# HubSpot CRM vs Freshsales: which do AI models recommend for CRM, September 2026

GTM AI Recommendation Index, September 2026 Edition, CRM. Four of twelve models named HubSpot CRM first on the direct prompt; zero named Freshsales. Page: https://gtm-ai-index.com/revops/crm/hubspot-crm-vs-freshsales/

| | First-choice share | Rank | Negative rate | Labels | Models naming it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HubSpot CRM | 41% | #1 of 11 | 19% | 54 | 12 of 12 |
| Freshsales | 2% | #6 of 11 | 10% | 30 | 12 of 12 |

## The direct prompt, model by model

- Gemini 3.5 Flash: hubspot crm first (first choices: HubSpot CRM) (alternatives: Pipedrive, Salesforce Sales Cloud, Zoho CRM)
- Grok 4.1 Fast: hubspot crm first (first choices: HubSpot CRM, Pipedrive) (alternatives: Freshsales, Salesflare, Zoho CRM)
- DeepSeek V4 Flash: hubspot crm first (first choices: HubSpot CRM) (alternatives: Attio, Pipedrive, Salesflare, Zoho CRM)
- GLM 4.7 FlashX: hubspot crm first (first choices: HubSpot CRM) (alternatives: Close, Monday.com, Nutshell, Pipedrive, Pipeline CRM, Salesforce Sales Cloud, Zoho CRM)
- Perplexity Sonar: neither first, one named (first choices: HubSpot Sales Hub) (alternatives: Coevera, Freshsales, Salesforce Sales Cloud, Zoho CRM)
- Mistral Small: neither first, one named (first choices: HubSpot Sales Hub) (alternatives: Freshsales, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales, Salesflare)
- Llama 4 Maverick: neither first, one named (first choices: Coevera) (alternatives: Freshsales, NetSuite, Salesflare)
- Kimi K2: neither first, one named (first choices: HubSpot Sales Hub) (alternatives: Freshsales, Pipedrive, Salesflare, Zoho CRM)
- Claude Haiku 4.5: neither named
- GPT-5.4 mini: neither named (first choices: HubSpot Sales Hub, Salesforce Sales Cloud) (alternatives: Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales)
- Qwen 3.7 Flash: neither named (first choices: HubSpot Sales Hub) (alternatives: Close, Coevera, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales, Pipedrive, Salesforce Sales Cloud, Zoho CRM, Zoho One)
- MiniMax M2.5: neither named (first choices: HubSpot Sales Hub) (alternatives: Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales, NetSuite, Zoho CRM)

## What the models said about HubSpot CRM

- "CRMs to Approach with High Caution... HubSpot: Tops lists with 300+ negative G2 reviews (capped), Risk Score 100/100" (Grok 4.1 Fast, negative prompt, hard negative)
- "HubSpot | 100/100 (Severe) | 12 documented warnings - rapidly escalating bills, aggressive subscription billing" (MiniMax M2.5, negative prompt, hard negative)
- "Avoid HubSpot and Salesforce unless you have very specific needs that justify the cost and complexity." (Mistral Small, negative prompt, hard negative)
- "For most mid-sized B2B companies, HubSpot offers the best combination of sales-marketing alignment, ease of adoption, reasonable total cost of ownership, and scalability" (DeepSeek V4 Flash, paraphrase prompt, first choice)
- "HubSpot (Customer Platform): Known for exceptional ease of use, rapid deployment, and aligning Sales, Marketing, and Customer Success on a single codebase." (Gemini 3.5 Flash, scale prompt, first choice)
- "I'd usually recommend HubSpot CRM if your priority is fast adoption, sales + marketing alignment, and lower implementation friction" (GPT-5.4 mini, paraphrase prompt, first choice)

## What the models said about Freshsales

- "14+ Reddit threads about poor support - Tickets going unanswered for weeks" (MiniMax M2.5, negative prompt, hard negative)
- "Be careful with Freshsales/Freshworks if you need reliable support." (DeepSeek V4 Flash, negative prompt, soft negative)
- "Others like Insightly, Freshsales: 100+ negatives on workflow/UI" (Grok 4.1 Fast, negative prompt, soft negative)
- "Start with Freshsales if you want the cheapest credible upgrade path with AI and calling built-in." (Kimi K2, budget prompt, first choice)
- "Freshsales is another option for mid-market B2B companies wanting industry-specific lead segmentation" (Llama 4 Maverick, direct prompt, alternative)

Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts over all twelve models, for a mid-market B2B company; rank is within the category. Comparisons are drawn for the top eight products in each category. Published under CC BY 4.0; the output is the models' output, and nothing here is a recommendation by the index.