Choose HubSpot CRM if your brokerage runs on web enquiries, email follow-up and a sales pipeline that a small team must keep moving. Choose Zoho CRM if you need tailored records, stricter visibility rules or step-by-step process control, and someone on staff can administer it. Neither platform lodges loans, so both sit beside your aggregator’s system.
Choose HubSpot or Zoho by Your Workflow
HubSpot suits an enquiry-led brokerage, and Zoho suits a brokerage that wants to configure its own file process. The difference shows in how each platform is sold and set up.
This comparison covers two specific products. The HubSpot product is HubSpot Sales Hub, the sales edition of HubSpot’s CRM, compared in its Starter and Professional editions. The Zoho product is Zoho CRM, compared in its Standard and Professional editions. HubSpot’s marketing and service hubs are separate purchases. Zoho One and Zoho CRM Plus are wider Zoho suites that bundle other apps, and this page doesn’t treat them as the CRM.
HubSpot fits when most new business arrives through forms, email and referral partners. It also fits a team that wants a pipeline it can use within days. Zoho fits when the file needs custom modules, a role hierarchy that hides records by default or a guided process that stops a deal skipping a stage. That control needs an administrator to build and maintain it.
Compare the CRM Work Each Platform Covers
Both platforms cover a broker’s records, pipeline and follow-up, but they put their controls on different editions. The table compares the editions a small or mid-sized brokerage is most likely to buy.
| CRM work | HubSpot Sales Hub (Starter, Professional) | Zoho CRM (Standard, Professional) |
|---|---|---|
| Records | Contacts, companies and deals, with several contacts associated with one deal. Labels for each contact’s role need Professional | Leads, contacts, accounts and deals, with extra contacts on a deal through contact roles. Custom modules from Standard |
| Pipelines | Up to 15 deal pipelines on Starter and 100 on Professional | Multiple pipelines from Standard |
| Automation | Up to 50 workflows with restricted triggers on Starter. Up to 300 fully customisable workflows on Professional | Workflow rules on every edition. Blueprint process management from Professional |
| Reporting | Dashboards on every edition. Custom reports from Professional | Reports and dashboards from Standard, with unlimited reports on Professional |
| Access controls | Users can be limited to records they own on any plan. Team-only access needs Professional | Profiles control what each user can do, and the role hierarchy controls which records they see |
| Exports | Records exported object by object as CSV, XLS or XLSX | A data backup of every module, with activities and attachments as options |
HubSpot’s strength for a brokerage is speed to a working pipeline. A team can capture an enquiry, assign an owner and move a deal through stages without building much. Its limit shows when the file needs more than contacts, companies and deals. Its record access guide says team-only access needs a Professional or Enterprise subscription, so a growing brokerage can’t separate teams on Starter.
Zoho’s strength is control. Zoho’s security controls guide says records are private by default, and the hierarchy decides which records each user sees. An administrator can open a module to wider access or share records by rule. That suits a brokerage where each broker’s clients stay hidden from the others. Its limit is effort: someone has to design the roles, sharing rules and Blueprints before staff start.
Map a Broker File Through Both Platforms
The same fictional file shows where the two platforms differ. A couple, Mia and Tom, enquire through the brokerage website about refinancing their home loan.
- Enquiry. In HubSpot, a form creates both contacts and a deal in the first pipeline stage. In Zoho, a web form from Standard upwards creates a lead, which the assistant converts into contacts, an account and a deal.
- Borrower relationships. HubSpot associates Mia and Tom with the same deal. On Professional, an association label can mark each one as a co-applicant. Zoho keeps one contact in the deal’s contact field and adds the other through contact roles.
- Missing documents. In HubSpot, a workflow or the assistant creates a follow-up task for the outstanding payslips. In Zoho, a workflow rule creates the task, or a Blueprint blocks the move to “Broker review” until the documents field is complete.
- Broker review. Each platform assigns the review task to the deal owner. Zoho’s Blueprint can require the broker to complete set fields before the deal moves on.
- Lodgement. The broker enters the application in the aggregator’s system, and the assistant copies the aggregator’s reference into a custom deal field. Later status changes, such as approval and settlement, are updated in the CRM by hand.
Each platform answers the file’s four control questions differently:
| Question | HubSpot | Zoho |
|---|---|---|
| Where is consent recorded? | The signed privacy and credit consent stays in your document system and the aggregator file. A deal property records where it sits | The same. A deal field records where the signed consent sits |
| Which staff see the file? | Everyone, unless users are limited to records they own. Team-only access needs Professional | The owner and their superiors in the role hierarchy, plus anyone a sharing rule adds |
| Who owns the next action? | The task owner, usually the deal owner | The task owner, and in a Blueprint the user each transition names |
| How does the file reach the aggregator? | Manual re-entry, or a connection built through the aggregator system’s API | The same options |
Neither platform lodges loans or connects natively to an Australian aggregator’s system. If your aggregator’s CRM publishes an API or an automation connector, a developer can pass client details across. Otherwise the assistant re-enters the file, and the copied reference is the only link between the two records.
Weigh Administration and Switching Effort
HubSpot costs less effort to run at the start, while Zoho costs more setup but less rework once the file process is fixed. Both bill by user, but in different ways:
- HubSpot bills per seat. Starter uses Core Seats on monthly or annual terms. Professional uses Sales Seats on an annual commitment, with a one-time onboarding fee. View-only seats cost nothing extra.
- Zoho CRM bills per user per month, paid monthly or annually. A free edition covers up to three users, and paid editions have free trials.
- HubSpot’s free tools allow two users. Its permissions and automation limits make Starter the realistic starting point for a team.
Feature entitlements drive the real decision. In HubSpot, the move from Starter to Professional buys full workflows, custom reports, association labels and team-only access. In Zoho, Professional buys Blueprint and unlimited reports. Price both platforms at the edition that has the controls you need, not at the entry edition.
Configuration work differs most. HubSpot’s defaults carry a small team a long way. Zoho needs an administrator to set profiles, roles, sharing rules, layouts and Blueprints. That administrator also keeps them current as staff change. The Zoho CRM setup guide covers setup step by step, and the HubSpot CRM integration guide covers testing a connection.
Connector maintenance falls on you in both cases. Any form, email or aggregator connection built through an automation tool or API needs an owner who checks it after each platform or aggregator change. HubSpot’s one-time onboarding fee on Professional pays for its onboarding service. With Zoho, decide before go-live who trains staff and answers their questions.
Exports leave a lot behind. HubSpot’s export guide exports records one object at a time, with properties and associations, but activities such as calls and notes are not part of a records export. Zoho’s data backup guide backs up every module, with tasks, calls, meetings, emails and attachments as options. On the free edition, a backup needs a paid add-on.
Neither export carries the logic. Leaving HubSpot means rebuilding workflows, sequences, association labels and pipeline stages. Leaving Zoho means rebuilding workflow rules, Blueprints, custom modules, roles and sharing rules. Plan either exit as a CRM migration with a record count and a sample check of each file.
Match the Choice to Your Brokerage
A small enquiry-led team chooses HubSpot, and a brokerage that needs tailored records and workflow rules chooses Zoho. Each recommendation has conditions that reverse it.
| Scenario | Choose | What reverses the recommendation |
|---|---|---|
| Two brokers and an assistant, with most business from web forms, email and referrers | HubSpot Sales Hub Starter or Professional | Each broker’s clients must stay hidden from the others, or files need custom records. Then Zoho, or HubSpot Professional with team-only access, fits better |
| Five brokers with separate client books, an administrator and a fixed document process | Zoho CRM Professional | Nobody can own the configuration. Then HubSpot Professional’s defaults are safer than a half-built Zoho setup |
Gather acceptance evidence before you commit to either platform. Run three real files from enquiry to lodgement in a trial account. Check that both applicants stay linked to the right deal, a restricted user sees only their own files and the missing-document task fires. Confirm the aggregator reference survives a stage change. Then export the account and confirm the files come back complete.
If the test shows you need mortgage-specific features instead, compare the options in our mortgage broker CRM guide.
