Comparison · Education

HubSpot CRM vs OpenApply

HubSpot CRM and OpenApply side by side for education: scores by criterion, native features, and pricing.

Updated September 26, 2026

Generic CRM

HubSpot CRM

4.9

Weakout of 10

Mature general-purpose CRM with a permanent free tier. Excellent pipeline and marketing — no native admissions application, tuition ledger, or re-enrollment workflow.

Free plan (permanent); paid seats from Starter

Read full profile Official site

Higher scoreEducation CRM

OpenApply

6.4

Fairout of 10

School admissions CRM — enquiry to enrolment, parent experience, re-enrolment, events, and finance integrations — lighter than a full SIS, stronger than a generic sales board.

Contact for pricing

Read full profile Official site

Criteria where HubSpot CRM wins

Ties

Criteria where OpenApply wins

Score by criterion

In green, who wins the criterion. The overall score uses education weights: enrollment & admissions and tuition & billing weigh more.

CriterionHubSpot CRMOpenApply

Enrollment & admissions1.4×
Inquiry-to-enroll pipeline — campus visit, application, review, and decision — without a parallel spreadsheet.
4.0
8.2
Tuition & billing1.1×
Contracts, deposits, tuition plans, or student-account collections in the same product — not only a “won” stage.
2.0
6.5
Retention & re-enrollment1.1×
Student success, attrition risk, or re-enrollment for current families — not only prospecting new applicants.
4.5
7.5
Family outreach0.9×
Native SMS or messaging inbox on the candidate or family record, with team history. WhatsApp Business API also counts. Email-only, portal-only, and school apps do not.
3.5
4.0
Price and transparency0.8×
Public plan in USD, trial, and what sits outside the annual license. Opaque institutional quotes lower the score.
9.2
4.0
Learning curve0.8×
English UI, admissions vocabulary, and time until staff can work without a long implementation project.
8.2
7.0
Overall score
4.9
6.4

Native features

Only what is part of the product counts. Marketplace integrations or third-party apps are out.

FeatureHubSpot CRMOpenApply

Enrollment pipelineNoYes
Online enrollment or admissionsNoYes
Tuition & collectionsNoYes
Retention & re-enrollmentNoYes
Native messagingNoNo
Family portal or appNoYes
SIS / academic opsNoNo
Native marketingYesYes

Compare with another rival

Each pair has its own page. The ranking only highlights the main duels — the rest are here and on each CRM profile.

Compare HubSpot CRM with

Compare OpenApply with