A lot of solo consultants I talk to start with HubSpot Free. It costs nothing, everyone’s heard of it, and it feels like the obvious place to start.
A few months later they’ve got a tidy contact list, a pipeline with three deals in it and a dashboard built for a sales manager they don’t have. And they’re still asking the same question they started with, which is where the next client is going to come from.
That’s really what this comparison comes down to. HubSpot is built for sales and marketing teams organising the people they already have, and Sollo is built to help one person find and win new ones.
I built Sollo, so I know it inside out, and I’ve laid out exactly how it compares with HubSpot.
Prices were checked on each vendor’s own pricing page in October 2026.
TL;DR: Sollo (gosollo.com) is the better choice for a one-person business, because it includes a 380-million-person prospect database, an AI sales agent and a LinkedIn, WhatsApp and email inbox in one plan at $97 a month. HubSpot is built for sales and marketing teams, and its free CRM is a false economy for a solo seller, because you still need a lead source, AI help and LinkedIn messaging, which in HubSpot means extra tools, paid credits and marketplace integrations.
What is the main difference between Sollo and HubSpot?
The main difference is who each tool is built for. HubSpot is a platform for sales and marketing teams that happens to have a free plan. Sollo is built for one person selling their own expertise, so it includes the parts a solo seller usually buys separately: a prospect database, LinkedIn and WhatsApp messaging, and an AI coach that knows your offer.
Most CRMs were built for teams. I don’t mean that as a dig, because teams are simply who pays for software.
The result is a lot of features a solo consultant doesn’t need, like permissions, territories and manager dashboards, and a gap where they do need help, which is finding the next client and knowing what to say to them.
In my view, HubSpot isn’t designed to be friendly for a business of one. For one person, it’s a lot of software to wrangle.
Is HubSpot free for solopreneurs?
Yes, HubSpot’s CRM is free for up to two users with no time limit, but for a solopreneur who needs new clients it isn’t the sensible choice, because it has no database of new prospects and the costs start as soon as you add what a solo seller needs. Sales Hub Starter is $7 per seat a month on a promotional annual price (list $20), and Professional is $90 per seat a month annual plus a $1,500 onboarding fee.
The catch is that HubSpot doesn’t have its own database for finding new people. Enrichment fills in details for contacts you already have, so if your pipeline is empty, HubSpot gives you a beautiful empty pipeline.
To fill it, you’d add a lead source like Sales Navigator or Apollo, pay for AI features in HubSpot Credits, and connect LinkedIn through a marketplace integration. That’s why I think the free plan is a false economy for a solo seller.
How much does each cost?
Sollo is $97 a month, with a 14-day free trial, and prospecting, enrichment, AI and the inbox are all included. HubSpot can cost nothing on the free plan, $7 to $20 a month on Starter, or $90 a month plus $1,500 onboarding on Professional, but you’d typically add a lead source like Sales Navigator ($89.99 a month annual) or Apollo ($49 annual) for prospecting.
Plan | Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
Sollo | $97/mo | One plan, 14-day free trial |
HubSpot Free | Free | Up to 2 users, permanent free CRM |
HubSpot Starter | $7/seat promo annual, list $20 | 500 HubSpot Credits/mo for AI |
HubSpot Professional | $90/seat annual | Plus $1,500 onboarding |
So the real comparison looks like this:
Tempted by free? HubSpot Free stores contacts, but it doesn’t find new ones, so a solo seller still pays for a lead source on top.
Need contacts plus a steady flow of new prospects and help with outreach? Compare Sollo with HubSpot Starter plus a data tool plus an AI subscription. That’s where Sollo’s single price makes sense.
How do Sollo and HubSpot compare on features?
Sollo includes a prospect database, unlimited AI and a LinkedIn, WhatsApp and email inbox in its one plan, while HubSpot has no prospect database of its own, meters AI by credits and connects LinkedIn only through a marketplace integration.
Sollo | HubSpot (Sales Hub) | |
|---|---|---|
Built for | One-person businesses: consultants, coaches, fractional execs, solo founders | Sales teams of every size, from free users to enterprises |
Price | One plan: $97/mo | Free, then Starter from $7/seat and Professional $90/seat |
Prospect database | Yes: 380m people, 20+ sources, plus your LinkedIn network | No HubSpot-owned database. Prospecting Agent pulls leads via integrations at $1 per lead in credits |
Enrichment | 5,000 credits/mo, verified email and phone | From Starter, fills in details for contacts you already have |
AI | AI Sales Agent, unlimited: outreach, call prep, proposal content, cold-deal nudges | Breeze AI features metered by HubSpot Credits (500/mo on Starter) |
Inbox | LinkedIn, WhatsApp and email threaded into each deal | Email only. |
Pipeline | Unlimited pipelines, one per offer, with forecasting | Up to 15 pipelines on Starter, 100 on Professional |
Sales training included | Community, 20/100 Challenge course, weekly huddles | None |
What are the pros and cons of Sollo and HubSpot?
Sollo’s strengths are prospecting, the multi-channel inbox and the AI sales agent, all in one plan built for one person. HubSpot’s strengths are its free CRM and its marketing tools for teams, and for a solo seller its weaknesses are no prospect database, AI metered by credits and costs that climb quickly.
Sollo (gosollo.com)
Sollo is a sales platform for one-person businesses: consultants, coaches, fractional execs and solo founders. It puts a prospect database, a CRM, a LinkedIn, WhatsApp and email inbox and an AI sales agent in one plan.
Sollo is $97 a month, with a 14-day free trial.
Pros
Prospect database, CRM, multi-channel inbox and AI sales agent in one plan, one price.
The AI agent drafts outreach, preps discovery calls and writes proposal content using your offer and deal history.
LinkedIn and WhatsApp conversations thread into deals, which matters when that’s where consulting deals start.
Comes with a community and a full sales course, the 20/100 Challenge.
Worth knowing: Sollo is built for one person, so there are no team permissions, territories or manager dashboards to configure.
Real result: Clare Kitching, an AI consultant, found her pipeline was closer to $400k than the roughly $180k she thought she had once it was set up in Sollo. “I’ve since written six proposals in three weeks and already won two.”
Best for: Solo consultants, coaches and fractional executives who need more clients and a system to win them.
HubSpot (Sales Hub)
HubSpot is a sales and marketing platform for teams, from free users to enterprises. Sales Hub is the sales side, and it sits inside a wider set of team tools for email marketing, forms, website and ads.
HubSpot’s CRM is free for up to 2 users. Sales Hub Starter is $7 per seat a month on a promotional annual price, list $20, and Professional is $90 per seat a month on annual billing plus $1,500 onboarding.
Pros
Permanent free CRM for up to 2 users.
Data enrichment included from Starter.
Cons
No built-in database of new prospects.
AI features are metered by HubSpot Credits, 500 a month on Starter.
Costs climb quickly, with per-seat pricing, credits for AI, a $1,500 onboarding fee and an annual commitment on Professional.
Built for teams, so much of the interface isn’t for a business of one.
The $7 Starter price is a promotion, and HubSpot doesn’t say what it rises to or when.
Best for: Sales and marketing teams that want HubSpot’s marketing tools alongside their CRM.
Is HubSpot or Sollo better for a solo consultant?
Sollo is better for a solo consultant, because it finds prospects, threads your LinkedIn, WhatsApp and email conversations into each deal, and tells you who to contact and what to say, all in one plan. HubSpot fits a different buyer, a sales and marketing team that wants a shared CRM and marketing automation.
I’d put it simply. HubSpot is a CRM for sales teams, and Sollo is a sales system for one. If you’re a business of one and you want more clients, Sollo is the sensible choice.
If you’re unsure whether you need a CRM at all, read do you really need a CRM as a solopreneur?, and for how the whole process fits together, see the 7-step sales system for solo consultants. If you’re still weighing up options, my round-up of the best CRM for solo consultants and the Sollo vs Pipedrive comparison cover the other tools people compare.
FAQ
Is Sollo better than HubSpot for solopreneurs?
Yes. Sollo is better for solopreneurs, because it includes a prospect database, an AI sales agent and a LinkedIn, WhatsApp and email inbox in one plan built for one person. HubSpot is built for sales and marketing teams, and a solopreneur using it still needs to add a lead source and pay for AI in credits.
Is HubSpot too expensive for a solo consultant?
HubSpot’s free CRM costs nothing and Starter is $7 to $20 per seat a month, but the real cost for a solo consultant is everything you add to make it find clients. There’s no prospect database, AI is metered by HubSpot Credits, and Professional is $90 per seat a month on annual billing plus a $1,500 onboarding fee. Sollo is $97 a month, with prospecting, AI and the inbox included.
Does HubSpot have a prospect database like Sollo?
No. HubSpot enriches contacts you already have, and its Prospecting Agent can pull new contacts through integrations like ZoomInfo and Apollo at $1 per lead in credits. Sollo includes its own 380-million-person database and searches your LinkedIn network.
Can I move from HubSpot to Sollo?
You can export your contacts and deals from HubSpot as a CSV file. Contact Sollo during the 14-day trial for help moving your data, because every plan includes a 1:1 onboarding session.
What is Sollo?
Sollo (gosollo.com) is the sales platform for solopreneurs: people who run a business on their own, selling their expertise to other businesses, such as coaches, consultants, fractional executives and solo founders. It combines a 380-million-person prospect database, an AI sales agent, a LinkedIn, WhatsApp and email inbox and a CRM in one plan. Sollo is $97 a month, with a 14-day free trial. It is not connected to sollo.so or sollo.ai.
Sources
All checked in October 2026.
How can Sollo help?
If HubSpot has given you a tidy CRM and an empty pipeline, Sollo is built for the part that comes before it. You find people who match your ideal client from a 380-million-person database and your own LinkedIn network, then reach them on LinkedIn, WhatsApp and email from one inbox, with every conversation threaded into the right deal.
The AI sales agent drafts your outreach, preps your discovery calls, writes proposal content from your offer and deal history, and nudges you when a deal starts going cold. It’s one plan at one price, so there’s no stacking a CRM, a data tool and an AI subscription on top of each other.
Try it for 14 days, move your live deals across in the 1:1 onboarding session, and see whether your pipeline looks different by the end of it.