If you own both the creative and the leads, buy for the unfinished job first. Canva handles design; beehiiv covers the owned newsletter; HubSpot holds the customer record. Site chat is another responsibility, not a substitute for somebody answering a customer. The tools below already have full reviews here, rather than being an unfiltered list of design apps.
For a proposed campaign, write down who approves the message and where replies should go. Then decide which subscription removes a real block. That is more useful than paying for every channel at once. An occasional graphic and a weekly interview series do not call for the same setup.
Each price comes from a vendor pricing page, with the verification date in the review. We don't invent conversion rates, follower counts or AI ratings. The free-plan guide records the relevant caps. These recommendations are based on that research, not measured campaign results or hands-on tests.
Typical weekly tasks and which AI tools fit
Each row is a job we see in this role’s week, mapped to a tool we already review. Open the review for the verification date and full plan table.
| Weekly task | AI fit (sourced) |
|---|---|
| Design social posts, ads and one-pagers | Canva Free covers occasional graphics (Brand Kit limited to 3 colors, 5GB storage, up to 20 Standard/Premium AI uses a month). Canva Pro is US$144/year for one person (≈$12/mo) when you need a full Brand Kit and Magic Studio quota. Review → |
| Grow and send an owned newsletter | beehiiv Free runs to 2,500 subscribers with 1 team seat and beehiiv branding. Lite starts at $49/mo billed annually at the 1,000-subscriber band and scales with list size (checked 2026-10-26). Review → |
| Keep leads and light sequences in a CRM | HubSpot Free tools allow 2 users and 1,000 contacts. Starter Customer Platform is $20/seat/mo list price. Our marketing stack counts 2 Starter seats for owner + marketer. Review → |
| Answer FAQs and catch after-hours leads on the site | Tidio Free includes 50 billable conversations/mo and a one-time 50 Lyro conversations. Ongoing Lyro AI Agent starts at $32.50/mo annual for 50 conversations. Review → |
| Autopilot a content calendar (optional) | Holo Starter list price is $20.33/mo on 6-month billing (promos ignored). Use only if calendar automation is a real bottleneck — not a day-one buy. Review → |
| Record interviews for clips and show notes | Riverside has no free plan. Pro is $24/mo annual as shown in the Czech Republic; Riverside says prices vary by region. Add it when podcast or video interviews are part of the channel. Review → |
| Polish outbound copy before it ships | Grammarly Free covers spelling, grammar and 100 AI prompts/month. Pro is $12/member/mo for rewrites and team features. Review → |
| Push form fills into CRM or email without a developer | Make Free: 1,000 credits/mo, 2 active scenarios. Core is $9/mo annual for 10,000 credits. Prefer HubSpot’s native automations when they already cover the job. Review → |
Recommended starter stack (sourced)
Our proposed marketing starter setup uses Canva Pro for one designer, beehiiv Free, two HubSpot Starter seats at list price and Make Core. For a 5-person company with those editorial seat choices, the annual-billing equivalent is $61/month before tax, or $732/year. That is not five paid seats in every product: the allocation is part of the example.
If all five people need HubSpot, the other 3×$20 seats add $60, taking the total to $121/mo. Tidio Lyro adds $32.50/mo annual. We would wait for a written FAQ and evidence that Free chat volume is insufficient before paying for that. The stack page explains Holo and Riverside swaps if calendar automation or interviews are the missing job; neither belongs in every team's first week.
Our editorial marketing starter stack for a 5-person company is $61/month before tax on annual billing (Canva Pro ≈$12 for one designer, beehiiv Free $0, HubSpot Starter 2×$20 list, Make Core $9). Figures are taken from vendor pricing pages we checked in late October 2026 — see the stack page for the seat math.
Free-first path
- Week 1–2: Canva Free + beehiiv Free + HubSpot Free tools (2 users) + Tidio Free live chat. Confirm you can ship one campaign and answer FAQs without paying.
- Week 3: Add Make Free for one form → CRM scenario if native HubSpot sync is missing. Watch the 1,000-credit and 2-scenario caps.
- Week 4+: Buy Canva Pro for the person who owns brand assets, then HubSpot Starter seats only for people who actually log in. Upgrade beehiiv when you approach 2,500 subscribers or need more than one seat.
- Skip Holo, Riverside and paid Lyro until each channel has a named owner and a weekly cadence.
Free-plan caps are documented on What free actually means.
Pitfalls and data / privacy notes
- Before putting paid-ad creative or customer PII into an AI account, check the data-use terms and the appropriate business plan. A consumer account is not the default place for a customer list.
- beehiiv Free retains its branding and a 30-day analytics lookback. That can fit a pilot, but check the requirements before promising a client-facing agency deliverable.
- Tidio's Free Lyro quota is granted once, not renewed monthly. Price the ongoing Lyro AI Agent before offering always-on AI answers.
- HubSpot Free permits 2 users and 1,000 contacts. Review the Starter cost before the sales team needs more access.
- Riverside says its pricing varies by region. Check the checkout currency rather than reuse another country's budget.
- Our baseline excludes time-limited HubSpot and Holo promotions. The October 2026 pricing report and price-change log keep those distinctions visible.
Tools linked for this role
Canva Pro
Marketing & Social MediaOnline design tool with templates, Brand Kits, social scheduling and a shared monthly AI allowance, for social posts, flyers, presentations and short videos.
beehiiv
Marketing & Social MediaNewsletter platform with a website builder, email automations, ad network, paid subscriptions and built-in AI tools, for businesses running an email newsletter.
Holo
Marketing & Social MediaAI marketing tool: paste your website and Holo learns your brand, plans a calendar and drafts ads, social posts, emails and SEO content for approval or autopilot.
HubSpot Starter Customer Platform
Marketing & Social MediaCRM plus Starter editions of HubSpot's marketing, sales, service, content and data tools, with Breeze Assistant, AI agents, a notetaker and 5,000 HubSpot Credits a month.
Tidio (Lyro AI Agent)
Customer Support & ChatbotsLive chat, help desk and the Lyro AI agent that answers customer questions from your own support content, with simple per-conversation pricing for small e-shops and service businesses.
Riverside
Marketing & Social MediaBrowser-based studio for recording podcasts, video interviews and webinars in separate high-quality tracks, with a text-based AI editor, Magic Clips, publishing, and (since October 2026) four AI agents that produce, edit, clip and market your content. Paid plans from $24/mo billed annually; no free plan.
Grammarly Pro
Content & CopywritingAI writing assistant that checks, rewrites and drafts text wherever you type, with team style guides, brand tones and shared snippets.
Make
AutomationVisual no-code automation platform (by Celonis) for building multi-step workflows, called scenarios, across 3,500+ apps, with AI Agents, the Maia AI builder and an MCP server on every plan. Billed in credits: a free plan with 1,000 credits a month, paid plans from $9/mo billed annually for 10,000 credits.
Guides, stacks and task hubs
FAQ
What AI tools should a small-business marketer buy first?
Design (Canva), owned email (beehiiv Free), a thin CRM (HubSpot Free or Starter) and optional site chat (Tidio Free). Add Make only when you need glue between form, CRM and email. Prices and free caps are on each tool review.
How much is a realistic marketing AI stack per month?
Our sourced marketing starter stack is $61/mo before tax on annual billing with 2 HubSpot Starter seats, Canva Pro, beehiiv Free and Make Core. Adding Lyro AI Agent at $32.50/mo annual brings a chat-enabled version to roughly $93.50/mo before tax.
Is beehiiv Free enough to start?
Yes for lists up to 2,500 subscribers with one team seat. Lite starts at $49/mo annual at the 1,000-subscriber band and scales with list size (verified 2026-10-26).
Where do prices on this page come from?
Vendor pricing pages, with the verification date shown on each tool review. Changes are logged on our AI tool price-changes page and summarized in the October 2026 pricing report.
Do you publish star ratings for marketing tools?
No. We link to dated editorial reviews and hands-on notes when we have them. Fake stars are not part of the methodology.