BA (Hons) First Class International Event Management with Marketing, BCS Digital Marketing, BCS Marketing Principles and BCS Principles of Coding
For paid ad teams
Does HubSpot track which ads bring in customers? Check in 60 seconds
See if your setup captures gclid and fbclid, or if you're losing attribution when leads convert. Takes 60 seconds.
Alex at OdalOnlineStep 1 of 9Free plan, built from your numbers
HubSpot doesn't capture gclid or fbclid by default, so most setups can't send conversions back to Google or Meta. How much are you spending on ads each month?
BA (Hons) First Class International Event Management with Marketing, BCS Digital Marketing, BCS Marketing Principles and BCS Principles of Coding
I run The Bright Brand, where the same problem turned up on every account: campaigns that looked profitable in the ad platform and were not, because nothing followed a click past the form. Odal is the answer to it. It traces each enquiry through to the contract it becomes and sends that back to Google and Meta, so bidding optimises against revenue rather than against leads.
Share this article
odal.io/blog/hubspot-review
Was this article helpful?
Which campaign closed the deal?
Odal connects your ad spend to closed revenue, then sends the result back to Google and Meta.
HubSpot is one of the most recognised names in CRM, particularly among businesses focused on inbound marketing and content. This HubSpot review covers what the platform does well, where it has limitations, and who it suits. If you run paid ads and need attribution, we'll address that specifically near the end.
HubSpot combines a CRM with marketing automation, sales tools and customer service features. The free tier gives you basic contact management and deal tracking. Paid plans add automation, reporting and integrations, but costs rise quickly as your team and contact list grow.
What HubSpot includes
HubSpot organises its product into hubs: CRM, Marketing Hub, Sales Hub, Service Hub and Operations Hub. The free CRM is the foundation. You can use it alone or add paid hubs as needed.
The free CRM stores contacts, companies and deals. You get a pipeline board to move deals through stages, basic reporting, and email tracking when you send messages from HubSpot. It also includes forms you can embed on your site to capture leads directly into the CRM.
Marketing Hub adds landing pages, email campaigns, ad management tools and workflow automation. Sales Hub adds sequences, meeting scheduling, quotes and more advanced pipeline features. Service Hub covers ticketing and customer feedback. Operations Hub handles data sync and quality.
Each hub has Starter, Professional and Enterprise tiers. You can mix and match, but most businesses find they need at least one paid hub to get meaningful value beyond the free CRM.
HubSpot CRM features
The core HubSpot CRM tracks contacts, companies and deals. Custom properties let you store additional fields. You can log calls, emails and notes against each contact. The timeline view shows every interaction in one place.
The pipeline board is visual and flexible. You can create multiple pipelines for different sales processes, set deal stages, and automate tasks when a deal moves. Reporting on the free tier is limited to basic dashboards; paid plans unlock custom reports and attribution tools.
HubSpot integrates with hundreds of apps through its marketplace. Popular connections include Zapier, Slack, Xero and various ad platforms. Some integrations are free; others require paid plans or third-party subscriptions.
HubSpot plan structure
Free CRM
Contacts, deals, basic pipeline and reporting. Up to five users initially, then pay per seat.
Starter hubs
Entry-level automation, forms, sequences and ad tools. Starts at £15 per seat monthly.
Professional hubs
Advanced workflows, custom reporting, A/B testing and attribution. Varies by hub and contact count.
Enterprise hubs
Predictive lead scoring, custom objects, advanced permissions and dedicated support.
HubSpot official pricing, January 2025.
HubSpot pricing
The free CRM costs nothing for basic features. Once you exceed five users or need paid features, you start paying per seat. Starter plans begin at £15 per user per month when billed annually. Professional and Enterprise tiers vary significantly based on which hubs you need and how many contacts you have.
Marketing Hub Professional, for example, starts at around £700 per month for 2,000 contacts. Sales Hub Professional starts lower but adds up when you include multiple seats. Enterprise plans run into thousands per month. HubSpot charges separately for each hub, so a business using Marketing Hub and Sales Hub pays for both.
Contact limits apply to Marketing Hub tiers. If your list grows beyond your tier's limit, you pay an additional fee. This can catch businesses off guard as their database expands.
Pros of HubSpot
HubSpot excels at inbound marketing. If your business relies on content, SEO and nurturing leads over time, the platform offers strong tools for that workflow. The marketing automation is mature, the email builder is intuitive, and the landing page editor works well for non-technical users.
The interface is clean and learnable. Most teams can get up to speed without extensive training. HubSpot Academy offers free courses on using the platform and broader marketing topics, which helps onboarding.
The free CRM is genuinely useful for small teams starting out. You can manage a basic sales pipeline, log activity and run simple reports without paying anything. It's a low-risk way to test whether a CRM fits your process.
HubSpot's ecosystem is large. The marketplace has thousands of integrations, and many agencies specialise in HubSpot implementations. If you need help, you can find it. The community and support resources are extensive, though direct support quality varies by plan tier.
HubSpot strengths by business type
Content businesses
Blogging, SEO tools and lead nurturing built in
SaaS companies
Email sequences, trial tracking and lifecycle stages
Agencies & consultants
Client portals, project tracking and reporting dashboards
B2B services
Long sales cycles, multiple touchpoints, deal stages
Based on typical HubSpot use cases.
Cons of HubSpot
Cost is the most common complaint. The free tier is limited, and once you move to paid plans, the price climbs quickly. A business that needs marketing automation, sales tools and reasonable contact limits can easily spend over £1,000 monthly. For small businesses or those with tight margins, that's hard to justify.
Attribution for paid ads requires workarounds. HubSpot does not capture click IDs such as gclid or fbclid automatically. You can use UTM parameters and HubSpot's attribution reports on Professional or Enterprise tiers, but UTMs alone don't let you send conversion data back to Google Ads or Meta for optimisation. You'll need custom development or third-party tools to close that loop.
Contact limits on Marketing Hub feel restrictive. If you run lead generation campaigns and your list grows quickly, you hit the next pricing tier sooner than expected. Some businesses find themselves paying for contacts who are no longer active prospects.
Reporting on lower tiers is basic. The free CRM and Starter plans give you standard dashboards, but custom reports and revenue attribution require Professional or Enterprise. If you need to prove which campaigns drive sales, you're looking at the higher-priced plans.
Who HubSpot suits
HubSpot works well for businesses with longer sales cycles and content-driven marketing. If you publish blog posts, nurture leads through email sequences, and track prospects over weeks or months, the platform supports that process naturally.
SaaS companies, B2B service providers and agencies often find HubSpot a good fit. The lifecycle stages, deal pipelines and email automation align with how these businesses sell. The free tier lets a startup begin tracking leads, and paid plans scale as the business grows.
Businesses that rely heavily on paid ads and need tight attribution may find HubSpot less suitable unless they invest in custom integrations. If your primary goal is to track which Google Ads campaigns generate revenue and optimise based on that data, HubSpot requires additional work to deliver that.
Teams that want an all-in-one platform and can afford the cost benefit from HubSpot. You get CRM, marketing automation, sales tools and support in one system. The trade-off is price and the learning curve for advanced features.
HubSpot fit by business model
HubSpot suits content-led and inbound-focused businesses more than ad-driven lead generation.
Need
HubSpot
Better alternative
Content marketing and SEO
✓
✕
Email nurture sequences
✓
✕
Long B2B sales cycles
✓
✕
Paid ads attribution with click IDs
Custom setup
✓
Offline conversion tracking
Via API
✓
Budget under £100/month
Free tier only
✓
Comparison based on typical use cases and pricing.
If you run ads and need attribution
Businesses that spend on Google Ads, Meta or other paid channels often need more than UTM tracking. They need to know which campaigns generate revenue, not just form fills, and they need to send that data back to the ad platforms so the algorithms optimise for sales rather than leads.
HubSpot can track UTMs and show you which source a lead came from. On Professional or Enterprise Marketing Hub, you can run attribution reports that assign revenue to campaigns. But HubSpot does not capture the click ID automatically, and it does not send offline conversions to Google Ads or Meta without custom development.
If you want closed-loop attribution without building it yourself, you'll need a tool designed for that. Odal captures the click ID when a lead arrives, follows that lead through your sales pipeline, and sends won deals back to Google Ads and Meta as offline conversions. The ad platforms then optimise for revenue rather than form fills. It includes a CRM with deals, pipeline stages and reporting on revenue by campaign, so you can see which ads drive sales and adjust spend accordingly.
For businesses running paid ads and selling high-value services, that loop matters. A lead generation campaign might deliver 50 enquiries, but if only two become customers, you need to know which campaigns those two came from. Odal is built for that workflow. You can start a 14-day trial for £3.50 on the Starter plan or £5.99 on Team, then the monthly price applies.
Yes, the basic HubSpot CRM is free for core features such as contacts, deals and pipeline tracking. You start paying when you exceed five users or need features such as automation, custom reporting or advanced integrations, which sit in the paid hubs.
How much does HubSpot cost for a small business?
Starter plans begin at £15 per user per month. A small team using Sales Hub Starter for three people pays £45 monthly. If you add Marketing Hub Starter, costs increase. Professional tiers start around £700 monthly depending on the hub and contact count, which can be steep for businesses with limited budgets.
Does HubSpot track Google Ads conversions?
HubSpot tracks UTM parameters and can show which campaigns generate leads. It does not capture click IDs such as gclid by default, so sending offline conversions back to Google Ads requires custom setup or third-party tools. Attribution reports are available on Professional and Enterprise Marketing Hub tiers.
Can I use HubSpot for paid ads attribution?
You can track UTMs and see which ads drive leads, but closed-loop attribution that sends conversion data back to ad platforms needs additional work. HubSpot does not send offline conversions to Google Ads or Meta automatically. If that's essential, consider a CRM built for attribution or plan for custom development.
Who should use HubSpot?
HubSpot suits businesses focused on inbound marketing, content and longer sales cycles. SaaS companies, B2B service providers and agencies often find it a good fit. If you rely heavily on paid ads and need tight attribution without custom work, other tools may serve you better.
