AviaryAI Email Platform Decision — HubSpot vs Apollo/SendGrid
Overview
As of the [1] weekly sync on 2026-01-28, the choice of email platform for ABM drip campaigns is an open blocker. Outreach to the top 100 tier-1 accounts cannot begin until this decision is made and the platform is configured. Asymmetric's recommendation is to upgrade HubSpot, but AviaryAI must evaluate cost before committing.
The Decision
| Option 1 — HubSpot Upgrade | Option 2 — Apollo + SendGrid | |
|---|---|---|
| Current status | AviaryAI is on a lower HubSpot tier (likely Sales Pro) that lacks the required automation features | Apollo is already in use; SendGrid is already in use for transactional product emails |
| What's needed | Upgrade to a plan that enables sequence automation and bulk contact outreach natively | Use Apollo for prospecting sequences + SendGrid for delivery |
| Key benefit | Everything lives in one place — contacts, enrichment, sequences, reporting | No additional spend; leverages existing tools |
| Key risk | Additional monthly cost (Aaron needs to evaluate HubSpot Marketing Pro pricing) | Split systems; harder to maintain a single source of truth; risk of muddying SendGrid's transactional reputation |
| Asymmetric recommendation | ✅ Preferred — keeps all ABM data native in HubSpot | Workable fallback if cost is prohibitive |
Context
- Sebastian's team is enriching the top 100 tier-1 accounts in HubSpot with org charts and contact data (target: complete by EOW 2026-01-30).
- Once enrichment is done, the next step is building a drip campaign — but the platform must be decided first.
- Justin noted that SendGrid is currently used exclusively for transactional product emails and he does not want marketing sequences to run through it, to avoid deliverability or reputation bleed.
- LinkedIn outreach will run in parallel via Sales Navigator (a seat is being provisioned for
tmat@asymmetric.pro).
"My preference for that is to upgrade the plan there, which would allow us to reach out to all of those contacts, as well as the automation side of things, while staying native in HubSpot." — Sebastian Gant
"I just don't know how much the marketing pro is, so I'll just have to look into it." — Aaron Grossman
Status
- Decision owner: Aaron Grossman (AviaryAI)
- Decision due: ASAP — this is a blocker for the ABM drip campaign launch
- Downstream dependency: [2] → drip campaign build → outreach start
Action Items
- [ ] Aaron Grossman to evaluate HubSpot Marketing Pro pricing and decide between Option 1 and Option 2
- [ ] Aaron to inform Sebastian Gant of the decision so the campaign platform can be configured
- [ ] Sebastian Gant to confirm with Mark whether Apollo + SendGrid is a viable fallback if HubSpot upgrade is declined
Related
- [3]
- [4]
- [5]