SEO software records queries, pages, and links. A useful export is a list of URLs with the query and the date, not a single score for the whole site.
Read the search engine optimization notesMarkettrellis on marketing software, and what it costs.
Search, content, social, email, CRM, automation, analytics, and the AI tools that come with them. Written for someone choosing a subscription.
See the categoriesEight kinds of marketing software.
Eight jobs marketing software is hired to do.
Markettrellis splits the directory by the record the software keeps: a query, a draft, a post, a contact, a deal, a workflow, a report, or a generated paragraph.
Content tools hold briefs, drafts, and the date a page went live. The record that matters is the file you can take with you if the subscription ends.
Read the content marketing notesSocial schedulers queue posts and keep a log of what went out. The limit is usually the number of profiles, not the number of sentences in a caption.
Read the social media management notesEmail platforms bill by contacts or by sends. Mailchimp Standard is published as starting at $20 a month for up to 500 contacts, and the price changes when the list grows.
Read the email marketing notesA CRM stores people, companies, and the next task. HubSpot’s free CRM tools and its paid seats are different products; the seat price is on HubSpot’s product page.
Read the customer relationship management notesAutomation software sends a message or updates a record when something you can name happens. The workflow is only as useful as the event that starts it.
Read the marketing automation notesAnalytics tools count visits and conversions. Google Analytics has a free product and a paid 360 product; the difference is volume and support, which Google publishes separately.
Read the analytics and reporting notesAI features inside marketing tools draft text or sort records. The vendor page should say what data is sent and whether you can turn the feature off.
Read the ai-powered business tools notesA subscription is a price plus a limit.
The expensive plan is not automatically the one that matches the work. Match the seat count, the contact tier, and the export before you match the feature list.
Name the weekly task
If the software does not show up in that task, the rest of the feature list can wait.
Read the tier you will reach
A price printed for 500 contacts is not the price for 5,000 contacts. Open that row.
Check the export
Contacts, posts, and reports should leave as a file. A cancelled account that keeps the file hostage is part of the cost.
Separate the discount from the renewal
A three-month discount is a promotion. The page should also say the price on the fourth invoice.
Don't mix two prices that happen to match
Mailchimp's $20 is an email plan for 500 contacts. HubSpot's $20 is a marketing seat. They are not the same purchase.
Four checks before a card is charged.
The order is the same for a one-person shop and a larger team. The numbers change.
Write the job in one sentence
Example: send a weekly letter to people who bought last quarter. That sentence picks email software, not an SEO crawler.
List the records the job needs
A letter needs contacts and a template. A rank report needs URLs and queries. Buy the product that stores those records.
Read the limit that changes the bill
Seats, contacts, and projects are where the bill changes. HubSpot Marketing Hub Starter starts at $20 a month per core seat. Mailchimp Standard starts at $20 a month for up to 500 contacts. A bigger list or more seats costs more.
Check the price on the day you pay
Companies change plan prices. The number on their own page is the one that gets billed.
Who the notes are for.
The categories stay the same. The plan you can afford does not.
A founder sending the first campaigns
Start with the contact tier and the seat count. A suite that bills per seat can cost more than the campaign it sends.
A small team with one marketer
Prefer a tool that person can run without an administrator. Extra seats for approvers should be on the price page, not in a later quote.
Someone who already has a stack
Add a product only when it keeps a record the current tools do not keep. Another login that repeats the same list is a second bill for the same file.
An agency reporting to clients
The useful feature is a report a client can read and an export the agency still has if the client leaves.
From the blog
Mailchimp's contact price, HubSpot's seat price, and how a suite differs from a tool that does one job.
When a marketing suite and a single-purpose tool are different purchases
Mailchimp’s $20 buys an email plan. HubSpot’s $20 buys a seat. They are not the same thing.
Read the postWhat HubSpot charges to start Marketing Hub
Starter starts at $20 a month per core seat. Professional starts at $890, and Enterprise at $3,600.
Read the postWhat Mailchimp charges for Standard at 500 contacts
Standard starts at $20 a month for up to 500 contacts. A larger list costs more.
Read the postQuestions readers ask first
What does Markettrellis publish?
Notes on marketing software: what each kind of tool is for, and what Mailchimp and HubSpot charge to start.
Which categories are on the site?
SEO, content, social, email, CRM, automation, analytics, and AI features that sit inside those tools. The same eight anchors are on the software page.
What does Mailchimp cost?
Mailchimp Standard starts at $20 a month for up to 500 contacts. The price changes when the list grows. The current tiers are on Mailchimp's pricing page.
What does HubSpot Marketing Hub cost?
Starter starts at $20 a month per core seat. Professional starts at $890 a month. Enterprise starts at $3,600 a month. Those are starting prices on HubSpot's product page. Seats and add-ons can make the bill higher.
Markettrellis is a directory of marketing software. The eight categories are search, content, social, email, customer records, automation, analytics, and AI tools inside those products.
Two prices are concrete enough to repeat. Mailchimp Standard starts at $20 a month for up to 500 contacts, and the price rises as the list grows. HubSpot Marketing Hub starts at $20 a month per core seat. Professional starts at $890 a month, and Enterprise starts at $3,600 a month. Those are starting prices. Seats and add-ons can push the bill up.
The posts go further on each of those, and on the difference between an email plan and a marketing suite. The software page is the map of the eight jobs.
Read the category that matches the job.
Pick the job, then read the company's price on the company's site.