HubSpot's Marketing Hub page lists four tiers with their limits printed alongside. Free costs nothing, supports up to two users and sends 2,000 emails a calendar month carrying HubSpot branding, with one automated action available. Starter starts at $7 per seat per month when billed annually and $20 per seat month-to-month, includes 1,000 marketing contacts, allows up to ten automated actions, sends at five times your contact tier and removes the branding. Professional is $800 per month billed annually or $890 monthly, includes three core seats with extras at $45 each, carries 2,000 marketing contacts and a ten-times send allowance, and requires a one-time $3,000 onboarding. Enterprise is $3,600 per month with five core seats, extras at $75, 10,000 marketing contacts, a twenty-times send allowance and $7,000 onboarding. Contact counts above the included tier are what move the bill.
TL;DR
HubSpot sells a suite and prices by seat and contact tier: Marketing Hub Free at $0 for up to two users with 2,000 branded sends a month, Starter from $7 per seat per month billed annually ($20 month-to-month) with 1,000 marketing contacts, Professional at $800/mo annually with three core seats and a required $3,000 onboarding, Enterprise at $3,600/mo with five seats and $7,000 onboarding. Mailchimp sells email campaigns and prices by plan: Free capped at 250 contacts and 500 sends, Essentials $13/mo, Standard $20/mo and Premium $350/mo on a twelve-month term, each scaling sends by 10x, 12x and 15x your contact count. Buy Mailchimp to send newsletters well and cheaply; buy HubSpot when marketing, CRM and sales need to share one database.
Mailchimp prices the campaign rather than the organisation. The Free plan stops at 250 contacts, one seat, one audience and a ceiling of 500 sends a month, with no automation flows. Essentials is $13 per month on a twelve-month term and opens three seats, three audiences and sends at ten times your contact count with up to four automation flow steps. Standard is $20 per month with five seats, five audiences, sends at twelve times contacts and up to 200 automation flows, and it is the plan offered with a 14-day trial. Premium is $350 per month with unlimited seats and audiences, sends at fifteen times contacts and priority support. Exceed a plan's contact or send limit and overage charges apply, or sending pauses.
The structural difference shows up on day one. HubSpot makes you choose a seat model and a contact tier, and its Professional tier makes you pay for onboarding before the software is switched on, which is a serious cost at $3,000. Mailchimp makes you choose a plan and then watch the contact count, since the same list can push you from $13 to $20 to $350 without a single new feature being used. Small senders are cheaper on Mailchimp; organisations that treat the CRM as the source of truth usually find HubSpot's seat pricing less punishing than Mailchimp's contact ladder.
| Feature | HubSpot | Mailchimp |
|---|---|---|
| Free tier | $0: 2 users, 2,000 branded sends/month, 1 automated action | $0: 250 contacts, 1 seat, 500 sends/month, no flows |
| Entry paid plan | Starter from $7/seat/mo billed annually, $20 month-to-month | Essentials $13/mo on a twelve-month term |
| Mid tier | Professional $800/mo annually, 3 core seats included | Standard $20/mo: 5 seats, 5 audiences, 200 automation flows |
| Top tier | Enterprise $3,600/mo, 5 core seats, $7,000 onboarding | Premium $350/mo: unlimited seats and audiences |
| Contacts included | 1,000 on Starter, 2,000 on Professional, 10,000 on Enterprise | Tiered by plan: 250 free, then list size sets the price |
| Send allowance | 2,000 free; 5x, 10x, 20x your contact tier on paid plans | 500 free; 10x, 12x, 15x contacts on Essentials, Standard, Premium |
| One-time fees | $3,000 onboarding required on Professional, $7,000 on Enterprise | None |
| Automation | 10 automated actions on Starter, unlimited on Professional | 4 flow steps on Essentials, 200 flows on Standard and Premium |
| Seats | $45/mo per extra core seat on Professional, $75 on Enterprise | 3, 5 and unlimited seats by plan, no per-seat charge |
Pick HubSpot if
When the CRM is the system of record and campaigns, lists and deals must agree, HubSpot's single store of contacts removes a whole category of sync problems. Start free, take Starter at $7 per seat per month billed annually, and treat Professional's $800 plus $3,000 onboarding as the moment the stack becomes a commitment rather than a subscription.
Pick Mailchimp if
For newsletters, product announcements and simple automations, Mailchimp's published ladder — $13, $20, $350 on a twelve-month term — is cheaper and has no onboarding fee. Watch the contact count though: it is the variable that moves the bill, and Premium at $350/mo arrives faster than the feature list justifies for a small list.
No independent reviews, ratings or user quotes were collected for this page, so none appear above. Every figure and claim comes from the vendors' own pricing and product pages as retrieved for this article.
Mailchimp, comfortably. Essentials is $13/mo on a twelve-month term with sends at ten times your contact count, while HubSpot's cheapest paid tier is Starter at $7 per seat per month billed annually with 1,000 marketing contacts included — comparable only if you have a single seat and no need for the wider suite.
It is a different product class: three core seats, 2,000 marketing contacts, unlimited automation and omni-channel campaign tooling, at $800/mo billed annually. The required one-time $3,000 onboarding is listed separately from that monthly price.
Overage charges apply if you pass the contact or email send limit, and sending pauses when a limit is exceeded on the free tier. The pricing table shows the send multipliers — 10x, 12x and 15x contacts — so growth in the list is growth in the bill.
Yes: $0 for up to two users, with 2,000 email sends per calendar month carrying HubSpot branding, one automated action and the CRM underneath. It is usable for a small team that has not yet outgrown branded sends.
Both export contacts, templates and campaign history in standard formats, and HubSpot runs migration tooling for paid customers. The work is in rebuilding automations and segments against a new data model rather than in moving the addresses.
Spot an outdated price or feature? Let us know and we'll verify it.