Is it Worth Using HubSpot for Free?

HubSpot is one of the best CRM systems that you can find on the market. It has a comprehensive set of features that can be used to grow your business, find more leads, and generate more profit. 

The only catch is that Hubspot can be incredibly expensive depending on the package that you choose. For smaller businesses, it’s not always possible to spend a huge amount of money on a CRM system, especially if they’re still unsure of how the system works and how it will benefit their business.

Hubspot is unique compared to other CRMs because it offers a free version. While most CRM systems will offer you a free trial for a limited number of users or for a limited amount of time, HubSpot’s CRM can be used for free for an unlimited number of users, and for an unlimited amount of time. But, you might be asking about the HubSpot free CRM limitations if you’re opting to use the package that you don’t need to pay for. Keep reading to find out which features are limited in the free version of HubSpot.

Is HubSpot Really Free?

The majority of CRM systems are extremely expensive. You need to pay monthly for every user that is registered on the system, which is pricey for medium and large businesses. However, CRMs are packed with features that add value to our business, so ultimately they are worth the price.

HubSpot is one of the few CRM systems that offer a fully functional CRM system for free. It’s rare to find a CRM provider that allows businesses to use their system without charging them a cent.

Most CRM systems can be used in a free trial (often only 14 days), which is extremely limiting. In most cases this free trial is not enough time for business executives and team members to get to grips with the system and understand how they can make the most of it to drive their business growth.

What Does HubSpot Offer for Free?

So, with free CRM systems being so rare, what exactly can you expect from the free version of HubSpot? Understandably, there are quite a few limitations to the free version of the system. Nevertheless, you can still use the free version of Hubspot as a fully functional CRM, which is especially convenient for smaller businesses that need to supercharge their growth over a short space of time.

In addition to the limitations on features below, you’ll also have slower support from the HubSpot team. HubSpot will prioritise their paying customers over the ones that use the free version of the system. 

However, anyone that adopts HubSpot (even the free version) can benefit from the HubSpot academy and the learning resources that come with it. This allows upper management and the rest of your team to get to grips with HubSpot quickly and start to understand how it can power your business — especially when you move up to the paid version of this powerful system.

Here are the free tools that HubSpot CRM offers:

• Contact management
• Contact website activity
• Companies
• Deals
• Tasks & activities
• Company insights
• Gmail and Outlook integration
• HubSpot Connect integrations
• Custom support from fields
• Prospects
• Ticketing
• Pop-up forms
• Native forms
• Ad management
• Conversations inbox
• Reporting dashboards
• Email tracking & notifications
• Email templates
• Canned snippets
• Documents
• Calling
• Meeting scheduling
  

HubSpot free CRM limitations:

• Number of contacts – 1,000,000
• Number of API calls – 40,000 per day
• Form submissions per contact- 1,000
• Custom properties – 1,000
• Values per picklist property – 1,000
• Associated contacts per company – 10,000
• Associated deals per contact or company – 10,000
• Associated activities (engagements) per contact, company or deal – 10,000
• Only 15 minutes of calling per user per month.
• No inbound calling.
• Hubspot branding on emails.
• Only 1 sales pipeline.
• Hubspot branding across all emails, landing pages, and chatbots
• Two social media accounts can be connected for ad management
• Five active email lists
• 2,000 marketing email sends per month
• Landing pages are limited to a few simple templates

Is it Worth Using the Free Version of HubSpot?

On the surface it seems like there are a ton of limitations to the free version of HubSpot. You might be wondering if it’s even worth using the free version in your business. The truth is that it is entirely worth it.

HubSpot can be upgraded at any time, and you can upgrade any of the three branches (Sales Hub, Marketing Hub, and Service Hub) based on which features you need to unlock first. This freedom allows you to upgrade your version of HbSpot as and when you need it to be upgraded to gain access to more features.

Using the free version of HubSpot will also give businesses a financial advantage. One factor that is often overlooked in adopting a CRM system is the costs involved in the implementation process. You need a skilled team that has experience and knowledge in CRM implementation if you want to get the best possible results.