A software platform can either be your greatest business ally or your biggest liability. As businesses grow, so do their software needs, as they look for solutions to handle increasing customer interactions, complex sales pipelines, marketing automation, data analytics, project management, and more. In your search for a business software solution, HubSpot is probably a name you’ve come across – it’s popular, it’s well-marketed, it’s recognizable, and it’s everywhere. While it’s tempting to go with the ‘big name,’ when selecting a solution for your business, the most popular software solution may not always be the right fit for your specific needs.
HubSpot is an all-in-one solution for business and comprises Marketing, Sales, Service, CMS, and Operations hubs within a unified CRM platform. However, despite this comprehensive suite, HubSpot often falls short in areas such as customer and technical support quality, customization options, integrations, AI capabilities, and ease of use.
If you are looking for a HubSpot alternative that matches your business needs, we have you covered. Here are the top 9 HubSpot alternatives and competitors to help you pick a solution that more closely matches your requirements than HubSpot does.
Key Pointers
- Some of the top HubSpot alternatives and competitors are DevRev, Help Scout, Zendesk, Freshdesk, Ontraport, Zoho, EngageBay, Keap, and Insightly. These platforms offer specialized CRM, customer support, marketing automation, and project management tools tailored to meet your unique business needs.
- You may want a HubSpot alternative to access specialized features, reduce costs as your business grows, simplify the onboarding process, avoid extra support fees, get comprehensive reporting without pricey plans, and achieve easier, tailored integrations for your business’s long-term success.
Why you might want a HubSpot alternative
HubSpot is a popular choice, especially for businesses dipping their toes into marketing and sales automation. Their free CRM is definitely a tempting starting point. But before you go all-in on HubSpot, committing to their entire suite might not be the best long-term strategy for your business growth. Here’s why:
1. Jack of all trades, master of none:
HubSpot aims to do it all, but that means it doesn’t truly specialize in any one area. Take their Service Hub, for example. While it covers the basics, it lacks the depth and specialized features you might find in dedicated customer service platforms. If you’re serious about delivering top-notch customer experiences, a more focused tool could be a better fit.
2. Not as “cost-effective” as it seems:
On HubSpot, each Hub and solution has its own price tag. The bundled approach seems affordable at first, but costs can quickly escalate as you add features or need higher usage limits.
3. Steep learning curve:
With HubSpot, you get a vast bouquet of features and functionalities. However, this contributes to its complexity. Onboarding new users onto the HubSpot platform can be a time consuming process as the interconnectedness of the platform can present a steep learning curve.
4. Expensive technical support:
HubSpot is a complex platform and you may need technical consultation to set it up for your business. However, technical support on HubSpot costs extra which can be a challenge for smaller businesses as it adds onto the regular onboarding fees.
5. Limited reporting:
Accessing advanced reporting and analytics can be expensive as they are limited to only Professional and Enterprise plans, which start at $800/month. Basic plans offer limited insights, pushing you to upgrade to their pricier plans or to use yet another platform for analytics.
6. Challenging integration:
While HubSpot offers some pre-built Native integrations, connecting your other apps can be complicated. You might need to wrestle with APIs, custom code, and ongoing maintenance, which can be a challenge without the right technical expertise. Even then, HubSpot’s API has limited usage and is still in the process of ongoing development and maintenance.
Top 9 HubSpot alternatives and competitors for 2025
HubSpot Alternative | Starting Price | G2 Rating | Free Trial |
|---|---|---|---|
DevRev | $19.99 per user/ month | 4.5 out of 5 | 45 days |
Help Scout | $20 per user/month | 4.4 out of 5 | 15 days |
Zendesk | $19 per agent/month | 4.3 out of 5 | 14 days |
Freshdesk | $0 per month (up to 10 agents) | 4.4 out of 5 | Unavailable |
Ontraport | $24 per month | 4.5 out of 5 | 14 days |
Zoho | $0 per user/month (up to 3 users) | 4.4 out of 5 | Unavailable |
EngageBay | $0 per month (250 contacts) | 4.6 out of 5 | Unavailable |
Keap | $159/month | 4.2 out of 5 | 14 days |
Insightly | $0 per month (up to 2 users) | 4.2 out of 5 | Unavailable |
1. DevRev
DevRev is a cloud-based AI-native software solution laser-focused on providing exceptional customer support tools with automated ticket routing and prioritization, collaborations, 360-degree customer view, workflow customization, channel integration, and more. At DevRev’s core is the Turing AI-powered AgentOS, which automates tasks, analyzes data, and offers intelligent assistance. DevRev bridges the gap between customers and product development teams by bringing together end users, support engineers, product managers, and developers onto a single platform. Unlike HubSpot, which often requires navigating between separate hubs for different functions, DevRev’s unified platform seamlessly integrates customer feedback directly into the development workflow.
To make your customer service more effective, DevRev offers an AI-powered chatbot PLuG that is both intent and sentiment-aware and provides highly personalized responses. Apart from this, the AI capabilities of DevRev help you proactively identify recurring customer issues and gaps in your knowledge bases, create self-help resources and use advanced analytics to support your decision-making. DevRev also offers integrations with other apps and platforms using Snap-Ins that are quick and easy to set up.
Key features and benefits:
- Unified customer and product data
- AI-powered Agent OS
- Intent and sentiment-aware AI chatbot
- Omnichannel support
- Advanced analytics and reporting
- Intelligent AI agents
- Product-led support
- Predictive analytics
- Ticket management
- Self-service enablement
- Snap-in integrations
2. Help Scout
Help Scout is a customer service platform that provides an efficient way for businesses to focus on customer interactions. It helps you organize and track customer inquiries, see-through support requests, and build a self-service knowledge base. Unlike HubSpot, Help Scout’s core focus is on customer support, and it offers functionalities to optimize that experience. It is also easy to set up and use, and the onboarding process is relatively quick.
Key features and benefits:
- Shared inbox for collaboration
- Knowledge base
- Automation of repetitive tasks
- Customer profiles
- Live chat feature
3. Zendesk
Zendesk offers a suite of features designed to improve your support operations, including a ticketing system for organizing and tracking customer requests, a self-service knowledge base to empower customers with instant answers, and automation tools to handle repetitive tasks. What sets Zendesk apart from HubSpot is its omnichannel capabilities, which allow for a unified view of the customer journey and seamless transitions between different support channels. Zendesk also shines with its advanced analytics and reporting features and is a centralized hub for all your support-related needs.
Key features and benefits:
- Ticketing system
- Omnichannel support
- Reporting and analytics
- Unified agent workspace
- AI features
4. Freshdesk
Freshdesk is a customer that provides a shared inbox to manage all customer conversations and a knowledge base to empower self-service and ticketing features with automation capabilities for efficient issue resolution. Freshdesk also offers social media integration, allowing you to track and respond to customer queries on platforms like Twitter and Facebook. Freshdesk surpasses HubSpot in its focus on core support functionality and intuitive interface, making it easier to navigate and master.
Key features and benefits:
- Shared inbox
- Threads and tasks
- Customer portal
- Multi-lingual support
- External collaborations
- Analytics and reporting
5. Ontraport
Ontraport is an all-in-one marketing, CRM, and sales automation platform integrated with ecommerce capabilities. It offers solutions for contact management, lead tracking, email marketing, payment processing, and order management. Ontraport is great for small to medium businesses across various industries. If you are an ecommerce business, Ontraport can be a better fit than HubSpot as it gives you more functionalities to improve your operations and drive sales.
Key features and benefits:
- Workflow automation features
- Web apps and integrations
- Analytics and reporting
- E-commerce tools
- Membership sites
6. Zoho
Zoho is a CRM software suite like HubSpot. However, it caters to different priorities. Zoho stands out with its extensive customization options, which allow businesses to tailor the platform to their unique workflows. This includes custom modules, fields, layouts, and automation rules. Compared to HubSpot, Zoho is a more cost-effective solution for smaller and medium businesses, though it provides similar sales, marketing, customer support, and analytics capabilities.
Key features and benefits:
- Multi-channel engagement
- Live chat
- Zia- Artificial Intelligence
- Performances and analytics
- Advanced forecasting
7. EngageBay
EngageBay is a comprehensive suite of tools that offers CRM, marketing, help desk, and sales automation capabilities. With EngageBay you get a birds-eye view of all your customer data across various marketing and support channels. It also helps you create engaging campaigns with campaign management tools and allows you to measure your ROI easily. Compared to HubSpot, EngageBay offers more technical support at an affordable price without compromising functionality, which makes it an ideal choice for smaller businesses.
Key features and benefits:
- Email marketing
- Multi-channel customer support
- Lead generation tools
- Chat form customization
- Ticket management
8. Keap
Keap is a CRM software and marketing automation tool that helps you streamline your sales process, manage contacts, and automate various marketing tasks. It gives you automation features without the complexity that larger CRM systems often present. Compared to HubSpot, Keap stands out by offering more tailored automation workflows and a user-friendly interface that can be easier for smaller teams to implement and manage. It also provides more affordable pricing tiers for small businesses.
Key features and benefits:
- Campaign builder
- Appointment scheduling
- SMS marketing
- Smart forms
- Analytics and reporting
- E-commerce integrations
9. Insightly
Insightly is a project management and sales CRM tool designed to integrate the sales process with your project workflow. It works best for service-based businesses like marketing agencies and consulting companies. It helps you manage contacts and leads, automate sales pipelines, oversee project tasks and timelines, facilitate team collaboration, and generate detailed reports and analytics. Insightly offers a more integrated approach to CRM and project management compared to HubSpot by providing built-in project tracking and task management features at flexible pricing plans.
Key features and benefits:
- Contact management
- Project management
- Task management
- Lead routing
- Email integration
- Workflow automation
How to choose the best alternative to HubSpot?
1. Specialization
When choosing a HubSpot replacement, look for a solution that caters to your specific core needs. For example, if you need customer support software, select a software solution that specializes specifically in that, such as DevRev. This will ensure that you get a suite of features tailored specifically to your use case rather than a generic set of features.
2. Automation
While automation is not all that new when it comes to software solutions, look for tools that can go a bit further and offer advanced automation capabilities. Software solutions that offer AI-powered automation have been redefining how much of your processes can be automated. Some examples of AI-powered automation features to look out for include proactive issue resolution, AI agent assistance, hyper-personalization in campaigns, predictive lead scoring, automated ticket grouping, data enrichment, and intelligent opportunity management.
3. Pricing concerns
When you think about pricing, you have to think beyond just the subscription plan pricing. Factor in the cost of implementing the software solution, what add-ons you need and how much they cost, and what kind of training you need to invest in. Also, consider the long-term value of your investment. Will it drive growth, improve customer retention and satisfaction and enhance your bottom-line enough to offset the costs?
4. Scalability
Any software you use must be able to scale with your organization. Consider if it will accommodate your increasing needs as you grow. These needs could be larger data volume, more users and increased transaction loads. Weigh in the additional infrastructure you would need to scale up a solution and whether it would be feasible to your business.
5. Ease-of-use
Lastly, having a user-friendly intuitive interface can do wonders for your adoption process and productivity. Before committing to a product, sign up for a demo to experience its navigation, customization features, and overall user experience. Apart from this, also check that the software offers enough resources and technical support for onboarding and ongoing assistance.
Choosing the best HubSpot alternative
The software solutions you choose must support your business as it grows and evolves. This means selecting a solution that gives you the tools and resources to future-proof various aspects of your business. While HubSpot’s capabilities are comprehensive, they may not be specific enough to fully meet your unique requirements.
When it comes to software solutions, DevRev stands out from its counterparts. While most customer service, marketing, sales, and CRM software tools use AI integrations wrapped over their legacy platforms, DevRev is a native AI platform built from the ground up with artificial intelligence. With DevRev, you get the proprietary AgentOS, which uses advanced GenAI and Turing AI capabilities to automate complex tasks, perform analytics, maintain agile workflows, and facilitate cross-team collaborations.
DevRev brings customer service and product development teams closer than ever before and ensures your customers have a great CX by offering product-led support powered by intelligent AI agents.
To learn how DevRev can improve your customer experience and offer exceptional customer support, book a demo today!
