# Close vs HubSpot for a small sales team

> Should a small sales team use Close or HubSpot? Prices checked Oct 28 2026, our own use, public reviews, and how to test both on your own list.

By Corey Leon. First posted 2026-10-28. Updated 2026-10-28. Source: https://www.simpleai.community/blog/close-vs-hubspot/
License: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Credit Simple AI with a link.

Question: Should a small sales team use Close or HubSpot?

If your small team spends the day on the phone and in email, try Close first. Calling, email and texting are built in, and plans start at $19 per user a month with a 14-day free trial. HubSpot is a solid pick if marketing and sales need to share one tool, and its free CRM plan costs nothing to try. We run our whole business on Close and work in HubSpot every week for a client, so this comes from using both.

No paid links. No tool paid to be here.

## Steps

1. **Test it with your own list, not their demo.** Load 50 to 100 of your real leads into each free trial. A demo account always looks clean. Yours won't.
2. **Do one real day of work in each.** Make your calls, send your follow ups and log your notes in Close one day and HubSpot the next. Count how many clicks it takes to call a lead and write down what happened.
3. **Check 50 contacts by hand.** After the import, open 50 records and check the name, company, phone and email landed in the right fields. Call or look up each one if you have time.
4. **Pay month to month before you sign a yearly deal.** Both let you start small. Don't lock in for a year until your team has used it for a month.
5. **Drop it if more than 20% is wrong.** That's Kevin Hopp's rule. If one in five records imports wrong or one in five calls doesn't log, that's a tool problem, not a you problem.
6. **Pick the one your reps actually open.** The CRM that gets used beats the one with more features.

## Side by side

### Close: try first

- **What it does:** A CRM with calling, email and texting built in, made for teams that work the phone.
- **Price:** Per user, monthly: Solo $19, Essentials $49, Growth $109, Scale $149. 14-day free trial. Checked Oct 28, 2026 on close.com.
- **Fits:** Small teams that call and email all day and want it in one place.
- **Skip it if:** Your main need is marketing emails, landing pages and forms tied to the CRM.

```review
tool: Close
url: https://www.close.com
rating: 5
when: Oct 2026
text: We run our whole business on Close. Our leads, calls and notes all live in it, and our dialer logs every call into it.
```

- **What people say:** Trustpilot: 4.5 out of 5 from 77 reviews (read Oct 28, 2026, [Trustpilot page](https://www.trustpilot.com/review/close.com)). G2: 4.7 out of 5 from 2,015 reviews, as shown on a G2 comparison page in search results (read Oct 28, 2026, [G2 page](https://www.g2.com/compare/close-vs-zoho-crm)).
- "Close is hands down the simplest, fastest, and most effective CRM out today." ([D.J. Paris on Trustpilot](https://www.trustpilot.com/review/close.com))
- "there are better tools for mass mailing" ([Phil on Trustpilot](https://www.trustpilot.com/review/close.com))
- Most common praise: it's simple, fast to learn, and the built in dialer saves reps time.
- Most common complaint: the few complaints we read were about call audio and bulk email, plus support speed in Trustpilot's own summary.

### HubSpot: solid

- **What it does:** A CRM with a free plan that also covers marketing, so sales and marketing can share one tool.
- **Price:** Free CRM plan. Checked Oct 28, 2026 on hubspot.com. Paid plans cost more, so check their page for your team size.
- **Fits:** Teams where marketing runs emails and forms and sales works the leads they bring in.
- **Skip it if:** You're a pure calling team that wants dialing built in without add ons.

```review
tool: HubSpot
url: https://www.hubspot.com
rating: 4
when: Oct 2026
text: One of our clients runs on HubSpot, so we work in it every week. It does the job when marketing and sales share one system.
```

- **What people say:** Trustpilot: 1.5 out of 5 from 1,176 reviews (read Oct 28, 2026, [Trustpilot page](https://www.trustpilot.com/review/hubspot.com)). That page covers HubSpot the company, including billing, not only the CRM. G2: 4.4 out of 5 for HubSpot Sales Hub from over 13,000 reviews, as shown on G2 comparison pages in search results (read Oct 28, 2026, [G2 page](https://www.g2.com/compare/hubspot-sales-hub-vs-teamwave)).
- "Better than other CRMs I have used" ([Jean-François De laRue on Trustpilot](https://www.trustpilot.com/review/hubspot.com))
- "The pricing structure unfortunately is very bad." ([Simon on Trustpilot](https://www.trustpilot.com/review/hubspot.com))
- Most common praise: lots of tools in one place, and people who like it find it easier than other CRMs.
- Most common complaint: pricing surprises when you grow or renew, and slow support.

## Prompts you can copy

### Write the questions to ask a sales rep before buying

```prompt
I run a sales team of [number] people. We mostly [call / email / both] and sell [what you sell] to [who you sell to]. I am comparing Close and HubSpot.

Write 10 short questions I should ask each company's sales rep before I buy. Cover: total price per user for my team size, what is in the free plan or trial, calling and texting, contract length, what happens to my data if I leave, and any add ons I would need. Plain words. One line each.
```

### Check 50 imported records

```prompt
I imported my leads into a new CRM. Below are 50 records I exported back out, plus the same 50 from my original sheet.

Compare them row by row. List every record where the name, company, phone or email does not match, or landed in the wrong field. At the end, tell me what percent of the 50 had a problem. If more than 20% are wrong, say so in the first line.

Original: [paste 50 rows]
Exported from the CRM: [paste 50 rows]
```

### Compare one day in each tool

```prompt
I tried two CRMs for one day each. Here are my notes from each day: [paste notes for Close] and [paste notes for HubSpot].

Make a short side by side: calls made, emails sent, minutes spent on logging, anything that broke, and anything my reps liked. Then tell me in two sentences which one my team is more likely to use every day and why. Use only what is in my notes.
```

## Sources

| Source | What we took | Date read |
|---|---|---|
| [Close pricing](https://www.close.com/pricing) | Plan prices and free trial | Oct 28, 2026 |
| [HubSpot](https://www.hubspot.com) | Free CRM plan | Oct 28, 2026 |
| [Trustpilot: Close](https://www.trustpilot.com/review/close.com) | Rating, count, two quotes | Oct 28, 2026 |
| [G2: Close comparison page](https://www.g2.com/compare/close-vs-zoho-crm) | Rating and count from search results | Oct 28, 2026 |
| [Trustpilot: HubSpot](https://www.trustpilot.com/review/hubspot.com) | Rating, count, two quotes | Oct 28, 2026 |
| [G2: HubSpot Sales Hub comparison page](https://www.g2.com/compare/hubspot-sales-hub-vs-teamwave) | Rating and count from search results | Oct 28, 2026 |

## FAQ

### Is HubSpot really free?

HubSpot has a free CRM plan. Paid plans add more, and reviewers often say the price climbs as you grow, so get a quote for your team size before you commit.

### Can I make calls from Close without another dialer?

Yes. Calling, email and texting are built into Close. We dial on a separate power dialer that logs into Close, but you don't need one to start.

### Which is easier to switch away from later?

Export your data in the first week and look at the file. If you can get your leads, notes and call history out cleanly, you're not stuck.

### Why do the Trustpilot and G2 scores look so different?

Trustpilot reviews often come from people with billing or support problems with the whole company. G2 reviews are mostly from people using the software at work. Read both and look for the same complaint showing up again and again.