# HubSpot Marketing Hub vs MailerLite: which do AI models recommend for email marketing, October 2026

GTM AI Recommendation Index, October 2026 Edition, Email marketing platforms. Twelve of fourteen models named HubSpot Marketing Hub first on the direct prompt; zero named MailerLite. Page: https://gtm-ai-index.com/marketing/email-marketing/hubspot-marketing-hub-vs-mailerlite/

| | First-choice share | Rank | Negative rate | Labels | Models naming it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HubSpot Marketing Hub | 35% | #1 of 14 | 8% | 52 | 14 of 14 |
| MailerLite | 9% | #4 of 14 | 21% | 28 | 13 of 14 |

## The direct prompt, model by model

- Claude Haiku 4.5: hubspot marketing hub first (first choices: HubSpot Marketing Hub) (alternatives: ActiveCampaign, Brevo, GetResponse)
- GPT-5.4 mini: hubspot marketing hub first (first choices: HubSpot Marketing Hub) (alternatives: Adobe Marketo Engage, Salesforce Marketing Cloud Account Engagement)
- Gemini 3.5 Flash: hubspot marketing hub first (first choices: HubSpot Marketing Hub) (alternatives: ActiveCampaign, Customer.io, Salesforce Marketing Cloud Account Engagement)
- Perplexity Sonar: hubspot marketing hub first (first choices: HubSpot Marketing Hub) (alternatives: ActiveCampaign, Outreach, Salesloft, ZoomInfo Marketing)
- Grok 4.20: hubspot marketing hub first (first choices: HubSpot Marketing Hub) (alternatives: ActiveCampaign, Adobe Marketo Engage)
- Mistral Small: hubspot marketing hub first (first choices: ActiveCampaign, HubSpot Marketing Hub)
- DeepSeek V4 Flash: hubspot marketing hub first (first choices: HubSpot Marketing Hub) (alternatives: ActiveCampaign, Klaviyo, Salesforce Marketing Cloud)
- Qwen 3.7 Flash: hubspot marketing hub first (first choices: HubSpot Marketing Hub) (alternatives: ActiveCampaign, Adobe Marketo Engage, Salesforce Marketing Cloud Account Engagement, SharpSpring)
- Kimi K2: hubspot marketing hub first (first choices: ActiveCampaign, HubSpot Marketing Hub)
- GLM 4.7 FlashX: hubspot marketing hub first (first choices: HubSpot Marketing Hub) (alternatives: ActiveCampaign, Brevo, Klaviyo)
- GPT-6 Luna: hubspot marketing hub first (first choices: HubSpot Marketing Hub) (alternatives: Adobe Marketo Engage, Salesforce Marketing Cloud Account Engagement)
- Muse Glimmer 30B: hubspot marketing hub first (first choices: ActiveCampaign, HubSpot Marketing Hub) (alternatives: Adobe Marketo Engage)
- MiniMax M2.5: neither first, one named (first choices: ActiveCampaign) (alternatives: HubSpot Marketing Hub, Salesforce Marketing Cloud Account Engagement)
- Llama 4 Maverick: neither named (first choices: ActiveCampaign) (alternatives: Dotdigital, Salesforce Email Marketing)

## What the models said about HubSpot Marketing Hub

- "Recommending HubSpot to small businesses is irresponsible, and for everyone except B2B companies doing £1M+ in revenue, it's a trap." (Claude Haiku 4.5, negative prompt, hard negative)
- "HubSpot and Salesforce Marketing Cloud (Avoid if you only need email marketing)" (Gemini 3.5 Flash, negative prompt, hard negative)
- "If you're a B2B company with a complex sales cycle, HubSpot remains the most complete option — with caveats. ... Best for B2B Winner: HubSpot with significant cost caveats." (Muse Glimmer 30B, direct prompt, first choice)

## What the models said about MailerLite

- "its free tier has been reduced to 250 subscribers, making it less viable for budget-conscious starters" (Gemini 3.5 Flash, budget prompt, soft negative)
- "Beehiiv, GetResponse, and MailerLite are the ones to approach with caution." (GLM 4.7 FlashX, negative prompt, soft negative)
- "simple tools like Mailchimp or MailerLite often fall short on B2B features" (Gemini 3.5 Flash, direct prompt, soft negative)
- "Choose MailerLite if you want the best balance of features and freedom (most recommended for general SMBs)." (Qwen 3.7 Flash, budget prompt, first choice)
- "If you need a free plan with generous limits, MailerLite is often considered the best overall." (Mistral Small, budget prompt, first choice)
- "Opt for proven high-deliverability options like ActiveCampaign, MailerLite, or GetResponse." (Grok 4.20, negative prompt, first choice)

Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts over all fourteen models, for a mid-market B2B company; rank is within the category. Comparisons are drawn for the top eight products in each category. Published under CC BY 4.0; the output is the models' output, and nothing here is a recommendation by the index.