HubSpot vs monday.com—which is better? Both platforms have emerged as strong contenders in the project management arena. However, choosing the right tool can be a challenge.
Both software offer two distinct approaches. HubSpot offers a comprehensive, albeit expensive CRM solution for small to mid-sized businesses. Meanwhile monday.com brings a more user friendly approach, offering a number of integrations and automations that take care of any project management related headache that you may have.
Hence, this article delves into the strengths and weaknesses of both HubSpot and monday.com, helping you navigate this decision and find the perfect fit for your team. By the end, you should be able to understand where each software excels and which one can fit your needs the best.
Key Takeaways
HubSpot is great for small to medium-sized companies that are seeking a CRM solution that scales alongside them
Relies on workflow objects, templates or enrollment triggers to set up automations
Makes use of automations that rely on triggers and conditions
User Interface
A clean and user-friendly interface with extensions for further customization
An intuitive UI that can be customized based on the customer’s needs
Project Views
Allows users to create and save their own views
Offers multiple pre-built project views (Kanban, Calendar, Workload, etc.)
Collaboration Tools
Collaboration sidebar, dashboards, shared inbox, comments, notifications, etc.
Email, messaging, comments, file sharing, and team boards
Reporting Tools
Customized reports, interactive dashboards, advanced analytics, attribution tracking, etc.
Formula columns, customizable dashboards, and chart views
Integrations
Integrates with software such as Slack, Salesforce, Gmail, Asana and more
Wide variety of integrations with popular software such as Gmail, Microsoft Teams, Slack, Zoom, MailChimp, and more
Project Templates
Offers templates for many cases such as marketing campaigns, product launches, etc.
Offers over 200+ pre-built templates
HubSpot – Best For Small And Mid-Sized Businesses
HubSpot CRM software is a comprehensive CRM platform designed to help businesses grow. It offers a suite of tools for marketing, sales, and customer service, all integrated into one user-friendly platform. HubSpot's strength lies in its ability to streamline processes, automate tasks, and provide valuable insights into customer behavior. Its intuitive interface and comprehensive features make it a popular choice for businesses of all sizes, particularly those looking to improve their inbound marketing and sales efforts.
HubSpot is primarily targeted towards small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) that are looking to grow their customer base and increase revenue. It's particularly well-suited for businesses that prioritize a customer-centric approach and want to build strong relationships with their customers. HubSpot's all-in-one platform offers a cost-effective solution for SMBs that may not have the resources to invest in multiple standalone tools.
HubSpot Key Features
Marketing analytics where users can measure performances with built-in analytics, reports and dashboards
A website builder with a drag-and-drop functionality
AI Content Writer that can assist in creating and sharing content
A live chat that allows users to connect with website visitors in real-time to provide support and answer questions
Pros
All-In-One Platform
One of HubSpot’s biggest strengths is that it can act as a hub for most operations. To this end, it consolidates various marketing, sales, and service tools into a single platform, streamlining operations and reducing complexity. Users can automate emails, use CRM functions, run in-depth analytics and manage social media with just one platform.
Scalable Solution
HubSpot’s key philosophy is to create small and mid-sized company solutions that can scale alongside them as they grow. As such, the entire platform is built with growing businesses in mind. This philosophy also extends to its features, as HubSpot offers freemium tools, friendly onboarding, online resources, etc.
Consumer Friendly Approach
HubSpot has earned a reputation of being consumer-friendly and investing in their community. Their free CRM, customer feedback and investment in different ventures have garnered a lot of goodwill and trust among many businesses. In addition, according to some users, HubSpot Academy remains one of the best places to get a free certificate, especially for new marketers.
Cons
Complex Pricing Structure
HubSpot’s pricing structure is relatively complex compared to the straightforward tiers presented by software such as monday.com. Mutiple product lines, different tiers within these product lines and the addition of add-ons can make it very confusing for new users to properly navigate and purchase what they need.
Monday.com – Best For Flexibility And User Friendliness
monday.com software is a project management platform designed to streamline teamwork and project organization. Essentially, it’s a digital workspace where teams can create customizable visual boards to track tasks, deadlines, and progress. However, it goes beyond basic project management, offering features like multiple view options (calendar, timeline, Gantt chart), real-time collaboration tools, and automations to save time on repetitive tasks.
This flexibility and focus on user-friendliness make monday.com a popular choice for a wide range of teams and businesses. Thus, it’s used in a variety of industries, from marketing agencies to tech and design firms.
Monday’s Key Features
Dashboards that can be customized to offer several views (Kanban, Calendar, Workload, etc.)
An intuitive visual interface that’s easy for users to grasp
Pre-built solutions and integrations
‘monday workflow’ – a feature that allows users to automate tasks using triggers, actions and conditional statements
Collaboration tools such as file sharing, comments, and real-time updates
Pros
Tailored Workflows
The ability to customize workflows makes monday.com stand out from its competitors. Specifically, tailored workflows help teams streamline processes and reduce errors. This customizability also applies to many areas such as creating a sales pipeline, marketing campaigns, and HR processes.
Comprehensive Reporting
monday.com offers a holistic and up-to-date view of projects. It does this by automatically updating dashboards when source data is changed. When combined with the automated notifications, this feature streamlines task handoffs and eliminates the need to manually request reports from other departments.
Seamless Integrations
monday.com boasts a large number of integrations with many third-party software such as Slack, Gmail, Microsoft Teams, Outlook, GitLab, and so many more. This versatility allows monday.com to fit into almost any workflow while keeping the cost of setting it up minimal.
Cons
Lack Of Certain Quality Of Life (QoL) Features
Despite monday.com's overwhelming list of pros, it lacks a few basic QoL features as found in other software. Users have to switch between views to access subitems and cannot use ‘wrap text’ for any attribute. Additionally, you cannot adjust or edit automated commands, forcing users to delete and reset automations when they want to make any changes. All these contribute to making the software a little cumbersome and unwieldly.
HubSpot Vs Monday.com Key Features Comparison
1. Pricing Plans
HubSpot
HubSpot offers a tiered pricing structure for its Marketing, Sales, and Service Hubs, with a free CRM option. The Starter plans are affordable for small businesses, offering basic features like email marketing, CRM, and live chat. As businesses
grow, they can upgrade to Professional or Enterprise plans for more advanced features like marketing automation, sales automation, and advanced analytics. HubSpot also offers a Customer Platform that bundles Marketing, Sales, and Service Hubs
at a discounted rate.
As such, HubSpot offers the following pricing plans and tiers:
Marketing:
Free – $0
Starter – $20/user/month
Professional – $890/user/month
Enterprise – $3600/user/month
Disclaimer: Pricing is subject to change.
Sales Software:
Free – $0
Starter – $20/user/month
Professional – $100/user/month
Enterprise – $150/user/month
Disclaimer: Pricing is subject to change.
Customer Service:
Free – $0
Starter – $20/user/month
Professional – $100/user/month
Enterprise – $150/user/month
Disclaimer: Pricing is subject to change.
Monday
monday.com offers four pricing plans, with each tier offering additional features that cater to larger organizations. For example, the free plan provides all the baseline features, whereas the advanced pricing plans provide an increased number
of automations and views that are intended for large scale operations.
As such, monday.com offers the following pricing plans:
Free – $0 (Up to 2 Seats)
Basic – $12/seat/month
Standard – $14/seat/month
Pro – $24/seat/month
Enterprise – Custom Pricing
Disclaimer: Pricing is subject to change.
Winner: While monday.com may offer cheaper pricing for all its tiers, its free version does not compare to HubSpot which offers a free CRM right off the bat. Therefore, this category is a tie.
2. Workflow Management
HubSpot
HubSpot's workflow management feature allows users to automate repetitive tasks and streamline their processes. Essentially, there are three methods to set up automations: templates, enrollment triggers, and workflow objects.
Templates can help users add pre-defined automations for a variety of tasks. These templates offer a number of automations such as email reminders, automatic creation of new tasks upon the closure of a deal, etc.
Enrollment triggers offer another way of setting up workflows. To put it simply, these triggers are certain conditions that must be met in order for an action to take place. To automate certain tasks, users can simply define a condition that must
be fulfilled for an action to take place. For example, if a certain time occurs (for example, 4 PM), users can set a corresponding action to this condition (such as sending a mass email to a team).
Users can also create a new workflow by setting up a workflow object. A Workflow object (refers to an element like contacts, tickets, payments) is just a description of the object that a user must define for further actions.
With the help of these custom workflows, businesses can automate actions like sending personalized emails, updating contact properties, and assigning tasks. These automations not only save time and effort but also reduce the risk of human error.
Finally, HubSpot’s AI, Breeze can offer further assistance, allowing users to generate descriptions and even triggers.
Monday
monday.com makes use of ‘monday workflows’, an all-in-one tool that incorporates automation and integration, allowing users to build a workflow using a series of ‘blocks.’ These blocks often represent a specific aspect of your workflow and can
be connected to other blocks to create automatic processes and help teams automate redundant or tedious tasks that can often take up a lot of time.
In addition, these processes have a lot of applications and are not confined to only one department. For instance, an IT team can use the workflow for resolving common IT requests. Conversely, an HR team can use it to screen out applicants that
do not fit the required criteria.
Winner: Despite being neck-in-neck, the addition of HubSpot’s AI that can generate triggers gives it the edge over monday.com for automations.
3. User Interface
HubSpot
HubSpot boasts a user-friendly interface designed to be intuitive for teams of all technical abilities. Its clean and visually appealing dashboard provides a clear overview of key metrics and insights. However, if users want to customize the UI,
they can do so with the help of UI extensions that enable users to create new UI elements.
Additionally, the platform's drag-and-drop functionality for its website builder makes it easy to create and customize websites.
Monday
monday.com offers a sleek and intuitive user interface. Workspaces are built with intuitive boards that resemble colorful spreadsheets. Each board can be customized with various widgets, allowing users to view data in a way that best suits their
needs. These widgets can display anything from text and numbers to timelines and Kanban boards.
monday.com also emphasizes visual communication through color-coding and drag-and-drop functionality, making it easy for teams to collaborate and track progress at a glance.
Winner: monday.com’s more visually oriented approach makes it the winner for this category.
4. Collaboration Tools
HubSopot
HubSpot offers a range of collaboration tools to help teams work together efficiently. It’s primary collaboration tool includes a collaboration sidebar where users can comment on assets, review assigned tasks and manage approvals.
It also has a shared inbox, a feature that allows teams to manage and respond to customer inquiries from a centralized location. Real-time notifications and comments within deals, tickets, and other records facilitate seamless communication and
collaboration.
These communication tools enable team members to assign, track, and prioritize tasks, ensuring that everyone stays on top of their workload.
Monday
monday.com uses boards as a central hub for all projects, allowing users to easily view the status of every task and track progress. It monitors work using the ‘timeline’ column which visualizes how each task is connected to another, helping users
keep track of deadlines.
Additionally, monday.com offers all the standard communication features found in other project management software, such as email, file sharing, sync meetings, and a real-time chat. The addition of automation recipes also helps in getting rid
of busy work such as manual updates.
Winner: Both software offer comparable communication features and are thus tied for this category.
5. Project Templates
HubSpot
HubSpot offers a variety of pre-built project templates to help users quickly set up and manage projects. These templates cover a wide range of use cases, such as marketing campaigns, product launches, and sales enablement initiatives. By using
these templates, users can save time and effort since they don’t need to create projects from scratch. Additionally, HubSpot allows users to customize these templates to fit their specific needs, ensuring that they can be tailored to any project,
regardless of its complexity.
Monday
monday.com offers a vast number of project templates that allow users to quickly set up boards and workflows for all sorts of scenarios. The templates normally come with already-defined columns, statuses, and views, allowing users to get started
quickly on their work as well as reducing manual effort. Additionally, the templates themselves are customizable, enabling users to edit them to fit specific project requirements.
Winner: Once again, both software are tied for this category.
6. Reporting And Analytics
HubSpot
HubSpot provides robust reporting capabilities to help businesses track their progress and make data-driven decisions. With a variety of customizable reports, users can gain valuable insights into their marketing, sales, and service efforts. These
reports include metrics such as website traffic, lead generation, conversion rates, and customer satisfaction. HubSpot's reporting tools also allow users to create custom dashboards to visualize key metrics and trends.
By leveraging HubSpot's reporting capabilities, businesses can identify areas for improvement, optimize their strategies, and ultimately drive growth.
Monday
monday.com makes use of formula columns to manipulate data and generate insights. This data can also be visualized with charts and dashboards. In addition to these basic reporting tools, monday.com also offers more advanced options such as pivot
tables and workload views, which can help users in resource management. Finally, monday.com can also make use of integrations to gain further statistics and insights.
Winner: HubSpot’s advanced reporting capabilities make it the winner here.
7. Integrations
HubSpot
HubSpot seamlessly integrates with a wide range of popular tools and platforms, expanding its functionality and enabling businesses to streamline their workflows. These integrations include popular email marketing tools (Gmail), CRM systems (Salesforce),
social media platforms (Facebook), and project management software (Asana).
With the help of these integrations, businesses can automate tasks, centralize data, and gain a more comprehensive view of their customer journey.
Monday
monday.com offers a massive integration library. This allows you to connect monday.com with the tools you already use, eliminating the need to switch between platforms and duplicate data. Popular integrations include communication tools like Slack,
CRM systems like Salesforce, and file storage solutions like Google Drive.
These integrations can be configured to automate workflows, trigger actions based on events within monday.com or other platforms and keep all your project information centralized for easy access and collaboration.
Winner: monday.com’s staggering list of integrations makes it the winner for this category.
Which Is Better: HubSpot Vs Monday?
Both HubSpot and monday.com offer valuable tools for businesses, but their strengths cater to different needs.
monday.com is an excellent project management tool with its user-friendly interface, high customization, and focus on visual project management. This makes it ideal for teams that prioritize flexibility and collaborative workflows.
HubSpot, on the other hand, excels as a comprehensive CRM with integrated marketing, sales, and service tools. Its automation capabilities, reporting features, and integrations make it a powerful solution for businesses looking to streamline their processes, improve customer relationships, and drive growth.
Ultimately, the best choice depends on your specific priorities. For a project that requires a user-friendly interface and extensive integrations, monday.com may be the answer. But if you seek a comprehensive solution to manage your entire customer journey and boost your marketing and sales efforts, HubSpot offers a compelling all-in-one platform.
If HubSpot and Monday.com don't quite fit your needs, there are other powerful options to consider such as ClickUp software and Salesforce Engage software. Both software offer a versatile platform with a wide range of features and marketing capabilities.
