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HubSpot vs. Wordpress CMS
Alyssa Yap
May 31, 2024
HubSpot
A customer relationships management (CRM) system is, unsurprisingly, a technology for managing how you relate to customers who use your website and buy your products. Which leads us to HubSpot CMS:
CMS Hub
CMS Hub comes with all the traditional features of a CMS like publishing tools, user management, media management, and themes. But CMS Hub has a few more popular tools.
| Topic | HubSpot | WordPress |
|---|---|---|
| Website Setup & Launch | HubSpot is theme based now like WordPress, it’s flexible too. The theme determines the features and modules. But custom ones can be created if needed. Without needing plugins, you get CTAs, social media icons, forms, lists, blogs etc |
WordPress is also theme based and has more themes as it has been on the theme based design for longer. The downside about WordPress themes is that you are dependent on the developer updating and maintaining their themes. There’s no “quality check” that these themes need to maintain. It’s often hard to reach these theme developers unless you have one of your own to maintain. Usually they still need to reach out to the original theme developer. |
| Ecommerce | HubSpot does not have an ecommerce CMS. | It depends on the company type but ecommerce business is more suited in using WordPress because it has well established ecommerce plugins or ecommerce website platforms like Shopify. |
| Customization | The drag and drop feature is impressive. You don’t have to get technical at all to make important edits as needed. But if you want to, you have that option too. | Similar to HubSpot, some themes are drag and drop but are not as intuitive and easy to use. If you want the drag and drop feature - that’s another plug-in to install and depends on the theme you get. |
| Analytics & Tracking | Every HubSpot platform comes with built-in analytics, and you can gain access to even better data depending on your subscription level. | WordPress doesn't actually have any built-in analytics, but there are so many plugins you can add on and therefore, manage. |
| SEO | Their SEO features are built-in, no plugins needed. | WordPress offers a ton of SEO plugins but not built into the website and therefore, another plugin to manage. |
| Security | HubSpot is a closed-source platform so access is limited. Many people enjoy this fact and consider it to be more secure for this reason. Website security is handled for you and less prone to attacks. No need for a developer or tech enthusiast to maintain this. |
WordPress is notorious for minimal protection since it's open-source. You need a developer to maintain security. |
| Support | HubSpot offers almost 24/7 support via chat, email and phone | WordPress does not offer much support and takes days to get a response. |
| Cost | HubSpot is also a pretty worthwhile investment because you get more than just a CMS. |
At first glance, WordPress looks like a less financially risky decision. But prices start to hike up in the long run when you start adding all the plugins and tools you’re gonna need for successful marketing and sufficient security. |
| Ease of use for marketer | HubSpot everything built in - from reporting, data, analytics and marketers doesn’t need to have developer skills. HubSpot is pretty much built for the modern marketer. | You have to build everything yourself and while you’re building, you’ll require additional plug-ins which can hold marketers back. |
| Ease of use for developer | Easy to use because no need to program and have back-up/support from HubSpot. But have the option to create creative solutions. | Fully customizable - can access source code and program. Not that much support for developers especially in security. |
| Smart content | A lot of people love this because you can create a personalised experience for those visiting your website. | This feature doesn’t exist. |
| CRM | In HubSpot, interactions from the CMS are sent to the CRM – that tool that has been kept under wraps until now. And any leads from your website are saved into the CRM as contacts. | To compare, WordPress is at its heart just a CMS. WordPress is designed to do a whole lot less in this area. |
| Miscellaneous | HubSpot has built-in chat capabilities, password-protected pages, and site management in multiple languages and more. | Most of these features except for video hosting can be obtained only with plugins and/or additional software. |
Verdict
As CMS software alone, comparing the costs of HubSpot and WordPress, WordPress can be the cheaper option at face value.
But when you include HubSpot’s CRM in the picture, security, ease of use, speed to bring assets/campaigns live (no need to depend so much on developers to make changes and maintenance), HubSpot support available almost 24/7 and long term cost, it’s clear that HubSpot gives you more bang for your buck - and peace of mind especially in the long run.
Pricing
| Service | HubSpot Free CMS Tool | HubSpot CMS Hub Starter | HubSpot CMS Hub Professiona | HubSpot CMS Hub Enterprise | WordPress |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cost investment (best to speak to HubSpot customer success manager and cc me to get best price) |
Free | $25/mo | $400/mo | $1,200/mo | Free |
| Hosting | All tiers come with premium hosting. You can also easily connect your own domain through the domain manager. | Popular hosting platforms for WordPress like Pantheon have basic plans available for $50/mo, performance plans that go up to $1000/mo, and custom elite plans. | |||
| Plugins | CMS Hub has over 650 apps that can be integrated with HubSpot to extend the functionality of your website within the CRM platform. Plugin updates won’t make your website crash or go down. There’s also no need to hire a developer to maintain plugins and if any issue occurs, HubSpot support is readily available. |
WordPress has an extensive ecosystem of over 58,000 plugins Plugin updates can cause a website to crash or even go down That is why a developer is needed to maintain this but even then, there’s limited support for them. |
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| Security | CMS Hub comes with:
Free of charge. |
As an open source platform, ensuring that your WordPress site stays safe and secure is your responsibility. Monthly security fees can range from $16.67 - $41.67/mo Gotta buy and manage own SSL. |
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| Maintenance, updates, and support | HubSpot takes care of backend maintenance and updates. | Unless you have an internal team dedicated to maintenance and upkeep of your website, you will need to ensure someone is running regular maintenance work on your site. Depending on the size & complexity of your website, this could range anywhere from $100/mo to $4500/mo. | |||
| Themes | Free and paid versions available. | ||||
| TOTAL | |||||
| Estimated cost for 1 year | Free | $300 | $4,800 | $14,400 | $5451 - $82,558 |