Twenty vs HubSpot CRM
Both are alternatives to Salesforce. Here's how they stack up — verified facts, no spin.
Also searched as HubSpot CRM vs Twenty — same comparison, one verdict.
Twenty is open source (AGPL-3.0, with `@license Enterprise` file carve-outs) and HubSpot CRM is not (Proprietary (hosted service; free core tier)) — so the real question is whether you want to own the crm stack or rent it.
Twenty
The modern one — built to feel like software from this decade.
Twenty is an open-source CRM built with the design sensibility of a modern product: keyboard-first navigation, a clean data model, custom objects, and an interface that does not feel like enterprise software from 2012. Around 54k stars, which is the most of any CRM here by a wide margin and reflects genuine developer enthusiasm. The licence is mostly AGPL-3.0, with specific files marked `@license Enterprise` under a commercial licence — so it is AGPL-with-carve-outs. It is the youngest option, and the caveat is exactly that: excellent trajectory, short track record.
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
6 points of comparison, every one read from a verified field. Green marks the side that wins a row outright. A dash means we do not hold that fact — never that it is zero.
| Twenty | HubSpot CRM | |
|---|---|---|
| Sovereignty ScoreOur transparent 0–100 composite for data ownership and exit cost. | 86 | 30 |
| Open source | Yes | No |
| Self-hostable | Yes | No |
| Local-first data | Yes | No |
| License | AGPL-3.0, with `@license Enterprise` file carve-outs | Proprietary (hosted service; free core tier) |
| Pricing | Free and self-hostable. Twenty Cloud is a paid hosted option. | Core CRM free for unlimited users. Sales, Marketing and Service Hubs are paid and escalate steeply. |
Twenty edges it on the Sovereignty Score, but the right pick depends on the trade-offs below.
Twenty
Strengths
- +By far the best interface of any open CRM
- +Custom objects and fields without touching code
- +Enormous community momentum for a young project
- +Keyboard-first workflow that salespeople genuinely like
Trade-offs
- −Youngest here — shortest production track record
- −Enterprise-marked files are carved out of the AGPL
- −Feature set still thinner than EspoCRM's
- −Fewer integrations than any established option
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
Which one fits you
The trade-offs above, turned into a decision. Find the line that describes your team.
Choose Twenty
if you want the source and the option to fork it, and you would rather run it on your own hardware, and your data should stay on machines you control.
Choose HubSpot CRM
if genuinely free for unlimited users on the core CRM.
Neither, yet
if both carry a real cost you should weigh first — youngest here — shortest production track record, and proprietary and hosted; your customer data lives with the vendor. If either of those is a dealbreaker for your team, the shortlist is wrong rather than the choice.
Twenty vs HubSpot CRM — common questions
Is Twenty a better fit than HubSpot CRM for crm?
It depends on what you are optimising for, and the honest split is this: Twenty scores 86 to HubSpot CRM's 30 on data ownership and exit cost, so it is the safer choice if you care about being able to leave. HubSpot CRM earns its place on a different axis — genuinely free for unlimited users on the core CRM. Neither is a wrong answer for every team; the table above is the actual comparison.
What happens if we want to switch later?
Twenty keeps its data local or in open formats, so leaving is an export rather than a negotiation. HubSpot CRM keeps your data on its own infrastructure, which is the part to plan for: confirm the export path before you commit, not when you are already trying to leave.
Can I self-host Twenty?
Twenty can be self-hosted; HubSpot CRM cannot, so it stays on the vendor's infrastructure whatever you do.
Are Twenty and HubSpot CRM both alternatives to Salesforce?
Yes — both appear in our Salesforce comparison, which is why they are worth putting side by side. People usually arrive here already having decided to move off Salesforce and now choosing between the two replacements, which is a narrower and much easier question.
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Facts verified 2026-08-03. Licenses and pricing change — spotted something out of date? That's a correction we want.