An honest look at HubSpot’s free tools. Learn all about what's included, what's not, and how to get the most out of using HubSpot for free.
How well do you know your customers? Of course you “know” your customers, but imagine truly understanding them and having a crystal-clear view of your business and how all your data works together.
Sounds like a dream, right? HubSpot's free tools are here to give you a taste of that reality.
HubSpot's free offerings give you a sneak peek into a future where your marketing, sales, and customer management are seamlessly connected, data-driven, and supercharged by AI.
Think of it like test-driving a new car, but for your business operations.
These free tools have everything you need to start:
- Decoding your customers' needs and behaviors
- Gaining insights into your business you never knew existed
- Bridging the gaps between your data silos
The best part? You can explore this potential without spending a dime or committing to a premium plan.
It's your chance to see why everyone’s talking about HubSpot for growth.
How to Get Started with HubSpot for Free
If you’re ready to give HubSpot a try, follow these simple steps:
- Go to hubspot.com
- Click the “Get started for free” button of the Hub you want to try
- Choose to sign up with your name and email address, Google, or Apple ID
- Enter your name, company, industry, and role
Once you’ve created your account, start exploring the tool.
Pro Tip: HubSpot offers a full academy of resources to help you get the most out of your tools.
If you still want to learn more about HubSpot’s free tools, you’ve come to the right place. In this post, we'll cover everything you need to know.
Let’s dig in!
The Honest Truth: HubSpot's Free vs. Paid Potential
We’re huge HubSpot nerds here at Growth Spurt. But, if we’re going to share our honest opinion, we need to start by addressing the elephant in the room: HubSpot's free CRM is an excellent starting point, but it's essentially a teaser for the platform's true capabilities.
Of course, that doesn’t mean these tools aren’t worthy of your time, just be prepared to get a taste of the potential while knowing that you’ll encounter areas in the platform where you may decide the real power is unlocked in the paid tiers.
The platform is strategically designed to entice you to unlock more features as your business grows. Paid tiers start at around $40 per month, offering significantly expanded capabilities that can scale with your business. Many of our clients report a quick ROI on HubSpot with the additional investment to upgrade tiers.
Pro tip: Start with the free version, learn the platform, and upgrade when your business needs demand more sophisticated tools.
HubSpot’s Free Tools: What’s Included?
HubSpot’s free plan includes a variety of tools that empower businesses to take control of their marketing, sales, and customer service efforts. HubSpot’s free tools offer many “lite” versions of select tools featured in their paid Hubs.
The HubSpot platform has 6 core Hubs broken down by function, including:
- Marketing Hub
- Sales Hub
- Service Hub
- Content Hub
- Operations Hub
- Commerce Hub
Each of these Hubs is available in a free, limited functionality version for up to 2 users with no credit card required to sign up.
Here are some of the most notable tools you can start using today:
- Smart CRM: At the core of HubSpot is its powerful, easy-to-use CRM that helps you track and manage every interaction with your customers and leads.
- Email Marketing: Send up to 2,000 emails a month (with HubSpot branding), complete with a drag-and-drop editor, A/B testing capabilities, and reports to track performance.
- Live Chat & Chatbots: Communicate with website visitors in real-time, and set up automated responses with a chatbot to provide answers to FAQs when your team is unavailable.
- Forms and Pop-Ups: Capture leads directly from your website with easy-to-embed forms and pop-ups. Customize them to fit your brand and gather information that’s important to your business.
- Ad Management: Run ads on Facebook, Google, and LinkedIn with HubSpot’s ad management tool, where you can track performance and ROI without leaving your CRM.
- Basic Reporting: Gain insights into your contacts, deals, and communication activities. Although it’s limited compared to the paid reporting features, it still provides valuable visibility for growing teams.
These are just a few examples of what’s available on HubSpot’s free plan.
To learn more about available features, let’s take a deeper look at what’s included with the free version of each Hub.
HubSpot Marketing Hub
HubSpot’s Hub to help you generate qualified leads.
Let’s take a look at the available free tools in Marketing Hub to capture and convert leads, automate your marketing, and track of all your marketing efforts:
- Team email
- Email reply tracking
- List segmentation (limited)
- Mobile optimization (limited)
- Email health reporting (limited)
- Breeze Copilot AI Form (limited)
- Custom user permissions
- Social login (Sign in to HubSpot using the Google or Microsoft social login)
- Website traffic analytics
- User management
- Stripe payment processing (with Stripe account)
- Live Chat (HubSpot branded)
- Product library (100 products)
- Ad management (limited)
- Facebook Messenger integration CRM Import (50 imports/day)
- Form automation (1 per form)
- HubSpot mobile app CRM Exports (300 exports/day)
- Reporting dashboard (2 dashboards)
- Email marketing (2,000 sends per month)
- Conversational bots (limited)
- Marketing events object
- Email automation (1 automated action)
- Shared inbox (1 inbox) Ad retargeting (limited)
- Subdomain and country code top-level domain availability
- Custom properties (10)
- Cookie Management Tools SEO recommendations (basic)
Also, here’s a look at some of the tools NOT included with the free plans. Remember, these are available with an easy paid upgrade.
- 1:1 technical support
- Simple ad automation
- Email and in-app chat support
- Messaging Insights
- Permission sets
- Required fields
- Simple marketing automation
- Multiple currencies Personalization tokens
- CTAs
- HubSpot Payments
Learn more about Marketing Hub.
HubSpot Sales Hub
Hubspot's Hub to help you turn leads into customers.
Let’s take a look at the available free tools in Sales Hub to help you close deals, automate tasks, and improve your sales process:
- List segmentation (10 active, 1,000 static)
- Team email Product library (100 products)
- Canned snippets (up to 3)
- Shared inbox (1 inbox)
- Reporting dashboard (2 dashboards)
- Conversational bots (limited)
- CRM Import (50 imports/day)
- HubSpot mobile app
- Deal pipeline (1 deal pipeline)
- App Marketplace integrations
- CRM Exports (300 exports/day)
- Calling SDK
- Email tracking & notifications (200/month)
- Documents (up to 5)
- Meeting scheduling (1 personal meetings link)
- 1-to-1 email (HubSpot branding)
- Custom support form fields
- Prospects
- Contact management
- Custom properties (10 properties)
- Email scheduling
- Slack integration
- Customizable quotes
- Live chat (HubSpot branding)
- User management
- Email templates (3)
- Email reply tracking
- Breeze Copilot AI
- Marketing events object
- Facebook Messenger integration
- Contact website activity
- Email health reporting (limited)
- Custom user permissions
- Stripe payment processing (with Stripe account)
- Social Login
Also, here’s a look at some of the tools NOT included with the free plans. Remember, these are available with an easy paid upgrade. - E-signature
- Multiple currencies
- Deal tags
- Sales automation
- 1:1 technical support
- Repeating tasks and task queues
- Goals
- Permission sets
- Stripe integration
- Sales content analytics
- Simple automation
- HubSpot-provided phone numbers
- Task calendar sync
- Conversation routing
- Required fields
- HubSpot payments
- Calling
Learn more about Sales Hub.
HubSpot Service Hub
HubSpot's Hub to help your convert customers into promoters.
Let’s take a look at the available free tools in Service Hub to help you deliver authentic service and create happier customers:
- CRM Import (50 imports/day)
- Meeting scheduling (1 personal meeting link)
- Email reply tracking
- HubSpot mobile app
- Ticket pipelines (1 ticket pipeline)
- Email scheduling
- Calling SDK
- Breeze Copilot AI
- Team email
- Facebook Messenger integration
- Email health reporting (limited)
- Conversational bots (limited)
- Reporting dashboard (2 dashboards)
- List segmentations (10 active lists, 1,000 static lists)
- Email tracking & notifications (200/month)
- User management Documents (5 documents)
- Product library (100 products)
- Slack integration
- 1-to-1 email (HubSpot branded)
- Marketing events object
- Channel switching
- Social Login
- Ticket routing (Assign to AI chatbots only)
- Canned snippets (3 snippets)
- Shared inbox (1 inbox)
- Email templates (3 templates)
- CRM Exports (30 exports/day)
- Mobile inbox Ticketing
- Live chat (HubSpot branding)
- Stripe payment processing (with Stripe account)
- Custom properties (10 custom properties)
- Custom user permissions
Also, here’s a look at some of the tools NOT included with the free plans. Remember, these are available with an easy paid upgrade. - HubSpot Payments
- Multiple currencies
- Required fields
- HubSpot-provided phone numbers
- Permission sets
- Email and in-app chat support
- Conversation routing
- Ticket tags 1:1 technical support
- Simple ticket automation
- Task calendar sync
- Calling Repeating tasks and task queues
Learn more about Service Hub.
HubSpot Content Hub
HubSpot's Hub to help you create and manage content.
Let’s take a look at the available free tools in Content Hub to help you create and manage content that fuels the entire customer journey:
- Website traffic analytics (standard)
- Social Login
- Reporting dashboard (2 dashboards)
- SEO recommendations (basic)
- Forms (limited)
- Conversational bots (limited)
- Ad management (limited)
- Live chat (HubSpot branding)
- Premium hosting
- AI blog (HubSpot branding)
- CRM Import (50 imports/day)
- Cookie Management Tools (100 consent banners)
- Multi-language content creations (3 languages)
- Content library (HubSpot branding)
- App Marketplace integrations
- 99.95% measured uptime
- Apex hosting and redirects
- Subdomain and country code top-level domain availability (1)
- Facebook Messenger integration
- Blog export
- Custom domain security settings
- Connect a custom domain
- Breeze Copilot AI
- Drag-and-drop editor
- Landing pages (HubSpot branding)
- Shared inbox (1 inbox)
- Website themes
- Automatically-generated XML sitemap
- HubSpot mobile app
- Built-in AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages) support for blogs
- Local website development
- CRM exports (30 exports/day)
- Website structure import
- Product library (100 products)
- Blog import
- Template marketplace
- Site export
- Mobile optimization
- Stripe payment processing (with Stripe account)
- Design manager
- List segmentation (10 active lists, 1,000 static lists)
- Advanced menus (website pages/blog posts)
- Website pages (30 website pages)
Also, here’s a look at some of the tools NOT included with the free plans. Remember, these are available with an easy paid upgrade. - Permission sets
- AI assistants
- CTAs
- URL mappings
- AI image generator
- Required fields
- HubSpot Payments
- Personalization tokens
- 1:1 technical support
- Multiple currencies
Learn more about Content Hub.
HubSpot Operations Hub
HubSpot's Hub to help you make your systems work better together.
Let’s take a look at the available free tools in Operations Hub to help you connect tools and sync customer data.
- App Marketplace integrations
- Default field mappings
- Deals List segmentation (10 active lists, 1,000 static lists)
- Stripe payment processing (with Stripe account)
- Breeze Copilot AI
- CRM Exports (30 exports/day)
- Historical sync
- Tasks & activities
- Contact management
- Email reply tracking
- Marketing events object
- CRM Import (50 imports/day)
- Companies Custom properties (10 custom properties)
- User management
- Product library (100 products)
- Ticketing
- Social Login
- Email health reporting (limited)
- Reporting dashboard (2 dashboards)
- Data sync
- Custom user permissions
Also, here’s a look at some of the tools NOT included with the free plans. Remember, these are available with an easy paid upgrade. - HubSpot Payments
- 1:1 technical support
- Permission sets
- Custom field mappings
- Required fields
Learn more about Operations Hub.
HubSpot Commerce Hub
HubSpot's Hub to help you turn opportunity into revenue.
Let’s take a look at the available free tools in Commerce Hub to help you bill customers, collect payments, and increase revenue.
- Invoices
- Payment links
- Quotes
- Subscriptions
- B2B checkout
- Product library
- Stripe payment processing (with Stripe account)
- Simple revenue reporting
- QuickBooks Online (QBO)
- Integration (with QBO account)
Also, here’s a look at some of the tools NOT included with the free plans. Remember, these are available with an easy paid upgrade. - E-signature
- HubSpot Payments
Visit our Why Choose HubSpot article for the full story of why the Growth Spurt team recommends HubSpot.
When HubSpot’s Free Tools Are a Good Fit
As you can see by these lists of included tools, free doesn’t mean basic!
HubSpot’s free tools pack a lot of value, especially for smaller businesses or startups who want to get a sense of how the HubSpot platform can support their goals.
Here are a few scenarios where we recommend the free tools from HubSpot:
- You’re Growing a Small Business: If you’re just getting started, HubSpot’s CRM gives you visibility into customer interactions and lead tracking without the complexity of an enterprise system.
- You Want to Test CRM Features: Many businesses new to CRM technology find HubSpot’s free tools helpful for understanding how a CRM can make their sales and marketing efforts more efficient.
- You’re a Solo Marketer or Freelancer: HubSpot provides essential tools to streamline client communications and create engagement campaigns, perfect for freelancers or sole proprietors.
- You Need Lead Generation Tools: HubSpot’s forms, pop-ups, and chat tools allow you to capture and nurture leads without any coding or technical setup.
Who Should Look Beyond the Free Tools
Here are a few more scenarios we’ve seen where it may be worth considering a paid investment in HubSpot:
- Rapidly Scaling Companies: If your business is growing quickly, you'll likely outgrow the free tools' limitations on users and features.
- Companies with Complex Sales Processes: The free version only offers one sales pipeline, which may not be sufficient for businesses with multiple product lines or complex sales cycles.
- Businesses Requiring Advanced Automation: While the free tools offer basic automation, companies needing sophisticated workflow automation will find the free version limiting.
- Organizations Needing Comprehensive Reporting: The free version lacks custom reporting capabilities, which can be crucial for data-driven decision-making.
- Businesses with High-Volume Communication Needs: The free version limits email sends to 2,000 per month, which may not be sufficient for businesses with large customer bases.
- Companies Requiring Immediate, Direct Support: The free version primarily offers community-based support, which may not be sufficient for businesses needing quick, direct assistance 1:1.
A Platform That Scales with You
One of HubSpot’s greatest advantages is its scalability. As your business grows, you can add more sophisticated features through paid plans. The upgrade options include advanced marketing, sales, and customer service tools designed to handle larger-scale operations and offer deeper insights.
Upgrades are seamless and unlock new features within the same platform you’re using for free.
Ready to Give HubSpot a Try? Follow These Simple Steps:
- Go to hubspot.com
- Click the “Get started for free” button of the Hub you want to try
- Choose to sign up with your name and email address, Google, or Apple ID
- Enter your name, company, industry, and role
What’s next? Check out our Guide to Setting Up HubSpot the Right Way to ensure you’re off to a good start.
