social.tech

HubSpot CRM alternative

HubSpot is a ready-made cloud platform with a free CRM and paid plans. If the company needs a CRM around its own process rather than a marketing platform, or if the number of seats grows, the alternative is a custom CRM system with a one-time development payment and hosting.

What is HubSpot and what is a custom CRM?

HubSpot — HubSpot brings sales, marketing and service into one platform: contacts, companies and deals, e-mail campaigns, automation and Help Desk — depending on the plan (vendor's pricing page, checked 09.11.2026). The HubSpot Free plan costs 0 EUR and allows up to 2 users (vendor's pricing page, checked 09.11.2026). A custom CRM is a different approach: the CRM is built for one company around its sales pipeline, fields, roles and integrations, and a custom CRM has no per-seat fee. The cost of a custom CRM is development, hosting and maintenance. The choice between HubSpot and a custom CRM is usually a choice between a ready-made marketing and sales platform and a system that describes exactly the company's way of working.

When is HubSpot the right choice?

HubSpot is the right choice when the company's growth is driven by marketing — e-mail campaigns, website content, lead nurturing and automated sequences — and CRM, marketing and service need one platform. HubSpot also fits for starting with a CRM free of charge.

  • The team is small and needs to start without cost: The HubSpot Free plan costs 0 EUR and allows up to 2 users (vendor's pricing page, checked 09.11.2026).
  • Marketing automation and campaigns matter as much as the sales pipeline, and they need to sit next to the contacts.
  • The company is fine with the HubSpot standard objects — contacts, companies, deals, tickets — and their settings.
  • The data must be in the EU: HubSpot runs on AWS data centres in the US, Canada, Australia and the EU (Germany); the data centre is assigned by IP address at sign-up and can be changed on a paid plan (vendor documentation, checked 09.11.2026).

Why do companies look for a HubSpot alternative?

Companies look for a HubSpot alternative when seat costs grow with the team or when the CRM has to describe a process other than marketing and a sales pipeline. The reasons below are typical for any ready-made CRM, not only HubSpot.

  • Per-user licences grow with the team: HubSpot paid plans are priced per seat per month billed yearly: Professional — from 90 EUR, Enterprise — from 175 EUR; on the day of the check the Starter price carried a limited-time discount — see the vendor's pricing page (vendor's pricing page, checked 09.11.2026).
  • The company needs a CRM with orders, work planning, invoices or payroll, not marketing tools.
  • Customisation happens within the product's limits: fields and statuses can change, but not how the product is built.
  • The company wants the system's code and data as its own and the system running on a server of its choice.
  • Accounting stays in Horizon or Tildes Jumis, and clients and invoices must reach accounting without double entry.

HubSpot and a custom CRM: a comparison

The HubSpot column holds only facts from the official HubSpot site and knowledge base with the date checked; the custom CRM column holds what social.tech states on its CRM development page.

HubSpot vs a custom CRM system (social.tech)
Property HubSpot Custom CRM (social.tech)
Model SaaS platform (cloud) The CRM is built for one company; no per-user licence
Price The HubSpot Free plan costs 0 EUR and allows up to 2 users (vendor's pricing page, checked 09.11.2026). HubSpot paid plans are priced per seat per month billed yearly: Professional — from 90 EUR, Enterprise — from 175 EUR; on the day of the check the Starter price carried a limited-time discount — see the vendor's pricing page (vendor's pricing page, checked 09.11.2026). an MVP CRM starts from ~12,000 EUR, a full system with integrations and reports from ~25,000 EUR; a one-time development payment + hosting (from 30 EUR/month)
Data location HubSpot runs on AWS data centres in the US, Canada, Australia and the EU (Germany); the data centre is assigned by IP address at sign-up and can be changed on a paid plan (vendor documentation, checked 09.11.2026). Data in the EU; hosting in Latvia, the EU or on your own server
Customisation Depends on the plan — see the vendor's plan comparison Pipeline, statuses, fields, roles and reports follow the company's process
API and integrations HubSpot has public API documentation for developers (vendor documentation, checked 09.11.2026). Gmail, Outlook, VoIP, WhatsApp Business, Meta Lead Ads, website forms; the system's API or web services, a regular file exchange (XML, CSV) or an intermediate database
Integration with Horizon/Jumis No information on a ready-made integration with Horizon or Tildes Jumis was found on the official HubSpot site The CRM can be connected to the accounting software 1C and Horizon
Data export HubSpot records (contacts, companies, deals, tickets and more) can be exported on every plan as CSV, XLS or XLSX; exporting needs export permissions (vendor documentation, checked 09.11.2026). The data can be exported at any time
Code ownership A cloud service with a subscription per seat After full payment, the source code and the intellectual property rights to the developed solution pass to the client. The data can be exported at any time.
Time to implement The free CRM can be used at once; setup depends on the plan an MVP takes 6–10 weeks, a full system with integrations and custom reports 3–5 months

How does switching from HubSpot to a custom CRM work?

Switching from HubSpot to a custom CRM starts with a data export and ends with a gradual switch. social.tech writes migration scripts from HubSpot, Pipedrive, Bitrix24, Excel or other systems and tests the migration before the final switch.

  1. Export data from HubSpot

    HubSpot records (contacts, companies, deals, tickets and more) can be exported on every plan as CSV, XLS or XLSX; exporting needs export permissions (vendor documentation, checked 09.11.2026). For activity history (calls, notes) and regular sync, the HubSpot API can be used.

  2. Mapping

    HubSpot contacts, companies, deals and their associations are mapped to the custom CRM's data model; HubSpot properties become the custom CRM's fields.

  3. Run in parallel

    The custom CRM starts with the sales pipeline while marketing campaigns may stay in HubSpot during the switch. An MVP CRM takes 6–10 weeks.

  4. Training and switch

    The team is trained, the migration is checked, and then sales work runs fully in the custom CRM.

Can you keep HubSpot and extend it?

Yes, you can keep HubSpot for marketing and extend it with a custom system for a process HubSpot does not describe — order fulfilment, work planning or invoicing. HubSpot and the custom system exchange contacts and deals.

HubSpot is extended through its programming interface: HubSpot has public API documentation for developers (vendor documentation, checked 09.11.2026). The custom system can receive a deal from HubSpot once it is won and send the fulfilment status back to HubSpot.

social.tech picks the integration method by what the system and plan allow: the system's API or web services, a regular file exchange (XML, CSV) or an intermediate database.

Examples of custom CRMs

These social.tech projects are custom CRM and management systems built around one company's process.

Related pages

Frequently asked questions

The basic HubSpot CRM is free; paid plans are priced per seat per month. The HubSpot Free plan costs 0 EUR and allows up to 2 users (vendor's pricing page, checked 09.11.2026). HubSpot paid plans are priced per seat per month billed yearly: Professional — from 90 EUR, Enterprise — from 175 EUR; on the day of the check the Starter price carried a limited-time discount — see the vendor's pricing page (vendor's pricing page, checked 09.11.2026).

Where HubSpot data is kept depends on the account's data centre. HubSpot runs on AWS data centres in the US, Canada, Australia and the EU (Germany); the data centre is assigned by IP address at sign-up and can be changed on a paid plan (vendor documentation, checked 09.11.2026).

No ready-made integration with Visma Horizon was found on the official HubSpot site, so it would have to be built. HubSpot has public API documentation for developers (vendor documentation, checked 09.11.2026). Visma Horizon has an open REST API platform for integrations, with public documentation in Latvian (vendor's website, checked 09.11.2026).

Data is moved out of HubSpot by export or API. HubSpot records (contacts, companies, deals, tickets and more) can be exported on every plan as CSV, XLS or XLSX; exporting needs export permissions (vendor documentation, checked 09.11.2026). social.tech writes migration scripts from HubSpot, Pipedrive, Bitrix24, Excel or other systems and tests the migration before the final switch.

A small company with a typical sales process is usually fine with the HubSpot Free or Starter plan, because it can be used at once. A custom CRM makes sense when the process does not fit the HubSpot objects or when seat costs over time exceed the cost of your own system. A custom CRM MVP starts from ~12,000 EUR.

Stay with HubSpot when marketing automation is the main thing: e-mail campaigns, lead nurturing, content and social media on one platform with the CRM. A custom CRM is not a marketing platform — it describes the sales and service process and connects to existing tools for e-mail campaigns.

After full payment, the source code and the intellectual property rights to the developed solution pass to the client. The data can be exported at any time. Hosting can be in Latvia, the EU or on your own server.

Sources

Facts about other products come only from the vendors' official pages; each fact has a link and the date it was checked.

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HubSpot is a trademark of HubSpot, Inc.. Visma Horizon is a trademark of Visma. social.tech is not affiliated with the makers of these products; the product names are used only to name them.