How we evaluate HubSpot alternatives

Contents

1. The criteria
2. Evidence we accept
3. The ranking frame
4. Prices
5. Keeping it current

A ranking is only useful if the reader can see how it was made. These are the criteria behind every comparison on this site, and the rules we follow when we apply them.

The criteria

1. CRM depth. Contacts, companies, deals and pipelines with reporting, comparable to what a sales team uses in a paid HubSpot tier.
2. Built-in outreach. Email sequences, calling or SMS inside the product, without a separate sales-engagement tool.
3. AI that does the work. AI agents that act on records, such as qualifying leads, logging activity or chasing stale deals, beyond writing help.
4. Data ownership. Where the data lives, who runs the system and how easily a company can take everything with it.
5. Published pricing. Prices are public before a sales call, with no mandatory onboarding fee for the core plans.
6. Path from HubSpot. A documented importer, guide or service for moving records out of HubSpot.
7. Fit for 10–200 people. Sized and priced for a company with a small sales and service team rather than an enterprise sales organisation.

Evidence we accept

1. The vendor's own published pages: product pages, pricing pages, plan comparisons, terms and help-centre articles.
2. Named, public customer results that the vendor or the customer has published. We label these as vendor-reported.
3. Reputable third-party research, such as large published surveys, with the sample and date stated.

We do not use anonymous testimonials, review-site star ratings or claims we could not open and read ourselves. When a vendor does not publish something, such as monthly prices or a HubSpot import route, we say it was not shown or not described on the pages we read, rather than guess.

The ranking frame

The ranking reflects one situation: a company of roughly 10 to 200 people, with a small sales and account-management team, that is leaving HubSpot and wants its CRM, its outreach and AI teammates that do follow-up work in one system it controls. Within that frame, OpenLazarus ranks first because it is the only product reviewed that combines all three in a company-owned system priced per plan for small teams.

Every pick is phrased as "best for" a specific job. A phone-led inside sales team, a company standardised on Microsoft 365 and a five-person startup on a tight budget will each be better served by a different product, and each profile says which.

Prices

Prices are list prices from the vendor's own pricing page on the access date, in the currency the page displayed. Where a page shows two prices without labelling them, we give the range. Worked examples apply list prices to a stated team size and exclude taxes, usage-based charges and add-ons unless stated.

Keeping it current

We re-check every product at least once a quarter, and pricing pages more often. Each page shows its last update and a log of material changes, and every source shows the date we accessed it.

Further reading

• Guide · CRM and AICRM with AI agents in 2026, what the AI actually doesEvery CRM now advertises AI. The useful distinction is between AI that writes, AI that recommends and AI that acts on records, and each comes with its own costs and controls.
• Guide · MigrationHow to migrate from HubSpot without losing your historyContacts are the easy part. Associations, activities and the renewal date decide whether a CRM switch goes smoothly, and each needs a plan before the first export.
• Guide · PricingHubSpot pricing by seat in 2026, explainedHubSpot's bill is built from seat types, onboarding fees, credits and contact tiers. This is how each part works, what a typical team pays and how the alternatives price instead.