MailerLite vs HubSpot: Which Tool Should You Use?

MailerLite and HubSpot are both excellent email marketing tools, and both have generous free plans. On the surface, they look similar. But underneath, they're solving different problems.

MailerLite is a focused email marketing tool. It does email well, keeps things simple, and doesn't charge you for things you don't need. HubSpot is a marketing platform. It does email, but it also does CRM, sales pipeline, reporting, and more, all in one place.

The right choice depends on whether you need a tool or a platform. This comparison will help you figure out which one that is.

At a Glance

	MailerLite	HubSpot
Free plan	Yes, up to 500 contacts	Yes, includes CRM
Paid plans start at	$10/month	$20/month (Starter)
CRM included	No	Yes, built in
Automation	Strong	Strong
Landing pages	Yes, included	Yes, on paid plans
Website builder	Yes, included	No
Interface	Very clean and minimal	Clean, slightly more complex
Best for	Focused email marketing	Email + CRM in one place

Free Plans

Both tools offer free plans, but they're structured differently, and that difference matters.

MailerLite's free plan covers up to 500 contacts with automation, landing pages, and a website builder included. It's one of the most feature-rich free plans in the email marketing space. The limitation is contacts, once you hit 500, you need to upgrade.

HubSpot's free plan includes a full CRM alongside basic email marketing and simple automation. The CRM has no contact limit; you can store as many contacts as you want for free. The trade-off is that email features are more limited on the free tier compared to MailerLite.

If email marketing is your main focus and you want the most capable free tool for that specific job, MailerLite edges ahead. If you need a CRM alongside your email, even a basic one, HubSpot's free plan is hard to beat.

Automation

Both tools handle automation well at this price point. The visual builders are intuitive in both cases: you map out flows, set triggers, and the sequences run on their own.

MailerLite's automation is clean and fast to set up. Welcome flows, nurture sequences, behavioral triggers, all straightforward. You can have something running in minutes. It doesn't overcomplicate things, which is exactly what you want if automation is a means to an end, not the end itself.

HubSpot's automation pulls in data from the CRM, which gives it an advantage in one specific scenario: when your email sequences need to respond to sales activity. A deal moves to a new stage and the right follow-up goes out automatically. Someone on the sales team updates a contact and the marketing sequence adjusts. That kind of connected automation only works when email and CRM live in the same tool.

If your automation is mostly email-driven: sends, opens, clicks, both tools are comparable. If your automation needs to respond to what's happening in your sales pipeline, HubSpot has the edge.

Interface and Ease of Use

MailerLite is one of the cleanest interfaces in the email marketing space. Everything is minimal, everything is where you'd expect it, and there's very little friction between deciding to do something and actually doing it. If simplicity matters to you, or if your team isn't technical, MailerLite is hard to beat.

HubSpot is clean too, but it's a bigger tool, and that shows. There are more menus, more options, more places to look. That's not a bad thing, it's there because the platform does more. But it does mean there's slightly more to learn upfront. Most users adjust quickly, especially if they're only using the email and CRM portions.

Everything Else

MailerLite includes landing pages and a website builder on all plans, including free. If you need a simple site or a lead capture page alongside your email marketing, you don't need another tool. It's all there.

HubSpot brings the CRM, sales pipeline, and reporting. If your business has a sales process, even a simple one, having that data in the same place as your email marketing is a meaningful advantage. You can see exactly how your emails are contributing to pipeline and revenue, not just opens and clicks.

MailerLite is also cheaper at every tier. The Growing Business plan starts at $10/month vs HubSpot Starter at $20/month. For businesses where the budget is tight and email is the priority, that gap adds up.

Which One Should You Choose?

Choose MailerLite if:

Email marketing is your main focus and you want the cleanest, most affordable tool to do it well. You don't need a CRM right now, or you already have one. You want a free plan that's actually useful, not just a teaser. And you want something your team can pick up and use on day one without a learning curve.

→ Go to MailerLite

Choose HubSpot if:

You need email and CRM in one place. You have a sales process, even a basic one, and you want to see how your marketing is driving revenue. You want a platform you can grow into over time without switching tools. And you want a free CRM with no contact limit to start with.

→ Go to HubSpot

The Bottom Line

MailerLite and HubSpot are both smart choices. The question isn't which one is better, it's which one fits what you actually need right now.

If you need a focused, clean email marketing tool and nothing else, MailerLite is the better pick. It's cheaper, simpler, and does the email job exceptionally well.

If you need email and CRM together, or if you think you will in the near future, HubSpot is the smarter long-term investment. One platform, one source of truth, and room to grow without switching tools later.

Either way, both tools have free plans. There's no reason not to try them both and see which one feels right.

→ Go to MailerLite

→ Go to HubSpot

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