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It's a split decision.
Choose MailerLite for email-first marketing and subscriber-based pricing: its free plan includes 250 subscribers and 2,500 monthly emails. HubSpot suits teams that want campaigns and content tied to CRM records, reporting, and broader marketing tools. HubSpot's listed Starter price is lower at $7 per seat monthly, but its seat minimum and contact allowance are not published here. MailerLite Comfort starts at $10.80 monthly billed annually for 500 subscribers, and its price scales with list size.
01Side by side
| HubSpot Marketing Hub | MailerLite | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Starter: $7 per seat/month; billing split unclear | Comfort: $10.80/month annually, starting at 500 subscribers |
| Free plan | Free plan available; marketing limits not published | 250 subscribers, 2,500 emails/month; 2 seats |
| Best for | CRM-linked campaigns and full-funnel marketing | Newsletters, email automation, and digital sales |
| Core strength | CRM-connected content, campaigns, and lead data | Email campaigns, automations, pages, and forms |
| Learning curve | Broader CRM-and-marketing scope means more to learn | Narrower email-first scope |
| Integrations and data | CRM records plus two-way sync with dozens of apps | Email marketing; AI tools can manage it via prompts |
| Team and seat costs | Extra seats billed per user; minimum not published | 3 seats on Comfort; unlimited on Power |
| Support | Starter lists email and in-app chat support | Email support on Comfort; live chat on Power |
HubSpot Marketing Hub Choose HubSpot Marketing Hub if
- Choose HubSpot Marketing Hub if CRM data should drive campaigns.
- Choose HubSpot Marketing Hub if you need multi-touch attribution.
- Choose HubSpot Marketing Hub if social and content belong in one stack.
MailerLite Choose MailerLite if
- Choose MailerLite if email is your main marketing channel.
- Choose MailerLite if you want free sending for 250 subscribers.
- Choose MailerLite if unlimited seats matter on Power.
02Pricing compared
MailerLite’s free plan includes 250 subscribers and 2,500 monthly emails. Its Comfort plan starts at $10.80 per month when billed annually for 500 subscribers; monthly billing is $12. Both prices scale with subscriber count. Comfort caps monthly sends at 10 times the subscriber tier, so the 500-subscriber tier allows 5,000 emails. Power starts at $22.50 monthly on annual billing or $25 monthly, with unlimited emails subject to fair use.
HubSpot lists a free plan and Starter at $7 per seat per month. The pricing page defaults to annual billing, but a separate monthly price isn’t published in the published pricing details. Starter’s seat minimum and contact allowance are also not published here. That makes its headline price hard to compare directly with MailerLite’s subscriber-based tiers. HubSpot Credits and additional seats can add cost.
03Features and depth
HubSpot is the broader marketing suite when campaigns need to connect to CRM records. Its listed capabilities include email, social publishing and monitoring, forms, ads, SEO/AEO tools, analytics, and AI agents. The Content Agent creates blog posts, social content, and landing pages; the Nurture Agent adapts emails using contact data and behavior signals. Advanced reporting includes multi-touch attribution and customer journey analytics, according to the published product information.
MailerLite is more focused on email and audience growth. It includes automations, landing pages, websites, forms and pop-ups, plus tools to sell digital products and paid newsletters. Its AI features include a writing assistant and AI-powered A/B testing. The published feature list also describes an MCP server that lets ChatGPT or Claude manage email marketing through prompts.
The practical split is CRM-linked campaigns and broader reporting with HubSpot, versus newsletter and subscriber workflows with MailerLite. MailerLite’s free plan has three automations; Comfort includes 50, while Power lists unlimited automations.
04Ease of use and learning curve
MailerLite is the simpler starting point for teams focused on newsletters, forms, and basic automations. Its free plan includes a drag-and-drop editor, 250 subscribers, and two user seats. The published review rates its ease of use at 8 out of 10, while noting that messy or unverified lists can be risky.
HubSpot’s connected CRM and broader toolset can mean more to configure and manage. Its review gives ease of use 5 out of 10 and flags seat pricing and contact add-ons as costs that can rise faster than teams expect. HubSpot may suit teams that need campaign data tied to CRM records; a small email-first team may find MailerLite’s narrower scope easier to manage. Neither score guarantees a fit for a specific team.
Questions people ask
Why are people leaving HubSpot?
The published review points to seat pricing and contact add-ons that can escalate faster than teams expect, and rates value and user sentiment at 4.5 out of 10. That doesn’t establish why any particular customer leaves. Teams may compare alternatives if they don’t need HubSpot’s broader CRM-linked marketing tools.
What is better than MailerLite?
It depends on the job. HubSpot may be a better fit when marketing campaigns need to connect with CRM records, social management, and multi-touch attribution. MailerLite is the more direct option for email-first marketing, with a free tier for 250 subscribers. Its paid pricing scales with subscriber count.
Who is HubSpot's biggest competitor?
The published information doesn’t identify a single biggest competitor, and the answer depends on which HubSpot product or use case is being compared. For email-first marketing, MailerLite is one alternative. For teams needing CRM-linked campaigns and broader reporting, compare platforms on those specific requirements and their total plan costs.
Why is HubSpot falling?
The published sources don’t provide market-share, revenue, or growth data that would show HubSpot is falling. They do flag potential buyer concerns: seat pricing and contact add-ons can raise costs, while the review rates value and user sentiment at 4.5 out of 10. That is not proof of a broader decline.