LRN · TOOLS DIRECTORY/REV. 2026-06
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The practitioner directory of marketing tools - reviews, comparisons and implementation guides across the stack.

Choose tools,don't collect them.

Here is the RGM tools directory - more than 1,500 practitioner reviews, head-to-head comparisons, pricing breakdowns and implementation guides across analytics, email, SEO, ecommerce, ops and ads. The martech landscape has over fourteen thousand products; this directory helps you pick the few that matter. Start with a category, explore the periodic table, or filter the index.

0Tool guides
0Categories
0Flagship tools
0Head-to-head comparisons

How to read this directory: a great stack is lean, integrated and actually used. Start from the marketing-ops guide and stack-design principles, then compare tools against your real needs and the 2026 benchmarks.

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At a glanceQuick answers

The short answers.

How many tools?14,000+

The martech landscape is enormous.

Where to start?Analytics

Get measurement right first.

Biggest waste?Shelfware

~33% of martech goes unused.

Email & CRM?Klaviyo / HubSpot

Pick by business model.

The glue?Zapier / iPaaS

Automate the busywork.

Design rule?Fewer, better

Lean and integrated beats sprawling.

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Load-bearing guidesSheet — 02 / 10

Six guides hold the roof.

Start here. Before any single tool: how to run marketing ops, design a stack, select a vendor - then the category leaders in analytics, email and SEO.
Start here
  1. T-01Marketing ops guideRun the whole stack.
  2. T-02Stack design principlesLean, integrated, adopted.
  3. T-03Vendor selectionChoose tools that stick.
  4. T-04Google Analytics (GA4)The default web analytics tool.
  5. T-05KlaviyoEmail and SMS for ecommerce.
  6. T-06AhrefsThe SEO research standard.
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The tools indexSheet — 03 / 10

The flagship tools, filed.

Look at the category leaders by family. Filter by name or pick a family. This is the flagship shortlist - search opens all 1,500+ guides.

Showing 26 of 26 methods

No tool matches that filter. Search the full library — it reads every page.

This is the flagship shortlist. The full directory holds 1,571 tool guides — search the complete collection or jump to a family above.

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The map of martechSheet — 04 / 10

The periodic table of martech.

Hover or tap a tool. Thirty flagship tools grouped into six categories - analytics & data, SEO & content, email/CRM/lifecycle, ecommerce & payments, ops & workflow, and ads & social. Filter by category, or hit ★ Core for the ten that anchor most stacks. Each tile links to its full review.
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Martech by the numbers — 2026Sheet — 05 / 10

The numbers that shape the stack.

Tap a card. The martech landscape is enormous and mostly wasted. Here are the 2026 numbers, each linked to the guide that acts on it.
14,000+A universe of tools

Martech products tracked

chiefmartecMarketing ops guide →
Did you know? ↗
~33%Shelfware is real

Martech that goes unused

GartnerStack design →
Did you know? ↗
130+Stacks keep growing

Apps in a typical stack

RGM analysisStack design →
Did you know? ↗
~15%Clean data first

Signal recovered via CDP

RGM analysisCDP implementation →
Did you know? ↗
2-3xCategory leaders diverge

Cost spread across peers

RGM analysisSemrush vs Ahrefs →
Did you know? ↗
~80%Automate the glue

Repetitive ops automatable

RGM analysisAutomation →
Did you know? ↗
The best stack is not the biggest one. It is the smallest set of well-integrated tools your team actually uses.
— RGM analysis, 2026

Martech figures, 2026 — chiefmartec landscape, Gartner and RGM analysis. See the RGM Benchmarks compendium for channel numbers.

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RGM free calculatorsSheet — 06 / 10

Model the economics.

Use these. Before you buy any tool, know the numbers - unit economics, ROAS, break-even, margin. RGM ships them free, no signup.
RGM ToolAOV Calculator

Average order value.

 RGM ToolLTV Calculator

Customer lifetime value.

 RGM ToolLTV:CAC Ratio

Unit-economics health.

 RGM ToolCAC Calculator

Cost to acquire a customer.

 RGM ToolCAC Payback

Months to recover CAC.

 RGM ToolROAS Calculator

Return on ad spend.

 RGM ToolBreak-even ROAS

The ROAS you must clear.

 RGM ToolMER Calculator

Blended media efficiency.

 RGM ToolGross Margin

Margin after cost of goods.

 RGM ToolContribution Margin

Profit after variable costs.

 RGM ToolConversion Lift

Value of a conversion gain.

 RGM ToolChurn Rate

Revenue and logo churn.

Browse every calculator on the RGM tools floor, or start with the benchmarks compendium.

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MethodSheet — 07 / 10

How to choose a marketing tool.

Five steps. Most bad tool decisions skip step one. Here is the sequence from job-to-be-done to adoption.
  1. Define the job to be done. Write down the specific outcome the tool must deliver before you look at any vendor.
  2. Shortlist category leaders. Pick two or three leaders rather than chasing every option - see the vendor-selection framework.
  3. Compare on integration and price. Weigh fit with your existing stack and true cost at your scale - read a head-to-head like Semrush vs Ahrefs or Klaviyo vs Mailchimp.
  4. Run a pilot. Trial the finalist against real work before you commit to an annual contract.
  5. Measure adoption. Track whether the team actually uses it - unused tools are the biggest hidden cost in any stack.
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Go deeperSheet — 08 / 10

The deep guides.

Beyond the basics. Operating guides and the head-to-head comparisons that settle the big buying decisions. The full directory holds 1,571 guides across every category.
Deep guideMarketing Ops Guide

Run the whole stack.

 Deep guideStack Design Principles

Lean, integrated, adopted.

 Deep guideVendor Selection

Choose tools that stick.

 Deep guideCDP Implementation

Clean, connected data.

 Deep guideSemrush vs Ahrefs

The SEO tool showdown.

 Deep guideKlaviyo vs Mailchimp

Which email platform wins?

Comparing two tools? The directory has 163 head-to-head comparisons - Segment vs RudderStack, HubSpot vs Marketo, Shopify vs BigCommerce and more. Search the comparison library →

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The voices — top 12Sheet — 09 / 10

The voices — top 12.

Follow these. The operators and analysts who shaped how modern marketing teams pick, build and run their tooling. Each links to a profile.
01Rand FishkinSEO tools & audience software 02Neil PatelMarketing tools at scale 03Lenny RachitskyProduct & growth tooling 04Brian BalfourGrowth systems & stacks 05Sean EllisExperiment & analytics tooling 06Peep LajaTesting & CRO tools 07April DunfordPositioning software categories 08Byron SharpMeasurement & evidence 09Gary VaynerchukSocial & content platforms 10Chad WhiteEmail & deliverability tooling 11Mark RitsonEffectiveness & measurement 12Seth GodinPermission & owned platforms

Browse all marketing thought leaders →

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FAQSheet — 10 / 10

Tooling questions.

How many marketing tools are there?

The martech landscape now tracks more than 14,000 products, per the annual chiefmartec landscape. No team needs more than a small slice - the skill is choosing a lean, well-integrated stack rather than collecting tools.

How do I choose a marketing tool?

Start from the job to be done, shortlist two or three category leaders, compare on integration and real cost, then pilot the finalist. See the vendor-selection framework. Adoption, not features, is what makes a tool worth its price.

Should I build or buy marketing technology?

Buy for anything commoditized - analytics, email, CRM - where mature vendors solve the problem well. Reserve building for the parts genuinely specific to your business. The stack-design principles go deeper.

What is a customer data platform?

A customer data platform unifies customer data from many sources into one profile you can activate across tools. Segment, RudderStack and mParticle are common choices; the value is clean, connected data.

What is the best marketing analytics tool?

For most teams GA4 is the default web analytics tool, with Amplitude or Mixpanel for product analytics and a warehouse underneath. The right answer depends on whether you sell products, subscriptions or services.

How do I avoid shelfware?

Roughly a third of martech spend goes unused. Audit adoption regularly, cut tools nobody logs into, and make integration a buying criterion so new tools reinforce the stack instead of fragmenting it.

Sources & provenance

  1. Martech product count references the annual chiefmartec (Scott Brinker) marketing-technology landscape; unused-martech share references Gartner marketing-technology survey findings.
  2. Stack size, CDP signal recovery, peer cost spread and automation share are RGM analysis aggregating field experience; treat them as directional planning numbers.
  3. Category groupings and the periodic-table layout are RGM's synthesis; every tile links to its full review. Directory census — live totals from the deployed tree, June 2026.