Pipedrive or HubSpot as a recruitment CRM: pricing, feature limitations and when each makes sense
Pipedrive or HubSpot can work as a recruitment CRM for a small agency that is willing to build its own candidate and placement setup, and their starting prices are well below a recruiting CRM. What a 3-to-10 seat UK agency gives up is the recruitment data model and tools that come ready-made, namely candidates, jobs and placements as records, a candidate database searched in plain English, hiring-signal scanning and a client portal.
Key takeaways
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Pipedrive costs $14, $39, $59 or $79 per seat a month on annual billing across its Lite, Growth, Premium and Ultimate plans. (Source: Pipedrive pricing page, checked 28 October 2026.)
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HubSpot Sales Hub is free for up to two users, then starts at $7 per seat a month on Starter and $90 on Professional, which also carries a required one-time $1,500 onboarding fee. (Source: HubSpot pricing page, checked 28 October 2026.)
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HubSpot allows custom objects, the usual way to model candidates, jobs and placements, only on Enterprise, from $150 per seat a month plus a $3,500 onboarding fee.
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At five seats, HubSpot Professional costs $6,900 in its first year, against $5,940 for Shortlists at $99 per user a month billed monthly.
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If you are tied into a contract with another tool, Shortlists costs $51 per user a month until that term ends.
Why a small UK agency considers Pipedrive or HubSpot, and what each tool does well
The appeal is real. Both are easy to learn, both start cheap, and both have large integration libraries: Pipedrive lists 500+ integrations and HubSpot says more than 2,000 apps are available. HubSpot's Free plan costs nothing for up to two users, and Pipedrive's pricing page shows Capterra and G2 ratings of 4.5 and 4.2 out of 5. For a founder-led desk testing an idea, that is a sensible place to start.
Neither was built around recruitment, though. Both organise work around contacts, companies and deals, which suits a sales team and fits a recruiter's business development well. The strain starts when the same tool also has to hold candidates, jobs and placements. Our explainer on what a recruiting CRM is sets out the difference.
What Pipedrive and HubSpot cost in 2026, from the vendors' own pricing pages
| Plan | Per seat a month | What the page lists |
|---|---|---|
| Pipedrive Lite | $14 | Lead, calendar and pipeline management, AI report creation |
| Pipedrive Growth | $39 | Email sync with tracking, automations and sequences, forecast reports |
| Pipedrive Premium | $59 | Lead generation and routing, custom scoring, company data enrichment |
| Pipedrive Ultimate | $79 | Security rules and alerts, phone and email data enrichment, sandbox account |
| HubSpot Sales Hub Free | $0 | Free for up to two users |
| HubSpot Sales Hub Starter | From $7 | Up to 15 pipelines, up to 50 workflows with restricted triggers, 500 HubSpot Credits |
| HubSpot Sales Hub Professional | From $90, plus a required $1,500 onboarding fee | Sequences, up to 100 pipelines, up to 300 workflows, forecasting, 3,000 credits |
| HubSpot Sales Hub Enterprise | From $150, plus a required $3,500 onboarding fee | Up to 350 pipelines, up to 1,000 workflows, 5,000 credits |
Pipedrive prices are per seat a month, billed annually, and exclude VAT; Pipedrive says annual billing saves up to 42% on monthly billing. HubSpot shows a second, higher figure beside Starter ($20) and Professional ($100); these are "from" prices, so confirm the billing option. Extra HubSpot Credits cost $0.010 each. Both pages were checked on 28 October 2026.
First-year costs for Pipedrive, HubSpot and Shortlists at 3, 5 and 8 seats
| Tool and plan | 3 seats | 5 seats | 8 seats |
|---|---|---|---|
| HubSpot Sales Hub Starter | $252 | $420 | $672 |
| Pipedrive Growth | $1,404 | $2,340 | $3,744 |
| Pipedrive Premium | $2,124 | $3,540 | $5,664 |
| Shortlists, billed monthly | $3,564 | $5,940 | $9,504 |
| HubSpot Professional, first year with onboarding | $4,740 | $6,900 | $10,140 |
| HubSpot Enterprise, first year with onboarding | $8,900 | $12,500 | $17,900 |
Seats multiplied by the "from" price multiplied by 12, plus the one-time onboarding fee where required. Licence cost only, before VAT, and excluding add-ons and credits.
The cheap tiers are far cheaper than Shortlists, and it would be misleading to hide that. Pipedrive Growth is $2,340 a year at five seats and HubSpot Starter is $420. The picture shifts once you need the features that sit higher up. HubSpot Professional with its required onboarding fee is $6,900 in the first year at five seats, which is more than Shortlists at $5,940, and Enterprise is $12,500.
What a generic sales CRM does not model: candidates, jobs and placements
A recruitment desk runs two pipelines at once, a client side with jobs and a candidate side with shortlists, and links them through placements. A sales CRM has one pipeline of deals. The usual way to bridge that is custom objects, which let you create a candidate record and a job record of your own, and HubSpot's documentation says an Enterprise subscription is required to create them. Below Enterprise, you are left with contacts, deals and custom properties.
Pipedrive offers custom fields on its standard records. We did not find custom objects in its documentation, and its community forum carries user requests for them, so confirm with Pipedrive before building on the assumption they exist. A workable setup uses deals as jobs and contacts as candidates, but a candidate linked to several roles then needs workarounds, and reporting by placement takes extra work. Our guide to recruitment pipeline management in Shortlists shows what a purpose-built version looks like.
Recruitment features to check before choosing Pipedrive or HubSpot
Candidate search is the first. In Shortlists you type a request such as senior engineers in London open to work and get a ranked list from your own records, as described on the candidate database page. In a sales CRM you build filters and lists, and plan limits apply.
Business development is the second. HubSpot's agents track buying signals for sales prospecting, which is a different thing from hiring signals. BD Radar scans for funding rounds, leadership changes, senior leavers and spikes in posting volume, ranks the companies worth calling and drafts the outreach, so you can get to the hiring manager before the job is posted. Call transcription appears in HubSpot from Professional, at 750 hours per account a month, whereas Shortlists includes an AI notetaker and a branded client portal in its single price. Buying those separately is the pattern we cover in the cost of stacking separate tools.
How Pipedrive, HubSpot and Shortlists handle recruitment workflows
| What the desk needs | In Pipedrive or HubSpot | In Shortlists |
|---|---|---|
| Candidate and job records | Custom fields on contacts and deals; HubSpot custom objects need Enterprise | Candidates, clients and jobs as records |
| Placements and fees | Deal stages and custom fields you configure | Pipeline with a revenue dashboard |
| Searching your own candidates | Filters, lists and segments, subject to plan limits | Plain-English search |
| Finding new clients | Sales prospecting tools and, in HubSpot, buying-signal agents on credits | BD Radar hiring signals |
| Call notes | HubSpot call transcription from Professional | AI notetaker included |
| Sharing shortlists with clients | Not listed on the Pipedrive or Sales Hub pricing pages | Branded client portal included |
Pipedrive and HubSpot columns reflect their pricing pages and documentation as checked on 28 October 2026. Marketplace apps may fill some gaps, so confirm with each vendor.
When Pipedrive or HubSpot makes sense for a small agency
HubSpot's Free plan is a sound start for a desk of one or two recruiters who mainly need a contact list and a deal pipeline. Either tool is the better choice if the agency is mostly outbound client development and you track candidates in a spreadsheet, if you already run marketing in HubSpot, or if you have a developer or consultant who will build the recruitment layer for you. Pipedrive's lower price per seat also matters when a team is large but light on features.
Four questions settle most decisions. How many seats will you have in twelve months, and which plan tier covers them? Do you need candidates, jobs and placements as separate records? Who will build and maintain the setup? And what do the add-ons and onboarding add to the headline price?
Shortlists is the better fit when the desk is three or more recruiters doing permanent work, you want recruitment records from day one, and you would rather not manage a build. It does not handle temp desks, timesheets or shift scheduling, so a mixed temp and permanent agency should look at other tools, and our guide to recruiting CRMs for small UK agencies compares the field.
Shortlists pricing and features at $99 per user per month
Shortlists is one plan at $99 per user a month for 1 to 9 seats, with 10 or more seats priced individually. It includes the CRM and ATS, BD Radar, the AI notetaker, a branded client portal, outreach, API access and 100 credits per seat a month. Annual billing saves 15%, which would bring five seats to about $5,049 a year if the discount applies to the $99 price. There is no annual contract required, and the details are on the Shortlists pricing page.
Switching from Pipedrive or HubSpot without paying twice: contract timing and the $51 bridge rate
Check how your plan is billed first. Pipedrive's annual plans are paid as one yearly payment per seat, and HubSpot's cheapest rates are for paying annually. If you are mid-term, Shortlists costs $51 per user a month until the term ends, and full price starts once you have switched. Five seats with six months left cost $1,530 at the bridge rate instead of $2,970.
The Shortlists team runs free data migration, so contacts, deals and notes can arrive as candidate and client records. We respect the craft, so the software takes the admin and your recruiters keep the judgement that wins placements.
Frequently asked questions
How much does Pipedrive cost per user a month in 2026?
Pipedrive costs $14 on Lite, $39 on Growth, $59 on Premium and $79 on Ultimate per seat a month on annual billing, before VAT. (Source: Pipedrive pricing page, checked 28 October 2026.)
How much does HubSpot Sales Hub cost for five users in 2026?
Five seats cost from $420 a year on Starter, from $5,400 on Professional plus a required $1,500 onboarding fee, and from $9,000 on Enterprise plus $3,500. HubSpot's Free plan covers only up to two users. (Source: HubSpot pricing page, checked 28 October 2026.)
Does HubSpot charge extra to set up the Professional plan?
Yes. HubSpot lists a required one-time onboarding fee of $1,500 for Professional and $3,500 for Enterprise, shown separately from the per-seat price.
Can HubSpot track candidates, jobs and placements as separate records?
Only with custom objects, which HubSpot's documentation says need an Enterprise subscription. Below that you use contacts and deals with custom properties, and our overview of recruiting CRM features for small agencies lists what to look for.
Does Pipedrive support custom objects?
We did not find custom objects in Pipedrive's documentation. It supports custom fields on deals, people and organisations, and its community forum shows user requests for custom objects.
Is the HubSpot Free plan enough for a desk with more than two recruiters?
No, because HubSpot's page says the Free plan is for up to two users, so a larger desk moves to a paid plan. Starter is the cheapest, and Professional is where sequences and forecasting appear.
Can I switch from Pipedrive or HubSpot to Shortlists before my contract ends?
Yes. Shortlists costs $51 per user a month until your existing term ends, and migration is free. There is more on how the bridge rate works when you plan the timing.
Price the setup you actually need, then compare it with a recruiting CRM
List the features your desk needs, work out which plan tier carries them, and add any onboarding fee and add-ons. Then compare the total with a tool built for recruitment. Shortlists is built for 3-to-10 seat UK agencies and used by 55+ of them.
- Start your 7-day free trial and see how your records sit in it before you commit to anything.
- Book a demo and we will map the migration around your existing term.