How to get Hubspot tools for free (2024)

Everyone wants something for nothing, right? 

There’s a range of free features on offer from HubSpot’s world-renowned CRM, as well as the companion 'hubs' under marketing, sales, service, commerce, and operations hubs that fully complete a business’s operational tech stack. While the paid tiers of the software remove the HubSpot branding and unlock additional tools, these free tiers offer all businesses easy access to systems that will significantly help them achieve business growth.
In this blog, we’ll show you exactly what’s included in HubSpot’s free offerings, as well as if there are any hidden costs. We’ll also touch on how, after your business has begun growing, the paid hubs can hit the accelerator on further business growth and success.

HubSpot’s free tools

HubSpot Free business CRM

This is a powerful tool that enables businesses to manage and organise their customer relationships from one easy-to-use place. The free CRM includes the ability to load in up to 1,000,000 million contacts with no limits on customer data. Or, you can have them auto-created through website-based forms and even through plugins with Outlook and Gmail.

You can track leads and build a complete database of your customers’ activities, giving you a clear picture of where each individual sits in the buyer’s journey, or which web pages and blog articles they’ve visited. In turn, you can tailor your customer service, marketing, and sales activities to fit in with your customer's needs. There’s no more living off spreadsheets or that old notebook - a cloud-based, scaleable, and secure system exists today.

Your HubSpot CRM will be automatically integrated with any HubSpot marketing, sales, customer service, or operations tools that you choose to add. It’s a cloud-based system with military-grade security so you can operate your business anytime, from anywhere (with the right security credentials).

As a reminder, HubSpot’s CRM is free and with no catches or hidden costs. You can store up to 1,000,000 contacts and there are no limits on the number of users or customer data. There is no expiration date on how long you can use the free software. HubSpot is dedicated to keeping its CRM functionality 100% free, forever. See the core offerings below:

• Reporting dashboard
• Company insights
• Deal pipeline
• Sale Pipeline management
• Email tracking and notification
• Meeting scheduling (with HubSpot branding)
• Live chat (with HubSpot branding)
• AI email writer (new for 2024)

In addition to HubSpot’s free CRM, there is premium CRM functionality available in conjunction with their paid hubs. This includes all of the free CRM features, plus more advanced features that are intended to help you close more deals while scaling your business.

Free marketing and lead generation tools

• Email marketing tools (with HubSpot branding)
• Forms builder (with HubSpot branding)
• Landing pages
• Dashboard
• Contacts Database
• Facebook, Instagram, Google, and LinkedIn ads software
• AI for marketers

With tools like this under your belt, you’ll be on top of communications as every time a lead offers their email address you will have a personalised message ready to follow up. The landing page tool enables you to create aesthetic and functional landing pages that capture the attention of your audience, converting them into leads with forms, meeting modules, or live chat. Also, using the ads tool makes it easy to target your buyer personas with personalised ads on platforms they’re currently using. You can analyse your conversion points and optimise them for future campaigns. The built-in analytics and reporting make it simple to understand which of your campaigns are driving the most conversions so you can capitalise on that information. 

Free sales tools

HubSpot’s free sales tools enable you to generate leads and connect with them at the right time so they stay hot. Friction in sales is the enemy, it can slow you down which limits growth. Sales Hub is designed to eliminate friction. Through pooling the tools you need into one straightforward place, all the data and information your sales team needs for success is there at the touch of a button. This gives you more time to focus on your customers. Popular tools included in the free sales tools are:

• Live chat (with HubSpot branding)
• Basic bots
• Team email
• Email scheduling, tracking (limited), notifications, and templates
• Meeting scheduling (with HubSpot branding)
• Reporting dashboard
• Deal pipeline

Free customer service tools

The customers of the 21st century have high expectations. They need solutions offered up on a platter within minutes. With limited time and resources, sales representatives can quickly become stressed attempting to meet the demands of customers, especially when their tools and data are spread across various channels. That’s where HubSpot’s free CRM and Service Hub tools can save the day. It brings all data for customer service together under one central CRM platform. Your team will be able to provide flexible customer support and deepen their relationships. This tool will help to increase efficiency and delight customers. Popular tools offered in the free customer service hub are:

• Ticketing and tickets pipeline
• Live chat (with HubSpot branding)
• Basic bots
• Email scheduling, tracking, notifications, and templates
• Meeting scheduling (with HubSpot branding)
• Documents

Other free HubSpot Hubs 

We’ve tackled the big hubs here but HubSpot is constantly evolving and upgrading. This has been evident with the launch of several new hubs over the years.

Operations Hub enables you to create more complex integrations with third-party platforms, and use calculated properties within your CRM. It also contains several popular tools contained within other hubs, so can often be a great first free hub to add.

Launched in 2024 HubSpot Content Hub replaces/revolutionises the hub previously known as CMS Hub. The rebrand is appropriate as it’s now far more than just a CMS. You gain standard web analytics but also powerful website design, management, and content production tools.

Commerce Hub add e-commerce/payment functionality to the CRM - important for creating, closing, and collecting revenue within your business. It largely relies on a Stripe integration at this stage but is a hub to watch.

While HubSpot’s free tools are excellent, they are certainly more of a starting point for smaller businesses, or as a first foray into a cloud-based integrated platform. As your business grows and you require additional features and resources, it will be time to upgrade to the next tier of HubSpot’s software. There are paid tiers for each of the hubs, but the CRM is always free. The three tiers are Starter, Professional, and Enterprise. Starter is the least costly and has some advanced features, and Enterprise (which is aimed at large businesses) is the most expensive and comprehensive. These options can either be paid for in monthly instalments or annually, with discounts often offered for up-front annual payments. Each time your business grows to a size that makes it suitable to move up a tier you gain a plethora of additional benefits including more paid users, marketing contacts, email sends, and much more. You can either choose to upgrade on the singular hub you’re using, or you can upgrade in a bundle where you move up a tier for every HubSpot hub. Our recent blog explains HubSpot’s pricing and features for paid tiers.

Ultimately, HubSpot’s free software is a completely risk-free option for elevating your customer experience and pursuing overall business growth, but you may eventually need to move up to a paid tier of the software to gain access to more advanced features. HubSpot also offers its expertise throughout your journey with the HubSpot Academy, Knowledge Base articles, and a supportive community. As HubSpot explains, there’s “finally a way to cater to each component of your campaign to meet customer expectations and convert more leads” with their free software. If you think HubSpot will be a good fit for your business, book a HubSpot setup service with us and we'll do all the work.