Why I'm ditching HubSpot for Twenty - and why you might want to consider it too

From Rental to Ownership: The Data Operations Shift I'm Making

The fundamental shift I'm making is moving from "renting a database to owning data ops."

With HubSpot, you're essentially renting space in their ecosystem. Your data lives on their servers, follows their rules, integrates through their APIs. You get convenience, but you give up control.

I'm switching to Twenty because I want to own my data operations again. In my experience working with UK businesses over the past 20 years, I've seen how data control becomes critical as companies mature. When I audit clients' tech stacks, the same pattern emerges every time - businesses that started with all-in-one platforms eventually need more flexibility than those platforms can provide.

I've worked with dozens of clients who found they were paying for comprehensive solutions while only using a fraction of the features. What they really needed was a system that adapted to their established processes, not the other way around. Recently, I helped a marketing agency realise they were spending £800+ monthly on HubSpot while only using the basic CRM functions - that's when I knew I needed to reassess my own setup.

Twenty gives me a CRM that I can host where I choose, customise how I need, and integrate without being locked into someone else's vision of how my business should work.

This isn't about HubSpot being bad. It's about what fits my business model better. I need flexibility over features, control over convenience.

Why HubSpot Became the All-in-One Platform I No Longer Need

The honest answer is that HubSpot's growth has been impressive, but it's created something I no longer need. They now offer:

• Marketing Hub - email campaigns, landing pages, social media tools
• Sales Hub - pipeline management, deal tracking, sales automation
• Service Hub - ticketing, knowledge base, customer feedback
• Operations Hub - data sync, workflow automation, reporting
• Content Hub - full CMS functionality for websites and content management

That's a lot of capability under one roof. For many businesses, this integration is brilliant. Everything talks to everything else.

But here's my problem: I don't need all of this. I have my own content systems, my own marketing tools, my own service processes. In my experience auditing client tech stacks over two decades, I see this pattern constantly - businesses paying for comprehensive platforms while fighting to make them work with their actual business processes.

What I tell every client is this: the best system is the one your team actually uses consistently. When you're forcing your established workflows into someone else's predetermined structure, you're fighting against efficiency, not creating it.

The more HubSpot expanded, the more I found myself paying for features I'd never use while struggling to make it work the way my business actually operates. I've spent countless hours trying to configure HubSpot's workflows to match my client engagement process, when what I really needed was something simpler that just worked.

What Twenty Offers That Changes the Game for Service Businesses

The honest answer is that Twenty takes a fundamentally different approach. It's focused on being an excellent CRM, not an entire business operating system.

This connects directly to the "Get Better" stage of my Flywheel framework. When you're trying to optimise your growth engine, you need systems that adapt to your process, not the other way around.

Twenty gives me:

• Complete control over where my data lives (though this requires technical expertise or developer support for self-hosting)
• The ability to customise fields, workflows, and integrations exactly how I need them
• No monthly fees for features I don't use
• Direct database access when I need to run complex queries or reports

It's built for businesses that want CRM functionality without the overhead of an all-in-one platform. In my experience working with service-based businesses for two decades, this approach works particularly well for companies with established processes who know exactly what they need from their CRM.

What I've seen repeatedly with the businesses I work with is that they get better results when their systems support their natural workflow rather than forcing them to adapt to the software's assumptions about how they should operate. This is exactly why I'm making this switch now.

The Privacy and Data Residency Factor for UK Businesses

Data residency matters more than most people realise, especially for UK businesses post-Brexit.

With HubSpot, your customer data lives on their servers, in their data centres, under their privacy policies. For many UK businesses I work with, especially those dealing with sensitive customer information, this creates complications with data residency requirements.

Twenty lets me choose where my data lives. I can host it in the UK, apply my own security measures, and maintain direct control over who has access to what.

When I explain this to clients, the initial reaction is often "that sounds complicated." But after walking through the control it gives them, most realise the technical complexity is worth the business benefits.

In my experience, your customer data is one of your most valuable assets. Why would you want that sitting in someone else's filing cabinet?

Who Should (and Shouldn't) Make This Switch

Let me be clear: HubSpot still has its strengths, and moving away isn't for everybody.

Stick with HubSpot if:

• You're using multiple hubs and they integrate well with your processes
• Your team is already trained on HubSpot and productivity would drop during a switch
• You need the marketing automation features and don't have alternatives
• You're growing fast and need something that works out of the box

Consider Twenty if:

• You're primarily using HubSpot as a CRM and database
• You have your own marketing, content, and service systems
• Data privacy and residency are important to your business
• You want more control over customisation and integrations
• You're comfortable with a more technical setup process (or have developer support)

The honest answer is this: if HubSpot is working well for your entire business operation, don't fix what isn't broken. But if you're like me and only using a fraction of what you're paying for, it might be time to reconsider.

What I tell clients is the same thing - the best system is the one your team actually uses consistently. Don't switch for the sake of switching. I've seen businesses make system changes for all the wrong reasons and end up worse off than when they started.

My Transition Plan and What I'm Tracking

Here's exactly how I'm approaching the switch, connecting to the "Know What's Working" principle from my Flywheel framework:

Phase 1: Data Audit and Export

• Map all active contacts, deals, and custom properties in HubSpot
• Export historical data and clean it before import
• Document current integrations and workflows

Phase 2: Twenty Setup and Testing

• Configure Twenty with our exact field requirements
• Test integrations with existing tools (email, calendar, reporting)
• Run parallel systems for a testing period to catch any gaps

Phase 3: Team Transition and Monitoring

• Train team on new system and processes
• Monitor key metrics: data entry time, report generation, integration reliability
• Track any productivity dips and address them quickly

What I'm Measuring:

• Time to generate weekly pipeline reports
• Data accuracy after migration with regular spot-checking of records
• Team adoption rate and any workflow friction points
• Integration stability with our existing tech stack

The goal isn't to prove HubSpot was wrong. It's to prove that Twenty is right for how my business actually works. This measurement approach is something I recommend to every client making significant system changes - you need concrete data to validate your decisions.

In my experience, businesses that don't measure system changes properly end up making the same mistakes repeatedly. I've seen companies switch systems without proper benchmarking, then wonder why their productivity dropped. That's why I'm tracking everything from day one - if this switch doesn't improve how we work, I need to know immediately.

Is Twenty Really Better Than HubSpot for Growing Businesses?

It depends entirely on how your business operates. Twenty is better if you need CRM functionality without the overhead of an integrated marketing and service platform. HubSpot is better if you're using multiple hubs and benefit from their integration.

Don't make this decision based on what's "better" in general - make it based on what fits your actual workflow. In my experience working with businesses for 20 years, the companies that thrive are the ones that choose systems that support their existing processes rather than forcing them to adapt to the software.

What Are the Risks of Moving Away From an Established Platform Like HubSpot?

The biggest risks are data loss during migration, team productivity drops during the transition, and discovering integrations that don't work as expected. That's why I'm running both systems in parallel during testing and have a complete rollback plan.

The other risk is losing HubSpot's marketing features if you're actually using them - make sure you have alternatives lined up first. I've seen businesses make this switch and realise later that they'd built critical workflows around features they thought they didn't use.

How Do You Migrate Data From HubSpot to Twenty Without Losing Momentum?

Export everything before you start, clean the data during the process, and import in stages rather than all at once. Test with a small subset first. Keep HubSpot running until you're confident the migration worked properly.

Most importantly, document your current processes before you change anything - you'll need that reference if something goes wrong. What I tell clients is that the migration itself isn't the hard part - it's maintaining business continuity while you're learning a new system that requires careful planning.

---

About the Author

Nathan O'Connor is a Performance and Growth Specialist with 20 years of experience helping UK businesses with 5-50 staff build systematic growth engines. He specialises in performance marketing, conversion optimisation, and revenue tracking - helping business owners understand what's actually working and fix what isn't. His Flywheel framework connects traffic, conversion, tracking, and optimisation into a single growth system.

Read more at nathanoconnor.co.uk