Why this comparison matters for agencies and service businesses
Most CRM comparisons treat these platforms as interchangeable. They are not. GoHighLevel and HubSpot target different buyers with different assumptions about who will be doing the setup work.
GHL assumes someone technically capable will configure it. The platform has a lot of moving parts — sub-accounts, pipeline stages, funnel builders, reputation management, SMS workflows — and getting them to work together coherently takes real effort. That is not a knock. It is just the deal you make for an all-in-one at $97/month.
HubSpot assumes you want something that mostly works out of the box. You pay more for that polish, especially as you scale. The free CRM is genuinely useful. The paid tiers can get expensive fast.
If you are an agency owner evaluating which one to run your business on (or resell to clients), or a service business trying to replace three separate tools with one subscription, this comparison will tell you what you actually need to know.
"GHL wins on consolidation and price. HubSpot wins on polish and reporting. Neither wins on connecting your CRM to the rest of your business — scheduling, invoicing, client communication — in a workflow that runs itself."
GoHighLevel vs HubSpot: side-by-side comparison
| Feature | GoHighLevel | HubSpot |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Starter $97/mo · Agency Unlimited $297/mo (flat rate) | Free CRM · Paid hubs from $20/user/mo · scales to $150+/user/mo |
| Free Tier | None — 14-day trial only | Genuinely free CRM — unlimited users & contacts |
| White-Labeling | Yes — full white-label on Agency Unlimited | Not available |
| Built-in SMS | Yes — native SMS & voicemail drops | Via third-party integrations only |
| Funnel & Website Builder | Built-in funnel & website builder | Landing pages on paid tiers; no full funnel builder |
| Review Management | Built-in reputation management | Not included — requires third-party tool |
| Appointment Scheduling | Built-in calendar & booking | Basic meeting scheduler on free tier; advanced on paid |
| UI / UX | Functional but steep learning curve | Best-in-class — minimal onboarding required |
| Reporting & Analytics | Basic dashboards; limited attribution | Strong — custom dashboards, funnel reports, attribution |
| Integration Ecosystem | Zapier + native integrations (growing) | 1,500+ native integrations via App Marketplace |
| Best For | Agencies reselling software, multi-client management, tool consolidation | Businesses wanting polished UI, strong analytics, large integration ecosystem |
GoHighLevel — deep dive
GoHighLevel was built for marketing agencies, and it shows. The platform replaces a stack of separate tools — CRM, email marketing, SMS, funnel builder, website builder, appointment scheduler, reputation management — under a single flat-rate subscription. At $97/month for the Starter plan or $297/month for Agency Unlimited, the math works out well if you were previously paying for several of those tools separately.
The Agency Unlimited plan is the one most agencies actually use. It lets you spin up unlimited sub-accounts, each functioning as a separate GHL instance for a different client. The white-label option means you can brand the entire platform under your agency name and resell it as your own software product. That revenue stream is a genuine differentiator — no other mainstream CRM offers it.
Where GHL wins:
- The all-in-one scope is real. CRM, pipeline management, email, SMS, voicemail drops, two-way texting, review requests, funnels, and booking all live in one system. For agencies managing multiple clients, that consolidation has obvious operational value.
- White-labeling at $297/month is a strong offer. Agencies can charge clients $100-300/month for what is effectively a rebranded GHL account. The margin potential is meaningful.
- Flat-rate pricing does not scale per seat. A 10-person agency pays $297/month regardless of headcount. HubSpot charges per user on paid plans, so GHL's pricing model gets relatively cheaper as your team grows.
- Built-in SMS and multi-channel automation (email + SMS + voicemail) in a single workflow is more capable than anything HubSpot includes natively.
- Reputation management — automated review requests via email or SMS, review monitoring, and responses — is built in. That alone justifies the subscription for service businesses that rely on Google reviews.
Where GHL has real limitations:
- The learning curve is steep. Configuring GHL correctly — pipelines, sub-accounts, calendars, workflow triggers, A2P SMS registration — takes time and some technical patience. Many agencies hire a GHL consultant just to get the initial setup right.
- The UI is functional but not polished. If your clients will log in and use the CRM directly, expect some onboarding friction. HubSpot's interface is noticeably cleaner.
- Reporting is limited. GHL gives you basic dashboards and pipeline visibility, but multi-touch attribution, campaign-level ROI reporting, and deep analytics require workarounds or third-party tools.
- The integration ecosystem is smaller than HubSpot's. GHL connects to Zapier and has a growing list of native integrations, but if you need a specific tool connected, you may need a workaround.
Pricing reality check: A 10-person agency on GHL Agency Unlimited pays $297/month flat. The same team on HubSpot Sales Hub Professional pays $1,000/month ($100/user). That $700/month difference adds up to $8,400/year — before you account for any Marketing Hub or Service Hub add-ons.
HubSpot — deep dive
HubSpot's free CRM is the best free CRM on the market. Unlimited users, unlimited contacts, a sales pipeline, email logging, a meeting scheduler, and basic sequences — all at no cost. For a small service business that just needs contact management and deal tracking, the free tier may genuinely be enough for years.
The paid tiers are where HubSpot gets complicated. HubSpot sells in "Hubs" — Sales Hub, Marketing Hub, Service Hub, CMS Hub, Operations Hub — and the price jumps significantly from Starter to Professional. Starter plans start at $20/user/month. Professional plans run $100/user/month for Sales Hub and $800/month for Marketing Hub. Enterprise tiers go higher. A fully equipped HubSpot setup for a mid-size business can run several thousand dollars a month.
Where HubSpot wins:
- The free tier is a legitimate product, not a stripped demo. If cost is the primary constraint, starting on HubSpot Free and upgrading only when you hit real limits is a sound strategy.
- The user interface is clean and requires almost no training. New hires can be productive in HubSpot within a day. That adoption advantage compounds over time — a CRM people actually use beats a powerful one they avoid.
- Reporting is a genuine strength. Custom dashboards, multi-touch attribution, funnel analysis, deal velocity reports — HubSpot's analytics are significantly more capable than GHL's, especially on Professional and Enterprise tiers.
- Over 1,500 native integrations in the HubSpot App Marketplace. If you use Salesforce, Slack, QuickBooks, Stripe, or almost any other business tool, there is a maintained HubSpot connector for it.
- Marketing Hub integrates natively with the CRM, so your email campaigns, landing pages, ad retargeting, and contact records share data without middleware. For businesses running inbound marketing, that native connection has real value.
Where HubSpot has real limitations:
- Cost scales aggressively. Moving from the free tier to a functional paid plan is often a bigger jump than buyers expect. There is no SMS, no built-in review management, and no funnel builder — those require either paid add-ons or separate tools.
- No white-labeling. If you are an agency that wants to offer clients a branded software platform, HubSpot is not the right vehicle.
- SMS and multi-channel outreach require third-party integrations. GHL handles email + SMS + voicemail natively. HubSpot does not, and wiring those channels together through Zapier or a middleware tool adds cost and complexity.
- The feature wall between Starter and Professional is abrupt. Several things that feel like basics — custom reporting, A/B testing, multi-step automation, multiple pipelines — sit behind the Professional tier paywall.
"HubSpot's free CRM is worth starting with if you are not sure what you need yet. But if you are running an agency with multiple clients and need SMS, funnels, and a white-labeled product in one tool, HubSpot is the wrong starting point."
Pricing: what you actually pay
Pricing is where the two platforms diverge most sharply, and where the comparison gets genuinely complicated.
GHL charges a flat monthly rate regardless of how many users you have or how many contacts you store. $97/month for Starter, $297/month for Agency Unlimited. That is it. As your team or client base grows, your GHL bill stays flat.
HubSpot starts free, which is real. But growth tends to push you into paid tiers, and paid tiers charge per user. Three people on HubSpot Sales Hub Professional is $300/month. Ten people is $1,000/month. Add Marketing Hub Professional at $800/month and you are at $1,800/month before any enterprise features.
The honest framing: GHL is cheaper for agencies running multiple clients or teams with more than a few users. HubSpot is cheaper for solo operators or small teams that stay on the free CRM. The crossover point, where GHL's flat rate beats HubSpot's per-user pricing, happens fast — usually around 4-5 users on any paid HubSpot plan.
Ease of use: who actually configures these tools
HubSpot wins on ease of use, and it is not close. The interface is clean, the guided setup is thorough, and HubSpot Academy provides genuinely useful onboarding content. A team with no prior CRM experience can be operational in a few days.
GHL requires more work. The platform is powerful, but that power comes through a UI that can feel dense. Setting up a client sub-account, configuring an SMS workflow, connecting a calendar, and building a funnel all require separate configuration steps with different logic. Most agencies new to GHL underestimate setup time. Expect days, not hours, to get a clean first deployment running correctly.
That is not a reason to avoid GHL. It is a reason to budget for it — either your own time learning the platform or hiring someone who knows it. Once configured, GHL runs well. Getting there takes real investment.
Who each platform is actually built for
Choose GHL if: You run a marketing agency that manages multiple clients, you want to offer white-labeled software as part of your service, you need SMS and multi-channel automation built in without extra tools, and you have the technical capacity to configure the platform correctly or are willing to hire someone who does.
Choose HubSpot if: You want a CRM your team will actually adopt without extensive training, you need strong marketing analytics and attribution reporting, you are starting out and want to stay free for as long as possible, or you need deep integrations with tools like Salesforce, QuickBooks, or Stripe through maintained native connectors.
Neither is right if: You need your CRM to automatically connect with your scheduling system, your invoicing tool, your client communication platform, and your project management software in one coherent workflow. Both platforms do their own thing well. Neither is built to be the connective tissue between your entire business stack.
The automation gap both platforms share
GoHighLevel has genuinely capable automation. You can build multi-step workflows that send emails, fire SMS messages, move contacts through pipeline stages, request reviews, and assign tasks — all triggered by specific actions or time delays. For agencies running client campaigns, that is a real selling point.
HubSpot's paid automation is also solid. Workflows on Professional and above handle contact property changes, deal stage updates, form submissions, and email engagement in flexible, multi-condition sequences.
But both platforms run automation inside their own walls.
When a client books an appointment through your Acuity or Calendly account, neither GHL nor HubSpot knows about it automatically. When a client accepts a quote in your invoicing tool, neither platform fires a follow-up workflow. When a new review comes in on Google, neither one tags the contact record and triggers a nurture sequence. When a project milestone gets hit in your project management software, neither CRM picks it up.
These are not edge cases. They are the workflows that actually move service businesses forward. A client books a consult — does your CRM know? A proposal gets signed — does your onboarding sequence start? A job gets completed — does a review request go out automatically?
The CRM manages your pipeline. The automation layer is what connects that pipeline to everything else your business runs on. That connection does not come standard with either GHL or HubSpot. It has to be built.
That is where Aplos AI operates. We build the cross-system automation layer — connecting your CRM to your scheduling tool, your invoicing software, your communication platforms, and your operations stack — so that workflows run without manual handoffs. We work on top of GHL or HubSpot, whichever you choose. The CRM stays yours. We make the rest of your business talk to it.
Running GHL or HubSpot but still manually syncing data between systems, chasing leads across channels, or triggering follow-ups by hand? We audit your current workflow, find the specific gaps, and build the automation that closes them — on top of whatever platform you already use.
Get a Free Automation Audit →The verdict
GoHighLevel is the better platform for marketing agencies. The flat-rate pricing, white-labeling, built-in SMS, and multi-client sub-account structure make it a genuinely useful tool for agencies that manage campaigns across many clients. The setup investment is real, but once GHL is configured, it handles a lot.
HubSpot is the better platform for businesses that want a clean, low-friction CRM and have marketing analytics requirements GHL cannot meet. The free tier is legitimately useful. The paid tiers are expensive, but the reporting, integration depth, and UI quality justify the cost for businesses where those factors matter most.
What neither platform does is connect your CRM to the rest of your business operations in a way that requires no manual work. That is not a flaw specific to either tool — it is a category problem. CRMs manage contacts and pipelines. They do not replace the custom work of wiring your business together.
If you have already picked a platform and you are now dealing with manual handoffs, disconnected tools, and leads that fall through the cracks between systems, that is the problem worth solving next.