HubSpot vs Sendinblue: Which CRM Tool is the Best for Me?

Gone are the days where you would input your customer’s details into an excel spreadsheet and then copy and paste their email addresses into your inbox one at a time.

As businesses continue to expand their digital presence, customer relationship management (CRM) tools are becoming increasingly essential for managing and organising customer interactions. 

Among the many options available, HubSpot and Sendinblue are two of the most popular CRM tools on the market. Each platform offers a suite of marketing, sales, and customer service tools that are designed to help businesses grow and manage their customer base. 

But with so many features and capabilities, it can be difficult to know which one is the right fit for your business. To help you decide, we'll be taking a closer look at the strengths and weaknesses of both platforms in this article. 

Why use a CRM tool? 

Customer relationship management (CRM) tools are used by businesses of all sizes and industries to manage and organise their customer interactions. 

Streamlined marketing 

A CRM tool can help teams to streamline sales and marketing efforts, which in turn improves customer service, and increase customer retention. By tracking customer interactions and gathering data, businesses can gain insights into customer behavior and preferences, allowing them to tailor their approach and provide more personalised experiences. 

Centralisation

CRM tools also provide businesses with a centralised platform for managing customer data, which can help reduce errors and improve efficiency. 

Ultimately, using a CRM tool can help businesses to better understand and serve their customers, which can lead to increased revenue and growth.

What is HubSpot?

HubSpot is a leading customer relationship management (CRM) platform that provides businesses with a suite of marketing, sales, and customer service tools. It allows companies to manage their customer interactions and track their marketing efforts all in one place. 

HubSpot is particularly useful for small to mid-sized businesses looking to streamline their sales and marketing processes. It provides a centralised platform that helps businesses to automate tasks, such as lead generation, email campaigns, and social media management. 

The platform also features analytics and reporting tools, which allow businesses to track their performance and measure the effectiveness of their marketing campaigns. 

HubSpot is a great CRM tool because it is easy to use, affordable, and customisable to the unique needs of each business. It provides a seamless integration between marketing and sales efforts, allowing for a more streamlined and efficient customer acquisition process.

What is Sendinblue?

Sendinblue is a cloud-based marketing and communication platform that provides businesses with a suite of tools for email marketing, SMS marketing, chat, CRM, and marketing automation. 

The platform is designed to help businesses streamline their marketing efforts and better engage with their customers. Sendinblue was founded in 2012 in France and has since expanded its services to over 160 countries. 

With over 180,000 active users, the platform is popular among small to mid-sized businesses looking for an affordable and user-friendly solution for managing their marketing and communication needs.

So, HubSpot or Sendinblue?

So, now we know about the top two tools in the market, let’s take a look at their usability, features and pricing to try and help you make an informed decision about which tool is the best option for you.

1. Usability

A big deciding factor with any online tool is its usability and how suitable it is for beginners.

How user-friendly is HubSpot?

HubSpot is known for its user-friendly interface and ease of use. The platform is designed to be intuitive and accessible, even for users with little to no technical experience. The dashboard provides users with a clear and organised view of their marketing, sales, and customer service data, allowing for quick and easy access to important information. 

The platform also features drag-and-drop editors for creating landing pages, email campaigns, and other marketing assets, which makes it easy for even non-designers to create professional-looking content. 

HubSpot's CRM system is similarly easy to use, with features like deal pipelines and lead scoring that make it easy to manage sales and track customer interactions. Additionally, HubSpot offers a comprehensive knowledge base and customer support resources to help users navigate the platform and troubleshoot any issues that may arise. 

Overall, HubSpot's usability is a key factor in its popularity and makes it a top choice for businesses looking for an intuitive and user-friendly CRM platform.

How user-friendly is Sendinblue?

Much like HubSpot, Sendinblue also has a user-friendly interface and is easy to use, making it a popular choice among small to mid-sized businesses. 

The platform's dashboard provides users with a clear and organised view of their marketing and communication data, including email campaigns, SMS marketing, chat, and CRM data. 

The drag-and-drop editor for email campaigns, SMS marketing, and landing pages allows users to easily create and customise professional-looking content without any design experience. 

Additionally, Sendinblue offers a user-friendly automation builder that allows users to set up automated workflows for various marketing campaigns. The platform also offers an easy-to-use contact management system, where users can manage their subscribers and customer data in one centralised place. 

The platform is accessible to users of all technical backgrounds, and Sendinblue's customer support team is available to help users troubleshoot any issues they may encounter. 

Overall, the usability of Sendinblue makes it an attractive option for businesses looking for a user-friendly and affordable solution for managing their marketing and communication needs.

Both tools have great usability so it’s a tie on this one. 1-1.

2. Pricing

The cost of a tool will also impact your decision to invest or not. Both HubSpot and Sendinblue offer free plans to get started, however, bear in mind that these are both industry-leading tools so the more features and users you add to your CRM, the more costly it gets. And both can become quite pricey.

An affordable alternative for small businesses in particular is Ramp CRM - pulling sales and marketing features into an intuitive platform, Ramp helps smalls businesses generate more leads, keep on top of customer conversations, build their online reputation, automate appointment setting and follow ups, as well as build communities through courses and membership features! Take a look at Ramp vs HubSpot for a detailed comparison.

What are the pricing options of HubSpot?

HubSpot offers a range of pricing options to fit the needs and budgets of different users. The platform's pricing structure is based on the features and capabilities that users require, with different levels of access available for marketing, sales, and customer service tools. However, there are free trials and a free plan available.

• The entry-level Marketing Hub Starter plan starts at $50 per month and includes features like lead capture forms, email marketing, and ad management. 
• The Marketing Hub Professional plan starts at $800 per month and includes more advanced features like marketing automation and custom reporting. 
• The Sales Hub and Service Hub plans follow a similar pricing structure, with different levels of access available depending on the needs of the user. 
• HubSpot also offers a free CRM that includes basic sales and marketing tools, making it a popular choice for small businesses. 

The price options provide businesses with flexibility and scalability, allowing them to choose the plan that best fits their needs and budget. Make sure to check their website for their most recent pricing updates.

What are the pricing options of Sendinblue?

Sendinblue offers a range of pricing options to fit the needs and budgets of different users. The platform's pricing is based on the number of emails sent per month, with different levels of access available for email marketing, SMS marketing, and advanced features like automation and landing pages. 

• The free plan includes basic email and SMS marketing features, and allows users to send up to 300 emails per day. 
• The Lite plan starts at $25 per month and includes up to 10,000 emails per month, as well as additional features like A/B testing and basic marketing automation. 
• The Essential plan starts at $39 per month and includes up to 40,000 emails per month, as well as advanced marketing automation and landing pages. 
• The Premium plan starts at $66 per month and includes up to 120,000 emails per month, as well as priority support and multi-user access. 

Sendinblue also offers a custom Enterprise plan for larger businesses with high-volume sending needs.

Again, always make sure to check their website for the most recent pricing updates.

When it comes to cost, Sendinblue is the winner for it’s affordability. 1-2.

Top Features

The next important thing to consider is the availability of different features within these platforms and how they correspond to your needs as a business.

What features are available in HubSpot?

HubSpot is split into different hubs that focus on specific departments.

Marketing Hub

• Email marketing
• Landing pages
• Social media management
• Ad management
• SEO optimisation
• Marketing automation
• Lead capture forms
• Analytics and reporting

Sales Hub

• Contact management
• Deal pipelines
• Sales automation
• Email tracking
• Meeting scheduling
• E-signature
• Sales analytics and reporting

Service Hub

• Ticketing system
• Knowledge base
• Live chat
• Customer feedback
• Team email
• Conversational bots
• Customer analytics and reporting

CRM

• Contact management
• Company records
• Deal tracking
• Task management
• Reporting and analytics

In addition to these core features, HubSpot also offers a variety of add-on services, such as website design and development, custom reporting, and technical support. 

Overall, HubSpot's extensive feature set provides businesses with the tools they need to manage their customer relationships, streamline their processes, and grow their business.

What features are available in Sendinblue?

Like HubSpot, Sendinblue has a wealth of features for everyone.

Email and SMS Marketing

• Drag-and-drop email and SMS campaign editor
• Email and SMS personalisation
• Advanced segmentation and targeting
• A/B testing
• Auto-resend
• Transactional email and SMS
• Responsive email and landing page design
• Email and SMS deliverability monitoring

Automation

• Workflow automation
• Triggered campaigns
• Abandoned cart recovery
• Welcome series
• Lead scoring
• CRM integration

CRM

• Contact management
• Customisable contact fields
• Lead and customer tracking
• List management
• Subscription management
• Activity tracking

Additional features

• Chat
• Sign-up forms
• Retargeting ads
• Facebook ads
• Landing page builder
• Real-time reporting

Sendinblue's feature set provides businesses with the tools they need to manage their customer relationships and automate their marketing processes.

It’s a draw again for features, both platforms have so many! 2-3.

Customer reviews

Customer reviews are another helpful way to measure how successful a CRM tool is.

What do people think of HubSpot?

We took a look at what people think of HubSpot… The reviews overall were extremely positive with customers saying it is clear, intuitive and easy to use and commenting on its functionality. 

What do people think of Sendinblue?

Reviews of Sendinblue are positive. Many people said that is is essential tool for digital marketing, the perfect email marketing solution and that it is easy to use.  

Sendinblue takes the edge (by a tiny amount!) when it comes to customer reviews. 3-3.

Integrations

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Integrations are great, the more we can connect the different platforms we work on the better!

HubSpot’s Integrations

HubSpot offers a wide range of integrations with other popular software and platforms to provide users with a more seamless experience and improve their overall efficiency.

• CRM Integrations: HubSpot integrates with a variety of CRM systems, including Salesforce, Zoho, and Microsoft Dynamics.
• Marketing Integrations: HubSpot integrates with popular marketing tools such as Google Ads, Facebook Ads, LinkedIn Ads, and Mailchimp.
• Sales Integrations: HubSpot integrates with popular sales tools such as Outlook, Gmail, and Zoom.
• E-commerce Integrations: HubSpot integrates with popular e-commerce platforms such as Shopify, Magento, and WooCommerce.
• Content Management System (CMS) Integrations: HubSpot integrates with popular CMS systems such as WordPress, Drupal, and Joomla.
• Analytics Integrations: HubSpot integrates with popular analytics tools such as Google Analytics and Databox.

By integrating with the tools they already use, businesses can save time and improve their customer relationship management.

Sendinblue’s Integrations

Sendinblue offers a variety of integrations with other popular software and platforms to provide users with a more seamless experience and improve their overall efficiency.

• E-commerce Integrations: Sendinblue integrates with popular e-commerce platforms such as Shopify, WooCommerce, and Magento, allowing users to track sales and revenue from their email campaigns.
• CRM Integrations: Sendinblue integrates with popular CRM systems such as Salesforce, Zoho, and HubSpot.
• Content Management System (CMS) Integrations: Sendinblue integrates with popular CMS systems such as WordPress, Drupal, and PrestaShop.
• Social Media Integrations: Sendinblue integrates with Facebook, allowing users to create and manage Facebook Ads directly from their Sendinblue account.
• Webhooks: Sendinblue allows users to create custom integrations with other software tools through webhooks.
• API: Sendinblue provides an API that allows users to build custom integrations with other software tools.

As we have seen, Sendinblue's integrations provide businesses with the ability to streamline their workflows, reduce manual data entry, and improve their overall productivity.

Both tools have a great variety of integrations, leaving us with no option other than choosing a draw again between them! 4-4.

Which is best for your business, HubSpot or Sendinblue?

So now that you’ve taken a look into everything that these tools can do, which one is best for you?

When to use HubSpot

While HubSpot Sales Hub is a popular choice for larger sales teams, it may pose a significant learning curve for smaller businesses. 

As small businesses are building their sales processes, having access to a user-friendly CRM platform can be invaluable in helping them overcome this challenge. 

HubSpot is the top choice for large businesses who have a larger budget. 

When to use Sendinblue

Sendinblue is the option we would recommend for smaller businesses. If you have a lower budget but you still want access to a wealth of services to help with your marketing and sales efforts, then this tool would be the better option for you.

So, HubSpot or Sendinblue

In conclusion, both HubSpot and Sendinblue offer robust features and functionalities that can benefit businesses in various ways. 

HubSpot is a comprehensive all-in-one platform that provides a range of marketing, sales, and customer service tools, making it an ideal choice for businesses that want to manage their entire customer journey from one place. 

Sendinblue, on the other hand, is a powerful email marketing and automation platform that is more affordable and offers more advanced automation features. Ultimately, the choice between these two platforms will depend on the specific needs and budget of your business.