HubSpot Alternatives for Small Business (That Won't Break the Bank)

HubSpot’s free plan is one of the best marketing moves ever pulled on small businesses. You sign up, get hooked, build your contacts list — and then the bill arrives. Marketing Hub Professional starts at $890/month. For a small business running on tight margins, that’s not a software subscription, that’s a part-time employee. No wonder so many SMB owners are actively searching for HubSpot alternatives for small business that won’t crater their budget.

The good news: you don’t have to choose between a stripped-down tool and a five-figure annual contract. There are powerful CRM and marketing automation platforms built specifically for businesses your size — with flat pricing, no per-contact fees, and features that match (or beat) what HubSpot offers at a fraction of the cost.

Here are the 7 best HubSpot alternatives that actually deliver.

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Why People Leave HubSpot

HubSpot isn’t a bad product. But it’s built like a stadium — impressive from the outside, and wildly expensive once you’re inside.

Here’s the problem most small business owners run into:

• Pricing escalates fast. The free plan is genuinely useful, but the jump to Starter ($20/mo per seat) and then to Professional ($890/mo) is brutal. There’s no gradual ramp.
• Per-contact fees. HubSpot’s Marketing Hub charges based on your contact list size. Hit 5,000 contacts? Your bill goes up automatically. For a growing business, that’s a growth tax.
• Key features are locked behind expensive tiers. Automation workflows, A/B testing, custom reporting — these aren’t available until you pay for Professional or Enterprise. You often don’t discover this until you’re already committed.
• It’s complex overkill for small teams. HubSpot was designed for mid-market and enterprise companies. If you have a team of 2–10 people, you’ll spend more time managing the platform than using it.

If any of that sounds familiar, keep reading.

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What to Look for in a HubSpot Alternative

Not all HubSpot alternatives are created equal. Some are cheaper but missing critical features. Others are feature-rich but still charge you per contact (looking at you, most email platforms).

Before you switch, make sure your new platform checks these boxes:

• Flat, predictable pricing. No per-contact fees, no surprise bills when your list grows.
• Built-in marketing automation. You shouldn’t need three separate tools duct-taped together with Zapier to run a drip campaign.
• Ease of use. If you need a 40-hour onboarding course to send an email sequence, it’s not built for small business.
• CRM + marketing in one place. The whole point of HubSpot was having everything under one roof. Your alternative should too.
• Real customer support. When something breaks, you need a human — not a 5-day ticket queue.

Keep these criteria in mind as we walk through the top picks.

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The 7 Best HubSpot Alternatives for Small Business

1. SMBcrm — The Best All-in-One Value for Small Business

SMBcrm is the HubSpot alternative we’d actually recommend to a friend. It combines a full-featured CRM, email marketing, SMS marketing, automation workflows, funnels, websites, and more — all in one platform, at a price that doesn’t require a board meeting to approve.

Most HubSpot alternatives force you to pick: CRM or marketing automation. SMBcrm gives you both out of the box, with no nickel-and-diming as your contact list grows. The interface is clean, the onboarding is fast, and the feature set is genuinely impressive for the price point.

Key features:

• Full CRM with pipeline management and contact tracking
• Email + SMS marketing automation workflows
• Funnel and landing page builder
• Reputation management and review requests
• Appointment scheduling, calendar, and booking links
• Two-way text messaging and missed call text-back

Pricing:

• Starter: $97/month
• Professional: $297/month

Best for: Small businesses that want an all-in-one marketing and sales platform without enterprise pricing.

Why it beats HubSpot for small business: Let’s do the math. HubSpot Marketing Hub Professional runs $890/month — and that’s before contact overage fees. SMBcrm Professional is $297/month with everything included. That’s nearly $7,200 in annual savings, and you’re getting more features, not fewer. No per-contact pricing, no feature tiers designed to push you into an upgrade. SMBcrm was built for businesses like yours, not retrofitted for them.

👉 Try SMBcrm

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2. Zoho CRM — Feature-Rich at a Per-Seat Price That Makes Sense

Zoho CRM is the spreadsheet-killer that plays in HubSpot’s league without the sticker shock. It’s one of the most feature-dense CRM platforms available, with lead management, workflow automation, sales forecasting, and a deep integration library — all at a per-seat price that scales sensibly for small teams.

Zoho also offers the broader Zoho One suite if you want to bundle tools like email, help desk, and project management under one roof. For a small team already deep in the Zoho ecosystem, the value compounds quickly.

Key features:

• Lead and contact management with scoring
• Workflow automation and process builder
• Sales forecasting and analytics
• AI assistant (Zia) for predictions and anomaly detection
• 800+ integrations via Zoho Marketplace

Pricing:

• Free plan: up to 3 users
• Standard: $14/user/month
• Professional: $23/user/month
• Enterprise: $40/user/month

(See Zoho CRM pricing)

Best for: Small businesses that want deep CRM features at predictable per-seat pricing.

Why it beats HubSpot for small business: Zoho’s per-seat model means a 5-person team pays around $70–$200/month for capabilities that would cost $800+ on HubSpot. The learning curve is real, but the feature-to-dollar ratio is hard to beat.

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3. ActiveCampaign — The Email Automation Powerhouse

If email automation is the core of your marketing, ActiveCampaign is the specialist HubSpot can’t match at its price. Its automation builder is among the most powerful available — visual, flexible, and deep — without requiring you to spend Marketing Hub Pro money to access it.

Where HubSpot locks advanced automation behind Professional tier, ActiveCampaign’s core automation features are available even on lower-tier plans. It’s the go-to choice for businesses where sophisticated email marketing sequences are the engine of their revenue.

Key features:

• Visual automation workflow builder
• Advanced email segmentation and personalization
• CRM with lead scoring and pipeline management
• SMS marketing (higher tiers)
• Site tracking and event-based triggers

Pricing:

• Starter: $15/month (up to 1,000 contacts)
• Plus: $49/month
• Professional: $79/month

(See ActiveCampaign pricing)

Best for: Businesses where email automation is the primary marketing channel.

Why it beats HubSpot for small business: ActiveCampaign’s automation depth at the $49–$79/month price point would cost you at least $890/month on HubSpot. If email-driven nurture sequences are your thing, it’s not even close.

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4. Freshsales — Clean UI, Generous Free Tier

Freshsales is the friendliest onboarding experience on this list, and its free tier is legitimately useful — not a crippled demo like most “free” CRMs. Built by Freshworks, it’s designed to get sales teams up and running in hours, not weeks.

If you’ve been burned by HubSpot’s complexity, Freshsales is a breath of fresh air. The UI is intuitive, the mobile app is solid, and the built-in phone and email tools mean you can run outreach without third-party integrations on day one.

Key features:

• Contact and deal management with Kanban pipeline view
• Built-in phone, email, and chat
• AI-powered lead scoring (Freddy AI)
• Workflow automation and email sequences
• Free plan with no credit card required

Pricing:

• Free: unlimited users (limited features)
• Growth: $9/user/month
• Pro: $39/user/month
• Enterprise: $59/user/month

(See Freshsales pricing)

Best for: Small sales teams that want a clean, easy-to-use CRM with a true free starting point.

Why it beats HubSpot for small business: The free plan covers the basics a small team needs, and the paid tiers are priced per seat at rates HubSpot can’t touch. When you’re ready to grow, you pay for seats — not contacts.

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5. Pipedrive — Built for Sales Teams That Close Deals

Pipedrive does one thing exceptionally well: it helps your sales team close more deals. It’s not trying to be an all-in-one marketing suite — it’s a dedicated sales CRM with a pipeline-first design that makes it easy to see exactly where every deal stands and what needs to happen next.

If HubSpot felt bloated with features you never used, Pipedrive is the opposite. It’s lean, focused, and built around the activity-based selling philosophy. Your team will actually use it.

Key features:

• Visual drag-and-drop sales pipeline
• Activity reminders and follow-up automation
• Email sync with open and click tracking
• AI sales assistant with deal health insights
• Extensive integration library (Zapier, Slack, etc.)

Pricing:

• Essential: $14/user/month
• Advanced: $29/user/month
• Professional: $59/user/month
• Power: $69/user/month

(See Pipedrive pricing)

Best for: Sales-focused small businesses that prioritize pipeline visibility and deal management over marketing automation.

Why it beats HubSpot for small business: For pure sales pipeline management, Pipedrive is more intuitive and significantly cheaper. If you don’t need deep marketing automation and just want your team closing deals efficiently, Pipedrive eliminates the noise.

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6. Keap — Powerful Automation for Complex Funnels

Keap (formerly Infusionsoft) is the veteran of small business marketing automation — powerful, opinionated, and best suited for businesses running complex multi-step funnels. It’s not cheap, but it’s a legitimate HubSpot alternative for businesses with sophisticated automation needs and a budget to match.

Keap’s campaign builder is one of the most flexible in the market, handling everything from lead capture to payment collection in a single automated sequence. If you’re running online courses, coaching programs, or high-touch service funnels, Keap has the depth for it.

Key features:

• Visual campaign automation builder
• CRM with tags and custom fields
• Built-in payment processing and invoicing
• Landing pages and lead capture forms
• SMS and email automation

Pricing:

• Pro: $299/month (2 users, 1,500 contacts)
• Max: $399/month (3 users, 2,500 contacts)

(See Keap pricing)

Best for: Service businesses running complex multi-step funnels that need CRM + automation + payments in one system.

Why it beats HubSpot for small business: Keap includes payments, appointments, and deep automation in a single platform — areas where HubSpot requires add-ons or integrations. For the right business, it’s a better fit even at a similar price point.

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7. Monday CRM — Pipeline Management with a Project Management Feel

If your sales process looks more like a project than a funnel, Monday CRM might be your match. Built on the Monday.com work management platform, Monday CRM brings a visual, board-based approach to pipeline tracking that feels immediately familiar if your team already lives in spreadsheets or project tools.

It’s not the deepest CRM on this list, and the native marketing automation is limited compared to HubSpot — but for teams that want to manage deals the same way they manage projects, it’s a natural fit that requires minimal behavior change.

Key features:

• Fully customizable board and pipeline views
• Contact and deal tracking with automations
• Email integration with activity logging
• Dashboards and reporting
• Connects to the broader Monday.com ecosystem

Pricing:

• Basic CRM: $12/user/month
• Standard CRM: $17/user/month
• Pro CRM: $28/user/month
• Enterprise: Custom

(See Monday CRM pricing)

Best for: Teams that already use Monday.com or prefer a visual, project-management-style approach to sales pipeline.

Why it beats HubSpot for small business: Monday CRM’s flexible, visual interface is faster to set up and easier to customize than HubSpot’s Sales Hub. For teams that care more about pipeline visibility than marketing automation depth, it delivers at a much lower cost.

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HubSpot Alternatives Comparison Table

Platform	Starting Price	Free Plan/Trial	Marketing Automation	Best For
SMBcrm	$97/mo	Free trial	✅ Full automation + SMS	All-in-one value for SMBs
Zoho CRM	$14/user/mo	✅ Free (3 users)	✅ Workflow automation	Feature-rich per-seat pricing
ActiveCampaign	$15/mo	14-day trial	✅ Best-in-class email	Email automation focus
Freshsales	$9/user/mo	✅ Free plan	✅ Email sequences	Clean UI, easy onboarding
Pipedrive	$14/user/mo	14-day trial	⚠️ Limited (add-on)	Sales pipeline management
Keap	$299/mo	14-day trial	✅ Complex funnels	Service businesses with funnels
Monday CRM	$12/user/mo	14-day trial	⚠️ Basic automations	Project-style pipeline management
HubSpot	$20/user/mo*	✅ Free plan	✅ Pro tier ($890/mo)	Enterprise marketing teams

*HubSpot Marketing Hub Professional jumps to $890/mo. Starter tier is heavily restricted.

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Bottom Line: The Best HubSpot Alternative for Small Business

If you’re running a small business and you’re tired of HubSpot’s upgrade trap, SMBcrm is our top pick — and it’s not close.

Here’s the math one more time: HubSpot Marketing Hub Professional costs $890/month. SMBcrm Professional costs $297/month. That’s $7,116 saved every year, and SMBcrm includes tools HubSpot charges extra for — SMS marketing, reputation management, two-way texting, appointment booking, and funnel building all bundled in.

You’re not making a compromise by switching. You’re getting more, paying less, and working with a platform that was designed for businesses your size — not a Fortune 500 company’s marketing department.

The other alternatives on this list are solid choices depending on your needs. Zoho for per-seat affordability, ActiveCampaign for email depth, Freshsales for simplicity, Pipedrive for sales focus. But if you want one platform that handles your CRM and your marketing and your customer communications without stitching together five subscriptions, SMBcrm is the answer.

👉 Check out SMBcrm and start your free trial

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Frequently Asked Questions

Is there a free HubSpot alternative?

Yes — a few, actually. Freshsales offers a genuinely useful free plan with unlimited users. Zoho CRM has a free tier for up to 3 users. HubSpot’s own free CRM remains an option if you don’t need marketing automation. Keep in mind that “free” usually comes with limitations on automation, contacts, or features. If your business is actively marketing to leads, you’ll likely outgrow a free plan quickly and be better served by an affordable paid option like SMBcrm at $97/month.

What is the closest thing to HubSpot for less money?

SMBcrm is the closest apples-to-apples HubSpot alternative for small businesses. It combines a CRM, email and SMS marketing, automation workflows, landing pages, funnels, and reputation management in a single platform — the same all-in-one vision HubSpot sells, but at $97–$297/month instead of $890+. If you specifically need enterprise-level features like advanced reporting or multi-brand management, look at Zoho CRM or ActiveCampaign as step-up alternatives. But for most small businesses, SMBcrm covers every base HubSpot covers, and more.

Can small businesses afford HubSpot?

Technically yes — HubSpot’s free and Starter tiers are accessible. But “affordable” depends on what you need. The free CRM is solid for basic contact tracking. Starter plans start at $20/user/month. The problem is that the features most small businesses actually need — automation workflows, A/B testing, custom reporting, and full email campaign tools — are locked behind Marketing Hub Professional at $890/month. For most SMBs, that’s not sustainable. The alternatives on this list offer comparable (or better) feature sets at a fraction of the cost.