Hubspot CRM vs Pipedrive: Which CRM is Best For You?

Pipedrive vs. Hubspot? Which one is right for your business?’

Short answer:

We prefer Pipedrive for sales and feel Hubspot is better suited for marketing…

Continue for a detailed explanation…

We decided to try out both free plans and see which CRM tool worked the best. 

Here is what we found, as we played detective and battle-tested the 2 most popular choices of sales CRM’s.

(If you need more leads in your sales pipeline, hop on a free 15-minute strategy session with SalesBread. We are a LinkedIn lead generation and appointment setting company that gets our clients 1 lead per day.)

 Insights from a CEO

I still stand by my initial assessment that marketers like HubSpot and Sales teams like Pipedrive.

But practically speaking, Pipedrive has developed a better ability to track opportunities so that it’s easy to see incoming deals, track progress, and never miss a follow-up – All things that are essential for going from first interests from leads to a converted sale.

With that said, I think HubSpot is a giant ecosystem where you can do a lot of things, like email marketing, in addition to lead tracking and opportunity conversion metrics.

I have some clients who are die-hard HubSpot users, even though being painfully honest, alot of them don’t know how to use it well.

I will say that almost every client that we have had that uses HubSpot has either hired a dedicated marketing role that manages their HubSpot (someone with many HubSpot certifications), so that they can use it well.

Or, they get to the point where they give it to an administrator, or a team member who is not steeped in HubSpot, or a team member who does marketing anylitics and they get really frustrated to the point where they have to hire a third party to their “HubSpot in order.”

Becasue it is overly complex. Don’t walk into it thinking you’re just going to just breeze through it because you’re an expert marketer.

I think that’s the trap.

But if you do have someone in your corner who’s great at using HubSpot and knows marketing analytics, that’s probably a great route to go.

Then you can use it for sending email marketing, and you can even use it for syncing your LinkedIn contacts that you have. Which is a win.

But if you’re reading this article and are saying, “I’ve got leads coming in the door, and I just don’t want any of them slipping through the cracks”, if that’s you, stop reading… GET PIPEDRIVE.

Why?

Becasue it makes it pretty dead simple to act on keeping tabs on your pipeline without any deals slipping through.

Pro tips:

If you have back-to-back sales calls stacked in your calendar, you don’t have enough time to properly deep-dive and do research for 20 minutes before each meeting; Luckily you don’t have to do that with Pipedrive becasue it keeps all email notes and your own notes in one place.

So my recommendation is that when you are doing Zoom calls, pull up Pipedrive (do this in the morning becasue you don’t want to enter your Pipedrive password with 30 seconds to go before a meeting), log in early, and as leads enter your ecosystem, you should be keeping extremely tight human and automated notes.

Have notes that show where your leads found you.

That’s going to be relevant for the first few minutes of your sales call. Track where they came from and talk about that.

You will also have their email thread, so quickly do a refresh before your meeting and see why they reached out to you.

This will help you know their talking points. It’s just a shortcut to understanding what that sales call should be focused on.

If you use an AI note taker for Zoom, wonderful, automatically send those recordings to Pipedrive, so that you can keep even better notes as things continue.

You can also literally update a status before you move on to your next Zoom call; it literally takes 30 seconds.

What I do in addition to updating a status is add “proposal requested, or follow-up due on Tuesday.”

By the way, you should always end every sales call by asking when they expect to get back to you on the next step, so that you can update your CRM the right day to get back to them, respecting their workflow.

I also like to open a Loom and give my future self a 30-second voice note on how that call went and what I need to remember for the next interaction. I will send that Loom note, make a transcription of it, and store it in my Pipedrive, so that it looks like I have this perfect memory.

If you do things this way, you almost can’t mess up.

HubSpot vs Pipedrive Comparison Table

Pipedrive

What is Pipedrive exactly?

Pipedrive is a CRM software that was designed by salespeople for salespeople. It helps users to visualize the sales process and get more done.

The tool was created around activity-based selling, which is an approach that schedules, completes, and tracks all activities when it comes to your sales. 

The easy-to-use features allow you to see where each deal stands during your pipeline management. 

Features

Pipedrive offers many cool features, including:

• Communication tracking

• Automation

• Insights

• Reports

• Mobile app integrations

• Lead management and deals(via a custom chatbot and web forms). 

• Invoice and billing

• Lead qualification

• Recurring revenue

• Contact management

Above is an example of what the interface looks like. As you can see, the interface is user-friendly and easy to navigate. 

Things that you can do:

• Add in your qualified lead

• Add in whether or not contact was made

• Type in whether you have scheduled a demo

• Whether a proposal was made, and if negotiations have started. 

This is an excellent tool for sales teams to remain organized and for everyone to see exactly where your lead is in the sales pipeline. 

Clients are added in at every stage of the sales process from start to finish, easing your sales team’s workflow.

Insights

We really liked the insights page, as you can track absolutely everything that’s going on with your business. 

From how many emails are sent and received to how many leads have been converted. You can track the progress of each deal and even keep track of how many sales were lost.  

The workflow automation feature

One of the best features of Pipedrive is that it has an excellent automation feature. You can create your own template or start with a ready-made template.

These automated messages can be emailed, sent to Slack, or even be used to create a new card in Trello. 

Other integrations that can be used along with the workflow automation are:

• Mailchimp

• Microsoft Teams

• Asana

• Invoicing

• And marketplace apps 

What’s customer support like?

Before you can access an online chat, you need to sign up for a free trial. You can also contact customer support via email before you start a trial, but I must say, I like to use a live chat immediately if I can. 

We decided to ask customer support if the pricing plans ever go on discount. It took about 6 min before I got a reply, which isn’t too bad. The lady who helped was professional and friendly.

Unfortunately, they do not offer discounts, except if you pay upfront for the year, but they do have a referral program that can help you receive rewards and some discounts (but discounts are not promised).

See the reply below:

How much does it cost?

There are a few pricing plans to choose from. Starting from $14 per month, to $49 per month.

You can be charged per month or annually. You would need to pay per user, which is on par with most other CRM tools.

In fact, Pipedrive seems to be affordable compared to other tools such as Salesforce.

We also liked that all packages have a 14-day free trial, which is great, and you don’t have to add your credit card details, which is also a plus. 

Pros of Pipedrive

• Many different integrations are available (500 +, including email integrations, Slack, and Trello)

• The program offers incredible features that allow for a detailed look at each prospect during the entire sales process.

• It offers great automation tools.

• We also loved the company insights page

• There are various pricing plans to choose from

• It has a drag-and-drop feature

• Affordable compared to other CRM tools

Cons of Pipedrive

• There is no A/B testing feature

• Customer support is a little slow to respond

• You have to pay for additional features like Lead Booster.

• They don’t offer free tools.

Pipedrive review

Pipedrive has a 4.3-star rating out of 5 according to G2. As you can see, many users liked how easy it was to use, but some mentioned it had limited features.

HubSpot CRM

HubSpot CRM offers a few different types of tools, which is pretty great if you are looking to track a few different things in your business.

The tools they offer are marketing, sales, a service hub, analytics, and even automation.  With the marketing feature, you can keep track of SEO, social media, and landing pages. 

HubSpot believes that all these different integrations will help your business grow. Each and every tool is super powerful when used together, increasing the functionality of this tool.

It’s like a one-stop platform for growth. 

Note: One of the best things about HubSpot is that it offers a free CRM feature if you are just getting started. But also note that the more in-depth features like social media and SEO tracking are only provided when you pay for the higher packages.

Features

As we mentioned above, there are various features when using HubSpot. 

1. Marketing  Hub

Which includes: 

HubSpot Marketing Hub Features

• Email marketing

• Marketing automation workflows

• Lead generation forms and pop-ups

• Landing page builder

• Contact and list segmentation

• Social media scheduling and monitoring

• Blog and content management tools

• SEO recommendations and optimization tools

• Campaign management

• Marketing analytics and reporting dashboards

• Website traffic tracking

• Lead scoring

• CRM integration with HubSpot CRM

• Behavioral tracking and personalization

• A/B testing for emails and landing pages

• Ad management (Google, Facebook, LinkedIn)

• AI content creation tools

• Chatbots and live chat

• Marketing event management

• Custom reporting and dashboards

Below is an example of how you can manage your social media pages through HubSpot, which is great for marketers, as you can publish or schedule a post.

It also offers monitoring and reports. (The more advanced marketing tools are under the professional plan, though.) 

2. Sales Hub  

Saleshub offers many features here are some that are included:

• Contact and deal management

• Sales pipeline management

• Email tracking and notifications

• Email templates

• Sales automation

• Meeting scheduling

• Document sharing and tracking

• Quotes and e-signature tools

• Sales analytics and reporting dashboards

• Conversation intelligence (call recording and analysis)

• Task management and task queues

• Call logging and VoIP calling

• Lead scoring and lead management

• Custom reporting and dashboards

• Email sequences for outreach

• Live chat and conversation routing

• Integration with Gmail and Outlook

• Multiple deal pipelines

• Payment processing and invoicing tools

• AI sales forecasting and insight

The sales feature is easy to use and offers a lot, but in my opinion, I found Pipedrive easier to navigate.

It allows you to connect with Gmail, Office 365 (Including many versions of Outlook ), or other IMAP’s.

You can add in your leads, when you last contacted them, if they are high or low priority, and if they are qualified to buy. You can also make calls, send emails, create tasks, and schedule meetings. 

One thing that Pipedrive doesn’t have, which HubSpot does, is a call function that records calls straight to your CRM so that all your data is in one place. 

As you can see below, you will have a detailed outlook of what your sales pipeline looks like.

This is great for sales management so that teams can see what’s happening with their prospects every step of the way.   

3. Service Hub

The service hub offers tickets that can be used to keep track of issues with your customers. You can assign tickets to members of your team so that they can provide help to each client at the right time.

ServiceHub features:

• Help desk and ticketing system

• Shared inbox for customer conversations

• Live chat

• Chatbots and AI customer agents

• Knowledge base for self-service support

• Customer feedback tools (NPS, CSAT, surveys)

• Customer portal for support requests

• Automation and workflows

• Service level agreements (SLAs)

• Reporting and analytics dashboards

• Conversation intelligence and call insights

• Customer success workspace and health scoring

• Team collaboration tools

• Video messaging for support

• CRM integration with HubSpot CRM

You can also use filters for a more effortless user experience, which streamlines your workflow. 

Search your different filters to find exactly what you need. There is also a data import button, which allows you to sync or import data from other apps.

4. Automation

The automation feature works well. For example, if you would like to let a team member know when a lead has viewed your website three times, you can automate an email that will be sent to your sales rep.

This will tell them that they should contact the client.  

You can also automate marketing campaigns.

(They also have email templates that you can use, or if you prefer something customizable, you can create your own.)

The ease of use when it comes to workflow automation is super simple, which is an excellent feature for effective project management. 

5. Reports

I must say that I liked the reports feature quite a lot for HubSpot, as you can keep track of all aspects of your business in one place.

There are many options in this section that you can use to keep an eye on metrics, from your team performances to your sales pipelines, which calls have been made, and even your marketing analytics. 

So if you are data-obsessed, then HubSpot might be the right option for you, as it takes data tracking to the next level. 

It includes:

• Analytics

• A dashboard overview

Customer Support

The customer support for HubSpot was incredible. They replied in real-time via a live chat, which was great. I once again asked for a discount, and the sales rep was friendly and helpful. He asked for more context on my question regarding specific plans to help me. 

I also received an immediate email from a sales rep to schedule a call to discuss the various plans offered. 

The knowledge base is also incredible as they offer demos, trials, courses, blogs, and even e-books. Therefore, if you need training on using the platform, there is a wealth of knowledge at your fingertips. 

The courses are also free, with certification. 

As you can see, the customer support and resources are indeed next level in comparison to Pipedrive.

Pricing

As mentioned, there is a free plan for HubSpot, which is really useful if you are starting out in the world of CRM’s.

This allows you to check out the tool and see if it works for you or not. If it does, you can then consider using the paid plans.

You have the option to either pay monthly or annually.

But if you’re unsure, HubSpot does offer a 14-day free trial without having to put in your credit card details.

Free Plan

The free plan is pretty basic, but it offers:

• Free marketing tools

• Free sales tools

• Free service tools

• Free content tools

• Free data tools

So you can really test the product out quite nicely.

Marketing Hub Price Plans

Plans start at $9 per month per seat and work their way up to $3600 per month, which includes 5 core seats. (This is if you pay annually.)

Sales Hub Pricing

As you can see below HubSpots Sales Hubs pricing starts at $9 per seat per month and works its way up to $150 per seat per month, paid annually.

Customer Service Hub

Their customer service hub starts at $9 per month per seat and works its way up to $4700 per month, which includes 8 seats.

HubSpot has a pricing plan for literally anyone.

The Pros of HubSpot

• There are many different pricing plans to choose from.

• There is a decent free plan

• You can start off with the free plan and a 14-day trial without having to put in your credit card details.

• This is a CRM tool that offers everything you need under one roof

• Customer support is fast and helpful

• HubSpot has a ton of resources at your disposal, as well as free courses, trials, and demos. 

• The analytics are super in-depth, perfect for those obsessed with data.

The Cons of HubSpot

• It can be pricey, especially if you have a large team.

• There is so much going on in HubSpot that it could be complicated to navigate initially. 

• It wasn’t as easy to use as Pipedrive.

HubSpot Review

HubSpot has various reviews for each plan, but for the sake of the article and for what’s been discussed, I added in the Marketing Hub review. As you can see, it received a 4.4-star rating out of 5 according to G2.

In Conclusion

Both CRM tools are pretty awesome.

Remember, though, that Pipedrive is mainly for salespeople and lead generation, whereas HubSpot offers a lot for businesses that are in marketing.

Both tools have excellent contact management features, data tracking, and email automation. 

The prices vary, but it also depends on your needs. It’s difficult to say which is the best CRM tool at the end of the day, as they both have their pros and cons. 

Our advice: If your company is hardcore into sales, without many marketing activities, choose Pipedrive.

If you’re already running robust digital marketing campaigns, HubSpot is the clear winner thanks to its marketing-friendly features.

And if you need more leads in your pipeline, reach out to us below for a free 15 minute strategy session.