HubSpot Alternatives: Top 4 Enterprise CMS Alternatives to HubSpot
A technical comparison of WordPress, Sanity, AEM, and Webflow for enterprise teams facing HubSpot CMS’s customization limits and rising subscription costs.
Key Takeaways
- HubSpot CMS delivers marketing integration but restricts customization, infrastructure control, and long-term strategic flexibility.
- Enterprises migrate due to platform lock-in, rising database-driven costs, limited extensibility, and constrained developer ecosystems.
- WordPress provides maximum flexibility, full data ownership, and 40 to 60 percent lower three-year costs.
- Sanity enables API-first, omnichannel content architecture but requires dedicated frontend engineering investment.
- AEM and Webflow serve niche enterprise or design-led needs but vary significantly in cost, scalability, and complexity.
If you're an enterprise marketing leader or CTO evaluating your content management stack, there's a good chance you've started questioning whether HubSpot CMS's subscription costs and platform limitations justify the investment.
You're not alone.
Over the last 16 years at Multidots, I've talked to hundreds of enterprise teams running HubSpot CMS. Most of them tell me the same story: excellent marketing automation integration, user-friendly interface, but severe customization restrictions and rising costs that don't align with long-term digital strategy.
This guide examines four enterprise-grade HubSpot CMS alternatives: WordPress, Sanity, Adobe Experience Manager (AEM), and Webflow. We'll break down costs, features, migration complexity, and real-world use cases based on actual enterprise implementations—not marketing materials.
The goal is simple: help you make an informed decision without wasting months evaluating platforms that won't fit your needs.
What HubSpot CMS Offers (And Why Companies Are Looking Elsewhere)
HubSpot CMS is part of HubSpot's comprehensive marketing, sales, and customer service ecosystem. It offers a unified platform designed to keep all your digital marketing activities in one place, with capabilities including:
- Drag-and-drop page editor for non-technical users
- Built-in SEO recommendations and optimization tools
- Tight integration with HubSpot Marketing Hub, Sales Hub, and Service Hub
- Responsive design templates
- Contact and lead management directly within the CMS
- A/B testing capabilities for landing pages
- Built-in analytics and reporting
But here's what enterprise teams discover after a year or two: HubSpot CMS's 3-year total cost of ownership typically ranges from $150,000 to $400,000 depending on which Hub subscriptions you need and how many contacts you're managing.
That's for a platform with significant limitations:
- Restricted customization compared to open-source alternatives
- Proprietary templates and theme system with limited flexibility
- Hosting tied exclusively to HubSpot infrastructure
- Plugin ecosystem that's minimal compared to WordPress (hundreds vs. 60,000+)
- Vendor lock-in that makes migration complex and expensive
- Costs that scale with contact database size, not just website needs
For many organizations, these constraints don't align with long-term digital strategy, particularly when:
- Your website needs extend beyond HubSpot's template capabilities
- You want control over hosting infrastructure and performance optimization
- Developer talent finds HubSpot's proprietary system frustrating and limiting
- You need advanced features that aren't available in HubSpot's ecosystem
- Marketing automation requirements don't justify paying CMS costs bundled with Hub subscriptions
Common HubSpot CMS use cases that justify the investment:
- Small to mid-sized B2B companies heavily invested in HubSpot's full marketing suite
- Organizations where marketing operations teams lack technical resources
- Companies prioritizing marketing automation integration over website flexibility
- Teams that value simplicity and don't need advanced customization
If these describe your organization but the platform limitations are creating roadblocks, you're likely a strong candidate for migration.
Why Enterprises Are Migrating from HubSpot CMS
Before diving into alternatives, let's address the core question: why are companies leaving HubSpot CMS?
Over the last few years, I've noticed five consistent patterns across enterprise teams considering migration.
1. Platform Lock-In and Data Control
HubSpot CMS ties your website completely to their platform. You don't control hosting, can't optimize infrastructure independently, and face significant challenges extracting your content if you decide to leave. This creates dependency that limits strategic flexibility.
2. Customization Limitations
While HubSpot's drag-and-drop editor works well for simple pages, enterprise teams quickly hit walls when building complex features, custom workflows, or advanced integrations outside HubSpot's ecosystem. Developers find the proprietary template system restrictive compared to modern frameworks.
3. Rising Costs Tied to Marketing Database
HubSpot's pricing model ties CMS costs to your marketing database size and Hub subscriptions. As your contact list grows, costs increase—even though your website requirements haven't changed. This creates unpredictable budget pressure.
4. Limited Developer Talent Pool
Finding developers who specialize in HubSpot CMS development is challenging. The proprietary HubL templating language and limited customization options mean most experienced developers prefer working with more flexible platforms.
5. Plugin and Extension Ecosystem
HubSpot's marketplace offers hundreds of integrations. WordPress alone offers 60,000+ plugins. When you need functionality outside HubSpot's core features, you're often building custom solutions or waiting for HubSpot to add features to their roadmap.
Now let's examine your alternatives.
The Four Enterprise Alternatives to HubSpot CMS
When evaluating HubSpot CMS alternatives, most enterprise teams encounter dozens of options. But here's what I've learned after 15 years and 300+ migrations: only four platforms truly qualify as enterprise-grade replacements.
1. WordPress is the open-source powerhouse that delivers maximum flexibility, the largest developer ecosystem, and significant cost savings. It powers 43% of all websites globally, including The White House, Microsoft News, and Sony Music. For most organizations leaving HubSpot CMS, WordPress offers 60 to 75% cost reduction while providing unlimited customization capabilities.
2. Sanity represents the modern, API-first approach to content management. It's built specifically for organizations delivering content across multiple channels—web, mobile, IoT, and beyond. Sanity works best when you have strong JavaScript development capabilities and need maximum flexibility in content modeling and delivery.
3. Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) is the enterprise platform for organizations already invested in Adobe's marketing ecosystem. It offers sophisticated capabilities with deep integration across Adobe Analytics, Target, and Creative Cloud. However, it comes with enterprise-level complexity and costs.
4. Webflow is the visual development platform that bridges design and code. It's built for teams that want design control without writing code, offering more flexibility than HubSpot while maintaining ease of use. Webflow works well for marketing teams with design capabilities but limited development resources.
Here's the critical difference between these four alternatives:
WordPress replaces HubSpot CMS with unlimited flexibility, full data ownership, and the largest ecosystem of plugins and developers.
Sanity replaces HubSpot CMS with a modern, composable architecture that separates content from presentation, enabling omnichannel delivery.
AEM replaces HubSpot CMS with enterprise-grade capabilities for organizations requiring Adobe ecosystem integration and advanced personalization.
Webflow replaces HubSpot CMS with visual development tools that give designers more control while maintaining ease of use for marketers.
Let's examine each in detail.
Alternative 1: WordPress (Recommended for Most Enterprises)
I'll be direct: for most enterprise organizations evaluating HubSpot CMS alternatives, WordPress delivers the best combination of flexibility, cost savings, and long-term strategic value.
WordPress powers 43% of all websites globally, including The White House, Microsoft News, TechCrunch, Sony Music, TIME Magazine, and NASA. This isn't the simple blogging platform from 2005. Enterprise WordPress has evolved into a sophisticated, scalable CMS trusted by the world's largest organizations.
Cost Comparison
3-Year Total Cost of Ownership: $200,000 to $350,000 (compared to HubSpot CMS's $150,000 to $400,000)
Here's how it breaks down:
- Licensing: No Licensing Fee (open-source)
- Enterprise hosting: $25,000 to $50,000 per year (WordPress VIP, WP Engine, Pantheon)
- Development: $50 to $115 per hour (comparable to or less than HubSpot developers)
- Plugins and themes: $5,000 to $15,000 per year
- Maintenance: Significantly lower than HubSpot subscriptions
- Marketing automation: $12,000 to $60,000 per year (HubSpot Marketing Hub, Marketo, or Pardot)
Average savings: 40 to 60% over three years, with significantly more flexibility.
Key Features for Enterprise
WordPress delivers capabilities that exceed HubSpot CMS in most areas while maintaining marketing functionality through integrations:
- Gutenberg Block Editor: Drag-and-drop content creation comparable to HubSpot's editor, with unlimited customization potential.
- 60,000+ Plugins: Extend functionality without custom development. Compare this to HubSpot's limited marketplace.
- Full Hosting Control: Choose your hosting provider, optimize infrastructure, and control performance independently.
- Marketing Automation Integration: Connect with HubSpot Marketing Hub, Marketo, Pardot, ActiveCampaign, or any marketing platform via plugins and APIs.
- Multi-site Management: Manage hundreds of sites from one dashboard with WordPress Multisite.
- Headless Capabilities: Use WordPress as a headless CMS via REST API or GraphQL for decoupled architecture.
- Enterprise Security: Regular security updates with SOC 2 compliance available through enterprise hosting providers.
- Developer Talent Pool: The largest CMS developer community worldwide, making hiring and scaling straightforward.
When WordPress Makes Sense
WordPress is the strongest HubSpot CMS alternative when:
- You want complete customization freedom without platform restrictions
- You need full control over hosting, infrastructure, and performance optimization
- Your team wants to integrate best-of-breed marketing tools rather than being locked into one ecosystem
- You're managing multiple sites or brands under one organization
- You want the largest plugin ecosystem for extending functionality
- You need predictable costs that don't scale with your marketing database size
- You want to avoid vendor lock-in and maintain strategic flexibility
Migration Complexity: Low to Moderate
Timeline: 8 to 14 weeks for most enterprise implementations
Risk level: Low
What migration typically involves:
- Content export from HubSpot and import to WordPress
- Template redesign using WordPress themes or custom development
- Marketing automation integration setup (can maintain HubSpot Marketing Hub if desired)
- Form migration and lead capture configuration
- SEO preservation strategy (301 redirects, metadata migration)
- Analytics and tracking implementation
- Performance optimization and caching configuration
Important Consideration
You can migrate from HubSpot CMS to WordPress while maintaining HubSpot Marketing Hub, Sales Hub, or Service Hub. WordPress integrates seamlessly with HubSpot's marketing automation tools through official plugins, allowing you to keep the marketing functionality you value while gaining website flexibility.
Alternative 2: Sanity (Best for Omnichannel Content Delivery)
Sanity represents a fundamentally different approach to content management: API-first, fully headless, and built for delivering content across any channel. If your organization needs to power websites, mobile apps, digital signage, and other digital touchpoints from one content source, Sanity deserves serious consideration.
Cost Comparison
3-Year Total Cost of Ownership: $60,000 to $240,000
Here's the breakdown:
- Licensing: $20,000 to $80,000 per year (based on team size and features)
- Development: $75 to $130 per hour for React and JavaScript developers
- Infrastructure: $10,000 to $30,000 per year (CDN, hosting frontend applications)
- Customization: Moderate investment in Sanity Studio configuration
- Marketing automation: $12,000 to $60,000 per year (separate platform required)
Savings: 50 to 70% compared to HubSpot CMS, with significantly more architectural flexibility.
Key Features for Enterprise
Sanity delivers capabilities specifically designed for modern, API-driven content strategies:
- Content Lake: Centralized content repository accessible via API, treating content as structured data rather than pages.
- GROQ Query Language: Powerful content querying with GraphQL support for flexible data retrieval across any frontend.
- Sanity Studio: Fully customizable React-based editing interface that you can tailor to exact editorial workflows.
- Real-time Collaboration: Multiple editors working simultaneously with live updates and conflict resolution.
- Sub-100ms Global Reads: Lightning-fast content delivery worldwide through globally distributed infrastructure.
- SOC 2 Type II Certified: Enterprise-grade security and compliance.
- Structured Content: Content modeled as data, enabling reuse across websites, apps, email, and any digital channel.
- Omnichannel Delivery: One content source powering unlimited digital touchpoints.
Brands using Sanity: Figma, Sonos, Nike, Vodafone, National Geographic
When Sanity Makes Sense
Sanity is the strongest alternative when:
- You need to deliver content to websites, mobile apps, kiosks, and other digital channels
- Your team has strong React and JavaScript development capabilities
- You want complete control over content structure and how it's presented
- Real-time collaboration is critical for distributed editorial teams
- You're building a composable architecture with best-of-breed tools
- You need content modeling flexibility that HubSpot CMS can't provide
Migration Complexity: Moderate to High
Timeline: 16 to 24 weeks for enterprise implementations
Risk level: Moderate
What migration involves:
- Content modeling (restructuring HubSpot content as structured data)
- Sanity Studio customization for editorial workflows
- Frontend development (Next.js, Gatsby, or custom framework)
- Marketing automation integration (HubSpot, Marketo, or alternatives)
- API integration and content delivery setup
- Training content teams on structured content approach
- Migration tooling development for bulk content transfer
Important Consideration
Sanity is not a drop-in replacement for HubSpot CMS. It requires building your own frontend presentation layer and integrating marketing automation separately. This gives you unlimited flexibility but demands strong development resources.
Best fit: Organizations with in-house development teams or budget for ongoing development partnerships.
At Multidots, we're an official Sanity Enterprise Agency Partner with 12+ Sanity-certified engineers. We've found that Sanity works exceptionally well for media companies, multi-brand enterprises, and organizations building mobile-first experiences.
Alternative 3: Adobe Experience Manager (AEM)
Adobe Experience Manager is the enterprise platform for organizations that need sophisticated digital experience capabilities with deep Adobe ecosystem integration.
I'll be honest: for most organizations evaluating HubSpot CMS alternatives, AEM is overkill. It's designed for large enterprises with complex personalization requirements and significant budgets.
But there are specific scenarios where AEM makes sense, so let's examine it objectively.
Cost Comparison
3-Year Total Cost of Ownership (of AEM On-Premise): $3.25 million to $4 million
Breakdown:
- Licensing: $100,000 to $500,000 per year
- Development: $100 to $180 per hour (Java specialists)
- Adobe Creative Cloud integration: $50,000+ per year
- Infrastructure: $40,000 to $100,000 per year (or included in AEMaaCS)
- Training: Significant investment required
- Marketing automation: Often bundled with Adobe Marketing Cloud
This represents a significant increase over HubSpot CMS costs, justified only by specific enterprise requirements.
Key Features for Enterprise
AEM delivers enterprise-grade capabilities with deep Adobe ecosystem integration:
- Adobe Ecosystem Integration: Seamless connection with Adobe Analytics, Target, Campaign, and Creative Cloud.
- Enterprise DAM: Built-in digital asset management with advanced media handling and rights management.
- Multi-Site Manager: Advanced localization and translation workflows for global operations.
- Java-Based Architecture: Apache Sling, OSGi, JCR for developers familiar with Java ecosystem.
- Advanced Personalization: Deep personalization capabilities through Adobe Target integration.
- Content Fragments: Reusable, headless content components for omnichannel delivery.
When AEM Makes Sense
AEM is worth considering when:
- You're already deeply invested in Adobe ecosystem (Analytics, Target, Creative Cloud)
- You need advanced personalization at enterprise scale
- Your organization has budget exceeding $300,000 per year for CMS
- You have in-house Java development expertise
- Compliance requirements (FedRAMP, etc.) are critical
- You're managing hundreds of sites across global markets
Why We Don't Recommend AEM for Most HubSpot CMS Users
While AEM is powerful, it's designed for a different tier of enterprise needs:
- Significantly higher costs than HubSpot CMS, often 3 to 5 times more expensive.
- Complex architecture requiring specialized Java developers who are difficult to hire.
- Long implementation timelines, typically 24 to 36 weeks for enterprise deployments.
- Steep learning curve for content teams and developers.
- Vendor lock-in to Adobe's ecosystem, similar to HubSpot but at enterprise scale.
Bottom line: Unless you have enterprise-scale personalization requirements and Adobe ecosystem dependency, WordPress or Sanity offer better value for organizations leaving HubSpot CMS.
Alternative 4: Webflow
Webflow is the visual development platform that gives designers code-level control without writing code. It's built for teams that want more design flexibility than HubSpot CMS while maintaining ease of use for marketers.
Cost Comparison
3-Year Total Cost of Ownership: $75,000 to $180,000
Here's the breakdown:
- Platform fees: $15,000 to $30,000 per year (depending on site plan and CMS usage)
- Development: $75 to $125 per hour for Webflow specialists
- Hosting: Included in platform fees
- Integrations: $5,000 to $15,000 per year
- Marketing automation: $12,000 to $60,000 per year (separate platform required)
Savings: 30 to 50% compared to HubSpot CMS, with significantly more design control.
Key Features for Enterprise
Webflow delivers visual development capabilities that exceed HubSpot CMS's design flexibility:
- Visual Development: Design in the browser with code-level control over HTML, CSS, and layout without writing code.
- CMS Collections: Structured content management with custom fields and dynamic content.
- Enterprise Hosting: Included hosting on AWS with Fastly CDN and automatic SSL.
- Design Control: Pixel-perfect design capabilities that surpass HubSpot's template system.
- Responsive Design: Full control over breakpoints and responsive behavior.
- Interactions and Animations: Advanced animation capabilities without JavaScript.
- SEO Controls: Granular control over meta tags, schema markup, and technical SEO.
- Version Control: Built-in staging environments and version history.
When Webflow Makes Sense
Webflow is the strongest alternative when:
- Your team has strong design capabilities but limited development resources
- You want more design control than HubSpot provides
- You need faster design iterations without developer bottlenecks
- Your website requirements are primarily marketing-focused (not complex web applications)
- You want included hosting without managing infrastructure
- You prefer visual development over code-based workflows
Migration Complexity: Low to Moderate
Timeline: 8 to 16 weeks for most implementations
Risk level: Low
What migration involves:
- Content structure planning and CMS collection setup
- Design recreation in Webflow's visual editor
- Content migration from HubSpot
- Marketing automation integration setup
- Form migration and lead capture configuration
- SEO preservation strategy
- Analytics and tracking implementation
Important Considerations
Webflow works exceptionally well for marketing websites, landing pages, and content-focused sites. However, it has limitations for complex web applications, e-commerce at scale (though Webflow E-commerce exists), or highly custom functionality.
Best fit: Marketing-led organizations with design teams that want control without managing code repositories.
Webflow also has a smaller developer community compared to WordPress, which can make hiring and finding solutions more challenging.
Side-by-Side Comparison
Here's how the alternatives compare across key decision factors:
| Factor | WordPress | Sanity | AEM | Webflow | HubSpot CMS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3-Year TCO | $200K-$350K | $60K-$240 | $300K-$1.5M | $75K-$180K | $150K-$400K |
| Licensing | No Licensing Fee | $20K-$80K/year | $100K-$500K/year | $15K-$30K/year | Bundled with Hubs |
| Developer Rate | $50-$115/hr | $75-$130/hr | $100-$180/hr | $75-$125/hr | $80-$140/hr |
| Migration Time | 8-14 weeks | 16-24 weeks | 24-36 weeks | 8-16 weeks | N/A |
| Customization | Unlimited | Unlimited | High | High | Limited |
| Developer Availability | Very High | High | Low | Low | Low |
| Best For | Maximum flexibility, cost efficiency | Omnichannel content delivery | Adobe ecosystem users | Design-led marketing teams | HubSpot ecosystem dependency |
Making Your Decision: Which Alternative is Right for You?
After working with hundreds of enterprise teams over 15 years, I've noticed clear patterns in which alternatives work best for different scenarios.
Choose WordPress if:
- You want maximum flexibility and customization freedom
- You need full control over hosting and infrastructure
- You want to integrate best-of-breed marketing tools rather than platform lock-in
- You're managing multiple sites or brands under one organization
- You need the largest plugin ecosystem (60,000+ options)
- You want significant cost savings (40 to 60% over three years)
- You need a large developer talent pool for hiring and scaling
- You can maintain HubSpot Marketing Hub if desired while gaining CMS flexibility
Choose Sanity if:
- You need to deliver content across websites, mobile apps, and other digital channels
- Your team has strong React and JavaScript development capabilities
- You want complete control over content structure and presentation
- Real-time collaboration is critical for distributed editorial teams
- You're building a composable architecture with best-of-breed tools
- You need content modeling flexibility beyond traditional CMS capabilities
- You're willing to invest in frontend development for maximum flexibility
Choose AEM if:
- You're deeply invested in Adobe ecosystem already (Analytics, Target, Creative Cloud)
- You need enterprise-scale personalization across hundreds of sites
- Budget exceeds $300,000 per year for CMS and related tools
- You have dedicated Java development resources
- Compliance requirements (FedRAMP, etc.) are non-negotiable
- You're managing complex global operations requiring advanced workflow capabilities
Choose Webflow if:
- Your team has strong design capabilities but limited development resources
- You want more design control than HubSpot without managing code
- You need faster design iterations without developer dependencies
- Your requirements are primarily marketing-focused (not complex applications)
- You prefer visual development over code-based workflows
- You want included hosting without infrastructure management
- You're willing to accept a smaller developer community compared to WordPress
Ready to Explore Your Options?
At Multidots, we've successfully migrated dozens of enterprise organizations from HubSpot CMS to WordPress and Sanity, delivering cost reduction while significantly increasing platform flexibility.
As a WordPress VIP Gold Partner and Sanity Enterprise Agency Partner, we offer:
- Free CMS consultation and platform comparison analysis
- Proven migration methodology with zero SEO impact
- 16+ years of enterprise CMS experience
- HubSpot integration expertise (maintain Marketing Hub while migrating CMS)
- Dedicated project teams with enterprise security clearances
- Post-migration support and optimization
We've migrated over 300 enterprise websites, including brands like News Corp, PMC, Ask Media, and Fiery. Our migration guides are used by some of our competitors as reference materials.
If you're evaluating HubSpot CMS alternatives and want straight answers without sales pressure, schedule a conversation with our team. We'll walk you through what makes sense for your specific situation—including whether maintaining HubSpot Marketing Hub while migrating your CMS makes strategic sense.
Need help choosing the right HubSpot CMS alternative? Contact us for a free consultation.
