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“Nutshell is super user-friendly and intuitive
“I would highly recommend Nutshell
“Easy to use and... wait for it ... 100% buy in!
“Nutshell is both simple and powerful
Choosing the right CRM is crucial for your business. This HubSpot comparison will help you discover why Nutshell is the better alternative.
Nutshell’s standout features include:
Choose Nutshell for transparent pricing with no required onboarding fees and CRM with built-in email marketing. Choose HubSpot for sales, marketing, service, and CMS connected in one platform, with a mandatory onboarding fee of $1,500 to $3,500 for higher plans.
Compare Nutshell and HubSpot across the key CRM dimensions that drive the buying decision.
Starting price (per user, per month)
Onboarding fee
Email marketing
Implementation timeline
Support quality (G2)
Contacts and storage
SMB fit (G2)
Free trial
Migration support
Integration and ecosystem breadth (G2)
$13 billed annually
Free onboarding on every plan
Built-in email marketing on every Sales plan with 150 free sends per month
Days for core setup
8.7 out of 10 (1,000+ reviews)
Unlimited contacts and storage on every plan
78.7% of reviewers
14-day free trial, no credit card required
Free on every plan, with a one-click HubSpot import tool
7.3 breadth of Partner Applications
$0 free tier, $20 Starter plan billed annually
$1,500 (Professional) and $3,500 (Enterprise)
Separate Marketing Hub product
4 to 12 weeks for Professional and Enterprise plans
8.6 out of 10 (9,000+ reviews)
Up to 1,000 free contact and company records
60.8% of reviewers
Free CRM tier instead of a trial period
Free for standard transfers, with a Data Hub subscription required for custom mappings
8.2 breadth of Partner Applications, backed by a hub ecosystem
Feature lists only tell you what exists. Here’s what actually happens inside each platform during three situations a growing sales team runs into every week.
Picture a 5 to 20 person sales team that wants to send an email to specific contacts. In Nutshell, a rep opens Marketing and builds an audience with existing CRM data. From there, sending up to 150 emails a month is free, and Marketing Pro adds more capabilities for $49 a month, flat, for the whole team.
In HubSpot, Sales Hub doesn’t include email marketing, so that same task requires Marketing Hub. Its Professional tier starts at $800 per month for 3 seats and 2,000 contacts, plus a required $3,000 onboarding fee.
Nutshell starts at $13 per user per month with no mandatory onboarding fees. The sticker price is the price you pay for unlimited contacts and data storage.
HubSpot’s free tier is permanently free, but it caps out at 1,000 contacts. Additional contacts, email marketing, and automation require paid upgrades with mandatory onboarding fees of $1,500 or more for Professional and higher plans.
Teams set up Nutshell without a dedicated admin or IT support, and most have their pipelines, email sync, reporting, and automations running within days. Nutshell offers free onboarding and live chat support on every plan.
HubSpot’s Professional and Enterprise plans take 4 to 12 weeks for complete implementation and require an onboarding fee of $1,500 to $3,500.
See what a 10-person team would pay for Nutshell Pro and HubSpot Professional over 12 months, based on pricing as of August 2026.
Starting price (per user, per month)
Required onboarding
Dedicated email marketing plan
Year 1 total
$42/seat x 10 x 12 = $5,040
$0, free onboarding
Marketing Pro add-on, optional: $49/mo x 12 = $588
$5,040 to $5,628
$90/seat x 10 x 12 = $10,800
$1,500
Marketing Hub Professional (3 seats, 2,000 contacts): $800/mo x 12 = $9,600, plus a separate $3,000 required onboarding fee
Sales Hub only: $12,300. Sales and Marketing Hubs: $24,900
The $24,900 total assumes only 3 of the 10 users need Marketing Hub seat access, since Professional bundles 3 seats by default. Add roughly $45 per seat per month for any additional rep who needs marketing access.
Nutshell fits small B2B sales teams that want sales and marketing under one transparent price with no onboarding fees.
HubSpot fits larger well-funded teams that want a multi-hub ecosystem with marketing, service, sales, and content all in one platform, and can absorb the onboarding fees and higher costs that come with it.
To compare all of Nutshell’s Sales plans, go to our pricing page and click “compare all plans”.
Matthew M. Dickson
Steven S. Blommerang
Michelle M. Statewide Aquastore, In
For teams looking to switch from HubSpot, here’s what to expect when migrating to Nutshell. Nutshell’s free one-click import tool automatically moves your core HubSpot data, and it’s included on every plan with no setup fee.
What transfer automatically:
What needs reconfiguring:
Most teams have their core data live within days once the import runs.
Every Nutshell plan includes free migration assistance, including the one-click import tool. Compare that to HubSpot Smart Transfer, which is free for standard transfers and requires a Data Hub subscription for custom mappings.
Jeff B., a CRO in the human resources industry who has used Nutshell for 1 to 2 years, switched directly from HubSpot CRM. His review puts it plainly: “I switched from HubSpot to Nutshell because I wanted a CRM that felt simpler and more focused on sales execution… Nutshell gave me a cleaner UI, faster workflow, and clearer visibility into pipeline and forecasting without all the extra complexity.”
Ross M., CPO, Computer Software, also made the switch from HubSpot to Nutshell, and he mentioned in his review: “Hubspot is significantly more expensive.”
Casey O., Senior Consultant, Higher Education, similarly switched from HubSpot to Nutshell, citing “Price and less complex offerings. Sometimes less is more.”
Yes, for most small and mid-sized teams. Once you factor in HubSpot’s mandatory $1,500 to $3,500 onboarding fee and the need to buy Marketing Hub for email marketing, a 10-person team on Nutshell can cost less than half of an equivalent HubSpot plan over one year.
Nutshell is designed to get teams live in days, with free onboarding included on every plan. HubSpot’s Professional and Enterprise tiers require an onboarding fee, and reported setup takes 4 to 12 weeks.
78.7% of Nutshell’s G2 reviews come from small businesses compared to 60.8% for HubSpot. HubSpot’s reviewer base is larger overall and includes more mid-market and enterprise teams using its wider hub ecosystem.
Yes, HubSpot’s free CRM tier is permanent rather than a limited-time trial. It caps out at 1,000 contacts and skips email sequences while limiting templates and reporting to the basics.
5. Why does HubSpot cost more than the advertised price?
Start your 14-day free trial. No credit card required.
Switching from HubSpot? Get free data migration on any Nutshell plan.
See how Nutshell stacks up against other CRMs with our comparison hub.
