# Email marketing platforms: what AI models recommend, September 2026

Gane, the publisher, sells software in this category. Every product here is measured by the same method as in every other category.

Gane Index, September 2026 Edition. Asked as "email marketing platform" and as "email marketing tool", six framings each, to six frontier models with search on, on behalf of a mid-market B2B software company. Page: https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/marketing/email-marketing/2026-09-expanded

This is the permanent record of the September 2026 Edition, published September 9, 2026 and superseded since. The current standing: https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/marketing/email-marketing/index.md

**Standing:** HubSpot Marketing Hub leads with 67% of first choices; verdict consensus. 18 first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts.

## First-choice share

| Rank | Product | Share | Negative rate | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | [HubSpot Marketing Hub](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/hubspot-marketing-hub/index.md) | 67% | 23% | 26 |
| 2 | [Brevo](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/brevo/index.md) | 11% | 22% | 18 |
| 4 | [MailerLite](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/mailerlite/index.md) | 6% | 17% | 12 |
| 6 | [ActiveCampaign](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/activecampaign/index.md) | 0% | 5% | 21 |
| 7 | [Customer.io](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/customer-io/index.md) | 0% | 0% | 10 |
| 8 | [Salesforce Marketing Cloud Account Engagement](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/salesforce-marketing-cloud-account-engagement/index.md) | 0% | 0% | 10 |
| 10 | [Klaviyo](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/klaviyo/index.md) | 0% | 24% | 17 |
| 11 | [Adobe Marketo Engage](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/adobe-marketo-engage/index.md) | 0% | 18% | 11 |
| 36 | [Mailchimp](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/mailchimp/index.md) | 0% | 50% | 20 |

Rank is by share of first choices among all 36 products named; products with the same share are tied, and the order among them carries no meaning. The table lists those with at least 10 labels.

## Each model's first choice on the direct prompt

- Claude Opus 5: HubSpot Marketing Hub; alternatives ActiveCampaign, Adobe Marketo Engage, Customer.io, Ortto
- Claude Opus 4.8: HubSpot Marketing Hub; alternatives ActiveCampaign, Adobe Marketo Engage, Braze, Customer.io
- GPT-6 Astra: HubSpot Marketing Hub; alternatives Adobe Marketo Engage, Customer.io, Salesforce Marketing Cloud Account Engagement
- GPT-5.6 Sol: HubSpot Marketing Hub; alternatives ActiveCampaign, Adobe Marketo Engage, Customer.io, Salesforce Marketing Cloud Account Engagement
- Gemini 3.1 Pro: HubSpot Marketing Hub; alternatives ActiveCampaign, Adobe Marketo Engage, Customer.io, Salesforce Marketing Cloud Account Engagement
- Perplexity Sonar Pro: HubSpot Marketing Hub; alternatives ActiveCampaign, Brevo, Salesforce Marketing Cloud, Salesforce Marketing Cloud Account Engagement

## Sources the answers cite

28 of 36 answers came back with a source list, from 6 of 6 models. Sites named in the most answers:

- emailtooltester.com: 12 answers, 25 citations
- sender.net: 11 answers, 17 citations
- emailvendorselection.com: 10 answers, 17 citations
- mailtrap.io: 10 answers, 13 citations
- mailchimp.com: 8 answers, 13 citations
- hubspot.com: 8 answers, 11 citations
- activecampaign.com: 7 answers, 7 citations
- klaviyo.com: 7 answers, 7 citations

Pages named in the most answers:

- https://emailvendorselection.com/best-email-marketing-platforms (6 answers)
- https://sender.net/blog/email-marketing-services (6 answers)
- https://help.brevo.com/hc/en-us/articles/208589409-About-Brevo-s-pricing-plans (5 answers)
- https://ventureharbour.com/email-marketing-software-tools-one-best (5 answers)
- https://brevo.com/blog/best-email-marketing-services (4 answers)
- https://business.adobe.com/products/marketo/pricing.html (4 answers)
- https://activecampaign.com/pricing (3 answers)
- https://digitalapplied.com/blog/marketing-automation-platform-comparison-2026 (3 answers)
- https://emailtooltester.com/en/blog/best-b2b-email-marketing-software (3 answers)
- https://emailtooltester.com/en/blog/free-email-marketing-services (3 answers)

## Warned against

- Mailchimp: 10 of 20 labels negative. "Mailchimp is the clearest documented case. Since Intuit acquired Mailchimp ... the platform has raised prices or reduced free plan limits nearly every year" (Claude Opus 5, negative prompt)
- Constant Contact: 5 of 9 labels negative. "Verdict: Avoid if you run an e-commerce store or want to set up advanced, automated email funnels." (Gemini 3.1 Pro, negative prompt)
- HubSpot Marketing Hub: 6 of 26 labels negative. "Verdict: Avoid if you do not have a clear path to high revenue or if you only need a standalone email marketing tool." (Gemini 3.1 Pro, negative prompt)
- Brevo: 4 of 18 labels negative. "Brevo's is notably strict: ... if the account is suspended again, they state they won't be able to reactivate it." (Claude Opus 5, negative prompt)

## Record

- Method: https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/methodology
- License: CC BY 4.0. Cite as Gane Index, September 2026 Edition, www.gane.ai/index/gtm.