HubSpot's new seats-and-credits pricing, explained: What it means for your portal

If you're an existing HubSpot customer, the first thing to know is this: these terms apply to customers on HubSpot's flexible seats-and-credits pricing program. HubSpot describes it as a Limited Release. If you're on classic pricing, your current terms still apply.

So why read on? Because the new model changes what you pay for in a big way. Knowing how it works now means no surprises when you next review your subscription.

What's changing with HubSpot pricing?

Under the classic model, you pick Hubs, each at its own edition, and pay for Marketing Contacts in tiers. Under the new model, you:

1. Choose one edition for the whole account: Starter, Professional or Enterprise. Mixed-edition subscriptions aren't supported.
2. Buy seats for your users.
3. Use credits for activity like marketing emails, workflow actions and AI agents.

Marketing Contacts are no longer billed separately. They count towards your edition's record capacity instead.

What are HubSpot Seats? GTM Seat vs Ops Seat

There are two paid seat types, and every account needs at least one GTM Seat. All seats are priced based on your edition.

• GTM Seat: full access to the platform, including marketing, sales and service features. It's for users who connect with customers directly or at scale, and it also includes Ops Seat access.
• Ops Seat: dedicated access to automation, governance and reporting tools. It's for users who build the systems customer-facing teams rely on. Not available on Starter.

HubSpot publishes these list prices in euros. Your HubSpot quote sets the final price.

What are HubSpot Credits?

Credits are how HubSpot charges for the work the platform does on your behalf, powering AI agents and automation across the customer platform. Different features use credits at different rates.

Two rules matter most:

• Credits reset monthly.
• Unused credits don't roll over. So buying "just in case" credits is money you'll likely lose.

If you've seen our guide to HubSpot AI tokens and credits, this is the same currency. The difference is that under the new model, credits pay for a lot more than AI.

How many credits are included, and what do extra credits cost?

That sounds generous, but don't read it as a giveaway. Under the new model, those credits also have to cover your email sends and workflow actions.

When you need more, extra credits cost €0.010 each. You can add them in two ways:

• Pay-as-You-Go: overage is invoiced monthly after it's incurred, in increments of 10 credits. On your reset date, your account goes back to its original monthly credit limit.
• Capacity packs: add 1,000 credits a month (€10 per pack) for the rest of your commitment term. If you still go over, extra usage is charged at the Pay-as-You-Go rate.

HubSpot also offers an Email Sends Capacity Pack and a Workflow Actions Capacity Pack to help manage spend on those two activities.

What uses HubSpot Credits?

This is where it gets real. Some examples from HubSpot's rate sheet:

Note the email line: every email sent in HubSpot, except 1:1 emails from a connected or hosted inbox, uses credits. HubSpot also notes that automated, bulk and high-volume features can use credits faster, and some features (like agents that make calls) can carry other service charges on top.

What does that look like in practice? A worked example

Take a Professional customer who sends 5,000 marketing emails and runs 5,000 workflow actions in a month.

On Pay-as-You-Go at €0.010 a credit, that's €800 a month on top of seats, before any AI agents.

The takeaway: 10,000 included credits cover fewer than 700 marketing emails at the first-tier rate. For any team sending real volume, planning your credit usage and packs up front matters more than the seat price.

What happens to Marketing Contacts?

You no longer pay for them separately. They're counted as records within your edition's record capacity (250,000 on Professional, for example), alongside your other records. Need more? HubSpot offers Basic and Scaled Records Limit Increases.

For many customers who've been paying for contact tiers, that's genuinely good news. But the cost hasn't vanished: emailing those contacts now uses credits.

Is the new HubSpot pricing good or bad for me?

Honestly, it depends on how you use HubSpot.

Likely to benefit:

• Large databases that email selectively, since you stop paying for contacts you rarely market to.
• Teams with RevOps or admin users who could sit on Ops Seats (from €50 vs €100 for a Professional GTM Seat).
• Businesses that want the whole platform at one edition, rather than stitching Hubs together.

Watch-outs:

• High email volume burns credits fast, especially in the first 10,000-send band.
• Busy workflows add up. Every executed action counts, so legacy and duplicate workflows suddenly have a price tag.
• AI agents need guardrails. At 100 credits per lead, a Prospecting Agent can eat a month's allowance quickly without limits in place.
• One edition for everything. Seats are priced by edition, so if only one team needs Enterprise features, every GTM Seat is priced at Enterprise.
• Use it or lose it. Credits don't roll over.

What should existing HubSpot customers do now?

You don't need to act today, but you should get ready before your next renewal.

1. Check which model you're on. Ask HubSpot or your partner whether your subscription is on classic or flexible seats-and-credits pricing.
2. Measure your real usage. Count monthly email sends (excluding 1:1 emails), workflow actions and total records.
3. Audit your seats. Who actually works with customers, and who could sit on an Ops Seat?
4. Clean up workflows. Switch off anything nobody needs before it starts costing credits.
5. Set credit limits on specific features before you scale them.
6. Ask HubSpot (or us) whether the new model will be offered at your renewal.

FAQs

Does HubSpot's new pricing apply to existing customers?

These terms apply to customers on HubSpot's flexible seats-and-credits pricing program, which HubSpot calls a Limited Release. If you're on classic pricing, check with HubSpot or your partner before your renewal.

What's the difference between a GTM Seat and an Ops Seat?

A GTM Seat gives full access to marketing, sales and service features, and includes Ops Seat access. An Ops Seat gives dedicated access to automation, governance and reporting tools for people who build the systems customer-facing teams rely on. Ops Seats aren't available on Starter.

How many HubSpot Credits are included?

Starter includes 5,000 a month, Professional 10,000 and Enterprise 15,000.

Do HubSpot marketing emails use credits?

Yes. Every email sent in HubSpot, except 1:1 emails from a connected or hosted inbox, uses credits, starting at 15 credits per send for the first 10,000 sends.

Do unused HubSpot Credits roll over?

No. Credits reset monthly and unused credits don't roll over.

Do I still pay for Marketing Contacts?

Not separately. Marketing Contacts count towards your edition's record capacity.

Get a HubSpot pricing and credits review with Struto

Struto can model your portal on the new pricing before you need to decide. We'll audit your seats, forecast your credit usage, recommend the right packs and limits, and tidy up the workflows that would quietly burn credits.