Free HubSpot alternatives
HubSpot's free tier is unusual in this comparison: it's genuinely useful, includes a real CRM for two users, and is the reason most accounts start there. The problem isn't the free plan — it's that the next tier with real automation is $800/mo plus a $3,000 onboarding fee.
Free plans below, with an honest note about the half of HubSpot nothing here replaces.
The limit that bites first
HubSpot's row is here for reference. Its constraint isn't the free plan — it's what the next tier costs.
| Provider | Free tier | What stops you first | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sender | 2,500 subscribers and 15,000 emails a month, with automation included | Volume, eventually. Automation, landing pages and forms are all included | Permanent |
| Email Bump | 5,000 contacts and 5,000 emails a month | A 'Powered by Email Bump' badge on marketing footers. No daily cap; domains and seats unlimited | Permanent |
| Kit (formerly ConvertKit) | Up to 10,000 subscribers with one basic visual automation | One basic visual automation — sequences are the paid product | Permanent |
| EmailOctopus | 2,500 subscribers and 10,000 emails a month, with EmailOctopus branding | EmailOctopus branding on every send, 30-day reports, 1 user, 1 form | Permanent |
| Brevo | 300 emails a day, forever, with contact storage into the tens of thousands | 300 a day is a hard daily wall that doesn't roll over | Permanent |
| EngageBay | 250 contacts, free for teams of up to 15 members | 250 contacts and 2 email sequences — but 15 team members | Permanent |
| Zoho Campaigns | 2,000 contacts, 6,000 emails a month and 5 users | Volume — but 5 users, where most free plans allow one | Permanent |
| MailerLite | 250 subscribers and 2,500 emails a month, 2 seats, 3 automations | 250 subscribers and 3 active automations | Permanent |
| Mailchimp | 250 contacts and 500 sends a month, capped at 250 a day, 1 seat | 250 a day, which bites before the 500-a-month limit does | Permanent |
| Benchmark Email | 500 contacts and 2,500 sends a month, 1 user, 1 domain | 500 contacts, 1 user and 1 sending domain | Permanent |
| HubSpot Marketing Hub | Free Marketing Hub for up to 2 users, with basic email, forms and live chat | 2 users, and the real automation is $800/mo away on Professional | Permanent |
| Keap | None | There isn't one | None |
| Ontraport | None | There isn't one | None |
| listmonk, Mautic, Keila, Sendy | Free or one-time licence | The software costs nothing; your sending provider and your time still do | Self-hosted |
From each vendor's own pricing page. Free tiers change more often than paid ones — check before you commit a launch to one.
How to read these, given the CRM
Which half you're replacing. HubSpot's free tier bundles a CRM with basic email. Every row below replaces the email and none replaces the CRM, so compare the marketing allowance rather than the whole product.
Seats, because HubSpot gives two. EngageBay's free plan allows fifteen team members, Zoho Campaigns five, and Email Bump has no seat cap at all. For a small team that's often worth more than the contact allowance.
Whether automation is included at all. HubSpot's real workflows are $800/mo away on Professional. Sender and Email Bump both include automation on their free plans, which is the specific thing you'd otherwise be paying to unlock.
Keep the free CRM, move the email
HubSpot's free CRM for two users is hard to beat and nothing on this page tries. EngageBay's free plan comes closest — CRM, marketing and helpdesk with up to fifteen team members, capped at 250 contacts.
So the pattern that usually makes sense isn't replacing HubSpot. It's keeping the free CRM for contacts and deals, running marketing on a dedicated email platform, and syncing between them over the API. You lose the single-record convenience and you avoid $800/mo plus a $3,000 onboarding fee.
The cost of that split is real: the person answering a sales email no longer sees which campaigns the contact received. Whether that matters depends on how much your sales process actually reads from marketing.
HubSpot alternatives, asked and answered
What is the best free HubSpot alternative?
For the CRM, nothing quite matches HubSpot's free tier — EngageBay is the closest, with CRM, marketing and helpdesk for up to fifteen users at 250 contacts.
For the marketing half, Sender gives 2,500 subscribers and 15,000 emails with automation, Kit gives 10,000 subscribers, and Email Bump gives 5,000 contacts with flows, segments and a transactional API.
Why do people leave HubSpot's free plan?
Because of what's on the other side of it. Starter is $7/mo per seat, and unlimited workflows — the actual marketing automation — start on Professional at $800/mo with a mandatory $3,000 onboarding fee. There's nothing in between.
Additional core seats are $45/mo each, and marketing contacts are metered separately from CRM contacts.
Can I keep HubSpot CRM and use another email tool?
Yes, and it's a common and sensible pattern. Keep contacts and deals in the free CRM, run campaigns and lifecycle email elsewhere, and sync over the API or a middleware tool.
For a small sales team, that trade is usually obvious once the $800/mo figure is written down next to it.
Campaigns and flows for $19/mo
Live segments, multi-step flows, a transactional API and SMTP on one contact-priced plan, with unlimited seats and no onboarding fee. 5,000 contacts free.