HubSpot vs. Salesforce

One of the most common questions I get from CEOs and CROs is:

“Should we go with HubSpot or Salesforce?”

It’s a fair question. Choosing the right CRM is a high-stakes decision. It impacts sales efficiency, reporting accuracy, and ultimately, revenue growth. But here’s the truth:

Neither is “better.” It’s all about fit.

I'll break it down.

Salesforce: The Powerhouse for High-ACV, Complex Sales

I’ve spent over a decade working with Salesforce—Sales Cloud, Pardot (RIP), SFDC x MH integrations. It’s powerful. It’s flexible. It’s also a beast to manage without strong dev/admin support.

Who Should Use Salesforce?

If your business relies on:
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✅ $50K+ ACV deals
✅ 180+ day sales cycles
✅ Multi-stakeholder, high-touch sales motions

→ Salesforce is your only real option.

Salesforce is the enterprise CRM. It’s designed for businesses that need deep customization, advanced automation, and granular reporting. You can build anything in Salesforce. I know someone who even built an app for his Tesla inside Salesforce. Wild.

But here’s the catch: customization = complexity. If you choose Salesforce, you need to invest in quality admin and dev resources...because you will run into technical challenges.

HubSpot: The Fast, Simple, and Scalable CRM for Mid-Market Companies

If Salesforce is the enterprise sales machine, HubSpot is the agile, user-friendly alternative for companies with simpler sales motions.

Who Should Use HubSpot?

✅ Lower-ACV deals with faster cycles
✅ Marketing-led inbound sales strategies
✅ Mid-market companies that need ease-of-use over deep customization

HubSpot is easier, faster, and cheaper to implement. If your sales team needs a plug-and-play CRM that integrates seamlessly with marketing automation, HubSpot shines.

But here’s where it falls short: ABM, multi-touch attribution, and complex sales ops. If you need deep customization and enterprise-grade reporting, HubSpot starts to break down.

Where People Get It Wrong

Too many companies make the mistake of comparing Salesforce and HubSpot side by side as if one is universally better than the other. That’s doing both platforms a disservice.

#1: Thinking HubSpot can replace Salesforce at scale → It can’t handle deep enterprise sales operations.
#2: Forcing Salesforce on a mid-market team → It slows them down if they don’t need its full power.

The Right Way to Choose a CRM

🔹 Enterprise, sales-led, high-touch motion? → Salesforce.
🔹 Mid-market, inbound-driven, low-touch motion? → HubSpot.

At the end of the day, it’s not about the tool—it’s about your GTM motion.

Still Stuck? Let’s Talk.

Migrating CRMs is a big decision, and choosing the wrong one can cost you time, money, and momentum.

If you need help figuring out which CRM fits your business best, book a call.

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