Is Hubspot Email Deliverability Good? Our 90-Day Usage Review

This is my honest HubSpot email deliverability review after 90 days.

I’ve sent over 10,000 emails using the HubSpot platform.

At first, it worked great. Then the problems started—low open rates, spam issues, and dropped replies.

I tracked everything: inbox placement, bounce rates, and sender score.

And when it got worse, I switched.

If you’re thinking about using HubSpot for cold email or marketing, read this.

I’ll show you what to expect before you risk your list or your money.

What Is Email Deliverability (And Why You Should Care)?

Just because your email says “sent” doesn’t mean it was seen.

It might land in the inbox.

Or spam.

Or nowhere at all.

That’s email deliverability.

It’s not about sending. It’s about landing where it counts

To ensure your emails reach the inbox, proper setup is crucial.

Here’s what we tracked to know if deliverability was good or bad:

• Open rate (Did anyone even see it?)
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• Bounce rate (Did it get rejected?)
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• Inbox placement (Did it go to spam or promotions?)
  

If your emails aren’t landing in the right place, everything else falls apart.

👉 Use This Free Email Deliverability Test

• Instant results in your inbox
  
  
• Checks SPF, DKIM, DMARC, MX, and PTR
  
  
• Flag misconfigurations before they hurt your sender rep
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• It’s easy to use and makes authentication setup simple
  

It takes 30 seconds. You’ll know exactly what to fix.

When setting up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC, you need to connect your email sending domain to HubSpot to set up proper authentication. This helps ensure your emails are authenticated and reach the inbox.

With the right tools, making the authentication process straightforward is possible.

Doesn’t matter how good your copy is—no one’s reading it.

Our Email Setup Using HubSpot (So You Know This Is Real)

Let’s make one thing clear:

This wasn’t some lazy spray-and-pray test. We did everything by the book, with users following best practices throughout the process.

Here’s the setup:

• Used a fresh domain with SPF, DKIM, DMARC, MX, and PTR all correctly set up

• Sent around 1,200 emails/week (gradually increasing email traffic to build sender reputation)
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• A mix of cold outreach and warm leads
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• Emails sent through HubSpot Sequences (Pro Plan)
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• Monitored everything with Salesforge’s free tools:
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• ✅ Email Deliverability Test — to check SPF, DKIM, DMARC setup
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• ✅ Inbox Placement Test — to see where we landed (Inbox vs Spam)
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• ✅ Blacklist Checker — to catch any domain/IP flags
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• ✅ Plus: Real replies and bounce tracking

We tracked email delivery closely to ensure our emails reached the inbox. After using these monitoring tools, we made regular updates to our setup based on the insights gathered.

Bottom line? We treated this like a real campaign. No shortcuts.

What HubSpot Says About Deliverability (vs What We Experienced)

HubSpot makes some bold claims about email deliverability.

We tested them. Here’s how each one held up:

The features sound great in the pitch deck, but in practice, the deliverability tools were not always working as intended. They also lacked detailed monitoring of spam complaints from individual recipients, which is crucial for maintaining sender reputation. But they didn’t protect us when deliverability went south.

Factors Affecting Email Performance (What Matters Most for Deliverability)

When it comes to email deliverability, there’s a lot more at play than just hitting “send.” If you want your emails to actually land in the inbox—and not get lost in spam—understanding what really drives email performance is non-negotiable.

Here’s what matters most:

1. Sending Reputation - Your sending reputation is like your credit score with mailbox providers. Every email service provider (ESP) and domain builds a reputation over time, based on how recipients interact with your emails. Too many spam complaints, bounces, or unsubscribes? Your reputation takes a hit, and your emails are more likely to be filtered out before they ever reach the inbox.

2. Email List Quality - A clean, well-built list is the foundation of good deliverability. Sending to outdated or purchased lists leads to high bounce rates and spam complaints, which can quickly damage your domain’s reputation. Always build your list with legitimate, opt-in email addresses and keep it updated.

3. Email Volume and Frequency - Mailbox providers watch for sudden spikes in email volume, especially from a new domain or email sending domain. If you go from zero to thousands of emails overnight, it looks suspicious and can trigger spam filters. The best practice? Warm up your sending gradually, increasing volume over time to build trust.

4. Technical Setup: SPF, DKIM, and DMARC - Proper technical configuration is essential. Setting up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC helps prove your emails are legitimate and protects your domain from being spoofed. For example, a solid DMARC setup can stop spammers from impersonating your business, keeping your reputation intact and improving deliverability.

5. Content and Engagement - Mailbox providers track how recipients interact with your emails. High open rates, clicks, and replies signal that your emails are wanted, while low engagement or high spam complaints do the opposite. Make sure your email campaigns are relevant, personalized, and valuable to your customers to keep engagement high.

6. Monitoring and Tools - You can’t improve what you don’t track. Use the features and tools provided by your ESP—like HubSpot’s analytics or third-party monitoring tools—to keep an eye on key metrics: open rates, bounces, spam complaints, and inbox placement. These insights help you spot problems early and adjust your strategy before your reputation takes a hit.

Bottom line: Email deliverability isn’t just about the tool you use—it’s about following best practices, maintaining a strong sending reputation, ensuring your technical setup is rock-solid, and continuously monitoring your email performance. By focusing on these factors, you’ll improve your chances of landing in the inbox and building lasting relationships with your customers.

When HubSpot Email Does Work Well

Let’s be fair—HubSpot’s not bad at everything.

It actually works fine if:

• You’re sending to warm, opt-in lists
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• Running internal sequences (like onboarding or lifecycle emails), especially since deliverability can vary depending on the email providers used for internal vs. external emails
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• Doing small-volume newsletters, where you can create high-quality, deliverability-optimized email content for better inbox placement
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• And using it as your all-in-one CRM/marketing suite

In that world? It holds up.

When HubSpot Email Falls Apart

But the second you try to scale cold outreach? Game over.

• Cold emails get flagged fast
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• No inbox rotation, no way to manage multiple domains
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• No built-in warm-up tools — so you start cold, stay cold, and miss out on features that support longer-term deliverability
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• Shared IPs = shared risk (you get punished for what others do)
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• Deliverability best practices are not truly embedded in the platform or organizational culture

Dedicated IP vs Shared IP: What’s the difference?

• Zero control over backend infrastructure

So, if your team is sending high-volume cold emails?

You’re flying a jet with no engine.

So We Switched to a Hubspot Alternative... But Not to Another CRM

This wasn’t a “let’s try a new CRM” problem.

Our CRM was fine.

Our deliverability sucked. We noticed a significant change in our email results, which made it clear that deliverability was the main issue.

5 Ways to Improve Cold Email Deliverability Rates

We didn’t need a new HubSpot.

We needed emails that landed

To learn more about improving your email deliverability, consider consulting additional resources or expert advice.

So we switched our infrastructure to Mailforge.

Is Mailforge a HubSpot Alternative? Here's the Honest Answer

Let’s not sugarcoat this.

Mailforge allows you to embed its resources or badges directly on your website, making it easy to showcase your commitment to deliverability best practices.

✅ YES — Mailforge is perfect if you care about:

• Cold outreach that lands
  
  
• Inbox placement
  
  
• Domain + mailbox setup
  
  
• Deliverability at scale
  
  

❌ NO — if you’re looking for:

• CRM tools
  
  
• Marketing automation
  
  
• Lead nurturing workflows
  
  
• Reports and dashboards
  
  

Mailforge doesn’t pretend to be HubSpot.

It’s not a CRM. It’s a cold email machine.

And for what it’s built to do?

It’s damn good at it.

HubSpot vs Mailforge (For Email Deliverability Only)

Final Verdict — Is HubSpot Good for Email Deliverability?

✅ Yes — if you're sending internal emails, warm newsletters, or using it as part of your CRM drip flows.

❌ No — if you're doing cold outreach, need inbox control, or want to scale without getting burned

For us, deliverability wasn't a nice-to-have. It was the whole game.

And after 90 days inside HubSpot?

We knew one thing for sure:

We'd never use it for cold email again.

Need Your Emails to Land, Not Linger in Spam?

Try  Mailforge — and trust me, you'll never look back.

• Domains set up in minutes
  
  
• Warm-up handled automatically
  
  
• Inbox placement that just works
  
  

If you're serious about outreach, don't gamble with deliverability. ‍

👉 Try Mailforge free and see the difference in your next campaign.

FAQs — HubSpot Email Deliverability

1. Does HubSpot have good email deliverability? ‍
Yes, for opt-in contacts. Not great for outreach.

2. Can I do cold email with HubSpot? ‍
Technically, yes. Realistically? Not at scale.

3. Does HubSpot provide warm-up tools? ‍
No. You'll need third-party tools.

4. What's a better tool for email deliverability? ‍
If all you care about is inboxing and outreach, Mailforge.