CRM & Automation3 min read

CRM Migration: HubSpot vs Salesforce vs Pipedrive

Migrate your CRM without losing data or momentum. Compare HubSpot, Salesforce, and Pipedrive features, pricing, and migration strategies for 2026.

Digital Applied Team

January 1, 2026

3 min read

55–70%

CRM implementations miss goals

3–6 mo

Typical mid-market migration time

30–50%

Duplicate records in average CRM

$150K+

Avg. enterprise migration cost

Key Takeaways

Migration failure rate is high: Gartner reports that 55-70% of CRM implementations fail to meet expectations. Poor data quality before migration is the leading cause — organizations spend 60% of migration time on data cleaning, not transfer.

HubSpot wins for SMB and marketing-led growth: HubSpot CRM is genuinely free for core functionality. Sales Hub Starter at $20/user/month includes email sequences, deal pipelines, and meeting scheduling. The marketing-to-sales handoff is best-in-class for inbound-focused teams.

Salesforce requires dedicated admin resources: Salesforce's power comes at an operational cost. A properly configured Salesforce instance requires a dedicated admin ($80,000-$120,000/year) or a Salesforce consulting partner ($150-$250/hour). Understaffed implementations consistently underperform simpler CRMs.

Pipedrive excels for sales-led organizations: Pipedrive's visual pipeline interface reduces sales rep onboarding time by 40-60% compared to Salesforce. For teams where sales velocity and deal tracking are the primary use case, Pipedrive's simplicity is a feature, not a limitation.

Data quality determines migration success: Before migrating, audit your existing CRM data. Organizations typically find 30-50% of records are duplicates, outdated, or incomplete. Migrating dirty data multiplies problems in the new system.

CRM migration is one of the most disruptive technology projects a sales organization undertakes. Done correctly, it enables cleaner data, better automation, and improved sales velocity. Done poorly, it destroys data integrity, breaks integrations, and causes months of pipeline visibility loss.

This guide covers the full migration process — from the decision to switch platforms through post-migration validation — with specific guidance on HubSpot, Salesforce, and Pipedrive, the three platforms that account for 65% of CRM migrations in the SMB and mid-market segment.

When to Migrate CRMs

Not every CRM frustration justifies a full migration. Migrations carry significant risk and cost. The following signals indicate your current CRM is genuinely limiting your revenue operations rather than your team's adoption of available features.

Valid reasons to migrate

Sales team routinely bypasses the CRM to track deals in spreadsheets
You cannot build required reports without developer involvement
Key integrations (ERP, billing, support) are unavailable or unreliable
Current platform cost exceeds 3x the cost of the next best alternative
You've outgrown user limits or object volume constraints
Automation capabilities don't support your required sales workflows
Your company acquired another business with a different CRM

Wrong reasons to migrate

Sales reps complain about the interface (training issue, not platform issue)
A competitor switched CRMs (their situation differs from yours)
A vendor demo impressed leadership without proof-of-concept testing
You want features your current CRM already has but you haven't used
A new hire is familiar with a different CRM
The CRM has been slow — before investigating server/database optimization

Run a CRM audit first

Before deciding to migrate, conduct a 30-day CRM utilization audit. Measure: adoption rate (% of reps logging activities), data completeness (% of deals with required fields populated), and pipeline accuracy (forecast vs. actual close rate). If adoption is below 70%, address training and process issues before blaming the platform.

Platform Comparison Matrix

The three platforms serve fundamentally different organizational profiles. HubSpot targets marketing-led growth companies. Salesforce targets complex enterprise sales with deep customization requirements. Pipedrive targets sales-led SMBs where pipeline management is the primary use case.

Dimension	HubSpot	Salesforce	Pipedrive
Ideal company size	SMB to mid-market	Mid-market to enterprise	SMB (1-100 reps)
Setup time	1-4 weeks	3-12 months	1-2 weeks
Admin requirement	Part-time (RevOps)	Full-time dedicated	Minimal
Marketing automation	Best-in-class (native)	Pardot/Marketing Cloud (add-on)	Basic (Campaigns add-on)
Reporting	Strong, visual	Industry-leading	Basic to moderate
Customization	High	Unlimited	Moderate
Mobile app	Good	Excellent	Excellent
Implementation risk	Low-Medium	High	Low

Our analytics and insights service includes CRM data architecture reviews to ensure your chosen platform supports your reporting requirements before you commit to a migration.

Data Migration Checklist

Data preparation is the most critical phase of any CRM migration. Organizations that skip thorough data auditing before migration consistently experience data quality failures that undermine adoption of the new system.

Phase 1: Audit

Export all records from current CRM
Identify duplicate contacts (use email as deduplication key)
Flag records with missing required fields
Identify records not updated in 24+ months
Document all custom fields and their usage rates
List all active automation rules

Phase 2: Clean

Merge duplicate records (keep most recent activity)
Standardize phone number formats
Validate email addresses (remove bounced addresses)
Normalize company name formats
Tag records by lifecycle stage
Archive records inactive 3+ years

Phase 3: Map

Create field mapping document (source → destination)
Identify fields with no equivalent in destination CRM
Plan custom field creation in new CRM
Map deal stages to new pipeline stages
Document automation workflows to recreate
Plan integration reconnection order

Data governance before migration

Establish data governance rules before migrating: define required fields for each record type, create naming conventions for custom fields, assign data ownership by team, and document retention policies. These rules prevent the new CRM from accumulating the same data quality problems as the old one within 12 months.

Integration Ecosystem

Integration availability is often the deciding factor in CRM selection. A CRM that doesn't connect cleanly to your email platform, accounting software, and customer support tool creates data silos that eliminate the value of having a CRM at all.

Integration Type	HubSpot	Salesforce	Pipedrive
Gmail / Outlook	Native (bidirectional)	Native + Einstein Activity	Native
Slack	Native	Native (Slack for Salesforce)	Native
Zoom / Calendly	Native	Native	Native
QuickBooks / Xero	Native (limited) + Zapier	Native via AppExchange	Via Zapier/Make
Shopify / WooCommerce	Native bidirectional	Salesforce Commerce Cloud	Via Zapier
Zendesk / Intercom	Native	Native	Via Zapier
Custom API	REST API (1M calls/day free)	REST + SOAP + Bulk API	REST API
Native integrations	1,000+	7,000+ (AppExchange)	400+

See our guide on marketing automation and lead scoring workflows for how to architect automation sequences that work across any of these three platforms.

Pricing Analysis

CRM pricing is opaque. Headline per-user rates exclude required add-ons, API call limits, storage costs, and professional services. Below are realistic all-in annual costs for a 10-person sales team.

Cost Item	HubSpot	Salesforce	Pipedrive
Base CRM (10 users)	$2,400–$14,400/yr	$15,000–$30,000/yr	$2,400–$6,000/yr
Marketing automation	Included (Marketing Hub)	$12,000–$36,000/yr	$1,200–$3,600/yr
Admin/implementation	$0–$15,000 (one-time)	$20,000–$80,000+	$0–$3,000
Training	HubSpot Academy (free)	$2,000–$8,000/yr	Self-service (free)
Total Year 1 (10 users)	$5,000–$35,000	$50,000–$150,000+	$4,000–$12,000

Salesforce negotiation leverage

Salesforce list prices are rarely final. Enterprise accounts routinely negotiate 20-40% discounts, especially at contract renewal or when migrating from a competitor. Multi-year contracts and bundling multiple clouds (Sales + Service + Marketing) provide the most leverage. Never accept the first quote.

Migration Timeline

A phased migration minimizes business disruption. The key principle: never perform a big-bang cutover where both systems go dark simultaneously. Always plan for a parallel operation period.

Weeks 1-2

Discovery & Planning

Export and audit current CRM data
Document all custom fields, automation rules, and integrations
Complete field mapping document
Select data migration tool or service
Define success metrics and rollback criteria

Weeks 3-4

Data Preparation

Deduplicate contacts and companies
Standardize data formats
Archive outdated records
Create field mapping in destination CRM
Configure new CRM pipeline stages

Weeks 5-6

Test Migration

Migrate a 10% sample of records to test environment
Verify field mapping accuracy
Test primary integrations (email, calendar)
Run user acceptance testing with 2-3 power users
Document and resolve data mapping errors

Weeks 7-8

Full Migration & Cutover

Migrate all records to production environment
Reconnect integrations in priority order
Recreate automation workflows
Conduct all-hands training (2-4 hours per role)
Go live — keep old CRM in read-only mode

Weeks 9-12

Stabilization

Daily check-in with sales team on issues
Monitor integration sync for data discrepancies
Optimize automation based on usage patterns
Decommission old CRM (after 30 days clean operation)
Post-migration audit: compare KPIs to pre-migration baseline

Post-Migration Validation

Migration success is measured 90 days after cutover, not on day one. Track these metrics to validate that the migration achieved its intended outcomes and identify areas requiring additional configuration.

KPI	Target	Measured at
CRM adoption rate	≥80% of reps logging ≥3 activities/week	30 days
Data completeness	≥90% of deals have all required fields	30 days
Integration sync accuracy	Zero data discrepancies vs. source system	14 days
Pipeline visibility	Forecast accuracy within ±15% of actuals	60 days
Report availability	100% of pre-migration reports recreated	30 days
Automation execution	Zero workflow errors in 14-day window	30 days
Duplicate record rate	<2% of new records are duplicates	60 days

Our customer journey mapping and CRM automation guide provides the workflow architecture framework to maximize value from your new CRM immediately after cutover.

Need a CRM migration partner?

Our CRM and automation team handles full-cycle migrations — from data audit through post-cutover optimization — for HubSpot, Salesforce, and Pipedrive.

Get Started CRM Services