Is Hubspot free? Is one of the most common questions that gets asked about this hugely popular CRM tool that is used by tens of thousands of businesses across the world. The simple answer is yes, there is a free plan available for Hubspot, essentially meaning you can use the core CRM for free.

Although the above may seem to answer the question, there is slightly more to it, as it's important to look into exactly what you get from the free version, work out if it's suitable for you as well as looking at how much it will cost once you need to upgrade to a paid version.

Why is Hubspot free

So why exactly do Hubspot offer a free Hubspot CRM plan and what do they get out of it? Well put simply, it attracts customers to their platform, who they hope will enjoy it and it will become a key tool for their business, so when the time is right and they need to upgrade to a paid plan they will do so and start to pay a monthly or annual plan.

This freemium model is often used by companies especially SaaS companies as a way to get new customers and is one that we love, as it often opens up their tools to a wider audience. This means that many smaller businesses and startups can often take advantage of these free plans whilst they are a certain size and are growing.

Overview of the Hubspot free plan

So what exactly do you get in the Hubspot free CRM offering, well, you're essentially getting the core features of the CRM software, surprisingly unlike most plans, the free Hubspot CRM is generous in its features and offering as a whole.

Whether you're looking for a CRM for your sales, customer, operations or other areas of your business the free plan is worth considering.

Free plan benefits

Some of the biggest benefits include the obvious free pricing, the free tools and overall offering, we love the below features as core positives.

Unlimited users and data

One of the most exciting perks to the free plan is that you can have unlimited users as well as unlimited data within your CRM and this has no time limit nor expiration, so you can continue to use these unlimited features for as long as you want.

Up to 1,000,000 contacts

Unless you're a massive company then having up to 1 million contacts should be completely fine and you shouldn't hit that limit, of course, if you are closing on it then it's likely paying for a piece of software won't be an issue as you'll be a large company.

Downsides to the free plan

Of course, there are some downsides to this plan as you may expect for something fully free.

No customer support - If you're a business that isn't too technically focused then you may be better suited to a paid plan where you can get customer support.

There are limitations - You'll find that there are limits on certain features or number of processes that can happen, especially when it comes to automated parts of the CRM

Branding - You'll find that Hubspot branding will be more prominent when using the free plan, this may not look as professional as if you choose for a paid plan

Lack of automation tools - Hubspots paid plans allow you to automate a lot more tasks, allowing you to devote that time to other parts of your business.

Custom reports - The free plan does allow reporting but to get full control and fully custom reports you'll need to be on a paid plan.

Who the Hubspot free plan suited to

Any business can take advantage of the Hubspot free plan and within your organization the CRM can be used by different departments, in general the tools are most suited and most widely used by the following departments:

Sales teams - Make the whole sales process more streamlined and efficient by using Hubspots array of tools for your sales, no large spreadsheets that team members have to share manually, access it all from one hub.

Marketing teams - Great for increasing lead generation, email marketing and generally across businesses to be better organized and more effective.

Customer service teams - Keep the team focused and make them serve your customers in the best way possible, this tool can aid your customer relationship management in a multitude of ways.

Operations managers - Used across your business, you can ensure that the business's operations are as efficient as possible and spot issues faster.

Business owners - It can be used in a wide variety of ways for founders, from managing your customers to dealing with your team, orders and much more.

Free features you'll get

There's a long list of features that are included in the free Hubspot CRM software and here are a few we've highlighted that many customers love.

Live chat software - Having live chat on your website can help increase sales, help customer service and much more

Deal Pipeline - Create a pipeline of deals in the CRM, assign tasks within this to your team and track how each deal is going, helping you to increase sales, discover any issues in the sales process and forecast sales more accurately.

AI email writer - It's hard not to hear about AI nowadays but Hubspots AI email writer helps you quickly and effectively write sales outreach emails using artificial intelligence.

Meeting scheduler - They have a great meeting scheduler meaning you can book meetings in better and more efficiently, Think of the functions of Calendly and you'll get a nice idea of this tool.

Email template builder - Make your best emails into templates so you can use them faster and also share them with your team so they can take advantage of them too.

How is HubSpot free

Put simply, they have an entry-level plan that is free forever (as much as they currently have no plans to remove this free plan as far as we're aware). This free offering is often perfectly suitable for a number of people who will use it daily for free and never have a need to upgrade to a paid plan.

Hubspot's free CRM is possible as they offer a range of plans with costs and have tens of thousands of paying customers which can support the cost of these free users and ultimately it's seen as a marketing cost with the idea of being able to convert these free customers into paying ones.

A good alternative to the free plan

If you're thinking that the free plan may not quite be right for you or that you may want to upgrade quickly, then why not consider the Hubspot for Startups program, this helps startups and early businesses to get a paid plan at a reduced price.

We've teamed up with Hubspot so that we can offer our free FounderPass members access to these deals and this means you can access the Hubspot Pro plan for 30% off your first year and 15% off for every year going forward.

Hubspot free plan summary

Overall, you'll find that if you're a one-person business then this free plan will likely serve nearly all of your needs, if you're a little bigger it may also serve you well but you'll likely start to notice a few features and limits that may make you keen to upgrade.

If you are a growing business or startup that has a small team then it may be worth exploring the Hubspot for Startups offer that we have giving you 30% off your first year and a 15% discount every year after.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is it really free?

Yes, Hubspot really is free to a certain degree, in that they have a free plan available for you to go on. This plan of course won't have all the features that they have and will have restrictions which you'll see in this article above but in essence, you can use the core features for a limited amount of contacts and data for free.

How much is Hubspot after the free plan?

This will depend on your needs, we recommend checking the Hubspot pricing page to see exactly the costs that your business will need to pay once you upgrade from a free plan or if you go directly onto a paid plan.