Doing business in 2025 is hyper-competitive. Choosing the right platform to grow your brand online can make or break your business's success. Let's compare solutions and help you choose the best platform for your brand to thrive online.
When comparing WordPress and HubSpot, it’s essential to recognise that these platforms serve fundamentally different purposes and are built with different priorities in mind.
The platforms are not completely interchangeable, so it’s good to understand their distinct strengths and limitations before deciding which best aligns with your business goals in 2025.
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For those familiar with designing and building websites, we've included a comparison table designed to help you compare Hubspot and WordPress.
| Feature | HubSpot (Full Platform) | WordPress (as a Platform) |
|---|---|---|
| Core Purpose | All-in-one CRM, marketing, sales, website, service tools | Flexible CMS that can become anything with plugins |
| CRM | Built-in, deeply integrated | Not included — must integrate (e.g., HubSpot plugin, Salesforce) |
| CMS | Fully hosted, drag-and-drop, connected to CRM & marketing | Self-hosted, open-source, highly customizable |
| Marketing Tools | Native: email, forms, landing pages, automation, reporting | Add via plugins (Mailchimp, HubSpot, ActiveCampaign) |
| Sales Tools | Native sales pipeline, deal tracking, quotes | Requires plugins & integrations |
| Support | 24/7 for paid tiers | Community support; hosting provider support varies |
| Security & Hosting | Fully managed by HubSpot | You choose host, handle updates & security yourself |
| Custom Development | Possible but within HubSpot’s system (HubL, serverless) | Unlimited — custom themes, plugins, APIs |
| Total Cost | Predictable subscription (can scale with contacts/features) | Lower upfront, variable long-term cost for plugins, dev, hosting |
| Ease of Use | Non-technical teams can manage most tasks | Easy for content editing, but plugins & complex sites need dev time |
| Best For | Businesses that want everything connected under one roof — minimal tools to glue together | Businesses that need total control, complex features, or unusual sites |
| Vendor Lock-In | High — you’re on HubSpot’s servers | Low — move anywhere, change hosts anytime |
When choosing between WordPress or any CMS for that matter, and HubSpot, it is important to understand what you need to achieve for your business.
So let's get into more detail. We've given you a break down at a glance. And now we're going to get into more specific features and areas.
If you evaluate purely on content management capabilities, WordPress stands out as the clear leader—and it’s not exactly a close contest.
Where Wordpress Wins:
Its open-source architecture, mature ecosystem, and sheer number of available plugins make WordPress the platform of choice for businesses seeking maximum flexibility and ownership. With WordPress, you get total control over your site’s design, functionality, and hosting environment. Thousands of themes and plugins offer advanced customisation options, supporting everything from simple brochure sites to complex, enterprise-grade content hubs. For teams with access to developer resources or those wanting to fully control their digital presence, WordPress remains unmatched as a best-in-class CMS.
Where Hubspot delivers:
But there are instances where HubSpot comes out on top—especially for businesses that are just starting out and need a simple, professional web presence without the technical overhead. For these organisations, HubSpot delivers a streamlined, cost-effective solution: you get a modern brochure website that’s easy to manage, update, and maintain, without having to worry about hosting, patches, or plugin compatibility. Everything you need—including powerful marketing tools, lead capture forms, automated workflows, and a built-in CRM—comes packaged in a single platform with 24/7 support.
| Feature | HubSpot CMS Hub | WordPress CMS |
|---|---|---|
| Open Source? | No — proprietary | Yes — fully open source |
| Hosting | Fully hosted by HubSpot | Self-hosted — your choice |
| Design | Drag-and-drop builder, theme marketplace, custom modules | Themes, full code access, block editor (Gutenberg), page builders (e.g., Elementor) |
| Plugins/Apps | Limited — vetted in HubSpot App Marketplace | 50,000+ plugins — any functionality you want |
| Built-in CRM? | Integrated CRM included | No built-in CRM — add via plugin |
| Built-in SEO tools? | Good SEO tools out of the box | Requires SEO plugins (Yoast, RankMath) |
| Security & Updates | Managed by HubSpot | You handle updates, backups, security plugins |
| Support | 24/7 for paid plans | Community forums; support depends on your host |
| Ease of Use | Very easy for marketers | Easy for content editors, but dev needed for advanced features |
| Custom Code? | Possible (HubL, serverless functions), but more limited | Fully open — edit any files, custom plugins, custom themes |
| Best For | Companies wanting a secure, simple, marketing-driven site tied to CRM | Companies needing maximum design & feature freedom |
| Vendor Lock-In | High — must stay on HubSpot | Low — move to any host at any time |
Our Recommendation:
When it comes to building a new website, you need to think about what you're building. Are you just building a website, or do you need a fully integrated marketing platform that gears your business up for growth. If you have an existing website, you could also consider integrating HubSpot without having to build a new website. Which brings us nicely to our next section.
For many businesses, the decision between HubSpot and WordPress doesn't have to be an either/or scenario. In fact, a hybrid approach often delivers the best results—leveraging the unique strengths of both platforms simultaneously.
You might choose to build your primary website on WordPress to take full advantage of its unparalleled flexibility, plugin ecosystem, and design freedom, while seamlessly integrating HubSpot for CRM, marketing automation, analytics, and sales enablement.
Modern integrations allow you to connect WordPress and HubSpot, bringing together advanced content management and custom design capabilities with HubSpot’s all-in-one marketing and customer engagement platform. This approach empowers businesses to manage content and branding exactly as they want, while still harnessing powerful tools for lead capture, nurturing, and performance reporting—without duplicating data or jumping between disconnected systems.
By adopting this combined strategy, your marketing team can create and launch campaigns more efficiently, track every customer touchpoint, automate outreach, and generate actionable insights for growth. It’s a flexible solution that supports evolving business needs, ensuring you can scale, adapt, and future-proof your digital presence without compromise.