HubSpot vs Salesforce vs Dynamics 365 vs Zoho: CRM Comparison 2026

Last updated 1 October 2026

Most Australian businesses don't choose a CRM once. They pick up Mailchimp for email, Pipedrive or monday for deals, a shared inbox for service, and a spreadsheet to hold it together. Then one day the tools that made sense at ten people stop making sense at fifty. On 29 September 2026, Mark Belkin and Stephen Archer from Stratus ran CRM Showdown 2026, comparing eight CRM platforms on the things that decide whether a CRM actually works: what it costs in Australian dollars, how hard it is to set up and run, whether service is built in, how it connects to your ERP, and what its AI does in Australia today. This is the full write-up.

The eight platforms in CRM Showdown 2026.

Prices below are list prices in Australian dollars, excluding GST, checked on 27 September 2026. Where a vendor only publishes US dollar pricing, it was converted at the Reserve Bank rate for 25 September 2026 (US$1 = A$1.4247). Prices change, so confirm with the vendor before you decide.

Where we stand: Stratus is a HubSpot Platinum partner and also implements Microsoft Dynamics. We've seen all of these platforms working, and not working, in real Australian businesses. We'll tell you where each one fits, including where HubSpot isn't the right answer.

What this guide covers

1. Where most businesses start: the starter tools
2. Five signs you've outgrown them
3. The step up: HubSpot, Salesforce, Dynamics 365 and Zoho One
4. The four side by side
5. What each CRM costs at your size
6. Setup and upkeep
7. Built in, or bolted on?
8. Connecting your CRM to your ERP
9. CRM AI in Australia today
10. The scorecard
11. Which CRM is right for you
12. Questions from the live session
13. FAQ

Where most businesses start: the starter tools

When we polled the live audience, a lot of people answered "none", and plenty named one of the starter tools. That matches what we see. Most growing businesses pick a tool for one part of the process and add another when the next need appears.

The four we see most often are Mailchimp, ActiveCampaign, Pipedrive and monday CRM. These are good tools. They're easy to use, and on G2, the largest independent software review site, Mailchimp and monday both score 8.8 out of 10 for ease of admin and Pipedrive scores 8.6. That's as good as or better than anything else in this comparison. The problem isn't quality. Each one does one job, and most businesses end up with two or three of them plus a spreadsheet.

The starter tools and what they cost.

Mailchimp: a good letterbox

Mailchimp sends great-looking emails, fast. It's very easy to use and a cheap way to get started, at about A$194 a month on Standard for 10,000 contacts and five users. It bills off the US dollar.

Where it stops: it isn't a CRM. There are no deals, no pipeline and no tickets. You get 30 custom fields per audience (80 on Premium), so you run out of room to describe your customers quickly. Data is hosted in the US only. And more than five users means Premium, at about A$502 a month for 10,000 contacts.

ActiveCampaign: a smart letterbox

ActiveCampaign has strong email automation for the price, can store your data in Australia, and scores 8.4 for ease of admin. Pro is about A$563 a month for 10,000 contacts with three users.

Where it stops: the sales CRM is a paid add-on, and there's no help desk since ActiveCampaign retired its Conversations product. The API is limited to five requests a second, which slows down real-time syncing of orders and invoices from your ERP. The uptime guarantee is on the Enterprise plan only.

The Stratus take: both are great at email. Neither is where you run your sales team or your service desk.

Mailchimp and ActiveCampaign compared.

Pipedrive: a whiteboard for deals

Pipedrive is the simplest pipeline around, and sales teams actually use it. G2 gives it 8.7 for ease of use, and it has been hosted in Sydney since May 2026. Growth is A$49 and Premium A$79 per user a month, billed yearly.

Where it stops: it's sales only. Email marketing is an add-on and there's no ticketing. There are no custom objects, so tracking projects, sites or assets against a customer means working around the system. There are hard caps of 300,000 deals and leads and 250 automations. And every user has to be on the same plan, so your service people pay sales prices.

monday CRM: a project board that learned to sell

monday.com started as a project and task management tool and grew a CRM. It's flexible, very easy to run (G2 ease of admin 8.8), and handy if your business already runs projects in monday. Pro is A$45 per user a month for 10 seats, billed yearly.

Where it stops: Pro caps you at 25,000 automation actions a month with no top-ups, so the only fix is to upgrade. Ticketing is a separate product. It's quote only above 40 seats. And while board data can sit in Sydney, some account and analytics data stays in the US.

The Stratus take: great for one team. Hard work once three teams need to see the same customer.

Pipedrive and monday CRM compared.

Great value at 10 users. A different story at 50.

At ten users, a starter stack is good value. Mailchimp Standard for 10,000 contacts plus Pipedrive Growth for ten sales users comes to about A$8,206 a year. If that's you and it's working, you don't need to change anything today.

At fifty users the picture changes. Thirty sales users on Pipedrive Premium, Mailchimp on 50,000 contacts, and a help desk for twenty service staff (we used Zendesk as the example) comes to about A$54,998 a year in licences alone.

That's before the glue: the Zapier or Make subscriptions, the person who fixes the sync when it breaks, and the hours spent reconciling spreadsheets because nobody trusts the numbers. For that money you're running three bills, three logins and three versions of every customer.

What a starter stack costs a year, before integration.

Five signs you've outgrown your starter tools

1. You're paying for glue. Zapier or Make holds the business together, and when a sync breaks nobody notices for a week. Meanwhile paid campaigns run on out-of-date customer data.
2. Nobody agrees on what a customer looks like. Marketing has one version in Mailchimp, sales another in Pipedrive, and service a third in the inbox. Ask how many active customers you have and you get three answers.
3. You've hit a limit you can't buy your way past. Automation caps, deal caps and field limits that only a bigger plan or another tool will fix.
4. Service runs out of a shared inbox. No tickets, no response targets, and no history the sales team can see. Your salesperson calls about a renewal without knowing the customer complained three times this month.
5. Reporting means exporting to Excel. You can't tie a campaign to a sale, or a sale to what the customer costs to look after.

Rule of thumb: if three or more of these sound familiar, you'll likely save time and money on a connected platform.

The five warning signs.

Missed the session? Get the full CRM Showdown 2026 recording and slides sent to your inbox. Get the recording

The step up: four connected CRM platforms

What changes when you step up is one customer record, shared by marketing, sales and service. The four platforms most Australian mid-market businesses shortlist are HubSpot, Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Zoho One.

• HubSpot is the fitted-out office. Move in and start working, and add rooms as you grow.
• Salesforce is the commercial build. Build almost anything, with an architect, a builder and a maintenance crew.
• Dynamics 365 is the office in the Microsoft building. It shares the lifts, power and security with Outlook, Teams and Business Central.
• Zoho One is the flat-pack warehouse. Everything's in the box at a great price. You do more of the putting together.

The four connected platforms and their analogies.

1. HubSpot: the best all-rounder for mid-market

The analogy: the fitted-out office. Move in this week. Everything's already wired up, and you add rooms as you grow. Custom rooms (custom objects) come with the Enterprise lease.

Best fit: growing businesses of 20 to 500 staff that want marketing, sales and service working from the same record, without a full-time admin team.

HubSpot started as a marketing automation tool and grew into a full suite: marketing, sales, service, content management and AI on one platform, all built on the same database. As Mark put it, it comes ready to go and you tweak it. Customers typically start on the basics quickly, then refine automations and reports over the first few months, either themselves or with a partner.

Strengths

• Easiest of the four connected platforms to run: G2 ease of admin 8.6, level with Pipedrive
• A Gartner Leader for B2B marketing automation six years running, and a Challenger for sales
• Service built in: tickets, help desk, knowledge base and chat on the same record
• Quick to go live: 5 to 7 weeks for a typical mid-market build
• Customer data hosted in Sydney

Watch-outs

• AI features are processed in the US, even with data hosted in Sydney
• Custom objects and sandboxes are Enterprise only
• Marketing contact tiers add cost as your database grows
• Standard ERP connectors are basic, so plan the integration

The Stratus take: the best all-rounder for mid-market. Quick to start, easy to run, and it doesn't box you in.

For every hub and edition in AUD, including contact tiers and onboarding, read HubSpot pricing in Australia.

HubSpot: best fit, strengths, watch-outs and pricing.

2. Salesforce: the most power, at a price

The analogy: the commercial build. Build exactly what you want, with an architect, a builder and an ongoing maintenance crew. Every new room tends to be another add-on.

Best fit: larger or fast-scaling businesses with complex sales processes, a dedicated admin or partner, and the budget to support both.

Strengths

• A Gartner Leader for CRM sales platforms, 20 years running
• The most customisable of the four, with the deepest options for CPQ, advanced quoting, approvals and workflows
• AI for Australian customers is processed in Australian data centres
• A connector for MYOB Acumatica built by MYOB itself
• The core platform is covered by the Australian government's IRAP security assessment, which matters if you have government clients

Watch-outs

• The most expensive of the four at scale
• Marketing is a separate product, priced per organisation
• Many service features are add-ons. The knowledge base, bots and enhanced messaging are each US$75 per user a month on Core
• Harder to run: G2 ease of admin 7.9

Salesforce changed its editions on 3 September 2026. The new Core edition, which replaces Enterprise, is A$273 per user a month. Pro Suite is A$140 but limited, and Marketing Cloud Next can't be added to it.

The Stratus take: brilliant when you need the power. Expensive when you don't.

Weighing these two directly? Read HubSpot vs Salesforce in Australia for a head-to-head on cost, setup, AI and data residency.

Salesforce: best fit, strengths, watch-outs and pricing.

3. Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales: the natural choice for Business Central shops

The analogy: the office in the Microsoft building. It shares the lifts, power and security with Outlook, Teams and Business Central. Fitting it out still takes a good builder.

Best fit: Microsoft 365 businesses, especially those on Business Central or Wiise, that want their CRM and ERP from the same vendor.

Strengths

• The only CRM here with a native, same-vendor link to Business Central. Wiise sells Dynamics 365 Sales as its top CRM option
• A Gartner Leader for CRM sales platforms, 16 years running
• Competitive licence: Sales Enterprise A$157.10 per user a month
• Works inside Outlook and Teams

Watch-outs

• The hardest of all eight to run: G2 ease of admin 7.6
• Longer, costlier builds for bigger teams: A$80k to A$400k for 25 to 250 users, over three to six months
• Marketing (Customer Insights) is a separate app
• Several AI features are still in preview, and AI may be processed in the US

The Stratus take: the natural choice for Business Central and Wiise customers. Budget properly for the build.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales: best fit, strengths, watch-outs and pricing.

4. Zoho One: unbeatable on price

The analogy: the flat-pack warehouse. Everything's in the box at a great price. You do more of the putting together.

Best fit: cost-conscious businesses that are happy to own more of the setup and support, or already use Zoho Books.

Strengths

• The lowest price of the four by a long way
• Over 50 apps, including CRM, marketing, help desk and Zoho Books
• Data hosted in Sydney and Melbourne
• Reasonably easy to run: G2 ease of admin 8.0 for Zoho CRM

Watch-outs

• The apps are separate products that need connecting, sometimes even within the one platform
• Premium support costs an extra 20%
• The newest AI features aren't in the Australian data centre yet
• Only third-party connectors for MYOB, Acumatica and Business Central
• It lacks depth and polish once you get into specific requirements

One pricing note: the all-employee price only works if you license every employee on the payroll, so it's cheaper for small teams and more expensive as you grow. In our experience, Zoho ticks a lot of boxes in the collateral and demos, and some customers move off it after a short period when they need more depth. It can still be a sensible low-cost starting point.

The Stratus take: unbeatable on price and very broad, but it lacks depth of features.

Zoho One: best fit, strengths, watch-outs and pricing.

HubSpot vs Salesforce vs Dynamics 365 vs Zoho: side by side

The pattern: Salesforce and Microsoft lead on enterprise scale. HubSpot leads on how easy it is to set up and run, which puts it in the sweet spot for the middle of the market.

The four connected platforms side by side.

What each CRM costs at your size

We priced the annual licence cost at two sizes: 10 sales users with 10,000 contacts, and 50 users (30 sales, 20 service) with 50,000 contacts. Implementation is extra.

A few things stand out. At 50 users, HubSpot is cheaper than both Dynamics and Salesforce. Salesforce is the most expensive at both sizes, and that's before its service add-ons: the knowledge base for 20 service users would add roughly another A$25,000 a year. Zoho is the cheapest connected platform by a long way. The HubSpot figures exclude its one-off onboarding fee, which is roughly A$6,400 at the 10-user size.

The Stratus take: HubSpot sits mid-pack on licence cost, and ahead on the things that make a CRM effective.

Annual licence cost at two business sizes.

The licence is only part of the cost: setup and upkeep

With HubSpot, most businesses become self-sufficient once they're live, with a partner helping on specific pieces over time. With Salesforce and Dynamics, the build and the ongoing admin can cost more than the licence. They're powerful platforms, and that power has a running cost. Get both the build and the upkeep quoted before you choose.

What it takes to go live, and who keeps it running.

Built in, or bolted on?

This is one of the biggest differences between the platforms, and it's easy to miss in a demo.

HubSpot built its core CRM and then built marketing, sales and service itself, so every screen looks the same, whether it's a lead, a deal, a ticket or a company. Salesforce's marketing came through acquisition and sits in a separate cloud. Microsoft's apps share data underneath but look quite different as you move between them.

Why it matters: when service is on the same record, sales sees the complaint before the renewal call. That's hard to do with separate apps.

How marketing, sales and service fit together on each platform.

Connecting your CRM to your ERP

The part of a CRM project that most often goes wrong is the connection to your finance and operations system. If your CRM can't see orders, invoices, stock and credit status, your sales team is flying blind and your finance team is re-keying data.

• Microsoft Dynamics 365 is the standout for Business Central: native, same vendor, same tenant. Wiise, which is built on Business Central, sells Dynamics 365 Sales as its top CRM option.
• Salesforce is the only CRM here with a connector for MYOB Acumatica built by MYOB itself.
• HubSpot has hundreds of connectors and has built its own syncs for MYOB Acumatica, Business Central and NetSuite. Acumatica also has its own HubSpot connector. The NetSuite integration is strong, while the standard Acumatica and Business Central syncs are basic, so most businesses need the integration designed properly. That's not a reason to avoid HubSpot. It's a reason to use a partner who knows both sides. See HubSpot and MYOB Acumatica integration: your options.
• Zoho One has Zoho Books built in. For other ERPs it relies on third-party connectors.
• Starter tools rely on third-party connectors or Zapier across the board.

As Steve said in the Q&A, custom integration is almost always needed, because every business uses its ERP a little differently. That's where Stratus's ERP background comes in: we're an MYOB Acumatica Diamond partner and a Wiise Elite partner as well as a HubSpot Platinum partner.

CRM AI: what actually works in Australia today

CRM was one of the first business systems to adopt AI, and every vendor has an AI story. Here's what's live, what's still in testing, and where your data goes.

For the starter tools: Pipedrive's AI meeting tool, Nova, is live on all plans, and its sales assistant is still in beta. monday's AI sales agent is in beta and US only.

Two questions to ask every vendor: is it live in Australia today, and what does each use cost?

What CRM AI actually works in Australia today.

The scorecard: how the eight CRMs compare

Scored for an Australian business of 20 to 500 staff. Ratings run Leading, Strong, Capable, Limited.

*Dynamics 365 leads on ERP connection within the Microsoft family (Business Central and Wiise), not across ERPs generally.

Read the starter tools first. Easy to run and cost are all Leading, which is why you picked them. Room to grow and ERP connection are Limited across the board. That's the trade-off.

Salesforce leads on room to grow and AI in Australia but is Limited on ease of running and cost at your size. Dynamics leads on room to grow and on ERP, but is also Limited on ease of running. Zoho leads on cost and is Strong on breadth.

HubSpot doesn't have a single Limited score. It leads on the two things you feel every day: one view of the customer across marketing, sales and service, and not needing a team of people to keep it running. As Mark put it, a powerful CRM with every bell and whistle is no good if people end up back in Outlook and Excel, only updating it at the end of the week because their manager told them to.

The scorecard, for Australian businesses of 20 to 500 staff.

Which CRM is right for you?

• HubSpot: most growing mid-market businesses. You want marketing, sales and service on one record, live in weeks, and run by your own team.
• Salesforce: complex, fast-scaling businesses. You need deep customisation and you'll fund a dedicated admin or partner to run it.
• Dynamics 365: Microsoft, Business Central and Wiise shops. You want CRM and ERP from one vendor, and you'll budget properly for the build.
• Zoho One: budget-first businesses. Price decides it, and you're happy to own more of the setup and support yourself.
• Stay on your starter tools if one team uses the CRM, the tools talk to each other well enough, and none of the five warning signs sound familiar. There's no prize for switching too early.

Match the platform to your business.

Why most mid-market businesses land on HubSpot

We're a HubSpot partner, so weigh this accordingly. We started as a HubSpot customer ourselves. It began in marketing, spread to service and then sales because the team liked using it, and that's why we started bringing it to clients. For a business of 20 to 500 people, four numbers explain why it's our default recommendation:

• 8.6 G2 ease of admin, the highest of the four connected platforms and level with Pipedrive
• 6 years as a Gartner Leader for B2B marketing automation
• 5 to 7 weeks to go live for a typical mid-market build, against months for the others
• 1 customer record for marketing, sales and service, in one product

Worth knowing before you buy: HubSpot's AI features are processed in the US even with data hosted in Sydney, custom objects and sandboxes need Enterprise, and the standard ERP syncs are basic. The Stratus take: HubSpot is the default step up for most mid-market businesses. Pair it with a partner who knows your ERP.

Our view on HubSpot for the mid-market.

The CRM mistakes that cost buyers the most

1. Buying on the demo. The demo is the vendor's best day. Test it with your own data and your busiest team, and trial the platform yourself rather than just watching videos.
2. Counting seats, not the whole cost. Contact tiers, add-ons, onboarding, technical setup, training and the person who runs it all change the maths.
3. Forgetting the ERP. If your CRM can't see orders, invoices and stock, your sales team is flying blind, and it's harder to market to customers who have stopped buying.
4. Moving the mess. Clean your data before you migrate it. Many CRMs charge by contact, so migrating duplicates and dead records means paying to move rubbish into a new system.

The fix: price the whole picture before you sign: licences, setup, the ERP connection, and who will run it.

Four mistakes to avoid.

Questions from the live session

How important are native integrations with Meta and other ad platforms?

If you're spending money on ads, they're critical. With a native integration to Meta, Google, LinkedIn or TikTok, you can plan, create and schedule content from the CRM, then track every interaction back to leads and closed deals. Without it you're guessing which ads convert. With it, you can move budget to the campaigns that actually produce pipeline.

Which ERPs does HubSpot integrate best with?

HubSpot has connectors for most ERPs, built by HubSpot, the ERP vendor or third parties. Stratus works extensively with MYOB Acumatica and Business Central. The NetSuite integration is strong. The standard Acumatica connector is basic. For most ERPs, a custom or third-party integration is worth it, because the way each business uses its ERP is different.

What are the risks of building our own CRM with AI tools for under 10 users?

It's easy to build something now, and it can fit your requirements exactly. The risks are security, because a poorly built app can expose your customer list or sensitive data, and maintenance. Platforms like HubSpot and Salesforce have hundreds of developers shipping new features every week, which no in-house build can keep up with. Stephen's rule: buy the technology for the things you do the same as everyone else, and build the things you do differently. Stratus runs a standard CRM but built its own quoting tool because nothing on the market did it the way we needed.

If AI can operate the CRM through MCP, does the CRM just become a data store?

You can work with Pipedrive, HubSpot or your inbox from Claude through MCP, and we do it ourselves. Asking "what are the top five things I need to do in my pipeline today?" works well. But it only works if the data underneath is high quality, the MCP connection is good, and permissions are set up properly. The CRM is what gives the data its structure, consistency and validation, so everyone enters it the same way. Test it with your own data before you rely on it.

You're a HubSpot partner. Isn't this biased?

We implement HubSpot and Microsoft, and in this comparison Dynamics 365 comes out ahead for Business Central and Wiise shops and Salesforce comes out ahead on AI data sovereignty. We lean towards HubSpot for the mid-market because it's the easiest to adopt and run, and the independent G2 ease-of-admin scores back that up.

Get the full CRM Showdown 2026 recording and slides to watch the whole session.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best CRM for mid-market businesses in Australia?

For most growing businesses of 20 to 500 staff, HubSpot is the best all-rounder. It puts marketing, sales and service on one record, typically goes live in 5 to 7 weeks, and has the highest G2 ease-of-admin score (8.6) of the connected platforms. Salesforce suits complex, fast-scaling businesses, Dynamics 365 suits Business Central and Wiise customers, and Zoho One suits budget-first businesses.

How much does HubSpot cost in Australia?

Sales Hub or Service Hub Professional is A$140 per user a month, and Marketing Hub Professional is A$1,241 a month including three users and 2,000 contacts (ex GST, September 2026). For 10 sales users and 10,000 contacts on Professional, that's about A$40,116 a year in licences, plus a one-off onboarding fee. Implementation typically costs A$6,000 to A$15,000 for CRM and marketing. For the full breakdown, see HubSpot pricing in Australia.

Is HubSpot cheaper than Salesforce?

Yes, at both sizes we priced. For 10 sales users, HubSpot Pro is about A$40,116 a year against about A$57,960 for Salesforce Core with Marketing Cloud Next. For 50 users, it's about A$137,556 against A$202,677. Salesforce implementations also cost more, typically A$35,000 to A$75,000 per cloud.

Which CRM integrates best with Microsoft Business Central or Wiise?

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales is the only CRM with a native, same-vendor link to Business Central, and Wiise sells it as its top CRM option. HubSpot also works with Business Central, but its standard connector is basic, so the integration should be designed properly.

Which CRM keeps AI processing in Australia?

Salesforce processes AI for Australian customers in Australian data centres and lets you lock it there. Zoho keeps AI in Australia if you use its local model. Dynamics 365 processes AI in Australia or the US. HubSpot hosts CRM data in Sydney but processes AI in the US.

When should I move from Pipedrive, Mailchimp or monday to a full CRM?

When three or more of these sound familiar: you're paying for Zapier or Make to hold tools together, teams disagree on what a customer looks like, you've hit a limit you can't buy past, service runs out of a shared inbox, or reporting means exporting to Excel.

How long does a HubSpot implementation take?

A typical mid-market HubSpot build takes 5 to 7 weeks. Salesforce and Dynamics 365 implementations usually take three to six months. Migrating to HubSpot from Salesforce usually takes longer than a new build, around nine to eleven weeks, depending on customisation and data volume.

Is Zoho One a good CRM?

Zoho One is the cheapest connected platform, at A$125 per user a month for more than 50 apps. It suits cost-conscious businesses willing to own more of the setup and support. The trade-offs are separate apps that need connecting, premium support at an extra 20%, and less depth once your requirements get specific.

About the session

CRM Showdown 2026 ran online on 29 September 2026, presented by Mark Belkin, CEO of Stratus Consulting Group, and Stephen Archer, Head of Solution Sales. It followed the ERP Showdown series, including AI in ERP compared. Stratus is an Australian consultancy with 20+ years and 1,000+ implementations, offices in Perth, Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney, and is part of Pine Services Group. We're a HubSpot Platinum partner, an MYOB Acumatica Diamond partner and a Wiise Elite partner.

This article is general in nature and is not advice. Prices are vendor list prices in AUD excluding GST, checked 27 September 2026, and can change at any time. Confirm pricing and features with each vendor before you decide.