Moving from Mailchimp to HubSpot: What You Need to Know

Mailchimp is an email tool. HubSpot is a platform. That's the fundamental difference.

If you're managing contacts in a spreadsheet or a separate CRM, and you're tired of syncing data between tools, HubSpot solves that problem. Email and CRM live in the same place. When someone fills out a form, they enter your CRM and start an email sequence at the same time. No manual steps. No gaps.

The migration takes 2-4 hours depending on how much data you're moving. Here's how to do it.

What Transfers and What Doesn't

What transfers: Your contact list (emails, names, custom fields, tags, subscriber status). Everything exports as a CSV from Mailchimp and imports into HubSpot's CRM.

What doesn't transfer: Email templates, automations, campaigns, and reporting history. You'll rebuild automations in HubSpot. Old campaigns stay archived in Mailchimp.

The rebuild is straightforward. HubSpot's workflow builder is visual and well-documented. Most people get their core automations running in 1-2 hours.

Step 1: Export Your Contacts from Mailchimp

Log into Mailchimp. Go to Audience > All Contacts. Click Export Audience > Export as CSV. Mailchimp will email you a download link. Download the file.

If you have multiple audiences in Mailchimp, export each one separately. You'll import them as separate lists in HubSpot.

Step 2: Sign Up for HubSpot

Go to hubspot.com/pricing and create a free account. No credit card required. No trial countdown.

HubSpot's free plan includes a full CRM, basic email marketing, and simple automation. That's enough to get started. You can upgrade to a paid plan later if you need more features.

During signup, HubSpot will ask about your business and goals. Answer honestly. It helps them customize your dashboard.

Step 3: Import Your Contacts into HubSpot

In HubSpot, go to Contacts > Import. Choose File from computer. Upload your Mailchimp CSV.

HubSpot will show you a preview and ask you to map the fields (email, first name, last name, custom properties). Match each column from your Mailchimp CSV to the corresponding property in HubSpot. If a property doesn't exist, create it.

Important: HubSpot treats contacts as CRM records, not just email subscribers. When you import, each contact gets a full CRM profile with a contact record, activity timeline, and deal association options. This is more robust than Mailchimp, but it also means the import process asks for more detail upfront.

Click Import. For lists under 10,000 contacts, this takes 5-10 minutes. HubSpot will email you when it's done.

Step 4: Connect Your Email Domain

Go to Settings > Marketing > Email. Click Connect Email.

You'll add a few DNS records to your domain registrar. HubSpot walks you through it step by step. This takes about 5 minutes.

Wait 24-48 hours for DNS records to propagate. Once verified, your emails send from your domain instead of HubSpot's shared servers. This improves deliverability by 30-40%.

Step 5: Set Up Your CRM Pipeline

This is where HubSpot differs from Mailchimp. You're not just managing email subscribers. You're managing contacts with deal stages, pipeline movement, and sales visibility.

Go to Sales > Deals. Create a pipeline (or use the default one HubSpot provides). The stages might look like: Lead > Qualified > Demo Scheduled > Proposal Sent > Closed Won.

Even if your sales process is informal, set up a basic pipeline. Moving contacts through deal stages is how HubSpot tracks progress and triggers automations. This is the platform's core advantage.

Step 6: Rebuild Your Automations

Go to Automation > Workflows > Create Workflow.

Choose a trigger (contact submits form, added to list, deal stage changes, etc.). Add your first email (click + > Send Email). Write the message. Add a delay (+ > Delay). Add your second email. Keep building.

HubSpot workflows can trigger off CRM events, not just email behavior. Someone moves from Lead to Qualified, and a specific sequence kicks off. A deal closes, and the onboarding flow starts automatically. This is the kind of connected automation Mailchimp can't do.

Start with your most important workflow (usually a welcome series or lead nurture). Get that running. Then rebuild the others one by one.

Step 7: Set Up Forms

HubSpot forms feed directly into the CRM. When someone fills out a form, they enter your CRM and can trigger an automation at the same time.

Go to Marketing > Forms > Create Form. Build a simple lead capture form. Embed it on your website (HubSpot gives you embed code, or you can use their WordPress plugin).

Once forms are live, new contacts come in automatically. They get tagged, scored, added to workflows, and tracked in the CRM without you doing anything.

Step 8: Send a Test Campaign

Before you send to your full list, test.

Go to Marketing > Email > Create Email. Write a short message. Send it to yourself. Check that it lands in your inbox (not spam) and looks correct on desktop and mobile.

If it lands in spam, verify your domain is connected. If formatting looks off, adjust and test again.

Step 9: Warm Up Your Sending

Don't send to your entire list on day one. Email providers watch for volume spikes from new senders.

Start with your most engaged contacts (people who opened emails in the last 30 days). Send to a small segment (500-1,000). Wait a few days. Send to a larger segment. Gradually ramp up over 2-3 weeks.

HubSpot's deliverability is strong, but warming up builds a good sender reputation.

How Long Does This Take?

Active work: 2-4 hours. The contact import takes 10-15 minutes. Domain connection takes 5 minutes to set up, then 24-48 hours to propagate. Most of the time goes into rebuilding automations and setting up the CRM pipeline.

The warm-up period (gradual sending) takes 2-3 weeks, but that's passive.

Why People Switch

The main reasons people move from Mailchimp to HubSpot:

1. CRM integration. Mailchimp is an email tool. HubSpot is email and CRM in one platform. If you're managing contacts in a spreadsheet or syncing between tools, HubSpot eliminates that gap.

2. Connected automation. HubSpot workflows trigger off CRM events (deal stage changes, contact properties, form submissions). Mailchimp only triggers off email behavior. HubSpot connects marketing and sales in a way Mailchimp can't.

3. Scalability. HubSpot grows with you. You start with the free CRM and basic email. As you scale, you add features without switching platforms. Your data stays in one place. Your workflows don't break.

The Bottom Line

If you need email and CRM in the same place, HubSpot is the move. The migration is straightforward. Export your contacts, import them into HubSpot's CRM, rebuild your automations, and you're running.

The learning curve is slightly steeper than other tools (because you're learning a CRM, not just an email tool), but the payoff is a connected system where marketing and sales data live together. No syncing. No gaps. One platform.

→ Go to HubSpot

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