Constant Contact vs HubSpot vs SendPulse
Constant Contact, HubSpot, and SendPulse cover a wide span of the email marketing market. Constant Contact is the beginner-friendly, support-heavy choice for…
Subscription (tiered by contact list size) · From $12/month (Lite plan, 500 contacts)
Best for: Small businesses and nonprofits new to digital marketing who want an easy interface and strong live customer support
Freemium · From Free
Best for: Growing companies that want email marketing unified with a free CRM, sales pipeline, and service tools in one platform
Freemium subscription with pay-as-you-go and per-channel add-on options · From Free plan includes up to 15,000 emails per month; paid plans start around $9.85 per month
Best for: Budget-conscious teams that want email, SMS, web push, and chatbot messaging bundled with a free CRM
At a Glance
| Constant Contact | HubSpot | SendPulse | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Primary category | Email Marketing | Email Marketing | Email Marketing |
| Rating | Not documented | Not documented | Not documented |
| Pricing model | Subscription (tiered by contact list size) | Freemium | Freemium subscription with pay-as-you-go and per-channel add-on options |
| Starting price | $12/month (Lite plan, 500 contacts) | Free | Free plan includes up to 15,000 emails per month; paid plans start around $9.85 per month |
| Free plan | Not documented | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | Yes | Not documented |
| Platforms | Web, iOS, Android | Web, iOS, Android | iOS, Android |
| Team collaboration | Not documented | Not documented | Not documented |
| AI features | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Public API | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Standout Differences
SendPulse's free tier includes a CRM
With SendPulse, the free tier allows sending as many as 15,000 emails monthly and throws in basic CRM and automation tools — a more generous starting point than Constant Contact, which offers only a time-limited trial and no lasting free option.
SendPulse
HubSpot's unified data model
HubSpot's free CRM underpins Marketing, Sales, and Service Hubs so every team works from the same contact record, a level of platform integration neither Constant Contact nor SendPulse documents.
HubSpot
Constant Contact leans on decades of support experience
Founded in 1995, Constant Contact emphasizes extensive live customer support and out-of-the-box automation for common small-business scenarios like abandoned-cart reminders and welcome series.
Constant Contact
SendPulse adds chatbots and an LMS
SendPulse's chatbot builder for WhatsApp, Instagram, Telegram, and Facebook Messenger, plus a course and LMS builder, extend it well beyond a typical email service provider, capabilities not documented for Constant Contact or HubSpot.
SendPulse
HubSpot's pricing ceiling is the highest
HubSpot's Enterprise tier can run from about $150 per seat per month up to $3,600+ per month for a bundled Customer Platform, well above SendPulse's pay-as-you-go pricing and Constant Contact's $80/month Premium plan.
HubSpot
Feature-by-Feature
Email marketing core
| Feature | Constant Contact | HubSpot | SendPulse |
|---|---|---|---|
| Drag-and-drop email builder | Available | Available | Available |
| Free permanent tier | Unavailable | Available | Available |
Channels beyond email
| Feature | Constant Contact | HubSpot | SendPulse |
|---|---|---|---|
| SMS marketing | Available | Not documented | Available |
| Chatbot builder (WhatsApp, Telegram, etc.) | Not documented | Not documented | Available |
CRM and platform breadth
| Feature | Constant Contact | HubSpot | SendPulse |
|---|---|---|---|
| Built-in CRM | Not documented | Available | Available |
| Landing page builder | Available | Available | Available |
| AI-assisted content generation | Available | Available | Not documented |
Pricing Compared
Starting price reflects the lowest paid tier, not the full cost for every team size or usage level.
Constant Contact
HubSpot
SendPulse
Pros & Cons
Constant Contact
Pros
- Easy-to-use interface aimed at marketing beginners
- Combines email, SMS, and social media scheduling in one platform
- Long operating history (founded 1995) with extensive customer support options
- Automation covers common small-business scenarios out of the box
Cons
- No permanent free plan, only a free trial
- Pricing scales quickly as a contact list grows
- Fewer advanced segmentation and automation options than competitors like ActiveCampaign
- Templates and interface viewed by some reviewers as less modern than newer entrants
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
SendPulse
Pros
- Combines email, SMS, chat, and push notifications in a single platform
- Generous free tier that includes CRM access
- Competitive pay-as-you-go pricing for email sending
- Chatbot builder for WhatsApp, Instagram, and Telegram differentiates it from typical ESPs
- Bundled landing page and course-builder tools add extra value beyond messaging
Cons
- Breadth of bundled features can mean less depth than specialized single-channel tools
- Deliverability reputation reports are mixed compared to more established ESPs
- Customer support response times can vary by plan tier
- Interface can feel cluttered given the number of bundled products
- Some advanced automation features are gated behind higher-tier paid plans
Use Cases
Constant Contact
- Email Newsletters and Promotions — Small business owners send regular newsletters and promotional campaigns to build customer relationships.
- Nonprofit Fundraising and Donor Communication — Nonprofits use automated and segmented campaigns to communicate with donors and supporters.
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.
SendPulse
- Multi-channel small business marketing — Small businesses use SendPulse to run email, SMS, and chatbot campaigns from one platform instead of multiple separate tools.
- Ecommerce chat-based engagement — Ecommerce brands use SendPulse's WhatsApp and Telegram chatbots to engage customers alongside traditional email campaigns.
- Course creation and marketing — Course creators use SendPulse's LMS builder together with its email and automation tools to build and sell online courses.
Screenshots
HubSpot
Frequently Asked Questions
Which of Constant Contact, HubSpot, and SendPulse has a permanent free plan?
Both HubSpot and SendPulse offer permanently free tiers, HubSpot with its free CRM and SendPulse with up to 15,000 emails per month; Constant Contact offers only a free trial before billing begins.
Which tool offers the most marketing channels beyond email?
SendPulse reaches the widest range of channels: it combines email, SMS, and web push alerts with chatbot support across WhatsApp, Instagram, Telegram, and Facebook Messenger, all inside a single platform.
Is HubSpot overkill for a small business that just needs email marketing?
It can be. HubSpot's free CRM is genuinely useful, but its Professional and Enterprise Marketing Hub tiers scale into hundreds or thousands of dollars per month, well beyond what Constant Contact or SendPulse charge for comparable email functionality.
Does SendPulse include a CRM?
Yes, SendPulse includes a free built-in CRM for managing sales pipelines and deals alongside its email, SMS, and chatbot tools, a combination Constant Contact does not offer.
Which tool has the longest operating history?
Constant Contact has the longest history, founded in 1995 as Roving Software, compared to HubSpot's 2006 founding and SendPulse's 2015 founding.
Related Comparisons
Read the full Constant Contact review · Read the full HubSpot review · Read the full SendPulse review