Sales & CRM · Review · Updated 17 October 2026
HubSpot reviewA free CRM that grows into marketing, sales and service hubs on one platform
Excellent
Brent score, out of 5
HubSpot is one of the easiest ways for a small business to get a real CRM, email marketing and pipeline in one place, and the free plan is genuinely usable. Starter is cheap, especially on the current new-customer deal. The catch is the jump to Professional, which starts at $890/month for Marketing Hub, so plan for that before you build your whole business on it.
Price
Free CRM; Starter $20/seat/month (new-customer promo from $7, annual)
Free option
Free plan
Best for
Small businesses moving off spreadsheets to a free CRM
Opens HubSpot, Inc. in a new tab · No card needed to look around · We may earn a commission
Disclosure: we may earn a commission if you buy through our links, at no extra cost to you. It never affects our ratings. How we make money
Best for
- Small businesses moving off spreadsheets to a free CRM
- Teams that want marketing, sales and service data in one system
- Founders who want email, forms, landing pages and a pipeline without stitching tools
- Growing companies that plan to use AI agents inside the CRM
Skip it if
- Budget-tight teams that will need Professional automation soon
- Businesses that only want cheap email marketing
- Companies needing deep custom objects on a small budget (Enterprise feature)
Your leads live in a spreadsheet, your emails in Gmail, your forms in another tool, and nobody knows who last spoke to which customer. Follow-ups slip, deals stall, and when you finally look for a CRM, the big names seem built for enterprises with admins.
HubSpot is the CRM many small businesses start with because the core is free and easy to learn. You can add email marketing, sales pipelines, live chat and a help desk on the same database, then upgrade only the hub you need.
This review explains what the free plan really includes in 2026, what Starter adds, and where the pricing climbs steeply.
What is HubSpot?
HubSpot is a cloud customer platform built on a shared CRM. On top of the free Smart CRM sit paid hubs: Marketing Hub (email, ads, automation), Sales Hub (pipelines, sequences, meetings), Service Hub (tickets, help desk), Content Hub (website builder), plus Data and Commerce tools. Each hub comes in Free, Starter, Professional and Enterprise editions, and the Starter Customer Platform bundles the Starter edition of each. AI features, including the Breeze Assistant and agents, run on monthly HubSpot Credits.
Pros and cons
What we like
- Free CRM with no expiry, covering contacts, deals, email tracking, forms, live chat and quotes
- Starter is $20 per seat per month, with a limited new-customer offer of $7 annual or $10 monthly
- Over 2,000 integrations in the HubSpot Marketplace
- One shared database across marketing, sales, service and content
- Starter includes 500 HubSpot Credits a month for AI agents and Breeze Assistant
- Mobile apps for iOS and Android
What could be better
- Free plan is limited to two users and 1,000 contacts, with HubSpot branding
- Marketing Hub Professional starts at $890/month and Enterprise at $3,600/month
- Professional and Enterprise purchases carry a one-time onboarding fee, confirmed at checkout
- Marketing contacts are billed separately, so costs grow with your list
Overall
Excellent
- Features4.8
- Ease of use4.5
- Value3.8
- Support4.2
Key features of HubSpot
Free Smart CRM
The free plan has no time limit and supports up to two users and 1,000 contacts. It covers contact, deal and task management, pipelines, reporting dashboards, email tracking, meeting scheduling, live chat, quotes, forms and landing pages.
Starter Customer Platform
Starter removes HubSpot branding, adds 1,000 custom properties, team permissions, email and form automation, ticketing and HubSpot Payments. It also includes email and in-app chat support.
AI agents and Breeze
Starter includes 500 HubSpot Credits a month for agents, the Breeze Assistant and an AI prospecting agent. AI meeting prep and a notetaker are also listed on Starter.
Marketing Hub
Email marketing, automation, ad tracking and landing pages, with Professional adding deeper automation and 3 seats from $890/month. Enterprise starts at $3,600/month with 5 seats.
Sales Hub
Pipelines, sequences and deal automation. Sales Hub Professional starts at $100 per seat per month and Enterprise at $150 per seat per month.
App Marketplace
More than 2,000 apps connect through the HubSpot Marketplace. That makes it easy to link email, accounting, ads and support tools to the CRM.
HubSpot pricing
Checked 2026-10. Prices can change; confirm on HubSpot, Inc.’s site.
Free
$0
no expiry
- Up to 2 users
- 1,000 contacts
- Email tracking, forms, live chat, quotes
Starter Customer Platform
$20/seat/month (promo $7 annual or $10 monthly)
per seat; promo for new customers, limited time
- No HubSpot branding
- 500 HubSpot Credits/month
- Email and in-app chat support
Marketing Hub Professional
From $890/month
includes 3 seats
- Advanced marketing automation
- Plus one-time onboarding fee
Sales Hub Professional
From $100/seat/month
per seat
- Sequences and advanced pipeline tools
- Plus one-time onboarding fee
Marketing Hub Enterprise
From $3,600/month
includes 5 seats
- Custom objects, SSO, field-level permissions
Watch out: Prices are in USD and before tax; the Starter discount is for new customers for a limited time, and marketing contacts and Professional/Enterprise onboarding fees are extra.
See current HubSpot pricing →What people use HubSpot for
Small agency replacing spreadsheets
A five-person agency moves leads and deals from a spreadsheet into the free CRM, tracks emails from Gmail, and upgrades to Starter when it needs more users and no branding.
E-commerce or services email marketing
A business captures leads with HubSpot forms and landing pages, then nurtures them with Starter email automation tied to the same contact records sales uses.
Sales team with a pipeline
A B2B sales team runs deal stages, meeting links and quotes in Sales Hub, with AI meeting prep and notetaking reducing admin after calls.
How to get started with HubSpot
- 1
Create a free HubSpot account and connect your email inbox
- 2
Import contacts and companies from a spreadsheet or your old CRM
- 3
Set up your deal pipeline stages and add a form to your website
- 4
Turn on email tracking and meeting links for the team
- 5
Upgrade to Starter when you need more users, automation or no branding
HubSpot alternatives
| Product | Choose it when |
|---|---|
| HubSpot 4.5 | Small businesses moving off spreadsheets to a free CRM |
| Freshworks4.3 | Choose it for a lower-cost CRM and help desk suite with simpler per-user pricing. |
| Close4.5 | Better for small, high-volume sales teams that want built-in calling and email in one inbox. |
| Brevo4.4 | Pick it if your main need is affordable email and SMS marketing rather than a full CRM. |
HubSpot: frequently asked questions
Is HubSpot CRM really free?+
Yes. The free CRM has no expiry date and, per HubSpot's FAQ, supports up to two users and 1,000 contacts. You pay only when you need more users, contacts or premium features.
How much does HubSpot Starter cost?+
Starter is normally $20 per seat per month. As of October 2026 HubSpot offers new customers a limited-time price of $7 per seat per month billed annually or $10 billed monthly.
How much is HubSpot Professional?+
Marketing Hub Professional starts at $890 per month with 3 seats, and Sales Hub Professional starts at $100 per seat per month. A one-time onboarding fee also applies to Professional, shown at checkout.
Does HubSpot charge an onboarding fee?+
Professional and Enterprise editions carry a required one-time onboarding fee. Starter and Free do not. Confirm the exact amount with HubSpot at checkout, since it varies by hub.
What are HubSpot Credits?+
Credits pay for AI features such as agents and the Breeze Assistant. Starter includes 500 credits per month.
Is HubSpot good for small businesses?+
For most small businesses, yes: the free CRM and cheap Starter tier cover contacts, email, forms and pipelines. Watch the cost jump if you later need Professional automation.
Final verdict
Is HubSpot worth it?
If your customer data is scattered and you want one place for leads, deals and email, start with HubSpot's free CRM today. Connect your inbox, import your contacts and build a pipeline in an afternoon, then move to Starter while the new-customer price lasts.
Get HubSpot freeAffiliate link · we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
Reviewed by
Amjid Ali, Founder and editor
Amjid Ali is a Melbourne-based AI and automation lead, author of five books on infrastructure, automation and digital transformation, and a corporate trainer whose courses on n8n, Proxmox, firewalls and ERP have taught thousands of IT professionals.
Last updated 17 October 2026 · How we review
You might also like
Sales & CRM
Freshworks review
Help desk, IT service and CRM software with Freddy AI, priced for growing businesses
Sales & CRM
Close review
A sales CRM with built-in calling, email, SMS and an AI sales agent
Sales & CRM
Tidio review
Live chat, help desk and the Lyro AI agent for small online businesses
HubSpot 4.5
Free CRM; Starter $20/seat/month (new-customer promo from $7, annual)