Head to head
HubSpot vs Close (2027): Which Is Better?
Price, features and who each one suits, side by side.
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Quick answer
- HubSpot ranks higher overall (8.9 vs 7.9).
- Pick HubSpot for starting free, then growing into paid tools.
- Pick Close for inside sales teams that live on the phone.
HubSpot vs Close at a glance
| Feature | HubSpot | Close |
|---|---|---|
| Our score | 8.9 ★★★★★★★★★★ | 7.9 ★★★★★★★★★★ |
| Best for | Starting free, then growing into paid tools | Inside sales teams that live on the phone |
| Starts at | $0 | $9/user/mo |
| Free plan | Yes: up to 2 users and 1,000 contacts, no time limit | No (14-day free trial instead) |
| Cheapest paid plan | Starter: $20/seat/mo list; new customers $7 billed annually or $10 month-to-month | Solo (1 user): $9/mo billed annually, $19 monthly |
| Mid-tier plan | Professional: $90/seat/mo billed annually, $100 paid monthly with an annual commitment | Essentials: $35/user/mo annually ($49 monthly); Growth: $99 ($109 monthly) |
| Top plan | Enterprise: from $150/seat/mo, through sales | Scale: $139/user/mo annually, $149 monthly |
| Free trial | No trial; the free plan has no time limit | 14 days, no credit card, includes $5 of calling and enrichment credits |
| Contract terms | Starter can be month-to-month; Professional requires an annual commitment even when paid monthly | No contracts; monthly plans cancel any time; 30-day money-back guarantee |
| Setup fee | None on Starter; $1,500 required on Professional, $3,500 on Enterprise | None listed |
| Cheapest-plan limits | Starter: up to 15 pipelines, 50 workflows, 500 calling minutes; no sequences | Solo: 1 user, 10,000 leads, no workflows, no bulk email |
| Support | Free: community and knowledge base; Starter: email and chat; Professional: adds phone | Email support and 24/7 knowledge base on all plans |
| G2 rating | 4.4/5 from 14,393 reviews (Sales Hub) | 4.7/5 from 2,159 reviews |
| Nonprofit discount | 40% off net-new Professional or Enterprise products for eligible new nonprofit customers on an annual contract; Starter is excluded | — |
| Startup discount | HubSpot for Startups: 90% off year 1 for eligible Seed and Series A companies | — |
| Paid add-ons | — | Calls about $0.02/min at cost; numbers from about $1/mo; Call Assistant $50/mo + $0.02/min |
| Sign up | HubSpot | Close |
The short version
Pick HubSpot if you want to start free, or if marketing and support should share the CRM with sales. Its free plan covers 2 users and 1,000 contacts with no time limit. Pick Close if your team sells by phone and you want a dialer, SMS and email workflows without an annual contract. The two get close in price only at the top: HubSpot Professional and Close Growth both land near $6,000 a year for 5 users.
Price at 5, 20 and 50 users
Year-one cost from our shared cost table:
| Plan | 5 users | 20 users | 50 users |
|---|---|---|---|
| HubSpot Starter (list, $20, annual) | $1,200 | $4,800 | $12,000 |
| HubSpot Starter (new customers, $7, annual) | $420 | $1,680 | $4,200 |
| HubSpot Professional ($90, incl. $1,500 onboarding) | $6,900 | $23,100 | $55,500 |
| Close Essentials ($35, annual, no workflows) | $2,100 | $8,400 | $21,000 |
| Close Growth ($99, annual) | $5,940 | $23,760 | $59,400 |
| Close Growth ($109, monthly) | $6,540 | $26,160 | $65,400 |
HubSpot calls $20 its normal Starter price; $7 annual and $10 month to month are new-customer prices (HubSpot pricing). At 5 users, HubSpot Professional costs $960 more than Close Growth on annual billing because of the $1,500 onboarding fee. By 50 users, Close Growth is $3,900 more, since its per-seat price is higher ($99 against $90).
Features that differ
HubSpot's CRM page lists contact and deal management, email tracking that notifies you when a prospect opens an email, meeting scheduling, quotes and live chat. It also lists marketing tools (forms, landing pages, email marketing) and service tools (ticketing, a shared inbox, a chatbot builder) next to the sales tools (HubSpot CRM). Its Breeze Assistant researches companies, preps calls and summarizes records. The HubSpot Marketplace has over 2,000 apps.
Close describes a sales tool built around conversations. Its product page lists a power dialer, live call transcripts on the lead record, an AI Notetaker, and workflows that send an email and a text and create a call task (Close product). Its assistant, Chloe, answers questions about your pipeline and drafts follow-ups.
Sequences matter here. HubSpot puts sequences and lead scoring on Professional and Enterprise only (HubSpot Sales pricing). Close puts workflows on Growth.
Contracts, setup fees and limits
HubSpot Starter can run month to month with no setup fee. Professional needs an annual commitment even when paid monthly ($100 a seat), plus the one-time $1,500 onboarding fee (HubSpot Sales pricing). Starter includes up to 15 pipelines, 50 workflows and 500 calling minutes.
Close lists no contracts and no setup fee, lets monthly plans cancel any time, and offers a 30-day money-back guarantee (Close pricing). Calls cost about $0.02 a minute at cost, phone numbers from about $1 a month, and the Call Assistant is $50 a month plus $0.02 a minute.
Support: HubSpot Starter gets email and chat, and Professional adds phone. Close lists email support and a 24/7 knowledge base on every plan.
Discounts are published for HubSpot only: eligible Seed and Series A startups get 90% off year one (HubSpot for Startups), and nonprofits get 40% off net-new Professional or Enterprise on an annual contract, with Starter excluded (HubSpot nonprofits).
Which one fits your team
- Two founders who want a CRM today at $0: HubSpot's free plan. Close has a 14-day trial, not a free plan.
- An outbound team of 10 on the phones: Close Growth puts dialing, texting and workflows in one tool with no annual lock-in.
- A company where marketing runs forms and email campaigns: HubSpot keeps those tools in the same CRM as sales.
- A team that needs automated sequences on a budget: Close Growth at 5 users ($5,940) costs less than HubSpot Professional ($6,900).
- A funded startup that qualifies for HubSpot for Startups: 90% off year one changes the math in HubSpot's favor.
On G2, Close rates 4.7/5 from 2,159 reviews (G2) and HubSpot Sales Hub rates 4.4/5 from 14,393 reviews (G2).
How we compared
We read HubSpot's and Close's pricing, terms and product pages and their G2 listings, checked on Nov 12, 2026. This comparison is research-based; we did not run these CRMs ourselves. Costs are list price per user times users times 12, plus any required setup fee.
Full reviews: HubSpot · Close · all CRMs ranked
Sources
- www.hubspot.com/pricing/crm (checked Nov 12, 2026)
- www.hubspot.com/pricing/sales (checked Nov 12, 2026)
- www.hubspot.com/products/crm (checked Nov 12, 2026)
- www.g2.com/products/hubspot-sales-hub/reviews (checked Nov 12, 2026)
- www.hubspot.com/nonprofits (checked Nov 12, 2026)
- www.hubspot.com/startups (checked Nov 12, 2026)
- www.close.com/pricing (checked Nov 12, 2026)
- www.g2.com/products/close/reviews (checked Nov 12, 2026)