RIAs · CRM selection · Salesforce and HubSpot
Salesforce or HubSpot for mid-size RIAs in 2026
For RIAs with roughly 10 to 100 people on the CRM who are choosing between Salesforce Financial Services Cloud and HubSpot, or deciding whether to move from one to the other. What decides it, what licenses cost at 40 users, and what each build costs with us.
Short answer
Pick Salesforce Financial Services Cloud if your RIA has complex households, several custodians or heavy supervision. Pick HubSpot if growth comes from marketing and client structures are simple. At 40 users, list licenses run about $43,200 a year on HubSpot Sales Hub Professional and $156,000 on FSC Sales Core.
What changes for a mid-size RIA
A five-advisor firm can run on almost any CRM. Between about 10 and 100 users, four things start to decide the choice:
- Client structure. Households with trusts, entities and business owners, and accounts held at more than one custodian.
- Supervision. More than one office or team, operations staff who should see different records from advisors, and a compliance reviewer.
- Growth source. How much new money comes from marketing, seminars and content, and how much from referrals and acquired books.
- Who runs the system. Whether you have, or will pay for, a Salesforce administrator after go-live.
Decision table
| Question | Leans HubSpot | Leans Salesforce FSC |
|---|---|---|
| How complex are your households? | Individuals and simple households | Trusts, entities, business owners and relationship groups |
| How many custodians feed the CRM? | None, or one with light data | Two or more, with positions and balances on the client record |
| Who needs to see what? | One team that shares most records | Several offices, teams or entities with different access |
| Where does growth come from? | Marketing, content, events and nurture | Referrals, acquisitions and advisor recruiting |
| Who runs it after go-live? | A small operations team | An admin, in-house or through a support partner |
| Budget for licenses at 40 users | About $43,200 to $72,000 a year | About $156,000 a year and up |
If your answers split between the columns, running both is an option. See running both below.
License cost at 40 users
List prices from each vendor's pricing page, checked November 12, 2026, in US dollars. Both vendors set your final price in the order form.
| Product and edition | List price | 40 users for a year | One-time fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| HubSpot Sales Hub Professional | $90 per seat per month, billed annually | $43,200 | $1,500 onboarding, required |
| HubSpot Sales Hub Enterprise | $150 per seat per month | $72,000 | $3,500 onboarding, required |
| Salesforce FSC Sales Core | $325 per user per month, billed annually | $156,000 | None listed |
| Salesforce FSC Sales Advanced | $500 per user per month, billed annually | $240,000 | None listed |
HubSpot Marketing Hub and Service Hub are priced separately. Salesforce add-ons such as Agentforce for Financial Services Cloud ($150 per user per month at list) are also extra. Sources: HubSpot Sales Hub pricing and Salesforce FSC pricing. For the full FSC budget, read FSC implementation cost in 2026.
Households and financial accounts
Financial Services Cloud ships with households, relationship groups, financial accounts and financial account roles, so custodian data has a place to land. HubSpot has contacts, companies and deals out of the box. To hold households or financial accounts as their own records in HubSpot you need custom objects, which HubSpot makes available on Enterprise subscriptions.
Before you choose, write down three real households: a couple with joint and individual accounts, a family with a trust, and a business owner. Ask each vendor, or us, to show those three in the product.
Compliance checks for either choice
- Books and records. SEC Rule 204-2 requires an adviser to keep written communications relating to its advice for five years, the first two in an appropriate office. Decide how CRM emails and messages reach your archiving vendor before go-live.
- Client data and vendors. The amended Regulation S-P requires written policies for overseeing service providers, which include your CRM vendor and your implementation partner. Smaller entities had to comply by June 3, 2026.
- Access. Map who should see which households, notes and documents. In Salesforce this is sharing rules and permission sets. In HubSpot it is teams and permission sets; check which edition includes the field-level controls you need.
- Audit trail. Agree which field changes compliance needs to see, and confirm the edition you buy keeps that history.
Running both
Some advisory firms use HubSpot for marketing and prospects and Financial Services Cloud as the client record. HubSpot's Salesforce integration syncs contacts, companies and deals both ways. The work is in the rules: which system owns each field, when a prospect becomes a client record, and which activity syncs back. Set those before the first sync, or you will clean up duplicates for months.
What each path costs with us
Fixed-scope packages, each with a named senior consultant and 30 days of hypercare. Prices are from our live package pages.
| Package | Price | Sized for | Timeline |
|---|---|---|---|
| FSC Foundation | From $22,000 | Up to 35 advisors | 4 to 6 weeks |
| FSC Growth | From $48,000 | 35 to 100 users | 8 to 12 weeks |
| HubSpot Sales Hub Growth | $14,500 | 15 to 40 reps | 6 to 8 weeks |
| HubSpot Sales Hub Enterprise | Quote-based | 40+ reps | 8 to 14 weeks |
| HubSpot Customer Platform Bundle Growth | From $36,000 | 15 to 40 users per Hub | 10 to 14 weeks |
Add-ons: a custodial integration into FSC from $12,000 per custodian (see custodian data integration). If you already have a system, start with a review: the Salesforce Org Assessment is $5,000 and the HubSpot Portal Audit is $3,500, each credited against a package. Moving off Redtail: see Redtail to FSC.
Frequently asked questions
Is Salesforce or HubSpot better for a mid-size RIA?
It depends on your households, custodians and supervision needs. Firms with trusts, entities, several custodians or several offices usually fit Salesforce Financial Services Cloud. Firms whose growth comes from marketing and whose client structures are simple usually fit HubSpot. Some run both.
What does each cost in licenses for 40 users?
At list prices checked November 12, 2026: HubSpot Sales Hub Professional is $90 per seat per month billed annually, about $43,200 a year for 40 seats, plus a one-time $1,500 onboarding fee. Salesforce Financial Services Cloud Sales Core is $325 per user per month billed annually, about $156,000 a year. Confirm with each vendor before you budget.
Can HubSpot model households and financial accounts?
Only with design work. HubSpot has no household or financial account object out of the box, and custom objects need an Enterprise subscription. Financial Services Cloud ships with households, relationship groups and financial accounts.
Which one handles SEC recordkeeping?
Neither CRM replaces your archiving process. SEC Rule 204-2 requires an adviser to keep written communications relating to its advice for five years, the first two in an appropriate office. Whichever CRM you pick, decide how its emails and messages reach your archive before go-live.
Can we run HubSpot and Salesforce together?
Yes. HubSpot's Salesforce integration syncs records both ways. A common split is HubSpot for marketing and prospects and Financial Services Cloud as the client record. Decide which system owns each field before the first sync.
How long does each implementation take?
Our Financial Services Cloud Foundation package takes 4 to 6 weeks and Growth 8 to 12 weeks. HubSpot Sales Hub Growth takes 6 to 8 weeks and the Customer Platform Bundle Growth 10 to 14 weeks. Timelines start once we have system access.
Does Vantage Point favor one platform?
No. We implement both Salesforce Financial Services Cloud and HubSpot for advisory firms. We will tell you which one fits your firm, or whether running both makes sense.
Updated November 12, 2026. Vendor list prices checked November 12, 2026.