8 HubSpot Alternatives Your Sales Team Should Know About

HubSpot has earned a reputation as a go-to CRM and marketing platform, but it isn’t always the right fit for every sales team. Some businesses need more flexibility. Others want stronger outbound capabilities, tighter integrations, or a pricing model that scales without bloat. 

Exploring HubSpot alternatives is a smart move in these cases — especially if you aim to streamline your tech stack without sacrificing performance.

Here’s why companies pivot away from HubSpot and what to look for in a replacement. We’ll explore eight top CRM alternatives and how Rox’s AI-powered system stands out.

4 Reasons Why You May Look for Other Companies Like HubSpot

HubSpot offers a wide range of tools designed to streamline sales processes. For many new businesses, these tools check all the boxes — but as sales teams grow or specialize, the cracks start to show. 

Here are four common reasons companies start looking for other platforms like HubSpot:

1. High Cost at Scale

HubSpot’s pricing model gets expensive fast. While the entry-level tiers are accessible, costs escalate as you add users, features, and marketing contacts. Teams needing enterprise-level functionality without a six-figure software bill often start shopping for leaner, more targeted tools. Rox, for example, delivers high-impact sales automation and reporting features at a flat rate, keeping costs predictable and tied directly to ROI.

2. Limited Custom Reporting

Custom reporting in HubSpot often means upgrading plans or stitching together external tools. This creates a bottleneck for teams that need account-level visibility and real-time insights. Rox flips that dynamic. You get live, adaptive reporting — generated by AI agents that actively monitor and flag opportunities the moment they surface.

3. Outbound Execution Feels Bolted On

HubSpot is built primarily for inbound sales. Outbound workflows exist, but they aren’t as easy to access. Rox prioritizes outbound from the ground up. With built-in research, discovery, and engagement capabilities, reps can use Rox to activate leads efficiently.

4. Workflow Complexity That Slows Reps Down

Despite its automation features, HubSpot still relies heavily on reps to input data, update pipelines, and monitor engagement manually. That leads to hours lost every week — hours that should be spent selling. Instead, Rox’s agentic CRM automates research, outreach, data collection, and follow-ups. In other words, Rox offloads repetitive tasks so reps can reclaim time and momentum.

8 HubSpot Competitors for Sales Automation

Whether you’re looking for AI-oriented options, free plans, or customizable tools, here are eight CRM solutions other than HubSpot:

1. Rox

Rox is the best HubSpot alternative for small businesses and large enterprises alike. It’s the only agentic CRM on the market — built not just to track sales activity but to proactively execute it. AI agents handle time-consuming tasks like lead research, follow-ups, pipeline updates, and meeting prep for you, allowing account executives to reclaim more than eight working hours per week. Reinvest that time in high-impact activities like closing deals.

Unlike legacy CRMs that demand constant manual updates, Rox keeps your pipeline accurate and your data clean behind the scenes. Meanwhile, live reporting, territory updates, and personalized nudges keep your team focused and accountable without slowing them down.

2. Zoho CRM

Zoho CRM is a flexible, budget-friendly alternative to HubSpot that’s popular among startups and growing teams. It offers a range of sales, marketing, and customer support features. For example, its Workflow Builder automates processes like lead assignment and follow-ups. 

Similarly, you can use Zia, Zoho’s AI assistant, to nurture leads more intelligently and keep tabs on deal health and sales trends. However, some users report that Zoho’s automation tools have a steep learning curve, and others find Zia’s functionality underwhelming, especially compared to more advanced AI-powered tools on the market, like Rox.

3. EngageBay

EngageBay unifies marketing and sales for small businesses. EngageBay includes tools for email marketing, sales automation, live chat, and contact management — offering much of what HubSpot provides at a lower price point. 

EngageBay is designed to be user-friendly, and its free plan gives new teams room to grow. But as sales teams scale, they may find EngageBay’s features less robust than specialized platforms like Rox.

4. Pipedrive

Pipedrive is a sales-first CRM for teams that want a clean interface and a strong emphasis on pipeline visibility. Its drag-and-drop sales funnel makes it easy to track deals and forecast revenue at a glance. Users can also automate repetitive tasks like follow-up emails and task reminders through Pipedrive’s workflow automation tool.

While it’s user-friendly, Pipedrive offers limited AI functionality for sales teams. For example, the follow-up emails Pipedrive generates might lack the personalized touch that more advanced CRMs, like Rox, can offer. Additionally, Pipedrive’s customization options are somewhat limited, making it less ideal for businesses with complex or evolving sales processes.

5. ActiveCampaign

ActiveCampaign blends CRM functionality with email marketing and automation features. It’s best for businesses that prioritize customer journeys and need a tool to manage both sales and marketing touchpoints. Features like behavior-based triggering, lead scoring, and dynamic content also make it helpful for nurturing leads at scale.

Keep in mind that ActiveCampaign’s CRM tools aren’t as deep as those in sales-first platforms. ActiveCampaign excels in email marketing automation, but high-volume sales teams find its CRM cumbersome and its reporting features limited.

6. Freshsales

Like many HubSpot competitors, Freshsales offers a comprehensive suite of sales tools, including lead management, deal tracking, and email automation. It’s known for its easy-to-use interface and ability to integrate with a wide range of other platforms. 

While Freshsales provides essential CRM features, some advanced functionalities are limited or only available in higher-tier plans. For example, Freshsales’ basic plan only allows you to create one sales pipeline, which can be restrictive for growing sales teams. Sales teams looking to streamline their processes are better off with an AI-powered CRM solution like Rox, which proactively automates routine tasks and provides real-time data insights.

7. Salesforce

Salesforce is a dominant player in the CRM space. Its ecosystem of tools for enterprise sales, marketing, service, and analytics are powerful and flexible — but that flexibility comes at a price. Implementation costs and administrative overhead are high, and it requires significant time and resources to fully integrate and customize the system.

When it comes to AI functionality, Salesforce offers tools for predictive analytics and automation. But some users report that the AI features can be challenging to set up and aren’t always intuitive. And these AI capabilities are often locked behind higher-tier plans, so they’re less accessible to teams with tighter budgets. This often drives users to AI-driven Salesforce alternatives like Rox.

8. Brevo

Brevo is a marketing automation platform that now includes CRM capabilities, making it a lightweight alternative to HubSpot for small teams. It offers tools for email marketing, SMS campaigns, live chat, and simple deal tracking. But its CRM tools are basic and lacking in depth in areas like lead scoring and customization. 

As businesses scale, they may find Brevo’s CRM tools insufficient for handling complex sales processes or larger volumes of data. Teams looking to expand beyond simple automation are better served by purpose-built platforms like Rox, which offers more advanced AI-driven functionality.

Switching from HubSpot? Why Rox Deserves a Closer Look

Plenty of HubSpot alternatives promise more flexibility across various use cases — and depending on your business model, some of them might fit the bill. But for fast-moving sales teams, flexibility alone isn’t enough. What you need is a system that actively works alongside your recs, not one that depends on endless customization to get results.

Rox is more than a CRM. It’s an agentic, AI-powered platform built to do the legwork for you. It automates repetitive tasks like pipeline updates, forecasting, meeting prep, and follow-ups with minimal setup, so your team can focus on selling.

Ready to upgrade your CRM? Watch our demo to learn how Rox combines sales and marketing automation with enterprise-level controls.

FAQs

Are HubSpot and Salesforce Competitors?

HubSpot and Salesforce are direct competitors in the corporate CRM space. Salesforce is known for its enterprise-level customization and robust features, while HubSpot targets small to mid-sized businesses with an easier setup and integrated marketing tools.

How Long Does HubSpot Free Last?

HubSpot’s free CRM plan doesn’t expire. But many advanced features, including automation and reporting tools, are limited or locked behind paid plans. Teams often outgrow the free plan as their processes become more complex and their sales and marketing needs expand.

Is HubSpot a Market Leader?

HubSpot is widely considered a market leader in the CRM and marketing automation space, especially among small and medium-sized businesses. It’s known for its user-friendly interface and strong inbound marketing tools. However, larger and more complex sales teams may find its scalability and automation features limited compared to other platforms.

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