Customer.io vs HubSpot
We give Customer.io a 2.2 GPA and HubSpot a 3.2, out of 4.0. HubSpot grades higher on value for money, the free plan, features and ease of use. They get the same grade on platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Customer.io
Data-driven email, SMS, push and in-app messaging for product teams
HubSpot
Free CRM at the center of a marketing, sales and service suite
How we grade them
| 2.2GPACustomer.ioFair | 3.2GPAHubSpotVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | D$100 a month for 5,000 profiles, many times what email tools start at and well into the dearest tenth. It does include 1 million emails, unlimited users and unlimited push and in-app messages. Premium jumps to $1,000 a month billed yearly. | CStarter lists at $20 a seat, mid-pack for the CRMs here, and new customers get it from $7. Then it jumps: Sales Hub Professional is $90 a seat plus a one-time $1,500 onboarding fee, when Zoho CRM starts at $14 a user. Ordinary at the bottom, dear at the top. |
| Free plan and trial | CNo free plan, but there's a 14-day trial with up to 5,000 messages across every channel. Startups that raised under $10 million can get up to a year of Essentials free, which is a real deal if that's you. | BFree with no end date for 2 users and 1,000 contacts, with deal pipelines, email tracking, live chat, a meeting link and dashboards. One person really could live on that. But 1,000 contacts is a wall you'll hit, and HubSpot's logo sits on your chat and marketing emails. |
| Features | BVisual journeys across email, SMS, push, in-app, WhatsApp, LINE and webhooks, custom objects, an AI segment builder, warehouse syncs, transactional email and a design studio with version history. It covers the job across more channels than most, built around product data. | AThe CRM job in full, then marketing, service and content tools all reading from the same customer record, which no other CRM here matches. Email tracking, calling, workflows, dashboards, an AI assistant and more than 2,000 integrations. The depth is spread across tiers, mind. |
| Ease of use | CNo App Store rating on record. Before the first message your product has to send people and events through the API, SDKs or a warehouse sync, and every account is checked by hand before it can send. | A4.7 from about 15,700 App Store ratings, which is the best score any CRM here has from that many people. It runs in a browser with nothing to install, and adding a contact fills in the company details for you. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, with Segment, Snowflake, Salesforce, Mixpanel, Amplitude, Twilio, Google Ads and Facebook Lead Ads, an API, mobile SDKs and an MCP server. There's no desktop app, so B is the top. | BWeb, iPhone and Android, with a Chrome extension for Gmail and an add-in for Outlook, but no desktop app. More than 2,000 integrations and an API, which is the longest list in this category by a mile. |
| Best for | product teams messaging users from app data | small businesses starting with a free CRM |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Customer.io and HubSpot. How we grade
Where they differ
- Customer.io starts at $100 per month for up to 5,000 profiles, billed monthly. HubSpot starts at $20 per seat / month for Starter (new customers: from $7, billed annually).
- HubSpot has a free plan. Customer.io does not, though it has a free trial.
- Only HubSpot lists iOS and Android apps.
- Only HubSpot lists a browser extension.
- Customer.io also covers email campaigns and business texting.
- HubSpot also covers booking links, sales pipeline and workflow automation.
At a glance
| Customer.io | HubSpot | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free plan |
| Starts at | $100 per month for up to 5,000 profiles, billed monthly | $20 per seat / month for Starter (new customers: from $7, billed annually) |
| Free plan | None | Free tools for up to 2 users and 1,000 contacts with no expiry date: contact management, deal pipelines, tasks, email tracking, live chat, a meeting link and reporting dashboards. Live chat and marketing emails carry HubSpot branding. |
| Free trial | 14-day free trial with up to 5,000 messages across all channels | 14-day free trial of HubSpot's paid sales tools; the free tools themselves do not expire |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | Peaberry Software, Inc. | HubSpot, Inc. |
| Price read from | customer.io | hubspot.com |
| Checked | Oct 17, 2026 | Oct 4, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Customer.io
- Software and app companies sending messages from product data
- Teams wanting transactional and marketing messages in one tool
- Startups under $10 million raised, through its free-year program
HubSpot
- Small teams that want to start on a free CRM and add paid tools later
- Companies that want marketing, sales and service working from one customer database
- Startups and nonprofits that qualify for HubSpot's discount programs
Worth knowing
Customer.io
- Usage beyond the plan costs extra: $0.12 per 1,000 emails on every plan, and AI credits at $10 per 100,000 on Essentials and Premium.
- Every account is reviewed by hand before it can send messages.
- SMS volume is priced on request on every plan.
- Chat support, onboarding help and custom roles start with Premium, which is billed yearly from $1,000 a month.
HubSpot
- The free tools stop at 2 users and 1,000 contacts, and free live chat and marketing emails carry HubSpot branding.
- Sales Hub Professional and Enterprise each require a one-time onboarding fee ($1,500 and $3,500) on top of the seat price.
- Paid tiers are split across a Starter bundle, Smart CRM and separate hubs, so the total depends on which products and how many seats you buy.
- The $7 Starter price is a limited-time offer for new customers against a $20 list price, and HubSpot's CRM product page shows a different new-customer price, from $15 per seat.
Key features
Customer.io
- Journeys and workflow builder
- Cross-channel campaigns built in a visual workflow builder, with send-time optimization, LLM actions and API-triggered broadcasts.
- Many channels
- Email, transactional email, SMS, push, in-app messages, WhatsApp, LINE and webhooks from one account; push and in-app are unlimited.
- Profiles and custom objects
- Store people and objects such as accounts or courses with unlimited attributes, then segment on them, including an AI segment builder.
- Data in and out
- Unlimited API calls, mobile SDKs, reverse ETL from a data warehouse and an MCP server; warehouse destinations need Premium.
- Design Studio
- Drag-and-drop and code editors with reusable components, version history, AI translation and 25 inbox previews.
- AI Agent
- A beta agent that carries out tasks in the account, with scheduled routines: one weekly task on Essentials and five daily on Premium.
HubSpot
- Free CRM tools
- Contact management, deal pipelines, task and activity tracking, CRM import and reporting dashboards are free for up to 2 users and 1,000 contacts, with no expiry date.
- Sales email and meeting tools
- Email tracking, templates and a meeting scheduler work inside HubSpot or from the inbox, through a Chrome extension for Gmail and an Office 365 add-in for Outlook.
- Workflows and sales automation
- Workflows automate follow-ups and record updates. Sales Hub Professional allows up to 300 fully customizable workflows; lower tiers have fewer triggers and actions.
- Breeze AI and HubSpot Credits
- Breeze Assistant answers questions from CRM data, and agents run on HubSpot Credits. Paid tiers include 500, 3,000 or 5,000 credits a month, and unused credits do not roll over.
- Calling and conversation tools
- Calls can be placed and logged from the CRM, with a monthly allowance of calling minutes that grows by tier. Sales Hub Professional adds call transcription and playbooks.
- Connected hubs and integrations
- The CRM shares one customer database with HubSpot's marketing, service, content and data hubs, and HubSpot lists more than 2,000 integrations.
Plans
Customer.io
Essentials$100
per month for up to 5,000 profiles, billed monthly
1 million emails a month, unlimited users, 2 object types, visual workflows and the AI Agent. Extra profiles cost $0.009 each and extra emails $0.12 per 1,000.
Premium$1,000
per month and up, billed yearly
Custom profile and email volume, 10 object types, chat support, 90-day onboarding, managed deliverability and HIPAA compliance at extra cost.
EnterpriseCustom
Dedicated hardware, audit logging, a customer success manager, priority technical support and a shared Slack channel.
HubSpot
Free Tools$0
Up to 2 users and 1,000 contacts, with contact management, deal pipelines, live chat and reporting dashboards. No credit card required.
Starter$20
per seat / month; new customers from $7, billed annually
A bundle of the Starter editions of the marketing, sales, service, content and data hubs. Removes HubSpot branding and includes 500 HubSpot Credits.
Smart CRM Professional$45
per seat / month, annual commitment ($50 billed monthly)
CRM-only tier with up to 100 pipelines, 100 custom reports, 75 dashboards and 3,000 HubSpot Credits.
Smart CRM Enterprise$75
per seat / month
CRM-only tier with up to 350 pipelines, 500 custom reports, 200 calculated properties and 5,000 HubSpot Credits.
Sales Hub Professional$90
per seat / month, annual commitment ($100 billed monthly)
Sales Hub only: up to 300 customizable workflows, call transcription and playbooks. A one-time $1,500 onboarding fee is required.
Sales Hub Enterprise$150
per seat / month
Sales Hub only: adds forecasting across team hierarchies and more advanced automation. A one-time $3,500 onboarding fee is required.
Ways to pay less
Customer.io
- Startups
Up to 12 months free for startups
Startups new to Customer.io that have raised less than $10 million can get up to 12 months of Essentials features free, with up to 30,000 profiles.
HubSpot
- Other savings
New-customer Starter offer: from $7 per seat
For a limited time, new customers pay $7 per seat a month billed annually, or $10 billed monthly, instead of the $20 list price for Starter. HubSpot gives no end date.
- Annual discount
Lower seat price with an annual commitment
Sales Hub Professional is $90 per seat a month on an annual commitment versus $100 paid monthly. Smart CRM Professional is $45 versus $50.
- Startups
HubSpot for Startups: up to 90% off
Startups with pre-seed to Series A funding can get 90% off in year one, 50% in year two and 25% in year three. Others tied to an approved partner get 30%, then 15%. Professional and Enterprise products only.
- Nonprofit
40% off for eligible nonprofits
New customers registered as nonprofits in North America, Australia or New Zealand get 40% off Professional and Enterprise products on a one-year contract. Starter is excluded.
