The latest version of HubSpot’s customer relationship management (CRM) software, now called Smart CRM, gains the Breeze artificial intelligence (AI) sales tool and retains a free version for up to two users. We like its intuitive design and ability to handle payment processing. That said, many of its more advanced features (including some related to Breeze AI) require a pricey subscription to one of HubSpot’s premium software products, such as Sales Hub. Smart CRM is still a compelling choice for small to midsize businesses with a flexible budget, though Zoho CRM remains our Editors’ Choice winner thanks to its more robust feature set, extensive customizability, and free tier that supports up to three users.
How Much Does HubSpot Smart CRM Cost?
HubSpot Smart CRM is free for up to two users and doesn’t impose a time limit. It’s quite generous feature-wise, especially with the addition of Breeze AI features for research and general data requests. At this level, you get the ability to create one deal pipeline per account, three templates, and up to two reporting dashboards. You can optionally integrate a Stripe account to accept payments. For more advanced features, you need a paid subscription to one of the company’s flagship products, such as HubSpot Sales Hub.
(Credit: HubSpot/PCMag)
Small shops should opt for the Starter tier, which costs $20 per user per month. It allows for up to two deals pipelines per account, 10 dashboards, and a product library with up to one million entries. The Zoho Standard ($20 per user per month) and Pipedrive Essential ($24 per user per month) plans are competitive with this tier, though HubSpot includes some AI features here, unlike the others. You need at least this plan to set up HubSpot’s first-party payment processor feature.
HubSpot’s Professional tier, which costs $100 per user per month, unlocks the product’s most advanced features. This plan supports analytics, customized reporting, different sales teams, forecasting, integrated video messaging, and a product library that supports up to 15 million products. It also increases the number of deal pipelines to 15 per account. You should start with this level if you want a full, end-to-end CRM experience.
Finally, the Enterprise tier goes for $150 per user per month. This plan offers all the goodies in the Professional tier, along with really advanced features, such as AI for conversation analytics, custom objects, more granular permissions, and predictive analytics. A Breeze AI feature for contact enrichment costs extra (I discuss this later).
Overall, HubSpot’s paid plans aren’t especially affordable. Enterprise plans from Freshsales and Zoho CRM plans go for $59 and $71 per user per month, respectively, and both include AI features.
Getting Started With HubSpot Smart CRM
The setup process for Smart CRM is similar to that of Salesforce Starter. The software asks how you intend to use the system and then provides recommendations for configuring it based on your responses.
To add users, you can enter email addresses one at a time or with a CSV file in bulk. You can also set up permissions; HubSpot makes this easy with a default list or customizable, role-based options. The process is short and simple.
(Credit: HubSpot/PCMag)
Importing contacts also happens in a wizard-like fashion. For this, HubSpot supports both CSV and Excel files. However, HubSpot is more particular about the format of data than some other CRMs, especially small business-oriented ones such as Insightly. The CSV import process has improved over time, but I still strongly recommend going through the tutorial at least once.
Alternatively, you can sync data from dozens of other apps in the HubSpot Marketplace, such as MailChimp, Shopify, or Zoho CRM. Both one-way and two-way sync options are available. You can also hire a HubSpot CRM Data Migration Specialist to assist you for $500. This process can take up to three weeks, but it might be worth it if you are migrating a lot of data.
The last setup step includes attaching an email address. This is a two-click process with Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 email addresses. You have to enter POP/SMTP data if you use another email provider. Adding a business voice over IP (VoIP) system or any social media accounts is optional.
As for support options, free users can consult the knowledge base and community forums. The Sales Hub Starter plan includes email and in-app chat support, while the Professional and Enterprise tiers add phone support.
Unlike Salesflare, HubSpot doesn’t separate leads and contacts. Instead, every contact gets a deal stage indicator (such as New, Open, or Unqualified).
HubSpot makes all the data pertaining to the view you’re looking at available on the page. For instance, the Overview tab displays companies, deals, tickets (if you’re also using HubSpot’s help desk system), subscriptions, and upcoming activities. The Activities tab includes activities, calls, emails, notes, tasks, and meetings. Meanwhile, the sidebar view offers quick access to most metrics.
(Credit: HubSpot/PCMag)
You can add or modify any of the above aspects directly from the contact record. You can also move contacts along in the pipeline, add a new deal or task, and send an email or make a call (if you set up a VoIP).
The Inbox conveniently integrates every communications channel you’ve synced with HubSpot in one spot, such as email, phone calls, and webchats. You can sort through all of it here, and the list updates dynamically as new messages arrive.
Lists make use of all the filters in your HubSpot database, including default and custom ones. You can create static or active segments based on records (such as contacts or companies) or actions (such as orders or service tickets). An AI-based List Assistant can also generate a contact list based on a set of parameters, though this feature is available only with a paid Marketing Hub subscription.
In the Library tab, Snippets are a handy way to save oft-used blocks of text, such as common email responses or notes. Templates is where you can create any email templates you need, though the tools are pretty basic. If you intend to use more advanced email templates, HubSpot’s email marketing suite—available separately—is much more capable. You can integrate any email template from its email marketing suite with the CRM.
HubSpot Breeze AI
Breeze is what puts the “Smart” in HubSpot Smart CRM. It uses generative AI and large language models (including OpenAI and HubSpot’s in-house one) to conduct company research, perform mundane tasks, trigger workflows, unify and enrich your data, and write blog posts, among many other functions. HubSpot divides functionality into three parts: Copilot, Agents, and Intelligence.
Breeze Copilot is an AI-powered assistant that’s available on all HubSpot platforms, including its free CRM. You can either select a prompt (such as “generate a report” or “summarize deal”) or type a custom request. Over time, Copilot learns about your company’s CRM needs.
(Credit: HubSpot/PCMag)
I tested Copilot by asking various questions about my contacts, outside companies, and the platform itself. I found it helpful for researching potential and existing clients. According to HubSpot, Breeze has indexed over 200 million buyer and company profiles, a result of the company’s acquisition of B2B data resource platform Clearbit in 2023.
You can even ask Breeze (via Copilot) to generate graphics and images for blog posts and collateral. However, since it relies on DALL-E, expect some of its infamous hallmarks to appear, like garbled text and people with more than five fingers.
Compared with Zoho CRM’s Zia AI, I found the Breeze Copilot easier to talk with and more capable of understanding nuance. Of course, like any AI-powered assistant, you get back what you put into it. Overall, Copilot is a useful tool for streamlining workflow and generating ideas, and I appreciate that HubSpot doesn’t lock it behind a paywall.
Breeze Agents are what they sound like: AI-powered “agents” you can train to provide personalized outreach to prospects and clients. These are available only with a paid HubSpot subscription.
Breeze Intelligence imbues the platform with the ability to enrich data, identify trends in your target market, and optimize forms for more cohesive data collection. This add-on is for paid HubSpot accounts, and the starting price is $30 per month for 100 credits. One credit equals one record or form conversion, which can get costly if you attract a lot of leads in a month.
Sales and Deals
Before you get into deals, it’s best to square away your pipelines. The CRM provides a generic pipeline by default, but you can edit it and save different versions. Or you can create an entirely new one.
The basic Deal view defaults to a list like in the Contacts section, but you can also organize it using a card-based Kanban view. This layout looks more attractive and has the benefit of being more interactive; you can move deals forward in the pipeline just by dragging them. You can find the same capabilities in most other competitors, except the ones with stodgier interfaces, like Act! CRM.
Both the card and list-based views let you modify data directly and save whatever lists or views you need most often. That’s good for deals across multiple pipelines, deal packages, and long deals. And, as with contacts or companies, you can filter particularly long lists and create new data filters as you go.
As mentioned, you can use Breeze Copilot to add deals to your pipeline even with the free version of Smart CRM.
Reports and Dashboards
Reports and dashboards are basically the same thing in HubSpot. You can select one of several canned reports HubSpot supplies by default, modify that report, and save it with another name. Unlike several others, such as Pipedrive or Salesflare, HubSpot lets you create entirely custom reports from scratch.
The custom report builder takes a little getting used to, but it’s essentially a two-stage process. Stage one covers the basic data you’re looking to access (sales, marketing, service, and so on), as well as which subcategories you want (contacts or deals, for example, if your report is for sales). For the second stage, you move to a fairly intuitive report builder that lets you customize how the data fields you need appear (a pie chart versus a bar chart, for instance). Paid plans also provide the option to use Breeze AI to help generate custom reports.
I wish there was a default dashboard view in a landing screen format. When you log out and back in, the software drops you wherever you last left off by default. If you want to see dashboard data, you need to click over to the Dashboards section.
Automation and Analytics
Analytics and automation features are advanced options in HubSpot, and you won’t be able to access them without paying for a premium plan.
Analytics is a more advanced form of reporting and dashboarding, but again, it’s available only with the priciest plans. If HubSpot CRM is all you need, then these analytics features aren’t likely a priority; they skew heavily in the market direction. They let you track various website visitor metrics and match that to all your other marketing channels, such as content, email, or events. HubSpot presents this information with excellent graphics and gives you fully customizable reports.
(Credit: HubSpot/PCMag)
Automation tools let you create either sequences or workflows. Sequences revolve around chaining email autoresponders, so they happen either in a particular order or according to specific triggers. You can use a default sequence as is or modify and save it for your custom needs. You can also create a sequence from scratch. The builder is just a series of data entry boxes that ask for the type of communication, the trigger or response, and the order in which you need them to happen.
The workflow builder looks similar to the one for sequences, except it’s meant for internal tasks and notifications. Here, you can build automated workflows for managing an approval process, notifying sales reps about a new lead, and more. As for sequences, HubSpot provides a library of preconfigured workflows that you can use or modify and lets you create custom ones from scratch. You can also use Breeze Copilot to help build workflows and recommend sequences.
Verdict: A Free, Easy-to-Use CRM With AI Smarts
HubSpot Smart CRM continues to serve as a relatively easy-to-adopt CRM solution for small and midsize businesses. Although the platform’s most impressive AI capabilities are pay-to-play, the free version still has useful features. Smart CRM is ultimately a worthy platform that can scale with your business, though you should note that its costs can quickly increase as you opt for more features. Zoho CRM remains our Editors’ Choice winner because it provides more advanced tools at lower prices and class-leading customization options.
Oliver Rist contributed to this review.
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The Bottom Line
HubSpot’s Smart CRM offers a robust AI assistant and all but the most advanced features you need for a midsize business.
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About Alison Barretta
Contributer
