Side-by-side comparison · Marketing & Ads
beehiiv vs Foreplay vs HubSpot
Everything that matters when choosing between them, in one place: our rating, what each can do, what they cost, and the trade-offs.
Comparing 3 tools, the maximum.
At a glance
beehiiv
4.2Pick it if: Creators, founders and media brands who want to treat their newsletter as a proper channel.
Foreplay
4.2Pick it if: Media buyers, creative strategists and agencies who brief ads for a living.
HubSpot
4.1Pick it if: Service businesses, agencies and B2B teams that need contacts, deals and marketing in one system.
Overview
| Attribute | beehiiv | Foreplay | HubSpot |
|---|---|---|---|
| In one line | Newsletter platform with AI writing help, built-in growth tools and ways to get paid. | Save competitors' ads, spot trends and turn them into briefs for your next creative. | A free CRM with AI agents that handle leads, support and content for you. |
| Pricing model | Freemium | Paid | Freemium |
| Starting price | From $59/mo | $59/mo | From $800/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | No | Yes |
| Works with Claude Code | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Rating breakdown
Our scores out of 5. The higher bar in each row is highlighted.
| Attribute | beehiiv | Foreplay | HubSpot |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall rating | 4.2 | 4.2 | 4.1 |
| Ease of useHow quickly someone non-technical gets value from it. | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.0 |
| FeaturesHow much it can do, and how well the pieces fit together. | 4.0 | 4.0 | 5.0 |
| Output qualityHow good the results are before you fix them. | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| Value for moneyWhat you get for the price, including the free plan. | 4.0 | 4.0 | 3.5 |
| Speed & reliabilityHow fast it is and how often it falls over. | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.0 |
Feature comparison
A tick means it does this today. A dash means we haven't checked.
| Attribute | beehiiv | Foreplay | HubSpot |
|---|---|---|---|
| Access & platform | |||
| Free plan | Yes | No | Yes |
| Mobile app | Yes | No | Yes |
| Desktop app | No | No | No |
| Browser extension | No | Yes | Yes |
| API access | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Teams & business | |||
| Team workspace | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Enterprise plan or SSO | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Connects to other apps | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Open source or self-hosted | No | No | No |
| AI abilities | |||
| Works with your files | Yes | – | Yes |
| Understands images | – | Yes | – |
| Makes images | Yes | No | Yes |
| Makes video | No | No | No |
| Writes code | No | No | No |
| Runs agents or automations | Yes | No | Yes |
| Learns your brand or style | Yes | No | Yes |
| Works in many languages | Yes | – | Yes |
| Capabilities score | 11/ 17 | 6/ 17 | 12/ 17 |
Pricing
Plans as listed on each vendor's site when we last checked. Confirm before you buy.
| Attribute | beehiiv | Foreplay | HubSpot |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plans | FreeOur pick Free Anyone starting a newsletter from zero. | BasicOur pick $59/mo, or $49/mo billed yearly One person who researches and saves ads. | Free Free Anyone who needs a CRM and basic marketing tools without a budget. |
Lite From $59/mo, or $49/mo billed yearly Writers ready to earn from sponsors or paid tiers. | Workflow $175/mo, or $149/mo billed yearly Small teams that track competitors and brief regularly. | Marketing Hub StarterOur pick $20/seat/mo, currently $7/seat/mo for new customers Small teams ready to remove the branding and send more. | |
Pro From $109/mo, or $95/mo billed yearly Publications that want their own brand and deeper analytics. | Agency $459/mo, or $389/mo billed yearly Agencies working across many client brands. | Marketing Hub Professional From $800/mo billed yearly, or $890/mo Marketing teams that need real automation. | |
Enterprise Custom Media companies with several large publications. | Enterprise Custom Large teams that need unlimited usage. | Marketing Hub Enterprise From $3,600/mo Large teams with several brands or business units. | |
| Which plan to pick | Stay on Free until you have a few hundred engaged readers; it has everything you need to write and grow. Move to Lite when you want sponsor revenue or paid subscriptions, and to Pro when the beehiiv branding starts to bother you or your brand. | Basic does the job for a solo marketer or founder who wants a serious swipe file. Step up to Workflow when you have a team or you want to track specific competitors and connect it to Claude. Agency only makes sense if you brief for many brands. | Run the free CRM for as long as you can; it covers most small businesses. Starter is the sensible first paid step when you want the branding gone and more sends. Only move to Professional when you have a specific automation in mind that will pay for the jump. |
Key features
Pros and cons
| Attribute | beehiiv | Foreplay | HubSpot |
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Who each one is for
| Attribute | beehiiv | Foreplay | HubSpot |
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How we compare
Ratings are our own, from using each tool, across ease of use, features, output quality, value for money, speed & reliability. The "Visit" buttons may use affiliate links, which never affect a score.
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