5 Best Hubspot Alternatives for Small Businesses in 2022

Anyone who knows a little bit about business and marketing knows about CRMs and business management software. If you are a freelance marketing strategist, you need one. If you own a huge company, you need one. If you just started your small business, you definitely need one. When you search for CRM tools on Google, one of the very first names you see is Hubspot. There’s no doubt that Hubspot is one of the front-runners in the business management software industry. But, just like any other business, Hubspot also has perks and flaws.

Imagine that you want to buy something. You go through Google searches and browse shops. There are tons of different businesses offering the same product with differences here and there. After your product hunt ends, you pick the brand that is best for you. There are lots of things to consider when deciding what brand to buy from. There are brand identities, business values, reviews, different features, and also prices.

Buying a CRM or business management service is the same. Perhaps it even requires a bit more focus and investigation since these tools are services that you will pay for monthly. You need to consider what features you need, how much value automation and customization have for you, how much budget you can set aside for it, and how user-friendly the tool is to work with.

Sure Hubspot is a great tool to use. But, now that you are looking for a business management tool, let’s have a quick and detailed review of some Hubspot alternatives that will give you all the features you need without breaking the bank.

How to Compare CRM and Business Management Tools

Okay, your first question here will be, what am I looking for? The struggle with choosing the right tool for your business is that you can’t just go with the first option you see. You need to know how to compare the tools and what to expect from each one. Some companies only offer CRM tools, and some are all-in-one business solutions.

Some business solutions give you the promise of many different features, but once you start using them, you’ll notice that they are not fully developed. That makes it really frustrating to work with. Some, on the other hand, are so well designed that you can handle all your business hassles with a few clicks here and there.

Then again, price matters. Some companies are great solutions for small businesses that are on a budget. Some are worth spending on if your business is earning a lot monthly.

Each company has a list of features and different plans. The list below is a guideline on what to look for in a business management solution. By knowing what to look for based on your business size and expectations, you can choose your preferred company and plan.

Figure out what you need

Before even searching for CRM solutions, sit down with your employees and find out what areas are harder for them to handle. By finding the problems and flaws in your day-to-day work life, you will understand what you need the software to do for you. Let me give you a couple of examples:

You might have a problem with following up on support tickets. Customer service is a highly sensitive part of running a business. There’s a lot of back and forth communication between the customer and team members who are responsible for taking care of the customer’s issue. A business management tool that offers customer support tools can help you track each support ticket. Most of these tools allow you to create your own support system pipeline and see which ticket is in what status.

By recognizing the reason why you need a business management tool, you can choose the one that offers you the solution to your problems.

Features are not the only matter to assess when choosing a CRM software. There are other factors to consider because if, for example, a tool offers a rich pool of features but is not user-friendly, figuring out how to work with it will only waste your time.

Price: how much does the tool cost? Does it have different plans that would give me the features I need while fitting my budget? Storage capabilities: is the tool cloud-based? If not, how much storage is it offering? Design: is the platform user-friendly? Can I find everything without the need to call customer support? Integration: Does the tool allow third-party integration? Is it compatible with Google and Microsoft tools like Gmail and Outlook? Can I import .XLS files? Customization: can I customize pipelines and create my own, or do I have to use the default pipelines? Marketing solutions: does the tool offer email marketing tools? Can I link the tool to my social media accounts? Mobile app: if I need to work when I’m away from my laptop, does the tool offer a mobile app?

5 Best HubSpot Alternatives

RunSensible

RunSensible is a cloud-based CRM and all-in-one business management tool. The company’s vision is to create a tool that offers all the features a small business truly needs in order to grow and increase sales while keeping the price affordable for real small businesses. RunSensible is more than just a CRM. They offer so many useful and pro features that serve any business in any industry. You can customize and create different pipelines for sales processes. The automation feature allows you to create different automation tasks for different workflows. As a top HubSpot alternative, Runsensible is a feature-rich tool that is also way more affordable than you would expect.

RunSensible's Key Features: - Unique Booking Calendar - Seamless, Branded Invoicing and Payment - Business Phone Solutions - Workflow automation - Email marketing - Opportunity Management - Jobs & Task Management - Time Tracking - Customer Feedback

Pricing: RunSensible's plans are simply too affordable for the features they offer. They have 3 different plans. Their basic plan (Essential) costs $24 monthly and offers all the CRM and management features a small business needs. The cool factor about RunSensible is that it will scale as your business grows. Their most expensive plan that offers every single feature and option is priced at $55 per month. Another cool factor: If you have more employees than the user count of the plan you prefer, you can add users for $15 each.

RunSensible vs. Hubspot The most crucial difference between RunSensible and HubSpot is not in the tools they offer or the quality of the tools. In fact, what sets them aside is their pricing. While HubSpot is offered in different add-ons and packages, which you have to pay for separately, RunSensible has a one-time payment system in three tiers on top of its free plan. RunSensible is also more intuitive than HubSpot: the board view is an easy way to check where you stand in terms of leads, opportunities, payments, and other metrics.

Compared to Hubspot, RunSensible has a live chat system and 24/7 customer support. One really awesome feature is the business phone line. If you own a small business and need a business phone line to handle business calls, you can purchase a line from RunSensible and handle all your calls and text messages through the tool. RunSensible has a smart filtering and search option that lets you filter leads, contacts, and companies by the parameters you need so you can find what you are looking for quickly. You can also create custom tags and search by tags.

RunSensible Pros: - Most Feature-Packed in Price Range - Excellent Support - Customizable - Affordable

RunSensible Cons: - Not perfect for Mid-sized businesses - Does not support enterprise scale businesses

Overall, I can say that any small business can enjoy using RunSensible without emptying their pockets. RunSensible is especially a great tool for appointment-based businesses because of its online booking and time tracking features. The tool is user-friendly and does not require assistance to set up or function. Even if you do have a question, you can submit it in the chat box on the website and get instant assistance.

ActiveCampaign

ActiveCampaign is an affordable all-in-one marketing solution. This tool offers practically the same features as Hubspot, but their main focus is automation. ActiveCampaign allows you to automate follow-up campaigns, set up multiple conditions, and so much more. Apart from being an automation marketing solution, Active Campaign is also a small business CRM, has a huge customer base, and has been quite famous in the market.

Key Features: Email marketing Email scheduling Automated email funnels Email autoresponders Goal tracking Automated sign-up forms Site tracking Sales process management CRM and sales automation

Pricing: Compared to Hubspot, ActiveCampaign is a much more affordable tool. But, choosing a plan mainly depends on what you need. For example, the basic ActiveCampaign plan, known as lite, costs as little as $9 a month. Of course, it’s more than affordable, but it’s only available for 3 users and includes some email marketing features and support. If you do need CRM, you have to pay $49 a month. The Enterprise plan that offers everything on ActiveCampaign costs $229, which is still way cheaper than Hubspot’s Enterprise plan.

ActiveCampaign vs. Hubspot: ActiveCampaign offers a robust CRM tool. Just like RunSensible, ActiveCampaign has a cool lead/contact scoring feature that lists leads or contacts as cards that you can drag and drop in the sales pipeline. ActiveCampaign offers a landing page editor and various different templates. ActiveCampaign also allows you to sync your calendars from Google, Outlook, and Apple Calendar. As I mentioned before, if you don’t need CRM tools or landing pages, you can get ActiveCampaign for just $9 a month. Bear in mind that Hubspot will charge you $800 a month just to activate the marketing automation tools that are already offered in the ActiveCampaign Lite plan!

However, ActiveCampaign does not offer a free plan. And although the feature is not cheap, Hubspot offers dashboard customization options that ActiveCampaign does not have. ActiveCampaign mainly focuses on email marketing solutions and offers other features like CRM as secondary features. The trouble with ActiveCampaign is that you might think it’s affordable for a small business. But, for it to actually be an all-in-one business solution, it still falls out of most small business owners’ budgets.

ActiveCampaign Pros: An affordable Lite plan for small businesses Various integrations allowed Comprehensive service

ActiveCampaign Cons: The Lite plan offers a very limited range of features Huge price gap between Lite and Plus plans No free plans

Overall, I think ActiveCampaign is a great tool and a good alternative for Hubspot. The biggest flaw is trying to figure out which plan is suitable for you. Because the price range is considerable, it gets too expensive too quickly for added features that are basic needs for small businesses.

Zoho CRM

Zoho corporation offers different cloud-based and SaaS solutions to help businesses manage everything. Literally, everything, from finance tools to CRM solutions. The Zoho CRM tool is a good alternative to Hubspot. It’s pretty intuitive and helps manage lead generation through different channels like phone, email, live chat, and social media. They offer some necessary features like accounting, customer service, and project management.

Key Features: Email hosting Website creation CRM software

Pricing: Zoho CRM starts at $20 a month. Their main focus is CRM, so even in the Standard Plan, you get features that allow you to prioritize leads and score them, automate record conversion, build custom sales pipelines, and send bulk emails. Their Enterprise plan is their most popular plan at $50 a month. But, their most expensive, the all-in-one solution comes in the ultimate plan at $65 monthly. Compared to Hubspot, Zoho CRM is a great solution. Especially if your main priority is customer and lead management solutions.

Zoho CRM vs. Hubspot: Zoho CRM offers a free plan. Aside from that, the prices you have to pay for different plans are either affordable or reasonable. There’s a detailed list of what you are going to have in different plans, and the features you get from even the standard plan can get you going if you run a small business. Zoho has 3 different views for leads, contacts, accounts, and deals. Hubspot is only available in 2 views. The activities section on Zoho CRM is an interesting feature that allows you to filter leads, contacts, etc., by activity type. For example, you can choose to see only the open tasks on the tool. This level of filtration helps you find what you are looking for quickly.

Although Zoho CRM is easy to navigate, the tool’s design is not exactly modern. Especially compared to Hubspot. In terms of customer support, Hubspot has room to improve. Zoho CRM, on the other hand, does not even have a live chat system. If you compare the two in terms of features, Hubspot offers some useful features like SMS marketing that Zoho CRM does not.

Zoho CRM Pros: Sending bulk emails Automated email follow-ups Reasonable prices Various integration options

Zoho CRM Cons: Needs training to set up Training program is expensive Training program is hard to follow and sloppy Confusing automation process, especially for new users

Overall, Zoho is a good tool to go for as a Hubspot alternative. But it’s not a good tool if you have no experience with CRM solutions. According to reviews, new users struggle to find their way around the software, and their training program doesn’t really help either. These are problems that you need to consider because setting up the Zoho CRM and actually learning to work with it might take up a lot of your time.

Salesforce

Salesforce is literally Hubspot’s runner-up. The two are the leading companies in the market. Salesforce is a CRM tool with features that help bring companies and customers together. Just like Hubspot’s Sales Hub, Salesforce has Sales Cloud 360. With Sales Cloud 360, you can manage leads, track lead progress, and automate sales processes. In 2020, Salesforce was named a Leader in the Gartner Magic Quadrant because of its automation system. Fun fact? Salesforce has won this title for 14 years straight.

There’s a tight competition between Hubspot and Salesforce, which makes this comparison much more interesting. Salesforce is only one feature away from offering everything that Hubspot offers. They are even similar in pricing, with only a $5 difference in their basic plans.

Key Features: Sales Cloud 360 Process automation Opportunity management Pipeline management Account, contact, and lead management

Pricing: Okay, let me assure you that Salesforce is not an affordable solution for small businesses. Salesforce offers a variety of options when it comes to pricing, and surprisingly enough, one of those options is small businesses. If you look at the plans offered for small businesses, you notice that their Essentials plan (the most affordable one) is $25 monthly. Seams reasonable, but the bad news is that it’s actually $25 monthly AND per user. So basically, if you have a team of five people, you have to pay $125 for their basic plan. The cherry on top? They only bill annually. You cannot pay monthly, so if you do purchase the tool and for any reason decide not to use it, there’s no turning back.

Salesforce vs. Hubspot I did already mention some comparisons between the two. When you compare their basic plans, Hubspot is offering marketing, sales, service, and operation tools for $45 for 2 users. Salesforce is offering an all-in-one sales and support tool for $50 for 2 users. The features and prices are relatively alike. One key difference between them is that Hubspot offers a free plan while Salesforce offers free trials on Essentials, Sales Professional, and Service Professional plans.

Another key difference is that although both are feature-rich solutions, Hubspot is much easier to navigate. Salesforce needs admin resources and training to get the tool to function.

Salesforce Pros: Customizable API Automation in various processes Sending bulk emails Opportunity management integration

Salesforce Cons: Poor UI High pricing Sync issues with marketing automation Requires skilled resources Integration is not seamless

Overall, if you own a company that can afford Salesforce and also the human resources that are familiar with the tool, it can be a good option for you. But, as a small business owner, there’s no luck in affording the tool, and even if you do, it will be very frustrating and time-consuming to work with.

Keap

Keap, primarily known as Infusionsoft, offers easy-to-use CRM features with some marketing solutions. The automatic lead capture tool is an interesting feature that captures potential leads from lead forms, landing pages, and social media. As you can already guess, Keap’s main focus is on CRM. Entrepreneurs claim that Keap is a great secretary. It also offers integration to useful third-party apps to manage your customer data.

Key Features: Sales pipeline automation Quote management Send text messages from the CRM

Pricing: Alright, I have to admit, I was quite shocked when I saw Keap’s prices. The tool is specifically designed for small businesses, but the prices don’t match what they promise. There are just two plans; Pro and Max. Keap’s Pro plan costs $169 per month and offers CRM, in-app support, automated lead capture, landing pages, and some more features. The Max plan only offers 2 more features, and it’s priced at $249 per month. Makes absolutely no sense to pay for software that does not offer all the features of Hubspot and is even more expensive than Hubspot. If you think about it, Keap’s most affordable plan is more expensive than RunSensible’s most expensive plan. Keap vs. Hubspot: Keap is a great CRM tool. Using it allows you to manage your leads and automate your sales pipeline tasks like sending emails. With keap, you will have onboarding support and after-sales phone support. But keap does not offer all the features that Hubspot offers. Frankly, keap is not as small business-friendly as it promises. With prices as high as keap’s, you can easily invest in Hubspot.

Keap Pros: Categorize leads by tags Marketing funnel Free trial

Keap Cons: Bugs and glitches UI could be complicated for beginners Expensive for small businesses

Overall, I think that Keap cannot really be an alternative for Hubspot, because it's not really an all-around business management tool. Maybe if they add more affordable plans and work on their UI and accessibility, customers could have better experiences.

Final Verdict

To choose an alternative for Hubspot, try going for tools that offer the features you want at a reasonable price. It all depends on you. RunSensible can be a great option since it was designed to help small businesses by offering all the essential features. You can save time by letting RunSensible handle your repetitive daily tasks with the automation tool. Use your knowledge, and based on your needs and budget, you can decide which Hubspot alternative can be the right tool to help elevate your business!