Comparison · Marketing and CRM
HubSpot or a marketing stack you own? Keep HubSpot as the CRM and build only the contact-heavy parts yourself.
HubSpot covers a great deal and is therefore rarely the wrong choice. This page shows which part of the bill tracks contact count and when building individual parts pays off.
As of August 2026, hubspot.com.
The first scenario in numbers
- HubSpot, Total over 36 months
- US$75,720
- FW Delta, Total over 36 months
- US$32,160
- Cheaper
- FW Delta, US$43,560
- Build paid for after
- 16 months
12,000 marketing contacts, Marketing Hub Pro and Data Hub Pro, 3 years
How we compare
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We sell the alternative
This is not a neutral review. That is why price date, assumptions and the maths sit openly next to it.
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Both outcomes are shown
Including the scenarios where the vendor wins. A comparison that always ends in our favour would be advertising.
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Only evidenced numbers
List prices with a source. Where a vendor does not publish, no invented total appears.
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Your numbers decide
The calculator takes your users, your volume and your term instead of our assumption.
In short
The base price is not the problem, the contact ladder is. Every further 5,000 contacts cost monthly whether or not they are ever emailed. On top sits a one-time mandatory onboarding. Keeping HubSpot as the CRM and building only the data-heavy parts yourself gives the largest effect at the smallest risk.
Calculated
What it costs over the term.
Calculated from the published prices for Marketing Hub Professional and Data Hub Professional, billed annually. The mandatory onboarding of 3,000 USD is charged once and sits in the three-year total, not in the monthly comparison.
12,000 marketing contacts, Marketing Hub Pro and Data Hub Pro, 3 years
| Line item | per month | Total over 36 months |
|---|---|---|
| HubSpot, Marketing Hub Professional, 2,000 contacts included800 USD | US$800 | US$28,800 |
| HubSpot, 10,000 additional contacts2 x 250 USD | US$500 | US$18,000 |
| HubSpot, Data Hub Professional720 USD | US$720 | US$25,920 |
| HubSpot, one-off | · | US$3,000 |
| HubSpot | US$2,020 | US$75,720 |
| FW Delta, one-off buildhosting US$60 per month | US$60 | US$30,000 + US$2,160 |
| FW Delta | US$60 | US$32,160 |
- Cheaper over the term
- FW Delta, US$43,560
- When the build is paid for
- 16 months
42,000 marketing contacts, Marketing Hub Pro and Data Hub Pro, 3 years
| Line item | per month | Total over 36 months |
|---|---|---|
| HubSpot, Marketing Hub Professional, 2,000 contacts included800 USD | US$800 | US$28,800 |
| HubSpot, 40,000 additional contacts8 x 250 USD | US$2,000 | US$72,000 |
| HubSpot, Data Hub Professional720 USD | US$720 | US$25,920 |
| HubSpot, one-off | · | US$3,000 |
| HubSpot | US$3,520 | US$129,720 |
| FW Delta, one-off buildhosting US$60 per month | US$60 | US$36,000 + US$2,160 |
| FW Delta | US$60 | US$38,160 |
- Cheaper over the term
- FW Delta, US$91,560
- When the build is paid for
- 11 months
Assumptions
- Marketing Hub Professional at 800 USD per month, 3 core seats, 2,000 marketing contacts included
- Every further 5,000 contacts at 250 USD per month in the band up to 22,000
- Data Hub Professional at 720 USD per month, 1 core seat
- Mandatory onboarding of 3,000 USD, stated as required by HubSpot
- On our side 60 USD hosting per month; the build costs are assumptions
In detail
Where the two routes differ
| Point | HubSpot | FW Delta |
|---|---|---|
| Price driver | number of stored marketing contacts | scope of what gets built |
| One-time fee | mandatory onboarding on Professional | the build itself |
| Breadth | very large, from CRM through email to reporting | exactly what was built |
| Time to first result | very fast | a project with analysis, build and testing |
| Custom fields and objects | limited in number and type | unconstrained, but you model it |
| Where data sits | the vendor's infrastructure, EU hosting available | wherever you put it |
| After cancelling | contacts export, workflows and reports do not | code and configuration stay |
The decision
What speaks for which route.
Building parts yourself pays off when
- the contact ladder makes up most of the bill
- a large share of contacts is never emailed
- the data modelling you need runs into the platform limits
- you need analysis the built-in reporting does not provide
Stay with HubSpot when
- · sales works in the CRM and the team knows it
- · the contact count is low and stays low
- · the breadth of features is genuinely used
- · nobody in-house can run a system of your own
If you want to switch
What happens next
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30 minutes
Conversation
We walk through your starting point and say honestly whether a move pays off for you.
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within five working days
Fixed-price proposal
With scope, assumptions and what is explicitly not included.
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depending on scope
Build and handover
Code access from day one, manual at the end, no obligation to keep us.
Common questions
Do you have to replace HubSpot entirely?
No, and in most cases that would be the wrong call. Sales works in the CRM, and that is the part least tied to contact volume. What pays off is peeling out the parts priced by contact that you can model well yourself.
How does the contact ladder work?
HubSpot bills marketing contacts, meaning the ones you are allowed to email. Professional includes 2,000; every further 5,000 cost 250 USD per month in the first band. At 42,000 contacts that is eight blocks and therefore 2,000 USD for the ladder alone.
Is it still called Operations Hub?
Not any more. The product is now Data Hub. Professional there costs 720 USD per month but includes only one core seat and no mandatory onboarding. Anyone working from older comparisons is using the wrong figures at this point.
Read on
Where to go next.
How these figures were produced
- Price as of
- August 2026
- Basis
- Publicly listed prices from HubSpot, together with the assumptions on this page for user count, volume and term.
- Not included
- Discounts, annual prepayment, enterprise terms, partner rates and country-specific pricing. Internal staff cost on either side is not counted.
- Limits
- Vendor pricing and packaging change. This calculation is a model, not a quote and not a general market price. Check the current vendor price list before deciding, and run the numbers with your own figures.
Next step
Run it with your own contact count
The ladder decides, not the base price. The calculator takes your number.
Reply within 24 hours. No obligation, confidential.