AWeber vs Brevo vs HubSpot

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…

AWeber

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.

Brevo

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.

HubSpot

Freemium · From Free

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

 AWeberBrevoHubSpot
Primary categoryEmail MarketingEmail MarketingEmail Marketing
RatingNot documentedNot documentedNot documented
Pricing modelFree trial + paid plansFreemium (usage-based on email volume for paid tiers)Freemium
Starting price$12.49/month (billed annually)Free (paid plans from $9/month)Free
Free planYesYesYes
Free trialYesYesYes
PlatformsWebWebWeb, iOS, Android
Team collaborationNot documentedNot documentedNot documented
AI featuresYesYesYes
Public APINot documentedYesYes

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

FeatureAWeberBrevoHubSpot
Permanent free planUnavailableAvailableAvailable
Landing page builderAvailableNot documentedAvailable
Marketing automation workflowsAvailableAvailableAvailable

AI and Multi-Channel

FeatureAWeberBrevoHubSpot
AI writing / content assistanceAvailableAvailableAvailable
SMS / multi-channel messagingUnavailableAvailableNot documented

Platform Breadth

FeatureAWeberBrevoHubSpot
Built-in CRMUnavailableAvailableAvailable
Unlimited contacts on paid plansUnavailableAvailableLimited

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

HubSpot screenshot

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.

Read the full AWeber review · Read the full Brevo review · Read the full HubSpot review