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HubSpot vs Salesforce: Which CRM Is Right for You?
HubSpot or Salesforce? A plain comparison of UK prices, ease of use, customisation and running costs, with a guide to which fits a 20-person team, a 100-person business, a 1,000-person company or a large enterprise.
Will Andrew
Founder & Lead Consultant
Both are excellent CRMs. The better choice depends less on features and more on how complex your processes are, who will run the system day to day, and what you can spend on setup and support.
The short answer: HubSpot is usually the better fit when you want sales, marketing and service in one system that your team will actually use, without needing a dedicated admin to run it. Salesforce is usually the better fit when you have complex, highly specific processes, a large organisation with many teams and regions, or in-house developers and admins who can build and maintain a custom setup. For most growing businesses the deciding factor is the total cost of setting up and running the system, not the licence price.
We should say up front: we’re a HubSpot Platinum Partner, so we know HubSpot best. We’ve tried to keep this fair, and there are businesses we’d point towards Salesforce.
HubSpot vs Salesforce at a glance
| HubSpot | Salesforce |
|---|---|---|
Best for | Teams that want sales, marketing and service joined up in one easy system | Large or complex organisations that need deep customisation |
Ease of use | Quick to learn, so adoption tends to be high | Powerful but more complex, so training matters more |
Running it | Managed internally, or by a partner in a few hours a month | Large organisations usually have a full-time in-house Salesforce admin, plus developers for custom work |
Customisation | Custom objects, properties and workflows cover most needs | Almost anything can be built, with code where needed |
Marketing | Marketing tools built in and connected to the CRM | Marketing is a separate product (Marketing Cloud or Account Engagement) |
UK sales seat price | £7 (offer), £81 or £155 a month per seat on annual billing | £20, £80, £156, £316 or £440 a month per user |
Setup | A few weeks for a focused setup, longer with migrations | Typically longer, as more is configured from scratch |
What each costs in the UK
HubSpot sells one edition for the whole platform. On annual billing, a GTM seat (for people who sell, market or serve customers) costs £7 a month on Starter (a limited-time offer), £81 on Professional and £155 on Enterprise, excluding VAT. Each paid edition includes a monthly allowance of HubSpot Credits for things like marketing emails, workflow actions and AI agents, and you pay for extra credits beyond that. HubSpot requires onboarding on Professional and Enterprise, but waives its own onboarding fee when you onboard with an accredited partner. You can work out your own bill with our HubSpot pricing calculator, and our guide to HubSpot pricing in the UK explains the details.
Salesforce prices Sales Cloud per user per month: Starter Suite £20, Pro Suite £80, Core £156, Advanced £316 and Max £440, with most editions billed annually. AI features such as Agentforce for Sales are an add-on from £100 per user per month, and Salesforce’s Premier Success Plan is included with Core, Advanced and Max, and is an add-on on Pro Suite. Marketing tools are bought separately.
The licence is only part of the cost. With either platform, budget for:
Setup and migration. Mapping your data, building pipelines and automation, and testing before you go live.
Someone to run it. With Salesforce this is often a certified admin, which can mean a hire. With HubSpot it’s more often an existing team member with partner support.
Add-ons and integrations. Connecting your finance system, phone system or helpdesk.
When you compare, put the full first-year cost side by side, not just the per-user price.
Which suits a business your size?
Size isn’t everything, but it’s a useful starting point.
A sales team of around 20. HubSpot is usually the simpler and cheaper choice. You can be up and running in a few weeks, and someone on your team can run it, with a few hours of partner support when you need it. Salesforce’s Starter or Pro Suite can work here, but you’ll get less marketing and service capability in the same system.
A business of around 100 people with sales, marketing and service teams. This is where HubSpot is strongest: one system for the whole customer journey, with reporting across all three teams. Salesforce makes sense at this size if your sales process is unusually complex, for example detailed quoting, partner channels or heavy approval rules.
A company of around 1,000 people. Both work at this size. HubSpot Enterprise handles large teams and detailed permissions, and HubSpot’s Brands add-on covers multiple brands. It can still be run by a small internal team with a partner. Salesforce becomes more likely when each region or division works differently and needs its own custom processes.
A large enterprise. Salesforce is the more common choice, particularly where processes are heavily bespoke and there’s already an in-house Salesforce team. Some large organisations use HubSpot too, often for marketing or for a division that wants a simpler system.
One difference holds at every size: who runs it. Large organisations on Salesforce tend to have a full-time, in-house Salesforce expert. HubSpot is usually managed by someone on your team, or by a partner in a few hours a month.
When HubSpot is the better choice
You want one connected system. Marketing, sales and service share the same records, so everyone sees the full picture.
Adoption is your worry. If your current CRM is half-used, a simpler tool your team likes will beat a powerful one they avoid.
You don’t want to hire an admin. HubSpot can be run by someone on your team, or by a partner in a few hours a month.
You want to move quickly. A focused HubSpot setup can be live in a few weeks.
When Salesforce is the better choice
Your processes are highly specific. If you need custom logic that no standard CRM handles, Salesforce’s flexibility is hard to beat.
You already have Salesforce skills in-house. An experienced admin or development team changes the cost picture.
You rely on Salesforce-specific products. Some industries and tools are built around the Salesforce ecosystem.
Moving from Salesforce to HubSpot
If you’re already on Salesforce and thinking of switching, the migration is very doable, but it needs a plan. The main steps are mapping your objects and fields to HubSpot, deciding what history to bring across (activities, notes, emails), rebuilding automation rather than copying it like for like, testing with a sample of real data, and planning a cutover date so your team isn’t working in two systems. Some businesses keep Salesforce for sales and use HubSpot’s native Salesforce integration to sync records for marketing. That can be a good stepping stone, but running two systems long term adds cost and complexity.
Frequently asked questions
Is HubSpot cheaper than Salesforce?
Seat for seat the list prices are similar at the middle tiers (£81 for HubSpot Professional against £80 for Salesforce Pro Suite, per seat a month). The bigger difference is usually the cost of setting up and running the system, and whether you need separate marketing tools.
Can HubSpot handle a large business?
Yes. HubSpot Enterprise includes a sandbox, field-level permissions and room for very large databases, and you can add more brands with HubSpot’s Brands add-on. The question is whether your processes need the kind of bespoke build that Salesforce is designed for.
Can HubSpot and Salesforce work together?
Yes. HubSpot has a native Salesforce integration that syncs contacts, companies and deals, so some businesses use HubSpot for marketing alongside Salesforce for sales.
Still deciding?
If you’re comparing CRMs more widely, our best CRM for 2026 guide and our comparisons of HubSpot vs Zoho and HubSpot vs Pipedrive cover the other common options. If you’ve chosen HubSpot and want to know what setup involves, see our HubSpot implementation service.
Talk it through with us
Not sure which fits your business? Get in touch and we’ll give you a straight answer, even if it’s Salesforce.
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