HubSpot Email Marketing vs Keap
HubSpot Email Marketing and Keap are both popular choices in the all-in-one marketing platform space. Keap has been around since 2001, giving it a 5-year head start over HubSpot Email Marketing (founded 2006). HubSpot Email Marketing starts at $20/seat/mo, while Keap starts at $299/mo. Their pricing is not measured the same way, so we don't rank them on price. HubSpot Email Marketing offers a free plan (2,000 emails/month), while Keap does not.
Quick Verdict
HubSpot Email Marketing wins on deliverability, rating, free tier.
Keap wins on integrations.
Best for most users: HubSpot Email Marketing (b2b).
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.
Keap
CRM-powered sales and marketing automation for small businesses
Keap (formerly Infusionsoft, founded 2001, acquired by Thryv in 2024) is a premium all-in-one CRM and marketing automation platform built for sales-driven small businesses that need contact management, email sequences, SMS marketing, invoicing, and appointment scheduling in a single tool. Its strength lies in powerful automation workflows and a dedicated Customer Success Manager, but the $299/month starting price for just 1,500 contacts makes it one of the most expensive options in its category.
Feature Comparison
| Feature | HubSpot Email Marketing | Keap |
|---|---|---|
| Rating | 4.4/5 | 4.2/5 |
| Starting Price | $20/seat/mo | $299/mo |
| Free Plan | 2,000 emails/month | No free plan |
| Founded | 2006 | 2001 |
| Email Templates | 80 | 70 |
| Integrations | 1,500 | 5,000 |
| Deliverability Rate | 97% | 93% |
| Marketing Automation | Yes | Yes |
| A/B Testing | Yes | Yes |
| Landing Pages | Yes | Yes |
| Segmentation | Yes | Yes |
| Drag & Drop Editor | Yes | Yes |
| SMS Marketing | Yes | Yes |
| Ecommerce Features | Yes | Yes |
| API Access | Yes | Yes |
| Multi-Language | Yes | No |
| Web Push Notifications | No | No |
| Live Chat | Yes | Yes |
| Advanced Analytics | Yes | Yes |
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
Keap: Pros & Cons
Pros
- + Powerful drag-and-drop automation builder that handles complex multi-step sales workflows with conditional triggers
- + True all-in-one platform combining CRM, email, SMS, invoicing, payments, and appointment scheduling
- + Dedicated Customer Success Manager included with every plan for hands-on onboarding and support
- + Deep contact management with tagging, segmentation, and centralized views that reduce manual data entry
- + Built-in text marketing with tiered messaging plans and voice minutes integrated directly into automations
Cons
- − Extremely expensive at $299/month for only 1,500 contacts, with costs escalating quickly for additional contacts and users
- − Steep learning curve with complex campaign builder layouts and no undo button, causing frustration during setup
- − Email marketing capabilities feel half-baked compared to dedicated email platforms despite the premium pricing
- − Invoicing feature is rigid and does not support hourly billing or flexible customization
- − Dated mobile experience and slow feature development compared to more agile competitors like GoHighLevel
The Verdict
HubSpot Email Marketing edges ahead with a 4.4/5 rating compared to Keap's 4.2/5. The gap comes mainly from value for money (4.5 vs 3.7) and deliverability (4.3 vs 3.9). On deliverability, HubSpot Email Marketing reports 97% compared to 93% for Keap — a meaningful difference if inbox placement is critical for your campaigns.
| Criterion | Weight | HubSpot Email Marketing | Keap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starting Price | 30% | $20/seat/mo | $299/mo |
| Deliverability | 25% | 97% Winner | 93% |
| Rating | 25% | 4.4/5 Winner | 4.2/5 |
| Integrations | 10% | 1500 | 5000 Winner |
| Free Tier | 10% | Yes Winner | No |
Weights determine how much each criterion counts toward the final score. See full methodology
Choose HubSpot Email Marketing if…
- + You need a free plan to get started
- + You're a b2b
- + You're a saas
Choose Keap if…
- + You're a sales driven small businesses
- + You're a service based businesses
- + Powerful drag-and-drop automation builder that handles complex multi-step sales workflows with conditional triggers