HubSpot review: plans, strengths, and limitations

Is HubSpot a good fit?#

HubSpot is a strong option if your sales, marketing, and service teams want to work from the same customer records. Its free CRM can also be a useful starting point for a small team, with support for up to two users and 1,000 contacts.

When you need more than the basics, automated email follow-up starts on Sales Hub Professional, at $90 per seat per month billed annually, plus a required one-time $1,500 onboarding fee. Texting requires a Marketing Hub plan and paid add-on, while the power dialer is on the top sales plan.

What it’s like to work in HubSpot#

HubSpot gives sales teams a place to manage contacts and deals, send emails, book meetings, and report on their pipeline. Its mobile app and integrations let you take some of that work with you or connect it to the tools you already use.

Contacts, deals, and email

HubSpot’s free CRM doesn’t expire, and you don’t need a credit card to start. It supports up to two users and 1,000 contacts, with tools for managing contacts, deals, and tasks.

You can customize deal stages and move deals through your pipeline as they progress. Create a deal from a contact or company record, and HubSpot fills in information from that record. Pipeline reports can help you spot deals that are overdue or have stalled.

Email tracking is free and unlimited. In Gmail, Outlook, or Office 365, HubSpot can notify you when someone opens an email, clicks a link, or downloads a file.

The meeting scheduler gives prospects a booking link that syncs with Google or Office 365 calendars. You can also route a booking to the first available seller or schedule a meeting with several teammates.

Breeze Assistant, HubSpot’s AI assistant, is available across its tiers. It can help research companies, prepare for calls, and summarize records.

Reporting and coaching

HubSpot’s forecasting tools help managers project revenue from the pipeline. You can customize forecast categories, see totals rolled up by team, and drill down through the team hierarchy. Sellers can edit their own forecasts.

On Professional and Enterprise, teams can test up to six versions of a sequence email and compare results such as opens, clicks, replies, and meetings.

Conversation Intelligence brings call insights into the CRM. It can surface objections and give managers a place to leave feedback on specific moments in a recording. It also supports calls made through services including Zoom, JustCall, and Kixie.

Mobile app and integrations

HubSpot’s free iOS and Android app lets you update deals, log notes, assign tasks, and view dashboards. You can also call using a HubSpot number and calling minutes, then listen to recordings and read transcripts in the app. Caller ID can link incoming calls to CRM records.

The App Marketplace lists more than 2,000 integrations, including Gmail, Outlook, Slack, Zoom, and Microsoft Teams. HubSpot also offers two-way data sync with dozens of popular apps.

On paid plans, you can give colleagues free, unlimited view-only access to records, dashboards, and reports. Those users can’t edit records or log emails.

What you may need beyond Starter#

HubSpot’s entry paid plan covers useful basics, but several sales features require a higher plan, a particular seat, or another HubSpot product.

Automation and follow-up

Starter includes up to 50 workflows, with restrictions on the triggers and actions you can use. Professional allows up to 300 fully customizable workflows, and Enterprise allows up to 1,000.

Sequences start on Professional. They send timed one-to-one emails from your inbox and remind you when it’s time to call or follow up. Users need an assigned Sales or Service seat to use them.

Some sequence actions require Enterprise, including enrolling contacts through a workflow and sending a sequence on another user’s behalf.

Power dialing and voicemail drops

HubSpot’s power dialer queues calls from your contact list and moves on to the next number automatically. It’s available on Enterprise, and HubSpot marks it as beta.

Pre-recorded voicemail drops are also on Enterprise and work only with HubSpot-provided numbers.

Texting

Sales Hub includes calling, but texting is handled through Marketing Hub. To send SMS, you need Marketing Hub Professional or Enterprise plus a paid Marketing SMS or Short Code add-on. Those messages can only go to marketing contacts who have explicitly opted in to SMS.

Custom records and quotes

Custom objects, which let you create your own record types, are listed on Enterprise. Quotes with e-signatures and payments are part of Revenue Hub Professional or Enterprise, a separate product priced per seat.

AI usage

Breeze Assistant is available across HubSpot’s tiers, but many AI features and agents use HubSpot Credits. Starter includes 500 credits; additional credits can be purchased in packs or on a pay-as-you-go basis.

HubSpot plans and pricing at a glance#

Sales Hub has four plans: Free, Starter, Professional, and Enterprise. Paid plans are priced per seat. Starter’s lowest listed price is a limited-time offer for new customers.

• Free: Contact, deal, and task management for up to two users and 1,000 contacts, plus email tracking, meeting scheduling, and reporting dashboards.
• Starter: Browser calling, one HubSpot phone number, limited workflows, 500 HubSpot Credits, and Agent Hub.
• Professional: Sequences, forecasting, Conversation Intelligence, more workflows, and up to three phone numbers.
• Enterprise: Power dialer, voicemail drops, custom objects, sequences triggered by workflows, and up to five phone numbers.

HubSpot offers a 14-day trial. When it ends, the account returns to its previous plan rather than being charged automatically. Some features may be restricted during the trial.

What HubSpot costs for a team of 5, 10, or 15#

If your team needs automated email follow-up through Sequences, start with Professional. Its listed price is $90 per seat per month billed annually, or $100 per seat per month billed monthly on an annual commitment.

The table below shows the seat cost for teams of 5, 10, and 15. It does not include onboarding fees, texting, extra calling minutes, taxes, or add-ons.

Costs and contract details to check

Onboarding: Professional requires a one-time $1,500 onboarding fee. Enterprise requires a one-time $3,500 fee. Neither is included in the table.

Calling: Paid plans include browser calling, with minutes shared across the account. The allowance depends on your subscription. You can buy more minutes, connect a Twilio account on eligible seats, or use a connected Marketplace calling app. Check the rates and limits for your setup.

Texting: Texting requires an eligible Marketing Hub plan and an SMS add-on. The pages checked did not list prices for that setup, so ask HubSpot for a quote.

AI: Some AI actions use HubSpot Credits. Starter includes 500, and you can buy more. Check the cost of the agents and features you expect to use.

Seats: Choose a seat count you’re comfortable keeping through the term. Unassigning a seat doesn’t stop its billing, and you can’t reduce seats before renewal or below your minimum commitment.

Limits and reported problems#

Some of HubSpot’s limits may never affect your team. Others are worth checking against your day-to-day sales volume before you commit.

Calling minutes are shared. Everyone on the account draws from the same pool. If you reach the limit, you can finish the current call, but you can’t start another until minutes reset on the first of the next month. Calls from a registered phone use twice the minutes.

SMS has specific restrictions. HubSpot sends from US-based numbers and allows one marketing SMS number per account. Recipients must also have opted in to marketing texts.

Plan limits vary. HubSpot sets limits on workflows, pipelines, phone numbers, sequences, and other features.

Who should choose HubSpot?#

Before buying Professional or Enterprise, check the seat assigned to each person. Calling and sequences require an assigned Sales or Service seat.

Frequently asked questions#