Who this is for
Creators, local businesses and B2B teams building an owned audience, with somebody responsible for the message, recipient permissions and replies.
beehiiv is the newsletter-first option here; HubSpot puts email beside the customer record. Canva supplies design and Make can connect a missing handoff. Riverside only belongs in the setup when recorded interviews are an actual content channel. A tool for each job is not a requirement to buy all five.
For a proposed local-shop campaign, prepare one approved message and a safe internal test before the live send. Check that the customer can reply and opt out, and that any connected CRM keeps the same consent state. We have not run a campaign or measured a deliverability or revenue result for these combinations.
Best fit by constraint
beehiiv
Free to 2,500; Lite from $49/mo annual at 1,000 subscribers.
Lite from $49/mo billed annually ($59 monthl… · Verified 2026-11-11 · Review →
HubSpot Starter Customer Platform
Free tools or Starter list $20/seat/mo.
new-customer promo from $7/seat/mo billed an… · Verified 2026-11-11 · Review →
Riverside
No free plan; Pro $24/mo annual as shown in CZ (region varies).
card required). Pro $24/mo billed annually o… · Verified 2026-11-02 · Review →
Path in 5 steps
- Investigate beehiiv Free while the list and requirements fit its allowance of up to 2,500 subscribers. Compare the actual audience band before upgrading to Lite.
- Use Canva Free or Pro for the approved assets. Add another design AI only if a specific production step is still missing.
- Choose the customer record and keep newsletter subscription, CRM contact and opt-out status consistent across the connection.
- Consider Riverside only for a defined podcast or video-interview channel with someone owning the recording and edits.
- Read the October 2026 report for beehiiv plan renaming and price changes; keep its source dates with any budget.
Tools in this hub
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
FAQ
Which AI tool is best to run email marketing?
It depends on the constraint. For “Newsletter-first growth” we point to beehiiv: Free to 2,500; Lite from $49/mo annual at 1,000 subscribers. For “Email inside a CRM” we point to HubSpot Starter Customer Platform: Free tools or Starter list $20/seat/mo. For “Record interviews for content” we point to Riverside: No free plan; Pro $24/mo annual as shown in CZ (region varies).
Do you invent ratings for these task hubs?
No. We don't show star ratings. We link to editorial reviews with vendor-sourced prices and last-verified dates. Hands-on tests are labeled separately when we have them.