If you're running Salesforce in Hong Kong right now, you've probably noticed two things: your renewal quote keeps creeping up, and when you need help, you're waiting on Singapore to get back to you.
Salesforce raised Enterprise and Unlimited licence prices by roughly 6% recently, and since closing their Hong Kong office in 2022, all account management and support now routes through Singapore. Add in the complexity of running Salesforce via Alibaba Cloud for Greater China operations, and you've got a platform that's becoming harder to justify, especially when alternatives like HubSpot are moving faster, costing less, and giving you direct access to the AI tools you actually want to use.
The Salesforce Reality Check
Pricing has become a moving target. The latest 6% increase on top-tier licences isn’t a one-off, and it highlights why evaluating the total cost of ownership of your CRM stack is essential before renewal. And if you're operating across Hong Kong and mainland China, you're also dealing with the added cost and complexity of multi-org architecture through Alibaba Cloud.
Salesforce isn’t innovating as well. Other players in the market, like HubSpot, are offering better AI tools and integrations, much faster than Salesforce can.
Migration is a beast. Moving onto Salesforce via Alibaba requires careful planning, system integrators like Deloitte, and a multi-org setup that fragments data and complicates user management. It delivers compliance and WeChat integration, but at what cost to agility?
You're locked into a partner ecosystem. Alibaba Cloud adds a layer between you and Salesforce. That might be necessary for mainland operations, but it slows everything down and makes simple changes feel like major projects.
Support has moved offshore. Your renewals, troubleshooting, and account queries now go through Singapore. That means time zone delays, less face-to-face engagement, and less of the service you signed up for.
What HubSpot Does Differently
HubSpot hasn't stood still, whilst Salesforce has been restructuring and repricing. They've been building, and they've been building with AI at the core.
Predictable pricing. HubSpot's pricing model is transparent. You pay for what you need, scale incrementally, and you won't get hit with surprise hikes or hidden compliance costs. There's no partner cloud in the middle marking things up.
Direct, fast support. Everything runs through your own HubSpot portal. No routing through regional offices or third-party infrastructure.
Simple deployment. No multi-org setups. No architectural planning sessions. HubSpot is straightforward to get up and running, whether you're a 10-person team or a 500-person operation. Working with an experienced HubSpot Solutions Partner can help you migrate with confidence and unlock AI capabilities faster.
AI that moves forward. HubSpot recently launched Marketing Studio in beta, a campaign creation workspace that uses AI to help you build multi-channel campaigns from a single brief. You describe what you want, and the AI generates landing pages, email sequences, social posts, and workflows. It's the kind of innovation that shows where HubSpot is headed, whilst Salesforce is still working out regional pricing structures.
Could You Be Missing an AI Advantage?
Here's something many Hong Kong businesses aren't aware of: when you use Salesforce in Greater China via Alibaba Cloud, some of the advanced AI and analytics capabilities are restricted or unavailable. For example, the China-hosted edition of Salesforce explicitly lists that certain Einstein/AI features, such as advanced machine learning or inbox connectors, are not supported.
By contrast, HubSpot's global infrastructure gives you access to a rich set of native AI tools under its "Breeze" branding that support tasks like:
- Drafting and optimising emails, using CRM data for personalisation
- Automating follow-up tasks, meeting summaries and note-taking via AI agents
- Predictive lead scoring and sales forecasting, helping you focus on leads more likely to convert
HubSpot also lets you add third-party AI tools and integrate them within its ecosystem, giving you flexibility as your team grows. Want to plug in Claude for advanced customer support automation? Want to use ChatGPT for content drafting? It's straightforward on HubSpot's global infrastructure.
And then there's the free tier: HubSpot's free CRM isn't just a trial version with hidden limits; it genuinely supports contact and deal management at zero cost, providing a viable stepping stone for teams.
On the other hand, in the Salesforce-Alibaba scenario, some editions and features are limited or require higher tiers. In China-hosted editions, the "global" editions may not be available at all.
What This Means for Your Business
If you're currently locked into Salesforce, you're probably not going to rip it out overnight. But it's worth asking:
- Are you getting the support you need, when you need it?
- Is the pricing model working for you, or against you?
- Are you able to adopt new AI tools, or are you stuck waiting for Salesforce to build something?
- How much time and money are you spending on workarounds, integrations, and partner management?
For a lot of Hong Kong businesses, the answers to those questions are starting to point in one direction.
HubSpot isn't perfect. No platform is. But right now, it's offering something Salesforce isn't: predictable costs, faster innovation, and direct access to the AI tools that are reshaping how businesses compete.
Ready to explore what HubSpot could do for your business? Let's talk about what a migration might look like. Without the complexity, the hidden costs, or the waiting around.
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