Deciding between email marketing and CRM platforms like Drip and HubSpot is an important choice for small business owners and startups. These software tools help entrepreneurs nurture leads, drive sales, understand customers, and grow their companies through automated and personalized messaging.
In this Drip vs HubSpot comparison guide, we evaluate the two email marketing platforms across several key categories to help you determine the right platform for your needs. Our criteria include market position and popularity, ease of use, design customization, customer support availability, pricing models, reputation and reviews, and final recommendations.
Understanding the strengths and weaknesses of these two prominent platforms in areas like email marketing automation, analytics, integrations with other software tools, and overall usability will enable you to select the best solution.
1. Understanding the Basics
Founded in 2013 by entrepreneurs Rob Walling and Mike Perham, Drip markets itself as a “small business e-commerce CRM” designed specifically for independent e-commerce stores, information marketers, and small agencies. While not as widely used as HubSpot, Drip fills an important niche and has over 2,500 customers active on the platform.
Relevant online Drip communities aspiring users can join include the Drip Users Facebook group with over 3,300 members.
Initially founded in 2006 by MIT alums Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah, HubSpot now touts over 121,000 total customers in over 120 countries. This makes HubSpot the dominant leader in inbound marketing, sales, service, and CRM software.
As a widely popular #1 marketing platform, HubSpot also has an engaged online community aspiring users can leverage during onboarding and implementation including the Inbound.org Facebook group and a Facebook page with over 2M likes.
While both companies have been around for over a decade and built engaged user communities, HubSpot leads from a broader market position perspective. However, Drip punches above its weight with a targeted customer niche.
2. Features and Functionality
Automation
Drip
Drip enables users to create customized buyer journeys with drag-and-drop workflow automation. Key features include segmentation, lead scoring, lifecycle campaigns, and e-commerce order management.
Workflows automatically trigger actions based on subscriber behavior like email opens, clicks, form submissions, and custom events added through the API or integrations. Real-time field updates let you build progressive lead profiles.
Drip’s lifecycle campaigns allow easy personalizing and scheduling of content delivery over time. Broadcast email blasts sent through Drip connect to the same customer timelines for unified messaging.
E-commerce automation in Drip empowers store owners to customize post-purchase flows surrounding order confirmation, shipping updates, reviews, re-engagement, and more.
HubSpot
HubSpot Marketing Hub offers robust multi-channel workflow automation powered by triggers and defined user actions. Drag-and-drop workflow building coupled with if/then logic enables personalized, automated experiences.
Users can create workflows for different business units like marketing, sales, or service. Lead assignment rules automatically route leads based on criteria like location, lead source, or lifecycle stage.
With lifecycle stages and automation, HubSpot users map common buying journeys to automate messaging timing and content for each phase. Location-based triggers customize experiences with local context.
Specialized e-commerce automation related to order management or customer re-engagement requires installing separate HubSpot App Accelerator integrations on top of the base software.
Winner: Tie
Both Drip and HubSpot are powerful marketing automation tools that provide robust workflow automation, triggers, and personalized lifecycle campaigns suited for SMBs. Drip excels at tailored e-commerce capabilities while HubSpot marketing automation software offers a broader multi-channel feature set. For most small businesses, automation power with either platform is comparable.
Email Templates
Drip
Drip comes equipped with a visual email builder containing pre-designed templates for common email types like welcome series, product announcements, newsletters, cart abandonment, and promotions. Users can fully customize template copy, images, blocks, and more.
Drag-and-drop editing makes building new custom templates simple. Global text replacements enable updating company details across all emails in one click. Template versioning allows iterating while preserving historical copies.
However, Drip lacks robust content block and template personalization compared to the HubSpot marketing automation platform. Dynamic content insertion is limited beyond adding subscriber fields to copy. Creative design options are also more constrained within the Drip builder.
HubSpot
HubSpot’s email template builder equips users with flexible editor layouts, global templates to easily maintain visual styles and reusable content blocks for greater personalization. Drag-and-drop modules enable quick rearranging of page elements.
Dynamic content tools make it easy to customize key segments on the fly to tailor to specific groups and buyer lifecycle stages. HubSpot also offers after-hours email scheduling to control delivery based on subscriber time zones.
HubSpot provides hundreds of professionally designed starter templates optimized for mobile devices supporting both drag-and-drop building as well as raw HTML/CSS custom coding for maximum flexibility.
Winner: HubSpot
While Drip offers a capable core email builder and starter templates, HubSpot simply provides superior options, deeper personalization and dynamic content, an easier editor, and more visual design freedom. The HubSpot email template builder edges out Drip when it comes to quickly creating high-converting, customized subscriber messages.
Segmentation
Drip
Drip enables the creation of subscriber segments based on profiles, behaviors, purchases, events, and custom fields. Boolean logic lets users combine multiple criteria to build advanced segments. Location, lifecycle stage, order frequency, and recent activity make it easy to group contacts.
Drip offers basic static segmentation and simple segmentation workflows to move subscribers between groups upon certain actions. However, complex behavioral segmentation tools in Drip lag behind what HubSpot provides.
HubSpot
HubSpot Equips users with a dedicated Contacts database housing all subscriber details and powerful segment builder tools, enabling both basic and smart segmentation. Combining property, behavioral, and contextual data makes creating dynamic groups easy.
Smart lists automatically update membership as subscriber data changes in real-time. Custom properties can be created to capture extra details for more advanced segmentation while machine learning helps discover new relevant groupings.
Location data, lead score, lifecycle stage, and recent engagement metrics provide additional dimensions to combine beyond typical behavior filters when building segments with context. Boolean logic support and segment sharing between HubSpot Business units multiply segmentation power.
Winner: HubSpot
With better smart segmentation based on machine learning, real-time syncing, and an extensive contacts database, HubSpot beats Drip when it comes to advanced subscriber organization and grouping email recipients based on multidimensional criteria leading to more personalized subscriber experiences.
Analytics
Drip
Drip provides robust email marketing analytics around opens, clicks, unsubscribes, spam complaints, and subscriber engagement over time. Dashboards showcase popular reports including email performance, subscriber activity, and sales impact.
Custom reporting builds filtered views of audience data. However, complex funnels or conversion tracking beyond the email scope requires additional work. Built-in A/B testing capabilities make optimizing campaign components easy.
Granular segmentation lets users analyze performance by subgroup over time. However, more advanced multivariate testing or predictive analytics requires utilizing third-party service integrations.
HubSpot
HubSpot delivers powerful analytics spanning marketing, sales, and service. Key reporting features cover email campaign performance, lead activity, lifecycle analysis, close rates by team members, deal pipeline forecasting, and unified cross-channel attribution.
Customized reporting and template dashboards provide flexibility, while a free HubSpot reporting certification helps users maximize tools. Predictive lead scoring applies machine learning to determine site visitor buy-readiness based on historical patterns.
A/B testing and multivariate experiments help optimize multiple landing page elements for conversions while email statistics offer detailed subscriber engagement metrics to fine-tune campaigns.
Winner: HubSpot
While Drip provides solid email marketing analytics, HubSpot’s holistic business intelligence platform offers a far broader and deeper view of critical performance indicators across departments. More customizable consolidated reporting, machine learning lead analytics, and unified cross-channel data in HubSpot make it better suited for data-driven small businesses.
Unique Features
Drip
Drip stands out from HubSpot with its specialized e-commerce tools tailored for solopreneurs, online course creators, freelancers, and agencies. Capabilities to manage customer lifetime value, customized store integrations, intelligent reward programs, and customer loyalty building exceed HubSpot’s base platform.
Additional unique aspects of Drip include native course creation tools, niche templates for service providers, in-depth customer timelines, superior email deliverability with dedicated IP addresses, and integration extensibility using Zapier.
While HubSpot offers a broader platform, Drip punches above its weight with specialized tools benefiting specific online business models outside traditional sales funnels.
HubSpot
HubSpot shines over Drip with a far more expansive all-in-one software suite spanning marketing software, sales CRM, and customer service tools. HubSpot CMS also provides free hosting, blogging, and basic e-commerce not offered in the Drip ecosystem.
Additionally, HubSpot includes team collaboration features, meeting scheduling, a mobile app, over 150 app integrations, machine learning capabilities applied across analytics, content creation tools leveraging AI, a marketplace of experts for hire, and certifications around the effective use of HubSpot tools to maximize value.
For businesses looking for an integrated platform beyond just email marketing and basic e-commerce, HubSpot provides far more breadth across critical business functions.
Winner: Tie
Drip and HubSpot ultimately both offer unique features making them potential category winners depending on individual business needs and focus areas. Drip excels at targeted ecommerce solutions while HubSpot provides an end-to-end inbound platform spanning well beyond marketing automation.
3. Ease of Use
Drip
Drip offers a clean, modern UI with drag-and-drop workflow builders and visual campaign editors tailored specifically for email marketing automation. The experience stays consistent across tools.
The email and conversion focus of Drip makes it intuitive for marketers to start building campaigns and analyzing metrics without advanced training. The workflow interface enables easy visual mapping.
Core workflows around email setup, subscriber automation, and reporting surface key data effectively without complexity getting in the way.
In-app tips, knowledge base articles, and tutorials reduce dependence on external guidance to start leveraging Drip.
HubSpot
HubSpot provides a polished, professional UI with clear navigation and consistent experience across the various tools spanning marketing, sales, and service.
The breadth of HubSpot means a steeper initial learning curve but setup wizards guide users effectively through key tasks.
While extensive capabilities add complexity, HubSpot offers guided paths to accomplish high-value tasks like email campaign creation, lead routing rules, and reporting configuration.
HubSpot enables self-sufficiency with an expansive knowledge base, community forums, demos, and product certifications.
Winner: Drip
Drip narrowly beats HubSpot when it comes to ease of use specifically for small business owners and solo entrepreneurs focused purely on high-performance email marketing automation versus an integrated CRM platform. The simplicity and focus of Drip streamline core workflows with less complexity.
4. Email Deliverability
Drip
When diving into Drip’s email deliverability, one can’t help but be impressed with the platform’s intuitive setup. Templates and themes are where Drip shines initially. Users are provided with a diverse array of professionally designed templates that cater to various business needs. These templates not only look good but are also optimized for high deliverability rates.
The customizability Drip offers is another significant advantage. Beyond the pre-designed templates, users have the flexibility to modify and tweak them to align with their brand’s aesthetics and messaging. From adjusting colors and fonts to incorporating personalized content blocks, Drip ensures that businesses can send out emails that resonate with their audience while maintaining deliverability.
Moreover, when considering mobile features, Drip doesn’t disappoint. The platform is optimized for mobile responsiveness, ensuring that emails appear seamlessly across devices. This mobile-friendly design is crucial in today’s digital age, where a significant portion of email opens occurs on mobile devices.
HubSpot
Turning our attention to HubSpot’s email deliverability, the platform also offers a robust set of features. Templates and themes within HubSpot are designed with user-friendliness in mind. While the variety might not be as extensive as some competitors, what HubSpot lacks in quantity, it compensates for in quality. The templates are clean, modern, and aimed at driving engagement.
In terms of customizability, HubSpot provides users with a balanced approach. While the platform does offer customization options, some users might find it slightly more restrictive compared to Drip. However, HubSpot’s strength lies in its integration capabilities. Users can leverage HubSpot’s CRM and other tools seamlessly, making the email marketing process more streamlined.
Regarding mobile features, HubSpot ensures that emails are optimized for mobile viewing. While not as pronounced as Drip’s mobile-specific features, HubSpot’s templates are designed to be responsive across devices, ensuring a consistent user experience.
Winner: Drip
Drip emerges as the winner in terms of ease of use for email deliverability. The platform’s extensive template library, coupled with its high level of customizability, provides users with the flexibility and tools needed to create impactful email campaigns. Additionally, Drip’s focus on mobile optimization ensures that businesses can reach their audience effectively, regardless of the device they’re using. While HubSpot offers strong features and integrations, Drip’s user-centric approach to design and usability gives it a slight edge in this comparison.
5. Customer Support and Community
Drip
Delving into Drip’s customer support landscape, users can expect a solid experience. Customer support options include a combination of email support, live chat, and a comprehensive knowledge base. The live chat feature is particularly beneficial for immediate queries, allowing users to connect with a representative in real time.
Furthermore, Drip has cultivated a community that thrives on collaboration and knowledge sharing. The Drip Facebook group, for instance, serves as a vibrant hub where users discuss best practices, share insights, and troubleshoot challenges. This community-driven approach fosters a sense of camaraderie among users, making it easier for newcomers to navigate the platform’s intricacies with peer support.
HubSpot
Transitioning to HubSpot, the platform boasts an expansive array of customer support options. From 24/7 email support to phone assistance and a dedicated support portal, HubSpot ensures that users have multiple avenues to seek help when needed. Additionally, HubSpot’s robust knowledge base offers tutorials, guides, and frequently asked questions, catering to users of varying expertise levels.
When it comes to community engagement, HubSpot has built a substantial online presence. The HubSpot Community Forum stands out as a bustling platform where users can pose questions, share insights, and collaborate on various topics. Moreover, for those active on Facebook, the HubSpot User Group serves as an invaluable resource, offering a platform for users to connect, learn, and grow together.
Winner: HubSpot
In evaluating both platforms’ customer support and community aspects, HubSpot emerges as the winner for ease of use. While Drip offers commendable support and a vibrant Facebook community, HubSpot’s comprehensive support options, coupled with its active online forums and user groups, provide users with an unparalleled support ecosystem. The platform’s commitment to fostering a collaborative community and offering diverse support channels cements its position as the preferred choice for businesses seeking robust support and community engagement.
6. Integrations
Drip
When it comes to integrations, Drip has carved a niche for itself by offering a plethora of options tailored to diverse business needs. Primarily, Drip integrates seamlessly with popular e-commerce platforms such as Shopify, WooCommerce, and Magento, facilitating efficient data synchronization and customer segmentation.
Moreover, Drip’s compatibility extends to CRM platforms like Salesforce and HubSpot, ensuring smooth data flow between systems.
Beyond these, Drip offers integrations with SMS marketing tools, payment gateways, analytics tools, and marketing automation platforms, enhancing its versatility.
However, it’s essential to note that while Drip provides numerous integration options with powerful email marketing tools, some advanced integrations might come at an additional cost. For specific pricing details and integration options, you can refer to Drip’s official website.
HubSpot
Shifting our focus to HubSpot, the platform is renowned for its extensive integration capabilities. HubSpot’s marketplace boasts over 500 integrations, ranging from CRM systems and e-commerce platforms to email marketing tools and social media platforms. Notably, HubSpot offers native integrations with popular platforms like Shopify, WordPress, and Microsoft Dynamics.
Additionally, HubSpot’s robust API allows businesses to create custom integrations tailored to their unique requirements. This flexibility ensures that users can seamlessly connect HubSpot with their existing tools and systems, streamlining operations. However, similar to Drip, some advanced integrations might incur additional costs. For a detailed overview of HubSpot’s integration offerings and pricing, you can visit their integration marketplace.
Winner: HubSpot
After a comprehensive evaluation of both platforms’ integration capabilities, HubSpot emerges as the winner for ease of use. While Drip offers a diverse range of integrations, HubSpot’s expansive integration marketplace, coupled with its flexibility in creating custom integrations, provides users with unparalleled versatility. The platform’s commitment to facilitating seamless connections with a wide array of tools and systems solidifies its position as the preferred choice for businesses seeking robust integration capabilities.
7. Pricing
Drip
Drip has a simple pricing structure based on the number of contacts in your list. The lowest plan costs $39/month for up to 2,500 people. You can sign up for a free trial on the platform to test out the software before committing to a paid plan.
All plans include unlimited emails, and access to core features like automation, analytics, and integrations. Higher tiers offer more contacts, additional CRM and e-commerce integrations, and priority support.
Overall, Drip is competitively priced and its free tier provides excellent capabilities for early-stage businesses.
HubSpot
HubSpot adopts a modular pricing approach, allowing businesses to select specific tools and features based on their requirements. The platform offers a Free CRM option, providing users with essential CRM functionalities at no cost. As businesses grow, HubSpot’s Starter Growth Suite starts at $50 per month, incorporating marketing, sales, and customer service tools.
For businesses seeking advanced capabilities, HubSpot’s Professional and Enterprise plans offer comprehensive solutions tailored to specific needs, with pricing starting at $800 per month. Additionally, HubSpot provides flexibility in customizing plans based on user requirements, ensuring scalability and cost-effectiveness. For a comprehensive overview of HubSpot’s pricing structure and feature offerings, you can explore their official pricing page.
Winner: HubSpot
In assessing both platforms’ pricing structures, HubSpot emerges as the winner for ease of use. While Drip offers competitive pricing and flexibility, HubSpot’s modular approach allows businesses to tailor their plans, ensuring cost-effectiveness and scalability. Additionally, HubSpot’s Free CRM option provides startups and small businesses with essential tools at no cost, further solidifying its position as the preferred choice for businesses seeking value-driven pricing and flexibility.
8. Reviews and Reputation
Drip
Drip has garnered a mixed reception within the business community. On the positive side, users frequently commend Drip’s robust automation capabilities and segmentation features, highlighting its effectiveness in streamlining marketing campaigns. Furthermore, Drip’s intuitive user interface and comprehensive analytics tools receive praise for providing actionable insights and enhancing decision-making processes.
However, some users express concerns regarding Drip’s pricing structure, particularly for businesses scaling up. Additionally, a few reviews point out occasional glitches and technical issues that impact user experience. For a deeper dive into user perspectives, you can explore reviews on platforms like G2 and Capterra.
HubSpot
HubSpot enjoys widespread acclaim for its comprehensive suite of marketing, sales, and customer service tools. Users frequently highlight HubSpot’s user-friendly interface, extensive integrations, and robust CRM capabilities as standout features. Additionally, HubSpot’s commitment to customer support and continuous innovation resonates positively with users, fostering a sense of trust and reliability.
However, some users cite HubSpot’s pricing as a potential barrier for small businesses and startups. Additionally, a few reviews point to occasional limitations in customization options and advanced reporting features. For a comprehensive overview of user feedback and reviews, you can visit platforms like G2 and TrustRadius.
Winner: HubSpot
HubSpot emerges as the winner for ease of use. While both platforms receive commendation for their features and functionalities, HubSpot’s widespread acclaim for user-friendly design, extensive integrations, and robust customer support gives it a slight edge. Additionally, HubSpot’s commitment to continuous innovation and customer-centric approach solidifies its position as the preferred choice for businesses seeking a reliable and comprehensive platform.
9. FAQ’s
Drip FAQs
- What are the main features of Drip?
Drip offers robust email marketing automation, segmentation capabilities, customizable workflows, and comprehensive analytics tools to optimize marketing campaigns. - How does Drip’s pricing structure work?
Drip offers tiered pricing based on features and user requirements. They provide a Basic plan starting at $19/month, a Pro plan at $49/month, and custom pricing for enterprise solutions. Additional costs may apply for specific integrations or add-ons. - Does Drip offer integrations with other platforms?
Yes, Drip provides seamless integrations with popular e-commerce platforms like Shopify, WooCommerce, and Magento, as well as CRM systems like Salesforce and HubSpot. - What customer support options are available with Drip?
Drip offers email support, live chat, and a comprehensive knowledge base to assist users with queries, troubleshooting, and best practices. - Is there a community or user forum for Drip users?
While Drip does not have an official user forum, users can join relevant Facebook groups to connect with peers, share insights, and seek advice.
HubSpot FAQs
- What features does HubSpot’s CRM offer?
HubSpot’s CRM provides users with contact management, email tracking, lead scoring, and pipeline management features to streamline sales and marketing efforts. - How does HubSpot’s pricing model work?
HubSpot offers a modular pricing model with a Free CRM option and tiered plans starting from $50/month. Businesses can customize plans based on specific requirements, with pricing varying for Professional and Enterprise solutions. - Does HubSpot support third-party integrations?
HubSpot offers over 500 native integrations and supports custom integrations through its robust API, enabling seamless connectivity with e-commerce platforms, analytics tools, and other business applications. - What customer support options are available with HubSpot?
HubSpot provides comprehensive customer support through email, phone, and live chat, along with a dedicated support portal featuring tutorials, guides, and a vibrant community forum. - Is there a HubSpot community for users to connect and share insights?
Yes, HubSpot boasts an active online community forum where users can engage with peers, attend virtual events, access resources, and share best practices to maximize platform utilization.
Final Thoughts
Choose Drip if…
Drip is an excellent choice for businesses that prioritize advanced email marketing automation and segmentation capabilities. If you’re looking for a platform that offers robust analytics tools and customizable workflows, Drip stands out. Additionally, for e-commerce businesses aiming to enhance customer engagement through personalized marketing campaigns, Drip’s seamless integration with popular platforms like Shopify and Magento proves beneficial.
However, consider Drip if you have some technical expertise or are willing to invest time in mastering its features to maximize its potential. If not, then you’ll definitely be able to find something that you’re looking for out of the many Drip alternatives out there.
Choose HubSpot if…
HubSpot is ideal for businesses seeking an all-in-one solution for marketing, sales, and customer service. If you prioritize a user-friendly interface, extensive integrations, and a comprehensive CRM system, HubSpot is the way to go. Moreover, for businesses looking to streamline operations, optimize lead management, and foster customer relationships, HubSpot’s modular pricing and scalability make it a preferred choice. However, if budget constraints are a concern, explore HubSpot’s pricing tiers and customize a plan that aligns with your specific needs.