We earn referral fees from both Salesforce and HubSpot. The winner is decided on the same six-category rubric we use for everything else. Read the full policy.
Salesforce vs HubSpot
Two CRMs that will both quote you. Only one of them is the right answer for your team. Here is how to tell which is which without the demo theatre.
Pick HubSpot if you are under 200 employees and want a CRM your team will actually use without a dedicated admin. Pick Salesforce if you are over 50 employees, can afford a full-time admin, and need the deep customisation, reporting and industry features that nothing else in the market can match. Below 50 people choosing your first CRM, HubSpot wins almost every time.
Side by side.
| What we measured | Salesforce | HubSpot | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall verdict | 4.6 / 5 | 4.8 / 5 | HubSpot |
| Starting price | $25 per seat | Free | HubSpot |
| Free tier | No | Yes, forever | HubSpot |
| Time to live | 4 weeks | 2 weeks | HubSpot |
| Training load | 40+ hours | 2 to 4 hours | HubSpot |
| Feature depth | Deepest in market | Excellent for SMB | Salesforce |
| Marketing automation | Paid add-on | Native | HubSpot |
| Reporting and analytics | Enterprise grade | SMB grade | Salesforce |
| Customisation | Apex, Flow, anything | No-code only | Salesforce |
| Integrations | 7,000+ apps | 1,500+ apps | Salesforce |
| Mobile app | Good | Excellent | HubSpot |
| Customer support | Tiered, paid extras | Strong on all tiers | HubSpot |
- ◆ You have 50+ employees and budget for a dedicated CRM admin
- ◆ You need custom objects, Apex code or genuinely complex workflows
- ◆ Sales analytics and forecasting is mission-critical to the business
- ◆ You operate in financial services, healthcare or manufacturing (Industry Clouds matter)
- ◆ You expect to scale beyond 5,000 users without changing platform
- ◆ You have 10 to 200 employees and want self-service setup
- ◆ Your team wants CRM and marketing in one workspace
- ◆ Budget matters and the free tier could carry you for a year
- ◆ Nobody on your team has used a serious CRM before
- ◆ You want to be productive in two weeks, not eight
If you are honestly torn, start with HubSpot. The free tier is real, the migration cost from HubSpot to Salesforce later is much lower than the other direction, and most of the teams we have seen do that switch did not regret giving HubSpot the first eighteen months.