Constant Contact vs HubSpot: Which is Better in 2026?
Constant Contact and HubSpot get compared constantly, but they are not really solving the same problem. Constant Contact is a straightforward email marketing tool built for small businesses, with strong event management for nonprofits and local organizations. HubSpot is a full CRM platform where email marketing is one module alongside sales, service, and content tools. If you only need to send newsletters and track opens, that is a different decision than choosing a CRM your whole company will run on. Read this as which one you actually need first, not a pure feature-for-feature contest.
Bottom line: HubSpot is our overall pick for CRM workflows. Pick Constant Contact if you need email marketing.
Short on time? Here's the quick answer
We've tested both tools. Here's who should pick what:
Constant Contact
Established email marketing for small businesses
Best for you if:
- • You need email marketing features specifically
- • Affordable email marketing for small businesses
- • Drag-and-drop email builder with templates
HubSpot
CRM platform for scaling businesses
Best for you if:
- • You need CRM features specifically
- • All-in-one CRM platform covering marketing, sales, service, content, and operations with a shared contact database
- • Free CRM and tools for unlimited users; paid Starter plans offer tiered pricing with Marketing Professional available at a higher price point
| At a Glance |  Constant Contact |  HubSpot |
|---|---|---|
Starts at | FreeFree tier available | FreeFree tier available |
Best For | Email Marketing | CRM |
Rating | 4.2/5 | 3.9/5 |
Free plan | Yes | Yes |
Choose Constant Contact or HubSpot?
Choose Constant Contact if
Established email marketing for small businesses
- Easy to use
- Good for beginners
- Event marketing
- Budget matters (Free vs Free)
- Your work is email marketing-shaped, not CRM-shaped
Choose HubSpot if
CRM platform for scaling businesses
- Generous free tier with CRM, forms, email, live chat, and basic reporting at no cost
- Unified platform eliminates data silos between marketing, sales, and service teams
- Intuitive interface with short learning curve compared to Salesforce
- Your work is CRM-shaped, not email marketing-shaped
| Feature | Constant Contact | HubSpot |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing Model | Freemium | Freemium |
| User Rating | ★4.2/5 11,849 reviews | ★3.9/5 19,112 reviews |
| Categories | Email MarketingMarketing Automation | CRMMarketing Automation |
In-Depth Analysis
Constant Contact
Strengths
- +Purpose-built for email marketing and small business list management, without the learning curve of a full CRM
- +Built-in event management with registration, ticketing, and follow-up emails, a feature HubSpot's standard plans do not include
- +Straightforward tiered pricing that scales predictably with contact list size, easy to estimate in advance
- +Phone support included on both Standard and Premium plans, useful for less technical small business teams
Weaknesses
- -Dropped its free plan in June 2025; new users now get only a 14 to 30 day free trial with a 30-day money-back guarantee, not an ongoing free tier
- -No CRM, sales pipeline, or service tools, so growing beyond email marketing means adopting a separate platform
- -Pricing scales with contact list size, so costs rise steadily as a list grows past the 500-contact baseline used for headline pricing
Best For
Small businesses and nonprofits that need reliable email marketing and event management without a CRM attached.
Constant Contact is the right tool if email and event marketing is the whole job, but it stops there by design.
HubSpot
Strengths
- +Genuinely free CRM with no user or contact storage limits, a stronger free starting point than Constant Contact's trial-only entry
- +Marketing Hub bundles into a broader platform covering sales pipeline, customer service, and content tools under one data model
- +Starter plan begins at 7 dollars per seat per month on current monthly billing, undercutting Constant Contact's Lite tier at that entry level
- +New AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) add-on at 50 dollars a month tracks brand visibility across AI answer engines, a feature no email-only tool offers
Weaknesses
- -Professional plan jumps sharply to 800 dollars a month plus a 3,000 dollar one-time onboarding fee, a steep step up from Starter
- -Enterprise pricing starts at 3,600 dollars a month with a 7,000 dollar onboarding fee, well beyond what a small business needs for email alone
- -No built-in event management or ticketing, the one area where Constant Contact still has a clear feature edge
Best For
Businesses that want a CRM and marketing platform to grow into, with sales and service tools alongside email.
HubSpot wins once you need more than email, but its Professional and Enterprise pricing steps are a real jump most small teams should plan for before committing.
Head-to-Head Comparison
Pricing
TieConstant Contact runs 12, 35, or 80 dollars a month for Lite, Standard, and Premium at 500 contacts, with no permanent free plan. HubSpot's Marketing Hub is free for basic use up to 2 users, then 7 dollars per seat per month on Starter, jumping to 800 dollars a month at Professional plus a 3,000 dollar onboarding fee. Constant Contact is cheaper and more predictable for email-only needs; HubSpot's free tier and Starter plan beat Constant Contact's entry price, but its upper tiers cost far more.
Core capability
HubSpot winsHubSpot bundles CRM, sales pipeline, and service tools with marketing, while Constant Contact is scoped to email and event marketing only. This is a different category of product once a business needs to track deals or customer support, not just send campaigns.
Ease of use
Constant Contact winsConstant Contact's narrower scope makes it faster to learn for a small business that just needs to send newsletters. HubSpot's breadth means more setup and configuration even at the Starter tier.
Event management
Constant Contact winsConstant Contact includes built-in event registration, ticketing, and follow-up emails, a category HubSpot's standard Marketing Hub plans do not cover natively.
Growth headroom
HubSpot winsHubSpot's platform extends into sales and service as a business grows, while Constant Contact has no adjacent CRM or pipeline product to graduate into. A business that outgrows email-only marketing has to migrate off Constant Contact entirely.
Support
TieConstant Contact offers phone support on its Standard and Premium plans, useful for less technical teams. HubSpot's Starter includes email and chat support, with phone access arriving at the much pricier Professional tier.
Migration Considerations
Moving from Constant Contact to HubSpot mainly means deciding whether you actually need a CRM, since HubSpot's free tier and Starter plan can replace basic email marketing cheaply, but Professional pricing is a large jump if sales tools are the real reason for switching. Moving from HubSpot to Constant Contact makes sense only if a business decides it never needed the CRM and sales layer and wants to cut cost back down to email and events alone; export contact lists and campaign history before switching either direction, since neither platform migrates data automatically.
Pricing: Constant Contact vs HubSpot
| Plan | Constant Contact | HubSpot |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 | $12 month Lite | Free Free Tools |
| Tier 2 | $35 month Standard | $15 /seat/month Starter |
| Tier 3 | $80 month Premium | $890 /month Professional |
| Tier 4 | N/A | $3600 /month Enterprise |
Pricing verified from each vendor's public pricing page. Compare in detail on Constant Contact pricing and HubSpot pricing.
Who Should Use What?
On a budget?
Both are freemium. Compare plans on their websites.
Go with: Constant Contact
Want the highest-rated option?
Constant Contact: 4.2/5 (11,849 reviews). HubSpot: 3.9/5 (19,112 reviews).
Go with: Constant Contact
Value user reviews?
Constant Contact: 11,849 reviews (4.2/5). HubSpot: 19,112 reviews (3.9/5).
Go with: HubSpot
3 Questions to Help You Decide
What's your budget?
Both are freemium. Pricing won't help you decide here.
What's your use case?
Constant Contact is a email marketing tool. HubSpot is in CRM. Pick the category that matches your needs.
How important are ratings?
Constant Contact is rated higher: 4.2/5 vs 3.9/5.
Key Takeaways
HubSpot
- Larger review base (19,112 reviews)
- Free tier available
- Our pick for this comparison
Constant Contact
- Higher user rating: 4.2/5 vs 3.9/5
- Better fit for email marketing
The Bottom Line
The real question is not which platform wins on features, it is which one you need first. Choose Constant Contact if email marketing and event management is genuinely the whole job and you want predictable, lower cost. Choose HubSpot if you are also building a sales pipeline or customer service function and want one platform to grow into, accepting that Professional and Enterprise pricing is a significant step up. A solo marketer running a newsletter should start with Constant Contact; a company hiring its first sales rep should start with HubSpot's free CRM instead.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Constant Contact still have a free plan?
No. Constant Contact dropped its free plan in June 2025 and now offers a 14 to 30 day free trial with a 30-day money-back guarantee instead of an ongoing free tier.
Is HubSpot's free CRM actually usable long-term?
Yes. HubSpot's free CRM has no limit on users or contact storage, though it carries HubSpot branding and basic feature limits until you upgrade to a paid Marketing Hub tier.
Which is cheaper for a small business that only sends email newsletters?
Constant Contact, at 12 dollars a month for its Lite plan at 500 contacts, though HubSpot's free tier or 7 dollar per seat Starter plan can also cover basic email needs at a similar or lower cost depending on contact volume.
Does HubSpot support event registration and ticketing like Constant Contact?
No. Constant Contact includes built-in event management with registration and ticketing, a feature HubSpot's standard Marketing Hub plans do not offer natively.
When does HubSpot's pricing jump sharply?
Moving from Starter to Professional jumps from single-digit dollars per seat to 800 dollars a month plus a 3,000 dollar one-time onboarding fee, a much bigger step than any Constant Contact plan change.