Choosing a customer relationship management (CRM) platform is one of the most important technology decisions a company can make. While HubSpot remains a popular option for marketing and sales automation, many businesses are now seeking platforms that offer more advanced relationship intelligence and deeper customization.
Whether you’re scaling a startup or running a high-velocity sales team, it’s important to consider other platforms that might be a better fit for your goals.
To help, we break down the top five HubSpot alternatives for 2025—highlighting their core strengths, ideal use cases, and pricing structures.
1. Rings
Rings is an intelligent extended relationship management (XRM) platform that’s built to help organizations identify, win, and manage their most valuable relationships and investments for business growth.
Core features:
Advanced relationship mapping: Visualize connections not just between you and your current contacts, but also across investors, advisors, board members, and more.
Comprehensive deal and investor data: Instantly access a vast database of funding rounds, complete with investor details and valuations.
Widespread prospecting: Search globally for companies and investors using dozens of filters, leveraging both public data and your private relationship history.
Pre-meeting intelligence: Get tailored insights on shared deals and mutual relationships before every critical meeting.
Real-time company news: Monitor and score news about companies you care about, so you never miss an important development.
AI-powered customizations: Prioritize outreach with AI-driven, fully customizable scoring for companies and individuals.
Centralized knowledge base: Store and search files and communications for seamless collaboration.
Portfolio management: Track performance, analyze relationship health, and predict fundraises across asset classes.
Robust privacy controls: Fine-tune data visibility with intuitive privacy settings at the team and company level.
Seamless integrations: Connect to thousands of apps via Zapier, plus native integrations with major CRMs, email, calendars, and LinkedIn.
Pros:
Unmatched depth in deal, investor, and relationship data.
Prospecting tools that go far beyond your existing network.
Rich, dynamic relationship mapping of key stakeholders.
AI-powered insights and scoring tailored to your business.
Centralized, searchable knowledge management for enhanced collaboration.
All essential features included—no hidden fees for core capabilities.
Free, expert onboarding and continuous support.
Cons:
May be feature-rich for very small teams or those with simple needs.
Use cases/ideal users:
Any business selling to or prospecting startups and venture-backed companies.
Businesses with complex and high-value relationships that want to unlock new opportunities from their networks.
Venture capital and private equity firms seeking deep deal and relationship intelligence.
Business development teams needing global prospecting and AI-driven prioritization.
Enterprises managing complex portfolios and requiring robust privacy controls.
Price:
As low as $1K per user/year
2. Affinity
Affinity is designed to help investment firms make better deal decisions with existing network data and AI insights.
Core features:
Relationship intelligence: Track communications and prioritize connections within your existing network.
Deal management: Review and manage deals throughout your organization.
Data enrichment: Refresh your records with data from 40+ trusted sources.
Integrations: Sync network and deal data across your tech stack.
Activity tracking: Monitor emails and calendars for valuable relationship insights.
Pros:
Clean, user-friendly interface for basic relationship tracking.
Data-driven investment insights for enhanced decision-making.
Automated activity tracking through email and calendar integration.
Cons:
Limited to prospects inside your existing network.
No full deal data, company news tracking, or investor portfolio views.
Can’t important or analyze LinkedIn connections for relationship mapping.
Limited customizability and no AI scoring.
No support for fund and portfolio management.
Essential features like analytics and integrations come with added costs.
Pricier than other CRMs, plus required onboarding fees.
Use cases/ideal users:
Venture capital, private equity, and professional services firms focused on managing deals through network intelligence.
Small investment teams managing a known contact base.
Teams that do not require deep data enrichment, prospecting tools, or advanced mapping.
Price:
$2K per user/year.
Onboarding fee required, starting at $3K.
Extra charges for core features and capabilities.
3. Attio
Attio is a CRM designed for flexibility and collaboration. It empowers teams to build their own workflows and scale customer relationships with ease..
Core features:
Customizable data model: Define custom objects, fields, and relationships fit to your business goals.
Activity timelines: View a history of interactions across connections.
Advanced reporting and analytics: Generate detailed reports and dashboards to monitor performance and optimize workflows..
Integrations: Sync with Slack, Google Workspace, and other tools for integrated business processes.
No-code customization: Easily set up and adjust workflows with minimal technical know-how.
Pros:
Highly flexible and customizable.
Easy-to-use, intuitive interface.
Strong real-time collaboration and workflow automation.
Free plan available for up to three users, making it easy to try out.
Cons:
No access to full deal data, investor portfolios, and company prospecting.
Limited options for portfolio and enterprise opportunity management.
Lack of capabilities for deep relationship mapping.
Some advanced features, like reporting and analytics, are only available on higher-tier plans.
Self-serve onboarding only.
Use cases/ideal users:
Startups and SMBs seeking a lightweight, customizable CRM.
Price:
Free for up to three users; paid Plus plans start at $29 per user per month.
4. Salesforce
Salesforce remains one of the most recognized CRMs, catering to businesses of all sizes with a suite of features and cloud-based solutions.
Key features:
Einstein AI insights: Leverage predictive analytics, lead scoring, and automated recommendations to drive sales.
AppExchange ecosystem: Access thousands of integrations and add-ons to expand CRM capabilities.
Custom reporting: Create detailed dashboards and analytics for real-time business intelligence.
Enterprise scalability: Support global teams and intricate organizational structures.
Pros:
Deep customization and automation capabilities.
Advanced analytics and reporting options.
Strong integrations with collaboration tools like Slack.
Cons:
Can be expensive, especially as you add users or require advanced features and support.
Technical setup and configuration often requires IT support.
Interfaces can be cluttered and complex for new or non-technical users.
No access to full deal data, investor portfolios, and company news tracking.
Lack of capabilities for fund and portfolio management.
Use cases/ideal users:
Large enterprises needing scalability and AI-driven insights.
Price:
Plans start at $25 per user/month; advanced features and add-ons push costs much higher.
5. Pipedrive
Pipedrive is a sales-focused CRM that helps businesses organize leads, track deals, and manage their sales pipelines.
Core features:
Visual pipeline management: Access a customizable interface for moving deals through sales stages.
Contact and lead management: Store and organize contacts and companies in one place.
Workflow automation: Automate repetitive tasks like follow-ups, notifications, and assignments.
Reporting and dashboards: Monitor performance with customizable sales dashboards and reports.
AI sales assistant: Get personalized tips and reminders to optimize sales activities.
Integrations: Connect with over 400 apps, including email, calendar, and marketing tools.
Pros:
Easy to use, with a clean and intuitive interface.
Quick data import and setup for new users.
Flexible pricing plans to suit different team sizes and budgets.
Cons:
Many advanced features, like lead generation and enhanced reporting, come with extra costs or premium plans.
Limited in-depth relationship mapping and no native support for investor or portfolio management.
No company news tracking or AI-driven pre-meeting insights.
Not designed for fund management or enterprise opportunity workflows.
Use cases/ideal users:
Sales teams that need a simple way to manage leads and deals.
Small to medium businesses that prioritize sales management over relationship intelligence.
Price:
Starts at $14/user/month.
Add-ons for lead generation, web forms, live chat, and more are available at extra cost.
What To Look for in a HubSpot Alternative
The right CRM needs to check a lot of boxes—and what works best for one organization might not fit your specific needs. So, when evaluating alternatives, consider these essential factors to ensure your CRM will drive growth and efficiency:
Relationship mapping: Integrate emails, meetings, LinkedIn, and other platforms to visualize important connections and uncover paths to key decision-makers.
Privacy and data security: Set granular permissions for confidential information while enabling collaboration.
Automated data enrichment: Eliminate manual entry and keep records accurate and up to date in real time.
Portfolio and fund management: Track assets, use AI scoring, and predict future fundraises and relationship health to harness new opportunities and beat the competition.
Integration ecosystem: Seamlessly connect your CRM with tools across your tech stack, including email, calendar, and marketing platforms.
Collaboration and knowledge sharing: Make it easy for teams to access and share data, boosting productivity and communication for decision-making.
Scalability and customization: Adapt your CRM to your workflows with custom fields and dashboards.
User experience and support: Help teams get started quickly with intuitive interfaces and guided onboarding, as well as ongoing support as your business evolves.
Why Rings Is the Standout HubSpot Alternative
HubSpot is a recognizable name in marketing automation, but it lacks many of the advanced features today’s relationship-driven businesses need for scalability. That’s where Rings stands out—providing in-depth network intelligence, integrations, and AI-powered insights to help you uncover new connections in your market.
Going beyond basic contact management, Rings offers unmatched access to deal data and real-time company news, so you’re always equipped with the information you need to land your next big client or investor.
Ready to supercharge your CRM capabilities? Book a demo with Rings.
