Freshsales vs HubSpot: Which Is Better in 2026?
Freshsales is the CRM from Freshworks, with phone, email and chat built into the product instead of bolted on. HubSpot starts as a free CRM and grows into a suite: marketing, sales, service and content tools that share one contact database. Freshsales’s strength is letting reps call, email and track deals without leaving the CRM; HubSpot’s is putting marketing and sales on one system that people will use without training.
01Pricing
Freshsales: the Growth plan costs $9/user/mo, about $90 a month for a team of ten. HubSpot: the Sales Hub Starter plan costs $20/seat/mo, about $200 a month for a team of ten. At ten people Freshsales is cheaper by about $110 a month, or $1,320 a year. Freshsales has no free plan; the trial runs 21 days. HubSpot has a free plan (up to 2 users).
| Team size | Freshsales | HubSpot |
|---|---|---|
| 5 users | $45 | $100 |
| 10 users | $90 | $200 |
| 25 users | $225 | $500 |
| Plan | Billed annually | Billed monthly | Limits | Adds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Growth | $9/user | $11/user | Kanban view; Contact lifecycle stages; Chat, email and phone; Custom fields | |
| Pro | $39/user | $47/user | Contact scoring; Deal insights; Custom sales activities; Territory management | |
| Enterprise | $59/user | $71/user | Forecasting insights; Field-level permissions; Custom modules; Sandbox |
| Plan | Billed annually | Billed monthly | Limits | Adds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | $0 | Free for up to 2 users; Up to 3 snippets, 3 email templates; HubSpot branding on live chat | |
| Sales Hub Starter † | n/a | $20/seat | 500 HubSpot Credits; Up to 5,000 snippets/templates | Sales automation workflows; Conversational bots; Sequences; Lead scoring |
| Sales Hub Professional † | $90/seat | $100/seat | 3,000 HubSpot Credits; Up to 300 workflows; 3,000 calling minutes; $1,500 one-time onboarding fee required | Deal automation; Meeting scheduling; Up to 10 lead scores; 1,000 email sends per user per day |
| Sales Hub Enterprise † | $150/seat | n/a | 5,000 HubSpot Credits; Up to 1,000 workflows; 12,000 calling minutes; $3,500 one-time onboarding fee required | Advanced forecasting; Custom signals |
Prices are per month on annual billing, except HubSpot (monthly billing; no annual price published). † marks prices taken from the vendor’s documentation or page data instead of its visible pricing page. Freshsales pricing and HubSpot pricing have the full detail.
02The Two Tools
Freshsales
Freshsales is the CRM from Freshworks, with phone, email and chat built into the product instead of bolted on. Lead scoring and deal insights come from its AI assistant, and the pricing sits at the affordable end. It suits teams that sell mainly by phone and email and want one tool to do it.
- Best at
- Letting reps call, email and track deals without leaving the CRM.
- Falls short
- The app marketplace is smaller than its larger rivals’, and advanced customization and reporting need the higher tiers.
HubSpot
HubSpot starts as a free CRM and grows into a suite: marketing, sales, service and content tools that share one contact database. It is easy to use, and sales and marketing see the same records without integration work. The catch is the pricing, which steps up sharply between tiers and with the size of your marketing list.
- Best at
- Putting marketing and sales on one system that people will use without training.
- Falls short
- Costs jump between tiers, and the useful automation and reporting sit on the expensive ones.
03Which Fits Your Situation
| If you are | Better fit | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Small Business | HubSpot | The free CRM covers the basics, and marketing tools can be added when the business is ready. |
| Enterprise | Either | Freshsales: A credible mid-market option with built-in communication tools. HubSpot: Its enterprise tiers suit companies that want marketing and sales on one platform without Salesforce’s overhead. |
| Startups | HubSpot | Free to begin, and the same system can run marketing once there is a marketing team. |
| Sales Teams | HubSpot | Email sequences, meeting scheduling and a record shared with marketing. |
| Agencies | HubSpot | Agencies can run their own sales and marketing on it, and many of their clients use it too. |
04Verdict
Choose Freshsales if you want calling and email built into an affordable CRM. Choose HubSpot if you want marketing and sales in one system that people will use without training.
05FAQ
Is Freshsales or HubSpot cheaper?
For a team of ten, Freshsales comes to about $90 a month and HubSpot to about $200. Prices are per month on annual billing, except HubSpot (monthly billing; no annual price published).
Do Freshsales and HubSpot have free plans?
Freshsales has no free plan; the trial runs 21 days. HubSpot has a free plan (up to 2 users).
Which is easier to learn, Freshsales or HubSpot?
There is little between them: both are moderately involved to set up.
Which is better for agencies, Freshsales or HubSpot?
HubSpot. Agencies can run their own sales and marketing on it, and many of their clients use it too.