HubSpot vs Lightfield
We give HubSpot a 3.4 GPA and Lightfield a 2.8, out of 4.0. HubSpot grades higher on the free plan and platforms. They get the same grade on value for money, features and ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
HubSpot
Free CRM at the center of a marketing, sales and service suite
Lightfield
AI-native CRM that updates itself from email, calls and meetings
How we grade them
| 3.4GPAHubSpotVery good | 2.8GPALightfieldGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CStarter is fair at $20 a seat, and new customers get it from $7. Then it jumps. Sales Hub Professional is $90 a seat plus a one-time $1,500 onboarding fee, when Zoho CRM starts at $14 a user. | CStarter is $89 a user a month, where paid CRMs here start at about $24 in the middle. And it has no workflows, automations, sequences or dashboards. Those begin on Pro, at $999 a month per workspace billed annually, with 5 capture seats. |
| Free plan and trial | AFree with no end date for 2 users and 1,000 contacts: deal pipelines, email tracking, live chat, a meeting link and dashboards. Zoho CRM's free plan holds more, with 3 users and 5,000 records, but HubSpot's does more. | CNo free plan. There's a 14-day free trial of Starter, and our listing doesn't say whether it asks for a card. After that it's $89 a user, billed monthly. |
| Features | AA CRM with marketing, sales, service and content tools all reading from one customer record. Email tracking, calling, workflows, dashboards and an AI assistant. You'll run out of time before you run out of features. | AIt updates contacts, accounts and deals from email and meetings, records and transcribes calls on Zoom, Meet and Teams, answers questions with links to the moment in the call, and scores target accounts. Custom objects are on every plan, and there's a documented API. |
| Ease of use | B4.7 from about 15,700 App Store ratings, and it runs in a browser with nothing to install. Starting is easy. Working out the bundles, hubs, seats and credits is not, and Sales Hub Professional makes you buy onboarding. | BThere's no App Store rating on record for it, so a B is our ceiling. Connect Gmail or Outlook and it matches emails and meetings to the right deal by itself, so there's very little typing in. |
| Platforms and integrations | AWeb, iPhone and Android, a Chrome extension for Gmail and an add-in for Outlook. More than 2,000 integrations and an API. There's no desktop app, but it lives in a browser tab, so we doubt you'd miss one. | BIt's a web app, and its site lists no desktop or phone apps. It connects to Gmail, Outlook, Slack, Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Granola and Gong, and there's a documented API with an MCP quickstart. A web app with integrations is a B on our ladder. |
| Best for | small businesses starting with a free CRM | startups that never want to update a CRM by hand |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: HubSpot and Lightfield. How we grade
Where they differ
- HubSpot starts at $20 per seat / month for Starter (new customers: from $7, billed annually). Lightfield starts at $89 per user / month, billed monthly.
- HubSpot has a free plan. Lightfield does not, though it has a free trial.
- Only HubSpot lists iOS and Android apps.
- Only HubSpot lists a browser extension.
- HubSpot also covers booking links and marketing automation.
- Lightfield also covers meeting notes, transcription and AI agents.
At a glance
| HubSpot | Lightfield | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free trial |
| Starts at | $20 per seat / month for Starter (new customers: from $7, billed annually) | $89 per user / month, billed monthly |
| Free plan | Free tools for up to 2 users and 1,000 contacts with no expiry date: contact management, deal pipelines, tasks, email tracking, live chat, a meeting link and reporting dashboards. Live chat and marketing emails carry HubSpot branding. | None |
| Free trial | 14-day free trial of HubSpot's paid sales tools; the free tools themselves do not expire | 14-day free trial of the Starter plan |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | HubSpot, Inc. | Magical Tome, Inc. (Lightfield) |
| Price read from | hubspot.com | lightfield.app |
| Checked | Oct 4, 2026 | Oct 6, 2026 |
Who each one suits
HubSpot
- Small teams that want to start on a free CRM and add paid tools later
- Companies that want marketing, sales and service working from one customer database
- Startups and nonprofits that qualify for HubSpot's discount programs
Lightfield
- Founders and early sales teams who do not want to update a CRM by hand
- Teams that want call recording, transcripts and the CRM in one product
- Startups willing to pay for vendor-supported outbound on higher plans
Worth knowing
HubSpot
- The free tools stop at 2 users and 1,000 contacts, and free live chat and marketing emails carry HubSpot branding.
- Sales Hub Professional and Enterprise each require a one-time onboarding fee ($1,500 and $3,500) on top of the seat price.
- Paid tiers are split across a Starter bundle, Smart CRM and separate hubs, so the total depends on which products and how many seats you buy.
- The $7 Starter price is a limited-time offer for new customers against a $20 list price, and HubSpot's CRM product page shows a different new-customer price, from $15 per seat.
Lightfield
- Starter is capped at 3 users and has no workflows, automations, sequences, dashboards or viewer seats.
- The step up is steep: Pro costs $999 a month per workspace, billed annually, and includes 5 capture seats; extra ones are $200 a month.
- Workflows, automations, sequences and advanced enrichment draw on an annual credit allowance, with overage billed unless a cap is set.
- The vendor describes it as a web app; its site lists no desktop or mobile apps.
Key features
HubSpot
- Free CRM tools
- Contact management, deal pipelines, task and activity tracking, CRM import and reporting dashboards are free for up to 2 users and 1,000 contacts, with no expiry date.
- Sales email and meeting tools
- Email tracking, templates and a meeting scheduler work inside HubSpot or from the inbox, through a Chrome extension for Gmail and an Office 365 add-in for Outlook.
- Workflows and sales automation
- Workflows automate follow-ups and record updates. Sales Hub Professional allows up to 300 fully customizable workflows; lower tiers have fewer triggers and actions.
- Breeze AI and HubSpot Credits
- Breeze Assistant answers questions from CRM data, and agents run on HubSpot Credits. Paid tiers include 500, 3,000 or 5,000 credits a month, and unused credits do not roll over.
- Calling and conversation tools
- Calls can be placed and logged from the CRM, with a monthly allowance of calling minutes that grows by tier. Sales Hub Professional adds call transcription and playbooks.
- Connected hubs and integrations
- The CRM shares one customer database with HubSpot's marketing, service, content and data hubs, and HubSpot lists more than 2,000 integrations.
Lightfield
- Automatic data capture
- Connects Gmail or Outlook and their calendars, matches each email and meeting to the right contact, account and deal, and keeps fields such as deal stage current without manual entry.
- Meeting recorder
- A built-in recorder joins external calls on Zoom, Google Meet and Microsoft Teams, produces searchable transcripts and summaries, tracks commitments as tasks and drafts follow-up emails.
- Agent chat
- Ask about deals in plain English and get answers with citations linking to the exact moment in a call. Viewer seats on Pro and above can use chat to query records.
- Workflows, automations and sequences
- Event-driven automations and email sequences are described in plain language. They start on Pro and consume workspace credits; multi-channel sequences need Growth.
- Pipeline generation
- Target accounts are scored on fit and timing using hiring, funding and tech stack signals, with verified contacts and warm intro paths from the team's LinkedIn connections.
- Custom objects and API
- Custom objects, relationships and pipeline configuration are on every plan. A documented API with keys and scopes, plus an MCP quickstart, opens CRM data to developers and agents.
Plans
HubSpot
Free Tools$0
Up to 2 users and 1,000 contacts, with contact management, deal pipelines, live chat and reporting dashboards. No credit card required.
Starter$20
per seat / month; new customers from $7, billed annually
A bundle of the Starter editions of the marketing, sales, service, content and data hubs. Removes HubSpot branding and includes 500 HubSpot Credits.
Smart CRM Professional$45
per seat / month, annual commitment ($50 billed monthly)
CRM-only tier with up to 100 pipelines, 100 custom reports, 75 dashboards and 3,000 HubSpot Credits.
Smart CRM Enterprise$75
per seat / month
CRM-only tier with up to 350 pipelines, 500 custom reports, 200 calculated properties and 5,000 HubSpot Credits.
Sales Hub Professional$90
per seat / month, annual commitment ($100 billed monthly)
Sales Hub only: up to 300 customizable workflows, call transcription and playbooks. A one-time $1,500 onboarding fee is required.
Sales Hub Enterprise$150
per seat / month
Sales Hub only: adds forecasting across team hierarchies and more advanced automation. A one-time $3,500 onboarding fee is required.
Lightfield
Starter$89
per user / month, billed monthly
Up to 3 seats and 50,000 records, with automatic record updates, meeting recording and transcription, and email, calendar and Slack sync.
Pro$999
per workspace / month, billed annually
5 capture seats, unlimited viewer seats, 450,000 workspace credits a year, workflows and automations, email sequences, dashboards and 250,000 records.
Growth$1,999
per workspace / month, billed annually
10 capture seats, 900,000 workspace credits a year, multi-channel sequences, LinkedIn sync (beta), advanced enrichment and 750,000 records.
EnterpriseCustom
Adds role-based access control, SSO, calculated and conditional fields, sandbox environments and custom integrations. Billed annually.
Ways to pay less
HubSpot
- Other savings
New-customer Starter offer: from $7 per seat
For a limited time, new customers pay $7 per seat a month billed annually, or $10 billed monthly, instead of the $20 list price for Starter. HubSpot gives no end date.
- Annual discount
Lower seat price with an annual commitment
Sales Hub Professional is $90 per seat a month on an annual commitment versus $100 paid monthly. Smart CRM Professional is $45 versus $50.
- Startups
HubSpot for Startups: up to 90% off
Startups with pre-seed to Series A funding can get 90% off in year one, 50% in year two and 25% in year three. Others tied to an approved partner get 30%, then 15%. Professional and Enterprise products only.
- Nonprofit
40% off for eligible nonprofits
New customers registered as nonprofits in North America, Australia or New Zealand get 40% off Professional and Enterprise products on a one-year contract. Starter is excluded.
Lightfield
No public discounts listed.
