The established competitors worth comparing against HubSpot — researched and reviewed by our editorial team.
Salesforce
Best for: Mid-market and enterprise companies with complex sales processes
Salesforce is the enterprise CRM standard — most configurable, largest ecosystem, the default at scale. Trade-off: longer setup, higher per-seat cost, requires admins or consultants.
$25/user/mo Starter, $100/user/mo Pro, $165/user/mo Enterprise
Pros
- ✓Most configurable CRM in the industry
- ✓Largest AppExchange ecosystem (7,000+ apps)
- ✓Enterprise-grade compliance and security
Cons
- ×Onboarding takes months
- ×Per-seat pricing highest in the industry
- ×Typically requires Salesforce admins
Pipedrive
Best for: Small sales-led teams who want a focused, deal-pipeline CRM
Pipedrive is the sales-pipeline-first CRM — visual pipeline view, deal-focused workflows, simpler than HubSpot. Best fit for outbound sales teams under 50 people who want CRM without the marketing-hub overhead.
$14/seat/mo Essential, $39/seat/mo Advanced, $49/seat/mo Professional
Pros
- ✓Visual pipeline UI is intuitive for sales teams
- ✓Cheaper per seat than HubSpot at sales tier
- ✓Focused on sales rather than spreading across marketing / service
Cons
- ×No marketing automation in the same tool
- ×Light on service / support features
- ×Less brand recognition than HubSpot / Salesforce
Close
Best for: High-velocity outbound sales teams with calls + emails
Close is the inside-sales-focused CRM with built-in calling, email sequences, and SMS. Best fit for outbound sales teams making many calls per day where call quality and sequence automation matter.
$49/user/mo Startup, $99/user/mo Professional, $139/user/mo Enterprise
Pros
- ✓Built-in calling and SMS (no Aircall / similar needed)
- ✓Strong email sequence automation
- ✓Designed specifically for high-velocity sales
Cons
- ×Higher per-seat than Pipedrive
- ×Sales-only focus — no marketing or service features
- ×Smaller community than HubSpot / Salesforce
Brevo (formerly Sendinblue)
Best for: Teams who want email + SMS + transactional + light CRM in one
Brevo bundles email marketing, SMS, transactional email, chat, and light CRM. Different scope than HubSpot — bundles a different combination of tools. Pricing is by emails sent rather than per contact.
Free 300 emails/day, $9/mo Starter, $18/mo Business
Pros
- ✓Email-volume-based pricing (not per-contact)
- ✓Bundles email + SMS + transactional
- ✓Strong free tier
Cons
- ×CRM is light, not full-featured
- ×No sales-pipeline tools comparable to HubSpot Sales Hub
- ×Less brand recognition
EspoCRM
Open sourceSelf-hostBest for: Teams who want self-hosted CRM with no per-seat fees
EspoCRM is the leading open-source CRM — self-hosted, GPL-licensed, with contacts / leads / deals / projects. Best fit for teams who want CRM without monthly per-seat costs and have infra to maintain it.
Free self-hosted (open source), Cloud from $20/user/mo
Pros
- ✓Open source (GPL) — self-host for free
- ✓Familiar CRM mental model (contacts / leads / deals)
- ✓Active community and active development
Cons
- ×Self-hosting is real infra work
- ×UI less polished than commercial alternatives
- ×Smaller integration ecosystem
