HubSpot alternatives
HubSpot's free CRM is generous and the plugin installs in minutes. People look elsewhere because the data lives on HubSpot's servers, and because costs grow per seat once the free limits are reached.
Why people look for an alternative
- All CRM data is stored on HubSpot's servers, not in your WordPress database.
- The free plan is limited to two users and 1,000 contacts, with HubSpot branding.
- Paid plans are priced per seat, so cost grows with the team.
- Forecasting, a knowledge base and the customer portal need Professional plans.
The alternatives
- Best for email marketing automation
FluentCRM
Self-hosted email marketing with unlimited contacts on every plan, priced per site rather than per seat.
Active installs: 80,000+ · 4.77 / 5 (250 ratings) · From $90 / year
FluentCRM review → - Best for quotes and invoicing
Jetpack CRM
Self-hosted contacts, quotes, invoices and a client portal, free.
Active installs: 30,000+ · 4.32 / 5 (152 ratings) · From $132 / year
Jetpack CRM review → - Best free sales and service CRM
Plugixa CRM
Self-hosted deals, pipelines, a forecast, cases, a knowledge base and a customer portal, all free, with no per-seat cost.
Active installs: Fewer than 10 · From €39 / year
Plugixa CRM review → - Best for sales funnels and automation
Groundhogg
Self-hosted automation with a visual flow editor and unlimited contacts.
Active installs: 2,000+ · 4.87 / 5 (149 ratings) · From $240 / year
Groundhogg review →
Moving your data
Export contacts and companies from HubSpot as CSV, then use the target plugin's CSV importer. Deals, tickets and email history do not carry across this way. Test the import on a staging copy first.
The picks side by side
Scroll sideways to see more plugins, or untick some above.
| Feature | HubSpot | FluentCRM | Jetpack CRM | Plugixa CRM | Groundhogg |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Contacts and companies | |||||
| ContactsStores people with their details, notes and a history of what happened with them. | YesFree | YesFree | YesFree | YesFreeA contact can have several email addresses and phone numbers, one of each marked primary. | YesFree |
| CompaniesStores companies (accounts) as their own records, with contacts linked to them. | YesFree | YesFree | YesFreeCompanies come with B2B mode, which you turn on in the free plugin. | YesFreeAccounts with a parent and child hierarchy, and a link to contacts that records each person's role. | YesPaid: PlusCompany records come from the Companies extension, included from Plus or sold alone from $59 a year. |
| Custom fieldsYou can add your own fields to contacts or other records. | YesFreeThe free plan allows 10 custom properties. Paid plans raise the limit. | YesFree | YesFree | YesPaid: ProTen field types on contacts, accounts, leads and deals. | YesFree |
| Duplicate mergeFinds the same person or company entered twice and merges the two records. | PartialFreeContacts are deduplicated by email and companies by domain, and records can be merged on all plans. The duplicates manager needs a Professional plan. | Not checked | PartialFreeYou can merge two contacts you pick from the list. Automatic duplicate detection was not found. | YesFree | PartialFreeTwo contacts can be merged by hand from the record. No tool that finds duplicates was found. |
| Sales pipeline | |||||
| DealsTracks sales opportunities with a value, a stage and an expected close date. | YesFree | No | NoContacts move through statuses such as Lead and Customer, but there is no deal record with a value and stage. | YesFree | YesPaid: PlusThe Sales Pipeline extension is included from Plus or sold alone from $79 a year. Deals have a close date, a close probability and products. |
| Kanban boardShows deals as cards in stage columns that you drag from one stage to the next. | YesFree | No | No | YesFree | YesPaid: Plus |
| Several pipelinesYou can run more than one pipeline, each with its own stages. | YesPaid: Starter Customer PlatformThe free plan has one default pipeline. Starter allows 15 custom pipelines, shared across objects. | No | No | YesFree | YesPaid: Plus |
| Sales forecastReports expected revenue, weighted by stage probability or by close date. | YesPaid: Sales Hub Professional | No | No | YesFreeA weighted pipeline forecast, win rate and expected close by month. | Not checked |
| Lead conversionA lead is a separate record that converts into a contact, a company or a deal once qualified. | PartialPaid: Sales Hub ProfessionalLeads are linked to existing contacts or companies and move through lead stages towards a deal, rather than converting into a new contact. Needs Sales Hub Professional. | NoA contact is labelled Lead or Customer. There is no separate lead record to convert. | NoLeads are contacts with a Lead status, not a separate record type. | YesFreeA lead converts into an account, a contact and an opportunity in one step. | NoThere is no separate lead record. Leads are contacts, and deals are created from them. |
| Activities and email | |||||
| TasksTasks with a due date and an assignee, linked to a record. | YesFree | PartialFreeTasks come from the separate FluentBoards plugin and show on the contact profile. | YesFree | YesFree | YesFree |
| CalendarA calendar view of tasks, meetings or appointments inside the CRM. | Not checked | Not checked | YesFree | YesFreeMonth, week and day views over tasks, calls and meetings, with working hours, holidays and free/busy. | Not checked |
| Calls and meetingsLogs calls and meetings as their own activities on a record. | YesFree | YesFreeCalls and meetings are note types in the Notes and Activities tab. | YesFreeCalls and meetings are log types on a contact's activity log. | YesFree | YesFree |
| Email from a recordSends a one-to-one email from a contact's record and keeps it on the record. | YesFree | YesFreeDirect email works only for contacts with a Subscribed status. | YesFree | YesFreeSent from any record, with templates and merge fields. | YesFree |
| Incoming emailReads a mailbox and files incoming mail against the matching records. | YesFreeEmail is connected through HubSpot's shared inbox. Email sync is listed as a Starter feature, so free-plan limits were not checked in detail. | Not checked | No | YesFreeReads your own mailbox over IMAP. Incoming mail can create cases automatically. | PartialPaid: ProReplies to Groundhogg emails reach the contact record through Groundhogg's hosted relay. It needs an active licence and does not read a mailbox of your own. |
| Marketing | |||||
| Email campaignsSends newsletters or bulk email to a list or segment of contacts. | YesFreeFree marketing email carries HubSpot branding and has sending limits. | YesFree | YesPaid add-on | YesFreeCampaigns, target lists and mass email sent in batches, with open and click tracking on your own domain. | YesFree |
| Marketing automationRuns sequences or workflows triggered by events, such as a tag added or a form submitted. | YesPaid: Starter Customer PlatformStarter has simple email, contact and deal automation. Full workflows need a Professional plan. | YesFreeThe free version has a small set of triggers and actions. Most integration triggers need Pro. | YesPaid add-onA free internal automator exists, but configurable workflows need the Automations extension ($79 a year). | NoTarget lists are static, and there is no workflow or sequence builder. | YesFree |
| Lead capture formsHas its own forms that create contacts or leads, without a separate form plugin. | YesFree | PartialFreeForms created in FluentCRM are Fluent Forms forms, so the free Fluent Forms plugin must be installed. | YesFree | YesFreeWeb-to-lead forms as a block or a shortcode; submissions arrive as leads. | YesFree |
| Customer support | |||||
| Tickets or casesA support queue of customer requests with a status and an owner. | YesFree | NoTickets come from the separate Fluent Support plugin and show on the contact profile. | PartialPaid add-onThe Awesome Support extension shows tickets from the separate Awesome Support plugin inside the CRM. | YesFreeCases with statuses, priorities and types, assigned round-robin or to whoever is least busy. | NoThere is no ticket queue. A paid Help Scout integration connects an outside helpdesk. |
| Knowledge baseHelp articles you write in the CRM and can show to customers. | YesPaid: Service Hub Professional | Not checked | No | YesFreeArticles in a category tree. Articles you mark as public appear in a help centre on your site. | No |
| Client portalCustomers log in on your site to see their own records, such as tickets, invoices or documents. | YesPaid: Service Hub ProfessionalThe portal shows customers their own support tickets only. | Not checked | YesFreeThe portal is free. Client Portal Pro adds file downloads, tasks and tickets. | YesFreeCustomers see their own cases, shared documents, meetings, calls and help articles. Each panel is a separate switch. | Not checked |
| Team and permissions | |||||
| CRM rolesPermissions set per CRM role, beyond the standard WordPress roles. | PartialFreePermissions are set per user on all plans. Reusable permission sets need an Enterprise plan. | PartialPaid: Solo/BloggerPro managers get permissions set per user, not per named role. | YesFree | YesFreeRoles per record type and per action, each with an all, team, own or none scope. | YesFreeAdds Marketer, Sales Manager and Sales Representative roles. |
| Record-level accessLimits which records or fields a user can see, for example only their own or their team's. | YesFreeUsers can be limited to records they own on all plans. Team-only access needs a Professional plan. | NoManager permissions apply globally, so a manager sees all contacts their permissions cover. | PartialFreeContacts can be assigned to a CRM user, and editing can be limited to the owner. Field-level control was not found. | YesFreeRecords are limited to a user's own, their team's or all, and single fields can be hidden or made read-only. | YesFreeSales Representatives see only the contacts they own. Field-level limits were not found. |
| Change historyKeeps a log of who changed what on a record. | YesFreeProperty history shows each change, its date and its source, such as a user, an import or a workflow. | Not checked | PartialFreeThe activity log records status changes and edits made through the portal or profile, but not a full field history. | YesFree | Not checked |
| Reports and data | |||||
| ReportsBuilt-in reports or dashboards on contacts, deals or activity. | YesFree | YesFreeCampaign and automation reports are free. Contact, WooCommerce and LMS reports need Pro. | YesFreeThe free dashboard shows contact and activity charts. Revenue reports need the Sales Dashboard extension. | YesFreeA report builder with charts over deals, leads, meetings, calls and tasks, and multi-tab dashboards. | YesFree |
| CSV import and exportImports contacts from a CSV file and exports them to one. | YesFree | YesPaid: Solo/BloggerCSV import is free. Contact export needs Pro. | YesFreeA basic CSV importer and an export page are free. CSV Importer PRO adds more options. | YesFreeCSV import with column mapping and an undo for the whole run; CSV and Excel export. | YesFree |
| WebhooksSends a message to a URL you choose when records change. | YesPaid: Data Hub ProfessionalThe Send a webhook workflow action needs Data Hub Professional. Developer apps can also subscribe to record changes through the webhooks API. | YesPaid: Solo/BloggerOutgoing webhooks run as an automation step in Pro. Incoming webhooks are free. | NoThe free plugin only accepts incoming webhook requests. No outgoing webhooks on record changes were found. | YesFree | YesPaid: BasicSending a webhook is a premium flow step, listed on every paid plan. Free users cannot use it. |
| REST APIA documented API for reading and writing CRM records from other software. | YesFree | YesFreeDeveloper docs say core endpoints work on the free plugin, but the Free vs Pro table lists the REST API under Pro. | YesFree | YesFreeAbout 230 documented REST routes, with the same permission rules as the admin screens. | YesFree |
| Commerce | |||||
| WooCommerceLinks WooCommerce customers and their orders to CRM contacts. | PartialFreeNot part of the HubSpot plugin. WooCommerce sync is offered by third-party apps, such as the one from MakeWebBetter. | YesFreePurchase history on the contact profile is free. Segmentation, triggers and reports for WooCommerce need Pro. | YesFree | YesPaid: ProLinks WooCommerce customers and their order history to contacts. | YesPaid: ProThe WooCommerce extension is included in Pro or sold alone from $99 a year. |
| Quotes and invoicesCreates quotes or invoices from the CRM. | YesFreeInvoices are listed for all plans. Quotes need a Commerce Hub Professional plan. | Not checked | YesFree | NoThere are PDF templates for any record, but no quote or invoice records. | No |
| Integrations | |||||
| Form plugin integrationsSends entries from form plugins such as Contact Form 7, WPForms or Gravity Forms into the CRM. | YesFreeListed integrations include Gravity Forms, Ninja Forms, WPForms, Formidable and Forminator. Contact Form 7 is not listed. | YesFreeFluent Forms is free. Elementor, Divi Bloom, Thrive and Beaver Builder forms need Pro. Other form plugins can post to an incoming webhook. | YesPaid add-onJetpack Forms is supported for free. Contact Form 7 and Gravity Forms each need a paid extension. | YesPaid: ProContact Form 7, WPForms, Gravity Forms and Elementor forms. | YesPaid: PlusContact Form 7, Gravity Forms, WPForms, Fluent Forms and others are listed from Plus. |
| Calendar syncSyncs CRM meetings or tasks with Google Calendar or Outlook. | YesFree | Not checked | No | YesPaid: ProGoogle Calendar and Microsoft 365 calendars. | YesPaid: PlusGoogle Calendar sync comes with the Booking Calendar extension, included from Plus or sold alone from $79 a year. |
| Platform | |||||
| Where your data livesWhether records are stored in your WordPress database or on the vendor's servers. | HubSpot's servers (hosted CRM) | Your WordPress database | Your WordPress database | Your WordPress database, in the plugin's own tables | Your WordPress database (custom tables) |
| CRM on a site pageStaff can use the CRM on a page of the site, outside wp-admin. | NoThe CRM runs in HubSpot's own web app. The plugin adds tools to wp-admin and forms or chat to site pages, not a staff CRM on the site. | Not checked | NoThe front end offers a client portal for customers only. Staff use the CRM in wp-admin. | YesFreeA shortcode puts the whole CRM on a page of your site for staff, inside your theme. | Not checked |
- Yes: The plugin does this.
- Partial: It does part of this; the note says what is missing.
- No: The plugin does not do this.
- Not checked: We could not confirm it from the vendor's own pages, so we do not claim either way.