Email marketing platforms
Asked as “email marketing platform”, and as “email marketing tool”, on behalf of a mid-market B2B software company. 57 first choices recorded across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, six models each.
Standing · first-choice share
35%
Contested · ActiveCampaign 28%
35HubSpot Marketing Hub28ActiveCampaign12Brevo25others
35% of first choices, contested.
Since September 2026↗new leaderNew leader since September 2026: HubSpot Marketing Hub (32%) replaces ActiveCampaign (40% then, 30% now), 2 points clear, inside the 12-point floor.HubSpot Marketing Hub leads at 32%, replacing ActiveCampaign, which led at 40% and stands at 30% now: 2 points clear, inside the floor, so the swap reads as unsettled.
The standing
Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, over all six models, for a mid-market B2B software company. Ordered by share.
ProductFirst-choice shareNegative rateLabelsQuadrantSince September 2026
01
HubSpot Marketing Hub35%8%52endorsed leader▲+5Since September 2026: 27% → 32%, +5 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.27% → 32%
HubSpot Marketing Hub35%8%52endorsed leader▲+5Since September 2026: 27% → 32%, +5 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.27% → 32%02
ActiveCampaign28%11%56accepted challenger▼−10Since September 2026: 40% → 30%, −10 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.40% → 30%
ActiveCampaign28%11%56accepted challenger▼−10Since September 2026: 40% → 30%, −10 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.40% → 30%03
Brevo12%8%37accepted challenger▼−6Since September 2026: 16% → 10%, −6 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.16% → 10%
Brevo12%8%37accepted challenger▼−6Since September 2026: 16% → 10%, −6 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.16% → 10%04
MailerLite9%21%28accepted challenger▲+6Since September 2026: 4% → 10%, +6 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.4% → 10%
MailerLite9%21%28accepted challenger▲+6Since September 2026: 4% → 10%, +6 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.4% → 10%05
Sender4%0%10accepted challenger▼−7Since September 2026: 11% → 4%, −7 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.11% → 4%
Sender4%0%10accepted challenger▼−7Since September 2026: 11% → 4%, −7 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.11% → 4%06
Klaviyo2%15%26accepted challenger▲+2Since September 2026: 0% → 2%, +2 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.0% → 2%
Klaviyo2%15%26accepted challenger▲+2Since September 2026: 0% → 2%, +2 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.0% → 2%07
Moosend2%9%11accepted challenger▲+2Since September 2026: 0% → 2%, +2 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.0% → 2%
Moosend2%9%11accepted challenger▲+2Since September 2026: 0% → 2%, +2 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.0% → 2%08
Mailchimp2%52%50criticized challenger▲+2Since September 2026: 0% → 2%, +2 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.0% → 2%
Mailchimp2%52%50criticized challenger▲+2Since September 2026: 0% → 2%, +2 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.0% → 2%Show the six products at 0%, ordered by negative rate
13
Adobe Marketo Engage0%50%18criticized challenger=heldSince September 2026: 0% → 0%, ±0 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.0% → 0%
Adobe Marketo Engage0%50%18criticized challenger=heldSince September 2026: 0% → 0%, ±0 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.0% → 0%14
Constant Contact0%47%17criticized challenger=heldSince September 2026: 0% → 0%, ±0 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.0% → 0%
Constant Contact0%47%17criticized challenger=heldSince September 2026: 0% → 0%, ±0 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.0% → 0%12
GetResponse0%21%14accepted challenger=heldSince September 2026: 0% → 0%, ±0 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.0% → 0%
GetResponse0%21%14accepted challenger=heldSince September 2026: 0% → 0%, ±0 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.0% → 0%11
Salesforce Marketing Cloud Account Engagement0%17%12accepted challenger=heldSince September 2026: 0% → 0%, ±0 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.0% → 0%
Salesforce Marketing Cloud Account Engagement0%17%12accepted challenger=heldSince September 2026: 0% → 0%, ±0 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.0% → 0%10
Kit0%7%15accepted challenger=heldSince September 2026: 0% → 0%, ±0 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.0% → 0%
Kit0%7%15accepted challenger=heldSince September 2026: 0% → 0%, ±0 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.0% → 0%09
Omnisend0%0%14accepted challenger=heldSince September 2026: 0% → 0%, ±0 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.0% → 0%
Omnisend0%0%14accepted challenger=heldSince September 2026: 0% → 0%, ±0 points. Inside the 12-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.0% → 0%The floor is 12 points of share, measured: how far the models move a leader on their own when the same questions are asked twice with nothing changed. A larger change is movement; a smaller one is noise, and both are shown. How the floor is measured
Bars are the share of first choices, 0 to 100Every product with at least 10 labels here. Every product name links to its product page.
Recommended versus criticized
Every product with at least 10 labels here, on both axes. The 30% line names a quadrant, not the verdict above: that one needs more than 40%.
Criticized challengerCriticized default
Negative label rate →
0102030405060708091011121314Accepted challengerEndorsed leader
0%First-choice share → · lines at 30% share and 25% negative50%
Key
01HubSpot Marketing Hub35%
HubSpot Marketing Hub35%02ActiveCampaign28%
ActiveCampaign28%03Brevo12%
Brevo12%04MailerLite9%
MailerLite9%05Sender4%
Sender4%06Klaviyo2%
Klaviyo2%07Moosend2%
Moosend2%08Mailchimp2%
Mailchimp2%09Omnisend0%
Omnisend0%10Kit0%
Kit0%11Salesforce Marketing Cloud Account Engagement0%
Salesforce Marketing Cloud Account Engagement0%12GetResponse0%
GetResponse0%13Adobe Marketo Engage0%
Adobe Marketo Engage0%14Constant Contact0%
Constant Contact0%What they warned about
A high negative share on a product with few labels is a warning. A low share on a product with many labels is salience, not sentiment.
Mailchimp52%
26 of 50 labels negative · 13 of 6 models · 6 hard negative
“One comparison explicitly says to avoid it if many contacts unsubscribe or bounce, because you may still be billed for them.” Perplexity Sonar, negative prompt
Constant Contact47%
8 of 17 labels negative · 8 of 6 models · 2 hard negative
“Mentioned as a platform to avoid if you have a high list churn rate, as costs can escalate quickly.” Mistral Small, negative prompt
Adobe Marketo Engage50%
9 of 18 labels negative · 6 of 6 models · 1 hard negative
“Platforms to **Strongly Avoid**... notorious for poor out-of-box deliverability” Grok 4.20, negative prompt
ActiveCampaign11%
6 of 56 labels negative · 6 of 6 models
“some tools look affordable at small list sizes but leave the budget bracket quickly as subscriber counts rise, including **Mailchimp, ActiveCampaign, and Constant Contact**” Perplexity Sonar, negative prompt
What they cite
Citations exist only for the models that return a source list: fourteen of the six in this edition.
Sites the answers cite
72 of 84 answers in this category came back with a source list, from 14 of 6 models: citations where the model returns them, or the search results it consulted. 863 links across 227 sites, every framing counted. Ranked by the number of answers carrying the site or page. None of the 36 answers across every segment cited this index's own page for the category.
vendor site · Sequenzy33 answers · 42 citations · 11 models
vendor site · Mailtrap29 answers · 43 citations · 11 models
vendor site · ActiveCampaign24 answers · 38 citations · 11 models
24 answers · 25 citations · 11 models
22 answers · 34 citations · 11 models
vendor site · ZoomInfo20 answers · 31 citations · 9 models
vendor site · Sender20 answers · 31 citations · 10 models
vendor site · Hostinger20 answers · 20 citations · 9 models
vendor site · HubSpot19 answers · 20 citations · 8 models
16 answers · 17 citations · 8 models
vendor site · Mailchimp15 answers · 23 citations · 7 models
15 answers · 15 citations · 8 models
Pages the answers cite
The ten pages named in the most answers, by full address. A page here is one the models returned with a recommendation, not one the index endorses.
23 answers · 11 models
21 answers · 10 models
20 answers · 9 models
18 answers · 9 models
15 answers · 8 models
12 answers · 4 models
12 answers · 9 models
12 answers · 7 models
11 answers · 9 models
11 answers · 7 models
Search against answers
Each company's standing in the answers beside its site's footprint in Google search, one row a site: the products the models named on it with their shares, and the share they add up to; monthly searches on Google, and DataForSEO's estimate of AI search demand (modeled from search signals, directional, not a count of queries to any assistant), for the most-searched of the company's and its products' names (the name is in each row's hover text); estimated monthly organic visits to the site; and its best position in Google's top ten for “best email marketing platform”, “email marketing platform”. US estimates from DataForSEO and Google's Ads Transparency Center. A small company's site, or a mid-sized company's site for its flagship, is marked company; a product on a large parent's site (Google, Microsoft) has no site figures. A column with no figures for this category is left out, and an empty cell means none were seen, not none exist. Two measurements side by side: neither is read as the cause of the other.
| Company and products | Share | Own site cited | Name searches, Google | AI search demand, est. | Organic visits | Paid search a month, est. | Google ads, last 30 days | Best Google position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HubSpot parent site HubSpot Marketing Hub 35% | 35% | 934 | 368,000 | 9,776 | ||||
| ActiveCampaign activecampaign.com | 28% | 445 | 18,100 | 307 | 235,709 | $1,424 | 32 | |
| Brevo brevo.com | 12% | 386 | 40,500 | 327 | 81,741 | $17,847 | 106 | 9 |
| MailerLite mailerlite.com | 9% | 157 | 49,500 | 311 | 59,716 | $85 | 115 | 7 |
| Sender sender.net | 4% | 105 | 9,900 | 10,349 | 69,078 | 13 | ||
| Klaviyo klaviyo.com | 2% | 353 | 90,500 | 1,560 | 200,057 | $572 | 20 | |
| Moosend moosend.com | 2% | 38 | 1,900 | 19 | 71,515 | 2 | ||
| Drip drip.com | 2% | 21 | 74,000 | 76,846 | 18,996 | 6 | ||
| Thryv keap.com Keap 2% | 2% | 28 | 6,600 | 145 | 30,629 | 0 | ||
| Mailercloud mailercloud.com | 2% | 4 |
Google's top ten for the two searches hold 11 sites; 5 of them are among the sites the models cited here (emailtooltester.com, emailvendorselection.com, mailchimp.com, mailtrap.io, ventureharbour.com). The first result for “best email marketing platform” is emailvendorselection.com.
How they answered
Six framings of the same buying question, each sent to every model in a fresh session with search on. One row per model, so a row shows whether it held its answer under rewording, what it named when cost was the constraint, and what it argued against. Computed from the raw judge labels.ShowHide
How they answered
Six framings of the same buying question, each sent to every model in a fresh session with search on. One row per model, so a row shows whether it held its answer under rewording, what it named when cost was the constraint, and what it argued against. Computed from the raw judge labels.
ShowHideModelDirect“What is the best email marketing platform for a mid-market B2B company?”Paraphrase“Which email marketing tool would you recommend to a mid-sized B2B company?”Comparative“What are the top email marketing platforms and how do they differ?”Budget-constrained“What is the best email marketing platform for a company with a limited budget?”Scale-constrained“We are a 500 person company evaluating an email marketing platform. What should we look at?”Negative“Which email marketing platforms should I avoid or be cautious about?”
Claude Opus 5no first choiceno first choiceno first choiceno first choiceno first choicenothing named
Claude Opus 4.8no first choiceno first choiceno first choiceno first choiceno first choicenothing named
GPT-6 Astrano first choiceno first choiceno first choiceno first choiceno first choicenothing named
GPT-5.6 Solno first choiceno first choiceno first choiceno first choiceno first choicenothing named
Gemini 3.1 Prono first choiceno first choiceno first choiceno first choiceno first choicenothing named
Perplexity Sonar Prono first choiceno first choiceno first choiceno first choiceno first choicenothing named
Bold is the first choiceAlternatives are counted; the count opens them.What the answer argued against
The record
One row per call: the version string exactly as returned, whether the model searched, sources cited, and latency. Full answer text is in the free responses file. Download the record
Zero rows: every prompt, every model, every answer.
| Prompt | Model | Version string | Time (UTC) | Searched | Sources | Latency |
|---|
Noise floor in this category
Flips between the edition run and its calibration repeat. Six prompts per model is a small sample; the index-wide floor is the number to trust.
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Normalization in this category
Every judgment call made between the raw labels and the numbers above, listed so it is visible and reversible.
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Category-scoped readings
HubSpot read as HubSpot Marketing Hub
HubSpot (Marketing Hub Enterprise) read as HubSpot Marketing Hub
HubSpot (Marketing Hub) read as HubSpot Marketing Hub
Unresolved, counted raw
Elastic Email
Email-list.com
GoDaddy Campaigns
MailMagma
Vertical Response
Discontinued, still offered
No shut-down product was recommended here.