Over the past years, businesses and customers have increasingly moved online. Given this, it’s crucial for companies to closely manage interactions with (potential) customers and offer remarkable experiences. For this reason, a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system has become an indispensable tool. It not only allows you to collect customer data, but also enables you to build long-lasting relationships with customers. Ultimately, a CRM will help you to increase your sales profits. At its core, a CRM creates a user interface to collect data that enables you to attract and engage with customers in a scalable way.
However, with hundreds of different CRM solutions out there offering a wide variety of tools and pricing, it can become a daunting task to decide which one to invest in. Therefore, in this blog post, we have compared HubSpot vs. some of the most popular CRM systems to make your evaluation easier.
Comparison of HubSpot with 3 popular CRM platforms
We have looked at reviews, ratings, business websites and other sources, in order to compare HubSpot with 3 other major CRM systems. In the table below, you will find an analysis of some important features, so you can make sure you choose the best fit for your business needs.
| HubSpot | SugarCRM | Salesforce | Zoho CRM | |
| Features | CRM, marketing, sales, service, website management tools | Open-source CRM with marketing, sales, service tools | CRM, sales, service, marketing tools | CRM, sales, marketing, customer support tools |
| Pricing | Free trial forever & paid subscription starts at HK$400 per month | Starts at HK$450 per user per month | Starts at HK$200 per user per month | Starts at HK$112 per user per month |
| # of users | Starter subscription with 2 paid users & unlimited free users | Charges for each user; 3 users minimum | Charges for each user | Charges for each user |
| Interface | User-friendly | Clunky; unresponsive | Difficult to use | User-friendly |
| Implementation | Can be set up in less than 1 day for starter subscription | Requires technological know-how and skillset | Requires significant resources to set up properly | Requires additional effort to set up and recurring maintenance to avoid major pitfalls |
| Customization | Customization of dashboards, reports, forms, contact lists, etc. | Adaptability and customisation of dashboard by developers | High level of customization | Suite of products to customize, but demands extra time on basic configuration |
| Management of system | Every team member can use it – from marketers to developers to sales | Requires developers with coding knowledge | Time-consuming and need to hire a person with Salesforce knowledge | Basic management is relatively simple, but CRM knowledge may be required for further integrations |
| Integrations | +500 integrations with other software including many free, native integrations | Open-source platform allows for integration of 3rd party software via API | (Hidden) costs for additional modules, add-ons and services | Many feature combinations need additional connections or integrations to sync across applications |
| Who should use it? | SMEs and large enterprises | Large enterprises with in-house developers | Large enterprises with sufficient resources | SMEs with team to manage system and CRM knowledge |
| Support | Chat, email, phone, blogs, community, academy, etc. | Long average response time, which is only improved for high-priced subscriptions | Paid support via phone | Video guides, but limited customer support with long wait times |
How to choose the right CRM?
Your CRM is the centralized source to track and manage your company’s relationships, deals, communications, and more. Therefore, choosing the right CRM is one of the most important business decisions you’ll make. No matter the size of your company, when selecting a new CRM, you’ll need to consider the following points to create pros and cons lists for each CRM: your business processes and goals; in-house capacity to implement CRM; budget; compatibility with your current software; required features of the CRM; desired level of customization; user experience and support; etc. The comparisons in this blog post are here to help you find the best CRM software for your business needs and kick-start your CRM implementation.
The best CRM for small businesses: HubSpot
HubSpot frequently ranks as one of the best CRM software products for small businesses, with nearly 114,000 customers across more than 120 countries using it to power their growth. As a cloud-based CRM platform, it is built so you can customize it to meet your business needs without any unnecessary complexity or months of custom development work. It’s easy and quick to get started, thus allowing your team to make the most of your HubSpot investment from day one. With marketing, sales, content management, and customer service applications, and a wide range of integrations, HubSpot is designed to empower scaling companies to run better so they can grow better.
