Picking a martech stack for a two-person marketing team on a tight budget is less about finding the single "best" tool and more about choosing a set of services that work together, reduce overhead and scale sensibly. I’ve built and audited stacks for tiny teams and large brands, and the constraint that matters most isn’t money — it’s attention. With £5k/year, you can cover the essentials if you prioritise integration, automation and measurable outputs.
Start with outcomes, not features
Before you subscribe to anything, be ruthless about what you need to achieve in the next 6–12 months. For a two-person team that budget translates into a focus on:
Anything outside these goals is a nice-to-have. Ask: will this tool remove a bottleneck or simply add another login and upkeep task?
Core categories and my recommended options (budget-first)
Below are the buckets every lean martech stack needs and sensible product choices that fit under £5k/year total. I’m listing options I’ve used or audited — each has trade-offs I’ll call out.
Website & landing pages
Why it matters: your site is the conversion hub. Keep it simple and fast.
Trade-off: WordPress + a lightweight theme gives flexibility and lower long-term hosting costs but requires more maintenance. Webflow reduces dev friction for non-technical teams.
Email, CRM & automation
Why it matters: central to lead handling, simple automations and reporting.
Trade-off: HubSpot gives an integrated experience and removes stitching. MailerLite + Airtable is cheaper and more flexible but requires connecting via Zapier or Make (Integromat).
Content, social scheduling & creatives
Why it matters: regular content and social presence are high ROI for small teams.
Trade-off: Canva + Buffer covers most needs. Descript is excellent if you produce a lot of audio/video because it speeds editing.
Analytics & dashboards
Why it matters: you must measure what moves the needle.
Trade-off: GA4 is powerful but noisy; Looker Studio lets you create focused dashboards that pull in data from GA4, HubSpot, or your ad accounts.
Automation & integrations
Why it matters: automations save time and reduce manual errors.
Trade-off: Zapier is simpler for non-technical users. Make can run more advanced multi-step flows at lower cost but takes a steeper learning curve.
Example stacks under £5k/year
Here are three practical stacks depending on whether you prioritise ease, lowest cost, or creative output.
| Balanced (recommended) | Approx annual cost |
| Webflow Basic | £150 |
| HubSpot CRM (free) + Marketing Starter | £540 |
| Canva Pro | £120 |
| Buffer Pro | £180 |
| Looker Studio + GA4 (free) | £0 |
| Zapier Starter | £180 |
| Total | ~£1,170 |
| Lowest cost (bootstrapped) | Approx annual cost |
| WordPress + cheap hosting | £100 |
| MailerLite | £120 |
| Airtable | £60 |
| Canva Free/Pro | £120 |
| Make (small plan) | £60 |
| Total | ~£460 |
| Creative-first (video focus) | Approx annual cost |
| Webflow | £150 |
| ConvertKit | £120 |
| Descript | £120 |
| Canva Pro | £120 |
| Buffer or Later | £180 |
| Total | ~£690 |
How I decide between integrated platforms and best-of-breed
Integrated platforms (HubSpot, Webflow + HubSpot) simplify setup and reduce human glue. Best-of-breed lets you pick cheaper, specialist tools but increases the integration overhead. For two people I usually favour integrated where it removes a lot of manual work — for example, HubSpot Starter for email + CRM because it avoids maintaining separate lists and syncs contacts and activity by default.
Practical tips for rollout and maintenance
Trade-offs I often see and how to manage them
Fragmentation: Too many niche tools create cognitive load. My rule: if a tool costs more than £10/month, it must replace at least one existing subscription or save >2 hours/week.
Over-automation: Automating the wrong thing can hide important signals. Keep a manual check step for high-value flows (e.g., new enterprise lead routing).
Vendor lock-in: Integrated platforms are convenient but can be costly to exit. Keep weekly exports of contact lists and event logs so migrations don’t become a crisis.
What to buy first
Buy the rest as you grow. If you can afford only one paid tool at first, make it the one that directly helps you acquire or retain customers — typically email automation or a landing page builder.
If you want, I can map your current toolset into one of the example stacks above, show where you’re overspending and recommend a migration plan that minimises downtime. Tell me what you use today and your top 3 goals for the next 6 months, and I’ll sketch a practical roadmap.
