Honest comparison

Hiveku vs HubSpot

HubSpot is a deep CRM and marketing suite, but full workflows, sales sequences and a help desk with SLAs sit in its Professional hubs. For a team of five that's about $1,660 a month on an annual contract, plus $4,500 in onboarding when bought from HubSpot. Hiveku Standard is $149 a month, month to month, with no setup fee.

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Facts and prices checked October 12, 2026. Sources are listed at the end.

The short answer

Which one is right for you?

Choose Hiveku if

You want full workflows, sales sequences and a help desk without paying for HubSpot's Professional hubs.
You'd rather pay one monthly price, month to month, than per seat on an annual contract.
You don't want to pay HubSpot's onboarding fees ($4,500 to $6,000 for these hubs), or hire a HubSpot partner to onboard you, before you start.
You need rank tracking for the keywords you choose, call tracking with dynamic numbers, and to see which people, not just which companies, visit your site.

Choose HubSpot if

You want a free CRM for one or two people and may never need more.
You run a large sales or service team that needs HubSpot's enterprise reporting, SLAs and sandbox accounts.
Your company has already standardized on HubSpot and has admins trained on it.

At a glanceHivekuHubSpot

The plan that comparesHiveku: Standard: $149 a month for 5 peopleHubSpot: Professional hubs for 5 people: about $1,660 a month

All the Professional hubsHiveku: Every feature on every plan, from $39 a monthHubSpot: Professional Customer Platform: $1,450 a month billed monthly ($1,300 paid yearly) for 6 seats

OnboardingHiveku: NoneHubSpot: $4,500 for this team when bought from HubSpot: Marketing Hub $3,000, Service Hub $1,500 (Sales Hub adds $1,500). A HubSpot Solutions Partner can waive it.

ContractHiveku: Month to month; cancel anytimeHubSpot: Professional requires an annual commitment, and seats can't be reduced until renewal

Going over your planHiveku: Nothing upgrades on its own; you decideHubSpot: One marketing contact over your tier moves you to the next tier, billed until renewal, unless you set a cap on marketing contacts

Feature by feature

What you get with each

Most of what Hiveku includes sits in HubSpot's Professional hubs. Here is each job, with the HubSpot tier that covers it.

Your website

Website and hosting

Build, edit and host your site on your own domain

Hiveku

Build with AI or the visual editor, edit the code when you want to, and host on a global CDN with development, staging and production. 3 sites on Starter, 10 on Standard, 50 on Premium.

HubSpot

Website pages and a blog on Content Hub. Starter ($20 a seat) covers up to 30 pages without HubSpot branding; Professional ($500 a month) adds smart content, A/B tests and memberships.

Get found

SEO research and rank tracking

Keyword research, rankings, backlinks and site audits

Hiveku

Keyword research, competitor and backlink data, site audits, and rank tracking in Google and AI Overviews: 10 keywords weekly on Starter, 25 daily on Standard, 100 daily on Premium.

HubSpot

Full site audits and keyword research with search volumes (Semrush data) and difficulty scores on Marketing Hub or Content Hub Professional, plus rankings from Search Console. Tracking a list of keywords you choose and backlink data take another tool.

AI search visibility

How ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google's AI answers mention you

Hiveku

Scores how ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Google AI Overviews describe and cite your brand, re-checks it on a schedule, and recommends fixes.

HubSpot

HubSpot AEO tracks ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity daily: 25 prompts in Marketing Hub Professional, or $50 a month on its own.

Ads management

Run and optimize paid campaigns

Hiveku

Manage campaigns, budgets, keywords and creatives on Google, Microsoft, Meta, LinkedIn and TikTok, and send leads and sales back as conversions. 3 active campaigns on Starter, 15 on Standard, 50 on Premium.

HubSpot

Connects Google, Meta, Microsoft, TikTok, Reddit, LinkedIn and ChatGPT ad accounts, and creates Facebook, LinkedIn and Google search ads.

Social media

Plan, schedule and publish posts

Hiveku

Schedule and publish to Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, X and Google Business Profile, and answer comments from one inbox. 3 profiles on Starter, 10 on Standard, 25 on Premium.

HubSpot

Publishing to Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube and X with Marketing Hub Professional and up. Not on Starter.

Win customers

CRM and sales pipeline

Contacts, companies, deals and follow-ups

Hiveku

Contacts and companies, deal pipelines, sales sequences from your own Gmail or Outlook, and sales reports. 1,000 contacts on Starter, 5,000 on Standard, 50,000 on Premium.

HubSpot

A free CRM to start. Leads need Sales Hub Professional seats; sequences and forecasting need a Sales or Service Hub Professional seat: $100 a seat a month, plus $1,500 onboarding.

Email marketing

Newsletters, campaigns and drip sequences

Hiveku

Campaigns, newsletters and drips from your own sending domain. 2,500 sends a month on Starter, 5,000 on Standard and 25,000 on Premium, then $0.80 per 1,000 on Standard and Premium.

HubSpot

Marketing Hub Professional includes 2,000 marketing contacts and 10 times that in sends a month; more contacts are sold in blocks of 5,000 from $250 a month.

Business phone and call tracking

Numbers, texting, call tracking and an AI receptionist

Hiveku

Local and toll-free numbers, call menus, a shared texting inbox, call tracking that ties each call to its ad or keyword, and an AI receptionist. 1 number on Starter, 10 on Standard, 50 on Premium, at $1 a number a month; calls past your included minutes, and texts, are billed by use.

HubSpot

Calling minutes come with Sales and Service Hub, on HubSpot numbers; texting is a $75-a-month add-on on Professional. Call tracking with dynamic numbers takes CallRail or similar.

Know who visits your site

Identify the companies and people behind visits

Hiveku

Identifies the companies and people behind anonymous visits and adds them to your CRM: 10 a month on Starter, 25 on Standard, 100 on Premium, plus packs of 100 for $49.

HubSpot

The free Prospects tool shows which companies visit your site. People show up only once they're known contacts (for example, after filling in a form), and HubSpot then records their page views. Some intent features use HubSpot credits.

Run the business

Automations

Workflows that run when something happens

Hiveku

Workflows started by forms, CRM changes, calls, payments, schedules or webhooks that send email and texts, update records and run AI steps. 10 active on Starter, 25 on Standard, 100 on Premium.

HubSpot

Starter gets simple automation: form and email follow-ups, and up to 50 workflows with restricted triggers and no if/then branches. Fully customizable workflows come with every Professional hub: Sales or Service Hub Professional from $100 a seat a month plus $1,500 onboarding, or Marketing Hub Professional at $890 a month with 3 seats plus $3,000 onboarding.

Helpdesk and website chat

Support tickets, a shared inbox and chat on your site

Hiveku

Turns emails, chats, texts and social messages into tickets with queues, SLAs and saved replies, and puts an AI assistant on your website that answers from your own pages.

HubSpot

Ticketing and live chat in the free tools. Help desk SLAs and the knowledge base need Service Hub Professional seats: $100 a seat a month, plus $1,500 onboarding. The AI customer agent comes with any Professional hub and runs on HubSpot credits.

Invoices, payments and books

Quotes, invoices, online payments and bookkeeping

Hiveku

Estimates, contracts with e-signature, invoices and online payments, recurring billing, bills, bank reconciliation and profit and loss. Card processing fees apply.

HubSpot

Invoices, payment links and subscriptions in the free tools, through HubSpot payments (US, UK and Canada) or your own Stripe account (HubSpot adds a 0.75% fee on Stripe payments). Bookkeeping stays in QuickBooks or Xero.

Projects and tasks

Plan work and share it with clients

Hiveku

Projects with tasks, subtasks, dependencies and milestones that you can share with clients, plus time tracking.

HubSpot

A Projects tool and tasks in the free tools.

AI agents that do the work

AI teammates that act, not just write

Hiveku

AI teammates for sales, marketing, support, phones, projects and bookkeeping that work from your business memory and wait for your approval on anything risky. Hiveku Mini AI on Starter; Standard and Premium add stronger AI and $10 or $30 of AI credit a month.

HubSpot

Customer, prospecting, content and custom agents, billed in HubSpot credits: 3,000 a month included on Professional.

Hiveku vs HubSpot, feature by feature
What you need	Hiveku	HubSpot
Your website
Website and hostingBuild, edit and host your site on your own domain	Included.Build with AI or the visual editor, edit the code when you want to, and host on a global CDN with development, staging and production. 3 sites on Starter, 10 on Standard, 50 on Premium.	Included.Website pages and a blog on Content Hub. Starter ($20 a seat) covers up to 30 pages without HubSpot branding; Professional ($500 a month) adds smart content, A/B tests and memberships.
Get found
SEO research and rank trackingKeyword research, rankings, backlinks and site audits	Included.Keyword research, competitor and backlink data, site audits, and rank tracking in Google and AI Overviews: 10 keywords weekly on Starter, 25 daily on Standard, 100 daily on Premium.	Basic version.Full site audits and keyword research with search volumes (Semrush data) and difficulty scores on Marketing Hub or Content Hub Professional, plus rankings from Search Console. Tracking a list of keywords you choose and backlink data take another tool.
AI search visibilityHow ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google's AI answers mention you	Included.Scores how ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Google AI Overviews describe and cite your brand, re-checks it on a schedule, and recommends fixes.	Included.HubSpot AEO tracks ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity daily: 25 prompts in Marketing Hub Professional, or $50 a month on its own.
Ads managementRun and optimize paid campaigns	Included.Manage campaigns, budgets, keywords and creatives on Google, Microsoft, Meta, LinkedIn and TikTok, and send leads and sales back as conversions. 3 active campaigns on Starter, 15 on Standard, 50 on Premium.	Included.Connects Google, Meta, Microsoft, TikTok, Reddit, LinkedIn and ChatGPT ad accounts, and creates Facebook, LinkedIn and Google search ads.
Social mediaPlan, schedule and publish posts	Included.Schedule and publish to Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, X and Google Business Profile, and answer comments from one inbox. 3 profiles on Starter, 10 on Standard, 25 on Premium.	Included.Publishing to Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube and X with Marketing Hub Professional and up. Not on Starter.
Win customers
CRM and sales pipelineContacts, companies, deals and follow-ups	Included.Contacts and companies, deal pipelines, sales sequences from your own Gmail or Outlook, and sales reports. 1,000 contacts on Starter, 5,000 on Standard, 50,000 on Premium.	Included.A free CRM to start. Leads need Sales Hub Professional seats; sequences and forecasting need a Sales or Service Hub Professional seat: $100 a seat a month, plus $1,500 onboarding.
Email marketingNewsletters, campaigns and drip sequences	Included.Campaigns, newsletters and drips from your own sending domain. 2,500 sends a month on Starter, 5,000 on Standard and 25,000 on Premium, then $0.80 per 1,000 on Standard and Premium.	Included.Marketing Hub Professional includes 2,000 marketing contacts and 10 times that in sends a month; more contacts are sold in blocks of 5,000 from $250 a month.
Business phone and call trackingNumbers, texting, call tracking and an AI receptionist	Included.Local and toll-free numbers, call menus, a shared texting inbox, call tracking that ties each call to its ad or keyword, and an AI receptionist. 1 number on Starter, 10 on Standard, 50 on Premium, at $1 a number a month; calls past your included minutes, and texts, are billed by use.	Basic version.Calling minutes come with Sales and Service Hub, on HubSpot numbers; texting is a $75-a-month add-on on Professional. Call tracking with dynamic numbers takes CallRail or similar.
Know who visits your siteIdentify the companies and people behind visits	Included.Identifies the companies and people behind anonymous visits and adds them to your CRM: 10 a month on Starter, 25 on Standard, 100 on Premium, plus packs of 100 for $49.	Basic version.The free Prospects tool shows which companies visit your site. People show up only once they're known contacts (for example, after filling in a form), and HubSpot then records their page views. Some intent features use HubSpot credits.
Run the business
AutomationsWorkflows that run when something happens	Included.Workflows started by forms, CRM changes, calls, payments, schedules or webhooks that send email and texts, update records and run AI steps. 10 active on Starter, 25 on Standard, 100 on Premium.	Included.Starter gets simple automation: form and email follow-ups, and up to 50 workflows with restricted triggers and no if/then branches. Fully customizable workflows come with every Professional hub: Sales or Service Hub Professional from $100 a seat a month plus $1,500 onboarding, or Marketing Hub Professional at $890 a month with 3 seats plus $3,000 onboarding.
Helpdesk and website chatSupport tickets, a shared inbox and chat on your site	Included.Turns emails, chats, texts and social messages into tickets with queues, SLAs and saved replies, and puts an AI assistant on your website that answers from your own pages.	Included.Ticketing and live chat in the free tools. Help desk SLAs and the knowledge base need Service Hub Professional seats: $100 a seat a month, plus $1,500 onboarding. The AI customer agent comes with any Professional hub and runs on HubSpot credits.
Invoices, payments and booksQuotes, invoices, online payments and bookkeeping	Included.Estimates, contracts with e-signature, invoices and online payments, recurring billing, bills, bank reconciliation and profit and loss. Card processing fees apply.	Basic version.Invoices, payment links and subscriptions in the free tools, through HubSpot payments (US, UK and Canada) or your own Stripe account (HubSpot adds a 0.75% fee on Stripe payments). Bookkeeping stays in QuickBooks or Xero.
Projects and tasksPlan work and share it with clients	Included.Projects with tasks, subtasks, dependencies and milestones that you can share with clients, plus time tracking.	Included.A Projects tool and tasks in the free tools.
AI agents that do the workAI teammates that act, not just write	Included.AI teammates for sales, marketing, support, phones, projects and bookkeeping that work from your business memory and wait for your approval on anything risky. Hiveku Mini AI on Starter; Standard and Premium add stronger AI and $10 or $30 of AI credit a month.	Included.Customer, prospecting, content and custom agents, billed in HubSpot credits: 3,000 a month included on Professional.

Included
Paid add-on
Third-party app or plugin
Basic version
Not offered

What it costs

The same jobs, priced both ways

A team of five wants what Hiveku Standard includes, for every person: a website and blog, a CRM with sales sequences, email marketing to 5,000 contacts, full marketing workflows, a help desk with SLAs, social publishing, rank tracking for 25 keywords plus backlink research, and a business phone number with call tracking.

HubSpot Professional, plus the apps it leaves out

Marketing Hub ProfessionalEmail, full workflows, social, SEO audits and keyword research; 3 seats, 2,000 marketing contacts$890
Content Hub StarterWebsite (up to 30 pages) and blog without HubSpot branding$20
Marketing contacts to 7,000Sold in blocks of 5,000; needed for 5,000 contacts$250
Service Hub Professional, 5 seatsSales sequences, forecasting, calling, help desk SLAs and the knowledge base for each person$500
Semrush SEO planTracks the keywords you choose and adds backlink research; HubSpot shows rankings only from Search Console data$139
CallRail Lead TrackingCall tracking with dynamic numbers$55
Calls and texts past those allowancesUsage

Per month$1,854 + usage

One-time setupOnboarding HubSpot requires when you buy from it: Marketing Hub $3,000, Service Hub $1,500. A HubSpot Solutions Partner can waive it for clients it onboards.$4,500

First year$26,748 + usage

Hiveku Standard

Hiveku Standard5 team members, 5,000 contacts, 5,000 marketing emails, 25 keywords tracked daily, 25 automations and 500 call minutes$149
1 phone numberCall tracking included$1
Calls past 500 minutes, and texts$0.05 a minute, $0.01 a textUsage

Per month$150 + usage

One-time setupNone

First year$1,800 + usage

HubSpot list prices paid monthly on its required annual commitment, from HubSpot's own price calculator on October 12, 2026. Paid a year up front, the HubSpot lines total $1,495 a month. HubSpot's Leads workspace would add Sales Hub Professional seats ($100 a seat a month plus $1,500 onboarding). Semrush and CallRail are billed monthly. HubSpot's Starter tier ($20 a seat at list price) costs less, but it has no branching workflows, sales sequences or help desk SLAs.

Where HubSpot is stronger

No platform wins everything. If these matter most to you, HubSpot may be the better fit.

A free CRM to start

HubSpot's free tools cover 2 users and 1,000 contacts, with deals, ticketing, live chat, meetings and invoices.

Depth at the top end

Enterprise adds 1,000 workflows, behavioral triggers, multi-touch attribution, journey analytics and sandbox accounts.

A mature service desk

Service Hub Professional and Enterprise add a help desk workspace, knowledge base, customer portal, surveys, SLAs and skill-based routing.

More ad networks

HubSpot connects seven ad networks, including Reddit and ChatGPT ads.

AI with spend limits

Customer, prospecting and data agents run on metered credits, and you can set a spend limit for each feature.

Where Hiveku is stronger

What changes when the website, marketing, sales and AI share one system.

A fraction of the price

For a team of five, HubSpot's Professional hubs cost about $1,660 a month plus $4,500 in onboarding. Hiveku Standard is $149 a month.

No contract, no setup fee

Hiveku is month to month with no onboarding fee. HubSpot Professional needs an annual commitment, and its seats can't be reduced until renewal.

Full workflows on every plan

Branching workflows, sales sequences and a help desk come with every Hiveku plan, where HubSpot puts them behind its Professional hubs.

SEO you can act on

Rank tracking for the keywords you choose, backlinks, keyword research and site audits are built in.

Phones and call tracking

Business numbers, texting, call tracking with dynamic numbers and an AI receptionist sit next to the CRM, so every call lands on the right contact.

You decide when to upgrade

HubSpot moves you to the next contact tier as soon as you pass it and bills it until renewal, unless you set a cap on marketing contacts. Hiveku never upgrades you on its own.

Switching

Moving from HubSpot

You can move in stages: bring your CRM first, keep your HubSpot site running, and move the site when you are ready.

1
Import or sync your CRM
Connect HubSpot and Hiveku copies your contacts, companies and deals, once or on a schedule, so both stay current while you switch.
2
Rebuild your site from its URL
HubSpot templates are written in its own HubL language, so they need rebuilding anywhere. Site import copies your pages, content, images and SEO settings into a Hiveku site you can edit with AI.
3
Move email and automations
Recreate your lists as audiences and your workflows in the visual builder, then switch your sending domain over.

FAQ