AWeber, Brevo, and HubSpot all offer email marketing, but they price and scope it differently. AWeber is a mature, subscriber-count-priced ESP built for…
Free trial + paid plans · From $12.49/month (billed annually)
Best for: Small businesses that want a straightforward, established email marketing tool with landing pages, e-commerce selling, and AI writing assistance at a predictable subscriber-based price.
Freemium (usage-based on email volume for paid tiers) · From Free (paid plans from $9/month)
Best for: Cost-conscious teams with large but low-engagement contact lists who want unlimited contacts on every paid plan, plus optional SMS, WhatsApp, and a built-in sales CRM.
Best for: Growing businesses that want email marketing tied to a unified free CRM from day one and expect to eventually need sales pipeline and customer service tools on the same platform.
At a Glance
AWeber
Brevo
HubSpot
Primary category
Email Marketing
Email Marketing
Email Marketing
Rating
Not documented
Not documented
Not documented
Pricing model
Free trial + paid plans
Freemium (usage-based on email volume for paid tiers)
Freemium
Starting price
$12.49/month (billed annually)
Free (paid plans from $9/month)
Free
Free plan
Yes
Yes
Yes
Free trial
Yes
Yes
Yes
Platforms
Web
Web
Web, iOS, Android
Team collaboration
Not documented
Not documented
Not documented
AI features
Yes
Yes
Yes
Public API
Not documented
Yes
Yes
Standout Differences
Three different billing bases
AWeber scales price with subscriber list size, Brevo bills by monthly email volume with unlimited contacts on paid plans, and HubSpot uses per-seat pricing across its Hubs alongside a free CRM tier.
AWeber, Brevo, HubSpot
No permanent free plan from AWeber
Brevo and HubSpot both offer usable free tiers, while AWeber's lowest-cost entry is a 14-day trial before its paid Lite plan begins.
AWeber, Brevo, HubSpot
Multi-channel and CRM breadth
Brevo adds SMS, WhatsApp, and a built-in sales CRM alongside email, while HubSpot's free CRM extends into full sales pipeline and customer service tooling that goes well beyond email marketing.
Brevo, HubSpot
AI writing tools across all three
AWeber's AI writing and subject-line assistant, Brevo's AI content and subject-line assistance, and HubSpot's Breeze AI content assistant all help draft campaign copy.
AWeber, Brevo, HubSpot
Room to grow into a bigger platform
HubSpot can scale from a free CRM into Marketing, Sales, and Service Hubs as a business grows, while AWeber and Brevo stay focused primarily on email and adjacent messaging channels.
HubSpot
Feature-by-Feature
Core Email Tools
Feature
AWeber
Brevo
HubSpot
Permanent free plan
Unavailable
Available
Available
Landing page builder
Available
Not documented
Available
Marketing automation workflows
Available
Available
Available
AI and Multi-Channel
Feature
AWeber
Brevo
HubSpot
AI writing / content assistance
Available
Available
Available
SMS / multi-channel messaging
Unavailable
Available
Not documented
Platform Breadth
Feature
AWeber
Brevo
HubSpot
Built-in CRM
Unavailable
Available
Available
Unlimited contacts on paid plans
Unavailable
Available
Limited
Pricing Compared
Starting price reflects the lowest paid tier, not the full cost for every team size or usage level.
AWeber
Lite — $12.49/month billed annually (higher if billed monthly)
Plus — $19.99/month billed annually (higher if billed monthly)
Done For You — $20/month + $79 one-time setup fee monthly + one-time setup
Brevo
Free — $0 N/A
Starter — From $9/month monthly (annual discount available)
Standard — From $18/month monthly (annual discount available)
Professional — From $499/month monthly
Enterprise — Custom annual
HubSpot
Free CRM — Free N/A
Starter — From $20/seat/month (from $15/seat/month billed annually) monthly or annual
Professional — From $100/seat/month (Sales/Service); from $890/month for 3 seats (Marketing) monthly or annual
Enterprise — From $150/seat/month (Sales/Service); from $3,600/month (Marketing/bundled Customer Platform) monthly or annual
Pros & Cons
AWeber
Pros
Long track record (founded 1998) with a mature, stable feature set
AI writing assistance included in paid plans
Large integration library (750+ tools)
Transparent tiered pricing based on subscriber count
Cons
Pricing scales up as subscriber lists grow, which can get costly at scale
Lite plan restricts lists, landing pages, and automations to three each
Advanced marketing-automation depth may lag newer, automation-first platforms
Brevo
Pros
Free plan and low-cost entry tiers make it accessible for small businesses
Bills by email volume, not contact list size, with unlimited contacts on all paid plans
Combines email, SMS, WhatsApp, automation, and CRM in one platform
Available in six interface languages, suited to international teams
Cons
Free and Starter plans include Brevo branding unless you pay extra to remove it
Professional tier pricing jumps sharply to around $499/month
Automation and personalization are less advanced than e-commerce-focused specialists like Klaviyo
Deliverability and support quality can vary by plan tier per user reviews
HubSpot
Pros
Free CRM tier is genuinely usable for unlimited users, not just a trial
Unified data model means marketing, sales, and service teams see the same customer history
Strong onboarding, documentation, and HubSpot Academy training resources
Large ecosystem of integrations, templates, and certified agency partners
Regular feature and AI investment keeps the platform competitive
Cons
Costs escalate quickly once multiple Hubs and Professional/Enterprise tiers are needed
Onboarding fees on higher tiers add significant upfront cost
Contact-based pricing can penalize businesses with large but low-value contact lists
Advanced customization is less flexible than Salesforce for complex enterprise workflows
Some advanced automation and reporting features are locked behind expensive tiers
Use Cases
Choose AWeber: Small businesses that want a straightforward, established email marketing tool with landing pages, e-commerce selling, and AI writing assistance at a predictable subscriber-based price.
Choose Brevo: Cost-conscious teams with large but low-engagement contact lists who want unlimited contacts on every paid plan, plus optional SMS, WhatsApp, and a built-in sales CRM.
Choose HubSpot: Growing businesses that want email marketing tied to a unified free CRM from day one and expect to eventually need sales pipeline and customer service tools on the same platform.
AWeber
Small Business Email Newsletters — Sending regular newsletters and promotions to a customer list.
Automated Follow-Up Sequences — Building automated welcome and nurture sequences for new subscribers.
E-commerce Email & Payments — Selling products and collecting payments directly through email campaigns.
Brevo
SMB Marketing Consolidation — Small businesses combine email, SMS, and light CRM into one moderately priced platform instead of multiple point tools.
E-commerce Transactional & Marketing Email — Online stores use Brevo's Shopify/WooCommerce integrations and transactional API for order and marketing emails.
HubSpot
Inbound marketing and lead generation — Marketing teams build landing pages, blog content, and automated nurture campaigns to attract and convert website visitors into tracked leads.
Unified sales pipeline management — Sales reps track deals, automate follow-up sequences, and send quotes without leaving the same record customers interact with in support.
Customer support and retention — Support teams manage tickets, publish a self-service knowledge base, and track satisfaction, all tied to the same customer history as sales and marketing.
Screenshots
HubSpot
Frequently Asked Questions
Does AWeber have a free plan like Brevo and HubSpot?
No. AWeber offers a 14-day free trial across its plans but does not have a permanent free tier, unlike Brevo's Free plan (300 emails per day, up to 100,000 contacts) and HubSpot's permanently free CRM.
How does Brevo's pricing differ from AWeber's and HubSpot's?
Brevo charges based on how many emails you send per month and includes unlimited contacts on every paid plan. AWeber and HubSpot both scale cost with the number of subscribers or contacts you store, which can cost more for businesses with large but relatively low-engagement lists.
Is HubSpot's free CRM enough for email marketing on its own?
HubSpot's Free CRM tier includes email tracking and scheduling, live chat, forms, and basic reporting for unlimited users, so it can cover light email marketing needs. Businesses that need full marketing automation, custom reporting, or A/B testing will need to upgrade to a paid Marketing Hub tier.
Which of these three includes SMS and WhatsApp messaging?
Brevo is the one built for multi-channel messaging beyond email, offering SMS and WhatsApp campaigns alongside email marketing and automation from the same platform.
Which tool is the best fit for a company that will eventually need sales and service tools too?
HubSpot is the strongest fit for that path, since its free CRM and email tools sit on the same data model as its Sales Hub and Service Hub, letting a company add pipeline management or ticketing later without switching platforms.
Do all three tools offer AI writing assistance?
Yes. AWeber includes an AI writing and subject-line assistant, Brevo offers AI-generated content and subject-line suggestions, and HubSpot's Breeze AI provides a generative content assistant across its Hubs.