HubSpot vs Salesforce – which CRM is best for your business?

If you’ve considered investing in a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tool for your business, you might be wondering which one would suit your company best. Our HubSpot vs Salesforce guide can help!

CRMs are used by organisations to help manage and optimise their interactions with current and potential customers. The software can support your business in several areas, including storing data, managing leads, communicating with consumers, capturing and organising information, and tracking and processing sales.

So, a CRM can help businesses to gain important insights and develop their business strategy. Thanks to their benefits, businesses from all sectors – from healthcare and retail to ecommerce and government organisations – use CRMs.

According to HubSpot, 76% of marketers with a CRM say it’s important to the overall success of their marketing strategy, while 86% say a CRM is effective in improving marketing and sales team alignment.

It seems the only thing a CRM can’t do (yet!) is walk the office dog…

HubSpot vs Salesforce

But which one is right for your business? Read on to learn the differences between the two top platforms – HubSpot vs Salesforce.

What does HubSpot’s CRM offer?

HubSpot offers marketing, sales, service, content management, operations and commerce ‘hubs’ – all separate channels which can work together on one platform. Over 205,000 customers use this ever-evolving platform to grow and progress their business ventures.

The hubs on the platform mean you can benefit from a tailored experience. HubSpot’s AI-powered marketing software helps businesses grow and convert traffic, run inbound marketing campaigns and align marketing and sales teams.

Businesses can improve customer support, operations teams can automate business processes, and commerce software can help you get paid faster.

5 benefits of HubSpot’s CRM for marketers

1. Good inbound marketing strategies for lead generation.
2. An all-in-one platform for content, social media, SEO and analytics.
3. Marketing analytics tools for monitoring campaigns.
4. Personalised content to improve consumer engagement.
5. A user-friendly interface and features.

What does Salesforce’s CRM offer?

Salesforce is a cloud-based CRM software. This CRM aims to simplify and improve the process in which companies secure deals, identify prospects, and engage with customers. The products are cloud-based and target different customer needs. They include the Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Marketing Cloud, and their AI platform, Einstein. Over 150,000 customers use Salesforce worldwide, nearly 30% of which work in professional, manufacturing, banking and financial services.

Marketing teams can manage, track and automate marketing and advertising campaigns, and powerful analytics tools are available for tracking, analysing, and reporting on data and apps related to marketing, sales and commerce.

Salesforce can support businesses in building a campaign strategy and producing content. This CRM uses AI to create customised messages to engage with consumers, streamlining new leads and notifying the correct teams.

The analytical capabilities of Salesforce’s CRM provide businesses with valuable insights into marketing performance and customer interaction.

5 benefits of Salesforce’s CRM for marketers

1. Automated marketing campaigns, streamlining multi-channel campaigns.
2. AI-powered Insights and recommendations.
3. Enhanced collaboration tools for efficiency.
4. Comprehensive customer journeys for a deeper understanding of customer behaviour.
5. Scalable solutions for growing businesses

HubSpot vs Salesforce – what’s the difference?

Our table explores how each CRM works for a better understanding of which platform might suit you.

	HubSpot	Salesforce
Strengths	All reports are updated automatically, eliminating activity tracking and seeing a real-time view of your sales in one dashboard.	Salesforce centralises and organises customer data, providing a unified view of customers across various touchpoints and departments.
Weaknesses	They help make websites and manage content, but changing from another system like WordPress may be challenging.	Certain desktop features may not be fully accessible or optimised for mobile devices. However, many core CRM features are available and are continuously being improved.
Features	HubSpot has many features: Customer Relationship Management (CRM), live chat, Artificial Intelligence (AI) content writers and website builders.	Salesforce's features include contact and lead management, sales forecasting, collaboration tools, workflow automation, analytics, customer service capabilities and integrations.
Users	205,000 plus and operating in 135 countries	Over 150,000 customers use Salesforce worldwide
Support and Training	HubSpot Academy offers online courses and certifications so you can get up to speed quickly on popular business topics.	Salesforce offers a wide range of support and learning opportunities, using a company called Trailhead, so consumers can learn new skills.
Analytics	HubSpot credits page views to a contact if the contact clicks a link in a tracked marketing email that leads to a page with the HubSpot tracking code installed.	Marketing Cloud Connect stores marketing engagement tracking information in multiple locations within Sales or Service Cloud, allowing for direct use of tracking data from Engagement in critical business processes.
Customer Service	Hubspot has a knowledge base plus community, email, chat and phone support depending on your package.	Salesforce offers live chat, self-service customer portals, online knowledge bases, traditional call centres and social media.
Ease of Use	Known for being a straightforward Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platform that is used by over 200,000 businesses worldwide. HubSpot has an intuitive and user-friendly interface, making it easier to navigate and learn, which works well for small and medium-sized businesses. However, its suite of services can be scaled to meet the needs of larger companies, too.	Salesforce is a dynamic and ever-growing system that needs to be learned. The CRM is feature-rich and comprehensive, which makes it particularly well-suited for large companies and organisations with complex sales. However the CRM's scalability and range of options make it a good choice for all businesses. processes.
Customisation Options	Customise content in your HubSpot emails, website pages, and landing pages using default or custom contact properties.	You can choose Salesforce customisation if standard configuration options don’t fit your workflows or provide enough automation. The platform offers a large number of customisation options, which can be a technical process depending on your needs.
Cost/pricing	HubSpot offers free CRM and marketing tools. More advanced CRM features are available offering comprehensive marketing, sales, customer service, content, and operations software. Professional platform cost: £945/mo. Prices vary so contact HubSpot for details Enterprise Customer platform cost: £3,480/mo.	Data Cloud for Marketing: £7,200 per month. Marketing Cloud Intelligence: £2,400 per month. However, small start-up businesses get the opportunity to sign up at a smaller cost. This works out between £20-£80 per month. Marketing Cloud Intelligence: £2,400 per month. Prices vary so contact Salesforce for details.

Which CRM is for you?

When you’re choosing a CRM platform, it is important to align your choice with the needs and objectives of your business. As all businesses have unique requirements that affect sales, marketing, customer service and operations, so your CRM should be chosen based on your company needs.

Choosing the right CRM can help you achieve your goals and adopt a strategy that will lead to better customer relationships, improved operations and greater success.