Index › Marketing › Email marketing › Small business › September 2026 Edition

Email marketing platforms for small business buyers

Asked as “email marketing platform”, and as “email marketing tool”, on behalf of a small B2B company. 50 first choices recorded across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, twelve models each.

Standing

ActiveCampaign

Contested

36% of first choices, contested.

ShowinginAll 73 categories in the September 2026 Edition →

By buyer segment

The same question asked on behalf of a different buyer. Each standing is computed within its segment; they sit side by side and are never added together.

Small business

ActiveCampaign36%ContestedThis page Mid-market

ActiveCampaign40%ContestedStanding →Enterprise

Adobe Marketo Engage23%ContestedStanding →

01The standing

Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, over all twelve models, for a small B2B company. Ordered by share.

ProductFirst-choice shareNegative rateLabelsQuadrant

ActiveCampaign4%53endorsed leader

Brevo3%64accepted challenger

MailerLite7%46accepted challenger

Sender4%24accepted challenger

HubSpot Marketing Hub21%43accepted challenger

Mailchimp41%51criticized challenger

Moosend0%16accepted challenger

Show the six products at 0%, ordered by negative rate

GetResponse58%12criticized challenger

Constant Contact48%25criticized challenger

Klaviyo39%23criticized challenger

Omnisend10%21accepted challenger

Kit8%13accepted challenger

EmailOctopus0%10accepted challenger

Bars are the share of first choices, 0 to 100Every product with at least 10 labels here. Every product name links to its vendor page.

Head to head

ActiveCampaign vs HubSpot Marketing Hub ActiveCampaign vs Brevo HubSpot Marketing Hub vs Brevo

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 →

Accepted challengerEndorsed leader

0%First-choice share → · lines at 30% share and 25% negative50%

Key

ActiveCampaign36%

Brevo14%

MailerLite14%

Sender14%

HubSpot Marketing Hub10%

Mailchimp6%

Moosend2%

Omnisend0%

Kit0%

EmailOctopus0%

Klaviyo0%

Constant Contact0%

GetResponse0%

02What they warned about

Six of twelve models held their first choice under the paraphrase. Claude Haiku 4.5, GPT-5.4 mini, Gemini 3.5 Flash, DeepSeek V4 Flash, Llama 4 Maverick and GLM 4.7 FlashX changed. 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.

Mailchimp

41%

21 of 51 labels negative · 11 of 12 models · 9 hard negative

“Mailchimp has lost some of its email marketing roots and started limiting the free and basic version of its software” Claude Haiku 4.5, negative prompt

Constant Contact

48%

12 of 25 labels negative · 10 of 12 models · 6 hard negative

“Constant Contact is described as a "Traditional Email Service with Legacy Interface," and its automation capabilities aren't well-suited to complex customer journeys.” Claude Haiku 4.5, negative prompt

GetResponse

58%

7 of 12 labels negative · 7 of 12 models · 5 hard negative

“one review calls it the weakest fit for SMBs because it tries to do too much as an all-in-one suite and ends up mediocre in core email tasks” Perplexity Sonar, negative prompt

Klaviyo

39%

9 of 23 labels negative · 7 of 12 models · 1 hard negative

“Klaviyo/Omnisend: Overkill for pure B2B” Mistral Small, direct prompt

03What they cite

Citations exist only for the models that return a source list: four of the twelve in this edition, and all six flagship models on the expanded tier.

Sites the answers cite

18 of 72 answers in this category came back with a source list, from 4 of 12 models: citations where the model returns them, or the search results it consulted. 5 of those lists are Google grounding redirects that name no site and are left out of the counts. 154 links across 60 sites, every framing counted. Ranked by the number of answers carrying the site or page. The other 8 models searched through a gateway that returned no source list on this edition.

mailtrap.io

vendor site · Mailtrap8 answers · 13 citations · 2 models

emailtooltester.com

7 answers · 10 citations · 3 models

emailvendorselection.com

6 answers · 6 citations · 2 models

klaviyo.com

vendor site · Klaviyo6 answers · 6 citations · 3 models

sequenzy.com

vendor site · Sequenzy5 answers · 8 citations · 2 models

brevo.com

vendor site · Brevo5 answers · 6 citations · 1 model

capterra.com

vendor site · Capterra5 answers · 5 citations · 3 models

ventureharbour.com

5 answers · 5 citations · 1 model

sender.net

vendor site · Sender4 answers · 5 citations · 2 models

fitsmallbusiness.com

4 answers · 4 citations · 2 models

insiderone.com

4 answers · 4 citations · 2 models

learn.g2.com

4 answers · 4 citations · 1 model

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.

emailvendorselection.com/best-email-marketing-platforms

6 answers · 2 models

brevo.com/blog/best-email-marketing-services

5 answers · 1 model

klaviyo.com/blog/best-email-marketing-platforms

5 answers · 2 models

mailtrap.io/blog/email-marketing-platforms-for-startups

5 answers · 2 models

ventureharbour.com/email-marketing-software-tools-one-best

5 answers · 1 model

insiderone.com/best-email-marketing-platforms-small-businesses

4 answers · 2 models

learn.g2.com/best-email-marketing-software

4 answers · 1 model

mailtrap.io/blog/email-marketing-platforms

4 answers · 1 model

sequenzy.com/blog/best-email-marketing-tools

4 answers · 2 models

activecampaign.com/pricing

3 answers · 1 model

04How 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.

ModelDirect“What is the best email marketing platform for a small B2B company?”Paraphrase“Which email marketing tool would you recommend to a small business that sells to other businesses?”Comparative“What are the top email marketing platforms for a small team and how do they differ?”Budget-constrained“What is the best email marketing platform for a small company with a tight budget?”Scale-constrained“We are a 30 person company evaluating an email marketing platform. What should we look at?”Negative“Which email marketing platforms should a small business avoid or be cautious about?”

Claude Haiku 4.5no first choiceHubSpot Marketing Hub, MailchimpChanged

Four alternatives

ActiveCampaign, Brevo, Constant Contact, GetResponse

Constant Contact, MailerLite

Three alternatives

ActiveCampaign, EmailOctopus, Omnisend

Mailchimp

One alternative

Brevo

no first choiceagainst: Constant Contact, Mailchimp

GPT-5.4 miniHubSpot Marketing Hub

Three alternatives

ActiveCampaign, Brevo, Mailchimp

ActiveCampaignChanged

Two alternatives

Brevo, Mailchimp

against: HubSpot Marketing HubMailchimp

Five alternatives

ActiveCampaign, Brevo, Campaign Monitor, Kit, Klaviyo

MailerLite

One alternative

Brevo

against: Mailchimpno first choiceagainst: Constant Contact, SendGrid

Gemini 3.5 FlashActiveCampaign

Five alternatives

Brevo, HubSpot Marketing Hub, Instantly, Lemlist, MailerLite

Apollo.io, HubSpot Starter Customer PlatformChanged

Four alternatives

ActiveCampaign, Brevo, Instantly, Lemlist

MailerLite

Three alternatives

Brevo, Kit, Omnisend

against: Klaviyo, MailchimpSender

Three alternatives

Brevo, EmailOctopus, Kit

against: Constant Contact, Mailchimp, MailerLiteActiveCampaign

Five alternatives

Brevo, HubSpot Marketing Hub, Kit, Klaviyo, MailerLite

against: Adobe Marketo Engage, Salesforce Marketing Cloudagainst: Adobe Marketo Engage, Constant Contact, Keap, Mailchimp, Oracle Eloqua, Salesforce Marketing Cloud

Perplexity SonarActiveCampaign

Two alternatives

Brevo, MailerLite

against: HubSpot Marketing HubActiveCampaignHeld

Two alternatives

HubSpot Marketing Hub, Mailchimp

Brevo, MailerLite

Six alternatives

ActiveCampaign, Constant Contact, HubSpot Marketing Hub, Klaviyo, Mailchimp, Omnisend

Brevo

Three alternatives

MailerLite, Sender, Zoho Campaigns

no first choiceagainst: Constant Contact, GetResponse, HubSpot Marketing Hub, Kit, Klaviyo, Mailchimp, Substack

Grok 4.1 FastActiveCampaign

Four alternatives

Brevo, HubSpot Marketing Hub, Mailchimp, MailerLite

ActiveCampaignHeld

Three alternatives

Brevo, HubSpot Marketing Hub, Mailchimp

Brevo, MailerLite

Four alternatives

ActiveCampaign, Klaviyo, Mailchimp, Omnisend

Sender

Two alternatives

Brevo, EmailOctopus

against: Mailchimp, MailerLiteBrevo, MailerLite

Seven alternatives

ActiveCampaign, HubSpot Marketing Hub, Klaviyo, Mailchimp, Moosend, Omnisend, Sender

against: Constant Contact, HubSpot Marketing Hub, Klaviyo, Mailchimp

Mistral SmallActiveCampaign

Five alternatives

HubSpot Marketing Hub, Loops, Sender, Sequenzy, Userlist

against: Brevo, Klaviyo, Mailchimp, OmnisendActiveCampaignHeld

Three alternatives

Brevo, HubSpot Marketing Hub, Sender

MailerLite

Seven alternatives

ActiveCampaign, Brevo, Constant Contact, HubSpot Marketing Hub, Kit, Mailchimp, Moosend

Sender

Four alternatives

Benchmark Email, Brevo, EmailOctopus, MailerLite

Mailchimp

Four alternatives

ActiveCampaign, Brevo, HubSpot Marketing Hub, Klaviyo

against: AWeber, Benchmark Email, Constant Contact, Drip, GetResponse, Klaviyo, Mailchimp, Mailjet, Mailmodo, SendGrid, SendMails, SendX

DeepSeek V4 FlashMailerLite

Three alternatives

ActiveCampaign, Brevo, Sender

against: HubSpot Marketing HubActiveCampaignChanged

Two alternatives

Brevo, MailerLite

against: HubSpot Marketing HubMailerLite

Five alternatives

ActiveCampaign, Brevo, Kit, Klaviyo, Omnisend

against: MailchimpSender

Three alternatives

Brevo, EmailOctopus, MailerLite

against: Constant Contact, Klaviyo, Mailchimp, Omnisendno first choiceagainst: AWeber, ActiveCampaign, Brevo, Constant Contact, GetResponse, Mailchimp, MailerLite

Llama 4 Maverickno first choice

Two alternatives

ActiveCampaign, Customer.io

ActiveCampaign, Brevo, HubSpot Marketing HubChangedno first choiceMailerLite

Three alternatives

Brevo, Mailercloud, Sequenzy

no first choiceagainst: GetResponse

Qwen 3.7 FlashActiveCampaign, HubSpot Marketing Hub

Three alternatives

Brevo, Mailchimp, MailerLite

ActiveCampaign, HubSpot Marketing HubHeld

Two alternatives

Brevo, MailerLite

ActiveCampaign, MailerLite

Four alternatives

Brevo, HubSpot Marketing Hub, Moosend, Omnisend

against: Klaviyo, MailchimpMailerLite

Three alternatives

ActiveCampaign, Brevo, Systeme.io

against: MailchimpBrevo

Two alternatives

ActiveCampaign, HubSpot Marketing Hub

against: Mailchimpagainst: AWeber, Constant Contact, GetResponse, Klaviyo, SendFox, Sender

Kimi K2ActiveCampaign

One alternative

Brevo

against: HubSpot Marketing HubActiveCampaignHeld

Two alternatives

Brevo, MailerLite

against: HubSpot Marketing HubBrevo, MailerLite, Sender

Two alternatives

ActiveCampaign, Mailchimp

Sender

Two alternatives

Brevo, MailerLite

against: MailchimpBrevo, MailerLite, Moosend, Sender

Three alternatives

ActiveCampaign, HubSpot Marketing Hub, Klaviyo

against: AWeber, Benchmark Email, Constant Contact, GoHighLevel, Klaviyo, Mailchimp, SendPulse, Zoho Campaigns

GLM 4.7 FlashXActiveCampaign

Four alternatives

Brevo, GetResponse, HubSpot Marketing Hub, MailerLite

BrevoChanged

Four alternatives

ActiveCampaign, Constant Contact, HubSpot Marketing Hub, Mailchimp

MailerLite

Twelve alternatives

AWeber, ActiveCampaign, Brevo, Constant Contact, Drip, EmailOctopus, HubSpot Marketing Hub, Kit, Klaviyo, Mailchimp, Moosend, Omnisend

Brevo

One alternative

Sender

against: Mailchimpno first choiceagainst: AWeber, Benchmark Email, Constant Contact, Drip, GetResponse, Mailchimp, Mailmodo

MiniMax M2.5ActiveCampaign

Two alternatives

Brevo, HubSpot Marketing Hub

ActiveCampaignHeld

Two alternatives

HubSpot Marketing Hub, Sender

no first choice

Eight alternatives

ActiveCampaign, Campaign Monitor, HubSpot Marketing Hub, Klaviyo, Mailchimp, Mailjet, Omnisend, Sender

MailerLite, Sender

Three alternatives

Brevo, Mailjet, Omnisend

no first choiceagainst: ActiveCampaign, GetResponse, HubSpot Marketing Hub, Keap, Mailchimp

Bold is the first choiceAlternatives are counted; the count opens them.What the answer argued against

05The 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

Seventy-two rows: every prompt, every model, every answer.

Prompt	Model	Version string	Time (UTC)	Searched	Sources	Latency
Direct recommendation	Claude Haiku 4.5	`claude-haiku-4-5-20251001`	2026-09-15 00:10	no	0	4 s
Direct recommendation	GPT-5.4 mini	`gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17`	2026-09-15 00:17	yes	4	5 s
Direct recommendation	Gemini 3.5 Flash	`gemini-3.5-flash`	2026-09-15 01:05	yes	10	22 s
Direct recommendation	Perplexity Sonar	`sonar`	2026-09-15 00:02	yes	20	4 s
Direct recommendation	Grok 4.1 Fast	`spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex`	2026-09-15 04:22	yes	0	6 s
Direct recommendation	Mistral Small	`mistral/mistral-small via mistral`	2026-09-15 03:54	yes	0	6 s
Direct recommendation	DeepSeek V4 Flash	`deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks`	2026-09-15 04:31	yes	0	12 s
Direct recommendation	Llama 4 Maverick	`meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock`	2026-09-15 04:48	yes	0	2 s
Direct recommendation	Qwen 3.7 Flash	`alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba`	2026-09-15 02:31	yes	0	45 s
Direct recommendation	Kimi K2	`moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita`	2026-09-15 01:18	yes	0	26 s
Direct recommendation	GLM 4.7 FlashX	`zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai`	2026-09-14 23:08	yes	0	16 s
Direct recommendation	MiniMax M2.5	`minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax`	2026-09-14 23:42	no	0	8 s
Paraphrase	Claude Haiku 4.5	`claude-haiku-4-5-20251001`	2026-09-15 00:45	no	0	4 s
Paraphrase	GPT-5.4 mini	`gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17`	2026-09-14 23:16	yes	4	5 s
Paraphrase	Gemini 3.5 Flash	`gemini-3.5-flash`	2026-09-14 23:18	yes	16	23 s
Paraphrase	Perplexity Sonar	`sonar`	2026-09-14 23:11	yes	18	5 s
Paraphrase	Grok 4.1 Fast	`spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex`	2026-09-15 01:37	yes	0	5 s
Paraphrase	Mistral Small	`mistral/mistral-small via mistral`	2026-09-15 04:57	yes	0	4 s
Paraphrase	DeepSeek V4 Flash	`deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks`	2026-09-15 03:18	yes	0	16 s
Paraphrase	Llama 4 Maverick	`meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock`	2026-09-15 00:50	yes	0	1 s
Paraphrase	Qwen 3.7 Flash	`alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba`	2026-09-15 02:53	no	0	52 s
Paraphrase	Kimi K2	`moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita`	2026-09-15 02:04	yes	0	39 s
Paraphrase	GLM 4.7 FlashX	`zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai`	2026-09-15 01:55	yes	0	20 s
Paraphrase	MiniMax M2.5	`minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax`	2026-09-15 01:33	yes	0	12 s
Comparative	Claude Haiku 4.5	`claude-haiku-4-5-20251001`	2026-09-15 01:22	yes	7	7 s
Comparative	GPT-5.4 mini	`gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17`	2026-09-15 04:46	yes	5	8 s
Comparative	Gemini 3.5 Flash	`gemini-3.5-flash`	2026-09-15 00:15	yes	22	24 s
Comparative	Perplexity Sonar	`sonar`	2026-09-15 04:08	yes	18	6 s
Comparative	Grok 4.1 Fast	`spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex`	2026-09-15 00:39	yes	0	9 s
Comparative	Mistral Small	`mistral/mistral-small via mistral`	2026-09-15 01:27	yes	0	11 s
Comparative	DeepSeek V4 Flash	`deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks`	2026-09-15 02:06	yes	0	9 s
Comparative	Llama 4 Maverick	`meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock`	2026-09-15 00:29	yes	0	2 s
Comparative	Qwen 3.7 Flash	`alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba`	2026-09-14 23:24	yes	0	33 s
Comparative	Kimi K2	`moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita`	2026-09-15 02:57	yes	0	38 s
Comparative	GLM 4.7 FlashX	`zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai`	2026-09-15 04:33	yes	0	35 s
Comparative	MiniMax M2.5	`minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax`	2026-09-14 23:20	yes	0	14 s
Budget constrained	Claude Haiku 4.5	`claude-haiku-4-5-20251001`	2026-09-15 03:56	no	0	5 s
Budget constrained	GPT-5.4 mini	`gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17`	2026-09-14 23:39	yes	3	4 s
Budget constrained	Gemini 3.5 Flash	`gemini-3.5-flash`	2026-09-15 00:12	yes	23	22 s
Budget constrained	Perplexity Sonar	`sonar`	2026-09-15 02:19	yes	20	5 s
Budget constrained	Grok 4.1 Fast	`spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex`	2026-09-15 05:06	yes	0	6 s
Budget constrained	Mistral Small	`mistral/mistral-small via mistral`	2026-09-14 23:22	yes	0	7 s
Budget constrained	DeepSeek V4 Flash	`deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via deepinfra`	2026-09-15 01:38	yes	0	35 s
Budget constrained	Llama 4 Maverick	`meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock`	2026-09-15 02:17	yes	0	2 s
Budget constrained	Qwen 3.7 Flash	`alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba`	2026-09-14 23:23	no	0	24 s
Budget constrained	Kimi K2	`moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita`	2026-09-15 04:28	yes	0	21 s
Budget constrained	GLM 4.7 FlashX	`zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai`	2026-09-15 02:49	yes	0	115 s
Budget constrained	MiniMax M2.5	`minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax`	2026-09-15 00:11	yes	0	13 s
Scale constrained	Claude Haiku 4.5	`claude-haiku-4-5-20251001`	2026-09-15 00:41	no	0	6 s
Scale constrained	GPT-5.4 mini	`gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17`	2026-09-14 23:59	no	0	7 s
Scale constrained	Gemini 3.5 Flash	`gemini-3.5-flash`	2026-09-15 02:55	no	0	17 s
Scale constrained	Perplexity Sonar	`sonar`	2026-09-15 00:46	yes	20	9 s
Scale constrained	Grok 4.1 Fast	`spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex`	2026-09-15 02:29	yes	0	10 s
Scale constrained	Mistral Small	`mistral/mistral-small via mistral`	2026-09-15 01:23	no	0	6 s
Scale constrained	DeepSeek V4 Flash	`deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks`	2026-09-15 02:59	yes	0	25 s
Scale constrained	Llama 4 Maverick	`meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock`	2026-09-15 01:09	yes	0	2 s
Scale constrained	Qwen 3.7 Flash	`alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba`	2026-09-14 22:55	yes	0	20 s
Scale constrained	Kimi K2	`moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita`	2026-09-15 00:41	yes	0	59 s
Scale constrained	GLM 4.7 FlashX	`zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai`	2026-09-14 22:57	yes	0	18 s
Scale constrained	MiniMax M2.5	`minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax`	2026-09-14 22:54	yes	0	12 s
Negative framing	Claude Haiku 4.5	`claude-haiku-4-5-20251001`	2026-09-15 00:08	yes	13	7 s
Negative framing	GPT-5.4 mini	`gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17`	2026-09-15 03:55	yes	4	5 s
Negative framing	Gemini 3.5 Flash	`gemini-3.5-flash`	2026-09-15 04:46	yes	8	19 s
Negative framing	Perplexity Sonar	`sonar`	2026-09-14 23:35	yes	18	11 s
Negative framing	Grok 4.1 Fast	`spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex`	2026-09-15 03:19	yes	0	9 s
Negative framing	Mistral Small	`mistral/mistral-small via mistral`	2026-09-15 02:22	yes	0	10 s
Negative framing	DeepSeek V4 Flash	`deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks`	2026-09-15 03:13	yes	0	34 s
Negative framing	Llama 4 Maverick	`meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock`	2026-09-15 03:44	yes	0	2 s
Negative framing	Qwen 3.7 Flash	`alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba`	2026-09-15 02:03	yes	0	37 s
Negative framing	Kimi K2	`moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita`	2026-09-15 04:06	yes	0	59 s
Negative framing	GLM 4.7 FlashX	`zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai`	2026-09-15 01:45	yes	0	26 s
Negative framing	MiniMax M2.5	`minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax`	2026-09-14 23:29	yes	0	14 s

Normalization in this category

Every judgment call made between the raw labels and the numbers above, listed so it is visible and reversible.

Category-scoped readings

HubSpot read as HubSpot Marketing Hub

HubSpot (Marketing Hub Starter or Professional) read as HubSpot Marketing Hub

HubSpot (Starter) read as HubSpot Marketing Hub

Unresolved, counted raw

HubSpot Starter Customer Platform

SendFox

SendMails

Discontinued, still offered

No shut-down product was recommended here.

Email marketing platforms for small business buyers

By buyer segment

01The standing

Recommended versus criticized

02What they warned about

03What they cite

Sites the answers cite

Pages the answers cite

04How they answered

05The record

Normalization in this category

Also in marketing