Comparison
The Sales Engine or HubSpot: replace it, or plug in alongside?
HubSpot Sales Hub is a full CRM platform built to manage the customer relationship end to end. The Sales Engine is a prospecting CRM: it finds decision-makers, reaches them by email and LinkedIn, and fills records, pipeline and meetings on its own. Many of our customers keep HubSpot and plug The Sales Engine in next to it.
Updated 2026-10-22
In short
Keep HubSpot if you already rely on it for customer management, marketing or service: The Sales Engine connects to it and pushes approved prospects, replies and meetings into it. Pick The Sales Engine on its own if you have no CRM and your priority is filling the pipeline: targeting, buying signals, email + LinkedIn sequences and the CRM are included, from €350 ($420) a month.
Quick verdict
| Criterion | The Sales Engine | HubSpot Sales Hub |
|---|---|---|
| Model | Self-serve prospecting CRM, managed service optional | Per-seat CRM platform, with other hubs (marketing, service, content) |
| Listed price | Starter from €350 ($420)/month, Growth from €700 ($840)/month on annual billing; €500 / €1,000 monthly, no commitment; priced per workspace, for the whole team | Annual billing, per seat per month: Free $0 (up to 2 users), Starter from $7, Professional from $90, Enterprise from $150 |
| Onboarding fees | None | Required: $1,500 (Professional), $3,500 (Enterprise) |
| Finding prospects | Market counted, decision-makers suggested, buying signals tied to a person | Starts from your contact base; prospecting tools and agents depending on plan, see their site |
| Reaching out | Email + LinkedIn in one sequence, an opener per prospect | Email from the record; sequences and automation depending on plan |
| Approval | Every prospect approved by you before the first message | Up to how you organise it |
| Pipeline and meetings | Filled by prospecting: reply classified, meeting booked, card moved | Very complete pipelines, forecasting and reports, fed by your team and automation |
| Together | HubSpot connector: prospects, replies and meetings pushed into HubSpot | Stays your company's system of record |
HubSpot prices taken from hubspot.com/pricing/sales on October 22, 2026, in US dollars, with annual billing shown by default ($20 and $100 struck through for Starter and Professional). The Sales Engine prices exclude tax and come from our public pricing.
Two different needs
HubSpot is designed to run the whole relationship: contacts, companies, deals, forecasting, reporting and, through its other hubs, marketing, customer service and content. The bigger your organisation, the more that depth matters. But a CRM of this kind assumes contacts get into it, through your forms, your imports or your team typing them in.
The Sales Engine handles the step before, when the prospect does not exist in your CRM yet. The platform counts your market, spots buying signals such as a new decision-maker, hiring or a funding round, has you approve each prospect, then runs an email + LinkedIn sequence with an opener written for that person. Replies are classified, the meeting is booked on your page and the card moves along the pipeline. That is what we mean by a CRM that fills itself.
Running The Sales Engine next to HubSpot
You do not have to choose. With the HubSpot connector, every approved prospect, reply and meeting is pushed into HubSpot as a contact and company, assigned to the right rep. When you review prospects, the platform shows which ones are already in your HubSpot, with a link to the record, so you do not reach out to a customer or a deal someone already owns.
HubSpot stays your reference for the customer relationship, and The Sales Engine does what it does best: find, reach and qualify. See also classic CRM vs prospecting CRM.
Price: what you are comparing
HubSpot charges per seat, so cost depends on headcount and plan, with required onboarding fees on Professional and Enterprise. The Sales Engine charges per workspace, whatever the number of users: €350 ($420) a month on Starter and €700 ($840) on Growth with annual billing, including one LinkedIn account, targeting, signals, sequences, the CRM and support. The managed service adds our team for €300 ($400) a month.
If you keep HubSpot, the real question is the cost of a full pipeline without hiring, to be weighed against a dedicated rep or an agency. Details on the pricing page.
Choose HubSpot if
- You need one platform for sales, marketing and customer service.
- Contacts already come in at volume (forms, inbound, existing customers) and the job is to manage them.
- You need forecasting, advanced reporting and many users with fine-grained permissions.
Choose The Sales Engine if
- Your problem is finding new customers, not managing the ones you have.
- You want a CRM that fills itself from prospecting, with no data entry.
- You run HubSpot and want it to finally receive qualified prospects and meetings, without changing your system of record.
Sources checked on October 22, 2026: hubspot.com/pricing/sales for HubSpot Sales Hub, prices shown in US dollars on annual billing; for The Sales Engine, our public pricing. Prices may change and vary by currency; check them before you decide.
Frequently asked questions
Does The Sales Engine replace HubSpot?
For prospecting and following prospects up to the meeting, it can be enough. For marketing, customer service or advanced reporting, HubSpot does more: in that case keep it and plug The Sales Engine in next to it.
What does The Sales Engine push into HubSpot?
Approved prospects (contact and company), their replies and their meetings, assigned to the rep you choose, either manually or automatically on approval.
How do I avoid contacting someone already in HubSpot?
When you open the approval queue, every pending prospect is checked against your HubSpot: those already there are flagged with a link to their record, and you can reject them in one click.
How much is HubSpot Sales Hub?
Per their pricing page on October 22, 2026, in US dollars with annual billing: Starter from $7, Professional from $90 and Enterprise from $150 per seat per month, plus required onboarding fees on Professional ($1,500) and Enterprise ($3,500).
Can I try The Sales Engine?
The "Your market in 30 seconds" preview on the home page shows your buyers, signals and a first message with no account, and a demo takes thirty minutes.
Read next
- Classic CRM or a CRM that prospects: which should an SMB choose?
- What is a prospecting CRM, and why does The Sales Engine fill itself?
- The Sales Engine or Pipedrive: which one should you pick?
- The Sales Engine or LinkedIn Sales Navigator: what is the difference?
- How The Sales Engine compares with other ways to prospect
See what your HubSpot would receive
Thirty minutes: your market counted, your buying signals and the first prospects that would land in your CRM.