CRM
HubSpot, ActiveCampaign or Zoho: which is best for a small business
By JCUpdated 6 min read
Depends on what you need to solve first. If the urgent need is for sales to follow each lead and for the team to use the CRM from week one, HubSpot. If the urgent need is to automate emails and nurture prospects with a small budget, ActiveCampaign. If you need a highly customizable sales CRM with a low per‑user cost, or you already use other Zoho apps, Zoho CRM.
A note before continuing: I’m a partner of HubSpot and ActiveCampaign, and I also work with Zoho. Below is when each option makes sense, including cases where I recommend Zoho.
How HubSpot, ActiveCampaign and Zoho differ
| HubSpot | ActiveCampaign | Zoho CRM | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Focus | CRM with marketing, sales and service tools in one platform | Email marketing automation; WhatsApp is a separate channel | Highly configurable sales CRM, part of the Zoho app family |
| Pricing model | Per user on paid plans; Marketing Hub also charges per marketing contact | Per number of contacts; each plan includes a set number of users | Per user |
| Free version | Yes, up to 2 users | No; 14‑day free trial | Yes, up to 3 users |
| Sales pipeline | Included | Add‑on with extra cost (Pipelines) | Included |
| Strong in | Ease of use; marketing and sales together | Email flows, segmentation and automatic follow‑up | Module, field and rule customization at a good price |
| Things to watch | Price jump from Starter to Professional | Sales CRM is an add‑on, not the core | Flexibility requires good initial setup |
How much does each cost?
| Starter | Mid‑tier | What to know | |
|---|---|---|---|
| HubSpot (USD) | Free up to 2 users. Starter from $20 per user per month (promo $7 for new customers on Oct 17) | Sales Hub Professional from $90 per user per month, plus a one‑time $1,500 onboarding fee | Marketing Hub Professional from $800 per month, with 3 users and 2,000 marketing contacts |
| ActiveCampaign (USD, 1,000 contacts, annual billing) | Starter: $15 per month, 1 user, up to 5 actions per automation | Plus: $49 per month, 1 user, unlimited actions and landing pages. Pro: $79 per month, 3 users | Enterprise from $145 per month, with 5 users. Price rises with contact count |
| Zoho CRM (pesos, VAT separate) | Free up to 3 users. Standard: 216 pesos per user per month with annual payment, 324 pesos monthly | Professional: 360 pesos or 540 pesos. Enterprise: 630 pesos or 810 pesos | Ultimate: 810 pesos or 990 pesos per user per month, annual or monthly |
From Mexico, HubSpot and ActiveCampaign show prices in dollars and Zoho in pesos. The full HubSpot breakdown, including onboarding fees, is in how much HubSpot costs in Mexico.
Example: 3 salespeople and 1,000 contacts, first year
With the prices from Oct 17 and no promotions:
| Option | Cost | First year |
|---|---|---|
| HubSpot Sales Hub Starter | 3 users × $20 USD × 12 months | $720 USD |
| Zoho CRM Standard, annual payment | 3 users × 216 pesos × 12 months | 7,776 pesos plus VAT |
| ActiveCampaign Pro | $79 USD × 12 months, 3 users included | $948 USD, plus the Pipelines add‑on if you want to manage sales deals |
For a team this size, the license difference is a few hundred dollars a year. What really changes cost is the time your team loses if the tool does not fit your sales process, and the effort needed to set it up well.
When HubSpot makes sense
- Your team has never used a CRM and needs to adopt one quickly.
- You want marketing (emails, forms, landing pages) and sales in the same tool, with reports that combine both.
- You are 1 or 2 people and want to start free and grow later.
- You want to see in one place which campaign generated each closed deal.
When ActiveCampaign makes sense
- Your sales depend on nurturing prospects for weeks or months with emails that send themselves based on each contact’s actions.
- You have a large contact list and few people operating the system.
- You sell online (courses, products, memberships) and the follow‑up is more marketing than a salesperson.
- You already have a sales CRM and need email automation. ActiveCampaign integrates with several CRMs, including Zoho.
When Zoho CRM makes sense
- Your process has many custom fields, several products or projects, and tailored assignment rules.
- You will have many users and per‑user cost matters.
- You already use other Zoho apps (email, invoicing, forms) and want everything in the same ecosystem.
- You want to start free with a team of up to 3 people.
Can they be combined?
Yes, and sometimes that is the best option. A common combo is Zoho for sales CRM and ActiveCampaign for email automation. The flows I would build first are described in email automation with ActiveCampaign. I do not recommend using two CRMs where salespeople capture the same data: after three months nobody knows which system has the correct information.
The rule for combining: each piece of data lives in one system that sends it out. The contact and its assigned salesperson stay in the CRM; the other tool reads from there, not the other way around.
Five questions to decide
| Question | If yes, lean toward |
|---|---|
| Has your team never used a CRM and needs something easy? | HubSpot |
| Does your sale rely more on automatic emails than on salesperson calls? | ActiveCampaign |
| Does your process have many custom rules and fields? | Zoho CRM |
| Will you have more than 10 users and per‑user cost is decisive? | Zoho CRM |
| Do you want marketing and sales on the same dashboard? | HubSpot |
If you answered yes in two different columns, you probably need a combination: a sales CRM and an email tool that reads from it.
The most common mistake I see
Choosing a tool before defining the process. None of the three fixes a sale that lacks clear stages and owners. Before comparing prices, write down on a sheet where your leads come from, who handles them, what stages they go through, and what must happen to move to the next stage. With that, the decision is usually obvious.
I also see the opposite: companies that switch CRM every two years because “this one doesn’t work,” when the real problem was that no one defined who handles each lead. If you work in real estate, the criteria for that niche are in how to choose a real‑estate CRM.
What I would do
- Define the sales process before opening any free trial.
- Test two tools for two weeks with real data and the people who will use them.
- Keep the one the team used without anyone having to be forced.
I’m a partner of HubSpot and ActiveCampaign, and I also work with Zoho and Salesforce. If you want to know which one fits you before paying, schedule 30 minutes.