Alternatives to HubSpot: Find the sales CRM that fits you

Has it happened to you too? There comes a time when your company grows, tasks multiply, and the tools that once seemed sufficient start to fall short, become complicated, or simply don’t fit with the way your team works. We ourselves have found ourselves in that situation more times than we'd like to admit, looking for ways to be more agile, save more time, or adjust the budget without losing key features.

We know that HubSpot is usually the reference in most CRM comparisons and presentations, especially when you’re looking for a sales and marketing solution that covers everything. But the most well-known isn’t always what best fits what you need today. Luckily, there are other options that can fit much better with the reality of your company. So, if you identify with this, keep reading, because this is for you too.

What is HubSpot?

HubSpot is a CRM software platform designed to put the customer at the center and that unites, in one place, all the tools for marketing, sales, customer service, operations, and content, all powered by artificial intelligence.

The idea emerged in 2006, when Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah, two MIT students, decided to bet on a different way to attract customers: inbound marketing. Today, more than 258,000 companies trust HubSpot and its team exceeds 8,500 employees spread across 15 offices worldwide.

Among its main products stands out Marketing Hub, a marketing platform with features focused on automation and optimization of campaigns, social media, integration with other tools, and efficient lead management, being key for companies looking to improve their marketing strategy.

HubSpot’s history has been full of important milestones. In 2010, the company already reported notable revenue figures; it went public in 2014 (trading as HUBS), and in 2021 it surpassed the $1 billion annual revenue mark. Since then, the company has continued to grow, supported by strategic acquisitions such as Clearbit and Frame AI and by launching its own artificial intelligence: Breeze. Additionally, HubSpot has enhanced content management for digital marketing strategies and contact database administration, crucial aspects to attract and retain customers. Its online academy and INBOUND conference have built a very active and loyal user community.

Regarding paid plans in euros, HubSpot follows a seat and package model, highlighting the software's functionality for managing customer relationships, automating processes, and improving the company's website presence:

• Free Tools: €0/month, up to 2 users, basic functions in all hubs, no credit card required.
• Starter Customer Platform: €9/month per seat (with annual commitment and prepayment the first year), or €15/month per seat without commitment.
• Professional Customer Platform: from €1,283/month for 5 seats; additional seats from €45/month.
• Enterprise Customer Platform: from €4,610/month with 7 seats included; extra seats from €75/month.

These prices apply to the combined package ("Customer Platform") that integrates all hubs (Marketing, Sales, Service, Content, Operations, and Commerce). Also, at the Professional and Enterprise levels, an annual commitment is required, and one-time onboarding fees are usually added depending on the level and hub.

Why look for an alternative to HubSpot?

Although HubSpot is known as an all-in-one solution and offers a very comprehensive range of tools for sales, marketing, and customer service, sometimes that very breadth becomes a barrier. It is very easy to come across features that your team doesn’t even use, endless menus, and an interface that, no matter how polished it is, can be overwhelming if you only want to focus on the commercial process or need very specific customizations. In the end, every company has its own rhythms and priorities.

Price is another major reason why many companies start looking for alternatives. As your contact base grows or the number of users increases, the HubSpot bill can quickly skyrocket, especially if you want to access advanced features or more powerful automation levels.

Many companies seek solutions that offer marketing automation, automation tools, and advanced automation to manage campaigns, optimize processes, and scale their digital strategy without paying for unnecessary extras. In the end, they end up paying for modules or extras they really didn’t need, complicating medium- and long-term budget planning.

Fortunately, there are alternatives that cover a very wide range, from direct competitors that replicate the all-in-one approach to more affordable options or platforms that focus directly on sales and pipeline. Choosing well depends on your needs and the stage your company is at. A key advantage of these alternatives is the ability to customize workflows and automate specific actions, adapting internal processes to what your team really needs. Our goal is to help you compare and discover which tool fits your reality best, so you can make a decision with clear information and without stress.

Comparative table of the best alternatives to Hubspot

Pipedrive – Ideal for sales teams seeking simplicity and focus

Pipedrive is a CRM specifically designed for sales, with a visual and intuitive interface that makes it easy for sales teams to track opportunities and manage the pipeline. Additionally, it helps the sales team efficiently manage workflow and customer contacts, centralizing information and optimizing every stage of the process.

Unlike HubSpot, which covers multiple departments and offers many more marketing features, Pipedrive opts for simplicity and action: everything revolves around the sales process, from the first opportunity to closing the sale. This tool stands out for its automation features, allowing efficient tracking of sales actions and facilitating the daily management of the team.

Pipedrive fits very well with sales teams looking for an agile, easy-to-implement tool focused solely on sales. If you need to optimize processes, improve opportunity tracking, and have a clear view of the pipeline without extra complications, here you have a safe bet.

Key features of Pipedrive

• Sales pipeline visualization with drag and drop system.
• Automation of recurring tasks and smart reminders.
• Integration with email and calendar for easy tracking.
• Customizable sales-oriented reports and dashboards.
• Mobile application to manage opportunities from anywhere.

Pros and Cons of Pipedrive

Pipedrive Plans and Pricing

• Essential: €14/user per month (billed annually)
• Advanced: €29/user per month (billed annually)
• Professional: €49/user per month (billed annually)
• Power: €64/user per month (billed annually)
• Enterprise: €99/user per month (billed annually)

Pipedrive offers a 14-day free trial available on all plans, ideal for new users and small businesses to get familiar with the platform and access basic features before committing to a paid plan.

Salesforce Sales Cloud – Perfect for Companies Seeking Customization and Scalability

Salesforce Sales Cloud is one of the most powerful and well-known CRM platforms on the market. It stands out from HubSpot for its extremely high level of customization and the vast number of advanced features focused on sales, analytics, and automation.

It offers integration with countless external applications and an almost infinite adaptability, making it the preferred choice for large companies or teams with complex sales processes. However, it requires more time and resources to fully leverage its potential.

Salesforce Sales Cloud is the most suitable option for medium and large companies that need to tailor the CRM to complex sales processes, require integration with many other tools, and value the ability to grow and scale without limitations. Ideal if you seek depth and full control over every stage of your sales pipeline.

Key Features of Salesforce Sales Cloud:

• Advanced management of leads and opportunities across multiple stages.
• Fully customizable process and workflow automation.
• Sales reporting, analytics, and forecasting with artificial intelligence.
• Native integration with thousands of applications through AppExchange.
• Collaboration and internal communication tools for large teams.

Pros and cons of Salesforce Sales Cloud

Salesforce Sales Cloud Plans and Pricing

• Starter Suite: €25/user per month (annual billing)
• Pro Suite: €100/user per month (annual billing)
• Enterprise: €165/user per month (annual billing)
• Unlimited: €330/user per month (annual billing)
• Agentforce 1 Sales: €330/user per month (annual billing)

Salesforce Sales Cloud offers a 30-day free trial plan for new users, allowing them to get familiar with the platform and access basic features before committing to a subscription.

Zoho CRM – When you need flexibility without breaking the budget

Zoho CRM stands out as a complete and affordable solution, designed for companies that want to manage sales, marketing, and customer service without complicating things or emptying the bank account. Additionally, it allows managing the prospect database, facilitating contact segmentation and opportunity tracking to optimize sales and marketing strategies.

Unlike HubSpot, Zoho focuses on integrating essential functions and customization at very competitive prices, becoming a very interesting option especially for those seeking a balance between features and cost. Its software functionality includes marketing automation tools that allow automating campaigns and key processes. Its ecosystem connects well with other Zoho applications, making expansion easier as needs grow.

Zoho CRM is especially useful for small and medium-sized businesses looking for an affordable yet powerful solution, with room to grow and many customization possibilities. It also stands out for facilitating customer relationship management, helping to strengthen loyalty and improve the user experience. If you prefer to pay only for what you actually use and are interested in connecting the CRM with other business tools, here is a very balanced option.

Key features of Zoho CRM

• Comprehensive management of contacts, leads, and sales opportunities.
• Automation of tasks, workflows, and custom rules.
• Integrated artificial intelligence for predictions and analysis (Zia).
• Customizable reports and dashboards to measure performance.
• Seamless integration with other Zoho applications (such as Campaigns or Desk).

Pros and cons of Zoho CRM

Zoho CRM Plans and Pricing:

• Standard: €14/user per month (billed annually)
• Professional: €23/user per month (billed annually)
• Enterprise: €40/user per month (billed annually)
• Ultimate: €52/user per month (billed annually)

Zoho CRM offers a free plan, ideal to get firsthand experience of the platform’s functions and features and access its basic functions. Additionally, a 15-day free trial is available on all plans.

Freshsales – If your priority is speed and intelligence in sales

Freshsales is Freshworks' offering for teams that want to focus on capturing and closing opportunities without wasting time on complicated setups. Its main difference compared to HubSpot lies in the ease of use and in leveraging artificial intelligence to identify the best leads and automate key processes. Additionally, Freshsales stands out for its automatic lead scoring and advanced automation, allowing optimization of marketing and sales campaigns and workflows.

Freshsales is perfect for SMEs and sales teams looking for a quick, intuitive solution with a very clear sales focus. It also offers efficient customer service and tools for contact segmentation, facilitating campaign management and action personalization.

If you need to start working almost immediately and are attracted by the advantages of artificial intelligence applied to the sales process, this alternative will be very comfortable and effective for you. Moreover, Freshsales' software functionality allows comprehensive management of customer relationships, optimizing every stage of the sales cycle.

Key features of Freshsales

• Pipeline management with drag-and-drop system for opportunities.
• Artificial intelligence for lead scoring and sales forecasting.
• Integration of email and phone on the same platform.
• Automation of workflows and repetitive tasks.
• Management and automation of email marketing campaigns, including creation, sending, and analysis of emails, as well as the ability to track detailed interactions with contacts and subscribers.
• Mobile application to work from anywhere.

Pros and Cons of Freshsales

Freshsales Plans and Pricing

• Growth: €9/user per month (billed annually)
• Pro: €39/user per month (billed annually)
• Enterprise: €59/user per month (billed annually)

Freshsales also offers a free plan designed for small teams (up to 3 people) or simply to get familiar with the platform and access basic features before choosing a paid plan. There is also a 21-day free trial period available on all plans.

monday sales CRM – The most versatile option for teams seeking total flexibility

monday sales CRM is born from the well-known monday.com work environment and focuses on customization and flexibility. Unlike HubSpot, which tends to offer closed and modular solutions, monday sales CRM allows customizing workflows, views, and automations tailored to each team, without the need to know how to code.

monday sales CRM is a very interesting alternative for companies looking for a moldable CRM, easy to customize and that naturally integrates with daily project management and other areas. Perfect if your team values flexibility and you want to adapt the CRM exactly to your way of working.

In short, monday is a platform especially suited for those who need the CRM to adapt to the business, not the other way around, and who also seek a natural integration with project or task management.

Key features of monday sales CRM

• Fully customizable workflows and pipelines.
• Task and reminder automation without code.
• Management of accounts, leads, and contacts in a single panel.
• Real-time collaboration with the entire team.
• Easy integration with other monday.com tools and modules.

Pros and cons of monday sales CRM

monday sales CRM Plans and Pricing

• Basic: €12/user per month (billed annually)
• Standard: €17/user per month (billed annually)
• Pro: €28/user per month (billed annually)
• Corporate: custom pricing (on demand)

monday offers a 14-day free trial on all plans. This way, it is possible to try all its features before committing to a payment.

Category Comparison: What is the Best Alternative to HubSpot CRM for Each Function?

Quick guide to decide: Continue with HubSpot or try another alternative?

If your team has a limited budget: You should look at alternatives like Zoho CRM or Freshsales. Both offer many of the functions that small companies and businesses need for sales and customer management without the price skyrocketing. Additionally, they stand out for their service and support, which makes adoption and taking full advantage of all features easier, especially for those seeking an affordable solution with personalized assistance. They are affordable options, with free trials and flexible plans, perfect for those who need to control expenses without giving up digitalization.

If you work at a large company: Salesforce Sales Cloud is the natural path when you need a lot of customization, control, and scalability. It is true that it requires time and resources for implementation, but in return, you will have a CRM capable of adapting to complex processes and growing with you, no matter how many teams or departments you have.

If you prioritize privacy the most: Zoho CRM stands out for its focus on security and compliance, and allows good control over data and privacy. If your company operates in regulated sectors or simply wants maximum peace of mind regarding information protection, Zoho is a safe bet.

If your team is distributed or works remotely: You should consider monday sales CRM and Pipedrive. Both tools work very well in the cloud, offer easy access from any device, and facilitate real-time collaboration, even if your team is spread across different locations.

Conclusion: What solution do you need for your company?

Ultimately, the CRM market is full of alternatives to HubSpot, each with its own approach and designed to fit different types of businesses and small enterprises.

These solutions offer a range of services from relationship management to advanced automation, making it essential to choose a platform that combines functionality with good support service to take full advantage of its benefits.

Pipedrive shines in simple and visual sales management; Salesforce Sales Cloud is ideal if you seek unlimited customization and scalability; Zoho CRM stands out for its affordable price and balanced features; Freshsales bets on speed and artificial intelligence, and monday sales CRM offers total flexibility for teams that value customization.

The best choice mainly depends on your budget, your team’s needs, and the technical particularities of your company. And the fact is there’s no sense in overpaying for features you won’t use, nor in giving up flexibility or support if your business is growing. Take the time to assess what will truly make your daily work easier and which points are essential for you.

Our advice is simple: try more than one alternative before deciding. Many of these tools offer free trials or demos, allowing you to compare experiences, see how each platform adapts to your way of working, and make a decision based on real experience, not just on features on paper. In the end, the best tool will be the one that best fits your way of selling.