Seeking CRM alternatives: Frustrated with HubSpot, what's your experience?

I’m running a B2B SaaS company and I’ve been using HubSpot for the past couple of years. At first, I thought it was great, but now I’m feeling pretty annoyed with it. The pricing seems to keep going up, and their packages are really confusing. Plus, I’m not a fan of how their community and support team treat customers.

I’m wondering if anyone else feels the same way? What CRM do you use for your business? I’d love to hear about other options that might work better.

Here’s a quick example of what I’m dealing with:

def calculate_hubspot_frustration(years_using, initial_cost, current_cost):
    frustration_level = (current_cost - initial_cost) * years_using
    return frustration_level

my_frustration = calculate_hubspot_frustration(2, 0, 1000)
print(f'My frustration level with HubSpot: {my_frustration}')

Anyone else in the same boat? What CRM would you recommend instead?

I’ve been in your shoes with HubSpot frustrations. After extensive research and trials, we switched to Salesforce about 18 months ago. It’s not perfect, but it’s been a significant improvement for our B2B SaaS operations. The learning curve was steep initially, but the customization options and robust integrations have proven invaluable. The pricing is more transparent, and their support has been responsive.

One unexpected benefit was the ecosystem of third-party apps and consultants. This allowed us to tailor the CRM to our specific needs without reinventing the wheel. If you’re considering a switch, I’d recommend a thorough needs assessment and possibly bringing in a CRM consultant to guide the transition. It’s a big move, but for us, it’s paid off in improved efficiency and customer insights.

I’ve had a similar experience with HubSpot, and after much deliberation, we made the switch to Pipedrive last year. It’s been a game-changer for our sales process. The interface is intuitive, which made onboarding our team a breeze. What I appreciate most is the visual pipeline that gives us a clear overview of our deals at every stage.

One thing that stood out was Pipedrive’s focus on sales activities rather than just contact management. This shift in perspective helped our team stay proactive and close more deals. The pricing is straightforward, and they offer a decent free tier to test the waters.

That said, it’s not as feature-rich as HubSpot in terms of marketing automation. We complemented it with MailChimp for email campaigns. If your needs are primarily sales-focused, Pipedrive could be worth exploring. Just be prepared to potentially use additional tools for comprehensive marketing functions.

tried salesforce n pipedrive but ended up with zoho crm. way cheaper, does everything we need. their support’s pretty good too. took us like a week to get comfy with it. might be worth checkin out if ur sick of hubspot’s bs pricing. just my 2 cents tho

I’ve been using Insightly for my B2B SaaS company, and it’s been a breath of fresh air after ditching HubSpot. What I love most is how it seamlessly integrates project management with CRM functionality. This has streamlined our workflow immensely, especially when transitioning from sales to project delivery.

The pricing is way more reasonable than HubSpot, and you get a lot of bang for your buck. Their mobile app is surprisingly good too, which helps when I’m on the go.

One thing to note - their marketing automation isn’t as robust as HubSpot’s. We ended up pairing it with ActiveCampaign for more advanced email campaigns. But for sales and project management, Insightly has been spot on.

The support team has been responsive, and they actually listen to feature requests. It’s not perfect, but it’s been a solid solution for us without the constant price hikes and package confusion.

I’ve been using Freshsales for the past year, and it’s been a solid alternative to HubSpot. The pricing is more straightforward, and they offer a good balance of features for both sales and marketing. What I particularly appreciate is their AI-powered lead scoring, which has helped us prioritize our efforts more effectively.

One potential drawback is that their ecosystem isn’t as vast as HubSpot’s, so you might find fewer integrations. However, their native features are quite comprehensive, reducing the need for multiple tools. Their customer support has been responsive in my experience.

If you’re looking for a middle ground between the complexity of Salesforce and the simplicity of Pipedrive, Freshsales might be worth considering. It’s been a good fit for our B2B SaaS company, offering the functionality we need without the pricing headaches we experienced with HubSpot.