HubSpot vs Substack
as AI assistants see them, week of 2026-09-28
HubSpot edges out Substack overall, scoring 19 versus 14, and shows up in 19 of 59 answers compared to Substack's 11. HubSpot leans hardest into CRM-flavored territory, swept all three answers each for "best email marketing platforms," "best email marketing platform that integrates with my CRM," and "best email marketing software in 2026." Substack, meanwhile, swept "best newsletter platform" at 3 of 3, plus solid showings on paid newsletters and sponsor-friendly tools. Head-to-head across shared questions, HubSpot led 10 times, Substack 4, with 6 ties. By assistant, Claude actually favors Substack (26 vs 13), while ChatGPT and Perplexity both favor HubSpot.
Head to head
| metric | HubSpot | Substack |
|---|---|---|
| score | 19 | 14 |
| questions won | 11 | 7 |
By assistant
HubSpot
| assistant | score | named in, this week | usual spot, this week |
|---|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT | 18 | 26% of answers | #4.2 |
| Claude | 13 | 30% of answers | #9.2 |
| Gemini | not sampled this week | ||
| Perplexity | 28 | 40% of answers | #4.0 |
Substack
| assistant | score | named in, this week | usual spot, this week |
|---|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT | 9 | 11% of answers | #2.5 |
| Claude | 26 | 35% of answers | #3.4 |
| Gemini | not sampled this week | ||
| Perplexity | 8 | 10% of answers | #3.0 |
Where they differ
Only HubSpot gets named for
- What's the best email marketing platform that integrates with my CRM?
- What's the best tool for automated onboarding and drip emails?
- What's the best email platform that segments users by behaviour?
- What's the best email tool with a good free tier for under 1,000 subscribers?
- Which email marketing platform is best value for money?
- What's the best email platform for a SaaS startup?
- What's the best email marketing tool for a small business?
- What's the best alternative to Mailchimp?
Only Substack gets named for
- What's the best newsletter platform?
- What's the best email tool for selling a paid newsletter?
- What's the best email tool for a newsletter with sponsors and ads?
- Which email platform is best for a solo creator?
More comparisons
- HubSpot vs Omnisend
- Ghost vs HubSpot
- Customer.io vs HubSpot
- ActiveCampaign vs HubSpot
- Customer.io vs Substack
- Ghost vs Substack
Not sold on either?
Scores count how often each assistant names a product, weighted by position. How the score works · Full Email marketing platforms leaderboard