Holy sprockets! HubSpot has just announced that they’re letting the world have its top o’ the line CMS for FREE. 

Sound too good to be true? 

Listen again: it IS true, and it IS too good. So, friends! There's never been a better time to try it.

The risk? You could (and probably will) fall in love with HubSpot if you haven't already.  

Let's get into it. 

An overjoyed team facing the camera and opening their hands as if to say "here you go!"

Psst: If you already love everything about HubSpot CMS, and you just want to find out what's NOT in the free version, click here to get to that part. Snazzy right? Go figure, our website (and thus, this blog) was built by us using HubSpot CMS. 

First off, the top benefit of HubSpot CMS over the free versions of Wix or WordPress (or any other content management system that lets you create, host, and run a website for your business) is that HubSpot CMS connects seamlessly with their CRM

That means that all the people who land on your website and engage with your content there can end up in your marketing campaigns, nurturing sequences, sales pipelines, and in your customer rosters. 

Pairing the HubSpot CMS with their CRM gives you the data you need to allow your website to become the true 24/7 sales tool that your business needs to grow. 

And that’s just the top benefit. 

(Close) second-best thing: Security + Performance.

HubSpot CMS is one of the most secure CMS platforms on the planet. 

Why? 

Because it was built in-house from the ground up and has focused on security from the get-go. 

Check out these security features that you get for free with HubSpot CMS: 

  • 24/7 security & threat monitoring
  • Web Application Firewall (WAF)
  • HubSpot's premium hosting
  • Content Delivery Network
  • Standard SSL Certificate
  • A measured uptime of 99.99%
  • Custom domains

Learn more about Sales Enabled Website Design + Development with Growth

Put a finer point on it: Design

With all these free, straight-out-of-the-box tools, HubSpot’s launch of the free version of its CMS ensures that you never have to sacrifice design for performance again (or vice versa). 

Because now you can have HubSpot! And they do BOTH really well.

Take a look at this list of design tools you get with the free version of HubSpot’s CMS: 

  • 25 website pages 
  • the world’s easiest drag & drop page editor
  • a resource page (or blog)
  • integrated AMP support for blogs
  • mobile optimization
  • design management tools
  • local development tools
  • website themes out the wazoo
  • multi-language content creation
  • asset marketplace
  • app marketplace
  • blog import
  • advanced menus
  • a custom domain

And here’s where you would say: “And that’s not all!” Because that’s not even close. 

Here comes the best part. 

Our top pick: HubSpot tool integration

Even if you don’t use Marketing Hub (for instance) for your business right this minute, using HubSpot CMS + CRM grows your business to the point that you’re gonna need it. 

And when you do, your website (and your teams) will already be acquainted with all its buds at the main Hub. 

Two really happy friends laughing together while sitting in bleachers with their devices on.

In fact, here’s a starting list of the HubSpot tools your website (and your sales, marketing, and customer success teams) can get from the moment you plug it in:

  • access to the entire suite of free HubSpot tools, across all platforms
  • including! HubSpot's free CRM
  • custom reports + dashboards
  • basic chatbot builder
  • live chat
  • contact list segmentation tools
  • email marketing tools
  • forms
  • landing pages
  • sales conversation inbox
  • form follow-up emails
  • ads management
  • full access to HubSpot Academy, Knowledge Base, and HS Community

On top of what makes for a beautiful, high-performance website is the pairing of all that with HubSpot itself. 

What’s missing in the free version of HubSpot CMS

From what we can tell, there is no catch here. HubSpot has consistently been a company built on what we love to call the “give without a get”—i.e. helping others where they can—and we get that (that’s one reason we love being a HubSpot Solutions Partner). 

Perhaps it was just time to give people a truly great reason to leave platforms like WordPress that are not built specifically to integrate perfectly with HubSpot tools like the HubSpot CMS is—and they wanted their tools to really shine. 

But, too, they did leave some things off the free version. 

Here’s that list: 

  • Your website will carry the HubSpot brand on all pages. 
  • 25-page limit (more pages than most business websites, mind you). 
  • Email domains are not customizable to your site. 
  • Blogs are limited to 100 blog posts, 20 authors, and 50 tags (if you need more than this to start your business, you’re not doing it right). 
  • No live support or chat with their support team. (yeah, fair!)
  • Systems page (see, 404 error message) modifications are prohibited. 
  • No HubSpot URL redirects tool. 
  • No HubSpot migration (which you wouldn’t need if you built your website from scratch in the CMS anyway). 

If you’ve been waiting to build a new website (or retool an old one), now’s the time to grab hold of all things HubSpot and jump on in! The water’s fine and full of HubSpot’s brand of flywheel delight

Guess what we do at Growth! As HubSpot Platinum Solutions Partners, we live and breathe HubSpot onboarding, rev-optimization, service, and solutions—and that includes building beautiful, performance-based websites on HubSpot CMS. 

Need one? Need anything related to HubSpot? We got you. Just ask us!

Learn about HubSpot Onboarding and Optimization Services with Growth