Side-by-side comparison · Marketing & Ads
beehiiv vs HubSpot vs Arcads
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.
HubSpot
4.1Pick it if: Service businesses, agencies and B2B teams that need contacts, deals and marketing in one system.
Arcads
3.7Pick it if: Performance marketers who want cheap, fast video ads to test before investing in real creators.
Overview
| Attribute | beehiiv | HubSpot | Arcads |
|---|---|---|---|
| In one line | Newsletter platform with AI writing help, built-in growth tools and ways to get paid. | A free CRM with AI agents that handle leads, support and content for you. | Makes talking-head video ads with AI actors, no filming or creators needed. |
| Pricing model | Freemium | Freemium | Paid |
| Starting price | From $59/mo | From $800/mo | See website |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes | No |
| Works with Claude Code | Yes | Yes | No |
Rating breakdown
Our scores out of 5. The higher bar in each row is highlighted.
| Attribute | beehiiv | HubSpot | Arcads |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall rating | 4.2Winner | 4.1 | 3.7 |
| Ease of useHow quickly someone non-technical gets value from it. | 4.5 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| FeaturesHow much it can do, and how well the pieces fit together. | 4.0 | 5.0 | 3.5 |
| 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 | 3.5 | 3.0 |
| Speed & reliabilityHow fast it is and how often it falls over. | 4.5 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
Feature comparison
A tick means it does this today. A dash means we haven't checked.
| Attribute | beehiiv | HubSpot | Arcads |
|---|---|---|---|
| Access & platform | |||
| Free plan | Yes | Yes | No |
| Mobile app | Yes | Yes | No |
| Desktop app | No | No | No |
| Browser extension | No | Yes | No |
| 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 | – |
| Open source or self-hosted | No | No | No |
| AI abilities | |||
| Works with your files | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Understands images | – | – | Yes |
| Makes images | Yes | Yes | No |
| Makes video | No | No | Yes |
| Writes code | No | No | No |
| Runs agents or automations | Yes | Yes | No |
| Learns your brand or style | Yes | Yes | No |
| Works in many languages | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Capabilities score | 11/ 17 | 12/ 17 | 7/ 17 |
Pricing
Plans as listed on each vendor's site when we last checked. Confirm before you buy.
| Attribute | beehiiv | HubSpot | Arcads |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plans | FreeOur pick Free Anyone starting a newsletter from zero. | Free Free Anyone who needs a CRM and basic marketing tools without a budget. | StarterOur pick See website Testing a handful of scripts a month. |
Lite From $59/mo, or $49/mo billed yearly Writers ready to earn from sponsors or paid tiers. | Marketing Hub StarterOur pick $20/seat/mo, currently $7/seat/mo for new customers Small teams ready to remove the branding and send more. | Creator See website Brands producing video ads every week. | |
Pro From $109/mo, or $95/mo billed yearly Publications that want their own brand and deeper analytics. | Marketing Hub Professional From $800/mo billed yearly, or $890/mo Marketing teams that need real automation. | Pro Custom Teams and agencies at volume. | |
Enterprise Custom Media companies with several large publications. | 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. | 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. | Arcads does not publish prices, so sign up for the trial and check the plan screen before you commit. Starter is enough to test whether the style works for your product; move up only once you have a winning script you want to localise or vary at scale. |
Key features
Pros and cons
| Attribute | beehiiv | HubSpot | Arcads |
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Who each one is for
| Attribute | beehiiv | HubSpot | Arcads |
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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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