Thinking about moving from Salesforce to HubSpot? You’re not alone. Thousands of businesses are making the switch every year, driven by the promise of simpler workflows, better marketing integration, and a more intuitive user experience. This guide breaks down everything you need to know.
Salesforce to HubSpot: Why the Shift Is Happening Now
The CRM landscape is evolving, and many companies are re-evaluating their tools. While Salesforce has long been the industry leader, HubSpot has emerged as a powerful alternative—especially for mid-market and growth-focused organizations. The shift from Salesforce to HubSpot isn’t just about cost; it’s about alignment with modern sales and marketing strategies.
Rising Demand for Integrated Marketing Tools
Salesforce, while robust, often requires extensive customization and third-party integrations to match HubSpot’s native marketing automation capabilities. HubSpot was built from the ground up as an inbound marketing platform, making it inherently more intuitive for teams focused on content, SEO, email campaigns, and lead nurturing.
According to HubSpot’s State of Inbound Report, companies using integrated marketing and sales platforms see up to 36% higher lead conversion rates. This seamless alignment is a major driver behind the Salesforce to HubSpot transition.
- HubSpot offers native blogging, SEO tools, and social media scheduling.
- Salesforce requires add-ons like Pardot for similar functionality.
- Marketing teams report faster campaign deployment in HubSpot.
User Experience and Adoption Rates
One of the most cited reasons for migrating from Salesforce to HubSpot is usability. Salesforce is powerful but notoriously complex, often requiring dedicated admins and ongoing training. This complexity can lead to low user adoption, which directly impacts ROI.
In contrast, HubSpot’s interface is clean, intuitive, and designed for ease of use. A G2 review analysis shows that HubSpot CRM has a 90% user satisfaction rate, compared to Salesforce’s 82%. That 8-point gap can translate into real productivity gains.
“We switched from Salesforce to HubSpot because our sales team wasn’t using half the features. HubSpot got everyone on the same page in weeks, not months.” — Marketing Director, SaaS Company
Key Differences Between Salesforce and HubSpot
Before diving into migration, it’s essential to understand the core differences between these two platforms. While both are CRMs, their philosophies, architectures, and target audiences differ significantly.
Architecture and Scalability
Salesforce is built on a highly customizable, enterprise-grade architecture. It uses a metadata-driven model that allows deep customization through Apex code, Visualforce, and Lightning components. This makes it ideal for large enterprises with complex workflows and dedicated IT teams.
HubSpot, on the other hand, uses a modular, app-based architecture. It’s less customizable in terms of code but offers drag-and-drop workflows, pre-built automations, and a user-friendly interface. It scales well for SMBs and mid-market companies but may require HubSpot Enterprise for advanced needs.
- Salesforce: Code-heavy, developer-dependent, enterprise-focused.
- HubSpot: No-code/low-code, marketer-friendly, growth-oriented.
- Best for: Salesforce = complex global orgs; HubSpot = agile, inbound-focused teams.
Data Model and Customization
Salesforce allows unlimited custom objects, fields, and relationships. You can build an entire ERP system within Salesforce if needed. This flexibility comes at the cost of complexity and maintenance.
HubSpot has a simpler data model. It supports custom objects and properties but within defined limits. However, its strength lies in pre-built associations between contacts, companies, deals, and tickets—making it easier to maintain data integrity without technical overhead.
For example, in a Salesforce to HubSpot migration, you’ll need to map custom objects to HubSpot’s flexible CRM objects or use the HubSpot API for deeper integration. Tools like Jitterbit or MuleSoft (ironically a Salesforce company) can facilitate this.
Top 5 Reasons to Migrate from Salesforce to HubSpot
The decision to move from Salesforce to HubSpot isn’t taken lightly. But for many organizations, the benefits far outweigh the migration effort. Here are the top five reasons driving this shift.
1. Lower Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)
Salesforce licensing can be prohibitively expensive, especially when factoring in additional costs for Pardot, Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, and Einstein AI. Annual contracts often run into tens of thousands of dollars.
HubSpot offers a more transparent pricing model. Its free CRM tier is genuinely usable, and paid tiers scale predictably. According to internal cost analyses from migrated clients, the average company saves 40–60% annually by switching from Salesforce to HubSpot.
- No per-feature add-ons required for core marketing functions.
- Reduced need for admin and developer support.
- Lower training and onboarding costs.
2. Superior Marketing Automation Integration
If your business relies on content marketing, email nurturing, or SEO, HubSpot is purpose-built for these workflows. Its CRM, marketing hub, sales hub, and service hub are all natively integrated.
Salesforce requires Pardot for marketing automation, which is a separate product with its own learning curve and cost. Even then, Pardot lacks HubSpot’s intuitive drag-and-drop email builder and blog SEO tools.
For companies executing a Salesforce to HubSpot migration, this means faster campaign launches, better lead scoring, and tighter alignment between marketing and sales.
“After moving from Salesforce to HubSpot, our email open rates increased by 27% in three months—just from using better templates and segmentation.” — Digital Marketing Manager, E-commerce Brand
Salesforce to HubSpot: Step-by-Step Migration Process
Migrating from Salesforce to HubSpot doesn’t have to be a nightmare. With the right plan, tools, and timeline, you can transfer your data smoothly and minimize downtime. Here’s a proven 7-step process.
Step 1: Audit Your Current Salesforce Data
Before exporting anything, conduct a comprehensive audit of your Salesforce instance. Identify which objects, fields, and records are actively used versus legacy or redundant data.
Common objects to migrate include:
- Leads, Contacts, Accounts, and Opportunities
- Activities (calls, emails, meetings)
- Custom objects (e.g., Projects, Contracts)
- Attachments and notes
Use Salesforce’s Data Loader or reports to extract this data into CSV format. Clean it by removing duplicates, outdated entries, and incomplete records.
Step 2: Map Salesforce Fields to HubSpot Properties
HubSpot uses a different data structure. For example, Salesforce’s “Account” maps to HubSpot’s “Company,” and “Opportunity” maps to “Deal.”
Create a field mapping document that aligns:
- Salesforce API names to HubSpot property names
- Picklist values to HubSpot dropdown options
- Custom objects to HubSpot custom objects or associations
Use HubSpot’s CRM API documentation to understand object relationships and limitations.
Step 3: Choose Your Migration Method
You have several options for moving data from Salesforce to HubSpot:
- Manual Import: For small datasets, use HubSpot’s CSV import tool.
- Third-Party Tools: Platforms like Campaigner, Zynk, or Talend offer automated migration services.
- Custom API Integration: For large or complex migrations, build a script using HubSpot’s API and Salesforce’s REST API.
For most mid-sized businesses, a third-party tool strikes the right balance between cost and reliability.
Data Integrity and Cleaning During Salesforce to HubSpot Migration
One of the biggest risks in any CRM migration is data corruption or loss. Poor data quality can undermine the entire transition, leading to broken workflows and inaccurate reporting.
Eliminate Duplicate Records
Salesforce often accumulates duplicate contacts and accounts over time. Migrating these duplicates to HubSpot will create confusion and skew analytics.
Before export, run Salesforce’s built-in duplicate detection or use tools like Duplicate Check to identify and merge duplicates. In HubSpot, enable the deduplication feature during import to catch any stragglers.
Standardize Data Formats
Ensure consistency in phone numbers, email addresses, and date formats. For example:
- Convert all phone numbers to E.164 format (e.g., +1-555-123-4567).
- Validate email addresses using tools like ZeroBounce or NeverBounce.
- Standardize country and state names (e.g., “USA” vs. “United States”).
This step is critical for maintaining clean segmentation and personalization in HubSpot.
“We cleaned 12,000 records before our Salesforce to HubSpot migration. The result? A 40% improvement in email deliverability from day one.” — CRM Administrator, Tech Startup
Post-Migration: Setting Up Workflows and Automation in HubSpot
Migrating data is only half the battle. The real value comes from leveraging HubSpot’s automation and workflow capabilities to enhance productivity.
Rebuild Sales Sequences and Email Workflows
In Salesforce, you might have used Process Builder or Flow for automation. In HubSpot, workflows replace these with a more visual, intuitive interface.
Recreate your key sequences, such as:
- Lead follow-up emails
- Deal stage notifications
- Task assignments based on behavior
Use HubSpot’s drag-and-drop editor to design multi-step workflows triggered by form submissions, page views, or deal changes.
Integrate Marketing and Sales Teams
One of HubSpot’s greatest strengths is breaking down silos between departments. After your Salesforce to HubSpot migration, take advantage of shared dashboards, unified contact timelines, and collaborative commenting.
For example, when a lead downloads a whitepaper, the marketing team can see the action, and the sales team gets an automatic task to follow up—no handoffs or missed signals.
Set up shared goals and reporting dashboards to align KPIs across teams. This fosters accountability and transparency that’s harder to achieve in a fragmented Salesforce setup.
Salesforce to HubSpot: Common Challenges and How to Avoid Them
Even with careful planning, migrations can hit roadblocks. Being aware of common pitfalls helps you prepare and respond effectively.
Challenge 1: Underestimating Data Volume and Complexity
Many companies assume their Salesforce data is clean and organized—only to discover thousands of orphaned records, inconsistent custom fields, or deprecated workflows.
Solution: Start with a pilot migration of a small dataset (e.g., 500 contacts). Test the import in a sandbox environment, validate field mappings, and check for errors before scaling up.
Challenge 2: Resistance from Sales Teams
Sales reps accustomed to Salesforce may resist change, especially if they’ve customized their dashboards or rely on specific reports.
Solution: Involve key users early in the process. Provide hands-on training, create cheat sheets, and highlight time-saving features in HubSpot (like one-click calling or meeting scheduling).
- Run parallel systems for 2–4 weeks to allow for comparison.
- Appoint “HubSpot champions” within the sales team to drive adoption.
Measuring Success After Your Salesforce to HubSpot Migration
How do you know if the migration was successful? Define clear KPIs before, during, and after the transition.
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to Track
Monitor these metrics in the first 90 days post-migration:
- User adoption rate (percentage of team logging in weekly)
- Data completeness (percentage of required fields filled)
- Lead response time (reduced from previous average)
- Conversion rates by pipeline stage
- Time spent on manual data entry (should decrease)
Use HubSpot’s analytics tools to generate reports and compare them with pre-migration benchmarks from Salesforce.
Gathering User Feedback
Quantitative data tells part of the story, but qualitative feedback is equally important. Conduct surveys or interviews with sales, marketing, and support teams.
Ask questions like:
- “Is HubSpot easier to use than Salesforce?”
- “Are you able to find the information you need quickly?”
- “What features are missing or need improvement?”
This feedback loop helps identify gaps and refine your HubSpot setup for maximum impact.
Is migrating from Salesforce to HubSpot worth it?
For many businesses, especially those focused on inbound marketing and customer experience, the answer is yes. HubSpot offers a more integrated, user-friendly platform that reduces complexity and boosts team productivity. The long-term savings in time and cost often justify the migration effort.
How long does a Salesforce to HubSpot migration take?
Timelines vary based on data size and complexity. Small businesses can complete the process in 2–4 weeks. Mid-sized companies with extensive customizations may need 6–12 weeks. Planning and testing are critical to avoid delays.
Can I migrate custom objects from Salesforce to HubSpot?
Yes, but with limitations. HubSpot supports custom objects, but they don’t have the same depth as Salesforce’s custom objects. You may need to map complex relationships to standard properties or use the API for advanced scenarios.
Will I lose historical data during the migration?
Not if done correctly. With proper planning and tools, you can preserve all critical historical data, including deal history, activities, and notes. Always back up your Salesforce data before starting.
Do I need technical help to migrate from Salesforce to HubSpot?
For small datasets, you can use HubSpot’s import tools. For larger or complex migrations, hiring a consultant or using a third-party migration service is recommended to ensure data integrity and minimize downtime.
Migrating from Salesforce to HubSpot is more than a technical exercise—it’s a strategic decision to align your tools with your business goals. While Salesforce remains a powerhouse for enterprise-scale operations, HubSpot excels in simplicity, integration, and user experience. By following a structured approach, cleaning your data, and leveraging HubSpot’s automation, you can make the transition smooth and impactful. The result? A more agile, aligned, and efficient organization ready to grow.
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