AI Tool Authority

Home / Shortlists / The best HubSpot alternative for small business in 2026

The best HubSpot alternative for small business in 2026

HubSpot earns its price for teams that use the whole suite. Most small businesses use the CRM and a slice of the marketing hub, and pay in two directions: HubSpot Starter is $20/mo per seat, or $15/mo billed annually, and the marketing-contact limits are counted separately from the CRM contacts. The four alternatives we track are below, with prices read from each vendor's own pricing page and re-checked weekly: what each one replaces, where the free plan stops, and what the first paid month costs.

Prices last re-checked 2026-10-05. Numbers are read from each vendor's own pricing page; any exception is flagged under "What to watch".

Which one should you pick?

Some buttons are affiliate links — how this works.

The short answer

Short answer: Best HubSpot alternative for small business: Zoho CRM is the standard answer for a small business priced out of HubSpot - Zoho CRM Free is $0/mo for up to 3 users and 5,000 records, and Zoho CRM Standard is $20/mo per user, or $14/mo per user billed annually, for 100,000 records, scoring rules, mass email and workflows.

ToolEntry priceBest for
Free$0/mo (no annual discount published)Up to 3 users, 5,000 records, basic lead and deal management
Standard$20/mo, or $14/mo billed annuallyPer user. 100,000 records, scoring rules, mass email, workflows
Professional$35/mo, or $23/mo billed annuallyPer user. SalesSignals, inventory management, 25,000 records per module
Enterprise$50/mo, or $40/mo billed annuallyPer user. CommandCenter, multi-user portals, custom modules, 100,000 records

Prices checked 2026-10-05.

Best HubSpot alternative for small business: Zoho CRM

Zoho CRM is the standard answer for a small business priced out of HubSpot - Zoho CRM Free is $0/mo for up to 3 users and 5,000 records, and Zoho CRM Standard is $20/mo per user, or $14/mo per user billed annually, for 100,000 records, scoring rules, mass email and workflows. The trade-off: the free tier caps at 3 users - the lowest free-user cap in this cluster - and per-user pricing returns as the team grows.

See Zoho CRM pricing

Best HubSpot alternative for a sales team that lives in the pipeline: Pipedrive

Pipedrive is the sales-only pick - Pipedrive Lite is $24/mo per seat, or $14/mo per seat billed annually, for lead, deal and activity management with 3,000 open deals and 10 pipelines, and no marketing suite to pay for. The trade-off: there is no free plan, the price is per seat, and workflow automation waits until Pipedrive Growth at $49/mo, or $39/mo per seat billed annually.

See Pipedrive pricing

Best HubSpot alternative for marketing automation: ActiveCampaign

ActiveCampaign is the automation pick - ActiveCampaign Starter is $15/mo billed annually at 1,000 contacts (month-to-month is not printed), and the tier that keeps HubSpot's automation strength is ActiveCampaign Plus at $49/mo billed annually at 1,000 contacts, with unlimited automation actions and landing pages. The trade-off: the annual cards were read on ActiveCampaign's own pricing page on 2026-10-12, and the month-to-month price is not printed.

See ActiveCampaign pricing

Best HubSpot alternative for an agency running client accounts: GoHighLevel

GoHighLevel is the agency pick - GoHighLevel Starter is $97/mo for 3 sub-accounts, unlimited contacts and unlimited users, and GoHighLevel Unlimited at $297/mo opens unlimited sub-accounts with phone and email rebilled at no markup. The trade-off: it is priced for agencies, not for one small team that only needs a CRM.

See GoHighLevel pricing

The prices, plan by plan

Zoho CRM

Zoho CRM is free for up to 3 users, then $14 per user per month on Standard, $23 on Professional and $40 on Enterprise, billed annually. Ultimate is a custom quote; Zoho no longer prints a price for it.

PlanPriceWhat you get
Free$0/mo (no annual discount published)Up to 3 users, 5,000 records, basic lead and deal management
Standard$20/mo, or $14/mo billed annuallyPer user. 100,000 records, scoring rules, mass email, workflows
Professional$35/mo, or $23/mo billed annuallyPer user. SalesSignals, inventory management, 25,000 records per module
Enterprise$50/mo, or $40/mo billed annuallyPer user. CommandCenter, multi-user portals, custom modules, 100,000 records
Ultimatecustom quoteBespoke deployments with the highest feature limits, consultation-based pricing (contact Zoho)

Prices checked 2026-10-05.

What to watch: Zoho prints the annual per-user rate by default; the monthly-billing rates come from the page's monthly toggle. Zoho's free tier caps at 3 users, which is the lowest free-user cap in this cluster.

Source: https://www.zoho.com/crm/zohocrm-pricing.html, read 2026-10-05.

See Zoho CRM pricing

Pipedrive

Pipedrive starts at $14 per seat per month on Lite, $39 on Growth, $59 on Premium and $79 on Ultimate, billed annually (US$168 / $468 / $708 / $948 per seat per year); monthly billing costs more. Each card offers a 14-day trial and says no credit card is required.

PlanPriceWhat you get
Lite$24/mo, or $14/mo billed annuallyPer seat. Lead, deal and activity management, 3,000 open deals, 10 pipelines. US$168 per seat/year billed annually.
Growth$49/mo, or $39/mo billed annuallyPer seat. Email sync, workflow automation, 100,000 open deals, 15 pipelines. US$468 per seat/year billed annually.
Premium$79/mo, or $59/mo billed annuallyPer seat. Revenue forecasts, team goals, projects, 30 pipelines. US$708 per seat/year billed annually.
Ultimate$99/mo, or $79/mo billed annuallyPer seat. Project templates, 5-minute sync, phone support, 100 pipelines. US$948 per seat/year billed annually.

What to watch: Pipedrive prints the annual per-seat rate by default. On 2026-10-13 those cards still showed Lite $14, Growth $39, Premium $59 and Ultimate $79. The monthly toggle was not opened, so the monthly column stays the 2026-10-05 reading. Each card says a 14-day trial with no credit card. The Premium card carries Pipedrive's own Most Popular badge. This page does not treat that badge as a count of customers. Add-on starting prices were read on the annual view. Prices are per seat, so a 5-person team pays five times the seat rate.

Source: https://www.pipedrive.com/en/pricing, read 2026-10-05.

See Pipedrive pricing

ActiveCampaign

At 1,000 email contacts, ActiveCampaign starts at $15, $49, $79 and $145 per month billed annually. Each card says Starts at. The page does not print a month-to-month price.

PlanPriceWhat you get
Starter$15/mo billed annuallyAt 1,000 email contacts. Starts at $15/mo, billed annually. 1 user, limited segmentation, 5 actions per automation, Active Intelligence with limits.
Plus$49/mo billed annuallyAt 1,000 email contacts. Starts at $49/mo, billed annually. 1 user, standard segmentation, unlimited automation actions, landing pages, Active Intelligence with limits.
Pro$79/mo billed annuallyAt 1,000 email contacts. Starts at $79/mo, billed annually. 3 users, advanced segmentation, unlimited automation actions, landing pages, predictive and conditional content, attribution. ActiveCampaign labels this card Popular.
Enterprise$145/mo billed annuallyAt 1,000 email contacts. Starts at $145/mo, billed annually. 5 users, premium segmentation, unlimited automation actions, custom objects, single sign-on, a dedicated account team, Active Intelligence.

What to watch: The prices in the table are the 1,000-email-contact cards on activecampaign.com/pricing, read 2026-10-12. Each card says Starts at and Billed annually. That view does not print a month-to-month dollar, so the monthly column says not printed. Other contact counts were not on that screenshot, so this page does not print a contact ladder. The Pro card carries ActiveCampaign's own Popular badge. This page does not treat that as a count of customers. The page headline says guaranteed results in 30 days or your money back. That sentence is ActiveCampaign's.

Source: https://www.activecampaign.com/pricing, read 2026-10-12.

See ActiveCampaign pricing

GoHighLevel

GoHighLevel is $97/mo Starter, $297/mo Unlimited and $497/mo Agency Pro, or $970 / $2,970 / $4,970 billed yearly. Every plan includes unlimited contacts and unlimited users. The cards say 14 days free. Billing starts on its own unless you cancel, and phone, text, email, and AI fees can apply during the trial.

PlanPriceWhat you get
Starter$97/mo3 sub-accounts, unlimited contacts, unlimited users, all core features
Unlimited$297/moUnlimited sub-accounts, rebill phone & email at no markup, basic API
Agency Pro$497/moSaaS mode, automated sub-account creation, rebill with markup, advanced API
Enterprisecustom quoteCustom quote

What to watch: Every plan price, annual total and add-on price on this page was read from gohighlevel.com/pricing itself. GoHighLevel does not publish a free plan. On 2026-10-11 the plan cards said 14 days free, and the page's own disclaimer said billing starts automatically unless you cancel, and phone, text, email, and AI usage fees can apply during the trial. Add-ons are extra. Some are billed per sub-account, some are a flat monthly fee, and WordPress hosting is per site. The same page also lists the certification program at $97 a month, online listings at $30 a month per sub-account, the premium prospecting tool at $29 a month per sub-account, and WordPress hosting from $10 a month per site. On 2026-10-12 the Unlimited card carried GoHighLevel's own Most Popular badge. This page does not treat that badge as a count of customers.

Source: https://www.gohighlevel.com/pricing, read 2026-10-19.

See GoHighLevel pricing

Full pricing trackers for these eight tools

Each name below has a complete pricing tracker on this site — every plan table, read from the vendor's own pricing page and re-checked weekly. What each one charges, in one line:

Plan-by-plan tables, annual-billing math and the fine print live on each tool's own page. How we check prices.

Questions people ask

What is the cheapest option here?

Zoho CRM is the cheapest option here to start - Zoho CRM Free is $0/mo for up to 3 users and 5,000 records, and it is the only free plan among these four. Pipedrive Lite is $24/mo per seat, ActiveCampaign Starter is $15/mo billed annually at 1,000 contacts, and GoHighLevel Starter is $97/mo.

Do any of these have a free plan?

Zoho CRM does - Zoho CRM Free is $0/mo for up to 3 users and 5,000 records. Pipedrive, ActiveCampaign and GoHighLevel are paid only: Pipedrive Lite is $24/mo per seat, ActiveCampaign Starter is $15/mo billed annually at 1,000 contacts, and GoHighLevel Starter is $97/mo.

What will the first paid month cost?

Zoho CRM Standard is $20/mo per user, or $14/mo per user billed annually. Pipedrive Lite is $24/mo per seat, or $14/mo per seat billed annually, and ActiveCampaign Starter is $15/mo billed annually at 1,000 contacts (month-to-month is not printed).

Which one replaces HubSpot's marketing automation?

ActiveCampaign is the automation pick - ActiveCampaign Starter is $15/mo billed annually at 1,000 contacts (month-to-month is not printed), and ActiveCampaign Plus at $49/mo billed annually at 1,000 contacts, unlocks unlimited automation actions and landing pages. Zoho CRM Standard at $20/mo per user, or $14/mo per user billed annually, covers workflows and mass email inside the CRM.

Which one is best for an agency running client accounts?

GoHighLevel is the agency pick - GoHighLevel Starter is $97/mo for 3 sub-accounts, unlimited contacts and unlimited users, and GoHighLevel Unlimited at $297/mo opens unlimited sub-accounts with phone and email rebilled at no markup.

Which one keeps the seat bill predictable as the team grows?

Zoho CRM Standard is $20/mo per user, or $14/mo per user billed annually, and the free tier covers up to 3 users at $0/mo. Pipedrive Lite is $24/mo per seat, and ActiveCampaign Starter is $15/mo billed annually at 1,000 contacts for 1 user, so the math depends on the team size.

Some links on this page are affiliate links. If you buy through one we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. We do not accept payment for placement, and the price tables are generated from the same dataset we re-check weekly. Full disclosure. How we check prices.

Reviewed by Jason Albera, founder of AI Tool Authority. Jason reads each vendor pricing page by hand every week, keeps this site independent (no vendor pays for placement), and takes no sponsorships - the only income is affiliate commission through links marked partner links. Questions or a stale number? About & contact.