Stay away from HubSpot contracts!!!
Bit of an annoyed post. I run a marketing agency. Last year we signed up for HubSpot primarily to help my sales team stay organized. Unfortunately in that time I've had to downsize quite a bit as we navigate the impacts of brands pulling back on marketing budget and project sizes.
I made the decision to cancel HubSpot and save roughly $12K per year and on June 20th or 21st I went into the platform and cancelled. While there I noticed that we were somehow in a new contract lasting until July of 2027 which I had never authorized.
I reached out to support and he shared that HubSpot contracts are set to auto-renewal by default and it's the customer's responsibility to cancel that. He asked if I received renewal reminders but the only renewal email I remember seeing is one related to a specific seat addition. It mentions nothing of the entire plan.
Looking closer, in March there was a renewal reminder email sent that was missed. During that time I was not considering cancellation.
The renewal took place on June 15th or 16th. My request was placed on the 20th or 21st. It was escalated and I've now received an email saying they won't do anything and that it was my responsibility to turn off auto renewal.
I'll own that I missed the cancellation date by a few days. But using an opt out system for a $12K expense seems insane to me. At best, it's an incredibly sketchy practice from HubSpot and one I would not expect from a company with such a well known brand.
Further, to reject a contract cancellation based on a 5 to 6 day window is also incredibly sketchy.
I'm sure the auto-renewal clause was buried in contract somewhere, but it was NEVER made clear to me in the sales process. I no longer have the team to justify a hubspot subscription, especially one at that price....unfortunately there probably isn't much I can do about it. But I wanted to share in case the experience can help someone else avoid the same thing.
I came up as a marketer during the period where HubSpot defined inbound marketing. But in my opinion, they are dangerously close to becoming a scam and I will be encouraging any business I come across for the rest of my career to avoid them at all costs.