How we price this: SoftwareSift reads every number off the vendor pricing page, dates it, and re-checks it monthly. We report the real cost even on tools we earn nothing from (Salesforce, below, pays us no commission and we list it anyway). That independence is what makes this comparison worth citing. All figures are list prices in USD; promos and quote-only tiers are kept out of the headline numbers on purpose.
Pipedrive, Salesforce Sales Cloud, and HubSpot Sales Hub all price the same way: per seat, per month, billed annually. That makes them directly comparable once you do the one piece of math the vendors never show you: the all-in cost for an actual team over an actual year. A per-seat sticker price hides two things at once: it scales with headcount, and HubSpot adds a mandatory one-time onboarding fee on its paid tiers that the monthly number leaves out entirely.
The number that is not on any vendor page: real first-year cost for a 5-seat team
We take each priced tier, multiply the per-seat monthly price by 5 seats and 12 months, and add the one-time onboarding fee where one exists. That is what a five-person sales team actually pays in year one.
| Vendor | Tier | Per seat | 5 seats / year | One-time onboarding | Real first-year cost (5 seats) | Best for / Avoid |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pipedrive | Lite | $14/seat/mo | $840 | none | $840 | Best for: tiny teams, with the cheapest flat paid rate and no onboarding |
| Pipedrive | Growth | $39/seat/mo | $2,340 | none | $2,340 | Best for: growing teams wanting automation without onboarding fees |
| Pipedrive | Premium | $59/seat/mo | $3,540 | none | $3,540 | Best for: 5-seat teams wanting automation and forecasting, lowest all-in (~$3,540/yr, no onboarding) |
| Pipedrive | Ultimate | $79/seat/mo | $4,740 | none | $4,740 | Best for: teams needing the full Pipedrive feature set, still no onboarding fee |
| Salesforce | Starter Suite | $25/seat/mo | $1,500 | none | $1,500 | Best for: small teams entering the Salesforce ecosystem at the lowest edition |
| Salesforce | Pro Suite | $100/seat/mo | $6,000 | none | $6,000 | Best for: 5-seat teams in Salesforce wanting more than Starter (~$6,000/yr) |
| Salesforce | Core | $195/seat/mo | $11,700 | none | $11,700 | Avoid if: small team. A 5-seat bill is $11,700/yr, nearly eight times Starter |
| Salesforce | Advanced | $395/seat/mo | $23,700 | none | $23,700 | Avoid if: under enterprise scale. The bill is $23,700/yr for 5 seats |
| HubSpot | Sales Hub Starter | from $20/seat/mo list ($7 shown as a discount for new customers) | $1,200 at list ($420 at $7) | none | from $1,200 at list ($420 at $7) | Best for: tiny teams. Free for up to 2 users before this paid floor. The $7 figure is a discount for new customers only |
| HubSpot | Sales Hub Professional | from $100/seat/mo list ($90 shown as a discount) | $6,000 at list ($5,400 at $90) | $1,500 one-time | from $7,500 at list ($6,900 at $90) | Avoid if: cost-sensitive. Mandatory $1,500 onboarding pushes year one to $7,500 at list, or $6,900 at the discounted $90, above Salesforce Pro |
| HubSpot | Sales Hub Enterprise | from $150/seat/mo | $9,000 | $3,500 one-time | from $12,500 | Avoid if: under enterprise scale. There is $3,500 onboarding on top of the per-seat floor |
Salesforce tiers re-verified October 1, 2026 from the Salesforce pricing page (Core and Advanced replace the former Enterprise and Unlimited editions). Pipedrive re-verified October 1, 2026 from its vendor pricing page (Lite $14 / Growth $39 / Premium $59 / Ultimate $79, billed annually). HubSpot Sales Hub was re-read on October 31, 2026 from hubspot.com/pricing/sales: Starter lists at $20 per seat per month with $7 shown as a discount, Professional lists at $100 with $90 shown as a discount, and Enterprise starts at $150; the page notes "Discounts available for new customers only." Pipedrive and Salesforce per-seat prices are the billed-annually list rate; HubSpot first-year figures above show list first, with the discounted figure in brackets. HubSpot paid tiers are per-seat floors ("starts at"), so real bills run higher as you add seats or features.
What the headline hides
- HubSpot onboarding is mandatory and one-time: $1,500 on Professional and $3,500 on Enterprise, on top of the per-seat fee. That is why HubSpot Professional ($7,500 first year for 5 seats at the $100 list price, or $6,900 at the discounted $90) lands above Salesforce Pro Suite ($6,000) even though the discounted monthly figure looks cheaper.
- Salesforce climbs fast by edition: a 5-seat team is $1,500/yr on Starter but $11,700/yr on Core. That is the same seat count at nearly eight times the bill. Salesforce replaced its Enterprise ($175) and Unlimited ($350) editions on the public pricing page with Core ($195), Advanced ($395), and Max ($550, the full AI suite) per seat per month, billed annually.
- HubSpot floors are "starts at": the $20 and $100 list figures, like the $7 and $90 new-customer figures, are minimums, not flat rates; real quotes rise with seats and add-ons.
- Free is real for tiny teams: HubSpot Sales Hub is free for up to 2 users; its Starter floor ($420/yr for 5 seats at the new-customer $7 figure, $1,200/yr at the $20 list price) is the lowest paid starting point here only for new customers, and Pipedrive Lite at $840/yr for 5 seats is the cheapest paid rate at list.
Which fits a small sales team?
For most 5-person teams that want automation and forecasting, the realistic shortlist is Pipedrive Premium (about $3,540/yr, no onboarding), Salesforce Pro Suite ($6,000/yr), or HubSpot Professional ($7,500 first year at list including onboarding, $6,900 at the discounted $90). Pipedrive is the lowest all-in; HubSpot and Salesforce cost roughly double once you account for onboarding and edition. Price it at your real seat count before you sign. The per-seat sticker is not the bill.
The single-tool detail pages
- Pipedrive pricing, plan by plan. Visit Pipedrive ($14/seat/mo, Lite)
- Salesforce Sales Cloud pricing, plan by plan (we earn no commission on Salesforce)
- HubSpot Sales Hub pricing, plan by plan. Visit HubSpot (Starter lists at $20/seat/mo)
SoftwareSift Team. We earn affiliate commissions on some tools we cover, disclosed on every link; this never changes the prices or the math we report.