HubSpot Free CRM: How Valuable is This?

HubSpot’s free CRM software includes much more than just the CRM database.

Marketing, Sales, and Customer Service for Revenue Focused Teams

HubSpot's customer relationship management (CRM) tools span the sales, marketing, and service needs of your company and they all connect into the same contacts database, so all data stays up-to-date and in-sync throughout the customer journey.

It’s an all-in-one system for your revenue-focused teams.

Even if your teams are currently small or if most of the customer journey is managed by one person, HubSpot’s free level of CRM software can help you achieve your goals.

Update for April 2020: HubSpot is offering additional free tools or increased functionality of the current free tools because of COVID-19’s impact on companies transitioning into remote teams. These upgrades include access to an increased Meetings functionality, Quotes, E-Sign, and 1:1 Video tools free for 90 days from activation.

You can review our webinar on HubSpot’s tools for remote teams below and read about the recent free tool offerings on HubSpot’s website.

*Please note that there is some overlap between sections in the tools listed below, because some tools are used in different ways by multiple departments or across different stages of the buyer's journey.

What tools are included with the HubSpot Free CRM?

At the core of HubSpot’s free CRM software are the tools directly related to the Contacts and Companies database.

HubSpot free CRM tools include:

Contact management
Contact website activity
Companies
Company insights
Tasks & activities
Conversations inbox
HubSpot Connect integrations
Deals
Reporting dashboards
Custom support form fields
Prospects
Ticketing
Forms
Ad management
Meeting scheduling
Messenger integration
Gmail and Outlook integration
Email tracking & notifications
Email templates
Canned snippets
Documents
Calling
Custom properties

Our MVP HubSpot free CRM tool: Gmail and Outlook integration

HubSpot’s free CRM allows you to connect your Google/Gmail or Outlook 365 email inbox and calendar in order to take advantage of several other tools.

Connecting your email inbox allows you to use HubSpot tools such as snippets in your inbox, as well as giving you the ability to track and log your conversations and contacts into Hubspot directly from your inbox. The more email conversations and contacts are logged and tracked, the more likely you’ll have a 360-degree view of the contacts in your HubSpot CRM so you can segment and personalize ongoing communications.

Connecting your calendar to HubSpot allows you to take advantage of an often underlooked tool: setting up a meeting link to quickly schedule calls with customers and prospects without any time-consuming back-and-forth conversation about availability.

You can see details on how to create a meeting link in HubSpot in our video here:

Learn more about valuable free CRM tools in our 'How to use HubSpot CRM Like a Pro' blog post.

What marketing tools are included in HubSpot’s Free CRM?

HubSpot’s free CRM software includes valuable tools for marketers, which may be surprising compared to other CRM systems.

HubSpot free CRM marketing tools include:

*All the above listed features of HubSpot CRM
Forms
Email marketing
Live chat
Conversational bots
Messenger integration
Ad management
List segmentation
Conversations inbox
Team email
Reporting dashboards
Mobile optimization

Our MVP HubSpot free CRM marketing tool: free email marketing!

There is no longer a need for a separate email marketing management system outside of your CRM. We’ve helped companies clean up unreliable data caused by housing multiple contact lists in multiple systems; having a separate CRM and email marketing system is a big culprit creating messy data!

Plus, now you’ll have the built-in power of HubSpot’s contact database for segmenting, organizing, and ongoing maintenance of the people you wish to email. HubSpot provides an all-in-one solution.

This feature was added to the free version of HubSpot CRM in 2019, and you can read more about the valuable benefits in this Fast Company blog.

What sales tools are included in HubSpot’s Free CRM?

HubSpot’s free CRM software includes valuable tools for salespeople that far outweigh a simple contacts database. These tools make the CRM immensely more valuable than keeping contacts in spreadsheets or in email software alone, and make HubSpot's CRM more valuable than using separate systems for sales compared to using a system for everyone in the company.

HubSpot free CRM sales tools include:

*All previously mentioned features of HubSpot CRM
Live chat
Conversational bots
Team email
Conversations inbox
Calling
Email scheduling
Email tracking & notifications
Email templates
Canned snippets
Documents
Meeting scheduling
Reporting dashboards
Deal pipeline
Messenger integration

Our MVP HubSpot free CRM sales tool: The deal pipeline

HubSpot’s free CRM includes a deal pipeline where you can visually track the progression of potential sales in an easy-to-use, drag-and-drop, Kanban board format. The deal records connect to the company and contact records in the CRM, keeping relevant data in-sync and easy-to-find. The board format also allows for customization of deal stages and forecasting of deal values at every stage of the pipeline.

What service tools are included in HubSpot’s Free CRM?

HubSpot’s free CRM software includes valuable tools for customer service teams to make sure the entire customer journey can be completed inside one system. Since 'CRM' means customer relationship management, it makes sense to include tools for the team taking care of customers!

HubSpot free CRM service tools include:

*All the above features of HubSpot CRM
Ticketing
Live chat
Conversational bots
Messenger integration
Conversations inbox
Email templates
Team email
Email tracking & notifications
Canned snippets
Documents
Meeting scheduling
Calling
Reporting dashboards
Tickets closed reports
Rep productivity reports
Time-to-close reports

Our MVP HubSpot free CRM service tool: Conversational bots

If you want your company’s website to be helpful in real time, and provide the level of instant service visitors have learned to expect online, installing a bot on your website is a great step toward that goal.

The bot can direct people to the information they are looking for, or after it collects their contact information, connect them to the appropriate live chat rep. It also allows someone else at your company to quickly follow up with the visitor. You can scale those one-to-one conversations without needing additional time and resources.

Learn more about HubSpot’s free chatbot tools.

Conclusion

To answer the question of how valuable the HubSpot's free CRM is… it's VERY valuable!

Your company’s sales team, service team, and marketing team can all benefit from the free tools in HubSpot’s CRM. Are you ready to get started with HubSpot CRM?

Great!

Set up your free account.
Read our 'Getting Started' post that guides you through the beginning steps.

*If you want to have a quick chat with a HubSpot CRM expert, feel free to book a call below.