The honest version of this comparison is that these two products are not really competitors. One is a sales CRM built around a phone, the other is a platform where the sales tool is one of several hubs. But they end up on the same shortlist constantly, usually because someone has been quoted a HubSpot number and wants to know if there is a cheaper way to do the same job.

So this compares the thing that actually differs: what each costs to get to the tier where the automation lives, including the fee HubSpot charges that never appears in a comparison table.

TL;DR

Close runs four tiers on annual billing: Solo at $9 per user capped at one user and 10,000 leads, Essentials at $35, Growth at $99 and Scale at $139, all with unlimited users and unlimited leads above Solo. Workflows arrive on Growth, the power dialer with them, and the predictive dialer on Scale. HubSpot Sales Hub is free for up to two users, $9 per seat on Starter, $90 on Professional and $150 on Enterprise, all annual. The number that decides this comparison is not on either pricing table in the same place: HubSpot charges a mandatory one-time onboarding fee of $1,500 on Professional and $3,500 on Enterprise, and Close charges nothing equivalent. Run a five-seat team at the tier where each product has automation and the first year is $5,940 on Close Growth against $6,900 on HubSpot Professional. Close also bills calling usage separately, which HubSpot does not, so a heavy calling team should add that back. Choose Close if the job is outbound sales with a phone at the centre. Choose HubSpot if you need marketing, service and CMS on the same record and are willing to pay the entry fee for it.

What each one costs

Close Solo is $9 per user on annual billing, $19 monthly. One user only, capped at 10,000 leads, no workflows, 500 AI credits a month. It is a genuine solo tier rather than a stripped team tier.

Essentials is $35 annual, $49 monthly, and this is where the caps come off: unlimited users, unlimited contacts and leads, 1,000 AI credits a month with a shared pool up to 10,000. Still no workflows.

Growth is $99 annual, $109 monthly, and it is the tier most sales teams actually need. Automated workflows, the power dialer, 1,500 AI credits with a pool up to 15,000.

Scale is $139 annual, $149 monthly, adding AI automation inside workflows and the predictive dialer, with 2,000 credits and a pool to 20,000. Our Close CRM pricing breakdown walks the tiers in more detail if Close is the side you are leaning towards.

HubSpot Sales Hub is free for up to two users, then $9 per seat on Starter, $90 on Professional and $150 on Enterprise, all on annual billing.

One thing to confirm before you buy Close. Its pricing page carries a summary line saying all plans include calling, email, SMS and workflows, while the plan comparison on the same page shows workflows arriving on Growth. Those two statements do not agree, and if workflows are the reason you are buying, get the answer from the checkout or from sales rather than from the summary.

The fee that decides it

This is arithmetic on published pricing, and it is the part comparison articles leave out.

HubSpot Professional carries a mandatory one-time onboarding fee of $1,500. Enterprise carries $3,500. Both figures are stated in HubSpot's own Sales Hub pricing guide alongside the per-seat rates. These are not optional services, and they do not appear next to the per-seat price where you would look for them.

Close has no equivalent fee at any tier.

So run the five-seat comparison at the automation tier. Close Growth at $99 per seat on annual billing is $5,940 for the first year. HubSpot Professional at $90 per seat is $5,400, plus the $1,500 fee, so $6,900. HubSpot is cheaper per seat and roughly a thousand dollars more expensive in year one.

In year two the ranking flips. Without the one-time fee, HubSpot Professional at five seats is $5,400 against Close Growth at $5,940. If you are certain you will stay several years, that matters. If you are not, the first year is the number that gets approved.

Close bills calling separately, based on usage. That is a real cost this comparison does not capture and it moves with how much your team dials. For a heavy outbound team it is material, and it is the one line where Close's total can exceed the sticker.

The cheaper tiers are not comparable. Close Essentials at $35 has no workflows; HubSpot Starter at $9 is a much lighter product. Comparing them on price alone tells you nothing useful. Our best HubSpot alternatives piece runs the same first-year arithmetic across six products if you want the wider field.

Which one you should actually buy

Outbound team with a phone at the centre: Close, comfortably. The dialers are the product rather than a feature, calling and SMS are native, and the workflow engine is built around sequences rather than around marketing automation. This is what Close is for and nothing on HubSpot's Sales Hub matches it.

You need marketing, service and CMS on one record: HubSpot, and pay the fee. This is the case where the platform argument is genuine. If your marketing automation, your ticketing and your CRM all need to be the same system, Close does not compete and should not be on the list.

A solo founder selling: Close Solo at $9, or HubSpot free. Both are credible. Close Solo caps at 10,000 leads and one user; HubSpot free caps at two users but gives you the platform to grow into. Pick on whether you expect to add a second seat soon.

A small team without heavy calling: this is the genuinely close case. Close Essentials at $35 against HubSpot Starter at $9 is not a fair comparison on capability, and Close Essentials against HubSpot Professional is not fair on price. Price both against what you will actually use rather than against each other.

Migrating off HubSpot specifically: work out what you are leaving behind. If you use only Sales Hub, moving is straightforward. If marketing sits on the same records, you are unpicking more than a CRM, and our HubSpot to Pipedrive migration piece covers the mechanics of that kind of move.

What neither comparison table tells you

Automations do not transfer. Whichever way you move, sequences and workflows are rebuilt by hand. Budget the time rather than assuming an export covers it.

Seat count is the real cost driver. Both price per seat above the entry tier, so the decision compounds with headcount. A ten-seat team should run the arithmetic again rather than trusting a five-seat comparison.

Close's AI credits are pooled. 1,500 per user on Growth with a shared pool up to 15,000, which means a team that uses them unevenly is not penalised. Worth knowing if AI features are part of why you are buying.

Both offer a way in without commitment. Close gives a 14-day trial with no card required and a 30-day money-back guarantee. HubSpot's free Sales Hub tier for two users is effectively an indefinite trial of the platform.

Neither fixes a pipeline problem. A CRM records what your team does. If the outbound is not working, the tool that logs it more elegantly does not change the outcome.

FAQ

Is Close cheaper than HubSpot?

In year one at the automation tier, yes. A five-seat team on Close Growth is $5,940 on annual billing against $6,900 on HubSpot Professional, because HubSpot adds a mandatory $1,500 one-time onboarding fee. From year two HubSpot is cheaper per seat, at $5,400 against $5,940. Close also bills calling usage separately, so a heavy calling team should add that to Close's side.

What is HubSpot's onboarding fee?

HubSpot charges a one-time onboarding fee of $1,500 on Sales Hub Professional and $3,500 on Enterprise. It is mandatory rather than an optional service, and it is the single most commonly omitted figure in CRM comparison articles because it does not sit next to the per-seat price.

Which tier of Close do you actually need?

Growth at $99 per user on annual billing, for most sales teams, because that is where automated workflows and the power dialer arrive. Essentials at $35 removes the user and lead caps but not the workflow limitation. Solo at $9 is genuinely for one person with a list under 10,000.

Does Close include calling in the price?

The dialers are included from Growth onward, but calling usage is charged separately based on how much you use. That is a real cost outside the per-seat price and it scales with dialling volume, so an outbound team should model it rather than treating the seat price as the total.

Should you use Close or HubSpot for outbound sales?

Close, if outbound with a phone is the motion. It is built around calling, SMS and sequences in a way HubSpot's Sales Hub is not. HubSpot wins when the requirement is one system holding marketing, sales and service on the same record, which is a different problem and worth its entry fee if you genuinely have it.

Can you migrate from HubSpot to Close easily?

Records and contacts move without much difficulty. Workflows and sequences do not transfer between platforms and are rebuilt by hand, which is the part that takes the time. If marketing automation also runs on your HubSpot records, you are unpicking considerably more than a CRM and should scope that before committing to a date.

Bottom line

Compare these two at the tier where each has automation, and include the fee. Close Growth is $99 a seat with nothing on top; HubSpot Professional is $90 a seat plus a mandatory $1,500 to start. For five seats that is $5,940 against $6,900 in year one and the reverse from year two, so how long you expect to stay decides which number matters. Then add Close's separately billed calling if your team dials heavily. And be honest about which product you are actually buying: Close is a sales CRM built around a phone, HubSpot is a platform, and the right answer depends on whether you need the rest of the platform at all.

Want the outbound motion built rather than the CRM chosen? Book a call with GROU. We run outbound and lead generation inside B2B revenue engines across verticals.

We are GROU, a B2B pipeline agency that runs lead generation, outbound, and LinkedIn content for clients across manufacturing, fintech, iGaming, software, and professional services. The fit guidance reflects our CRM and outbound deployments between 2024 and 2026, anonymized to protect client confidentiality.

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