Salesforce to HubSpot Migration: What to Know Before You Switch

Your company has used Salesforce for years. Leaving Salesforce means potentially disrupting years of data, customization, integrations, training, and investments. Yikes.

However, a successful migration isn’t about recreating your current Salesforce setup in HubSpot. It’s about carrying over what works while using the transition as an opportunity to improve your customer relationship management (CRM) system.

The majority of our clients find that moving to HubSpot is beneficial and well worth the migration. But is it the right move for your business? Read on to compare the key differences between Salesforce and HubSpot, migration considerations, and determine which platform better fits your needs.

Understand the Structural Differences

HubSpot and Salesforce organize and connect customer objects (data) differently, including leads, contacts, companies/accounts, opportunities/deals, and custom objects. They differ in their object flow – in other words, how data moves and changes throughout the customer life cycle. HubSpot keeps customer information and activity in one connected system, making it easier to follow, while Salesforce offers more flexibility in how data is organized but often requires more setup and customization.

Object flow differences:

• Salesforce: Lead → Contact → Opportunity

• HubSpot: Contact → Lead → Deal

Salesforce relies more heavily on leads to store early or incomplete contact information, keeping that data separate from the main contact or account database until the lead is officially converted. HubSpot creates a contact record as soon as someone fills out a form or is imported into the system. It then uses lifecycle stages, such as subscriber or lead, to show where that contact is in the process, rather than keeping it in a separate object away from the main account. This difference can take some getting used to for teams making the switch.

Because of these differences, a Salesforce-to-HubSpot migration shouldn’t involve copying every object or process exactly as it exists. Instead, focus on what you want your sales process to look like moving forward and build your HubSpot setup around that goal.

Address Critical Migration Considerations

Migrating your CRM means considering what each platform can do, how clean and organized your data is, and who will manage the system going forward. HubSpot is generally more user-friendly from the start of setup. Salesforce offers more advanced flexibility, but requires more technical expertise and resources. The right fit often depends on team size, available resources, and budget.

Before officially making the move from Salesforce to HubSpot, there are a few important factors to consider:

• Customization and flexibility
• Users and ownership management
• Data quality and deduplication
• Transferring attachments and PDFs
  

Customization and Flexibility

Both HubSpot and Salesforce can be customized, but the level of expertise and subscription-level requirements vary between the two platforms. Salesforce can be highly customizable, but more complex changes often require developer support, which can make updates more expensive and time-consuming.

HubSpot is generally easier to set up and customize without extensive technical expertise, allowing teams to make changes independently. It’s easier for teams to adjust and improve their CRM setup over time without relying as heavily on developers, which is what usually happens with Salesforce. However, some advanced features, such as custom objects, require an Enterprise subscription, which is HubSpot’s top-tier plan.

When making the migration, identify which Salesforce customizations are still necessary, and determine what can be recreated, redesigned, simplified, or even retired in HubSpot. This will help you build a HubSpot setup based on what your team actually needs moving forward.

User and Ownership Management

When making the switch, ensure all necessary Salesforce users exist in HubSpot. Email domains must match exactly between platforms, as mismatched domains can prevent contacts and companies from syncing properly. We saw this issue firsthand during a client migration when different email domains were used in Salesforce and HubSpot, preventing any contacts or companies from syncing.

Also, before migrating, take the time to confirm how record ownership, users, teams, permissions, territories, and lead routing will work in HubSpot. Set up your teams and permissions early, as these decisions can impact workflows, reporting, automation, and how records are assigned.

Data Quality and Deduplication

Salesforce and HubSpot handle duplicate data differently, making data cleanup an important step before migration. Before moving your data, determine what actually needs to be migrated versus what simply needs to be preserved or archived. Clean up duplicate records, inconsistent properties, outdated information, and incorrect associations so you don’t carry unnecessary clutter into HubSpot. Tools like ListWise can help clean and validate email and company data before the move.

Taking the time to clean and prioritize your data can help you start with a more organized and reliable HubSpot CRM.

Attachments and PDFs

When moving from Salesforce to HubSpot, PDFs and other attachments tied to accounts, like contracts and proposals, won’t automatically move with the rest of the data. To bring these files over, you can use solutions like API (application programming interface) integrations or a third-party migration tool, like SyncMatters, to ensure you don’t leave behind important documents.

Calculate the True Cost of Switching

Salesforce and HubSpot both offer tiered pricing. However, their pricing structures differ significantly. Salesforce offers a free trial, but doesn’t have a permanently free plan. HubSpot, on the other hand, offers a free CRM with features such as contact management, deal tracking, and email outreach. The table below provides a side-by-side comparison of the available pricing tiers:

The base price is only part of what you’ll actually pay. When comparing Salesforce and HubSpot, consider the total cost of ownership, including implementation, ongoing administration, customization, support, and AI consumption. We’ll take a closer look at support service fees and AI consumption model costs below.

Support Service Fees

Salesforce pricing can cost more overall, especially when you need developer support or a dedicated administrator, which comes with a fee. The Standard support plan is included with all licenses, while Premier support costs an additional 30% of net license fees. The highest support level, Signature Success Plan, is available at a (very high) custom price. While Salesforce may offer aggressive discounts through programs such as certifications or workshops, these discounts often mask the long-term costs that may arise after the initial purchase.

HubSpot’s total cost is often closer to its face value price because many teams can handle setup themselves and per-seat pricing is clear up-front. However, costs can increase as your needs grow. Per-seat fees on Professional and Enterprise plans can add up for larger teams, while advanced features, such as custom reporting and automation, may require an upgrade from the Starter tier. Plus, if your team needs additional support, HubSpot offers different support levels using a per-seat pricing model, ranging from $0 to $150 per seat.

Think of HubSpot like an airline that includes more in the up-front ticket price, while Salesforce can be more like a budget airline. The starting price may look appealing, but additional costs, such as support and developer fees, can add up along the way.

AI Consumption Models

Salesforce and HubSpot charge for AI usage differently, so comparing costs isn’t always straightforward.

Salesforce uses a token-based consumption model. HubSpot uses its own credit-based model for certain AI-powered features and offers some enrichment capabilities at no additional cost. This feature automatically populates missing information for contacts, such as company size and industry.

HubSpot is also expanding its enrichment capabilities to include information such as job roles and titles. However, unlike platforms such as Apollo, Seamless, and ZoomInfo, HubSpot doesn’t currently provide phone or email enrichment.

When comparing costs, consider how your team will actually use AI, which features you’ll rely on, and how often you’ll use them. From there, you can get a better idea of what AI usage could add to the overall cost of each platform.

Choose the Right Migration Approach

How you move from Salesforce to HubSpot will depend on the amount of data you have and how customized your current CRM is. One approach is to use the native Salesforce-HubSpot integration to initially sync core data such as contacts, companies, and deals, then use a tool like SyncMatters to move remaining information, particularly activities or historical data the native integration may not handle.

Regardless of the approach, only migrate data that is clean and necessary. A successful migration generally follows a simple process:

Understand what you have → plan your new setup → clean your data → configure HubSpot → migrate → double-check everything

If Salesforce and HubSpot will both be in use during the transition, also establish which CRM is the source of truth, so your team knows where information should be updated and maintained.

Verify More Than Record Count

A successful import doesn’t automatically mean your migration was successful. Once the data is moved, go beyond checking the number of records and make sure everything is accurate, connected, and working as expected. Verify key elements such as:

• Properties and associations
• Ownership
• Historical activities
• Pipelines
• Workflows and integrations
• Permissions
• Reporting and attribution

It’s also important to confirm any Salesforce-specific details that could impact the migration or your planning. Possible culprits include the rules Salesforce uses to identify duplicate records (known as deduplication logic), how leads and contacts are structured, and what support costs apply to your specific contract.

Don’t overlook training and adoption during your migration process. A successful CRM migration depends on your team knowing how to use the new platform effectively – and caring enough to use it. Base training on what users will actually be doing in HubSpot, whether that involves sales, marketing, or RevOps workflows. Involve your team before the migration is complete to uncover potential process issues early and make the transition smoother.

Migration = Opportunity to Build a Better CRM

It may be time to consider leaving Salesforce if it becomes too complicated, time-consuming, or costly for what your team actually needs. However, Salesforce may remain the better fit for businesses that rely on highly customized features or have complex requirements that may be more difficult to manage in HubSpot.

An important question to ask is: Which platform gives your sales and marketing teams what they need without adding unnecessary complexity? Consider which option will better align your teams and support the way they work together. A successful migration should preserve what works while simplifying what doesn’t. It should improve adoption, efficiency, lead management, and alignment across your sales and marketing teams. Not just move data.

Ready to learn more about HubSpot migration and onboarding? Explore p80’s HubSpot consulting services below.