Customer relationship management (CRM) is an essential tool that helps maintain the company’s position and customer base. And choosing a right CRM tool is necessary as it strongly influences your complete business strategy and, of course, its growth. 

In the market, you can find various CRM software to help you attain your goals. Among these, Hubspot and Salesforce are the two names that are usually picked. 

These CRMs arrive with various advanced features, marketing and sales analytics, and more that help increase sales, build and track pipelines, and forecast future sales, all while rendering the best customer service. 

So, Hubspot or Salesforce? Well, this decision appears to be tough, witnessing the performance of both these CRMs. But, we need to choose one to move ahead in our businesses. 

This post will help you make the right decision, considering Hubspot or Salesforce.

What is Salesforce?

What Is Salesforce

Founded by former Oracle (ORCL) – Get Oracle Corporation Report executive Marc Benioff, Dave Moellenhoff, Frank Dominguez, and Parker Harris in 1999, Salesforce is among the first global brands to use cloud-based CRM software. 

A cloud computing service as a software (SaaS) company, Salesforce, masters in customer relationship management (CRM). Services of Salesforce facilitate businesses to employ cloud technology to connect with partners, customers, and potential customers. 

Salesforce is emerging as #1 for customer success and assists businesses market to customers, tracking customer activity, and more. 

Recently, Salesforce impressed investors by making $21.25 billion in revenue and is likely to reach $26.49 billion in 2022, a considerable hike every year. 

Salesforce has been using cloud technology and building various apps for businesses to help them better connect with their customers and offer them critical sights into their services through apps and analytics. 

Salesforce arrives with a wide range of categories for its service providers:

Sales CloudData CloudCommunity Cloud
Analytics CloudVaccine CloudCommerce Cloud
Service CloudMarketing CloudManufacturing Cloud
App CloudHealth CloudFinancial Services Cloud

What Does Salesforce Do?

A cloud-based CRM platform, Salesforce, emerges with apps for service, sales, marketing, and more that bring companies and customers together. The connections and experience can be different depending on the products you use. That’s why Salesforce may showcase a steeper learning curve and need more budget or admin resources to get the systems to perform together. 

What is HubSpot?

hubspot logo

An all-inclusive inbounding marketing tool, HubSpot offers a helping hand to businesses to grow through their CRM platform. 

In 2006, the origination of HubSpot started when two students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology devised something akin to Salesforce but for small-sized businesses. Since then, HubSpot has grown slowly and steadily and has caught up with success. It’s considered to fulfill the requirements of medium- and large-sized businesses. 

The platform incorporates various integrations and tools for your business operations’ sales, marketing, customer service, and content management corners. 

Hubspot is a blend of two technologies, a customer relationship management (CRM) and a content management system (CMS) tool. The CMS is sometimes known as a content optimization system (COS) to target its overall capabilities better. 

You can categorize the HubSpot CRM platform into three various hubs:

  • Sales Hub
  • Marketing Hub
  • Service Hub

Moreover, you can deploy the Operation Hubs and CMS Hub to sync data and let you program automated processes. 

What Does HubSpot Do?

A cloud-based customer relationship management (CRM), HubSpot helps businesses expand better with service, marketing, sales, and content management software. It strengthens your front office staff to make their relationships stronger with customers and offer the best experience. 

HubSpot was crafted in-house on one code base, ensuring an easy-to-use and adaptable unified experience. 

Who Is HubSpot CRM For?

HubSpot CRM is the most suitable choice for businesses that want an easy-to-use or free-to-use CRM solution. Mostly, sole proprietorships and small companies prefer this CRM for their businesses.

HubSpot comes with a vast set of features that large businesses may find helpful, but smaller ones may get a bit intimidating that just want to reap the benefits of its functions.  

Who Is Salesforce CRM For?

Akin to HubSpot, Salesforce targets to cater to all sorts of businesses, customizing its solutions according to the business needs and sizes. This solution emerges with numerous features that make the learning curve steep. 

To resolve the issues and answer the queries of its customers, Salesforce provides robust support and its Salesforce University. 

Overall, Salesforce is a robust software that any business can use who is ready to invest their time and effort in implementing it. 

HubSpot vs. Salesforce: How These are Different?

Well, both the CRMs, Salesforce, and HubSpot perform well, but there exist some chief differences you need to know. 

1. Ease of Use 

Ease of Use 

When comparing these two CRMs, ease of use is one factor that comes to the surface. 

Hubspot

HubSpot is an intuitive CRM software that provides easy workflow optimization with excellent navigation facilities. If you are a first-time user of HubSpot CRM, you will find it easy to use, automate tasks, interact with customers and prospects, and visualize the whole pipeline. 

Salesforce

When it comes to CRM software, Salesforce is acknowledged as the industry standard. It’s a bit technical for average sales reps. To use all features of this CRM, you need to be technical-savvy. Once it’s up and running, it becomes seamless. 

2. Third-Party Integrations

Third-Party Integrations

For any CRM, integration is essential. Your team would already be using various software. So, even if you change your CRM platform, you can use them later.

Hubspot

HubSpot has a vast list of 3rd party integrations, known as HubSpot App Ecosystem, with 200+ integrations and more added monthly. 

These integrations run a wide range of content from email to productivity. Also, this CRM performs with every small or big tech company in any field, including sales and marketing. 

The HubSpot App Ecosystem is a vast database including useful third-party apps that you can integrate into any HubSpot platform you want to use, HubSpot CRM or CRM Hub. 

You can even use HubSpot APIs to develop your HubSpot app if your ecosystem lacks. 

Salesforce

Salesforce performs with some top third-party apps, like Mailchimp, G Suite, or Quickbooks. Such integrations work flawlessly with the platform to let your team witness a seamless transition. 

Salesforce has its dedicated AppExchange that offers access to various integrations. It’s known as one of the largest business app marketplaces.  

3. User Interface

User Interface

There are three ways to enter this modern era of business SaaS, minimal, clean, and simple. Considering the user interface, let’s see what these platforms have to show. 

HubSpot

In the HubSpot platform, the user interface is always simple and minimal, though it also depends on the tool you prefer; this is not always the case. Still, HubSpot’s dashboards effectively put the key data at the center or front. 

HubSpot just showcases the important features and options to help the users focus on what’s essential and offer a complete view of their CRM systems. 

Salesforce

If you are already using Salesforce, you might know that Salesforce is a bit more complicated CRM solution, and that’s why its user interface is also less minimal. Salesforce dashboards display a wide-base view of data that doesn’t go well with the average sales rep. 

It would not be wrong saying that Salesforce dashboards are not good-looking and cluttered. With some practice and effort, you can improve the look and feel of this CRM. 

4. Overall Toolset

Overall Toolset

Let’s check out both platforms’ toolsets. 

HubSpot

Businesses using HubSpot can personalize their messages for all audience levels. This CRM provides various tools for marketing automation, like collection forms and lead flows that assist in keeping the sales pipeline active. 

Furthermore, HubSpot marketing automation tools assist in streamlining audiences and allow contact segmentation. In HubSpot, the Marketing Hub incorporates tools for split testing and content strategy and integrates with Google Search Console. 

Salesforce

Salesforce includes various tools, like Social Studio, Marketing Cloud, and Mobile Cloud, that arrive with a complete feature-set and distinct pricing. When all these tools are used together, they permit the marketing team to help the sales team with qualified leads. 

5. Analytics Reporting Features

Analytics Reporting

Today, you can’t afford to miss Analytics and Reporting features. Let’s know what these CRMs offer here. 

HubSpot

HubSpot CRM offers users access to the company, lead, and task reporting dashboard. It’s free for almost unlimited users and up to 1 million contacts. But, as the CRM’s data storage is limited, the analytics are also limited. To catch up with every analytics and reporting feature, you will need to upgrade to either sales or marketing hubs. 

Salesforce

This CRM has developed reporting to customize all its tools. Every contact and account setting can be completely customized with custom objects and tags and work in how your company performs business. 

In Salesforce, the reporting features various graphs and charts, including a line or bar charts and fuel gauges. These can be developed without any IT or Salesforce developer

6. Onboarding

Onboarding

Just getting CRM software will not improve your business unless you make it up and running. The onboarding process plays an important role and depends on various factors.

HubSpot

This CRM starts walking with you just after you complete with log-in process. It displays what jobs you need to accomplish to start. Onboarding of HubSpot is easier and more intuitive to navigate from the beginning. 

Salesforce

It comes with a pop-up offering to guide you through the process. You need to view every app each time using the App Launcher to get the right tools. You need to go and look to know what features it includes. 

7. Level Of Customization

Level Of Customization

The customization level needs to be amazing to meet the varied needs of different customers. 

HubSpot

It holds a fair level of customization. The customization options increase as you opt for more paid plans. HubSpot includes various custom object options that enhance its customizability. Even if you have limited technical skills, you can modify deal stages, views, and pipelines as per your needs. 

Salesforce

This CRM offers better control when customizing process workflows and deal pipelines and offers numerous customization options. It also permits customization of processes and workflows with no need to hire dedicated developers. 

 8. Market Share

Market Share

The market share is considered a slippery metric because of its slippery nature. Still, let’s know the current statistics. 

HubSpot

Since its launch, HubSpot’s market share has been rising steadily. In 2021, it was 29.55%; in 2022, it’s likely to reach 31.61%.

Salesforce

In 2021, Salesforce’s market share was 23.8%, increasing yearly. 

9. Customer Support

Customer Support

Both CRMs offer the required customer support. Let’s discuss.

HubSpot

Like other software solutions, HubSpot sends its customers looking for support to their database of articles, documents, and resources to assist them in finding answers. 

The company provides support via phone calls, email, and even Twitter. You can also click the in-app ‘Help’ button to get answers.

The free version of CRM software doesn’t offer such support. You need to pay to get the assistance. 

Salesforce

This CRM only offers 1-to-1 customer support to customers with paid plans. However, in severe cases, they offer assistance to everyone. 

To help you, they use an extensive self-help library. 

10. Pricing

Pricing

Let’s review the pricing structures of these CRMs to understand the difference in their total cost of ownership. 

HubSpot

It embraces every feature you need at the prices it showcases, and you need to pay just for extra revenue-generating sales seats. The team members looking for visibility into the business can reap the benefit of free seats available. 

Salesforce

This CRM charges all its users and demands paid add-ons for important features, offering executive visibility into reporting, aligning your sales and marketing teams, or permitting your reps to operate in a shared inbox would cost you extra. 

HubSpot’s Pricing Structure

HubSpot's Pricing Structure
  • Free plan: It includes a live chat, CRM, customer service ticketing, landing page creation, and more.
  • Tiered plans: It increases available features, the number of marketing contacts, and users. 
  • Paid plans start at $45/month: This is a starter plan with all Hubs. The cost is higher for other plans, like Enterprise and Professional. 

Salesforce’s Pricing Structure

Email, Mobile, and Web Marketing Pricing
  • No free features or plan: If you want to test it, you can choose a free trial.
  • Per-user fees: It’s best for the one with a few users. 
  • Paid add-ons for some specific high-level features: Ranging from a $4 per order B2B commerce tool to a $30,000/month loyalty program. 
  • Paid plans start at $25/user/month: The small business plan incorporates sales and supports apps. 

11. Marketing Features

Marketing Features

Both the CRMs include various valuable marketing tools. Let’s check them out.

HubSpot

It arrives with various useful marketing tools free of cost, like collected forms, lead analytics, and lead flows. These tools assist in building a lead pipeline that accumulates interested leads and makes them move toward the sales team. Also, these marketing tools track website activity for about a week for new contacts to let you know how you can use the complete Marketing Hub. 

Salesforce

It provides a multi-features and robust marketing cloud with various bundles to pick from, including varied features and pricing packages for:

  • Advertising
  • Email web and mobile marketing
  • B2B Marketing Automation
  • Social media marketing.

These modules offer marketing and marketing automation tools that ease marketing teams to accumulate and pass leads to the sales team. 

12. Sales Features

Sales Features

HubSpot

You can find HubSpot’s sales features within its Free plan, but they are a bit more limited in scope compared to the HubSpot marketing tools, despite unlimited email scheduling. Other HubSpot’s sales tools with free versions are crafted as they are helpful. 

Salesforce

Originally, Salesforce was developed as a Customer Relationship Management software to boost sales. This software arrives with in-built opportunity, contact, and lead management tools and varied pricing and feature levels, which means even SMBs can use them. 

13. Hidden Costs

Hidden Costs

HubSpot

It doesn’t carry any hidden costs. HubSpot functions like a standalone CRM for users who don’t buy HubSpot’s paid marketing or sales tools. You may pay extra if you opt for a CRM or sales consultant or if your brand needs to develop a custom integration between HubSpot and another.  

Salesforce

Salesforce ownership prices can be more than basic licensing and advanced support, depending on your requirements. If your company needs any ongoing or new support from Salesforce constants, it will be monthly billed or charged hourly. 

14. Adoption

Adoption

A product with a lot of users gets some extra benefits. But, simultaneously, it is not the best way to measure product quality. Well, an active user community may assist you in finding online content, peer support, and other similar resources. 

HubSpot

It’s not so old and so used less widely. A report says it’s used by around 18,000 brands globally. This CRM could have approximately 450,000 users globally. 

Salesforce

It’s used by around 20% of brands with installed CRM. Considering a report, about 150,000 companies hold 25 users per company. This CRM has approx. 3,750,000+ users globally. 

15. Automation and AI

Automation

HubSpot

HubSpot holds some good features around workflow automation and process. The options are not that flexible, mature, or complete.

Salesforce

Salesforce’s customization tools permit your team to automate workflows and transform independently. This facilitates the entire organization to perform smarter, with benefits changing over time. 

16. All-in-One Platform

All-in-One

HubSpot

This CRM platform and its supporting Sales, Content Management, Marketing, and Service Hubs all are developed entirely by HubSpot. It leads to a consistent and unified user experience, where reporting, data, and individual tools are similar and perform along with each other. 

Salesforce

It offers more tools and products, but its scope arrives at the cost of maintenance and usability. When the systems are less integrated, channels, data, and teams become separated. It may affect the customer experience. 

17. Flexibility & Control

Control

HubSpot

It’s dedicated to simplicity and ease of use for admins, managers, and reps. This way, it will demand less time to make it up and running. Customers can administer and organize their CRM without needing any dedicated admin. 

Salesforce

The maintenance and implementation need well-trained and experienced administrators. Most customers need to connect with a consulting agency, have existing employees become administrators, and hire full-time admins. 

18. Ecosystem

Ecosystem

HubSpot

Its App Marketplace follows the same approach as its software to 3rd party integration targeting majorly on ease-of-use, power, and quality. Installing and configuring integration through the marketplace is easy with 500+ apps and integrations. 

Salesforce

Its App Exchange is the broadest and largest CRM app marketplace, providing various options to meet different needs. Moreover, it’s the easiest and fastest way to grow Salesforce with 3,400 apps and integrations. 

19. Mobile Version

Mobile Version

HubSpot

You can download the HubSpot mobile app from the Google Play store and the Apple App Store. It’s a good and clean interface for various basic CRM features. You can even set and review tasks, work, and reminders on deals. 

Salesforce

The Salesforce app is available for Android and iOS. It’s an enterprise-class app that offers users immediate access to the brand’s CRM data from their devices. It helps you connect with your apps, devices, and customer data. 

20. Sales Management

Sales Management

HubSpot

The Sales Hub of HubSpot is a very robust platform that offers various tools to sales reps for outreach, like call tracking and templates. It offers detailed customer profiles on all the contacts in your Outlook or Gmail. Sales automation performs parallelly live chat options and a meeting schedular. 

Salesforce

Sales Cloud of Salesforce is a complete selling solution that merges contact management with opportunity management to convert prospects into potential deals. 

21. Business Intelligence

Business Intelligence

HubSpot

This CRM doesn’t have dedicated tools or modules for advanced business intelligence. You can get the best analytics and reporting. But, for detailed insights, HubSpot performs perfectly with a BT integration, such as Power BI that you can find in the HubSpot ecosystem. 

Salesforce

It holds a dedicated BI tool, known as Einstein, which is a smart assistant and performs across various major departments, from marketing and sales to service. It leads to a more personalized customer experience using AI and previous data. 

You Have A Vision

We Have The Means To Get You There

Feature Comparison of Salesforce vs HubSpot

Let’s compare the features of HubSpot and Salesforce in brief.

FeaturesHubSpotSalesforce
Territory ManagementNoYes
Desktop IntegrationYesNo
Output Document GenerationYesNo
Document & Content ManagementYesNo
Opportunity & Pipeline ManagementYesYes
Task ManagementYesNo
Reporting & DashboardsYesYes
Data Import & ExportYesYes
Integration APIsYesYes

Advantages of HubSpot

HubSpot arrives with a wide range of benefits, that you get on this all-in-one platform. Let’s check a few:

a. The Basic Version Is Free!

This CRM is free to use. It performs as a free enchantment for key software for sales and marketing teams. Moreover, it covers deal and task management, social and email integrations to track leads’ interactions and deal and task management. As a free app, it’s a perfect solution for small firms looking for basic automation. 

b. Easy to Navigate for Clear Interface

Small businesses find it easy to use HubSpot because of its cleaner screen. It doesn’t demand a huge investment to become used to the program. 

c. More Personalized Features For Smaller Companies

HubSpot permits businesses to be more personalized when reaching customers. 

For example, it facilitates sending prospects emails directly from sales reps instead of marketing software that offers the option “unsubscribe.”

Advantages of Salesforce

It’s accepted as a better solution for expanding brands, especially those growing abroad and larger brands. 

a. Salesforce Has Higher Security & More Complex Features 

This CRM crafts the core platform with which various companies’ apps, features, and integrations interact. It’s not a basic CRM, but brands like its extensive network of extensions for marketing, sales, customer service, customizability, platform as a service, and more. 

b. Increased Return on Investment

Though this CRM is not free, it offers a larger ROI than you need to pay for any add-on feature with other CRMs. 

c. Easier To Find Developers

Widely known as the popular CRM, it’s not challenging to find developers who know how to operate this software. It leads to time-saving that employees usually spend trying complex systems. 

d. Additional Functionalities

With its varied platforms and clouds, Salesforce arrives with more functions customizable to your business. 

e. User-Friendly Mobile App

Salesforce has a mobile application that’s easy to navigate and accomplish tasks. With a user-friendly app, you can get crucial information faster to collaborate, improve sales, send messages, organize tasks, and close deals. 

Differences at Glance

HubSpotSalesforce
AboutHubSpot, one of the widely-known free CRM facilitates its customers in managing their contacts, digital marketing, pipeline, sales, and nurture leads also. The giant of the sales industry, Salesforce is an advanced CRM developed for large firms and arrives with a suitable price tag. 
Best ForSmall companiesGrowing & bigger brands
Rating4.54.4
Ease of UseSimple to set up and offers an intuitive UI.Easy to learn but challenging to master.
Best PartOffers a “Free forever” plan.Top-class scalable CRM stack and marketing suite.Perfect dashboards for reporting performance.Most popular CRM platform.Choose any features important to your business.Varied convenient integrations.Tools available for every part of your business.
Key FeaturesVarious features for Sales, marketing, and customer service. Various features for Sales, marketing, and customer service. 
Sales Reporting & ForecastingAdvanced-level sales reporting and forecasting, but demands upgraded paid plans. Highly advanced tools for sales reporting & forecasting are available in the baseline plans. 
CustomizationCustomizable automation and workflows, with no code access. Highly customizable with coding capabilities. 
Marketing FeaturesVarious marketing features are available with Starters and free plans. Various marketing features are available that you can purchase individually at monthly costs.
Customer SupportKnowledge-baseOnline CommunityDedicated expert at higher tiersTraining videosHigher tier plans provide 24/7 supportOnline resources
PricingMultiple free plansSales hub: $45-$1,200 per monthMarketing hub: $45-$3,200 per monthService hub: $45-$1,200 per monthEssentials: $25/user/monthEnterprise: $150/user/monthProfessional: $75/user/monthUnlimited: $300/user/month

Wrapping Up

Finding a CRM that may prove to be right for your business may sound easy, but is quite challenging. We hope this write-up proved to be helpful for you in choosing the most suitable one.

You need to make a careful decision before finalizing any CRM. You should evaluate every considerable aspect like cost, alignment, reporting, and more. 

A perfect decision will attract more traffic, convert leads, and increase sales. 

You can connect with a custom CRM development company that will help you boil down your goals and meet your CRM needs. 

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Author

CTO at Emizentech and a member of the Forbes technology council, Amit Samsukha, is acknowledged by the Indian tech world as an innovator and community builder. He has a well-established vocation with 12+ years of progressive experience in the technology industry. He directs all product initiatives, worldwide sales and marketing, and business enablement. He has spearheaded the journey in the e-commerce landscape for various businesses in India and the U.S.