HubSpot Pricing 2024: A Guide to the Latest Pricing

Introduction

HubSpot introduced a new seat-based pricing structure across its product range on March 5, 2024, marking a significant shift in how new customers purchase and use its services. This piece covers the current HubSpot pricing model. 

About me

I’m Luke Marthinusen, I founded and own MO Agency. We’re the only Elite HubSpot partner in Africa and the Middle East. We’ve configured and installed most of largest HubSpot CRM instances in these regions.​​ We’ve done the same for 100's of small and medium businesses as well. 

We've helped countless businesses navigate their way through HubSpot's pricing and licensing structure to find the best combinations for their budget and growth plans, 

I hope this article helps you in some way.

Key Takeaways

• HubSpot's flexible pricing model enables easier scaling and a lower cost to get started.
• Sales and Service seats, offer the full suite of sales and service features.
• Core Seats provide full access across the CRM from Super Admins to limited edit access without specialised seat functionality, eg. Sales.
• 'View-Only Seat' provides access without editing capabilities, broadening user options.

Aimed at offering greater flexibility, HubSpot's dynamic approach to CRM pricing and scaling services as your business grows ensures that the platform drives ROI, remains user-friendly, and is easy to purchase.

Flexibity for HubSpot means businesses should be able to start with what they need and add services as they grow without being locked into a fixed number of seats at the outset.

A View-Only Seat offers teams a cost-effective (free) way to access HubSpot features and information without the ability to edit. It provides a highly scalable way to share information within the organisation.

Exploring HubSpot’s Hubs

If you’ve been to HubSpot’s website, you’ll see that they call their system the HubSpot Customer Platform. At the platform's core is the HubSpot CRM. There are then six Hubs (described better as modules) that operate with this core.

The great thing about HubSpot is that you can start with one or multiple and scale into additional Hubs as your business or needs scale.

1. Marketing Hub
2. Sales Hub
3. Service Hub
4. Content Hub
5. Operations Hub
6. Commerce Hub

Pricing across HubSpot’s Hubs

Pricing is different across the Hubs, but we also need to understand the difference between the different seat types. Some Hubs only have core seats, while others have both core and paid seats. Equally, view-only seats are irrelevant for some Hubs. So, let’s cover the basics of seats for each hub before we outline what the seat types do. 

New Marketing Hub Pricing Structure

Exploring HubSpot's Seat Types

Every user accessing HubSpot will require only one of the following seat types following three seat types.

Exception to the above: The only case in which a user might require two licenses if they are a fully functional sales and service agent. I have yet to see this happen in real life. 

• Core Seat: Grants editing privileges across the acquired Hubs in the customers HubSpot portal. Core seats are not Hub specific. Ie. A core seat can access all Hubs if permissions are enabled.
• Sales & Service Seats: Includes core seat capabilities with extra seat specific features for sales and service.
• View-Only Seat: Permits team members to view CRM records and Dashboards without the ability to edit.

Two interesting points regarding HubSpot Starter Hub and also existing HubSpot customers:

• A single Starter core seat provides access to all five Hubs (Marketing, Sales, Service, CMS and Ops Hub)

Existing HubSpot clients will not experience any changes to their current billings immediately. However, they will most likely be migrated at their next renewal.

Seats for Sales and Service Hubs

Customers are able to begin with a single Seat across all Sales and Service Hubs, encapsulating a more flexible and scalable approach to acquiring HubSpot's services.

Sales & Service Hub Pricing Structure

Users who require Sales or Service seat-specific functions like forecasting, calling, lead rotation and delivery, automations, etc., will require seats ($90/month for a Professional seat). 

Users who require edit access to contacts, deals, tickets, and pipelines without the sales or service seat-specific functions as mentioned above can utilise core licenses at  (e.g. $45/month for a Professional seat). Users that just need view access can utilise the view-only seats.

Limitations for existing HubSpot CRM, Sales and Service customers

These are not limitations per se, but rather things to be aware of. Unlike the previous Sales and Service Hub pricing structure, free users can no longer track emails or create/edit contacts, companies, or deals. 

Key takeaway: All current free users will require a view-only seat, a core seat, or a sales & service seat.

Marketing Hub Core Seat Allocation

From March 2024, Marketing Hub comes with an allocation of core seats, to provide access to Marketing Hub features. Before March 2024, Marketing Hub users had the luxury of unlimited users. 

Marketing Hub Pro includes 3 x core seats, while the Enterprise option has 5 x core seats. Additional core seats for Marketing Hub carry individual costs on both the professional and enterprise tiers.

New Marketing Hub Pricing Structure

Edit Permissions are not included with View-Only Access

HubSpot's updated pricing includes a user type restricting users' ability to edit or add data. This level is known as the View-Only licence. This user type is free.

It offers the following characteristics:

• Visibility: Users with view-only access can see data and reports without restrictions.
• Restrictions: Unlike Core Seat holders, view-only users cannot edit, modify, or add content to the HubSpot platform.
• Cost Efficiency: This level of access is designed for team members who need insight into the system but do not contribute to content manipulation. It can help organisations cut costs.

Benefits of View-Only Access:

• It enables larger teams to stay informed without extra expense.
• Reduces the risks of unauthorised data manipulation.
• Streamline management by clearly defining user roles and permissions.

HubSpot Seat and Cost Examples

Below is a combination of HubSpot seat licences for a small business using HubSpot Sales, Service and Marketing Hubs. 

Core functionality includes:

• Pipeline and communication management
• Forecasting and goals (For SDRs)
• Activity tracking
• Email and marketing campaigns
• Social media and paid ads management
• Website tracking and marketing reporting
• Service ticketing and communication (email, chat, WhatsApp and more)

Below is a larger sales team using HubSpot only for sales management and administration. 

Core functionality includes:

• Pipeline and communication management
• Forecasting and goals
• Activity tracking

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What are the limitations with HubSpot Free?

Free tools will now include a 5x Free Core Seat limit with unlimited view-only seats.

2. What are the limitations with HubSpot Starter?

A single price per user ($15/month) provides access to all five hubs called Starter Customer Platform (includes Marketing (+1000 contacts), Sales, Service, CMS, Operations Hub, and Commerce Hub). Starter is the only tier that HubSpot will allow month-to-month commitment. 

3. I'm an existing customer; do I need to worry?

As a current Hubspot customer, you don't need to be concerned about immediate changes. The new seat-based pricing model initially affects only new (after March 5, 2024) customers, so there won't be any immediate impact on existing customers like yourself. 

My own view is that all users will be required to adopt the new pricing model at their next contract renewal. 

4. Can I mix and match Pro and Enterprise seats in the same Hub?

No. All seats in a Hub (e.g. Sales Hub) need to be the same tier (e.g. Pro). However, you can have Sales Hub Pro and Service Hub Enterprise licenses in the same HubSpot portal.

Remember, however, that core seats are priced at the highest hub tier in your portal. E.g. You have Marketing Hub Professional and require an extra core seat for a marketing manager. However, you also have Sales Hub Enterprise seat. You can only purchase Enterprise core seats for your marketing team member. 

5. Why does HubSpot charge for marketing contacts?

HubSpot charges for marketing contacts because they are the contacts you actively market to using HubSpot's tools, such as email campaigns, ads, and automation workflows. These contacts consume the platform's resources.

HubSpot allows you to store an unlimited number of non-marketing contacts in your portal. This means you can store as many contacts as you need for sales, service and operational functions. 

6. Possibility of Negotiating HubSpot Service Costs

While HubSpot has established license pricing, there is a potential cost variation based on company-specific requirements. It may be feasible for businesses to discuss discounts with HubSpot partner to negotiate a better deal from HubSpot.