HubSpot vs Freshsales (2027): Which Is Better?

The short version

Pick HubSpot if you want a free CRM to start (2 users, 1,000 contacts, no time limit) or month-to-month Starter billing with no lock-in. Pick Freshsales if you want workflows, email and phone at the lowest list price we track: Growth is $9 a seat on annual billing. Read Freshworks' terms before signing an annual plan, since you can't reduce users or downgrade during a term; Growth is also $11 a seat month to month.

Price at 5, 20 and 50 users

Year-one cost from our shared cost table:

Plan	5 users	20 users	50 users
Freshsales Growth ($9, annual)	$540	$2,160	$5,400
Freshsales Growth ($11, monthly)	$660	$2,640	$6,600
HubSpot Starter (new customers, $7, annual)	$420	$1,680	$4,200
HubSpot Starter (list, $20, annual)	$1,200	$4,800	$12,000
HubSpot Professional ($90, incl. $1,500 onboarding)	$6,900	$23,100	$55,500

Freshsales monthly figures are $11 x users x 12. HubSpot lists $7 annual and $10 month to month as new-customer prices and calls $20 its normal Starter price (HubSpot pricing). At the $7 rate HubSpot Starter undercuts Freshsales Growth; at the $20 normal price it costs more than twice as much.

For a team that needs sequences, the comparison changes. HubSpot keeps sequences and lead scoring on Professional, which costs $6,900 in year one for 5 users. Freshworks lists sales sequences and contact scoring on Freshsales Pro, at $39 a seat annually, or $2,340 for 5 users ($39 x 5 x 12) (Freshworks pricing).

Features that differ

Freshsales' product page centers on Freddy AI, which helps "capture, qualify, route, and track" leads, assigns intent scores, recommends deals and drafts emails (Freshsales). It describes a kanban pipeline with drag-and-drop cards and "smart sales campaigns." The pricing page lists chat, email, phone, lifecycle stages and basic workflows on Growth.

HubSpot's CRM page lists contact and deal management, email open notifications, meeting scheduling, quotes and live chat, plus marketing tools (forms, landing pages, email marketing) and service tools (ticketing, a shared inbox, a chatbot builder) (HubSpot CRM). Its Breeze Assistant researches companies and summarizes records, and the HubSpot Marketplace has over 2,000 apps.

HubSpot Starter includes up to 15 pipelines, 50 workflows and 500 calling minutes (HubSpot Sales pricing). Freshsales sells branded documents for $19 a user a month and its Freddy AI Agent at $49 per 100 sessions.

Contracts, setup fees and limits

HubSpot Starter can be month to month with no setup fee. Professional requires an annual commitment even when paid monthly ($100 a seat) and a one-time $1,500 onboarding fee (HubSpot Sales pricing). HubSpot has no trial; the free plan stands in for one.

Freshsales lists no setup fee and offers a 21-day trial with no card. Its contracts auto-renew for the same term unless you give 30 days' notice, payments are non-refundable, and you can't reduce users or downgrade mid-term (Freshworks terms). Freshworks can adjust fees at renewal with 30 days' notice, and discounts can disappear if you cut users.

Support: HubSpot's free plan gets community help, Starter adds email and chat, and Professional adds phone. HubSpot also publishes a startup program (90% off year one for eligible Seed and Series A companies) and a 40% nonprofit discount on net-new Professional or Enterprise, with Starter excluded (HubSpot nonprofits).

Which one fits your team

• A two-person shop that wants to pay nothing yet: HubSpot's free plan. Freshsales has no free plan on its pricing page.
• A 20-seat team on a tight budget, paying the normal price: Freshsales Growth at $2,160 against HubSpot Starter at $4,800.
• A team that wants automated sequences without $1,500 onboarding: Freshsales Pro.
• A team whose size changes month to month: either one on monthly billing (HubSpot Starter or Freshsales Growth at $11), since Freshworks bars cutting users during an annual term.
• A company that also runs marketing forms and support tickets: HubSpot lists both next to its sales tools.

On G2, Freshsales rates 4.5/5 from 1,244 reviews (G2) and HubSpot Sales Hub rates 4.4/5 from 14,393 reviews (G2).

How we compared

We read HubSpot's and Freshworks' 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.