What do HubSpot, Zoho and HighLevel charge?
Each vendor counts its price differently, so compare the unit before the number. HubSpot and Zoho charge per user. HighLevel charges per account, with unlimited users and contacts, and bills usage such as SMS, email, calls and AI on top. The table shows each vendor’s own pricing page on 24 October 2026, with the currency as shown. We did not convert anything.
| CRM | Free option | Paid price as shown |
|---|---|---|
| HubSpot (per seat) | Free tools: $0/mo, up to 2 users, up to 1,000 contacts | Starter: “Starts at $7/mo/seat” under a limited-time offer for new customers; $20/mo/seat is shown as the list price. Billing choices: pay monthly, commit monthly, pay annually |
| Zoho CRM (per user) | Free Edition: free for 3 users | AED 51 (Standard), AED 84 (Professional), AED 146 (Enterprise), AED 190 (Ultimate) per user per month, with annual billing selected; local taxes such as VAT are added |
| HighLevel (per account) | No free plan; 14-day free trial | $97/month (Starter, 3 sub-accounts), $297/month (Unlimited), $497/month (Agency Pro), all with unlimited contacts and users; usage-based charges for SMS, email, calls and AI; WhatsApp integration add-on $10/month per sub-account |
Take a team of 5 who all need the CRM. HubSpot Starter at $20 a seat is 5 × $20 = $100 a month, or from 5 × $7 = $35 under the new-customer offer. Zoho Standard is 5 × AED 51 = AED 255 a month; Professional, the plan Zoho’s page labels “Automation and AI”, is 5 × AED 84 = AED 420. HighLevel Starter is $97 a month for the whole account, whether 5 or 15 people use it, plus usage.
Two cautions. HubSpot’s page lists three billing choices, so ask which one your quote uses. And the list price is the smaller part of the cost: someone still has to build the stages, write the follow-ups and connect your channels.
Is HighLevel only for agencies?
Its pricing page sells agency plans, and each client business gets a sub-account. One small business needs one sub-account. It can sit inside a HighLevel account you open yourself, or inside one an agency sets up and runs for you. Webly does either: we set up the account, or work inside yours.
The same page lists what a plan includes: unified conversations, workflow automation, booking calendars, payments and invoicing, a mobile app, and Conversation AI (usage-based). That is why one HighLevel account can replace several tools. It is also why setup takes real work: the plan is a toolbox, not a finished pipeline.
What should you check before you choose a CRM?
Five questions decide most of it. Answer them with last month’s numbers, not with a feature list.
- Where do inquiries arrive? Count last month’s by channel. If more than half come on WhatsApp, WhatsApp has to sit inside the CRM, not next to it.
- Who sends the follow-up, and when? If a person has to remember, the CRM is a notebook. Look for follow-ups that go out on their own and stop when the customer replies.
- How is the price counted? Per user grows with your team. Per account plus usage grows with your messages. Ask for the monthly bill at your team size and message volume.
- Can it use your official WhatsApp number? Check this on the plan you would actually buy. We did not test WhatsApp on HubSpot or Zoho for this article, so ask each vendor and read its help pages.
- Who owns the data? Contacts and chats should stay yours if you leave. Our article on who owns your WhatsApp number and data shows what to ask.
When is HubSpot or Zoho the right pick?
Pick one of them when a few people sell by email and calls, your contact list is small, and nobody needs follow-ups that send themselves. HubSpot’s free tools cover 2 users and 1,000 contacts; Zoho’s free edition covers 3 users. If that describes you, you do not need a CRM project. Start free and move later.
When does a HighLevel setup make sense?
It makes sense when ads and WhatsApp bring your inquiries, a team answers them, and money is lost between the first message and the payment. Then the CRM has to do more than store contacts: put every channel on one record, send the day 1, 3 and 7 follow-ups in Arabic and English, alert the owner when a deal stalls, and report which ad brought each sale. The connection steps are in our guide to connecting HighLevel to the WhatsApp API, and Meta’s per-message rates are in the WhatsApp API pricing article.
Already on HighLevel and unsure what to build in it? See our GoHighLevel agency page. Everything else we publish on this is on the blog.