I’m currently using HubSpot, but it seems excessive for my requirements. Many of the advanced features remain unused, and I’m spending money on services I don’t utilize.
I’ve been exploring Carrd to create simple landing pages. I intend to include a form for capturing leads and link it with an easy-to-use CRM. Can anyone recommend some lightweight CRM solutions that work smoothly with Carrd?
Additionally, I’m facing issues with newsletter signups. I currently have a Substack iframe on my site, but it causes the pages to load slowly. Since there’s no direct integration with Substack and I’m not on their top plan, I can’t access external automation features. What are some alternative solutions for managing newsletter signups that won’t affect my site’s loading speed?
carrd + notion is gr8 if u dont need fancy automation. just set up carrd’s webhook 2 dump leads into a notion db - super easy and notion’s free for personal use. def skip substack’s iframe, it slooows pages. try buttondown instead - loads way faster, forms r clean! costs $5/month but sooo worth it!
Been down this exact path recently. For CRM, try Pipedrive if you need something beyond basic spreadsheets. It’s got solid Carrd integration through webhooks and the interface is clean - way less complex than HubSpot. Pricing scales nicely as you grow. For newsletters, skip the iframes and use Mailchimp’s embedded forms instead. They load asynchronously so they won’t slow down your page like Substack’s iframe does. Free tier covers 2000 contacts, which works for most small operations. You can customize the forms to match Carrd’s styling pretty easily. I switched last year and my Core Web Vitals scores improved right away. Their automation features are also straightforward compared to other platforms.
I switched from HubSpot six months ago and here’s what worked. For CRM, I went with Airtable - it connects to Carrd forms through Zapier, takes 30 minutes to set up, and costs way less than HubSpot. Handles basic lead tracking just fine. Had the same Substack iframe issue too. Those things kill page speed. Switched to ConvertKit and it’s much better - cleaner embeds, faster loading, and you can style the forms to match your Carrd design without iframe bloat. Pricing’s fair for smaller lists and the automation actually works without paying for premium. Page load times got noticeably better once I ditched that Substack iframe.