HubSpot CRM vs Monday.com: Operations Guide for SMEs

At a glance: the verdict

Monday.com might be best if your primary pain is internal coordination, complex project delivery, and visualising workflows.
HubSpot might be best if your primary pain is revenue operations, connecting teams to customer data, and removing friction from the buyer journey.

If you are a COO or Head of Operations in a growing SME, your days are likely consumed by 'swivel-chair' processes. You move from email to a spreadsheet, then to a finance system and finally to a project board all just to answer one client question.

You know you need to consolidate. You need a 'single source of truth'.

In your search for a solution, two names keep coming up: HubSpot and Monday.com.

On the surface, they look similar. Both promise automation. Both claim to be a 'work OS' or a 'customer platform'. Both have colourful dashboards and promise to make your life easier.

But choosing between them isn't about comparing feature lists. It is about defining the DNA of your operational problem.

Are you trying to fix how your team talks to each other about work? Or are you trying to fix how your team moves a customer through your business?

Here is how to make the right call.

The core difference: platform DNA

To understand which tool fits, you have to look at where they started.

Monday.com was born as a project management tool. Its DNA is built around tasks, timelines, and internal collaboration. It excels at answering: Who is doing what, and when will it be done?

HubSpot was born as a CRM (Customer Relationship Management). Its DNA is built around the contact record. It excels at answering: Who is this person, what have they bought, and how do we grow this relationship?

When Monday.com is the right choice

If your operations are asset-heavy or project-based like for example, managing aviation MRO schedules, EU grant timelines, or construction phases then Monday.com is incredibly strong.

You should choose Monday.com if:

Your product is a 'project'. Once a deal is signed, the real work begins. You need Gantt charts, resource loading, and critical path analysis to deliver the service.
Visualisation is your priority. You need to see, at a glance, where every aircraft, ship, or tenant application is in a complex workflow.
The pain is internal. Your teams are missing deadlines because they don't know who is responsible for the next step.

Monday helps you orchestrate the delivery of your value.

When HubSpot is the right choice

If your operational pain is tied to revenue, growth, or the customer experience, a project management tool will not save you. You need a RevOps (Revenue Operations) engine.

You should choose HubSpot if:

Your data is fragmented. Sales doesn't know what marketing is doing, and operations doesn't know what sales just promised the client.
You need to automate the customer journey. You want to trigger a contract renewal email 90 days before a lease expires, or alert an account manager when a key client visits your pricing page.
Reporting is a nightmare. You spend days manually aggregating data from three systems to calculate your gross margin or customer acquisition cost.

HubSpot helps you orchestrate the business of your value.

The trap: trying to force one tool to do it all

The biggest mistake we see operational leaders make is trying to force one platform to be something it isn't.

Using Monday as a CRM Monday has a "Sales CRM" product, and it is visually appealing. However, it treats a customer like a row on a spreadsheet. It lacks the deep, relational intelligence of a dedicated CRM. You will struggle with detailed activity logging, email integration, and complex attribution reporting. It works for very simple sales processes, but it breaks down at scale.

Using HubSpot for heavy project management HubSpot has improved its project management capabilities, but it is not Microsoft Project. If you need to manage complex dependencies (e.g., "Step B cannot start until Step A is 50% complete and signed off by the engineer"), HubSpot's native tools might feel too light.

The hybrid approach: do you need both?

For many of our SME clients, specifically those in B2B services, the answer is often an integration.

Imagine this workflow:

HubSpot (The Engine): Marketing captures the lead. Sales nurtures the relationship and closes the deal. All communication history, contracts, and financial data live here.
The Handoff: When the deal moves to "Closed-Won" in HubSpot, an automation triggers.
Monday.com (The Delivery): A new project board is instantly created in Monday.com, populated with the client's details and the scope of work sold.
Feedback Loop: As the operations team completes milestones in Monday, the status updates write back to HubSpot. The account manager sees the progress without ever leaving the CRM.

This allows your delivery team to work in a tool designed for projects, while your commercial team stays in a tool designed for revenue.

A note on cost

Disclaimer: The costs provided below are based on list prices. Final pricing is determined by the vendor and may vary. Discounts can be applied depending on factors such as contract length and payment terms but can never be guaranteed.

Monday.com typically uses a per-seat model. It is often cheaper to start. For a standard setup, you might pay between €15 and €25 per user/month.

HubSpot uses a mix of per-seat pricing and contact-tier pricing. It is an investment in infrastructure. For a professional or enterprise suite covering marketing, sales, and ops, you are looking at a starting point in the hundreds or low thousands of Euros per month, but it replaces your marketing automation, CRM, ticketing system and reporting tools.