EngageBay vs HubSpot Email Marketing
EngageBay and HubSpot Email Marketing are both popular choices in the all-in-one marketing platform space. HubSpot Email Marketing has been around since 2006, giving it a 12-year head start over EngageBay (founded 2018). EngageBay starts at $14.99/mo versus $20/seat/mo for HubSpot Email Marketing. Both offer free plans to get started.
Quick Verdict
EngageBay wins on price, rating.
HubSpot Email Marketing wins on deliverability, integrations.
Best for most users: EngageBay (small businesses on a budget).
EngageBay
All-in-one CRM for marketing, sales & support
EngageBay is a bootstrapped all-in-one CRM platform that bundles marketing automation, sales pipeline management, helpdesk ticketing, and live chat into a single affordable package. Founded in 2018 as a cost-effective alternative to HubSpot, it serves over 150,000 businesses with a free plan supporting up to 15 users. Its strongest differentiator is delivering the full marketing-sales-support stack at a fraction of enterprise CRM pricing, making it particularly attractive to budget-conscious SMBs.
HubSpot Email Marketing
Email marketing powered by CRM data
HubSpot's email marketing is part of its complete Marketing Hub. While the free and Starter tiers offer competitive email marketing, the real power comes with Professional tier and above, where HubSpot's CRM data feeds into sophisticated automation and personalization.
Feature Comparison
| Feature | EngageBay | HubSpot Email Marketing |
|---|---|---|
| Rating | 4.7/5 | 4.4/5 |
| Starting Price | $14.99/mo | $20/mo |
| Free Plan | 250 contacts, 1,000 branded emails, up to 15 users | 2,000 emails/month |
| Founded | 2018 | 2006 |
| Email Templates | 100 | 80 |
| Integrations | 30 | 1,500 |
| Deliverability Rate | 95% | 97% |
| Marketing Automation | ✓ | ✓ |
| A/B Testing | ✓ | ✓ |
| Landing Pages | ✓ | ✓ |
| Segmentation | ✓ | ✓ |
| Drag & Drop Editor | ✓ | ✓ |
| SMS Marketing | ✓ | ✓ |
| Ecommerce Features | ✓ | ✓ |
| API Access | ✓ | ✓ |
| Multi-Language | ✕ | ✓ |
| Web Push Notifications | ✓ | ✕ |
| Live Chat | ✓ | ✓ |
| Advanced Analytics | ✓ | ✓ |
EngageBay: Pros & Cons
Pros
- +Exceptionally affordable all-in-one platform combining CRM, marketing, sales, and support — Pro plan at $119.99/mo vs HubSpot at $900+/mo
- +Generous free plan supports up to 15 team members with email marketing, CRM, helpdesk, and live chat included
- +Highly rated customer support (4.8/5 on Capterra) with live chat and real human agents available 24/5
- +Built-in landing page builder with 87 templates, web forms, pop-ups, and SMS marketing included from Basic plan
- +Strong marketing automation with visual workflow builder, lead scoring, and A/B testing on Growth plan and above
Cons
- −Limited email editor widgets and somewhat outdated email template designs compared to modern competitors
- −Reporting module offers only basic analytics — lacks advanced custom reporting depth for data-driven teams
- −Per-user pricing model becomes expensive as teams scale beyond 5-10 users, especially on Growth and Pro plans
- −Occasional performance issues including slow page loads and intermittent bugs reported by users
- −Steep learning curve for advanced features — the breadth of the all-in-one platform can overwhelm new users
HubSpot Email Marketing: Pros & Cons
Pros
- +Best-in-class CRM integration
- +1,500+ integrations (largest ecosystem)
- +Powerful marketing automation
- +All-in-one marketing, sales, and service platform
- +Excellent analytics and attribution
Cons
- −Professional plan is very expensive ($890/mo)
- −Annual commitment required for higher tiers
- −Complex pricing structure
- −Steep learning curve
- −Email features alone don't justify the cost
The Verdict
EngageBay edges ahead with a 4.7/5 rating compared to HubSpot Email Marketing's 4.4/5. The gap comes mainly from ease of use (4.8 vs 4.2) and value for money (4.8 vs 4.5). On deliverability, HubSpot Email Marketing reports 97% compared to 95% for EngageBay — a meaningful difference if inbox placement is critical for your campaigns.
| Criterion | Weight | EngageBay | HubSpot Email Marketing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starting Price | 30% | $14.99/mo | $20/mo |
| Deliverability | 25% | 95% | 97% |
| Rating | 25% | 4.7/5 | 4.4/5 |
| Integrations | 10% | 30 | 1500 |
| Free Tier | 10% | Yes | Yes |
Weights determine how much each criterion counts toward the final score. See full methodology
Choose EngageBay if…
- + You want lower starting costs ($14.99/mo)
- + You're a small businesses on a budget
- + You're a startups replacing hubspot
Choose HubSpot Email Marketing if…
- + You're a b2b
- + You're a saas
- + Best-in-class CRM integration