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It's a split decision.
Choose Salesforce Marketing Cloud for complex enterprise journeys and connected enterprise data. Its listed Profiles tier starts at $20 per 1,000 profiles monthly, billed annually, with billing also depending on your contract. Choose HubSpot Marketing Hub for a free entry point and CRM-connected campaigns, content, and automation. HubSpot lists Starter at $7 per seat monthly; Professional is $90 and Enterprise $175 per seat. Extra seats and HubSpot Credits can add costs, and the pricing models are not directly comparable.
01Side by side
| Salesforce Marketing Cloud | HubSpot Marketing Hub | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $20 per 1,000 profiles/month, billed annually | Free; Starter listed at $7/seat/month |
| Free plan | No free plan listed | Free plan available |
| Best for | Complex enterprise journeys | CRM-connected marketing teams |
| Core strength | Campaigns, personalization, journey optimization | CRM-linked campaigns, content, and AI agents |
| Learning curve | Review ease score: 4 | Review ease score: 5 |
| Integrations/data | Data 360 harmonizes enterprise data | CRM records; two-way sync with dozens of apps |
| Team/seat costs | Profile tiers; billing depends on your contract | Per-seat plans; extra seats billed separately |
| Support | Review support score: 5 | Review support score: 6 |
Salesforce Marketing Cloud Choose Salesforce Marketing Cloud if
- Choose Salesforce Marketing Cloud if enterprise customer journeys are the priority.
- Choose Salesforce Marketing Cloud if profile-based pricing fits your audience and contract.
- Choose Salesforce Marketing Cloud if Data 360 and Customer 360 fit your stack.
HubSpot Marketing Hub Choose HubSpot Marketing Hub if
- Choose HubSpot Marketing Hub if you want a free starting plan.
- Choose HubSpot Marketing Hub if campaigns should connect to HubSpot CRM records.
- Choose HubSpot Marketing Hub if per-seat pricing suits your team size.
02Pricing compared
Salesforce Marketing Cloud lists Profiles at $20 per 1,000 profiles per month, billed annually ($240 per 1,000 profiles per year). Enterprise Profiles is $35 per 1,000 profiles per month, billed annually ($420 per year). The Profiles tier includes 1 Flex Credit per profile; Enterprise Profiles includes 2. Extra Flex Credits cost $500 per 100,000, and Salesforce says billing also depends on your org’s contract.
HubSpot has a free plan. Its listed paid prices are $7 per seat per month for Starter, $90 for Professional, and $175 for Enterprise. The pricing page defaults to annual billing and offers a monthly toggle, but the published pricing details don’t break out separate monthly and annual prices. Extra seats and HubSpot Credits can add costs. These models aren’t directly comparable: Salesforce prices by profiles and usage, while HubSpot’s listed prices are per seat.
03Features and depth
Salesforce’s listed strengths are campaign building, personalization, campaign optimization, and customer journeys. Its broader platform also includes Customer 360 business rules and workflows, plus Data 360 for federating, integrating, and harmonizing enterprise data. Profile limits vary by tier: Profiles includes 100 segments, while Enterprise Profiles includes 500. Flex Credits are billed separately or through pre-commit options, so check which actions your planned setup will use.
HubSpot connects marketing to its CRM, content, and campaign data. Its listed tools cover email, social, ads, forms, SEO/AEO, analytics, and AI agents. The Content Agent creates content, the Nurture Agent rewrites emails using contact data and behavior signals, and the Campaign Agent plans campaigns from goals and audience information. Professional lists advanced automation, social management, and content tools; Enterprise adds multi-account controls and approval workflows. HubSpot also lists multi-touch attribution and customer journey analytics. Check plan limits before assuming a feature is included at your target price.
04Ease of use and learning curve
Neither product’s pricing model or feature set makes this a simple like-for-like switch. Salesforce is the more enterprise-oriented option in our comparison: journeys sit alongside profile pricing, Flex Credits, and broader data and workflow products. The review scores rate its ease of use at 4 out of 10, so teams should account for implementation and administration effort rather than treating the starting price as the full cost.
HubSpot keeps marketing connected to its CRM, but its higher-tier plans add advanced workflows, reporting, AI tools, and account controls. Its review ease score is 5 out of 10. That is not a promise of effortless setup; seat costs and credits still need watching. Map your required features and users to each plan before moving.
Questions people ask
Which costs less, Salesforce Marketing Cloud or HubSpot Marketing Hub?
There’s no direct price comparison: Salesforce lists Profiles at $20 per 1,000 profiles monthly, billed annually, while HubSpot lists prices per seat. HubSpot has a free plan, but paid seats and HubSpot Credits can add costs. Salesforce costs also depend on profile volume, Flex Credit use, and your contract.
Does Salesforce Marketing Cloud have a free plan?
The published Salesforce pricing information lists no free plan. Its Profiles tier starts at $20 per 1,000 profiles per month when billed annually, and Enterprise Profiles is $35 per 1,000 profiles per month. Flex Credits and contract terms can also affect the bill.
What does HubSpot Marketing Hub’s free plan include?
HubSpot lists Breeze AI Assistant, unified contact, company, and deal records, two-way data sync with dozens of apps, and basic ticket routing on Free. The published pricing details don’t list a free-plan contact cap, so confirm current limits with HubSpot before choosing it.
Which platform should an enterprise team choose?
Consider Salesforce when complex customer journeys and connected enterprise data are central requirements. Consider HubSpot when you want marketing tools connected to its CRM and prefer a free entry point or per-seat pricing. Compare the specific plan limits, add-ons, and data needs before switching; the two pricing models differ.