CRMs and sales pipelines.
Sales & CRM: build, buy or switch?
2 tools compared on 3-year cost, cheaper options and risk. Prices checked October 2026.
| Tool | Verdict | From | Buy, 3 yrs | Build, 3 yrs | Cheapest option |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HubSpot | BUY | $20/seat/mo | $3,600 | $3,445 | Twenty (open source) |
| Pipedrive | SWITCH | $14/seat/mo | $7,020 | $3,445 | HubSpot Free CRM (free) |
3-year costs use each tool’s typical plan and team size and $30/hour for your time. Open a tool to change them.
HubSpot
Sales & CRM
Buy it. At $20 a seat, HubSpot Starter costs about the same as keeping a homemade CRM running.
- Buy, 3 yrs
- $3,600
- Build, 3 yrs
- $3,445
Pipedrive
Sales & CRM
Switch to HubSpot Starter. At $20 a seat it costs about half of Pipedrive Growth’s $39.
- Buy, 3 yrs
- $7,020
- Build, 3 yrs
- $3,445
Paying for more than one of these?
Stack Scan spots tools that do the same job and shows what you’d save by keeping one.
Verdict key: BUILD = Build it · BUY = Buy it · HYBRID = Hybrid · SWITCH = Switch. How we score.