When you’re running a small or medium-sized business, your time and resources are limited. That means your marketing tools need to work hard for you.
HubSpot is one of the most talked-about platforms in the marketing world, offering an all-in-one solution for CRM, email marketing, automation, content management, and reporting. There are even some marketing agencies who do everything through HubSpot, meaning your business will need to utilize the platform in order to work with them.
Which begs the question: Is HubSpot the right fit for your business?
Like any platform, it has its strengths and limitations. Let’s take a closer look at the pros and cons, so you can decide if it makes sense for where your business is today – as well as for where you want it to go.
HubSpot Pros, Cons, and What to Consider
Bright Spots
- All-in-One Functionality
One of HubSpot’s biggest selling points is that it combines a wide range of tools into a single platform. Instead of cobbling together multiple systems for email, CRM, blogging, and lead nurturing, you can manage everything under one roof. This can improve efficiency, data clarity, and collaboration across teams.
- User-Friendly Interface
HubSpot is known for its clean, intuitive user experience. For many small business owners and marketers who aren’t tech experts, this is a huge plus. It’s also relatively easy to learn, and the onboarding support is admittedly robust.
- Strong Educational Resources
HubSpot Academy offers a library of tutorials, courses, and certifications that can help your team level up their skills. Even if you never sign up for the platform, the training materials alone are a valuable resource.
- Welcome Scalability
With free tools and multiple tiers of service, HubSpot offers an entry point for businesses just starting out as well as the ability to grow into more advanced features as you grow and your needs expand.
Drawbacks
- Costs Can Add Up Quickly
While HubSpot does have free tools and a free tier, the more powerful features (automation, advanced reporting, custom integrations, A/B testing, and so on) come with a steep price tag. Businesses often start at a lower level, then find themselves forced to pay more than expected to do things they thought were already included.
- All-in-One Doesn’t Mean “Best”
Yes, HubSpot can do basically everything you need (at the highest price tiers) like CRM, email, CMS, analytics, and ad management. However, even though this can be convenient, some of their tools are weaker than best-in-class alternatives (e.g., its CMS compared to WordPress or its reporting compared to Google Data Studio).
- Integrations Can Be Tricky
HubSpot integrates with many tools, but not always seamlessly. You may run into restrictions with data syncing, limited fields, or require third-party connectors (like Zapier or Make) to fill gaps. All of this adds complexity, cost, and often, headaches.
- Platform Lock-In
Once you’re fully set up in HubSpot, migrating away can be difficult and expensive. Your data, workflows, and systems become tightly tied to HubSpot’s structure, making transitions to other tools a real headache.
- Built for General Use
Because HubSpot is designed to be broad and universal, it may not be the best fit for every industry or business model. If you need deep functionality in a specific area (like e-commerce or complex sales operations), you might benefit more from a purpose-built solution.
So, Is HubSpot Right for You?
As with all things, it depends. If you’re looking for a single platform to manage marketing and sales, you value ease of use and scalability, and you have the budget to afford the tier and tools you actually need, HubSpot could be a great fit.
However, if your business has highly specific needs or you’re trying to keep costs down, there may be other tools – or combinations of tools – that better align with your goals.
Need help evaluating your options? We help businesses think strategically about their marketing – including investing in the tools that will truly drive results rather than the ones that get the most buzz. Reach out to learn more.
