I Tried to Build a Freelance CRM With AI in a Day
I tried to set up a freelance CRM with AI in a day. The dedicated tool wasn't the answer, the $0 spreadsheet nearly was, and here's where it broke.
What HubSpot CRMcosts, what you get without paying, and the limits, verified against the vendor’s own pages, plus the one-day projects it shows up in.
Visit HubSpot CRM ↗Has a free tier · paid from $20 per user / month · Verified July 2026 · No one-day test yet: these are verified facts, not a review.
Genuinely free with no expiration. For accounts created after September 2024 the caps are 1,000 contacts, 2 users, 1 deal pipeline, 10 custom properties and 2,000 marketing emails per month. You get contact management, a deal pipeline, tasks, email tracking, templates, scheduling and basic reporting. Legacy accounts from before September 2024 kept the old 1,000,000 contact limit.
| Tier | Price | Period |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | forever |
| Starter (per Hub / Starter Customer Platform) | $20 | per user / month |
| Sales Hub Professional | $90 | per seat / month (plus one-time $1,500 onboarding) |
Prices verified July 2026, we re-check every 60 days.
I tried to set up a freelance CRM with AI in a day. The dedicated tool wasn't the answer, the $0 spreadsheet nearly was, and here's where it broke.