Before you pay for business software, read this.

Before spending a dollar on software, a small business can do all of this at $0. Total setup: roughly an afternoon.

1. 1

   Put everyone in one place

   Import the spreadsheet, the phone contacts, the inbox names. The free CRM is an address book that remembers every conversation.

   Holds 1,000 contacts on new accounts*
2. 2

   Let inquiries file themselves

   Put a free form on your site. Each submission becomes a contact on its own — no retyping from email.

   Forms included · HubSpot badge
3. 3

   Replace "what time works?" with a link

   A booking page synced to your calendar. People pick a slot; it appears in your day.

   1 personal booking link
4. 4

   Send a simple newsletter

   Write once, send to everyone who said yes. Drag-and-drop; no designer needed.

   2,000 emails a month · HubSpot badge
5. 5

   Watch who's interested, then follow up

   See when someone opens your email or comes back to your site — and which companies are looking. Follow up with the people already leaning in.

   200 open-alerts a month

The six that matter most. Marked where almost nobody knows it's free. Full detail, with every limit: the complete free-tools page.

*Applies to free accounts created after September 2024; older free accounts kept the previous 1,000,000-contact allowance. †Stripe's processing fees plus a 0.75% platform fee per transaction. Source: HubSpot's Product & Services Catalog and pricing pages, checked August 2026. Terms change — confirm on hubspot.com.

Free is real. It's also how HubSpot introduces itself, and the walls are placed where growing businesses hit them. The full picture is on the honest limits page.

• Their badge on your stuff. Emails, forms, chat and hosted pages all say HubSpot. Removing it costs money.

• 1,000 contacts on new accounts — the first wall an active business hits.

• Two logins. One sales board, one inbox, one booking link. The third teammate is the upgrade moment.

• Almost no autopilot. One automatic action total. The self-running follow-up sequences HubSpot is famous for are paid.

• Small ceilings. 3 saved emails, 3 saved replies, 10 custom fields, 10 smart groups — and records show only the last 30 days of activity.

• Not free at all: posting to social media, document libraries, quotes, built-in calling. Past the walls, paid plans start at $20/month per person.

Checked the same day, from each company's own pricing pages.

Sources: hubspot.com pricing & product catalog · mailchimp.com/pricing/marketing · zoho.com/crm/pricing — checked August 2026.

Q1Why would HubSpot give this away?

Because the free tier is their introduction. Some businesses grow past the limits and pay (plans start at $20/month per person). Staying free forever is allowed — plenty do.

Q2And what does this site get out of it?

Nothing. No affiliate program, no ads, no sponsors — it exists because the owner ran a small business on these tools and thinks more owners should know they're free. More on the about page.

Q3A friend's free account holds 40,000 contacts. Why would mine stop at 1,000?

Accounts created before September 2024 kept the old 1,000,000-contact allowance. New free accounts cap at 1,000. Both are telling the truth.

Q4If I leave, can I take my data with me?

Yes. Exports are part of the free tier — contacts and records out to files, blog and site pages out as HTML. No ransom.

Q5Will I outgrow it?

If you pass 1,000 contacts, need a third login, or want follow-ups to run themselves — yes. That's the design. Decide then, with real usage to judge by, not now.

Q6What's the biggest gotcha nobody mentions?

Two: HubSpot's badge sits on everything your customers see, and a record only shows its last 30 days of activity on the free tier.