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HubSpot vs Insightly: Which is The Best CRM in 2026?

by | Last updated Jun 12, 2026

Winner
Hubspot
4.0
  • Free Plan for Unlimited Users
  • Up to 1M Contacts Free
  • 1,000+ App Integrations
  • Free HubSpot Academy Training
  • Marketing, Sales & Service Hubs
  • Paid Plans from $15/seat/mo
Runner Up
Insightly
4.1
  • CRM + Project Management
  • Convert Deals into Projects
  • 2,000+ Claimed Integrations
  • Strong Sales Pipeline Tools
  • Custom Objects & Fields
  • Paid Plans from $29/user/mo

⚡ Quick Verdict:

  • Pricing: HubSpot has a free plan and paid plans from $15/seat/month. Insightly starts at $29/user/month with no free version.
  • Best for: HubSpot suits small businesses that want marketing automation plus sales and customer service tools. Insightly fits teams built around project management.
  • Key difference: HubSpot is an all-in-one CRM platform. Insightly pairs a CRM with integrated project management tools for work that continues after the sale.
  • Our pick: HubSpot wins for most users. The free plan, intuitive interface, and HubSpot Academy make it easier to start and scale.
HubSpot vs Insightly Comparison

HubSpot and Insightly both promise to help you manage customer relationships.

But they were built for different jobs.

HubSpot is an all-in-one CRM platform with marketing tools baked in.

Insightly blends a CRM with project management in one place.

That single design choice shapes who each tool fits best.

This guide breaks down HubSpot vs Insightly so you can pick with confidence.

Overview

This HubSpot vs Insightly comparison covers pricing, key features, and ease of use.

We also break down which tool fits your business goals.

Our sources include published specs, documentation, and G2 reviews.

Our writer also spent hands-on time inside HubSpot directly.

By the end, you will know which CRM platform to choose.

What is HubSpot?

HubSpot is a CRM platform that brings sales, marketing, and service together.

The HubSpot CRM is free and works for unlimited users.

It helps small businesses manage customer relationships in one place.

You get marketing automation, lead management, and a built-in content management system.

HubSpot scales from a solo founder all the way to enterprise teams.

🏆 Winner: HubSpot

⭐ 4.0/5 | 💰 Free plan, paid from $15/seat/mo

An all-in-one CRM with marketing automation, sales tools, and free training. The best starting point for small businesses.

HubSpot Pricing

Here is what HubSpot costs in 2026. Let’s break down the pricing structure.

PlanPriceBest For
Free Tools$0/monthTesting basic features and contact management
Marketing Hub Starter$15/seat/monthSmall teams starting email marketing
Starter Customer Platform$15/seat/monthSmall businesses wanting every hub
Marketing Hub Professional$800/seat/monthScaling teams needing advanced automation

Pricing verified June 2026.

HubSpot Pricing

Free trial: No card needed. The free plan runs forever with basic features.

Money-back guarantee: Paid plans bill monthly or annually. Annual billing locks in a lower rate.

📌 Note: The free plan covers up to 1,000,000 contacts and unlimited users. That makes it one of the most generous free plans among CRM systems.

⚠️ Warning: Seat-based pricing adds up fast on higher tiers. Some third-party sources list HubSpot entry pricing near $50/month because they bundle multiple hubs. We use HubSpot’s per-seat figures here, so always confirm current rates on the HubSpot pricing page before you buy.

Key Benefits of HubSpot

Here is what makes HubSpot worth considering:

  • Free CRM software: The free version supports unlimited users and up to a million contacts. Few CRM platforms match that.
  • Marketing automation: Build email marketing campaigns, workflow automation, and lead nurturing without extra apps. The marketing automation features grow with you.
  • Intuitive interface: The modern, intuitive interface makes setup quick. New users find their way around customer data fast.
  • HubSpot Academy: Free courses and onboarding sessions help your team learn the platform. This boosts adoption and sales performance.
  • Native integrations: Over 1,000 marketplace apps connect to HubSpot. Google Workspace, Slack, and many third party integrations are ready to go.
  • Reporting and dashboards: Custom dashboards track sales activity and sales progress. The reporting tools help you spot what is working.
What is Hubspot

What Our Team Noticed

Our writer signed up for HubSpot and spent several days inside the platform. Here is what stood out from that hands-on time:

Personal experience with Hubspot

The walkthrough below shows the same workflow in action.

HubSpot Pros & Cons

✅ Pros
  • Free plan with unlimited users and up to one million contacts
  • Modern, intuitive interface that beginners learn quickly
  • Strong marketing automation and email marketing tools built in
  • Free HubSpot Academy training and onboarding sessions
❌ Cons
  • Higher tiers get expensive with seat-based pricing
  • Project management is lighter than dedicated tools
  • Advanced features sit behind costly Professional plans

What is Insightly?

Insightly is a CRM software that pairs sales tools with project management.

It targets small businesses that need both in one place.

You can turn a won deal into a project and track delivery.

This makes Insightly strong for work that continues after the sale.

The straightforward interface keeps things simple for growing sales teams.

Insightly CRM Review: Better Than I Expected?

Insightly

⭐ 4.1/5 | 💰 From $29/user/month

A no-nonsense CRM with integrated project management tools. Built for small teams that deliver projects after closing the deal.

Insightly Pricing

Here is what Insightly costs in 2026. Note there is no free plan.

PlanPriceBest For
Plus$29/user/monthSmall teams starting with CRM
Professional$49/user/monthGrowing sales teams needing automation
Enterprise$99/user/monthLarger operations with advanced needs

Pricing verified June 2026.

Insightly Top Benefits

Free trial: Insightly offers a trial of paid features. There is no permanent free version.

Money-back guarantee: Plans bill per user. Annual billing brings the per-seat cost down.

📌 Note: Insightly can be more cost-effective for smaller teams that need advanced CRM features without buying costly high-tier bundles.

⚠️ Warning: Insightly has no free plan. If a free version is a must-have, HubSpot is the safer pick. Confirm plan limits before you commit.

Key Benefits of Insightly

Here is what makes Insightly worth a look:

  • CRM plus projects: Insightly combines contact management with integrated project management tools. You run sales and delivery in one CRM solution.
  • Opportunity management: Turn a won opportunity into a project and track it through delivery. This keeps sales progress and fulfillment connected.
  • Customization options: Custom fields, custom objects, and tailored layouts fit your specific business. The flexibility helps niche workflows.
  • Sales pipeline management: Visual pipelines track each deal stage. Insightly is strong here for lead management and sales pipeline work.
  • Third party integrations: Insightly claims over 2,000 integrations across popular apps. Connect email marketing, accounting, and support tools.
  • Reporting: Custom dashboards and reports surface sales performance and customer data. Teams track the metrics that matter to their business goals.
Insightly Homepage

What Our Team Noticed

Note: We have not had extensive hands-on time with Insightly yet. The points below come from Insightly’s published documentation and G2 reviews. G2 reviews highlight the project conversion feature and the clear pipeline view as standout strengths.

Insightly Pros & Cons

✅ Pros
  • CRM and project management combined in one platform
  • Won deals convert into trackable projects
  • Strong sales pipeline management and lead tracking
  • Deep customization with custom objects and fields
❌ Cons
  • No free plan, so entry cost is higher
  • Interface feels less modern than HubSpot
  • Marketing automation is thinner than HubSpot

Feature Comparison

Ready to compare HubSpot vs Insightly feature by feature?

We will walk through nine key features so you can match each tool to your needs. These cover the core jobs both CRM platforms handle every day.

FeatureHubSpotInsightly
Starting Price$0 (free), $15/seat/mo paid$29/user/mo
Free Plan
Marketing AutomationLimited
Project ManagementLight
Sales Pipeline Management
Content Management System
AI Automation
Integrations1,000+ marketplace2,000+ claimed
Live Chat Support✅ (paid)Limited
Best ForAll-in-one marketing & salesCRM with project delivery

1. Contact Management

HubSpot: The HubSpot CRM stores every contact, deal, and note in one record. You can track contact activity, log emails, and see customer interactions on a clean timeline. Built-in email tracking features show when a contact opens your message. The free plan alone handles up to a million contacts.

How To Organize Customer Data In HubSpot CRM

Insightly: Insightly links contacts to organizations, projects, and opportunities. This relationship view helps teams that manage customer relationships across long delivery cycles. Records connect people to the work they belong to.

Insightly CRM

2. Marketing Automation

HubSpot: This is where HubSpot wins clearly. The marketing automation features include email marketing, workflow automation, and lead nurturing. Forms and landing pages support lead generation across your funnel. You build campaigns with a visual editor and trigger follow-ups based on behavior.

HubSpot Marketing Platform

Insightly: Insightly offers email tools and basic automation. Insightly focuses more on sales automation than full marketing campaigns. For heavy marketing tools, it leans on integrations rather than native depth.

Insightly Email

3. Project Management

HubSpot: HubSpot includes tasks and simple project tracking. It works for light coordination but is not a full project tool. Teams with complex delivery often add a separate app.

Insightly: This is Insightly’s signature strength. The integrated project management tools let you convert a closed deal into a project. You then track milestones, tasks, and delivery inside the same CRM platform.

Insightly Project Management

⚠️ Warning: If your work ends when the deal closes, you may never use Insightly’s project tools. Pay for them only if delivery tracking fits your sales process.

4. Content Management System

HubSpot: HubSpot ships with a content management system for pages, blogs, and landing pages. You can publish content tied to your CRM data. This connects marketing and sales in one workflow.

HubSpot Content Arrangement

Insightly: Insightly organizes records by organizations and links them to deals. It has no built-in CMS for publishing web content. You would handle that elsewhere.

Insightly Organizations

5. Sales Pipeline Management

HubSpot: HubSpot gives you a drag-and-drop sales pipeline with deal stages. It tracks the full sales process and surfaces sales activity in clear views. E-commerce and quotes plug in for online sellers.

HubSpot E-Commerce Management

Insightly: Insightly is strong in sales pipeline management. Visual pipelines and opportunity management keep deals moving. The modern CRM view ties each opportunity to its next step.

Insightly Modern CRM

6. AI and Advanced Automation

HubSpot: HubSpot adds AI for drafting emails, summarizing notes, and suggesting next steps. The advanced automation handles routing, scoring, and follow-up at scale in an efficient manner. It saves time across the sales team.

HubSpot AI Automation

Insightly: Insightly brings AI automations into its workflows too. The tools assist with data entry and routine sales automation. They keep records tidy without manual effort.

Insightly AI Automations

7. Reporting and Dashboards

HubSpot: HubSpot provides deeper reporting tools than Insightly. Custom dashboards track sales performance, marketing results, and customer data in one view. You can build reports without code.

HubSpot Reporting & Analytics

Insightly: Insightly offers custom dashboards and reports for pipeline and activity. The reporting covers the basics well for small teams. Heavy analytics may need an add-on.

Insightly Reporting

8. Integrations

HubSpot: HubSpot offers over 1,000 marketplace apps and strong native integrations. Google Workspace, Slack, and major tools connect in a few clicks. The wide range covers most stacks.

Insightly: Insightly claims over 2,000 integrations across popular apps. It connects email, accounting, and support platforms. The breadth helps teams keep their existing tools.

Insightly Seamless Integrations

9. Customer Support and Service

HubSpot: HubSpot adds customer service tools like ticketing and live chat support. Paid plans include 24/7 customer support. HubSpot Academy and a large community round out the support services.

Insightly: Insightly includes support and ticketing features for service teams. Its own support runs mainly during business hours, not 24/7. Onboarding sessions help new teams get going.

Insightly Support & Ticketing

10. Pricing & Cost

Let’s compare the pricing side by side.

PlanHubSpotInsightly
Free$0/month (unlimited users)❌ No free plan
Entry Paid$15/seat/month$29/user/month (Plus)
Mid Tier$15/seat/month (Starter Platform)$49/user/month (Professional)
Top Tier$800/seat/month (Pro)$99/user/month (Enterprise)

HubSpot: The free plan makes HubSpot the cheapest way to start. Paid plans climb quickly at the Professional level, where advanced features live. For most small businesses, the free and Starter tiers cover daily needs.

Insightly: Insightly costs more to enter but stays flat across user-based tiers. For a small team that needs CRM plus projects, the all-in price can beat buying separate tools. There is no free version to test long term.

Different Scenarios

If You Need…ChooseWhy
A free plan to startHubSpotFree version, unlimited users
Project tracking after the saleInsightlyConvert deals into projects
Marketing automationHubSpotBuilt-in campaigns and workflows
Deep customizationInsightlyCustom objects and fields
Beginner-friendly setupHubSpotIntuitive interface, free training

💰 Your Budget

HubSpot’s free plan wins on a tight budget. Insightly’s paid plans suit teams ready to invest in CRM plus project delivery.

🔌 Your Tech Stack

Both connect to Google Workspace and major apps. HubSpot’s native integrations feel smoother, while Insightly’s third party integrations claim wider coverage.

📈 Your Sales Process

HubSpot handles the full sales process from lead to close. Insightly extends past the close into project delivery and fulfillment.

🎓 Your Experience Level

New to CRM systems? HubSpot Academy and the intuitive interface shorten the learning curve. Insightly’s straightforward interface is simple but offers less free training.

🆓 Free Trials and Demos

HubSpot lets you test the free plan with no card. Insightly offers a trial, so try both before you commit to your business goals.

🛟 Support Options

HubSpot paid plans add 24/7 customer support and live chat support. Insightly’s support team works mainly during business hours across fewer support channels.

Switching Guide

Already using one of these tools? Here is what to expect if you switch.

🔄 Switching from HubSpot to Insightly?

✅ What you’ll gain:

  • Integrated project management tools tied to deals
  • Convert won opportunities into tracked projects
  • Flat per-user pricing across tiers

❌ What you’ll lose:

  • The free plan and unlimited free users
  • Deep marketing automation features
  • The built-in content management system

📋 How to switch:

  1. Export contacts and deals from HubSpot as CSV
  2. Create your Insightly account and set custom fields
  3. Import records and map pipelines to projects
🔄 Switching from Insightly to HubSpot?

✅ What you’ll gain:

  • A free plan with unlimited users
  • Stronger marketing automation and email marketing
  • Free HubSpot Academy training and onboarding sessions

❌ What you’ll lose:

  • Native project delivery tracking after the sale
  • Some custom object flexibility on lower tiers
  • Flat per-user pricing at the top tier

📋 How to switch:

  1. Export your Insightly contacts and opportunities
  2. Sign up for the free HubSpot CRM
  3. Import data and rebuild your sales pipeline

What Our Review Didn’t Cover

This comparison focused on small businesses and growing sales teams. We did not test enterprise rollouts, offline access on spotty connections, or push notifications on every mobile device. Our notes reflect the June 2026 versions, so features may have shifted. If you run a 50-plus seat operation, your priorities may differ from what we covered here.

Final Verdict

CategoryWinner
💰 PricingHubSpot
🚀 Core FeaturesHubSpot
📣 Marketing AutomationHubSpot
📋 Project ManagementInsightly
👶 Ease of UseHubSpot
🔌 IntegrationsHubSpot
📊 ReportingHubSpot
🏆 Overall WinnerHubSpot

🏆 WINNER: HUBSPOT

HubSpot wins 6 out of 7 categories.

Best for: small businesses, marketing automation, and teams that want one CRM platform for sales and service.

HubSpot and Insightly are two very different products.

HubSpot is the modern, all-in-one CRM platform for marketing, sales, and service. The free plan, intuitive interface, and HubSpot Academy make it the easiest place for small businesses to start and scale. Many reviewers call it the best CRM platform for beginners.

Insightly is excellent for businesses built around complex projects that continue after the sale. When you compare Insightly to HubSpot on delivery work, its integrated project management tools earn their keep.

For most users who need a unified platform, HubSpot is the better choice. Pick Insightly when project tracking sits at the center of your sales process.

More of HubSpot Compared

Here is how HubSpot stacks up against other competitors:

4 Best and Professional HubSpot Alternatives for your Business

HubSpot vs Salesforce

HubSpot wins on: a free plan, a friendlier intuitive interface, and faster setup for beginners.

Salesforce wins on: deeper enterprise customization, heavier automation, and a larger marketplace for big teams.

HubSpot vs Pipedrive

HubSpot wins on: a free tier, built-in marketing automation, and a content management system.

Pipedrive wins on: a lean sales-only focus, lower entry price, and a simpler pipeline view.

HubSpot vs ActiveCampaign

HubSpot wins on: one all-in-one platform, a free CRM, and broader native integrations.

ActiveCampaign wins on: deeper email automation, lower-cost automation tiers, and advanced segmentation.

More of Insightly Compared

Here is how Insightly stacks up against other competitors:

Insightly vs Zoho CRM

Insightly wins on: built-in project management, deal-to-project conversion, and a cleaner small-team setup.

Zoho CRM wins on: a lower entry price, a broader product suite, and more native modules.

Insightly vs Pipedrive

Insightly wins on: project delivery tracking, custom objects, and organization-based records.

Pipedrive wins on: a leaner sales interface, faster onboarding, and a lower starting price.

Insightly vs Salesforce

Insightly wins on: lower cost for small teams, an easier learning curve, and projects inside the CRM.

Salesforce wins on: enterprise scale, deeper automation, and a much larger app marketplace.

Frequently Asked Questions

How is HubSpot compared to Insightly?

HubSpot is a modern all-in-one CRM with a free plan and strong marketing automation. Insightly pairs CRM with project management and starts at $29 per user.

What is Insightly good for?

Insightly is good for small teams that manage projects after closing a deal. It turns won opportunities into trackable projects inside one CRM platform.

What are the cons of HubSpot CRM?

HubSpot’s main drawbacks are steep prices on higher tiers and lighter project management. Many advanced features sit behind costly Professional plans.

Is there a better CRM than HubSpot?

It depends on your goals. Salesforce suits large enterprises, Zoho CRM fits tight budgets, and Insightly wins for project-driven teams. HubSpot stays best for all-around use.

What is Insightly CRM?

Insightly CRM is software that combines contact and sales pipeline management with project delivery. It helps small businesses track customers and the work that follows.

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