HubSpot CRM vs Salesforce | Top CRM Comparison

HubSpot CRM has the edge over Salesforce when it comes to affordability. HubSpot CRM’s free version is an excellent option for budget-conscious small business owners who want a robust set of lead generation and contact management tools. Plus, the free plan supports up to 2,500 users, so companies can continue to use the software at no cost as they scale. When subscribers want to upgrade their plan, they can do so from HubSpot’s free CRM to Sales Hub.

Salesforce Sales Cloud is pricier than HubSpot CRM overall, especially if you opt for its Unlimited plan priced at $330 per user, per month, or for any of its myriad add-on features. Its entry-level Starter plan, offering basic CRM features and contact and deal management, costs $25 per user per month, which is $16 more than HubSpot’s lowest paid plan’s per-user price. Salesforce doesn’t have a free version of its software, but there's a 30-day trial across all tiers.

HubSpot CRM has a solid feature set to help businesses effectively manage contacts, track opportunities, and generate leads. Many of these tools are available on HubSpot’s free platform; premium upgrades include advanced analytics, sales forecasting, and contact scoring. HubSpot CRM’s core CRM features are straightforward and accessible so anyone can learn how to use them in a short amount of time, regardless of technical skill.

Salesforce Sales Cloud, however, boasts powerful features to help sales professionals optimize their workflow, access comprehensive contact information, generate accurate forecasts, and stay on top of every opportunity. Even the Starter tier includes custom reports and advanced automation tools. Of course, such high-level features contribute to Salesforce’s steep learning curve – but with proper time and training, sales professionals will see the benefits.

HubSpot CRM is regarded as one of the most user-friendly CRMs. Its guided setup, along with its comprehensive knowledge base and active community forum, make implementation a fairly simple task that likely won’t require outside assistance. Users appreciate HubSpot’s intuitive interface and how easy it is to add third-party apps with its step-by-step guides and videos, although many subscribers say they wish reporting and customization were more robust.

Salesforce has plenty to offer when it comes to features and flexibility, but the trade-off is a steep learning curve and a clunky interface. Setup is a time-consuming process due to the malleable nature of the software. Despite that, fans of the Salesforce platform praise its high level of customization, along with its excellent reporting tools and thousands of integrations. Additionally, anyone can access Trailhead Academy for both free and paid online learning courses.

HubSpot CRM subscribers can access its live chat and email assistance 24/7, as well as phone support for professional and enterprise users. Subscribers can purchase Sales Hub’s remote onboarding services for $1,000 (Professional plan) to $3,000 (Enterprise plan). While free CRM users are unable to access these support channels, they can interact with other HubSpot users in the community forum or use the various resources available in its help center.

All Salesforce tiers come with email, phone, and live chat support, along with guided onboarding via Trailhead Academy. The Standard Success plan is included in all licenses, but users for Professional tiers and up can opt for the Premier and Signature Success plans. While premium plans offer 24/7 support, one-on-one coaching, and advanced diagnostics, purchasing them on top of Salesforce plans might be costly for smaller companies.

HubSpot CRM includes a wide selection of pre-made report types that users can filter and customize, albeit with limitations. For more granular reporting, HubSpot CRM offers a custom report builder, although it’s only available with its Professional and Enterprise plans. For baseline reports, HubSpot CRM is quite reliable, but businesses that require regular deep data dives and real-time sales insights may want to consider Salesforce instead.

Salesforce offers basic templates and custom reports at all price points. Its higher-tier plans include advanced reporting features such as cross-filters and buckets to help businesses better organize and group their data. Its custom report builder has more variables than HubSpot and helps you build comprehensive reports based on any CRM metrics you wish to track. Einstein GPT also provides personalized recommendations from large amounts of customer data.

HubSpot CRM’s workflow automation features are largely tied to the sales pipeline and basic marketing processes. For instance, it’s able to automate email follow-ups, data entry, and team-wide notifications when certain actions are taken. Depending on the plan, users can set up as many as 1,000 workflow rules. However, its workflow automation feature is noticeably missing from HubSpot’s free-for-life platform.

Salesforce, on the other hand, supports a much broader range of workflow automation functions. Its point-and-click Lightning Flow Automation tool enables users to build flows and processes around nearly every function of the CRM. It can also automate internal admin requests such as expense reports and travel approvals. Salesforce’s latest development of combining Einstein GPT and Data Cloud helps build more robust, intelligent workflows.

HubSpot CRM has a mobile app that features many of the user-friendly lead management tools of its parent software. It also includes app-exclusive functions like a business card scanner and the HubSpot Keyboard, which inserts HubSpot CRM contact data into compatible third-party messaging and scheduling apps. While its offline access is not as robust as Salesforce, HubSpot’s task manager is excellent for teams collaborating in sales and marketing activities.

Salesforce’s mobile app syncs with the desktop version and allows for data caching of up to seven items at a time, including dashboards and opportunities. The Salesforce mobile app also features AI-powered insights courtesy of Einstein Analytics, along with the ability to customize the app to match company branding. Although Salesforce’s mobile reporting is among the best in the market, solopreneurs and smaller companies might need a more cost-efficient option.

HubSpot CRM and Salesforce both support a large volume of third-party applications. The ever-growing HubSpot App Marketplace currently has over 1,000 native integrations, including Gmail, Mailchimp, and Facebook Messenger. HubSpot also provides a detailed guide on how to sync apps with videos, resources, and user reviews. However, only 45 of those applications are free, which is limited compared to Salesforce’s 1,700+ free integrations.

Salesforce AppExchange, meanwhile, boasts more than 7,000 apps that span a range of use cases. Users can learn more about using third-party applications to tailor their CRM to their needs through Trailhead Academy. While subscribers can take advantage of close to 2,000 free applications such as Zoom, Slack, and Asana, most of them cost money to implement via subscriptions.