HubSpot CRM Reviews

Pros

The best thing about Hubspot is that it's a very popular CRM software so if you run into any problems - you can easily find someone to help you. Also, there are a lot of tutorials available online from where one can easily learn Hubspot CRM. Another thing that I like very much about Hubspot CRM is that it has a free plan which can be highly beneficial for small businesses and startups. Even the free plan is competitive with paid plans of other CRMs. Another pro about Hubspot CRM is its intuitive workflow and user interface that makes it very easy to learn and use. Hubspot CRM is the easiest CRM I have ever used - even someone with below-average knowledge can use Hubspot easily with proper training. Also, there are a lot of integrations available like WordPress integration which is very useful for small businesses.

Cons

There aren't many advanced features available with Hubspot CRM so it may not be very useful for large businesses. Also, there is a free plan and there is quite an expensive plan - I wish there was something in the middle as not everyone can afford it. However, one can start with a free plan and move to a paid plan when needed so that's a plus.

Alternatives Considered

Dynamics 365

Reasons for Switching to HubSpot CRM

Hubspot was recommended by many of my co-workers and also has a free plan.

Pros

It is very user-friendly and easy to use. It is helpful to have all of my customer information in one place, making it easy to access and manage. The software offers a wide range of helpful marketing and sales tools, which has helped me automate many of my tasks and work more efficiently.

Cons

It can occasionally be overwhelming and difficult to use, in my experience as a user of the program. Although the abundance of features is undoubtedly a strength, it can also be a disadvantage for teams that lack technical expertise or for users who are less familiar with the software. Technical issues and slow performance have also happened to me, which can be annoying and hinder my workflow. Smaller businesses may also find the cost of the software to be a bit high, and there may be some restrictions on customization and tool integration. Overall, I think there is room for improvement in the software's stability and usability, despite my appreciation for its strength.

Pros

This review relates solely to Hubspot's Sales module, and not the Marketing package. Our small business utilises Hubspot for lead management and conversion tracking - I can't speak to Hubspot's other functionalities in the marketing field. Hubspot's Sales free and growth bundles are great value; offering start-up businesses with the basic tools required for recording correspondence with leads and tracking conversions. However...

Cons

As your business grows you naturally seek out greater efficiencies achieved through CRM automation services (e.g. automated follow-up emails to stay front of mind with prospects) - it's at this point you upgrade to the costly Professional package because the business case stacks up, right?

This is where Hubspot falls over. Everything (I cannot iterate this enough, literally everything) you would logically expect the software to support or enable isn't available. Credit to them, their support function does try to help but they are severally handcuffed by the limitations imposed by backend engineers and software architects. The tech supports can only try to provide convoluted/half baked work around solutions but often these result in additional implications and barriers downstream.

The nail in the coffin for our business was when we tried to setup automated email sequences (a 101), but learnt that you cannot enrol contacts into these processes when sending emails 'from' the shared/team/company email (e.g. [email protected] or [email protected]) - rather, Hubspot requires users to send from their individual email (e.g. [email protected])

Have you ever corresponded with any business via a personalised email address? Whether I'm communicating with the local mechanic or Apple, I never email [SENSITIVE CONTENT] You engage with a shared mailbox e.g. sales or support or [email protected]

It's no brainers like this that force you to question Hubspot's services.

Pros

The ease of use and many features that Hubspot CRM offers. Especially considering it is free software!I have tried out a few paid variants online, but I still fallback to Hubspot.That is saying something!

Cons

This might sound weird, but sometimes the options are just to many. In my opinion, a solid and simple workflow helps with productivity. With Hubspot, you often have too many options for your needs. Not a huge problem, but I noticed that a few of my clients (including me in the beginning) where overwhelmed with all the features it offers.

Alternatives Considered

Zoho CRM

Reasons for Choosing HubSpot CRM

A combination of the pricing and lack of features in Zoho.Hubspot still has the most complete platform, and once you get used to its workflow, it becomes a valuable toolbox.

Switched From

Zoho CRM

Reasons for Switching to HubSpot CRM

The amount of features Hubspot offers has not been beaten by any other software.And, it is free!

Pros

I know that when I run into an issue or I am stumped about how to complete my goal, the hubspot team will be ready and able to help me! We have called them countless times and they hit it out of the park every time! Whether it is building out automation trees or fixing email formatting, their team knows their stuff and they are very good about following up!

Cons

This is a great product and you also pay for that quality. HubSpot is a very pricy subscription for us. We have tried to scale down our bill and it's nearly impossible. Once you are spending a certain amount, do not expect to be able to downsize/rightsize.

Pros

I have been using HubSpot CRM on a daily-basis for over six months now. This is a very useful tool which is updated very frequently. It enables it to be quite performing. I mostly use it to reference our clients' files, to sort out the information, and to note the new actions of each member of the company. This software has become indispensable and essential to us.

Cons

The only thing to be mentioned about HubSpot CRM is that it may disconnect on its own from time to time. Otherwise, it remains a very performant tool overall.

Pros

Hubspot helps with keeping track of all your sales. It's a complete CRM software that caters to marketing, data management, and the overall running of the organization. It helps increase the whole sales approach with filtering features that make analysis easier. It helps with management, which results in fewer errors and wasted time. The interface is user-friendly and very easy to learn. Unlike other software companies, HubSpot has an excellent customer support team to help with queries. It's a great tool for any sales development rep, and I've found it most helpful to customize my tasks by queue and set notifications to alert me to tasks as they arise.

Cons

There is not much to hate. Although I must mention the price can be slightly lower. So the software is accessible to everyone who needs it. Using third parties is time-consuming and exhausting. Improvements to the quotation feature would also be helpful.

Pros

The product is easy to use, I love the feature for adding companies where it will pre populate information making it easier to add. If there are any bugs within the product or issues (which is hardly ever) they inform you quickly and keep you updated on the status. The integrations are also a winner, integrating with Apollo, slack etc. Onboarding people who have never used CRMs before is also simple.

Cons

The only feature which I believe could be improved is the import feature, it can feel clunky and hard to understand knowing what fields to import.

Pros

What I like about Hubspot the most is it gives companies access to a number of marketing, sales, and customer care solutions. It offers a variety of capabilities that make it possible for organizations to manage their complete customer journey, which is intended to help them attract, engage, and delight customers. HubSpot's main advantages and features include the following: Marketing automation, Sales automation and Customer service. It also has a lot of certifications for its users.

Cons

You will need the training to be a master of this CRM

Pros

The fact that interface is super easy to use. This is User friendly.

Cons

I have no reason to complain so I would say it is great.

Pros

Hubspot is an incredible product which incorporates every aspect of sales and marketing and has so many integrations, that your success is unlimited. The CRM is fully customizable, the email marketing application has endless templates, you can import your entire website, do paid media and track all your campaigns and track all of your social media efforts as well. Don't even get me started on the reporting capabilities because they are endless. I want to see all contacts who have opened five web pages, completed a lead form, within the last three months, boom done. Segmentation, lists, snippets, automation, sequences for any process. Can you tell I'm a big fan!

Cons

The biggest problem you will have is getting your team to understand the full depth and functionality of the application. I wish I had more by in from the entire team, which is not the applications fault.

Alternatives Considered

Salesforce Marketing Cloud Account Engagement

Reasons for Choosing HubSpot CRM

To many different applications doing multiple marketing and sales tasks.

Switched From

Mailchimp

Reasons for Switching to HubSpot CRM

Cost, functionality, and familiarity with the product.

Pros

Keeping track of the customers that we deal with is the best thing in Hubspot for us. Each customer has a contact card created where we can add all their details, but also customise our own fields like the product prospects we have (what we are trying to sell to them), then the products they have bought (hopefully). This helps us to better understand our clients and keep on top of current users and potentials. In the Sales Starter, being able to use sequences saves a huge amount of time with email follow ups and has lead to more sales as it can automate different messages going back out to the customers if they don't reply.

Cons

The full integration with calendars and email is simple if you have a Gmail account, but is trickier if you have independant emails. We can get our emails synced up and use the Outlook integration well, but you can only get the Calendar integration to work if you create a full Gmail account.

Alternatives Considered

Salesforce Sales Cloud

Reasons for Switching to HubSpot CRM

The free tool offering of HubSpot gave a lot more features than others on the market. We then got comfortable with the tool and expanded to Sales Starter to benefit from Sequences.

Pros

The ease of use is fantastic, making for a simple, hit-the-ground-running kind of user experience. I also really enjoy the use of reporting dashboards and report builder. This helps me evaluate deal activity on a detailed, property based level that helps improve our sales abilities.

Cons

No cons really. In my 3.5 years of using HubSpot, I've yet to hit a speed bump or find something that impedes my ability to manage and sell.

Alternatives Considered

Neon CRM and Salesforce Sales Cloud

Reasons for Choosing HubSpot CRM

I switched companies, and the new companies I've worked for have gone to HubSpot. It's the best CRM out there.

Switched From

Salesforce Sales Cloud

Reasons for Switching to HubSpot CRM

HubSPot was chosen because it had all of the tools we needed, as well as a plethora of integrations that it allow it to connect to all other software and services we use. It's the best, plain and simple.

Pros

Easy to import contacts and create lists based on type of contact or type of connection. I like using this feature for organizing my contacts. I also like that I can add other users so that I can see the chronological timeline of all contact points without having to interact with the employee. Able to send emails out to specific lists easily and quickly.

Cons

Challenging to use at first and I had to google a lot to figure out how to use all the features. Issues with importing and not seeing all of the information but was about to troubleshoot on my own. Not super intuitive to start out.

Alternatives Considered

ConvertKit

Reasons for Choosing HubSpot CRM

More features in hubspot to connect with landing pages and emailing.

Switched From

Mailchimp

Pros

HubSpot is excellent for small companies, especially if you can get the startup discount for 90% off for your first year. The system has a lot of power and plugs pleasantly into a lot of the coolest, best products (gmail, Slack). The system's Contacts and Companies systems are well-done and extend pleasantly into other parts of the platform.

Cons

HubSpot needs to stop removing features and putting them into new licenses that cost more money. I realize they need to make money but they're turning it into this nickel-and-dime situation that makes the system more complicated. It's starting to feel like a bloated mess like Saleforce. I think someone nimble is going to come in and outdo them if they aren't careful.

Alternatives Considered

Zoho CRM, Agile CRM, NetSuite, SuiteDash, SugarCRM and Copper

Reasons for Choosing HubSpot CRM

HubSpot was cheaper and was more approachable than the customization nightmare that is Salesforce.com.

Switched From

Salesforce Sales Cloud

Reasons for Switching to HubSpot CRM

The feature set was stronger and we were approved for the startup discount.

Pros

Intuitive, easy to use, great support, fantastic on-boarding staff, excellent knowledge base. Large marketplace of ancillary providers, but if you have any level of reading comprehension, you can follow KB and/or support instructions provided and do-it-yourself.

Cons

A few missing features, but HubSpot has a robust community for those kinds of requests. Honestly, I love the software so much that I cannot even think of anything very serious as a con. Example: cannot personalize the URL for quotes in the Sales Module. Service Module is fairly new and could use some maturation of features.

Alternatives Considered

Salesforce Service Cloud, Salesforce Marketing Cloud, Salesforce Marketing Cloud Account Engagement and Salesforce Sales Cloud

Reasons for Switching to HubSpot CRM

I've stalked HubSpot for marketing trends since their early days when the only offering was marketing automation. This year, our company implemented a full stack from CRM & Marketing to Sales & Service and went live with HubSpot CMS on 9/30/19. I've worked with MANY different CMS platforms, and HubSpot is truly the easiest one for full-featured lead generation conversion needs, including analytics. And it's not just affordable; it's a good value!

Pros

Hubspot has a ton of amazing features. From sales to marketing to customer success, it can really support all the key aspects of a growing business. My favourite part other than the great UI/UX is that Hubspot seems to be constantly evolving and they tend to stay about 6-12 months ahead of us on many of the features they release.

Cons

Pricing per contact starts to get pricey if you grow a lot. We have had to "cut down" the size of our database because of all the outbounding we do.

Alternatives Considered

Salesforce Sales Cloud

Reasons for Choosing HubSpot CRM

Hubspot had a more holistic approach to CRM.

Reasons for Switching to HubSpot CRM

It had a great program for startups at the time & we knew it had all the functionality we would eventually grow into.

Pros

Hubspot is effortless to set up and intuitive to use.
It counts with a vast array of features although it doesn't get overly complicated.
Its B2B library is extensive and you can find plentiful resources to learn about B2B sales and marketing

Cons

I wished its automation and reporting tools were more developed. The workflow feature does provide automation capabilities, however after entering into some depth, it eventually falls short.

Alternatives Considered

Salesforce Sales Cloud

Reasons for Choosing HubSpot CRM

Hubspot was more known. It integrated better with Google suite

Switched From

Zoho CRM

Reasons for Switching to HubSpot CRM

Hubspot was cheaper

Pros

- Easy to implement
- Automated our sales process
- You can customize the fields as per your requirements
- The system is not that buggy except for last month couple of issues for the software

Cons

- Marketing automation is a little faulty as you can not get accurate data from Hubspot. Hubspot data and google analytics data shows the difference.

- Customer Services is not that trained, most of the time I ended up with finding a solution with my self

Alternatives Considered

Salesforce Sales Cloud

Reasons for Choosing HubSpot CRM

- The functionality and user interface is better here.

Switched From

Zoho CRM

Reasons for Switching to HubSpot CRM

-Easy to implement and easy to use. Not much change management is required.

Pros

Aside from the overall ease of use, I love that HubSpot connects with my Outlook and automatically logs and tracks emails. And that I get notifications on my phone when an email is opened. I can then call that person at that time while I'm on their mind, and my HubSpot app automatically logs the call and gives me a chance to jot a few notes too. Or perhaps they open the email and click the link to my HubSpot meeting scheduler...even better! It's all so blessedly interconnected and automatic!

Cons

I wouldn't say the task manager is bad, but sometimes I wish I had the ability to prioritize tasks..

Alternatives Considered

Zoho CRM and Salesforce Sales Cloud

Reasons for Choosing HubSpot CRM

There are more benefits to using HubSpot, not the least of which is that it's cloud based, so I can use it anywhere on any device. I couldn't do that with ACT!

Switched From

Act!

Reasons for Switching to HubSpot CRM

HubSpot had all the features I was looking for and more! Plus it has a free level that is very generous, and one I tried it, I was hooked!

Pros

I like the overall ease of use within Hubspot. Tasks like building a landing page or setting up an automation workflow are not longer complicated pieces of code. They're truly user friendly to build, change, and report on. There are so many resources to help you if you do get stuck on anything. Between the blogs, learning academy, ask the community, and actual support... you can find the answer to any question. Sometimes the answer is simply that it cannot be done and then you're prompted to leave your idea in the community to vote on. This feature is another one that I appreciate a lot as we've been told that the communities top voted ideas are the ones the engineers work to bring to light first. If this is true or not is unknown by me, but I do greatly like the idea.

Cons

Hubspot is a wonderful software however, the worst headache a user will have is Hubspot missing many key and often basic features regardless of the level you purchase. They simply don't exist. A couple examples, you cannot schedule reoccurring tasks. This means if you have daily Tasks that you want to add to your Task Queues (another absolute favorite feature) you will have to manually add each daily task. Tasks also don't sync to your Google Calendar. The Conversation Inbox is their most limited feature in my opinion. This is meant to serve as your email system however there are so many holes in it that we were not able to navigate away from our existing email platform. You cannot have folders or multiple inboxes in the same view unless they are the default folders. You cannot make your own at this time. You have to manually add your signature if you are working from the inbox but it will automatically populate if you are working from a contact's page. Hubspot form submission notifications come into your separate email platform visually appealing and easy to read, however this email does not show up on the contacts timeline but instead the information gather is presented in a hard to find expandable note that is not user friendly. More so that pretty Hubspot email does come into Hubspot, it just gets automatically marked as spam due to Hubspots none-changeable rule that anything coming from [email protected] gets marked as spam.

Pros

HubSpot is one of the few CRMs you can pick up and use without professional help. Using only their videos and articles, you can get a simple, powerful and FREE CRM set-up.

The set-up does take time and patience but it's possible. Contrast that vs. Salesforce and other CRMs which I've found to be basically impossible to use for a starter CRM.

Cons

HubSpot's email integration is powerful but it's task management / reminder features could use a lot of work. I can't complain too much since it's free.

HubSpot's pricing is also confusing since there are so many features and bundles to choose from. It's especially confusing since they also offer marketing services.

Also the dashboard isn't the most intuitive to set-up.

All of these above comments are on an absolute basis. When compared to other CRMs I found HubSpot lightyears easier.

Alternatives Considered

Pipedrive and Close

Reasons for Choosing HubSpot CRM

HubSpot had better recommendations

Switched From

Streak

Reasons for Switching to HubSpot CRM

Cheaper, better, easier

Pros

Without a doubt, the ability to have unlimited free users was incredibly useful. We have a number of freelancers who work with us on a part time basis and we were able to give them all access to the CRM for free. This gives HubSpot a considerable edge over it's per-license competitors.

HubSpot's lightweight ecosystem allows you to link all sales, marketing and service information in one place, all with a very straightforward and easy to understand user interface (another of HubSpot's benefits).

On the Marketing side, HubSpot's email builder is simple, yet powerful, and allows us to create great emails to send out to our customer base. On the Sales side, the Outlook Add-in allows us to make sure all sales activity by all team members is being tracked and logged in the CRM, so we are able to track performance and customer interactions quickly and easily. The Service functionality has allowed us to build out a fully fledged help centre for our customers.

Cons

Some aspects of the software are a little incomplete and/or suffer from inexplicable lacks of functionality. Sadly HubSpot CRM is yet to completely separate itself from its past as solely a marketing automation tool. It is obvious that the entire system architecture has been built around the contact record object type, with several frustrating quirks arising as a result. For example, a lot of the workflow functionality differs depending on the object type in use; contact based workflows allow you to use future dates as a trigger (e.g. run workflow x days before y date), whereas Company and Deal based workflows do not.

There are also a number of fundamental functions that require the Professional tier license to access. These include but are not limited to calculated fields, multiple currencies, lead rotation automation and A|B testing on emails. Clearly I understand that you get what you pay for, but given that these are all indispensable functions of a CRM, it seems to render the 'Starter' tier entirely useless, forcing you to pay the higher price. That being said, I am grateful that calculated fields are now a Professional rather than a higher Enterprise feature.

One last frustration is the inability to have multiple users on different tiers within the same Hub. I would greatly appreciate the ability to give Starter licenses to some of my free users, to give them a little more functionality, however, I am only allowed to purchase more Pro licenses, which I can't afford.

Alternatives Considered

Salesforce Sales Cloud

Pros

I really liked the fact that HubSpot CRM is relatively easy to use. The navigation between its different sections and features is smooth.

The sales pipeline section lets you visualize what's happening at each of your stage pipeline, while sale forecasting shows you how much you'd be making if you were to close X deals.

Plus, there's the smartphone app: an excellent way to keep track of things and carry out tasks even when you're on the go.

Cons

The main con of HubSpot CRM, which is also true to other "freemium" tools, is the fact that certain features are only available in the paid plan(s).

That's not an issue itself but the fact that the paid plans don't cost $10 or so each month but much more than that, may lead a user facing the question 'Do I want to invest that kind of money or should I look for a more inexpensive option?'

Alternatives Considered

Pipedrive

Pros

Hubspot is user-friendly, attractive, and useful for different levels of expertise. We use it for the website, blog, social media, email, and CRM.
The content around the software is fantastic, with active blogs for different user groups, detailed guidance for how to use functionalities and what you could use them for, and templates to help you tackle projects. They provide a lot of resources to help you get the best out of Hubspot, and if you're stuck, the customer support is responsive and helpful.
Something I particularly like about Hubspot is how actively they are developing it. It seems to be every month that we receive an update of new features, functionality or integrations. They have recently added the ability to manage multiple currencies, which people had been really actively asking for on the community forum, and I was so pleased to see this added. Hubspot clearly listen to the feedback and suggestions from the community.

Cons

There are some things which are a bit inflexible. For example, the Industry field for Companies is very large and has a lot of industries which would never be relevant to us. I would like to be able to delete or at least hide features and information which we never use and would never use.
Our email is on Outlook Exchange, which unfortunately means we are unable to use some of Hubspot's functions, like being able to email from within the platform and the Meetings function, which I would love to be able to use.