Top 8 HubSpot competitors in 2024

Business & tech

by   Val Riley

What is HubSpot CRM?

HubSpot started as a marketing automation platform and later added a CRM, service app, and project management app to be a full service platform for end users. The sales team often uses the low-cost, simple CRM as an entry point to move customers into marketing software contracts. 

HubSpots best features are related to email marketing and email management. It is robust out of the box, but advanced customizations can be limited since it is a closed system where you’ll get the most out of it when you use all of its components together. Leaving the ecosystem means building integrations and those can be costly. The small number of integrations that are available are easy to use. Building reports can be a challenge, so you may need to have some expertise on your team or hire an external integrator to get the most from the system. The HubSpot online academy is a great resource for learning how to use the platform and for marketing training in general.

Key features of HubSpot CRM

  • Contact management: HubSpot’s Sales Hub has robust contact tracking that helps businesses have a single source of truth for all customers and prospects thus improving customer relationships.
  • Workflow automation: HubSpot can help your team be more efficient by automating repetitive tasks. This sales automation is key to freeing up your team to close more deals with clear sales funnels.
  • Deal tracking: It’s easy to see where deals are in HubSpot CRM
  • Reporting dashboards: HubSpot gives sales teams a great way to visualize data with robust reports and real-time dashboards.
  • Easy UI: HubSpot CRM has a clean and intuitive interface that is very popular with users to manage contacts.
  • A popular system: It’s not difficult to find new sales reps with experience using HubSpot since it is a popular software application. They will also be familiar with the HubSpot sales processes.
  • Easy to learn: HubSpot’s intuitive interface means that the learning curve isn’t steep. Your users will be up and running on HubSpot quickly. Plus, the robust HubSpot Academy has tons of resources for new users, 
  • It’s a closed system: If you stay within the HubSpot platform for CRM, Marketing and Service, and Project Management you’ll find efficiencies. 
  • Marketing automation tools: HubSpot CRM is most powerful when used with HubSpot’s Marketing Hub marketing automation platform and content management features. The landing page builder, SMS marketing functions, account-based marketing features and more will make your marketing team more efficient.

Why should you look for HubSpot alternatives?

  • Pricing concerns: HubSpot can quickly get really expensive for many businesses. You may qualify for an introductory rate, but beware. Once that rate expires, you’ll be on the hook for a big monthly fee. While it has a free plan in its pricing plans, it does not include any advanced features. The Professional plan is robust with key features, but it will run you $1,600/month – a high cost for smaller operations.
  • Leaving the ‘ecosystem:’ HubSpot works best when you use all of the tools they offer. For example, should you decide to use a more robust, separate social publishing tool vs. the basic one included in HubSpot, you lose all of the benefits of comprehensive reporting. 

Best alternatives to HubSpot CRM

#1 Insightly CRM – top HubSpot alternative

If you’re looking for a highly customizable CRM with project management features built in, Insightly is a great fit and is a strong contender and alternative to HubSpot.

Key features of Insightly CRM

Advantages of using Insightly CRM

  • Project management features: Many CRMs offer project management features as an add-on or an extra application, but Insightly builds in robust project management features in its CRM offering. Best of all, the project management features use the same intuitive interface that is used in the lead and opportunity management phases, so it’s already familiar to users. The kanban style that is so easy to visualize is in play here, and project managers will delight in how easy it is to move won opportunities into projects. All of the data from the sale carries over, so PMs can see exactly what led to this customer choosing your solution. 
  • Customizations: Most CRMs are customizable…that’s true. However, most also require a lot of help. You’ll need help from the platform’s customer service team. Or worse, you’ll need to hire an outside integration or service company to do the customizations for you. This can add up quickly. This is especially true for legacy CRMs (looking at you, Salesforce). 
  • HIPAA compliance: If you are in the healthcare industry and need to be assured of data security under HIPAA, Insightly is a clear choice. Few CRMs are HIPAA compliant. 

User reviews of Insightly CRM from G2

  • “Helps you to improve efficiency, and is easy to use.”
    This is a very user friendly software that makes your work easier. – Kratika C., Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)
  • “Easy to use and efficient”
    The application is a user friendly app that helps fulfill all the needs. Their customer support is amazing. Vanshika G. Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)
  • “Insightly for improved efficiency in association management”
    Verified User in Non-Profit Organization Management Mid-Market(51-1000 emp.)
  • “Amazing support, easy to use and so much still to explore” – Dawn R. Small Business (50 or fewer emp.)
  • “A modern customizable CRM with on the clock support” – Kati G., Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

When is Insightly a good choice?

  • Customizations: Insightly is an excellent option for enterprises that need CRM that’s tailored to their needs. Insightly is easy to customize without the need for an outside firm or agency. 
  • Integrations: Using the AppConnect middleware tool, it’s easy to connect Insightly to thousands of popular business applications without the need to write code.
  • Project management: If your business wants to manage projects right in the CRM, Insightly’s project management features will impress you. You won’t need to buy and implement a separate app to manage projects post-sale.
  • Your team likes to ‘tinker:’ Insightly is a highly flexible tool that businesses can use in a myriad of ways. The possibilities are endless and the guardrails are down – you can truly make Insightly perform in countless ways if you want.
  • You want one platform for your Go-to-Market teams: In addition to a robust CRM, Insightly offers Insightly Marketing for marketing automation and Insightly Service for customer support and ticketing. Your GTM teams gain visibility into each other’s work with one platform, one data set, and one login.

Insightly Pricing

Insightly’s pricing model includes the Plus, Professional, and Enterprise plans, which offer a variety of features and limits so you can customize your CRM to the needs of your business at different price points. 

For detailed pricing information, visit Inisghtly’s website.

Monday – a HubSpot alternative

Monday started out as a project management application. It has since added a software development tracking tool and a CRM.  Monday.com’s main focus is on the project manager buyer. However, the CRM features have matured over the years to become a viable option for some small businesses. The CRM features make some consider it an alternative to HubSpot.

Key features of Monday

  • Also offers a popular project management application: Monday is known as a project management company. If your business uses the Monday project management system, you may want to consider getting your CRM from them as well. These products are priced separately.
  • Contact management: Manages your contacts in one place. No limits on contacts.
  • Sales forecasting: Uses data to predict future sales
  • Task organization: Track tasks in the platform
  • Automate workflows: automate repetitive processes to save time
  • Dashboards: Easy data visualization

Challenges for Monday CRM

  • No free version: There is no Monday free plan at the time of this writing. It is indicated that a free plan with limited features is coming soon.
  • Integrations: If integrations are vital to your business, Monday’s Basic plan won’t work. It excludes integrations so you will not be able to connect the CRM with their other tools.
  • You’ll need to pay up to access basic CRM features: Since Monday is more focused on its project management business, some basic CRM functions are missing from lower tiers. You’ll find many more CRM-specific features on other apps at a lower cost. 

User reviews of Monday from G2

Note that these reviews are all of Monday.com as a Project Management Tool, since that is its primary purpose. 

  • “Good and Advanced project management tool” – Jacquelynne H., Small Business (50 or fewer emp.)
  • “Project management made easy” – Viktoriia k. Mid-Market(51-1000 emp.)
  • “Best tool for project management tool” – Aman S., Project Development Manager, Enterprise(> 1000 emp.)

When is Monday CRM a good choice?

  • When you are already using it as a Project Management Tool and don’t want to add more applications to your tech stack.
  • If your CRM needs are simple then Monday’s lower plans may be a fit at a relatively low cost.

Monday Pricing

Monday.com CRM pricing is on the low end for CRMs. This is because Monday’s main business is primarily a project management tool designed for project management teams with a simple CRM as a side business. There is no free plan at the time of this writing, so you’ll need to commit to paying after the 14-day trial period. Most features that are common in lower tiers for other CRMs can only be found in the Enterprise tier for Monday.

For detailed pricing information, visit Monday.com’s website.

Copper CRM – a HubSpot alternative

Copper is a CRM with useful features for small businesses. It scores well on the essential functions of a CRM. Copper CRM is a favorite among businesses using Google Workspace since it easily integrates with Google products.

Key features of Copper CRM

  • Google Workspace integration: Easily interacts with all Google apps
  • Customization: Easy to add fields, drop downs, etc. to perfectly set up the CRM for your business.
  • Advanced reporting: Powerful, pre-built reports for sales teams
  • Integrations: Supports app connections at higher plan levels
  • Automate workflows: Take tasks off your plate when you automate calls, meetings, and follow-ups.

Advantages of using Copper CRM

  • Keep reps organized with inbox integration so they can record emails in the CRM without leaving their inbox. 
  • Simple pipeline views using a kanban format provides visibility across your sales team.
  • Copper makes it easy to automate repetitive tasks, keeping your sales team focused on selling.
  • Built-in native integrations with commonly used apps like MailChimp and Slack.

Challenges of Copper CRM

  • Compared to other CRMs targeting small businesses, pricing is on the high end. 
  • If you have a lot of contacts, this is not the CRM for you. Contact limits are lower than most other CRMs at each price point.
  • The lowest level plan does not include workflow automation, which is included in most other CRM plans at that pricing tier.
  • Copper is known to have a bit of a steep learning curve. There are more intuitive CRMs on the market.

User reviews of Copper CRM from G2

  • “Intuitive product, excellent service and great service” – Lydia. F Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)
  • “The ease of finding a contact’s information” – Traci N. Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)
  • “Maximize Efficiency : a deep dive into Copper CRM’s seamless workflow solution.” Varun D. Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

When is Copper CRM a good choice?

  • When your business uses Google Workspace
  • When you have a small amount of contacts in your database
  • When you don’t need a free option to get started. Beyond the Free Trial, you’ll need to pay to use the system as there is no free tier. 
  • You need multi-lingual support

Copper Pricing

With just 3 tiers to choose from, Copper makes pricing simple. Their Basic plan is $29 per user per month, Professional is a bug jump to $69 per user per month, and Business, the full-featured offering, is $134 per user per month. These are comparatively high for a CRM targeted at small businesses. However, you don’t need to worry about add-ons like HubSpot CRM and others…everything is included in these price points. 

For detailed pricing information, visit Copper’s website.

Nutshell CRM – a HubSpot alternative

Nutshell CRM is a CRM for small businesses and small teams. For small businesses with a more simple set of needs, it can be a viable option and an alternative to HubSpot. 

Key features of Nutshell CRM

  • Simple interface: Uses drag-and-drop functions to simplify use
  • Sales management: Streamlines sales operations 
  • Hands-on service: Get a dedicated account manager with their higher plans
  • Foundation level pricing: a low-cost entry point to get started

Advantages of using Nutshell CRM

  • Choose from 4 pricing tiers to get exactly what you need. Then, select add-ons to customize it for your business. 
  • No contact limits. Some platforms have limits on the number of contacts you can store in your database. Nutshell frees you from this constraint.
  • Easy to implement. You won’t need to hire an integration firm or consultant to implement Nutshell.
  • Zoom meetings transcribed. In higher level plans, you can have your Zoom meetings automatically transcribed in Nutshell.

Challenges of Nutshell

  • Pricing can be tricky. The monthly licensing fee per user per month isn’t where it ends. You’ll need to choose some add-ons to get what is essentially basic functionality in other CRMs. This can add up quickly.
  • No free plan. While you can start a trial of Nutshell, there is no low-level free plan. So after your trial, you’ll need to commit to a paid plan. 
  • Out of the box. There is a limit to how much users can customize the front-end look and feel. This could be a benefit for small companies looking for an out-of-the-box solution, but businesses looking to make changes will struggle with Nutshell.
  • You may outgrow it. While Nutshell offers Enterprise pricing, nearly all of its customers are small businesses. It’s easy to outgrow over time.

User reviews of Nutshell CRM from G2

  • “Nutshell keeps adding awesome capabilities…” Richard S.Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)
  • “Very customer oriented” – Peggy B.Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)
  • “Exactly what we were looking for!” Mariah B.Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

When is Nutshell CRM a good choice?

  • When you are a sole proprietor or micro business
  • When you know you need a CRM and are ready to pay for it out of the gate.
  • When you are looking to store and manage contacts but don’t necessarily need a full-blown CRM
  • When you will be using a marketing tool and want it integrated with your CRM
  • If you’re not looking for AI features. Foundation and Pro levels don’t offer the help of AI. You’ll need to be in the highest pricing tiers for those functions. 

Nutshell Pricing

With 4 tiers to choose from plus add-ons, Nutshell pricing can feel overwhelming. Foundation pricing starts at $14/mo with Enterprise running $67/mo. However, these prices don’t include any add-ons that some may say are essential to your CRM experience. For instance, email campaigns and the ability to send emails from your inbox are included in Insightly CRM. With Nutshell, you’ll need to pay an additional $37/mo. for each. For a small company, that’s literally tripling your monthly fee. 

For detailed pricing information, visit Nutshell’s website.

Pipedrive CRM – a HubSpot alternative

Pipedrive is a CRM with useful features for small businesses. It scores well on the essential functions of a CRM. 

Key features of Pipedrive CRM

  • Automation – Pipedrive enables automation to eliminate redundant tasks and make your team more efficient. 
  • Customization – You can customize your pipeline and you processes to match your organization’s needs.
  • Email and communication – Keep all of your sales team communication in one place with email features in Pipedrive.
  • Reports – Make custom sales reports to keep your team informed.
  • Integrations – Connect Pipedrive with the other tools your business uses every day.
  • Lead management – Generate, qualify and prioritize leads.
  • Security – Your data is protected in Pipedrive
  • Manage activities – Use features like goal setting, insights, and activity tracking

Advantages of Pipedrive CRM

  • Pipedrive is account-centric vs. contact-centric, so if you are working on large accounts, it could be a good fit.
  • No charge for onboarding. Pipedrive sets you up for success in using their platform.
  • Customizations are fairly easy to make. For instance, custom fields are a great way to classify deals and customer types.
  • Integrations are easy to set up.
  • Ease of use – most teams are up and running on Pipedrive in under 3 months.

Challenges of Pipedrive CRM

  • Pricing – Look through the pricing carefully – some functions you may consider essential can be part of their flexible ‘add-on’ model. With 5 options, there is a lot of research to do here to make sure you select the right plan. Be sure to scroll down to their add-ons section. Here, you’ll find some features that are included in other CRMs like email templates. This is part of Pipedrives ‘campaigns add on’ but is standard in CRMs like Insightly. 
  • Project Management – Many CRMs include project management features as part of the CRM licensing fee. For example, Insightly has project management features built in for no extra cost. Pipedrive calls this the “Projects” add=on and it will cost you per user per month, bringing all of Pipedrives plans to a higher price point than many other CRMs.
  • User Interface – The interface can be complex until you’ve mastered it, so allow time for adoption. Also keep in mind that the essential plan does not include chat or phone support, so you’ll be on your own when you choose their most basic plan level. 
  • No Free Plan – There is no free option with Pipedrive, so you’ll need to commit to the lowest pricing level to use it beyond the 2-week trial.

User reviews of Pipedrive CRM from G2

  • “Really smooth and easy to use. The onboarding session was unreal.” – Nathan M. Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)
  • “Does just what you need” – Tom S. Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)
  • “So far so good. So far the automation is fantastic – it syncs up with my email outreach strategy very well.” – Sam T. Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

When is Pipedrive CRM a good choice?

  • When you need a robust CRM at a reasonable price point.
  • When you want to customize your CRM without the need for expensive consultants.
  • When you work larger accounts.
  • When you are sure you need a CRM and are ready to pay (no free plan available.)

Pipedrive Pricing

With five tiers from which to choose, Pipedrive gives you a lot of options to find the right plan for your business. Plans start at $14 per user, per month and go up to $99 per user, per month for Enterprise. This is significantly less expensive than Salesforce.

For detailed pricing information, visit the Pipedrive website.

Salesforce CRM – a HubSpot alternative

Salesforce is a CRM investment suited for large scale enterprises like Fortune 500 companies. It requires expensive third party partners to implement, and will often require multiple dedicated team members to operate it day to day. Once in place however, it is a powerful CRM that integrates with a plethora of tools via its marketplace to deliver a full and robust business management system.

Key features of Salesforce CRM

  • Contact management
  • Dashboard views
  • Task and event management
  • Opportunity and pipeline management
  • Account management
  • Automation
  • Integration with other tools
  • Powerful analytics driven by AI

Advantages of Salesforce CRM

  • Robust marketplace for app integrations
  • Supported by an ecosystem of developers, integrators, resellers and consultants
  • Considered the grandfather of CRMs – the first cloud-based CRM on the market
  • Widely used by businesses of all kinds

Challenges of Salesforce CRM

  • Interface is clunky and slow to load
  • Implementations take 6-9 months
  • An integration or consulting firm is almost always required to implement the platform
  • Integrations are costly to develop and maintain since they often break
  • It’s complex and therefore requires extensive employee training
  • Adoption can be difficult as its complexity makes it difficult to use
  • Each implementation is unique – therefore the skills in using it rarely transfer from one business to another
  • Can be cost prohibitive to small businesses

User reviews of Salesforce CRM from G2

  • “CRM for time saving and easy to use” – Divy M. Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)
  • Flexibility: Salesforce Sales Cloud can be highly customized to fit the specific needs of any business. – Jolyma Jem M.Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)
  • “Easy to use and track the leads” I like the interface of the CRM tracking the accurate customer interface – Devyani G.Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

When is Salesforce CRM a good choice?

  • When budgets are not a consideration
  • When you have a strong IT team to support it and can hire multiple CRM administrators for day-to-day operation
  • For a Fortune 1000 enterprise
  • When you have a 6-9 month runway of time to implement it and train your workforce

Salesforce Pricing

With four pricing tiers for Salesforce Sales Cloud (AKA CRM), you have choices. At $25 per user per month, the starter edition is aimed at small businesses and is designed to compete with other value CRMs. However, it still has a considerable amount of complexity that will be a struggle for many companies. The Professional edition ($80 per user per month) has many more features, but most companies choose Enterprise ($165 per user per month) or Unlimited ($330 per user per month). These prices are clearly out of range for a lot of companies and therefore show how Salesforce is designed for large scale enterprises.

For detailed pricing information, visit the Salesforce website.

SugarCRM – a HubSpot alternative

SugarCRM (Sugar Sell) is a comprehensive CRM platform. It is very configurable so it can be adapted to a wide variety of use cases. In addition to Sugar Sell, the platform includes Sugar Serve for customer service and Sugar Market for email marketing. 

Key features of SugarCRM (Sugar Sell)

  • Easy to use: Sugar has an intuitive interface that is easy to navigate.
  • Lead and contact management: Sugar helps you manage leads and contacts with features such as list segmentation and lead scoring
  • Reporting and analytics: Sugar has a robust analytics function to track lead and opportunity performance 
  • Customization: IT teams can tailor SugarCRM to meet your team’s needs
  • Security and compliance: Sugar uses encryption measures and complies with customer data protection regulations

Advantages of SugarCRM

  • Sugar works best when your team uses all of the apps on the platform, including CRM, Sugar Market and Sugar Serve.
  • Sugar supports a wide range of languages, which can be helpful for global businesses.
  • Sugar is easy to customize without the need of a developer or IT professional. 

Challenges of SugarCRM

  • You will likely need an integrator to get you up and running on SugarCRM. You’ll need to be well versed in business processes to get the system configured, and this level of sophistication is not likely to be in house.
  • Project management functions in Sugar are limited. You’ll likely need a separate project management tool to manage even simple projects. 
  • The lowest pricing tier doesn’t offer much functionality; be sure you find the exact needs you have in the tier you select, or you risk having to bump up to the next level.
  • There are more cost-effective options on the market.
  • If you have more than 5 seats, you will need to bump up into the Advanced tier which is 4x more expensive than Essentials. It feels like a penalty for growth.

User reviews of SugarCRM from G2

  • “It is convenient when using as a group.” – Sean Ching S.Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)
  • “An excellent, customizable experience” – Jessica F.Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)
  • “Great product and service!” – Mark B.Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

When is SugarCRM a good choice?

  • When budgets are not a consideration
  • When you have a strong IT team to support it and can a multiple CRM integrator for implementation
  • When you only need 5 seats or fewer
  • When you want to use a CRM, marketing platform, and customer service tool from one vendor

SugarCRM Pricing

It appears that you have 3 tiers from which to choose, but the Essentials tier (at $19 per user, per month) is only for teams of 5 or fewer. This means that teams of 6 or more will pay a minimum of $85 per user, per month. This is much higher than many other CRMs on the market. The Premier level is at $135 per user, per month, which is also unusually high for the market. 

For detailed pricing information, visit the SugarCRM website.

Zoho CRM – a HubSpot alternative

Zoho is a cloud-based CRM. Rather than focus on one size of company, Zoho caters to the needs of businesses of all sizes. Zoho has the key features of most CRMs even though out-of-the-box customizations are limited. Once you learn the interface, the tool is powerful. No direct support is available, so one person in your organization will likely need to become an expert quickly or you’ll need an outside consultant. Although the integration process is complex, once integrated, it is a good tool for cross company communication.

Key features of Zoho

  • Dashboard: It’s easy to monitor team performance with Zoho’s dashboards.
  • Workflow automation: Improve efficiency and eliminate repetitive tasks with automation.
  • Lead management: Nurture leads effectively within the platform
  • Marketing automation platform available: Zoho’s marketing automation platform is available to license, keeping your marketing and sales teams in the same platform.

Advantages of Zoho

  • Zoho has a free version for up to three users.
  • Zoho offers ‘lite’ licenses so team members from other departments can get access to data but not be billed as full users. (Note: limited to Enterprise and Ultimate plans)
  • CRM Plus is 8 Zoho apps bundled together. Should you need these apps, this could be a good value. 
  • Zoho supports 28 languages.

Challenges of Zoho

  • Zoho has the key features of most CRMs even though out-of-the-box customizations are limited. 
  • Once you learn the interface, the tool is powerful. However, the learning curve is steep. The interface appears to be quite dated.
  • No direct support is available, so one person in your organization will likely need to become an expert quickly or you’ll need an outside consultant. 
  • Although the integration process is complex, once integrated, Zoho can be a good tool for inter-departmental communication

User reviews of Zoho CRM from G2

  • “Maximizing Business Efficiency with Zoho CRM” – Rushikesh P., Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)
  • “Zoho CRM: A Powerful and Affordable CRM for Businesses of All Sizes” – Somdeb K., Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)
  • “We constantly refer Zoho One to clients to use.” – Mark T. Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

When is Zoho CRM a good choice?

  • When you can use all eight of the apps included in Zoho Plus, you’ll get good value.
  • When you can hire an integrator who can also support your team in day-to-day questions, since customer support from Zoho can be unreliable.
  • When a mobile app is not a high priority; Zoho’s mobile app lags behind the desktop version significantly. 

Zoho CRM Pricing

With four tiers available, Zoho provides options for businesses of all sizes. The Standard license is the entry point at $14 per user, per month. The highest price option is Ultimate at $52 per user, per month. These price points are lower than most other CRMs.

For detailed pricing information, visit the Zoho CRM website.

Frequently asked questions about HubSpot

Question: What is HubSpot CRM used for? 

Answer: HubSpot is a CRM for small businesses. It manages contacts, sales pipelines, and provides reports for owners/leaders to monitor the sales function at a business.

Question: Is HubSpot a good CRM?

Answer: HubSpot has the essential functions of a CRM, and is priced low for start-up and small businesses.

Question: Is HubSpot CRM expensive?

Answer: Compared to other CRMs, HubSpot is a value-priced CRM with low starting price points and the option to add on additional features as needed. As such, it is a low cost option for small businesses.

Question: What is a CRM used for?

Answer: A CRM is a single source of truth for any business with all of the business’s contacts, customers, and potential customers stored in a database with a convenient user interface for access. 

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