The 6 Best HubSpot Competitors for 2022
Jess served on the founding team of a successful B2B startup and has used a wide range of sales and marketing tools over the course of her 15-year career. She uses her industry knowledge to deliver the best answers to your questions about sales tools and sales management.
This article is part of a larger series on CRM.
HubSpot is a popular customer relationship management (CRM) system that offers small businesses a user-friendly interface, a free plan, and marketing features like email campaign tools, a webform creator, and social media integrations. However, HubSpot’s paid plans are expensive, and the free plan does not include some features like project management or advanced analytics, which can be a deal-breaker for some small businesses.
To discover the best alternatives, we evaluated dozens of HubSpot competitors. We analyzed the features HubSpot doesn’t offer as well as benefits it does offer, like robust artificial intelligence (AI) and sales automation functionality at a lower price point, and narrowed it down to the top six options:
- Freshsales: Best overall, and best HubSpot alternative with customization capabilities
- Really Simple Systems: Excellent choice for businesses looking for an as easy-to-use, if not easier, alternative to HubSpot
- Pipedrive: Great option for teams looking for a more affordable option to HubSpot’s Sales Hub for sales management functionality
- Zoho CRM: Good choice for companies wanting HubSpot alternatives with advanced automation and analytics features
- Bitrix24: Solid option for organizations looking for HubSpot alternatives with project management capabilities
- Zendesk Sell: Ideal for mobile sales teams looking for a HubSpot alternative with strong telephonic features
Best HubSpot Competitors Compared
Provider | Free Plan | Free Trial for Paid Plans | Starting Price for Paid Plans* | Special Features | Help & Support |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Yes, unlimited users | 21 days | $15 per user, per month | Customizable sales pipelines | Support via email (24/7), phone, and chat (24/5) |
 | Yes, up to 2 users | $14 per user, per month | 14 days | Customizable reporting tools on the free plan | Email, chat, and phone support during business hours |
 | No free plan | 14 days | $14.90 per user, per month | AI features on the lowest-cost plan | 24/7 live chat and email support |
 | Yes, up to 3 users | 15 days | $14 per user, per month | Advanced sales metrics and AI features | 24/5 email and phone support on paid plans |
 | Yes, unlimited users | $39, includes 5 user seats | 30 days | Project and task management capabilities | Live chat and email support for all paid plans |
 | No free plan | 30 days | $19 per user, per month | Ability to call and SMS clients in the platform | 24/7 live chat, phone, and email support |
*Based on annual billing. Monthly contracts are available at slightly higher rates.
Freshsales: Best Overall & Best Alternative to HubSpot for Customization
Freshsales
What We Like
- Highly customizable pipelines and data fields
- Many communication channel options for contacting leads
- Free option available
What's Missing
- Social media integrations
- Automated workflows require an add-on
- Free plan is limited to organizing lead contact information and communications via call or email
How It Compares to HubSpot
- Less-costly paid plans than HubSpot for sales and marketing features
- Much more customization capabilities for fields, sales activities and pipelines, modules, and user roles than HubSpot
- HubSpot offers built-in e-signature capabilities while Freshsales requires integrations
- Freshsales does not allow integrations with social media platforms while HubSpot does
Like HubSpot, Freshsales offers a free-forever plan for an unlimited number of users, but it’s mostly limited to storing contact information and performing basic communication functions with those contacts. Freshsales is significantly more affordable than HubSpot when it comes to paid plans, and gives businesses far better customization capabilities for designing data fields, sales pipelines, and user roles.
Freshsales Pricing at a Glance*
- Free: Unlimited users (limited features)
- Growth: $15 per user, per month
- Pro: $39 per user, per month
- Enterprise: $69 per user, per month
- Free trial: 21 days
*Pricing is based on annual billing. Monthly subscriptions are available at a slightly higher rate.
Freshsales Customization Capabilities
Freshsales is the best HubSpot alternative for businesses wanting plenty of customization abilities in their CRM design and layout. On their lowest-priced paid plan, users can create and track custom sales activities, design custom fields for collecting information, create modules for business processes, and customize user roles and permissions.
However, Freshsales doesn’t offer native social media integrations. If communicating with leads and customers via social media channels is important to your business, consider Zoho CRM instead.
Freshsales creating a custom field (Source: Freshsales)
Read our full Freshsales review to learn how this software helps teams collaborate, manage deals, and reach business goals.
Really Simple Systems: Best HubSpot Alternative for Ease-of-Use
Really Simple Systems
What We Like
- Customizable reports and sales forecasting available on free plan
- Platform is easy to navigate, and tabs are divided into sales, marketing, or service functions
- Free plan available
What's Missing
- Most marketing features require an add-on
- Lacks integration with social media platforms
- No customer support outside of business hours
How It Compares to HubSpot
- Email campaign scheduling requires additional paid add-on while HubSpot includes this in their free plan
- Offers more customization than HubSpot for data fields, tables, and dashboards
- Paid plans are less expensive than HubSpot’s
- HubSpot has social media integrations while Really Simple Systems does not
For businesses that want a HubSpot alternative with similar usability attributes and a free-forever option, Really Simple Systems is the best choice. HubSpot users find the interface of Really Simple Systems has comparable features, using minimal buttons, tabs, and solid user-experience design principles to make the platform easy to navigate.
Really Simple Systems Pricing at a Glance*
- Free: Up to two users
- Starter: $14 per user, per month
- Professional: $30 per user, per month
- Enterprise: $46 per user, per month
- Free trial: 14 days
- Simple Marketing Add-on: $22 per month (free on Enterprise plan)
- Advanced Marketing Add-on: $46 per month
- Service Desk Add-on: $46 per month (free on Enterprise plan)
*Pricing is based on annual billing; monthly billing is also available at a higher cost.
Really Simple Systems Usability
One of the main reasons both HubSpot and Really Simple Systems are easy to navigate is that each CRM uses a single menu system. HubSpot’s menu is displayed horizontally across the top, while Really Simple Systems displays a vertical menu on the left side. Either layout makes it easy for the user to find the proper button or tab to move from various web pages.
Learn how this CRM system helps small businesses close more deals and collaborate effectively in our Really Simple Systems review.
Pipedrive: Best Low-cost Alternative to HubSpot for Sales Tools
Pipedrive
What We Like
- AI sales assistant tool for automating sales tasks and offering sales advice
- Unlimited number of sales pipelines
- Affordable pricing plans
What's Missing
- No free plan
- Project management tools
- Integration with social media platforms
How It Compares to HubSpot
- HubSpot offers a free plan while Pipedrive does not
- Pipedrive allows for unlimited contacts, fields, and pipelines while HubSpot has limits on various plans
- Paid plans are less expensive than HubSpot
- AI features are available on lowest-priced plans while HubSpot AI features are only available on enterprise-level plans
When comparing paid subscription plans, Pipedrive is the most cost-effective one on our list of the best HubSpot alternatives. In addition, even in its lowest-priced plan, Pipedrive users have access to the artificial intelligence (AI) sales assistant feature, sales meeting scheduler, contact management capabilities, and sales deal reporting features—all for $14.90 per user, per month.
Pipedrive Pricing at a Glance*
- Essential: $14.90 per user, per month
- Advanced: $24.90 per user, per month
- Professional: $49.90 per user, per month
- Enterprise: $99 per user, per month (10-user minimum)
- Free trial: 14 days full access
*Pricing is based on an annual billing option. Monthly plans are available as well.
Pipedrive Cost-effective Sales Tools
Though Pipedrive is fairly robust when it comes to the sales tools included in their Essential package, the most valuable benefit of this plan may be the fact that the AI sales assistant feature is also included. Using past performance and pipeline tracking, the sales assistant offers coaching tips in order to improve sales performance.
While Pipedrive offers competitive pricing, they do not have a free plan. If a free option is important for your business, consider Freshsales as an alternative.
Pipedrive AI sales assistant example (Source: Pipedrive)
Discover how this software enables sales teams to communicate effectively, manage deals, and grow revenue in our Pipedrive review.
Zoho CRM: Best HubSpot Alternative With Advanced CRM Features
Zoho CRM
What We Like
- Advanced features for sales metrics, marketing, and lead management through AI and automation capabilities
- Cost-effective HubSpot alternative with a free plan option and low cost per user
- Customizable layouts and information components
What's Missing
- User interface can be challenging to navigate, especially for novice users
- Free plan is only for up to 3 users and has limited features
- Lack of fast load times and glitch-free experience compared to other HubSpot competitors
How It Compares to HubSpot
- HubSpot offers better marketing tools on their free plan than Zoho CRM
- Far more customizable options than HubSpot
- More automation, business intelligence, and artificial intelligence features than HubSpot
- Free plan only supports 3 users while HubSpot allows unlimited users on their free plan
- Zoho CRM lacks an user-friendly interface compared to HubSpot
Zoho CRM is the best HubSpot alternative for users who care more about having advanced tools to automate tasks and sales processes than they do about HubSpot’s tools for mass marketing. Many of these automation features, specifically features for workflow management, are available on Zoho CRM’s Standard plan.
Zoho CRM Pricing at a Glance*
- Free: Up to three users (limited features)
- Bigin: $7 per user, per month (sales pipeline only)
- Standard: $14 per user, per month
- Professional: $23 per user, per month
- Enterprise: $40 per user, per month
- Ultimate: $52 per user, per month
- Zoho CRM Plus: $57 per user, per month
*Pricing is based on an annual subscription. Monthly billing is available as well.
Zoho CRM Advanced Features
While Zoho CRM takes some time to learn how to use, sales teams can take advantage of built-in and integrated features for orchestrating customer journeys. Plus, the platform allows you to automatically generate and nurture leads based on marketing segmentation, and use the AI assistant Zia to pull data, ask questions, and make advanced predictions.
While Zoho CRM offers robust features and analytics, it can be cumbersome to learn all of its features, especially for non-technical users. If you’re looking for a simple CRM without much of a learning curve, consider Really Simple Systems.
Zoho CRM Zia AI question configuration (Source: Zoho)
Read our full Zoho CRM review to explore its rich feature set and learn how it helps small businesses thrive.
Bitrix24: Best HubSpot Alternative for Project Management Features
Bitrix24
What We Like
- Free version for unlimited users
- Unlimited number of leads and deals in the free plan
- Excellent project management features
What's Missing
- User interface is not as intuitive as other options
- Customer support is limited to business hours
- Most automation tools are only available on higher-priced plans
How It Compares to HubSpot
- Bitrix24 has project management tools that aren’t provided by HubSpot
- HubSpot is far easier to use than Bitrix24
- More customization options available than HubSpot
- Allows for an unlimited number of deal pipelines on their free plan while HubSpot only allows for 1 pipeline on their free plan
While HubSpot is easier to use and offers an array of marketing features for email campaigns and content management, Bitrix24 is the best HubSpot alternative for businesses that want certain components missing from HubSpot. Some of these components include mass system customization, human resources management tools, and most notably, project management capabilities.
Bitrix24 Pricing at a Glance*
- Free: Unlimited users
- Basic: $39 per month (up to five users)
- Standard: $79 per month (up to 50 users)
- Professional: $159 per month (unlimited users)
*Pricing above is based on an annual plans. However, you may also pay in full quarterly, annually, or biannually.
Bitrix24 Project Management Tools
For many users, Bitrix24 is their first choice among HubSpot competitors because of the project management tools available in the free plan―tools which HubSpot doesn’t offer. Businesses with access to the project management tools included in Bitrix24 can create and view projects through a Kanban or Gantt chart view, utilize task time tracking, and assign project owners.
Bitrix24 project management Gantt chart (Source: Bitrix24)
Discover how this CRM helps sales, marketing, and customer service teams collaborate to reach their business goals in our Bitrix24 review.
Zendesk Sell: Best HubSpot Alternative With Telephonic Features
Zendesk Sell
What We Like
- Easy-to-use sales dashboard with drag-and-drop customization
- Great synchronization from web to mobile application
- Solid built-in tools for phone calls and call tracking analytics
What's Missing
- Project management tools
- Availability of a free plan
- Limited number of custom pipelines
How It Compares to HubSpot
- Does not offer a free forever plan while HubSpot does
- More robust mobile application than HubSpot
- Bulk emailing only available on Professional plan while HubSpot includes it in free plan
- More advanced reporting capabilities for lead and deal analytics than HubSpot
HubSpot has solid email campaign tools and basic telephone features for making and tracking calls, both of which are included in its free plan. Zendesk Sell doesn’t offer a free plan, but it does provide sales teams with more advanced CRM reporting features compared to HubSpot. It also has telephonic features within the platform proportional to HubSpot due to the overall capabilities and ease-of-use of the telephone tools.
Zendesk Sell Pricing at a Glance*
- Sell Team: $19 per user, per month
- Sell Growth: $49 per user, per month
- Sell Professional: $99 per user, per month
- Free trial: 14 days
*Pricing is based on annual billing, monthly billing is available for higher prices.
Zendesk Sell Telephonic Features
Zendesk Sell telephone features include easy-to-use tools for click-to-call, call logging, call script storage, and texting communication channels. The platform also offers metrics for analyzing calls to monitor the quantity, duration, and outcomes of outgoing phone calls.
However, while Zendesk Sell provides robust calling tools, it does not currently offer project management tools within the platform. If project management features are necessary for your sales operation, consider Bitrix24 as an alternative.
Zendesk Sell calling feature (Source: Cloudtalk.io)
Read our full Zendesk Sell review to learn how this software helps teams streamline their sales processes and close more deals.
Not sure if any of these CRMs are right for your business? Check out our review for the best CRMs for small businesses.
How We Evaluated the Best HubSpot Alternatives
To determine the top HubSpot competitors, we evaluated CRM systems specifically comparable to HubSpot, like an easy-to-use interface, a free forever plan, and tools for generating and deploying mass marketing email campaigns. We also analyzed software feature gaps of HubSpot offered by HubSpot alternatives.
Based on our evaluation, Freshsales is the best alternative to HubSpot. We chose this CRM because of its similarity to HubSpot, its free plan for an unlimited number of users, and its standout system and sales pipeline customization capabilities that aren’t offered by HubSpot.
The tabs below offer insight into our evaluation process for choosing the best alternatives to HubSpot’s CRM:
40%
Pricing
20%
General Features
15%
Ease of Use
15%
Help & Support
10%
Expert Score
40% of Overall Score
Cost is typically among the most important criteria for any small business. Plus, with HubSpot offering a free plan, price was heavily weighted when reviewing the best HubSpot competitors. For comparison specific to HubSpot, we considered the availability of a free plan, scalable subscription plans, and monthly billing availability.
20% of Overall Score
We looked at overall features we feel are necessary in a CRM, including reporting and analytics capabilities, tools for managing sales pipelines, and the ability to communicate with leads. We also evaluated each CRM’s mobile application and third-party integrations.
15% of Overall Score
HubSpot alternatives were also evaluated on product usability. This was analyzed in terms of the expertise needed to set up and integrate the CRM with other applications, the skill required to operate the platform, and the intuitiveness of navigating the interface.
15% of Overall Score
Extensive support and service can prevent issues a user might encounter while using any one of these HubSpot alternatives. Help and support were evaluated in terms of customer service hours and the availability of support via phone, live chat, and email.
10% of Overall Score
In addition to firsthand experiences with the best HubSpot competitors, we evaluated what other users are saying about each CRM. These criteria consider how customers feel, based on their reviews, to gain insight into platform popularity, ease of use, and overall value for the price.
*Percentages of overall score
