If you’re a growing business, you’ll likely face a familiar challenge: how to manage leads, track deals, and keep everyone on your sales team aligned without losing your mind. That’s why choosing the right CRM for your needs is crucial.
With the help of a solid CRM, you can improve your sales efficiency and long-term growth.
In this article, we’ll compare two of the top CRMs out there: Pipedrive and HubSpot. We’ll cover their features, pricing, ease of use, and how they each integrate with PandaDoc to improve your sales process.
Both are powerful tools, but it comes down to what your goals are and what your team needs.
What are Pipedrive and HubSpot CRMs?
Pipedrive is a CRM centered on sales and built for pipeline visibility and productivity. It keeps sales teams organized, automates tasks, and facilitates the smooth progression of deals.
Pipedrive also prides itself on being built by and for salespeople, so you know it’s bound to benefit your sales cycle. It stands out with its visual sales pipeline, making lead management and activity tracking more intuitive and actionable.
HubSpot’s CRM is part of their greater growth platform. It includes robust sales tools that integrate with marketing automation, customer service features, and content management. Essentially, it’s a go-to solution for many businesses.
What’s great is that both CRMs integrate with PandaDoc, so your teams can easily automate document workflows, generate quotes, and close deals faster.
What are the key differences between Pipedrive and HubSpot?
When considering the differences between these two CRMs, it ultimately comes down to focus.
Pipedrive is all about sales execution, which means it’s ideal for teams that want a streamlined, no-nonsense CRM to help close deals. It’s especially useful for small to mid-sized businesses that don’t require a comprehensive suite of marketing tools.
HubSpot is built with a broader scope, meaning it has robust features for sales, marketing, service, and ops. It has an impressive free CRM, but when you upgrade to the full ecosystem, you’ll get a lot more power. HubSpot is great if you want a single platform to align all of your go-to-market efforts.
Feature comparison: how Pipedrive and HubSpot stack up
Let’s compare their core features side by side:
Feature | Pipedrive | HubSpot |
Lead & deal management | Visual sales pipeline with drag-and-drop functionality, custom deal stages, activity reminders, and sales forecasting. | Contact and deal management with automatic activity logging, email tracking, and customizable deal stages. Advanced lead scoring and predictive lead analytics available in paid tiers. |
Pipeline management | Customizable pipelines with visual dashboards, multiple pipeline support, and activity-based selling. | Multiple customizable pipelines with a drag-and-drop interface. Advanced pipeline automation and lead routing available in Sales Hub Professional and Enterprise tiers. |
Reporting & analytics | Custom dashboards, goal tracking, revenue forecasting, and detailed sales reports. | Standard reporting with customizable dashboards. Advanced reporting features, including sales analytics and forecasting, available in Sales Hub Professional and Enterprise tiers. |
Integrations & automation | Over 500 native integrations, including PandaDoc, Slack, Trello, and Zoom. Custom workflow automation through a visual builder. | Extensive integration marketplace with more than 1,000 apps. Advanced automation features, including sequences and workflows, available in Sales Hub Professional and Enterprise tiers. |
Marketing tools | Limited marketing features; primarily focused on sales. Add-ons available separately through Campaigns, including email marketing automation. | Comprehensive marketing tools, including email marketing, landing pages, and campaign management, integrated within the CRM. Advanced features available in Marketing Hub tiers. |
A note about HubSpot: it offers an extensive free CRM, but many of the advanced features, like predictive lead scoring, advanced reporting, and automation, are available only in their paid plans.
When it comes to deep customization and automation within the sales pipeline, Pipedrive has an edge. However, if you want to build a unified marketing and sales operation, HubSpot has a lot more functions under one platform.
Pricing comparison: Pipedrive vs HubSpot
Pricing is, of course, a huge factor when choosing a CRM, and platforms typically take different approaches. Pipedrive takes a straightforward approach to pricing as it’s user-based. HubSpot does offer a free plan, but its cost increases as you scale.
Here’s a quick breakdown of their pricing plans:
Pipedrive:
- Essential – $24/month/user
- Advanced – $49/month/user
- Professional – $69/month/user
- Power – $79/month/user
- Enterprise – $129/month/user
Their system is simple in that it’s always priced per user, but as the plans get more advanced, you get more features like AI assistant, live chat support, streamlined lead routing, etc.
HubSpot:
HubSpot offers a free plan and different pricing options for businesses, enterprises, individuals, and small teams.
Unlike Pipedrive, HubSpot doesn’t charge per by user and their plans include connected accounts.
Ease of use: Which platform is more intuitive?
When it comes to user experience, you’ll hear Pipedrive being praised for its simplicity. That’s because its visual interface and drag-and-drop pipeline make it easy for reps to focus on deals without a steep learning curve. The setup is fast, and your team can be up and running in just a few days.
HubSpot is user-friendly, but because it’s more feature-dense, there are more tools to explore. That means things can get a little more complex, especially for small businesses/teams that don’t have a dedicated CRM admin. But with their clean UI and onboarding resources, you can reduce friction from the onset.
In short, Pipedrive wins on simplicity, but HubSpot wins on versatility, especially when your business grows.
Integrations and customization
Both CRMs support a large number of integrations, which makes it easy to connect with the tools your teams are already using.
- Pipedrive offers 500+ integrations, including PandaDoc, Slack, Trello, and Zoom. With its built-in automation builder, you can also create custom workflows.
- HubSpot connects with over a thousand apps through its marketplace. It’s got you covered when it comes to marketing automation, e-commerce, analytics, or help desk tools, as it’s known as one of the most extensive ecosystems in the CRM world.
- PandaDoc offers the only native CPQ solution built for HubSpot. With two-way data sync, you can centralize quotes and customer data without switching tools.
Again, it comes down to what you and your business are looking for: Pipedrive gives you deeper control over your pipelines and sales processes, while HubSpot allows for more customization across all touchpoints in the customer journey.
Customer support and training resources
Support is a key feature to consider, and fortunately, both of these CRM platforms offer decent support.
Pipedrive offers 24/7 customer support via email and a chatbot for all its users. Once plans get more advanced, live chat is available during certain hours/days depending on the tier. Users also have access to a comprehensive knowledge base, community forums, and Pipedrive Learn (their educational academy) for self-service resources.
HubSpot offers a wide range of customer support options, depending on the subscription tier. Free users can access the HubSpot Community and knowledge base, while paid plans give you additional support channels like email and in-app chat. The HubSpot Service Hub has advanced tools like a unified help desk, AI-powered ticketing, and a customer portal.
Plus, HubSpot has always stood out for its training resources with their courses, certifications and tutorials for a range of users through their HubSpot Academy.
Which CRM is better for your business?
It would be simple if there were a one-size-fits-all answer, right? Again, it all comes down to what you need.
If your primary goal is to equip your sales team with a focused and efficient tool, Pipedrive is a strong option that provides everything you need. Plus, it’s cost-effective, easy to learn, and built for closing deals.
But if you’re looking for a broader platform that can support sales, marketing, service, etc., HubSpot can give you greater long-term value. It’s also helpful if you want all of these different tools through one provider, or if you want a full view of the customer journey and the tools to engage in every stage.
How PandaDoc integrates with Pipedrive and HubSpot
Whether you choose to use Pipedrive or Hubspot, integrating PandaDoc can make your sales process smarter and faster.
Here’s how PandaDoc CPQ (configure, price, quote) can benefit your team:
- Automated document generation: Automatically pull data from your CRM to create quotes, proposals, and contracts. That means less manual entry and fewer errors.
- Real-time activity tracking: Monitor when a document is opened, commented on, or signed to better evaluate customer engagement.
- Streamlined approvals and eSignatures: Automate approval workflows and collect electronic signatures to speed up deal closures.
- Advanced CPQ tools: Configure complex product and pricing rules, create product bundles, and apply dynamic pricing strategies to generate accurate and tailored quotes.
- Guided selling experience: Use rules-based engines and dynamic pricing to help sales reps give accurate quotes. This means less back-and-forth communication.
- Seamless CRM integration: PandaDoc integrates with both Pipedrive and HubSpot so your sales reps can access customer data and generate quotes within a single platform. PandaDoc CPQ for Pipedrive allows reps to create quotes and proposals directly from the Pipedrive CRM.
Connecting your CRM to PandaDoc means your team can focus on selling rather than manual paperwork. Seems like a no-brainer, right?
The bottom line
If you want to know which is better, Pipedrive or HubSpot, it really depends on your goals.
Remember that Pipedrive will give you a dedicated, user-friendly CRM that’s perfect for sales teams and easy to scale. HubSpot has you covered when it comes to a flexible platform that will grow with your business while connecting your marketing, sales, and service efforts.
Either way, pairing it with PandaDoc will streamline your workflow and help you close deals faster. Want to see how? Request a free demo today.
Disclaimer
PandaDoc is not a law firm, or a substitute for an attorney or law firm. This page is not intended to and does not provide legal advice. Should you have legal questions on the validity of e-signatures or digital signatures and the enforceability thereof, please consult with an attorney or law firm. Use of PandaDoc services are governed by our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Frequently asked questions
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There’s no one right answer. Pipedrive is ideal for your sales-focused teams that need simplicity and structure, while HubSpot might be better if you’re looking for an all-in-one platform that also covers marketing and service tools. Your decision will depend on your business model and growth goals.
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Yes, HubSpot CRM is good for small businesses because it offers a robust free plan and scalable pricing, it’s a solid choice for small businesses that want to grow into more advanced features over time.