Reviewed by the AI Cilantro team
Independent review
HubSpot Review
Stop losing track of clients. HubSpot keeps your contacts, emails, and follow-ups in one place.
Quick answer
HubSpot is best for service businesses that have outgrown spreadsheets: contractors tracking leads, agencies managing clients, consultants following up on proposals. Plans start at $0. The catch: pricing scales fast.
$0
starting price
Email & CRM
category
independently reviewed
Try HubSpot
Visit the official HubSpot site to see current plans and pricing.
How much does HubSpot cost?
HubSpot plans start at $0/mo. Here's the full breakdown.
| Plan | Price | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | Trying out the CRM |
| Starter | $20/mo | Solo owners + small teams |
| Professional | $890/mo | Scaling B2B teams |
Free
$0
Trying out the CRM
Starter
$20/mo
Solo owners + small teams
Professional
$890/mo
Scaling B2B teams
Save this pricing to your inbox
We'll remind you before the deal expires + send new deals weekly.
The verdict
Best first CRM for contractors, agencies, and consultants moving off spreadsheets. The free plan is genuinely useful: unlimited contacts, basic deal tracking, no expiration. Just set a hard budget before you start exploring paid tiers. The jump from Starter to Professional is not a gentle step.
Who is HubSpot best for?
Service businesses that have outgrown spreadsheets: contractors tracking leads, agencies managing clients, consultants following up on proposals. The free CRM handles unlimited contacts, so you can get started at $0 and only pay when you need email automation or deeper reporting.
HubSpot, Pros & Cons
What we like
- Genuinely free CRM tier with unlimited contacts, no expiration
- All-in-one platform replaces 3-4 standalone tools
- Best-in-class sales pipeline and deal tracking at any price
- Massive integration ecosystem (1,000+ native integrations)
- Starter at $20/mo is competitive for the feature set you get in one platform
Watch out for
- Professional plan at $890/mo is a steep jump from Starter
- Advanced features like custom reports locked behind higher tiers
Key features
- Built-in CRM with unlimited contacts and deal pipelines
- Email marketing with drag-and-drop builder and automation sequences
- Sales activity tracking and meeting scheduling links
- Landing pages, forms, and live chat in one platform
- Detailed analytics and custom reporting dashboards
Common questions about HubSpot
Does HubSpot offer a free trial before committing to a paid plan?+
HubSpot's Free plan is permanently free with no trial period, you can use the CRM, contact management, and basic email tools at $0 indefinitely. Paid plans like Starter ($20/mo) don't require a credit card to explore via the free tier first.
What's the cheapest way to get started with HubSpot?+
Start on the Free CRM at $0, which includes unlimited contacts and basic deal tracking with no time limit. When you need email automation, the Starter plan is $20/mo. Most solo owners and small teams run on Free for a long time before they need to upgrade.
How does HubSpot compare to Mailchimp for small businesses?+
HubSpot bundles CRM, email, and marketing automation in one place, while Mailchimp is primarily an email tool you'd need to pair with a separate CRM. For service businesses and B2B teams, HubSpot's integrated pipeline tracking typically replaces two or three separate tools.
Is HubSpot worth it for a solo business owner?+
The Free plan is genuinely useful for solo owners, it includes unlimited contacts and basic deal tracking. The Starter plan at $20/mo adds email sending and simple automation, making it a reasonable step up without the steep jump to Professional.
Can I cancel my HubSpot subscription at any time?+
HubSpot's paid plans are available on monthly or annual billing. Monthly subscribers can cancel anytime, while annual plans lock in the rate for 12 months. Annual billing is typically cheaper per month than paying monthly.
What's the best HubSpot plan for a growing B2B sales team?+
The Professional plan ($890/mo) is built for scaling B2B teams, it includes advanced automation, custom reporting, and sales sequences. Starter at $20/mo covers solo owners, but teams with active pipelines and multiple reps will outgrow it quickly.
Does HubSpot integrate with Salesforce?+
Yes, HubSpot has a native two-way Salesforce sync that keeps contacts, deals, and activities in alignment between both platforms. This is commonly used by teams transitioning from Salesforce or running both systems in parallel. The integration is available on Professional and above.
What happens to my HubSpot data if I cancel my paid plan?+
If you downgrade from a paid plan to the free tier, HubSpot retains your contacts and deal data but limits access to paid features. Your CRM data is not deleted, you'd just lose automation workflows, email sequences, and paid-only reporting until you re-subscribe.
Can HubSpot handle e-commerce businesses, or is it just for service companies?+
HubSpot has an e-commerce integration with Shopify, WooCommerce, and Stripe that syncs order data into the CRM for customer segmentation and abandoned cart emails. It's strongest for B2B service and SaaS companies, but e-commerce businesses with a customer service or sales component benefit from the CRM layer.
Is HubSpot GDPR compliant for European customers?+
Yes, HubSpot is GDPR compliant and includes built-in tools for managing consent, cookie banners, and data deletion requests. European businesses can use HubSpot within GDPR requirements, and HubSpot processes EU data in EU-based data centers when configured correctly.
Want to try it?
HubSpot, try it yourself
Head to HubSpot's official site for current plans and pricing.
Try HubSpot
Visit the official HubSpot site to see current plans and pricing.
Weekly
Get new deals in your inbox
AI Cilantro, plain-English AI for small business owners.
Subscribe free →