HubSpot vs Brevo: Which CRM Fits Your Business Best?

I’ve used Mailchimp for years. Recently, I wanted to experiment with new tools. (No, it wasn’t Mailchimp’s shady billing practices that made me look elsewhere.) In 2025, I started collaborating with more medium-sized businesses in the startup field. With that shift, I decided to document my findings as I tested new CRM for businesses, which brings me to this showdown: HubSpot vs Brevo.

Some tools strained my brain so much that I almost gave up and went back to what I already knew. But helping businesses leverage tools for automation is part of what I do and this journey felt more like “self-discovery” than just testing software.

Affiliate disclosure: This article contains affiliate links. If you click a link and buy a product, I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

So, I began with the obvious choice: HubSpot CRM. And then, the less obvious but simpler choice: Brevo.

This article compares HubSpot CRM and Brevo for small businesses.

• HubSpot excels for growing businesses needing automation and customization across sales, marketing, and service.
• Brevo suits budget-conscious startups in need of basic marketing features.

Also read how HubSpot compares with Attio and with Folk.

HubSpot CRM: The Complete Business Growth Platform

HubSpot CRM is designed for businesses ready to scale. It’s incredibly powerful and comprehensive, making it the perfect choice for companies that want to grow efficiently.

If you’re a growing startup, SaaS, or B2B company that needs serious automation (beyond simple email sequences), HubSpot is the gold standard.

Unlike basic marketing tools, HubSpot’s AI-powered tools cover your entire business:

• Marketing Hub: Advanced automation, lead scoring, attribution reporting
• Sales Hub: Pipeline management, deal tracking, sales automation
• Service Hub: Ticketing, knowledge base, customer feedback
• Content Hub: Website, blog, SEO tools
• Commerce Hub: Quotes, payments, and subscriptions
• Data Hub: Data sync, automation, reporting
• Breeze: Intelligent automation, content generation, data insights that work across all hubs

HubSpot combines sales, marketing, service, and content development in one intelligent platform with enterprise-level security and 18 times more integrations (1,900+ vs roughly 150).

Read why HubSpot is a great choice for Educational Institutes too.

Also, read how well HubSpot works for high-ticket direct-to-consumer businesses, and for micro-SaaS founders too.

HubSpot CRM Features

• Contact Management: Automatically create and manage contacts, companies, deals, tickets, and more. Everything is stored in structured lists and unified timelines.
• Filters & Properties: HubSpot’s filters are based on properties (data points about contacts). You can apply advanced filters to find exactly what you need. Editing dashboard columns is as simple as checking boxes.
• Customer Profiles: HubSpot lets you customize almost everything. Custom fields (properties) can be created with different data types. The process takes a few steps, but once set up, it’s incredibly flexible.

Lead Segmentation in HubSpot

HubSpot has lists and segments, but its filtering options are far more advanced:

• Lists are static. They represent a snapshot of data at the time of creation.
• Segments are dynamic filters (e.g., “Job Title = Founder”) automatically updated over time.

For example, when filtering for “Job Title = Founder,” HubSpot lets you choose:

• Job title begins with “Founder”
• Job title contains “Founder”
• Job title ends with “Founder”

HubSpot’s segmentation works across all business functions – not just email marketing. This granular control means you can slice data in countless ways; something Brevo can’t match.

Who Is HubSpot For?

• Small to medium businesses with growing automation needs.
• Sales, marketing, and support teams who need a single source of truth.
• Companies that rely heavily on analytics and reporting.

HubSpot is more than just a CRM. It’s a full-stack growth tool for businesses ready to scale beyond basic marketing.

Brevo: The Marketing-First CRM

Brevo (previously known as Sendinblue) is popular among European businesses just starting with CRM and marketing automation.

It’s a marketing-focused tool with features spanning:

• Email marketing
• Conversation management
• Sales platform (limited)
• Customer data platform (limited)
• Push notifications

Brevo’s biggest strength is its low cost. However, this comes with some functionality gaps.

For example, Brevo cannot create social media content, build websites or blogs, or track marketing activities across different channels together. The platform also lacks B2B features like strategic account targeting and AI-powered scoring, and requires expensive Enterprise upgrades for advanced analytics that HubSpot includes in basic plans.

Brevo CRM Features

• Contact Lists & Customization: Brevo allows you to create email lists with customizable columns (subscriber status, email, last updated, etc.). You can edit attributes and filter contacts based on job title, verification status, or other fields. Example: filter for “Job Title = CEO.”
• Customer Profiles: Each contact can include personal details (name, email, phone, SMS). You can also track campaign history—did they open or engage with your emails? Additionally, you can associate contacts with companies or deals, making Brevo useful for negotiation-heavy businesses.
• Custom Fields: This part feels clunky. Attribute names like “jobs” and “title” aren’t beginner-friendly, and creating new attributes requires defining their type (confusing for first-time users).
• Adding Contacts: You can import contacts directly, paste them in, or upload files. The process works but feels unnecessarily complicated for bulk data.

Lead Segmentation in Brevo

Like HubSpot, Brevo offers both lists and segments, but the filtering options are limited. Brevo’s segmentation is designed primarily for email marketing campaigns, not comprehensive business operations like what HubSpot offers.

While useful, lists vs. segments can confuse beginners. It takes some hands-on practice to master.

Who Is Brevo For?

• Businesses starting out with CRM or marketing automation.
• Teams that don’t need multi-channel campaign tracking, content creation, social media, or advanced CRM.
• Companies with lead segmentation needs on a tight budget.

If you’re a course creator or small business owner who just needs to manage an email list and send campaigns, Brevo is a solid starting point.

HubSpot vs Brevo: Which Should You Choose?

There’s no one-size-fits-all answer, but the choice becomes clearer when you consider long-term growth:

• If you’re budget-conscious, new to CRM, or just need email campaigns → Start with Brevo.
• If you’re a scaling business needing a unified solution for marketing, sales, service, and content that eliminates the need for multiple tools → Go with HubSpot.

Both platforms offer free trials. The best way forward is to test them out yourself. Because at the end of the day, the right CRM is the one that feels intuitive for you and the person who’s actually going to use it every day.

HubSpot vs. Brevo: A Comparison

Here’s a quick comparison between HubSpot and Brevo:

Brevo CRM is great for early-stage businesses with basic CRM needs. HubSpot CRM, on the other hand, becomes a long-term solution that can grow with your company.

Conclusion

Ready to test HubSpot for your business? Try HubSpot for free and explore personalized marketing, contact management, and deal tracking. 

Final tip: sign up for free trials of both HubSpot and Brevo. Use the product for a week and try the exact tasks you’ll do daily: import contacts, create a segment, and send an automated email. Your daily workflow will reveal which platform feels right.

FAQs about HubSpot vs Brevo

Is HubSpot worth the price for a small team?

HubSpot provides an all-in-one platform with built-in automation that ties marketing activity to sales (deals). While Brevo’s pricing may seem attractive initially, their plans contain fewer features. Many businesses discover they can replace and combine multiple separate tools with HubSpot, often resulting in lower overall costs while boosting operational efficiency.

Can I migrate from Brevo to HubSpot later?

Yes. You can export your contact data, transfer property mappings, and rebuild your pipelines. The platform supports data imports and numerous integration options. However, switching platforms requires time and resources – many growing businesses find it more strategic to begin with HubSpot because it’s so scalable.

Which platform integrates with more business tools?

HubSpot connects with 1,900+ applications versus Brevo’s 150+ integrations. HubSpot’s extensive integration ecosystem eliminates the need for middleware solutions like Zapier.

You can also read about how well suited HubSpot is for education institutes.