I’m building coded email templates in HubSpot Design Manager using HTML+HubL. My emails require precise table-based layouts with inline styles, Outlook/VML fallbacks, dark mode CSS, and mobile breakpoints, none of which the drag-and-drop template engine reliably produces or preserves. Custom coded templates are the only viable tool for production-quality flexibility with email design in HubSpot.
However, when I build a custom coded email module in Design Manager, the “Make module smart” option is unavailable. HubSpot support confirmed this is a current platform limitation: smart rules, especially including contact list membership segmentation, only work with drag-and-drop template modules, not custom coded modules.
This forces a choice between two non-ideal outcomes:
- Use drag-and-drop templates to get smart content, but lose control over the HTML output and risk rendering failures in Outlook and other clients
- Use custom coded templates for reliable rendering, but give up list-membership-based personalization entirely
There is no path today that gives you both.