-fits all kind of option. But to get started, let’s consider a few factors that can help point you in the right direction.

Costs for getting started

When it comes to acquisition costs for each of these services, both HubSpot and MailChimp offer various, flexible plans that can fit into many different business budgets requirements. MailChimp typically offers more affordable options for businesses on a tight budget, with a range of plans starting from free to more advanced paid tiers based on things like the size of your subscriber list, or other required features. On the other hand, HubSpot's pricing structure may be perceived as higher, but it provides a more holistic suite of tools that include CRM, marketing automation, sales, and customer service functionalities, offering a more well-rounded solution for businesses looking to scale.

Verdict: MailChimp offers more budget-friendly pricing tiers starting from free, while HubSpot (despite it’s free tier) costs slightly more, it offers a wider suite of tools for scaling your business.

Email marketing flexibility

Both platforms excel in email marketing capabilities, allowing users to create, send, and track email campaigns effectively; for this, there is no clear leader. MailChimp may be preferred for its user-friendly drag-and-drop email builder, an impressive template library for structuring your content, and A/B testing features. This makes MailChimp ideal for businesses or departments focused primarily on email marketing. HubSpot's email marketing features are integrated within its broader marketing automation platform, offering advanced personalization options, email workflows, drag-and-drop building, template libraries, and integrations with CRM data for more targeted email campaigns. While HubSpot may be geared toward more advanced features and larger corporations, MailChimp is still a great choice for email marketing needs.

Verdict: MailChimp shines for straightforward, user-friendly email marketing, while HubSpot integrates advanced personalization and CRM-driven features for larger or more complex needs.

CRM features

One of the key differences between HubSpot and MailChimp appears in their CRM functionalities. HubSpot offers a robust, well-known Smart CRM platform as part of its marketing automation suite. This means it can be easily deployed throughout your entire organization, allowing you to manage contacts, track interactions, and gain insights into customer behavior. On the other hand, MailChimp provides basic CRM features primarily focused on managing subscriber lists and segmentation, making it suitable for businesses with simpler CRM needs. It can also handle some contact management and lead scoring, simply from the perspective of being an email marketing tool. And if more robust features are needed, it does offer integration options to other platforms for enhanced features and functionality.

Verdict: HubSpot provides a full-featured Smart CRM for organization-wide use. MailChimp offers only basic CRM functions, mainly focused on subscriber management.

Automation, automation, automation

Automation is a crucial aspect of any marketing strategy, and both HubSpot and MailChimp offer different automation capabilities to streamline workflows and nurture leads in the best way for your business. HubSpot's automation features are deeply integrated within its marketing platform, allowing for complex automation sequences based on user behavior, lead scoring, and CRM data. On the other hand, MailChimp offers automation features such as email workflows and behavioral targeting, although they may not be as advanced or customizable as HubSpot's offerings. So if your business needs are growing and heavily leaning towards automation and enhanced analytics, HubSpot would be your preferred choice. But if information dissemination in a clean, clear, precise way is the goal for your business, MailChimp may be a better place to start.

Verdict: HubSpot supports advanced, customizable automation workflows tied to CRM data, while MailChimp delivers simpler automation better suited for basic email nurturing.

Facts & Figures

Analytics play a huge role in measuring the success of marketing campaigns and helping to identify areas for improvement for future campaigns. HubSpot provides comprehensive analytics and reporting tools that offer insights into email performance, website traffic, lead generation, and more. On a larger scale, combined with its CRM features and functionality, it’s a clear choice for businesses looking to choose the best-fit marketing platform for their needs. While MailChimp also offers analytics features to track email open rates, click-through rates, and subscriber engagement, some of the reporting capabilities may be more limited compared to HubSpot. For businesses just starting out, MailChimp could be a way to step into the world of measuring campaign success with the help of analytics.

Verdict: HubSpot offers robust, comprehensive analytics across marketing activities, while MailChimp provides more limited reporting focused mainly on email campaign performance.

In Summary

As you can see, HubSpot and MailChimp are powerful marketing automation platforms, each with their own unique features and functions that deliver major success to many kinds of business needs. While MailChimp may appear more budget-friendly and suitable for businesses focused primarily on email marketing, HubSpot also starts off strong with it's free tier, and offers a broader product suite of tools that encompass CRM, marketing automation, sales, and customer service functionalities. It’s not that every organization's start off the same, but they’re all growth points that every growing business should aim for, making HubSpot a preferred choice for businesses looking for an all-in-one solution to drive growth and scalability. For more information on the tool that might be best for you, check out our other great content pieces, or get in touch with me to book a free 25-minute HubSpot consultation to see how we can grow your business together. If you’re looking to purchase a HubSpot license, feel free to reach out to me as I am happy to guide you through the different options that they offer. On top of that I can also waive HubSpot’s required onboarding fee!