HubSpot alternative: what Sales Hub costs, and when to build your own CRM
HubSpot Sales Hub is a CRM priced per seat: a list price of US$20 a month on Starter, and US$90 or US$150 a month on Professional and Enterprise billed annually, which also carry a one-time onboarding fee, as reported on 25 October 2026. For a small sales team on Starter it often costs less than anything you could build. Once a team needs Professional for sequences and automation, or is using deals to run delivery, the bill grows with every person who needs to see a record. Here is what it costs over three years, when it fits, and when a custom CRM is cheaper.
- Category:
- CRM and sales software
- Priced:
- from US$20 per user a month
- Prices checked:
- 25 October 2026
The short answer
- Sales Hub lists at US$20 per seat a month on Starter, and US$90 (Professional) or US$150 (Enterprise) per seat billed annually, with one-time onboarding fees of US$1,500 and US$3,500, as reported on 25 October 2026.
- Over three years, 10 seats on Professional cost US$33,900 including onboarding; the same 10 seats on Starter cost US$7,200.
- It is the right tool for a sales team that lives in the CRM and uses HubSpot's email, sequences and reporting; five seats on Starter cost less than a custom build.
- It fits less well when deals are used to run delivery, or when people who only need to look at a record each need a paid seat.
- A custom CRM is a one-off US$2,000 to US$5,000, then under US$100 a month with no per-user fees; we replaced HubSpot this way for a UK commercial solar business.
HubSpot over three years, against a custom build
HubSpot charges per seat, and Professional and Enterprise add a required one-time onboarding fee. Reports agree on those two plans but differ on Starter: some give US$15 per seat on annual billing, others mention new-customer offers of US$7 to US$10, so the table uses the US$20 list price. Most figures come from third-party reports; one price index says it checked HubSpot's page in early October 2026.
Swipe the table to see 10 and 20 users →
| Three years, list prices | 5 users | 10 users | 20 users |
|---|---|---|---|
| HubSpot Sales Hub StarterUS$20 per user a month | US$3,600 | US$7,200 | US$14,400 |
| HubSpot Sales Hub ProfessionalUS$90 per user a month, plus US$1,500 onboarding fee | US$17,700 | US$33,900 | US$66,300 |
| HubSpot Sales Hub EnterpriseUS$150 per user a month, plus US$3,500 onboarding fee | US$30,500 | US$57,500 | US$111,500 |
| Custom build (Skofi)US$2,000 to US$5,000 once, depending on scope, then under US$100 a month | US$5,600–8,600 | US$5,600–8,600 | US$5,600–8,600 |
When HubSpot is the right choice
- Your sales team works in the CRM every day and uses sequences, email tracking and pipeline reports the way HubSpot designs them.
- You also use HubSpot for marketing or service, so contacts, campaigns and deals share one record.
- The team is small and Starter covers what you need. Five Starter seats cost less over three years than a custom build.
- You want a large ecosystem of integrations, templates and people who already know the product.
When teams outgrow it
- Deals are being used to track delivery, installation or aftercare, so the pipeline fills with work that was won months ago.
- People who only need to view or update a record, such as operations, finance or site staff, each need a paid seat.
- You need Professional for sequences or automation, which brings a one-time onboarding fee and a much higher seat price.
- Quotes, purchase orders and projects live in other tools, so every won deal is keyed in again.
We replaced HubSpot for a client
Novalux Solar
A commercial solar and battery specialist in Monmouthshire, Wales, ran its sales on HubSpot, alongside a monday.com workspace, spreadsheets and several small no-code apps for quotes, purchase orders and marketing, so a deal was re-keyed between tools. We replaced HubSpot and the tools around it with one connected system covering leads, opportunities, sites, quotes, projects, purchase orders and a customer portal, with the previous CRM's companies, deals and contacts imported. It was a one-off build for a team of 10 to 20 users, and it now runs for under US$100 a month, where HubSpot had cost thousands of dollars a year.
What does HubSpot Sales Hub cost over three years?
HubSpot charges per seat, so the bill grows with the team, and the plan matters more than the seat count. As reported on 25 October 2026, Starter has a list price of US$20 per seat a month. Professional is US$90 per seat a month billed annually (US$100 billed monthly) and Enterprise is US$150 per seat a month billed annually. Professional and Enterprise also carry a required one-time onboarding fee, reported as US$1,500 and US$3,500. Reports differ on Starter: some give US$15 per seat on annual billing, and some mention new-customer offers of US$7 to US$10.
Three years of Professional for 10 seats is US$90 x 10 x 36 + US$1,500 = US$33,900, and for 20 seats it is US$66,300. A custom CRM costs US$2,000 to US$5,000 once and under US$100 a month to run, so its three-year ceiling is US$5,600 to US$8,600 at any team size. Starter is a different story: five seats cost US$3,600 over three years, less than a custom build, and 10 seats cost US$7,200, about the same. Marketing Hub, Service Hub and add-ons are priced separately and are not in these figures.
When is HubSpot the right choice?
HubSpot is strongest as the system of record for selling: contacts, companies and deals, with email, sequences and pipeline reports that work without an engineer. If your team sells and another well-connected tool runs delivery, HubSpot is hard to beat. A small team on Starter will rarely save money by building a CRM, and should not try to on price alone.
Where do teams outgrow it?
The strain usually shows after the deal is won. A commercial project has surveys, applications, procurement, installation and aftercare, and when those are tracked as deal stages or extra properties, the forecast fills with won work and the properties multiply. The second strain is seats: operations, finance and site staff who need one or two screens each cost a seat, and the work they do still lives in another tool.
That was the position of the solar business we built for. Sales ran on HubSpot, delivery on a monday.com workspace and spreadsheets, and quotes and purchase orders in small no-code apps, so a deal was re-keyed between tools and nobody could say which version of a customer was true. Moving lead to aftercare into one system removed the HubSpot subscription and the re-keying together.
What does a custom CRM include?
- Leads, companies, contacts and deals, imported from HubSpot so the history comes with you.
- A pipeline whose stages check that the data needed to deliver the deal exists before it moves on.
- Quotes built from your own rates, sent to the customer at a link, and carried into the project when accepted.
- Projects, purchase orders and delivery tracked against the deal that won them.
- Roles, so each person sees what they need, with no per-seat charge for adding someone.
- Connections to email, calendars and the accounting package.
What it does not include is HubSpot's marketing suite, its template library or its app marketplace. If your marketing team relies on those, keep HubSpot for marketing and connect it to the system that runs the work.
Three ways forward from HubSpot
Stay on HubSpot, and draw the boundary
If the sales team lives in HubSpot, keep it for selling and stop asking it to run delivery. Sync won deals to the tool that runs the work, keep properties to the ones somebody uses, and check which users really need a paid seat. We do this integration work on HubSpot as well, and it is often cheaper than leaving. We do this kind of work at US$25 an hour, estimated in hours before we start.
Switch to another CRM
Pipedrive, Zoho CRM and monday CRM, among others, are built and priced differently. Compare them on the work your team does each day, price the plan you would really need, and check whether the automation you rely on is included at that plan.
Build a CRM around how you sell and deliver
When a deal has to be carried through to delivery, a custom system can hold leads, quotes, projects and purchase orders in one place, check each stage has the data it needs, and give each role its own view. A one-off US$2,000 to US$5,000 build, then under US$100 a month to run, with no per-user fees.
Questions about HubSpot
As reported on 25 October 2026: Starter lists at US$20 per seat a month; Professional is US$90 per seat a month billed annually (US$100 monthly) plus a one-time US$1,500 onboarding fee; Enterprise is US$150 per seat a month billed annually plus US$3,500 onboarding. Reports differ on Starter's annual rate and on promotions. Check HubSpot's pricing page for the current figures.
Against Professional or Enterprise, usually yes over three years: 10 Professional seats cost US$33,900 including onboarding, against a custom build's ceiling of US$5,600 to US$8,600. Against Starter for a small team, no: five Starter seats cost US$3,600. At that size the case for building is fit, not price.
Yes, and it is often the right split. HubSpot keeps contacts and campaigns, a custom system runs quotes, projects and delivery, and an integration keeps the two in step so each field has one owner.
Yes. Companies, contacts and deals can be exported or read through HubSpot's API and imported into the new system. We build imports that dry-run first and can be re-run safely, so the move can be rehearsed before the switch.
Sources
- HubSpot Sales Hub pricing (HubSpot)
- HubSpot Pricing: 29 Verified Prices, Checked October 2026 (Skill Mammoth)
- HubSpot Sales Hub Pricing 2026 (Sybill)
Read next
- monday.com vs HubSpot CRM: pipeline or delivery →
- HubSpot integration and setup →
- CRM automation →
- Solar operations software →
Page copy drafted with AI assistance. Skofi is accountable for it. Editorial policy
Tell us about the process that keeps costing you.
A 15-minute call is usually enough to say whether this is an automation, an integration, or something that should be built, and whether we are the right people for it.
What happens on the call
- 15 minutes, no deck
- We map the process on the call
- A written scope, or an honest no