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Comparison · HubSpot details as of 26 Oct 2026 · The-Y CRM 1.1.53

HubSpot alternative with a phone system and CRM

HubSpot is a large platform for marketing, sales and service, with data centres including one in Germany. If you want marketing automation, email campaigns and sales at scale on one platform, it serves you well. The-Y CRM is for teams whose customers call and message on WhatsApp – with a built-in phone system, deals and invoices in one tool, at a flat price instead of per seat: hosted by us with Cloud Pro (servers in Vienna) or self-hosted.

Try it in the cloud – freeTry the demoNo sales call, no credit card. Demo without sign-up. Free account: all features except your own branding, up to 3 users.

The difference in one sentence

With HubSpot you pay per person, and WhatsApp, the help desk and the phone menu (IVR) only come with Professional. The-Y CRM is inbox, phone system and CRM in one – with IVR, queues, voicemail and WhatsApp already on the free plan.

Why The-Y CRM exists

I'm Thomas Nuri Yilmaz, founder of The-Y, and until September 2026 I was Head of IT at Dove Touristik. In 2024 I faced exactly this question: I was looking for a ticketing system, tested osTicket, then Zammad, and found Chatwoot while searching for a respond.io alternative. I ran Zammad, Chatwoot and n8n myself. What I was missing was everything in one place: WhatsApp, phone and email in one inbox, with a phone system of its own. Today we at The-Y no longer work with any of these tools – we work with The-Y CRM.

HubSpot and The-Y CRM compared

HubSpot
The-Y CRM
Telephony
✓from Starter: calls in the browser, in the app or forwarded to your mobile, recording available. From Professional: a calling channel for the inbox and help desk (to users and teams, opening hours, voicemail) and a phone menu (IVR). Per the catalog, you receive calls with a HubSpot-provided number (incl. Austria, Germany, Switzerland) or through a connected calling app. Minutes are capped: Service Hub Professional 3,000 per account per month, euro pricing page 250 per seat per month
✓on every plan: IVR, queues, voicemail, ring groups, opening hours, your own announcements, calls in the browser; since 1.1.45 also WhatsApp calls. Your number comes via SIP from your provider (currently sipgate, Zadarma or Twilio)
Shared inbox
✓free for email and live chat; Service Hub Starter 1 inbox, Professional 100. From Professional also the help desk workspace, where WhatsApp and calls land too
✓email, WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook Messenger, SMS, web chat, phone – one inbox, free plan included
WhatsApp
~only from Professional (Service Hub or Marketing Hub), with your own WhatsApp Business account at Meta. 1,000 template messages per month included, each further 1,000 cost $70 a month; on the euro pricing page one template message uses 20 HubSpot Credits. In parallel with the WhatsApp Business app only via “coexistence”
✓on every plan, including Free; you pay Meta's fees directly to Meta, no markup. You can keep the WhatsApp Business app
Help desk and tickets
~tickets already free; help desk workspace, knowledge base, SLAs and customer surveys from Service Hub Professional
✓tickets in the inbox, help center and customer survey – free plan included
Pricing
hubspot.de (euros, per seat per month): Starter €10 billed monthly or €7 billed annually (limited-time discount), Professional €100 or €90, Enterprise €175 · Service Hub on hubspot.com (US dollars): Professional $100 per seat per month, $90 paid annually · onboarding required for Professional and Enterprise (Service Hub: one-time $1,500 or $3,500)
€0 (Free, servers in Austria), up to 3 users · Cloud Pro: €20/month per company, all users and brands included (Alpha & Beta; €40 from Live) – more
Contract and billing
per the terms, subscriptions renew automatically (same duration, at most one year); no cancellation before the end of the term, no downgrade during the term. Service Hub Professional: 12-month commitment even when paying monthly; Starter monthly
Cloud Pro: monthly (€20) or yearly (€240), cancel at the end of the paid period · self-hosted: €10 a month or €240 one-time – then perpetual
Extra users
everyone who talks to customers needs their own seat at the same price, e.g. Professional €100 or €90 a month; seats only for flows and reports from €50. Starter at most 10 seats
self-hosted: whole team included · Cloud Pro: per company, all users and brands included
Free
~free version for up to 2 users: contacts, companies, deals, tickets, inbox for email and live chat; no telephony and no WhatsApp
✓permanently, up to 3 users, all features except your own branding – with the phone system and WhatsApp
Self-hosting
not stated by the vendor; HubSpot is offered as a cloud service
✓€0 with a free key (up to 3 users, Free limits) · no limits €10/month or €240 one-time, whole team
Deals, pipeline, invoices
✓contacts, companies, deals and pipelines already free (1 pipeline per object); invoices on all plans. Online payments via HubSpot payments only for businesses in the US, the UK and Canada, otherwise via your own Stripe account
✓contacts, companies, deals, pipeline, invoices, appointments; plus payments, open items, dunning, receipts and an export for your tax advisor (DATEV, BMD)
Hosting and data location
✓on AWS, data centres incl. the EU (Germany); assigned by your location at sign-up, you can switch on a paid plan. Per HubSpot, usage data goes to the US
Free on our servers in Austria or on your own server; Cloud Pro in Austria (Vienna data centre); no limits on your own server

HubSpot according to HubSpot's official pricing pages, Products & Services Catalog, terms and knowledge base, accessed 26 Oct 2026 (sources below). Euro prices: German pricing page hubspot.de/pricing, opened from Austria – hubspot.de/pricing/service redirected there. It shows one platform for sales, marketing and service, with prices per seat per month: Starter €10 billed monthly or €7 billed annually (a discount marked “limited time”, up to 10 users), Professional €100 or €90, Enterprise €175; onboarding is required for Professional and Enterprise, the amount isn't shown there. It belongs to HubSpot's euro pricing supplement “Flexible Seats-and-Credits”. Dollar prices: Service Hub on hubspot.com/pricing/service (shown in US dollars only) and in the catalog – Professional $100 per seat per month, $90 paid annually, one-time $1,500 onboarding; Enterprise $150 per seat per month billed annually, $3,500 onboarding; per the catalog plus applicable taxes. Which plan a feature starts with is mostly stated for Service Hub or Marketing Hub in the knowledge base and catalog. Details on The-Y CRM as of version 1.1.53 (25 Oct 2026).

Stay with HubSpot if …

  • you want marketing automation, email campaigns and sales at scale on one platform,
  • your data should sit in a data centre in Germany – The-Y Cloud Pro runs in Austria (Vienna data centre),
  • you want phone numbers straight from the vendor – HubSpot provides numbers for Austria, Germany and Switzerland, among others,
  • you need lots of ready-made integrations – per HubSpot more than 2,000 apps,
  • you don't want to use Alpha software – The-Y CRM is Alpha.

Choose The-Y CRM if …

  • your team makes its own calls and needs a phone system with IVR, queues and voicemail – for WhatsApp calls too,
  • you want WhatsApp, telephony and a help center on the free plan already – without a Professional plan and without required onboarding,
  • you want to keep your phone number with your own telephony provider,
  • you want a flat price instead of paying per seat: hosted with Cloud Pro €20 a month for all users, self-hosted €10 a month or €240 once.

HubSpot telephony: plans, IVR and minutes

With HubSpot you make calls from Starter in the browser, in the app or by forwarding to your mobile. A calling channel for the inbox and help desk and a phone menu (IVR) only come with Professional (€90 per seat per month billed annually on hubspot.de). You receive calls with a HubSpot-provided number or through a connected calling app, and minutes are capped: 250 per seat per month on the euro pricing page, 3,000 per account per month in Service Hub Professional. The free version has no telephony. In The-Y CRM the phone system is built into every plan, free with 200 outgoing minutes per month: IVR, queues, voicemail and calls in the browser, with your number coming via SIP from your own provider. More on this: virtual phone system for small business.

Example: 5 people, WhatsApp and phone

HubSpot Professional (hubspot.de)
€450
per month billed annually · 5 × €90 per seat (monthly 5 × €100 = €500) · plus required onboarding, amount not shown on the pricing page
WhatsApp, help desk and IVR from Professional per HubSpot. Telephony: 250 minutes per seat per month, 1,250 in total
Service Hub Professional (hubspot.com)
$450
per month paid annually · 5 × $90 per seat (monthly 5 × $100, still a 12-month commitment) · plus a one-time $1,500 onboarding – at least $6,900 in the first year
3,000 call minutes per account per month, 1,000 WhatsApp template messages per month included
The-Y CRM Cloud Pro
€20
per month, incl. VAT, all users and brands included (Alpha & Beta; €40 from Live)
plus: a phone number from your SIP provider and your call minutes there. Phone system and WhatsApp included. Self-hosted: €10 a month or €240 one-time – more about Cloud Pro

HubSpot prices as shown on the pricing pages; at HubSpot each of the 5 people needs their own seat, because all of them message and call customers. HubSpot includes 1,000 WhatsApp template messages per month in the plan, each further 1,000 cost $70 a month (Service Hub). With The-Y you pay Meta's WhatsApp fees and your call minutes directly to Meta and your phone provider; The-Y adds no markup. Since 1 Oct 2026 Meta also charges for replies within the 24-hour window; the first 1,000 per number per month are free. Those 1,000 are Meta's free allowance – not to be confused with the limit of The-Y Free (1,000 outgoing messages per month across all channels). All the details, with a calculator for every country: What The-Y CRM really costs. For up to 3 people, The-Y Free (€0) is enough – in our cloud or self-hosted with a free key.

Don't want to run a server yourself? Take Cloud Pro.

We host The-Y CRM for you – one price per company, all users and brands included, 10 GB storage, updates and backups, servers in Austria (Vienna data centre). Messages and call minutes with no volume limits: WhatsApp, SMS, phone and AI run on your own accounts, and Meta and your providers bill you directly – with no markup. You can have up to 10 simultaneous calls.

€20 a month during Alpha and Beta – the price stays as long as your subscription runs without interruption; €40 from the Live release. Or €240 a year (€480 from Live). Incl. VAT, businesses only, cancel any time, effective at the end of the paid period.

How it works: create a free account, then book Cloud Pro in the app under Settings → License. You can take your data to your own server any time – it's the same software. Extra storage (+10 GB for €3 a month) and automation packs (€5 a month) can be added; custom quotas and prices on request: sales@the-y.at.

Start free, then book Cloud Pro

Test it in about 30 minutes

  1. Create a free account on crm.the-y.at.
  2. Connect a mailbox, WhatsApp number or phone – guides in the documentation.
  3. Invite your team and see if it fits. Contacts and companies can be imported via CSV.

Like it? Then move to your own server – free with a free key (same limits as Free) or without limits with the self-hosting licence (guide, server requirements) – or stay in our cloud and book Cloud Pro in the app for your whole company.

Start free now

Frequently asked questions

Can I self-host The-Y CRM?

Yes, with Docker on your own server – in two ways: free with a free key (created in the app after sign-up; the same limits as Free: 3 users, 1,000 outgoing messages across all channels and 200 outgoing call minutes per month, 2 simultaneous calls, 2 GB; no support, feedback during the Alpha is welcome) or without usage limits with the self-hosting licence for €10 a month or €240 one-time (during Alpha and Beta; from the Live release €20 or €480). The €10 and the €240 get you the same licence – one as a subscription, the other perpetual.

Is The-Y CRM also available hosted for more than 3 people?

Yes, with Cloud Pro: we host The-Y CRM for you in Austria (Vienna data centre) – unlimited users and brands included, 10 GB storage, updates and backups. It costs €20 a month during Alpha and Beta (the price stays as long as your subscription runs without interruption; €40 from the Live release) or €240 a year – incl. VAT, businesses only. Messages and call minutes have no volume limits, because WhatsApp, SMS, phone and AI run on your own accounts. You can have up to 10 simultaneous calls. Free in the cloud covers up to 3 users (1,000 outgoing messages across all channels and 200 outgoing call minutes per month, 2 simultaneous calls, 2 GB storage). You book Cloud Pro in the app under Settings → License; custom quotas on request at sales@the-y.at.

HubSpot can make calls too – what's different?

Yes. With HubSpot you make calls from Starter in the browser, in the app or by forwarding to your mobile. From Professional you also get a calling channel for the inbox and help desk (routing to users and teams, opening hours, voicemail) and a phone menu (IVR). Per HubSpot, you receive calls with a HubSpot-provided number – available for Austria, Germany and Switzerland, among others – or through a connected calling app. Minutes are capped: 3,000 per account per month in Service Hub Professional, 250 per seat per month on the euro pricing page. In The-Y CRM the phone system for your team is built into every plan (free with 200 outgoing minutes per month): IVR, queues, voicemail, click-to-call in the browser and analytics – and since version 1.1.45 also for WhatsApp calls. All you need is a phone number from a telephony provider – currently sipgate, Zadarma or Twilio, more to follow.

Which HubSpot plan do I need for WhatsApp?

According to HubSpot's knowledge base, Professional: with Service Hub or Marketing Hub Professional or Enterprise, and in the help desk only with Service Hub. You connect your own WhatsApp Business account via Meta. The number can't run in the WhatsApp Business app at the same time – unless you use “coexistence”, in which case HubSpot imports the last 180 days of history. 1,000 template messages per month are included; per the catalog, each further 1,000 cost $70 a month. In The-Y CRM, WhatsApp is on every plan, including Free, with no markup on Meta's fees.

What does WhatsApp cost?

The-Y charges nothing extra. You pay Meta's fees directly to Meta. Since 1 Oct 2026 Meta also charges for replies within the 24-hour window; the first 1,000 per number per month are free. Those 1,000 are Meta's free allowance – not to be confused with the limit of The-Y Free (1,000 outgoing messages per month across all channels). Details on the costs page.

Can I use my existing WhatsApp number?

Yes. If you already use the WhatsApp Business app, you can keep it: The-Y CRM connects the number via Meta's WhatsApp Business Platform as well, replies you send from your phone also appear in the CRM, and up to 180 days of history are imported. If the number runs in the personal WhatsApp app, you first switch it to the WhatsApp Business app or release it from WhatsApp – that's Meta's rule for the Business Platform and applies just the same with Zammad, Chatwoot or Twilio. The number stays yours.

What happens to my licence if The-Y ceases to exist?

Then all self-hosted installations – with a free key, a monthly licence or a lifetime licence – first get a final update that removes the licence check and all usage limits. After that they keep running for free, without limits and indefinitely; your data is on your server anyway. This is also in our Terms of Use. If you use Free or Cloud Pro in our cloud, you can export your data at any time.

Switching from HubSpot – step by step

Each step takes about 5 to 10 minutes in The-Y. Moving the WhatsApp number can take longer if the number's two-step PIN has to be switched off first. Export your data from HubSpot first.

  1. Bring your contacts (about 5–10 min): In HubSpot, open contacts under CRM (the same works for companies, deals and tickets), choose the view with all records and export it at the top right of the table as CSV, XLS or XLSX – you get the download link by email. Per the knowledge base this works on all plans; you need export permission. In The-Y, under Contacts → “Import” you upload a CSV file, and the same works for companies and deals. A dry run first shows row by row what will be created or updated. Phone numbers are converted to international format so The-Y recognises customers when they message you on WhatsApp.
  2. Reconnect your email (about 5–10 min): Microsoft 365 and Outlook.com with “Connect with Microsoft”, no password needed; all other mailboxes via IMAP/SMTP. If you choose “Whole history”, The-Y also fetches the emails still in the mailbox's inbox. Guide →
  3. Phone via your SIP line (about 10 min): Add the line from your phone provider (currently sipgate, Zadarma or Twilio) and link your number to that line at the provider. The number stays with your provider. Guide →
  4. Move your WhatsApp number (about 5–10 min, plus any waiting time): At HubSpot, the number is tied to your own WhatsApp Business account at Meta according to the knowledge base. First delete the WhatsApp channel in HubSpot (in the inbox or help desk settings); per HubSpot, wait 10–15 minutes before you connect the number again. In The-Y, click “Connect WhatsApp” and choose your business, your WhatsApp account and the number in Meta's window. If the number already has a two-step PIN, enter it afterwards in the “Existing PIN” field; if you don't know it, turn off two-step verification in WhatsApp Manager. After that the number keeps running on your own Meta account and Meta bills you directly. Guide →
  5. Swap the website chat (about 5–10 min): If you use HubSpot's live chat, replace it on your website with The-Y's web chat – with a chat link, QR code and guides for website builders. Guide →

What doesn't come along

  • Your chat, ticket and call history from HubSpot – there is no import for it. The exception is email still in the mailbox (step 2).
  • You set up flows (workflows), macros and snippets again in The-Y, and the same goes for your knowledge base articles.

Seen enough? Try it yourself.

Click through the inbox, phone system and deals with sample data and see whether it suits your team better than HubSpot – everything is deleted after 24 hours.

Try the demo – no sign-upBook a 20-minute setup with NuriStart free

Prefer to do it together? We set it up with you by video call – in your browser, nothing to install. Mon–Fri 10–12 and 14–17 (Vienna time).

More comparisons

Zammad · Chatwoot · osTicket · FreeScout · respond.io · Trengo · superchat · Bitrix24 · Freshdesk · WATI · Userlike · Kommo · Zendesk · Aircall · WhatsApp Business with multiple users · Phone system for small business · All comparisons

Sources (as of 10/2026)

  • Prices in euros (one platform for sales, marketing and service: Free, Starter, Professional, Enterprise; monthly and annual billing, user limits, required onboarding, calling from Starter, help desk from Professional): hubspot.de/pricing (German view, euros, opened from Austria; hubspot.de/pricing/service redirected there), accessed 26 Oct 2026
  • Euro pricing supplement “Flexible Seats-and-Credits” (seat prices from €20 / €100 / €175, seats for flows and reports from €50, at most 10 seats on Starter, call minutes per seat, HubSpot Credits, 20 credits per WhatsApp template message): hubspot.com/flexible-seats-and-credits-pricing-supplement, accessed 26 Oct 2026
  • Service Hub in US dollars (plans, billing and commitment, onboarding, call minutes, HubSpot-provided numbers, IVR, help desk, WhatsApp, knowledge base, SLAs, surveys, more than 2,000 apps): hubspot.com/pricing/service, accessed 26 Oct 2026
  • Products & Services Catalog (Service Hub: prices per seat, onboarding, receiving calls only with a HubSpot-provided number, inboxes, WhatsApp 1,000 messages; free version; taxes): products, free tools and overview, accessed 26 Oct 2026
  • WhatsApp limit increase ($70 per 1,000 messages a month): legal.hubspot.com/hubspot-product-and-services-catalog/add-ons, accessed 26 Oct 2026
  • Terms (automatic renewal, cancellation, no downgrade during the term): legal.hubspot.com/terms-of-service, accessed 26 Oct 2026
  • WhatsApp in the inbox and help desk (plans, your own Business account, number requirements, 1,000 template messages, deleting the channel, 10–15 minutes before reconnecting) and coexistence (180 days of history): inbox, help desk and coexistence, accessed 26 Oct 2026
  • Telephony (countries with HubSpot-provided numbers, calling channel in the help desk, IVR, routing and voicemail, calling apps): countries, calling channel, IVR, routing and voicemail and calling apps, accessed 26 Oct 2026
  • Exporting data (CSV, XLS, XLSX, all plans): knowledge.hubspot.com/import-and-export/export-records, accessed 26 Oct 2026
  • Data centres and data location: HubSpot knowledge base, accessed 26 Oct 2026
  • Invoices and HubSpot payments (US, UK, Canada; otherwise Stripe): invoices and HubSpot payments, accessed 26 Oct 2026

HubSpot is a trademark of its respective owner. This comparison is independent and made to the best of our knowledge; please report errors to office@the-y.at and we'll correct them right away.