HubSpot CRM Review 2024

After thoroughly exploring HubSpot CRM, we can tell you everything there is to love – and the few things that we don't love as much. We recommend HubSpot CRM for a variety of reasons, including its low price (including a feature-rich free package), its ease of use, and its scalability. HubSpot can get very expensive once you start upgrading, though, something to keep in mind if you have more extensive CRM needs. 

• Most feature-rich, comprehensive free CRM solution we have found
• The free version includes most (if not all) of what startups need 
• Easy to use
• Scalable, allowing the platform to grow with your business

• So many upgrade options in different categories that it can get confusing
• No customer support with the free plan

HubSpot has the best kind of free plan for startups, one that is robust and feature-rich. It includes just about everything a new business would need from a CRM solution. And for those that need more, like more established businesses, HubSpot offers several tiers at increasing price points that add more to the basic package. 

We are going to look at the notable features of HubSpot’s Sales CRM tools. The company also offers tools under multiple other categories, including marketing, customer service, content management system (CMS), and operations. 

Notable Features:

• Contact management
• Deal Pipeline
• Quotes
• Meeting scheduling
• Live chat
• Reporting dashboard

Notable Features:

• Everything in the Free plan
• Simple automation
• Goals
• Conversion routing
• Multiple currencies
• Rep productivity performance

Notable Features:

• Everything in Starter
• Deal stage, task, and lead rotation automation
• Sequences
• Teams
• Custom reporting
• Phone support

Notable Features:

• Everything in Professional
• Custom objects
• Predictive lead scoring
• Playbooks
• Forecasting
• Recurring revenue tracking

HubSpot has a Startups program that offers discounts from 30%–90% off in the first year and reduced but continuous discounting in the following years. This program is designed to make it easier for startups to access the powerful CRM solutions offered by HubSpot even when they don’t have the budget for full-priced solutions. The process of getting into the program is fairly simple; determine your eligibility, apply to the program, and start your free trial. 

Keep in mind that the Startups program only applies to Professional- or Enterprise-level products. 

There are three categories for the Startup program:

• Raised funding up to $2 million
• Associated with one of our approved VC, Incubator, or Accelerator partners.
• Get 50% off in the second year and 25% off ongoing

• Raised funding of over $2 million
• Have not raised Series B or beyond
• Associated with one of our approved partner organizations
• Get 25% off ongoing

• Associated with one of our approved entrepreneurial organizations
• Get 15% off ongoing

To determine if you are eligible, check out the up-to-date list of partners within the HubSpot Startups program. 

We really like the HubSpot CRM solutions, but you don’t have to just take our word for it. There are plenty of reviews out there from small businesses that have tried out the products. 

Here are some verified reviews from Trustpilot by people who used HubSpot CRM:

“I have used Hubspot for the last 5 years and it has been a great experience. Hubspot can do almost anything. We have used it as a CRM for our sales team and have used the Marketing Hub for all of our emails and social media needs. It gives us the ability to communicate quickly with customers and potential customers. The only downside is that Hubspot can do everything, which means there is so much learning and onboarding to make sure you are using everything. Everything is customizable, which is great if you have the time to customize it. Our business model is unique and requires a bit of customization, which sometimes has caused problems with trying to expand our use of Hubspot, but I still highly recommend the tool.”

“HubSpot does some things like content promotion VERY well. It does a tremendous amount of things as a CRM, but it is wanting in terms of some features that come as standard with other CRMs such as tagging contacts, the ability to 'nurture' deals or contacts through a "Next Steps' feature out of the box, and some limitations with reporting. It is highly configurable and is constantly evolving with more features”

“HubSpot is an excellent CRM tool. The organization behind HubSpot seems to genuinely care about making their tool the best CRM out there. New features are being added constantly, and they have all been excellent. The user interface is easy to understand and it makes any sort of marketing, sales, or support activity easy. The only downside is some of the lack of features for the newer components.”

HubSpot CRM is one of the most popular CRM options, so many different types of people use it. These include startups, established businesses, and even larger companies. Most of the reviews are positive, indicating that HubSpot offers a quality product that satisfies most business owners’ needs. 

Perhaps the biggest complaint about HubSpot CRM is the lack of customer support for the Free plan. You can get help through forums and educational resources offered by HubSpot, but you can’t talk to anyone at the company and get help if you are on the Free plan.

There are plenty of competitors out there that offer CRM software for startups. One of the more popular is Salesforce. We find that Salesforce compares to HubSpot in the following ways:

HubSpot wins the contest for pricing. It offers a comprehensive free plan, while Salesforce requires you to pay a monthly fee to access its CRM solution. Granted, the cost is only $25/month, but that’s still more expensive than what Hubspot is offering. 

Beyond the base-level plans, the pricing of HubSpot and Salesforce becomes more complicated. Each lets you add modules that add to your monthly cost. Salesforce charges per user, which can be good if you have few users but a problem if you have a lot of users. 

HubSpot includes every feature most startups need in its free plan, including sales, marketing, CMS, and more. Salesforce also gives you numerous features in its basic plan. Beyond the basic plans, Salesforce starts to take the lead in features because it offers many, many different options. Each adds to your monthly cost.

HubSpot is easier to use than Salesforce. One of the drawbacks of Salesforce having so many different features is that it can become complex to use pretty quickly. It is more customizable, but that customization comes at the cost of ease of use. 

For those that want the simplest CRM option, HubSpot is the way to go.

Both HubSpot and Salesforce integrate with many existing software solutions and each has an extensive app environment. You can add additional functionality to your CRM using the apps.

HubSpot has around 500 apps that you can choose from, while Salesforce has around 3500. HubSpot’s app environment is more focused on ease of use and functionality. In other words, it offers fewer apps but you are less likely to get an app that gives you trouble. 

Salesforce is more customizable than HubSpot. While you can certainly customize HubSpot to some extent, Salesforce has made a name for itself by providing extensive customization options.

For most small businesses, HubSpot is plenty customizable. It’s larger corporations that tend to take advantage of Salesforce’s extreme customization capabilities

Both CRM solutions give you the ability to generate reports and conduct analytics – depending on what tier you are at. HubSpot’s reporting and analytics options are not as extensive or powerful as Salesforce. They are sufficient for most small businesses, but larger companies may require the more powerful options offered by Salesforce.

The free price of HubSpot’s basic CRM solution is awesome, but it does have one drawback – no customer support from the company. You have to look to the community forums to get support. In contrast, Salesforce charges $25/month for its basic plan, but it also offers real customer support. 

Beyond the lowest tiers, you can get high-quality customer support from both companies. 

We think that HubSpot CRM is the best free CRM solution you can find. It gives you everything you could ask for from a CRM system at a price that can’t be beaten. It may not be perfect for everyone, but it is ideal for most startups and small businesses. 

Probably the only issue that might make you look elsewhere is the lack of direct customer support from HubSpot for the free plan. If you are ok getting help from the community, HubSpot is the perfect choice for your CRM needs. 

You can also explore HubSpot CRM alternatives by checking out our reviews on the best CRM for startups and best free CRM software for startups.