HubSpot for Startups: Up to 90% Off HubSpot in Year One

HubSpot for Startups is a discount program, not a credit grant. Startups that raised up to Series A and come through an approved partner, or whose venture funding HubSpot can verify, get 90% off year one, 50% off year two and 25% off year three on new Professional or Enterprise HubSpot products. Startups linked to an approved entrepreneurial organization get 30% off year one and 15% off year two. You must commit annually, and Starter plans aren't covered.

The two discount tiers

HubSpot says it has more than 4,000 approved partners, including VCs, accelerators, incubators and other startup organizations, and links a partner directory from the startup page. You can also qualify for the 90% tier with verified venture funding and no partner at all.

HubSpot's FAQ describes the discount as lasting "typically two years" before standard pricing applies, while the 90% tier lists a third year at 25% off. Get the full year-by-year schedule in writing from HubSpot before you commit.

What is covered, and what isn't

• Covered: net-new Professional or Enterprise products, meaning HubSpot's paid editions of tools such as Marketing Hub and Sales Hub that you don't already pay for.
• Not covered: Starter editions and the free CRM. They're already cheap or free, so the program targets the expensive tiers.
• Not covered: products you already pay for. The discount applies to net-new purchases.
• Unclear: required one-time onboarding fees. Marketing Hub Professional lists a $3,000 onboarding fee and Enterprise $7,000. The startup page doesn't say whether these are discounted, so ask.

Members also get specialized resources, training and an exclusive founder community. The startup page highlights HubSpot's Breeze AI agents, including Customer Agent, Content Agents and Prospecting Agents, which are part of the platform you'd be buying. It doesn't mention extra AI credits for startups.

What the discount is worth: a worked example

Here is an example using HubSpot's listed price for Marketing Hub Professional: $800 per month with 3 core seats on an annual commitment, plus a required one-time $3,000 onboarding fee. Prices vary by edition, seats and region, so treat these numbers as illustrative and check the pricing page for your setup.

On those numbers, the 90% tier saves $28,800 − $12,960 = $15,840 over three years before onboarding fees. The 30% tier saves $28,800 − $24,480 = $4,320. Extra seats are billed on top: Marketing Hub Professional lists additional core seats at $45 per month each, and the discount should apply to them if they're part of the eligible product. Confirm this with HubSpot.

The jump from year one to year two is steep. On the 90% tier, the example above goes from $960 to $4,800 a year, five times as much. Budget for years two and three before you build your go-to-market around HubSpot Professional.

Eligibility in detail

• Funding stage: the 90% tier is for companies that raised Pre-seed, Seed or Series A. Raising Series B or later rules you out of that tier.
• Partner route: being affiliated with an approved partner such as your VC or accelerator qualifies you. Check the partner directory on the startup page, or ask your investor whether they're in the program.
• Verified-funding route: with no partner, HubSpot can verify your venture funding instead. Its page names Crunchbase, Harmonic and PitchBook as data sources. If your round isn't listed or is out of date, fix that before applying.
• Entrepreneurial organizations: startups tied to an approved entrepreneurial organization, rather than a funding partner, get the 30% tier.
• Existing customers: the discount covers net-new Professional or Enterprise products only, not ones you already pay for.
• Honesty matters: an earlier HubSpot startup offer warned that attempts to falsify membership status may result in removal of discounting or termination of service.

How to apply, step by step

1. Check eligibility at hubspot.com/startups by answering HubSpot's short set of questions about your funding and affiliations.
2. Confirm your route. Name your approved partner, or make sure your venture funding can be verified on the databases HubSpot uses.
3. Talk to HubSpot about products and schedule. Before signing, confirm which Professional or Enterprise products you'll buy, the year-by-year discount, how many seats, and whether onboarding fees are discounted.
4. Create your account and import existing contacts, deals and data.
5. Commit annually at the discounted price. HubSpot requires an annual commitment.
6. Set up your tools through HubSpot's onboarding or self-serve resources.

Who should use it, and who shouldn't

• Good fit: funded B2B startups that already need marketing automation, sales sequences or a service desk, and would pay for Professional features anyway.
• Good fit: teams that want one system across marketing, sales and support. HubSpot says it integrates with over 1,700 tools, including Gmail, Outlook, Slack, Zoom and Stripe.
• Poor fit: very early teams whose needs fit HubSpot's free CRM (free for up to 2 users) or Starter (from $7 per seat per month at the time of writing). A big discount on Professional can still cost more than a plan you don't need to upgrade from.
• Poor fit: teams that can't afford standard pricing by year three. Moving off a CRM later is painful.

Getting the most from the discount

• Buy what you'll use in year three, not year one. The discount falls each year, so a product that looks cheap at 90% off may not be worth it at 25% off. Choose editions and seat counts you'd still pay for at close to full price.
• Start with the hub that drives revenue. Many startups begin with Marketing Hub or Sales Hub Professional and add others later. Ask HubSpot whether products added later in the term get the same discount schedule as your first purchase, because the page doesn't say.
• Use the onboarding. If you pay an onboarding fee, use the sessions fully. Getting data import, lifecycle stages and reporting right early saves rework.
• Count seats carefully. Professional editions include a set number of core seats and charge for extras. Give paid seats only to people who need the paid features, and check HubSpot's seat rules for everyone else.
• Calendar the step-downs. Note when each year's discount ends so price rises don't surprise your finance team.

What HubSpot doesn't publish

HubSpot's startup page doesn't publish a full list of approved partners on the page itself, a funding cap for the 30% tier, whether onboarding fees are discounted, regional restrictions, or how long verification takes. Its FAQ also describes the discount as typically lasting two years, which differs from the three-year schedule shown for the 90% tier. Ask HubSpot about each of these before signing an annual commitment.

History and changes

• HubSpot has run regional and partner-specific startup offers alongside the main program. One HubSpot-hosted offer for approved members in EMEA and APAC, valid until November 30, 2024, gave up to 50% off the first year and 25% off the second year of new Pro or Enterprise plans, and excluded companies that raised Series B or later. That offer has ended.
• The current global page lists two tiers: up to 90/50/25% for Pre-seed to Series A companies with a partner or verified funding, and 30/15% for startups tied to approved entrepreneurial organizations.
• Startup directories show older funding cutoffs such as $2 million raised. HubSpot's current page uses funding stages (up to Series A) instead, so ignore dollar thresholds from older sources.

Pair it with other startup programs

HubSpot covers your go-to-market stack. Most startups combine it with credits for product and AI infrastructure:

• Notion for Startups: up to 6 months of Notion Business with Notion AI.
• Claude for Startups and OpenAI for Startups: model credits through partner VCs.
• AWS Activate, Google for Startups Cloud Program and Microsoft for Startups: cloud credits.
• Cloudflare for Startups: credits for Cloudflare's developer platform.

For an overview of every credit program we track, see how to get free AI credits.