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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Gist

    Score9.5 out of 10
    N/AGist is a unified marketing, sales, and support platform. It includes live chat, a help desk, knowledge base, email marketing, marketing automation, opt-in forms, and more.

    $29

    per month

    HubSpot Marketing Hub

    Score8.8 out of 10
    N/AHubSpot's Marketing Hub is an all-in-one inbound marketing engine that includes tools for email marketing, landing page creation, social media marketing, content management, reporting & analytics, search engine optimization (SEO), and more.

    $15

    per month per seat

    Pricing
    GistHubSpot Marketing Hub
    Editions & Modules
    Professional
    $29.00
    per month
    Premium
    $99.00
    per month
    Marketing Hub Starter
    $15
    per month per seat
    Marketing Hub Professional
    $890
    per month Includes 3 Core Seats (Additional Core Seats start at $50)
    Marketing Hub Enterprise
    Starts at $3,600
    per month Includes 5 Core Seats (Additional Core Seats start at $75)
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    GistHubSpot Marketing Hub
    Free Trial
    YesYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    YesYes
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoYes
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeRequired
    Additional Details
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    GistHubSpot Marketing Hub
    Considered Both Products
    Gist
    Chose Gist
    Hubspot and Salesforce are great and powerful, they are just so much more expensive than what I need.
    Incentivized
    Chose Gist
    Gist is better because easy of use and pricing. Hands down. It has an unbeatable cost-benefit ratio. Customer service has been with us since we started using it. That's great. For us, shortcomings such as no CRM are manageable. We like its front end appearance and customization …
    Incentivized
    Chose Gist
    I have a lifetime deal with Gist so I may be a bit biased, but Gist is quite easy to use and has a free tier so it's worth a serious look compared to the other players on the market. Personal preference does play a big role in your final decision, as feature-wise, Gist has most …
    Incentivized
    Chose Gist
    Gist is very similar in the feature list to HubSpot at a fraction of the cost. I have noticed that Gist seems to be releasing new features and improvements more frequently too. With HubSpot, you are paying to have a "dedicated account rep" which isn't needed for those who are …
    Incentivized
    Chose Gist
    Easy to get in
    Incentivized
    Chose Gist
    Gist has a lot of similarities to HubSpot (and it feels a lot like a lite version of HubSpot). It has many of the same features and functionality of HubSpot (forms, chat, emails, and knowledge base, for example). I like that it's much more affordable than HubSpot and still does …
    Incentivized
    Chose Gist
    I started out looking at simple marketing automation platforms such as Mailchimp, then moved to an advanced package from HubSpot (trial) to see if it was right for me. The latter turned out to be very expensive, although it is a great platform.

    The former, Mailchimp, simply …
    Incentivized
    Chose Gist
    A lot more mature and complete packages. From automation to live chat that just works easier and looks a lot better. I think visual looks are important and Gist just nails that really good. It is also completely customizable and uses your colors and logo to make it a good …
    Incentivized
    Chose Gist
    I firmly love that Gist basically copied the layout of HubSpot. It makes the transition SO much easier. The pricing on Gist is so much better than HubSpot and it does all of the same things and some more. The live chat and bots are better on HubSpot but I'm sure Gist will …
    Incentivized
    Chose Gist
    • Ease to install
    • Price (fingers crossed it stays affordable)
    • Coverage of needs
    Incentivized
    Chose Gist
    I have not used these other more well known but pricier products so would not be able to give an informed opinion.
    Incentivized
    HubSpot
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    95%
    Would buy again
    20 Answers
    97%
    Would buy again
    38 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    19 Answers
    97%
    Delivers good value for the price
    35 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    21 Answers
    97%
    Happy with the feature set
    38 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    21 Answers
    97%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    30 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    95%
    Implementation went as expected
    20 Answers
    90%
    Implementation went as expected
    27 Answers
    Features
    GistHubSpot Marketing Hub
    Chat Analytics and Reports
    Comparison of Chat Analytics and Reports features of Gist and HubSpot Marketing Hub
    Feature
    Gist
    8.9
    2 Ratings
    3% above category average
    HubSpot Marketing Hub
    -
    Ratings
    Chat history and transcripts8.92 Ratings00 Ratings
    Chat reporting8.92 Ratings00 Ratings
    Chat and web analytics8.92 Ratings00 Ratings
    Email & Online Marketing
    Comparison of Email & Online Marketing features of Gist and HubSpot Marketing Hub
    Feature
    Gist
    -
    Ratings
    HubSpot Marketing Hub
    8.4
    372 Ratings
    10% above category average
    WYSIWYG email editor00 Ratings9.1335 Ratings
    Dynamic content00 Ratings8.4335 Ratings
    Ability to test dynamic content00 Ratings7.5311 Ratings
    Landing pages00 Ratings8.5365 Ratings
    A/B testing00 Ratings5.8288 Ratings
    Mobile optimization00 Ratings7.8358 Ratings
    Email deliverability reporting00 Ratings8.6366 Ratings
    List management00 Ratings10.0367 Ratings
    Triggered drip sequences00 Ratings10.0279 Ratings
    Lead Management
    Comparison of Lead Management features of Gist and HubSpot Marketing Hub
    Feature
    Gist
    -
    Ratings
    HubSpot Marketing Hub
    9.5
    363 Ratings
    20% above category average
    Lead nurturing automation00 Ratings9.3359 Ratings
    Lead scoring and grading00 Ratings9.6327 Ratings
    Data quality management00 Ratings9.2333 Ratings
    Automated sales alerts and tasks00 Ratings10.0302 Ratings
    Campaign Management
    Comparison of Campaign Management features of Gist and HubSpot Marketing Hub
    Feature
    Gist
    -
    Ratings
    HubSpot Marketing Hub
    7.1
    323 Ratings
    4% below category average
    Calendaring00 Ratings7.3308 Ratings
    Event/webinar marketing00 Ratings6.9254 Ratings
    Social Media Marketing
    Comparison of Social Media Marketing features of Gist and HubSpot Marketing Hub
    Feature
    Gist
    -
    Ratings
    HubSpot Marketing Hub
    9.4
    349 Ratings
    22% above category average
    Social sharing and campaigns00 Ratings8.7345 Ratings
    Social profile integration00 Ratings10.0334 Ratings
    Reporting & Analytics
    Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of Gist and HubSpot Marketing Hub
    Feature
    Gist
    -
    Ratings
    HubSpot Marketing Hub
    9.2
    372 Ratings
    23% above category average
    Dashboards00 Ratings9.2369 Ratings
    Standard reports00 Ratings9.2365 Ratings
    Custom reports00 Ratings9.1327 Ratings
    Platform & Infrastructure
    Comparison of Platform & Infrastructure features of Gist and HubSpot Marketing Hub
    Feature
    Gist
    -
    Ratings
    HubSpot Marketing Hub
    9.0
    344 Ratings
    19% above category average
    API00 Ratings9.0253 Ratings
    Role-based workflow & approvals00 Ratings8.9283 Ratings
    Customizability00 Ratings8.3306 Ratings
    Integration with Salesforce.com00 Ratings10.0229 Ratings
    Integration with Microsoft Dynamics CRM00 Ratings10.097 Ratings
    Integration with SugarCRM00 Ratings7.790 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    GistHubSpot Marketing Hub
    Small Businesses
    Olark
    Score10 out of 10
    Vbout
    Score9.9 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Zoho SalesIQ
    Score8.4 out of 10
    Bloomreach - The Agentic Platform for Personalization
    Score8.4 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Genesys DX (discontinued)
    Score10 out of 10
    Iterable
    Score8.7 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    GistHubSpot Marketing Hub
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.5
    (112 ratings)
    8.4
    (657 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    8.2
    (2 ratings)
    9.0
    (371 ratings)
    Usability
    6.7
    (4 ratings)
    8.6
    (109 ratings)
    Availability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.1
    (25 ratings)
    Performance
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.9
    (17 ratings)
    Support Rating
    8.6
    (9 ratings)
    8.4
    (88 ratings)
    In-Person Training
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.1
    (8 ratings)
    Online Training
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.1
    (26 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.3
    (48 ratings)
    Configurability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.3
    (2 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.9
    (5 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.3
    (7 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.1
    (3 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.1
    (3 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    GistHubSpot Marketing Hub
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Gist
    If your marketing model is selling products, services, or SAAS where you are doing inbound marketing and your website will do most of the lead generation and conversion, this is a great product. From live chat, support, event tracking, and automation, you could almost put your entire business on autopilot. If your marketing model is mostly outreach to cold leads and conversion, this software currently does not have any type of sales stages or task generation. I would still use Gist for website inbound but use another software for outreach and cold leads then when they become a lead put them into Gist for marketing automation.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    HubSpot
    As I said previously, I was not a fan at the beginning because, like everyone, I don't take change so well. Once I started following leads through HubSpot Marketing Hub, I integrated it with my email and created templates for what I needed, I started to see the positives immediately. My time working was better spent as I eliminated time put in routine tasks. I was able to track all communication in HubSpot Marketing Hub, we created systems in the office assigning tasks to one another and, through HubSpot Marketing Hub, our leads were able to book meetings in my calendar automatically. To be honest, if you are in sales and marketing, I cannot think of scenarios where HubSpot Marketing Hub cannot help. All I would like to say is, when using templates, pay attention to where you send them - you may need some personalization. I would encourage the management of HubSpot Marketing Hub to create short tutorials for beginners like me who need to configure and start using various features: setting up deals, templates, and dashboards.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Gist
    • Customer service via a unified inbox so you dont have to separately monitor your twitter, Facebook or IG account for consumer communication there. Gist unified all into one inbox, better than anyone else I've seen in the market. They archive all communications and tie them back to a single user so you get unified customer history / data.
    • Marketing segmentation and automation: they track user history and behavior across the site and have super detailed segmenting capability, on par with ActiveCampaign's, but better I'd say. Better UI for the marketing admin person, and more unified data than in AC.
    • Live chat and chatbot. Usually it's either one or the other but with Gist you can do both seamlessly.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    HubSpot
    • All-in-one software - the main thing HubSpot does well is the breadth of functionality.
    • Easy of use - personally, I find it more intuitive than Marketo, which is the other MAP that I know well.
    • Ads - I like that we can drill down on ads by channel, ad group, campaign, and even create and see performance data at each level.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Gist
    • Plan limits can be confusing. For example, there is a monthly charge for support and a monthly charge for "growth," plus there's a separate charge depending on how many contacts and seats you have. Perhaps this is normal in the industry, but it can make it a little challenging to understand the bill every month.
    • The vast amount of features means development will never be as fast as you'd like it to be (even though they release updates all the time). This may not actually be a valid concern, and it certainly isn't unique to Gist (who doesn't have a wishlist they're waiting on their favorite SaaS to get to?), but I do believe the likelihood of being stuck without your desired feature being developed goes up a lot as the product gets bigger and bigger.
    • Email deliverability has been less than perfect in the past, but it has improved drastically in the last year.
    Read full review
    HubSpot
    • While Hubspot has added some collaborative tools, I think this could improve. I'd like to see more options to comment on emails and ways of being able to share out changes as well as approval channels.
    • The ability to update ads via the calendar is pretty cumbersome. There's no good way to bulk edit or update. You have go into each one individually.
    • Real time edits would be nice. If you have multiple people working on the same thing, you'll get kicked out and your changes might not be saved.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Gist
    Gist is a quite reliable service with a lot of added values. We don't need to pay for different Saas for these important features. If I had an issue the team was super responsive and helpful, that is essential for every business. The email delivery is great, so virtually no email has landed into spam folder
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    HubSpot
    Our business relies on the HubSpot platform to manage our marketing, sales and CRM processes. HubSpot marketing automation helps us define our activities and streamlines them in a cohesive and efficient way. Without HubSpot, we will have to revert to the 'old way' of doing everything with a variety of disparate systems.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Usability
    Gist
    It’s pretty simple, but it does a lot so there are more complicated features which depend on an individuals ability for software implementation. I am not an IT expert and I’ve managed to implement everything myself, others that are more tech-minded may find everything easier.
    Read full review
    HubSpot
    While there are some frustrating things that pop up unexpectedly ("wait... I can't do X?"), I have found HubSpot to be easy to use and extremely helpful to my daily work. The documentation is really good, and when it's not helpful, the support staff have been amazing.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    Gist
    No answers on this topic
    HubSpot
    They have had issues with system availability over the course of days. Sometimes the system is unusable, other times updates simply take a long time to show up. It's better now but, from a reliaibility standpoint, HubSpot is not Salesforce.com yet. Still great software though.
    Read full review
    Performance
    Gist
    No answers on this topic
    HubSpot
    With all the new features in HubSpot, the system can get a tad slow sometimes... That said, most of the time it is lightning fast and I have no problems. Because most of the integrations are API, they silently work in the background. I have not had trouble with lag due to HubSpot integration
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    Gist
    Fantastic support. Ask a question, get an answer within 24 hours every time. And sometimes within a few minutes. They've always come through for me, helpful and, even when it's an issue on my end, they point me in the right direction.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    HubSpot
    During the few times I've needed it, HS support has been accessible, helpful and efficient. Often rolling up their sleeves to make changes for you as opposed to leaving you with a list of instructions to decipher on your own.
    Read full review
    In-Person Training
    Gist
    No answers on this topic
    HubSpot
    I did the 2-day classroom at HubSpot's corporate office in Cambridge. First off, it was amazing to see their corporate office in general. They have such a cool office environment. But it was also great to have the ability to learn in a workshop format with other HubSpot users and meet my Account Manager/ Inbound Marketing Consultant in person.
    Read full review
    Online Training
    Gist
    No answers on this topic
    HubSpot
    I went through Inbound Marketing University in 2006. Great training and helped my transition from traditional (outbound) marketing to inbound marketing that I've been able to apply to a number of businesses from wastewater and water reuse, to professional services and SaaS. Share information of value to build awareness and trust. Answer customers' questions in a transparent way to generate more qualified leads. Understand the difference between a marketing qualified lead and a sales qualified lead and put together a lead nurturing program. Your sales and marketing efforts will see significant ROI.
    Read full review
    Implementation Rating
    Gist
    No answers on this topic
    HubSpot
    My biggest piece of advice for those who are implementing Hubspot is that you need to devote the time up front and learn how to use the product. Once you learn how to use Hubspot, it will be much more effective as well as much easier to use in the long run
    Read full review
    Alternatives Considered
    Gist
    Gist combines all our previous products into one application and adds many more features that would require more apps. Gist is excellent and a no-brainer all-in-one application when compared to having to manage multiple applications at higher cost. The support from the whole Gist team has been extremely responsive.
    Read full review
    HubSpot
    Other competing software such as Zoho and Boomtown may have more bells and whistles, but it is too cumbersome and has many parts that only advanced users can operate. With HubSpot, each function is within reach of the average agent. It doesn't overpromise and then makes you feel incompetent when you can't use it all...
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Scalability
    Gist
    No answers on this topic
    HubSpot
    HubSpot is addressing this more and more. Currently you can assign tasks to designated sales teams, which grow as you grow. They've added free baseline products for those just getting started. These and more contribute to the scalability of HubSpot - so I gave it an 8 and am hoping for more in the future!
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    Gist
    • They are perfect for me as a someone who needs a lot of bang for the buck. The chat messenger device on my website alone has brought me new prospects that I did not have to spend money recruiting.
    • I am able to save hours of time with the automated emails that are GDPR compliant.
    • I don't have to pay for a designer to have excellent looking emails either.
    Read full review
    HubSpot
    • HubSpot has helped us increased our lead generation.
    • HubSpot has allowed us to continue to grow our customer base without having to spend a ton of marketing dollars on advertising.
    • HubSpot has allowed our company to standardize our process and bring the company onto one platform for sales and marketing.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    Gist Screenshots

    Screenshot of Live ChatScreenshot of Email MarketingScreenshot of Marketing Automation WorkflowsScreenshot of Knowledge BaseScreenshot of Meetings

    HubSpot Marketing Hub Screenshots

    Screenshot of Marketing Automation with HubSpot. Here, marketers can define workflows for highly targeted and personalized nurturing campaigns that send leads and prospects the right targeted content at the right point in their decision-making process.Screenshot of HubSpot Analytics. These help track engagement with the entire funnel through real-time reporting on website performance, traffic and marketing effectiveness.Screenshot of HubSpot Social Media. HubSpot’s social media publishing helps improve scheduling and publishing social media content.Screenshot of HubSpot Blogging and SEO. HubSpot provides an integrated set of tools for Search Engine Optimization (SEO) which makes getting found online a natural part of the inbound marketing mix. More than a simple CMS, HubSpot provides an integrated authoring view with SEO-oriented suggestions as blog posts are written.Screenshot of Marketing Automation with HubSpot. Here, marketers can define workflows for highly targeted and personalized nurturing campaigns that send leads and prospects the right targeted content at the right point in their decision-making process.Screenshot of HubSpot Contacts. Integrating with most common CRMs, HubSpot provides a view of view contacts, and allows for customized and personalized email communications.