HubSpot FAQ
8 common questions about HubSpot — answered.
Yes, HubSpot offers free tools across its CRM, marketing, sales, and service hubs. The free CRM includes contact management, deal tracking, email tracking, and basic reporting with no time limit. However, advanced features like marketing automation, custom reporting, and A/B testing require paid plans starting at $20/month.
HubSpot pricing varies by Hub and tier. Starter plans start at $20/month per seat. Professional plans range from $450-$890/month. Enterprise plans start at $1,200-$3,600/month. The free CRM is genuinely free with no seat limits. Most growing businesses start with Starter and upgrade to Professional as they need automation and reporting.
HubSpot CRM is a free customer relationship management platform that tracks contacts, companies, deals, and customer interactions in one place. It automatically logs emails, calls, and meetings, provides a visual sales pipeline, and integrates with Gmail, Outlook, and hundreds of other tools. It's the foundation that HubSpot's paid Marketing, Sales, and Service Hubs build on.
HubSpot is better for small-to-mid-market companies (under 200 employees) who want an all-in-one platform that's easy to use without a dedicated admin. Salesforce is better for large enterprises with complex sales processes that need deep customization. HubSpot has a lower total cost of ownership and faster implementation; Salesforce has more powerful enterprise features but requires significant setup and often a dedicated administrator.
Free plan: 2,000 emails/month with HubSpot branding. Starter: 5× your contact tier per month (e.g., 5,000 emails for 1,000 contacts). Professional: 10× your contact tier. Enterprise: 20× your contact tier. All paid plans remove HubSpot branding. Marketing contacts (contacts you actively email) determine your pricing — you only pay for contacts you market to.
Yes, HubSpot has a comprehensive REST API covering contacts, companies, deals, tickets, marketing emails, workflows, and more. The API supports OAuth 2.0 and private app tokens. Rate limits are 100 requests per 10 seconds (Starter/Free) or 150 requests per 10 seconds (Professional/Enterprise). The API is well-documented with client libraries for Node.js, Python, Ruby, and PHP.
HubSpot's App Marketplace has over 1,600 integrations including Salesforce, Slack, Zoom, Shopify, WordPress, Stripe, Mailchimp, Google Workspace, and Microsoft 365. Most popular integrations are one-click installs. HubSpot also supports custom integrations via its API and webhooks, plus native Zapier and Make connections for tools not in the marketplace.
Yes, HubSpot's Startup Program offers up to 90% off the first year, 50% off the second year, and 25% off ongoing for qualifying startups. Eligibility varies — you typically need to be associated with an approved VC, accelerator, or incubator. The program covers all HubSpot Hubs. Apply through HubSpot for Startups or ask your accelerator for a referral.