HubSpot's Free Marketing Tools: 2,000 Sends With Branding
A free CRM with marketing attached. The email allowance is workable; the one automated action per account is what actually limits you.
HubSpot's free marketing tools allow 2,000 email sends per calendar month, up to two users, 1,000 marketing contacts on accounts created after September 2024, and one automated action. Every free email carries HubSpot branding. Starter at $7 per seat a month on promotion, $20 standard, raises sends to five times the contact tier and makes branding removable.1
HubSpot is a CRM that happens to include email, which shapes the free tier. The contact record and pipeline are the point; the marketing tools are an attachment.
That makes the 2,000-send allowance look modest and the one automated action look severe, both correctly.2
What you actually get
| Free | Starter | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $0 | $7/seat/mo promo, $20 standard |
| Users | 2 | Per seat |
| Email sends | 2,000/month | 5x contact tier |
| Marketing contacts | 1,000 | 1,000 |
| Automated actions | 1 | More |
| Email templates | 3 | More |
| Snippets | 3 | More |
| Meeting links | 1 | More |
| Dashboards | 10 | More |
| HubSpot branding | Required | Removable |
Marketing Hub Professional jumps to $800 a month billed yearly, plus $3,000 onboarding, and Enterprise to $3,600. The free and Starter tiers exist to make those numbers feel like a distant decision.
Two thousand sends is roughly two campaigns
At 1,000 marketing contacts, 2,000 monthly sends is two full campaigns a month. That is a fortnightly newsletter and nothing else.
A weekly send to a full list needs 4,000 and does not fit.
The allowance is per calendar month rather than rolling, so an unused month does not build credit. It is a straightforward cap on how much marketing email HubSpot will deliver for free.
The single automated action is the real ceiling
One automated action means one automation step in total, not one workflow.
A welcome email triggered on form submission uses it. A follow-up two days later does not run, because that is a second action.
For anyone who has built email automations before, this is close to unusable as an automation product. It is enough to demonstrate the feature and not enough to run a funnel.
Branding and contact accounting
Every free email carries HubSpot branding in the footer. Removal requires Starter.
The 1,000 marketing contacts figure applies to accounts created after September 2024. Older accounts have different allowances, which is why the number varies between sources.
Marketing contacts are counted separately from CRM contacts, so a large database of non-marketing records does not consume the volume.
What the free CRM is genuinely good at
Deal pipelines, contact records, meeting scheduling and ten dashboards, at no cost and for two users. That is a better free CRM than most dedicated CRMs offer.
The forms and live chat widgets are also free and connect straight into the same contact record, which is the integration argument HubSpot's whole business rests on.
If the goal is to run a small pipeline and send the occasional email, free HubSpot is a complete answer.
How it compares
Kit allows 10,000 subscribers and unlimited sends, which is a different league on email volume.
Brevo allows 300 sends a day with 100,000 stored contacts, better for volume and worse for CRM.
beehiiv sends without limit but has no pipeline or contact management to speak of.
HubSpot's trade is clear: less email, more CRM. No other free tier here gives you a deal pipeline at all.
When it is enough
A small sales team of two running a pipeline and sending a fortnightly update to under 1,000 contacts.
A business that wants forms, live chat, meeting booking and contact records in one place without paying for four separate tools.
Anyone evaluating whether HubSpot is worth migrating to, since the free tier is a working CRM rather than a demo.
When it stops being enough
When you need a second automation step, which is immediately for most welcome sequences.
When a weekly newsletter to a full list exceeds 2,000 sends in a month.
When a client or a brand guideline requires the footer branding gone, at which point Starter at $20 per seat standard is the floor.
Frequently asked questions
How many emails can I send for free on HubSpot?
2,000 per calendar month on the free marketing tools.
How many users get free HubSpot access?
Up to two users on the free tier.
What does one automated action mean?
One automation step in total across the account, not one workflow with multiple steps.
Can I remove HubSpot branding for free?
No. Branding removal begins at Starter.
How many marketing contacts are included free?
1,000 marketing contacts for accounts created after September 2024. Older accounts may differ.
How much is HubSpot Starter?
$7 per seat a month on promotion, reverting to $20 standard, with 1,000 marketing contacts included.
Send allowance, user limit, automation cap and branding terms verified against HubSpot's free tools and marketing pricing pages on 20 October 2026. The September 2024 contact cutoff was confirmed on the CRM pricing page.
Sources
- HubSpot free tools pricing: www.hubspot.com/pricing/crm. Used for: 2 users, 2,000 sends a month and where each limit sits.
- HubSpot marketing pricing: www.hubspot.com/pricing/marketing.
All sources are the vendor's own plan or documentation pages, checked on 20 October 2026. Plan terms change without notice, so confirm current limits before you rely on them.
