HubSpot vs iContact

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Our analysts compared HubSpot vs iContact based on data from our 400+ point analysis of Marketing Automation Software, user reviews and our own crowdsourced data from our free software selection platform.

iContact Software Tool

Product Basics

HubSpot provides a cloud-based platform built around inbound methodology and designed to help businesses be more customer-centric. It offers a free CRM package along with marketing, sales, service and CMS hubs, which can be deployed individually or together for full flexibility and scalability.

Timeline segmentation provides users with an overview of their prospect’s journey from the attraction stage to closing. Additional capabilities include funnel automation, lead targeting, analytics and reporting, email templates and more. It caters to small businesses but has paid versions robust enough to support the needs of larger organizations.
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iContact is an email automation and marketing tool geared towards small and medium-sized businesses running Windows, MacOS and Linux. It offers several standard features, with a distinct focus on email features and easy-to-use technology. These include templates, a drag-and-drop editor, automation, A/B testing, list segmentation and campaigns.

It also comes bundled with a handful of additional features to support marketing and sales activities, such as reporting, landing pages, sign-up forms and a free email lookbook.
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$800 Monthly
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Tailored to your specific needs
$8.50 Monthly
Get a free price quote
Tailored to your specific needs
Small 
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Android
Chromebook
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Cloud
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Product Assistance

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Email
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Knowledge Base
24/7 Live Support
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24/7 Live Support

Product Insights

  • Built Around Inbound: Designed to attract leads and nurture them with helpful information and inbound best practices, all at the push of a button. 
  • All-in-One Software: Managing every aspect of customer relationships is seamless with an integrated suite that helps engage with leads and customers at any stage. Offers a cohesive experience, process alignment and holistic data. 
  • Free CRM: Small businesses can leverage capabilities to enhance and grow without spending a dime. Includes sales, marketing and service tools in addition to foundational CRM features. Supports unlimited users and can store up to a million contact records. 
  • User-Friendly: An intuitive UI and no-code tools make it easy to leverage regardless of technical ability. 
  • Better Organization: Keep teams and data more organized via an all-in-one, centralized structure and tools that simplify tracking and updating information. Managers can use hierarchies and partitioning to focus each team member in the right area and ensure they have the most appropriate content. 
  • Full Scalability: Support business growth at any stage by deploying the free toolsets and adding premium features along the way, all within a single ecosystem. 
  • Salesforce Integration: Achieve a seamless marketing and sales strategy by setting up two-way sync between HubSpot and Salesforce databases. Deliver insights to Salesforce for sales activities and pull relevant information back into HubSpot to enhance marketing efforts. The integration doesn’t require technical setup and is supported by a team of HubSpot engineers. 
  • Free Website Insights: Optimize a website using a free website grader, which determines strengths and weaknesses and offers free improvement tips. 
  • Generators: Receive creative or strategic direction through tools that generate blog topics, build buyer personas, craft email signatures and suggest invoice templates. Go through a step-by-step process that produces a marketing plan based on company needs. 
  • Prospect Journeys: Track prospects from the attraction phase of the buyer’s journey to the closing stage for a high-level overview of where leads are coming from and where they’re going afterward. 
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  • Automate Funnels: Streamline all levels of the marketing funnel, taking the work of a whole marketing team and automating it. 
  • Manage Subscribers: Easily access and manage contacts list, facilitating healthy relationships with the right leads. 
  • Boost Sales: Nurture leads and pass them along to sales with included CRM integrations. 
  • Unlimited Users: Onboard unlimited new users at no additional cost. 
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  • Pipeline Management:
    •  Reduces data entry through auto-populated data and grants control over pipelines to match how users work. 
    •  User-friendly edit tools alongside a drag-and-drop interface simplify the entire management process. 
    •  Quick access to key metrics is available with a sales dashboard. 
  • Lead Management: Perform CRM activities without the hassle of reconciling different data sets and gain full visibility into contacts by accessing data-rich profiles in one location. Capabilities include lead segmentation, contact activity history and tasks. 
  • Messaging: Facilitates better internal and external communication, promotes strong customer experiences, supports lead generation and enables more timely follow up. Offers Facebook Messenger, a customizable live chat widget, shared email and a chatbot builder. 
  • Conversations Inbox:
    •  Provides context, alignment and transparency for marketing, sales and service teams through a team-wide inbox. 
    •  Aids cross-functional collaboration via a central hub for communicating with prospects, leads and customers. Routing rules deliver emails to the most relevant team or member. 
    •  Offers a seamless experience to customers no matter what stage they’re in. 
  • Contact Activity: Gain deeper insights by leveraging analytics that show website interactions. Track form submissions, page visits and more. 
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  • Email Builder: A no-code interface is included, making it easy to build effective emails without any programming experience. 
  • Automatic Email: Running without user intervention, it can accurately deliver emails on time. 
  • Scalable Templates: Built to be delivered efficiently, effectively and to display correctly on mobile or desktop platforms. 
  • Time-Based Campaigns: Create and map out time-based campaigns in a short amount of time by utilizing multiple email templates and building platforms.  
  • A/B Testing: Test content performance and customer reception by splitting email campaigns into groups. 
  • Email Lookbook: Select from 55 prebuilt email designs, free of cost, that have been proven to generate high ROI.
  • List Segmentation: Send relevant and personalized emails using audience segmentation, increase subscription chances by creating and targeting audience lists based on defined conditions, and send dynamic content by incorporating merge fields into messaging. 
  • Reporting: Stay informed with updates about campaigns through dashboards, make informed business decisions with real-time reports, and track and analyze data using granular reports. 
  • Integrations: Integrates with major platforms such as Google Forms, HubSpot CRM, Salesforce, PayPal, Zoho CRM, WordPress, Zapier, Magento, Shopify, LeadsBridge and more. 
  • Sign-Up Forms: Create forms quickly using an easy interface and embed them on a website or business Facebook page.  
  • Salesforce Mass Email: Gain insights into campaign effectiveness through reports and dashboards, send personalized emails using templates, track opens and clicks, and explore customers’ response to email campaigns. 
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Product Ranking

#1

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Marketing Automation Software

#17

among all
Marketing Automation Software

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Analyst Rating Summary

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Analyst Ratings for Functional Requirements Customize This Data Customize This Data

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AI-Based Capabilities Campaign Management Compliance And Data Security Dashboard And Reporting Email Campaign Management Lead Generation Lead Management Lead Nurturing Mobile Capabilities Platform Capabilities Social Media Campaign Management Text Campaign Management 79 100 100 100 97 93 95 98 62 95 100 57 0 25 50 75 100
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Analyst Ratings for Technical Requirements Customize This Data Customize This Data

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User Sentiment Summary

Great User Sentiment 10050 reviews
Great User Sentiment 2227 reviews
87%
of users recommend this product

HubSpot has a 'great' User Satisfaction Rating of 87% when considering 10050 user reviews from 5 recognized software review sites.

86%
of users recommend this product

iContact has a 'great' User Satisfaction Rating of 86% when considering 2227 user reviews from 5 recognized software review sites.

4.8 (19)
n/a
4.3 (5644)
4.1 (1069)
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4.48 (548)
4.5 (2623)
4.5 (521)
4.3 (142)
3.8 (4)
4.3 (1622)
4.0 (85)

Awards

SelectHub research analysts have evaluated HubSpot and concluded it deserves the award for the Best Overall Marketing Automation Software available today and earns best-in-class honors for Campaign Management, Compliance and Data Security, Dashboard and Reporting and Social Media Campaign Management.

Analysts' Pick Award
Campaign Management Award
Compliance and Data Security Award
Dashboard and Reporting Award
Social Media Campaign Management Award

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Synopsis of User Ratings and Reviews

Ease of Use: Every user referencing navigation reports the platform is user-friendly.
Customer Support: The support team is reliable and offers quick responses to any need, according to 91% of reviewers referencing this aspect.
Automation: Automating email campaigns, lead scoring and workflows, managing sales funnel and social engagement, and creating email templates is easy, according to 95% of reviewers who talk about automation.
Feature-Rich: The range of features offered, such as creating landing pages, forms and email campaigns, is a benefit to 85% of users mentioning functionalities.
Marketing: Every user who refers to marketing feels it’s easy to market products.
Interface: A slick interface makes it easy to navigate, in the experience of 80% of reviewers referencing the UI.
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Email Automation: Equipped with every essential feature, the tool enables quick email sending, keeping track of delivered mails, mass emails, marketing campaigns and more, according to 97% of reviewers referencing it.
Ease of Use: The system is easy to learn, understand and use, note 96% of reviewers referencing user-friendliness.
Templates: Almost 75% of reviewers mentioning templates report that well-designed, customizable templates help save time and auto-answer templates help deliver emails designed for all devices.
Interface: A clear, pleasant and clean interface is a benefit to 81% of reviewers who mention it.
Support: Every user mentioning this aspect notes that customer service is fast and attentive.
Feature-Rich: Features like A/B testing, automation, email subscriber entity management, multi-user accessibility and a drag-and-drop editor are a plus, in the experience of every user referencing them.
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Price: Premium products are expensive for the amount of functionality, especially for small and mid-sized companies, according to 86% of reviewers mentioning cost.
Training: In 85% of reviews referencing training, users say it’s difficult for average users to perform complicated tasks such as tracking leads and making different mailing lists, causing a learning curve.
Email Functionality: All reviews about this issue note that customizing the mobile version of an email affects the desktop version, inserting custom HTML such as a for promo timer isn’t possible and more.
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Cost: It has a high cost for the few tools offered, and it’s also expensive to use large volumes of data, according to almost 80% of users mentioning pricing.
Limitations: Every user talking about this aspect mentions limitations such as limited storage and email customization, difficulty in fixing mistakes, deleting files, adding contacts and spell check.
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With basic CRM alongside marketing, sales, service and content management, Hubspot offers a lot of functionalities, which users cite as a primary benefit. Its slick interface ensures an intuitive experience and extensive automation simplifies tasks, although some complicated functions make it time-consuming to learn. Users also appreciate how prompt customer support is, and that there’s a free version that’s ideal for small and mid-sized businesses. However, certain email elements present issues and the paid versions are expensive for what they offer. Overall, businesses that are in need of a robust and scalable product suite, especially those with a focus on inbound marketing, might find this to be a good fit.

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iContact provides email automation and marketing tools in an easy-to-use interface. It offers a wide range of features and offers a lot of options to make interesting designs and templates. It also has a prompt customer service team according to most reviewers. However, the pricing is on the higher side and there are certain limitations that prevent users from getting the most out of the solution. Overall, it has a lot to offer for email marketing, with use-friendly tools that are great for small and medium businesses, though there are more robust platforms available.

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Screenshots

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