Marketo vs HubSpot: Enterprise Showdown (2026)

The Enterprise Decision: Two Very Different Philosophies

Under the hood, Marketo Engage (now part of Adobe Experience Cloud) and HubSpot Marketing Hub take fundamentally different approaches to marketing automation. Marketo is a specialist platform built for complex B2B operations with long sales cycles and multi-touch attribution needs. HubSpot is an all-in-one ecosystem designed to scale from startup to enterprise with a unified CRM at its core.

The integration architecture matters here. Marketo slots into existing enterprise stacks (particularly Salesforce) as a dedicated automation engine. HubSpot replaces large chunks of that stack by bundling CRM, CMS, sales tools, and service tools alongside marketing automation. For enterprise buyers, this is not just a feature comparison. It is an architecture decision that affects your entire go-to-market operation.

Pricing and Total Cost of Ownership

This is where the two platforms diverge sharply.

HubSpot Marketing Hub publishes transparent pricing:

Marketo Engage uses quote-based pricing across four tiers: Growth, Select, Prime, and Ultimate. Plans start at approximately $1,000/month for the Growth tier, but most enterprise deployments land in the $2,000-$6,000/month range depending on database size, feature modules, and add-ons. Key add-ons like advanced journey analytics, web personalization, and sales tools cost extra.

Under the hood, the total cost of ownership picture shifts when you factor in implementation. HubSpot charges a one-time $3,000 onboarding fee for Professional and $6,000 for Enterprise. Marketo implementations typically require a certified partner and can run $15,000-$50,000+ depending on complexity. You will also likely need a dedicated marketing operations specialist to manage Marketo day-to-day, which HubSpot's simpler interface often does not require.

Automation and Workflow Capabilities

Both platforms offer visual workflow builders, but the depth of capability differs significantly.

Marketo excels at complex, multi-branch automation programs. Its Smart Campaigns system uses triggers and filters that can reference hundreds of data points, including custom objects and behavioral data from across the Adobe ecosystem. The Engagement Programs feature enables sophisticated nurture tracks with automatic content rotation and exhaustion rules. For B2B companies running account-based marketing with long sales cycles, the integration architecture Marketo offers is genuinely hard to match.

HubSpot has closed the gap substantially in 2026. The workflow engine now supports branching logic, delays, if/then conditions, and custom code actions. For most mid-market and even many enterprise use cases, HubSpot workflows handle everything needed. Where it falls short is in the sheer depth of customization that Marketo allows for highly complex, multi-step programs involving custom objects and advanced scoring models.

CRM and Sales Alignment

This comparison highlights a fundamental architectural difference.

HubSpot includes its own CRM natively. Marketing, sales, and service data all live in one database with one unified contact record. There is no sync to manage, no integration to maintain, and no data discrepancies between systems. For companies without an entrenched CRM, this is a massive advantage.

Marketo is purpose-built to integrate with Salesforce, and that integration is its strongest selling point for enterprise buyers. The native Salesforce connector provides deep, bidirectional sync including custom objects, campaign member status mapping, and multi-touch attribution data that flows directly into Salesforce reports. If your sales team lives in Salesforce and that is not changing, Marketo's integration architecture is tighter than what HubSpot offers through its Salesforce connector.

For teams considering the Salesforce ecosystem more broadly, see our detailed comparison of Pardot vs HubSpot as well.

Reporting and Attribution

Marketo's reporting has historically been its weaker area, with Revenue Explorer requiring significant configuration. However, the Adobe Analytics integration available to Marketo users adds enterprise-grade analytics that go far beyond what either platform offers standalone. HubSpot's reporting is more accessible out of the box but lacks the deep revenue cycle modeling that Marketo provides.

Email and Content Capabilities

HubSpot has a clear edge in content creation. The built-in CMS Hub, blog management, social media scheduling, and AI-powered content tools (including the Breeze content agent) make it a genuine content marketing platform, not just an email tool. Marketo's email builder is functional but more utilitarian, focused on personalization tokens and dynamic content rather than content creation workflows.

For email deliverability, both platforms perform well at enterprise scale. Marketo offers dedicated IP options and granular throttling controls. HubSpot provides dedicated IPs on the Enterprise tier and has invested heavily in deliverability tooling.

Account-Based Marketing (ABM)

Marketo's ABM capabilities, enhanced by the Adobe ecosystem, are more mature. Account scoring, account-level engagement tracking, and account journey orchestration are built into the platform with deep Salesforce account integration.

HubSpot added ABM tools in recent years (target account dashboards, company scoring, account-based workflows), and they work well for companies starting their ABM journey. However, enterprises running sophisticated ABM programs with hundreds of target accounts will find Marketo's depth more suited to their needs.

The Verdict: Which Enterprise Buyer Should Choose Which

Choose Marketo Engage if:

• You are deeply invested in Salesforce and need tight native integration
• You run complex ABM programs with long sales cycles
• You have (or will hire) a dedicated marketing operations specialist
• You need Adobe ecosystem integration (Analytics, Target, Experience Manager)
• Your automation programs require advanced custom objects and multi-branch logic

Choose HubSpot Marketing Hub if:

• You want an all-in-one platform with CRM, CMS, and marketing in one place
• Ease of use and fast time-to-value are priorities
• You need content marketing tools alongside automation
• Your team does not have dedicated marketing operations staff
• You prefer transparent, predictable pricing

For a broader comparison of all the leading tools, explore our full roundup of the best marketing automation platforms.

Also see our comparison of Pardot vs HubSpot if you are specifically evaluating Salesforce-native options alongside HubSpot.