HubSpot CRM
The HubSpot CRM system has a genuinely generous free plan, contacts, pipeline, live chat, email marketing at $0; the Professional tier adds serious marketing muscle. Brilliant if you care about marketing, overkill if you just want to manage jobs and send invoices.
Starting from
Quote
Free trial
14 days
Free plan
Yes
Overall rating
4.5/5 (4,200)
“Generous free plan with real CRM features, but it's built for sales teams sitting at desks, not tradies in the field. You'll find yourself wanting it to do job management things it wasn't designed for.”
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Overview
HubSpot is the 800-pound gorilla of the CRM world: a comprehensive platform covering sales pipeline, marketing automation, customer service, and content management. For trade businesses, the relevant question isn't "is HubSpot good?" (it is) but "is it the right fit for how tradies actually work?"
The free CRM plan is genuinely impressive: up to 1,000,000 contacts, deal pipeline, live chat widget, email marketing (2,000 sends/month), forms, and basic reporting, all without paying a cent. For a growing trade business that wants to track leads, follow up on quotes, and send the occasional email campaign, the free tier alone can be transformative.
Strengths: The free plan is the most generous in the CRM category: no other platform comes close at $0. The contact and deal management is intuitive and well-designed. Marketing tools (email, landing pages, forms) are built in rather than bolted on. The ecosystem of integrations is massive. Reporting and analytics at paid tiers are excellent.
Limitations: HubSpot is built for B2B sales and marketing teams, not field service businesses. There's no job scheduling, quoting, invoicing, or field dispatch. The paid tiers escalate quickly, Starter is reasonable at ~$30/seat/month, but Professional ($1,300+/month) and Enterprise ($5,000+/month) are priced for corporate marketing teams, not trade businesses. The platform's depth can be overwhelming if all you need is a simple contact list and follow-up reminders.
If you're a trade business owner who thinks about marketing, lead nurturing, email campaigns, website conversion, HubSpot's free CRM is worth setting up. Just don't expect it to replace your job management tool.
Pros & Cons
What we like
- ✓Free plan is absurdly generous, 1M contacts, pipeline, email, live chat at $0
- ✓Contact and deal management is intuitive and well-designed
- ✓Built-in marketing tools (email, forms, landing pages) eliminate the need for separate platforms
- ✓Massive integration ecosystem, connects to almost everything
- ✓Excellent reporting and analytics at paid tiers
Watch out for
- ✕Not built for field service: no job scheduling, quoting, or dispatch
- ✕Paid tiers escalate fast, Professional and Enterprise are priced for corporate teams
- ✕Can be overwhelming for tradies who just need a simple contact list
- ✕Billed in USD, exchange rate adds to the cost
- ✕Marketing-heavy features may go unused by most trade businesses
Best for
Trade business owners who actively invest in marketing, lead nurturing, email campaigns, and tracking where enquiries come from. The free plan is excellent for anyone who wants proper contact and pipeline management.
Not ideal for
Tradies who just want to manage jobs and send invoices: a job management tool with built-in CRM (like Tradify or ServiceM8) is a better fit. Businesses that find the platform overwhelming.
Key Features
Frequently Asked Questions
Ratings
4,200 reviews
Source: Capterra
Checked April 2026
Pricing
Limited automation and reporting
Per seat, includes 1,000 marketing contacts
Includes 3 seats + 2,000 marketing contacts
Includes 5 seats + 10,000 marketing contacts
Free plan available. Prices shown are approximate AUD equivalents, HubSpot bills in USD. Starter is the only tier relevant for most trade businesses. Verify at hubspot.com/pricing.
Technical
Getting your marketing sorted?
We build websites for trade and service businesses. Fixed price, no lock-in.
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