SuiteCRM vs HubSpot CRM
Both are alternatives to Salesforce. Here's how they stack up — verified facts, no spin.
Also searched as HubSpot CRM vs SuiteCRM — same comparison, one verdict.
SuiteCRM
The SugarCRM fork — enterprise features, no licence, no vendor.
SuiteCRM is the community fork of SugarCRM, created when Sugar closed its open edition, and it has been maintained independently ever since. That history is the point: it is another product on this site that outlived its parent's commercial decision. AGPL-3.0, with workflow automation, quotes, invoices, contracts and reporting included rather than sold — the enterprise feature set without the enterprise licence. It is the most complete open CRM by capability and the most dated by appearance, and which of those matters more is genuinely a question about your team.
HubSpot CRM
Free for unlimited users — the honest hosted answer for small teams.
HubSpot's core CRM is free for unlimited users with unlimited contacts, and for a small sales team that is frequently the right answer rather than a compromise. Contacts, deals, pipeline, email tracking and meeting scheduling all work without payment. Listed here because refusing to name it would be dishonest: a five-person company choosing between a $105,000 Salesforce contract and self-hosting a server very often wants neither. The catch is the upgrade path — Marketing and Sales Hub pricing escalates steeply, and the free CRM is designed to make those adjacent products feel necessary.
Side by side
| SuiteCRM | HubSpot CRM | |
|---|---|---|
| Sovereignty Score | 91 | 30 |
| Open source | Yes | No |
| Self-hostable | Yes | No |
| Local-first | Yes | No |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Proprietary (hosted service; free core tier) |
| Pricing | Free and open source. Commercial support available from SalesAgility. | Core CRM free for unlimited users. Sales, Marketing and Service Hubs are paid and escalate steeply. |
SuiteCRM edges it on the Sovereignty Score, but the right pick depends on the trade-offs below.
SuiteCRM
Strengths
- +Most complete open CRM feature set — workflow, quotes, contracts, reporting
- +Already survived its parent closing the source, which is this site's whole thesis
- +AGPL-3.0 with commercial support available
- +Large existing deployment base and available expertise
Trade-offs
- −Interface is the most dated on this page
- −Heavier to run than EspoCRM
- −Development pace is steady rather than fast
- −Customisation follows SugarCRM conventions that feel old
HubSpot CRM
Strengths
- +Genuinely free for unlimited users on the core CRM
- +Nothing to host, patch or back up
- +Excellent onboarding — a small team is productive in an afternoon
- +Large integration marketplace
Trade-offs
- −Proprietary and hosted; your customer data lives with the vendor
- −The free tier is a funnel — adjacent Hubs escalate sharply in price
- −Export is possible but the surrounding automation does not travel
- −No self-host option at any price
Related alternative guides
Facts verified 2026-08-03. Licenses and pricing change — spotted something out of date? That's a correction we want.