Employment Hero vs HubSpot

Employment Hero vs HubSpot: The Complete 2026 Comparison for Australian Retail & E-commerce

Employment Hero (accounting & finance) and HubSpot (crm & sales) serve different purposes but often sit side by side in modern tech stacks. See how they compare and whether you need one or both.

Features compared

50+

Clients advised

98%

Client retention

12+

Years experience

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Feature Comparison

Side-by-side feature analysis for Employment Hero and HubSpot.

Invoicing

Employment Hero

Employment Hero provides invoicing functionality, popular with Retail & E-commerce businesses

HubSpot

HubSpot provides invoicing functionality, popular with Professional Services businesses

Both Employment Hero and HubSpot address invoicing. The right choice depends on whether you prioritise depth of functionality or breadth of your overall platform.

Expense tracking

Employment Hero

Employment Hero provides expense tracking functionality, popular with Retail & E-commerce businesses

HubSpot

Free tier includes contact management, deal tracking, and email templates - genuinely useful without paying a cent

HubSpot highlights expense tracking as a core strength. Employment Hero offers the capability but does not position it as a primary differentiator.

Bank reconciliation

Employment Hero

Employment Hero provides bank reconciliation functionality, popular with Retail & E-commerce businesses

HubSpot

HubSpot provides bank reconciliation functionality, popular with Professional Services businesses

Both platforms cover the bank reconciliation basics. The edges - automations, reporting depth, mobile parity - are where their opinions show.

Payroll

Employment Hero

Combines HR, payroll, and employee benefits in a single Australian-built platform, reducing the need for separate systems

HubSpot

HubSpot provides payroll functionality, popular with Professional Services businesses

Employment Hero highlights payroll as a core strength. HubSpot offers the capability but does not position it as a primary differentiator.

Tax reporting and BAS

Employment Hero

Limitation: Customer support response times can vary, with some users reporting delays during peak payroll periods

HubSpot

Built-in reporting dashboards are surprisingly powerful on even the free plan, with custom report builders on paid tiers

HubSpot highlights tax reporting and bas as a core strength. Employment Hero offers the capability but does not position it as a primary differentiator.

Multi-currency support

Employment Hero

Limitation: Customer support response times can vary, with some users reporting delays during peak payroll periods

HubSpot

HubSpot offers multi-currency support capabilities. Support depth and SLA commitments vary by plan

Both Employment Hero and HubSpot address multi-currency support. The right choice depends on whether you prioritise depth of functionality or breadth of your overall platform.

Contact management

Employment Hero

Compliance management tracks certifications, licences, and mandatory training with automatic expiry reminders

HubSpot

Free tier includes contact management, deal tracking, and email templates - genuinely useful without paying a cent

Both platforms are strong here. Employment Hero emphasises this as a core strength, and HubSpot also invests heavily in contact management. Review each platform's approach to see which aligns with your team's workflow.

Pipeline management

Employment Hero

Compliance management tracks certifications, licences, and mandatory training with automatic expiry reminders

HubSpot

Free tier includes contact management, deal tracking, and email templates - genuinely useful without paying a cent

Both platforms are strong here. Employment Hero emphasises this as a core strength, and HubSpot also invests heavily in pipeline management. Review each platform's approach to see which aligns with your team's workflow.

Email automation

Employment Hero

Compliance management tracks certifications, licences, and mandatory training with automatic expiry reminders

HubSpot

Free tier includes contact management, deal tracking, and email templates - genuinely useful without paying a cent

HubSpot highlights email automation as a core strength. Employment Hero offers the capability but does not position it as a primary differentiator.

Reporting and analytics

Employment Hero

Limitation: Customer support response times can vary, with some users reporting delays during peak payroll periods

HubSpot

Built-in reporting dashboards are surprisingly powerful on even the free plan, with custom report builders on paid tiers

HubSpot highlights reporting and analytics as a core strength. Employment Hero offers the capability but does not position it as a primary differentiator.

Integration ecosystem

Employment Hero

Employment Hero connects with 41+ tools natively, offering one of the broadest integration ecosystems in its category

HubSpot

Extensive app marketplace with 1,500+ integrations makes it one of the most connectable CRMs available

HubSpot highlights integration ecosystem as a core strength. Employment Hero offers the capability but does not position it as a primary differentiator.

Mobile app

Employment Hero

Employment Hero connects with 41+ tools natively, offering one of the broadest integration ecosystems in its category

HubSpot

HubSpot connects with 88+ tools natively, offering one of the broadest integration ecosystems in its category

For mobile app, evaluate both platforms against your specific workflow requirements rather than feature lists alone. A free trial or vendor demo will clarify the differences.

Pricing Comparison

General pricing information for each platform.

Employment Hero

HR Standard from approximately $8/employee/month, HR Premium from approximately $12/employee/month, Payroll from approximately $6/employee/month (AUD). HR and Payroll billed separately. Onboarding and benefits modules included at Premium level.

Pricing may vary based on team size, features, and region. Contact the vendor for the latest Australian pricing.

HubSpot

Free CRM available. Starter from approximately $27/month, Professional from approximately $1,170/month (AUD), Business from approximately $4,700/month (AUD). Marketing, Sales, Service, and CMS hubs are priced separately. Bundles available at a discount.

Prices shown are approximate and may differ based on your plan, team size, and billing cycle. Verify directly with the vendor for current AUD rates.

Pros & Cons

An honest look at the strengths and limitations of each platform.

Employment Hero

Pros

Combines HR, payroll, and employee benefits in a single Australian-built platform, reducing the need for separate systems
Employee self-service portal handles onboarding paperwork, leave requests, and personal detail updates without HR intervention
Built-in employee benefits marketplace (Swag) offers discounts on everyday purchases, which can help with retention and employee satisfaction
Compliance management tracks certifications, licences, and mandatory training with automatic expiry reminders
Performance review tools with goal setting, 1-on-1 templates, and 360-degree feedback are included on higher plans without needing a separate tool

Cons

Payroll module pricing is separate from the HR platform, so the all-in cost can be higher than expected when both are needed
The platform has grown rapidly through acquisition and feature addition, which sometimes shows in inconsistent UX between modules
Customisation of workflows and approval chains is less flexible than dedicated HRIS platforms like BambooHR or Rippling
Customer support response times can vary, with some users reporting delays during peak payroll periods

HubSpot

Pros

Free tier includes contact management, deal tracking, and email templates - genuinely useful without paying a cent
Visual drag-and-drop email builder with 45+ templates saves marketing teams hours per campaign
Unified platform means sales, marketing, and service data lives in one place, reducing data silos across departments
Extensive app marketplace with 1,500+ integrations makes it one of the most connectable CRMs available
Built-in reporting dashboards are surprisingly powerful on even the free plan, with custom report builders on paid tiers

Cons

Contact-based pricing means your costs increase as your database grows, even if those contacts are inactive or unengaged
Marketing Hub Professional jumps significantly from Starter pricing, creating a steep cost cliff when you outgrow the basics
Workflows and advanced automation are locked behind Professional tiers, so basic plans feel limited for growing teams
Migrating away from HubSpot is notoriously difficult once your data, workflows, and integrations are deeply embedded

Best For

Which tool suits which use case.

Choose Employment Hero if you need

✓ Retail & E-commerce businesses
✓ Teams needing extensive third-party integrations
✓ Complex data models (employees, payroll, leave and more)
✓ Hospitality & Tourism organisations
✓ Tax compliance

Choose HubSpot if you need

✓ Professional Services businesses
✓ Complex data models (contacts, companies, deals and more)
✓ Managing customer relationships
✓ Contact management
✓ Teams needing extensive third-party integrations

Expert Verdict

Our Harvard-educated consultants' take on this comparison.

Clever Ops Recommendation

Employment Hero and HubSpot solve different problems: Employment Hero handles accounting & finance, while HubSpot covers crm & sales. Most mid-market Australian businesses benefit from running both with a proper integration layer. Employment Hero is the right pick when Australian SMBs that want HR, payroll, and employee engagement tools in a single locally built platform, particularly businesses managing onboarding, compliance, and leave at scale. HubSpot fits when small to mid-market B2B companies that want an all-in-one marketing and sales platform without heavy customisation needs, especially teams already using the free CRM. Clever Ops can design the integration architecture and implement both, typically within 4-8 weeks.

Migration Notes

What to know about switching between Employment Hero and HubSpot.

Migrating Between Employment Hero and HubSpot

Even though Employment Hero and HubSpot structure data differently, Clever Ops has experience bridging the gap. We map your core data between both systems, handle custom field translations, and run test migrations before going live. Expect 4-8 weeks for the full migration, with 3 months of ongoing support.

Employment Hero vs HubSpot FAQ

Yes. Both platforms share several common data object types (including contacts and core records), which simplifies field mapping. Clever Ops runs a structured migration process: discovery, data mapping, test migration, verification, and cutover. Most migrations complete within 4-8 weeks, with 3 months of post-migration support included.

Switching costs include data migration, team retraining, workflow rebuilding, and potential downtime. Employment Hero pricing: HR Standard from approximately $8/employee/month, HR Premium from approximately $12/employee/month, Payroll from approximately $6/employee/month (AUD). HubSpot pricing: Free CRM available. Beyond licensing costs, budget for implementation (Clever Ops typically completes migrations in 4-8 weeks) and training. We run parallel systems during transitions and provide 3 months of post-migration support to minimise disruption.

Yes. Employment Hero provides a REST API and HubSpot provides a REST API, so we can build reliable integrations between them. Common sync patterns include contacts and key records. Our integrations include error handling, retry logic, and monitoring. Clients typically save 8+ hours/week once the integration is live.

Employment Hero limitations: Payroll module pricing is separate from the HR platform, so the all-in cost can be higher than expected when both are needed. The platform has grown rapidly through acquisition and feature addition, which sometimes shows in inconsistent UX between modules. HubSpot limitations: Contact-based pricing means your costs increase as your database grows, even if those contacts are inactive or unengaged. Marketing Hub Professional jumps significantly from Starter pricing, creating a steep cost cliff when you outgrow the basics. Understanding these trade-offs in the context of your specific workflows is critical. Clever Ops can help you weigh which limitations matter most for your business during a free assessment.

Since Employment Hero (accounting & finance) and HubSpot (crm & sales) serve different functions, many businesses run both. The key is connecting them so data flows automatically. Clever Ops builds these integrations, keeping your core records in sync across both platforms.

Free trials are useful for testing the user interface, but they rarely reveal how a platform performs at scale, with your specific data model, or alongside your existing integrations. Employment Hero manages 8 data object types and HubSpot manages 9. Evaluating that complexity in a trial period is difficult. A more efficient approach is to combine a short trial with expert advice from our Harvard-educated consultants, who can identify the right fit based on 12+ of implementation experience.

We audit your current workflows, team size, budget, and growth plans, then recommend the platform that fits. Our advice is vendor-neutral: we do not earn commissions from Employment Hero, HubSpot, or any vendor. Our Harvard-educated consultants have helped 50+ businesses make informed technology decisions over 12+. Book a free assessment to get started.

Both Employment Hero and HubSpot serve Professional Services businesses. Employment Hero is also popular with Retail & E-commerce organisations, while HubSpot is widely used in Retail & E-commerce. Clever Ops can advise based on what we have seen work for businesses like yours.