Hubspot and Salesforce are both amazing tools for marketing and sales, used by millions across the World. However, as a leading user experience platform, we at Trymata are aware of the intricacies of UX and how no two platforms offer exactly the same level of experience.
Our goal here is to showcase the strengths and weaknesses of both platforms and discover which platform’s user experience most appeals to test users on an average. We hope this helps customers and users to make more informed decisions.
Having said that, this test is by no means a final statement. UX is all about perspective and some may prefer one over the other based on their own unique needs and opinions. Any potential buyers are requested to thoroughly test and assess the products on their own before making a purchase decision.
Scope of the test
There are 6 key task areas of this test:
- Free trial sign up experience
Test users were asked to signup for a free account.
- Dashboard exploration
In this round, test users were asked to explore the dashboard and identify options related to managing marketing campaigns and describe the features.
- Ease of uploading existing sales leads
Users were now asked to add one existing lead into the platform.
- Bulk upload of all company contacts
In this test session, users were asked to bulk upload existing contact list.
- Sending out marketing emails to sales leads and associated analytics
Users were now asked to draft a short email and send it to the contacts that were uploaded.
- Checking platform integrations
In this last task, test users were asked to discover and enable API integration with other commonly used marketing platforms and tools.
Hubspot Vs Salesforce: What test users have experienced
Task 1. Free trial signup
Score for usability:
Hubspot – 6.67
Salesforce – 6.67
Score for duration:
Hubspot – 3:27
Salesforce – 1:47
Score for completion:
Hubspot – 100%
Salesforce – 100%
Both Hubspot and Salesforce scored equally on usability of signup. However, it took users more than twice the time to sign-up for Hubspot over Salesforce. All test users were successfully able to complete this task nonetheless.
Task 2. Dashboard exploration
Score for usability:
Hubspot – 5.33
Salesforce – 6.0
Score for duration:
Hubspot – 4:25
Salesforce – 2:29
Score for completion:
Hubspot – 100%
Salesforce – 100%
Salesforce scored decisively better than Hubspot in duration, with relatively better for usability. Users required about 40% less time to complete the task on Salesforce, which is a significant edge.
Task 3. Ease of uploading existing sales leads
Score for usability:
Hubspot – 4.67
Salesforce – 5.00
Score for duration:
Hubspot – 2:51
Salesforce – 2:50
Score for completion:
Hubspot – 66.7
Salesforce – 100%
While both tasks on average took the same amount of time on Hubspot and Salesforce, about 1/3rd of test users were unable to complete the task on Hubspot, while all test users were able to complete it on Salesforce. This disparity is also reflected in the usability score.
Task 4. Bulk upload company contacts
Score for usability:
Hubspot – 5.67
Salesforce – 6.67
Score for duration:
Hubspot – 1:50
Salesforce – 1:23
Score for completion:
Hubspot – 100%
Salesforce – 100%
Before we get to the comparisons, It is important to note that of all the 6 tasks, this was the one where both platforms scored highest for usability and time taken to complete the tasks were also the least. This is a good positive for both platforms.
However, upon comparisons, Salesforce is again the clear winner in this task, although the gaps between the two are quite less.
Task 5: Sending out marketing emails to uploaded contacts
Score for usability:
Hubspot – 4:50
Salesforce – 2.00
Score for duration:
Hubspot – 1.50
Salesforce – 4:10
Score for completion:
Hubspot – 66.7%
Salesforce – 33.3%
This task was a big win for Hubspot, especially on the usability front which reflected clearly in task duration as well.
However, it’s a loss for users. 2/3rd of test users on Salesforce and 1/3rd of test users in Hubspot were simply unable to complete the task on their own.
This shows how both platforms tend to get tougher with depth of use, which every user has to if they want to get anything done. This is even more evident in the next and final task.
Task 6. Platform integration with other marketing tools
Score for usability:
Hubspot – 2:00
Salesforce – 3:00
Score for duration:
Hubspot – 1:34
Salesforce – 3:03
Score for completion:
Hubspot – 0%
Salesforce – 33.3%
This task was a win for Salesforce, although a disappointing one. Both platforms were tough to use for discovering and applying API integrations and no test user was able to complete the task in Hubspot, with only 1/3rd succeeding in Salesforce.
Final result: Salesforce Wins!
Task usability
| Task 2 | Task 3 | Task 4 | Task 5 | Task 6 | Task 7 | Avg | |
| HubSpot | 6.67 | 5.33 | 4.67 | 5.67 | 4.50 | 2.00 | 4.81 |
| Salesforce | 6.67 | 6.00 | 5.00 | 6.67 | 2.00 | 3.00 | 4.89 |
Task completion
| Task 2 | Task 4 | Task 5 | Task 6 | Task 7 | Avg | |
| HubSpot | 100% | 66.7% | 100% | 66.7% | 0% | 66.7% |
| Salesforce | 100% | 100% | 100% | 33.3% | 33.3% | 73.3% |
Task duration
| Task 1 | Task 2 | Task 3 | Task 4 | Task 5 | Task 6 | Task 7 | |
| HubSpot | 3:27 | 4:34 | 4:25 | 2:51 | 1:50 | 1:50 | 1:34 |
| Salesforce | 1:47 | 2:52 | 2:29 | 2:50 | 1:23 | 4:10 | 3:03 |
If you found this article interesting, we invite you to read other confrontations from our UX WARS series: