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Marketing Automation • 7 products

Marketing Automation — How to Decide?

Compare email marketing and automation platforms by pricing model, workflow depth, and business model fit. The pricing model you choose determines your cost trajectory at scale.

How to use this page — start with the category truths, then open a product brief, and only compare once you have two candidates.
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Constraints first Pricing behavior Trade-offs

Related Categories

If you're evaluating Marketing Automation, you may also need:

CRM
Billing

Find your marketing automation fit

Your primary business model, list size, and automation needs determine which platform fits. Most teams overpay by choosing brand-name tools when a purpose-built alternative matches better.

Decision finder

What's your primary business model?

How large is your contact list?

What level of automation do you need?

Pick answers to see a recommended starting path

This is a decision brief site: we optimize for operating model + cost/limits + what breaks first (not feature checklists).

Pre-built recommendation paths

Each path narrows the field based on a specific constraint pattern — click to see which products fit and why.

Start with Omnisend (affordable e-commerce automation)
Omnisend Klaviyo
View recommendation
Start with Klaviyo (e-commerce revenue attribution at scale)
Klaviyo Omnisend
View recommendation
Klaviyo for revenue attribution, but model SMS costs carefully
Klaviyo Omnisend
View recommendation
Start with ActiveCampaign (B2B automation without enterprise pricing)
ActiveCampaign HubSpot Marketing Hub
View recommendation
Start with HubSpot Marketing Hub (CRM-native B2B automation)
HubSpot Marketing Hub ActiveCampaign
View recommendation
Start with Marketo (enterprise B2B marketing ops)
Marketo HubSpot Marketing Hub
View recommendation
Start with Mailchimp (simplest path for small lists)
Mailchimp Brevo
View recommendation
Start with ActiveCampaign (best automation value at mid-scale)
ActiveCampaign Brevo
View recommendation
Start with Brevo (send-based pricing for large lists)
Brevo ActiveCampaign
View recommendation
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Build your shortlist

Narrow your marketing automation shortlist based on the constraints that actually determine cost and fit at your stage.

Select at least one filter

Freshness

Last updated: 2026-02-10
Dataset generated: 2026-02-10T14:00:00Z
Method: source-led, decision-first (cost/limits + trade-offs)

2026-02-10T14:00:00-08:00 — Initial category launch

Added 7 products (HubSpot Marketing Hub, Marketo, ActiveCampaign, Mailchimp, Klaviyo, Brevo, Omnisend) with 8 comparison pages covering Tier A and Tier B pairs.

See all updates →

Top picks in Marketing Automation

These are commonly short‑listed options based on constraints, pricing behavior, and operational fit — not review scores.

HubSpot Marketing Hub

All-in-one inbound marketing platform with native CRM integration, email automation, landing pages, and multi-touch attribution. Free tier generous; Professiona…

Marketo

Enterprise B2B marketing automation platform (Adobe) with advanced lead scoring, ABM, multi-touch attribution, and deep Salesforce integration. Custom pricing s…

ActiveCampaign

Mid-market email marketing and automation platform with best-in-class conditional workflows, built-in CRM, and lead scoring. Lite from $29/mo; Plus at $49/mo ad…

Mailchimp

Most widely adopted email marketing platform with drag-and-drop builder, basic automation, and 300+ integrations. Free for 500 contacts; Standard $13.99/mo.

Klaviyo

E-commerce-focused email and SMS platform with native Shopify integration, per-email revenue attribution, and predictive analytics. Free for 250 contacts; prici…

Brevo

Multi-channel marketing platform (formerly Sendinblue) with send-based pricing, unlimited contacts, and email + SMS + WhatsApp + chat. Free: 300 emails/day; Sta…

Omnisend

E-commerce marketing automation with pre-built Shopify/WooCommerce workflows, email + SMS + push in one plan. Free for 250 contacts; Standard at $16/mo for 500 …

Pricing and availability may change. Verify details on the official website.

Most common decision mistake: Choosing a marketing automation platform by brand familiarity instead of modeling pricing at your actual contact count and send volume. A 50,000-contact list on Mailchimp costs $299+/mo; the same list on Brevo costs $25/mo with send-based pricing.

Popular head-to-head comparisons

Use these when you already have two candidates and want the constraints and cost mechanics that usually decide fit.

The most common migration path in email marketing: teams outgrowing Mailchimp's basic automation seek ActiveCampaign's deeper workflows.
E-commerce brands on Shopify debating whether Klaviyo's premium pricing is justified by its native order data integration and revenue…
Enterprise B2B marketing teams choosing between HubSpot's integrated convenience and Marketo's specialized depth for lead scoring and…
Growing businesses choosing between ActiveCampaign's mid-market value and HubSpot's enterprise breadth—the most common 'should I upgrade?'…
The primary e-commerce email platform decision: Klaviyo's analytics premium versus Omnisend's value proposition for Shopify and WooCommerce…
The pricing model showdown: teams on Mailchimp discovering Brevo's send-based billing can cut their email marketing costs by 50-80% at…
Want the fastest path to a decision?
Jump to head-to-head comparisons for Marketing Automation.
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How to choose the right Marketing Automation platform

Contact-Based vs Send-Based Pricing

Contact-based platforms charge for every contact in your database, including dormant ones. Send-based platforms charge only for emails actually sent. At 50,000+ contacts with moderate engagement, this creates a 3-10x cost difference.

Questions to ask:

  • What is your total contact count vs monthly send volume?
  • What percentage of your list is actively engaged?

E-commerce vs B2B Feature Fit

E-commerce platforms (Klaviyo, Omnisend) offer native Shopify integration and revenue-per-email attribution. B2B platforms (HubSpot, Marketo) offer lead scoring, ABM, and CRM sync. Using the wrong type means missing critical capabilities.

Questions to ask:

  • Is your primary metric revenue-per-email or marketing-qualified leads?
  • Do you need native Shopify/BigCommerce order data sync?

Automation Depth vs Ease of Use

Simple tools (Mailchimp) get you sending in hours but cap out at basic drip sequences. Advanced tools (ActiveCampaign, Marketo) offer conditional workflows and scoring but require ops investment. Match depth to team capacity.

Questions to ask:

  • Does your team have dedicated marketing ops or is this a side responsibility?
  • How many automation triggers do you actually need?

How we evaluate Marketing Automation

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Source-Led Facts

We prioritize official pricing pages and vendor documentation over third-party review noise.

🎯

Intent Over Pricing

A $0 plan is only a "deal" if it actually solves your problem. We evaluate based on use‑case fitness.

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Durable Ranges

Vendor prices change daily. We highlight stable pricing bands to help you plan your long-term budget.