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Free Alternative to HubSpot Marketing Hub

Get CRM and marketing features free before committing to HubSpot Marketing Hub's $800/mo Professional plan.

The best free alternative to HubSpot Marketing Hub is Brevo (ex-Sendinblue).

Brevo (ex-Sendinblue) logo

1. Brevo (ex-Sendinblue)

Freemium
Brevo (ex-Sendinblue) screenshot

Brevo (formerly Sendinblue) is an all-in-one marketing platform that combines email marketing, SMS, WhatsApp campaigns, chat, and CRM. Founded in 2012, it stands out for offering unlimited contacts on every plan, including the free tier.

More Than Email

While most email platforms charge by subscriber count, Brevo charges by email volume. This means you can import your entire contact list without worrying about hitting a subscriber cap.

What You Get on the Free Plan

  • Unlimited contacts - Import and manage as many contacts as you want
  • 300 emails per day - Roughly 9,000 emails per month, enough for a growing newsletter
  • Email campaigns - Drag-and-drop editor with professional templates
  • Transactional emails - Send password resets, order confirmations, and notifications
  • SMS marketing - Send text messages (pay-per-message)
  • Chat widget - Add live chat to your website

Multi-Channel Marketing

Brevo is one of the few platforms where you can manage email, SMS, and WhatsApp campaigns from a single dashboard. The built-in CRM lets you track deals and customer interactions alongside your marketing efforts.

Key features include:

  • Email marketing
  • SMS marketing
  • WhatsApp campaigns
  • Chat widget
  • CRM
  • Marketing automation
  • Transactional emails
  • Landing pages

Pros

Unlimited contacts on free plan

Multi-channel marketing

Built-in CRM

Transactional email support

Cons

Daily email limit on free plan

Brevo branding on free plan

Interface can feel cluttered

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Erxes logo

2. Erxes

Open Source
Erxes screenshot

Erxes is an open source experience operating system that bundles CRM, marketing automation, help desk, and more into a single platform. Self-host the entire suite for free.

All-in-One Open Source

Instead of paying for separate CRM, email marketing, live chat, and help desk tools, Erxes combines them all. The trade-off is complexity: setting up and maintaining a self-hosted instance requires technical expertise.

What You Get

  • CRM - Contact management, deal pipelines, and activity tracking
  • Marketing automation - Email campaigns, SMS, and automated workflows
  • Help desk - Ticketing system with SLA management
  • Team inbox - Shared inbox for customer conversations
  • Forms and popups - Lead capture tools for your website
  • Knowledge base - Self-service help center for customers
  • Segments - Group contacts and companies by behavior and properties

What to Know

Erxes is powerful but complex. Documentation has gaps, and the learning curve is steep. It is best suited for technical teams who want to replace multiple paid tools with a single self-hosted platform.

Key features include:

  • CRM
  • Marketing automation
  • Help desk
  • Forms & popups
  • Knowledge base
  • Team inbox
  • Segments
  • Automations

Pros

All-in-one platform

Open source

Replaces multiple tools

Cons

Complex to set up

Documentation gaps

Steep learning curve

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Why start free before committing to HubSpot Marketing Hub?

HubSpot Marketing Hubis a great product. But committing to a paid plan before you've tested it in your workflow means you're guessing about what you actually need.

The tools listed above let you start free and get real experience. You'll learn which features matter to your business, which ones you never use, and whether upgrading to HubSpot Marketing Hub or staying with an alternative makes more sense long-term.

Start free, test thoroughly, and upgrade with confidence when the time is right.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why start with a free alternative to HubSpot Marketing Hub?

Testing tools on a free plan lets you evaluate them in your actual workflow. You'll know exactly what you need before committing to a paid plan, whether that's HubSpot Marketing Hub or one of these alternatives.

Are these tools good enough to grow with?

These tools are used by thousands of businesses at every stage. Their free plans are designed to let you evaluate thoroughly. When you're ready to scale, upgrading is straightforward.

When should I upgrade from the free plan?

Upgrade when you consistently hit the free plan's limits and a paid tier would save you meaningful time or unlock features your business needs. You'll know when it's time.