You know that frustrating moment when your CRM just doesn't capture what makes your business unique? Maybe you're tracking something that doesn't fit neatly into "contacts" or "deals" - like course enrollments, rental properties, or subscription services. That's exactly where HubSpot custom objects come into play. In this guide, we'll walk through everything you need to know about these flexible data containers, from the basics to advanced implementation. Plus, we'll show you how Zeeg CRM offers the same functionality at a much lower price.
What are HubSpot custom objects?
You should think of custom objects as your own personal filing system within HubSpot (or any other CRM, in fact). While the platform gives you five standard drawers - contacts, companies, deals, tickets, and products - sometimes you need a completely different type of drawer for your unique business data.
Let's say you run a dog training business. Sure, you could track dog owners as contacts and training sessions as deals. But what about the dogs themselves? Each dog has its own breed, age, behavioral notes, and training history. You could try cramming all this into custom properties on the owner's contact record, but that gets messy fast.
Custom objects let you create a "Dogs" object where each furry client gets their own record. You can then connect these dog records to their owners, training sessions, and even specific products like treats or toys. Suddenly, your CRM actually reflects how your business works instead of forcing you to adapt to someone else's idea of how businesses should operate.
The beauty is that these custom objects work just like HubSpot's standard ones. You can use them in workflows, include them in reports, and reference them in your marketing emails. They're not second-class citizens in your CRM - they're full participants in everything HubSpot does.
Standard vs custom objects: Understanding the difference
Here's where it gets interesting. HubSpot's standard objects come loaded with features you probably don't even realize you're using. They can be pretty useful, but might loose in terms of your CRM automation.
For example, company Insights can automatically fill in details about businesses; he AI features help clean up your data. Specialized reporting functions understand the nuances of sales deals versus support tickets. But here's the thing - when you create custom objects, you lose some of that magic. No automatic data enrichment. No AI-powered suggestions. You're essentially trading convenience for flexibility.
So when does it make sense? The decision usually comes down to relationships. If you need to track one piece of information per contact or company, custom properties work perfectly. But if you need to track multiple instances of something - like multiple certificates per student or multiple properties per real estate client - custom objects become your best friend.
It's tempting to get creative and build custom objects for everything. Don't. Seriously, resist the urge. Every custom object you create adds complexity to your system. Start with the minimum viable structure and expand only when you have clear evidence that you need more.
When should you use custom objects?
Picture this scenario: You're running a software company, and you need to track individual user licenses. Each customer might have multiple licenses, each license has its own expiration date, feature set, and usage metrics.
You could create custom properties like "License 1 Expiry," "License 2 Expiry," and so on. But what happens when a customer buys their tenth license? Or their fiftieth? Suddenly you're creating hundreds of custom properties, and your contact records look like they exploded.
This is the perfect use case for custom objects. Create a "Licenses" object, associate each license with the appropriate contact and company, and you've got a clean, scalable system.
E-commerce businesses face similar challenges. Standard deal objects might work for big B2B sales, but tracking individual online orders often needs more granular data. Custom objects let you capture every detail about each order while maintaining clean relationships with customers.
Real estate agents love custom objects for properties. Instead of trying to track multiple properties as separate deals (which gets confusing when the same property has multiple interested buyers), they create property objects that can be associated with multiple contacts and deals simultaneously.
The pattern here? Multiple instances of related data that need their own detailed records.
HubSpot custom objects: Pros and cons
Let's be honest about what you're getting into with custom objects. They're powerful, but they come with trade-offs that might surprise you.
The pros tell a compelling story. When custom objects work well, they transform how you think about customer relationships. Instead of trying to squeeze your unique business model into HubSpot's standard framework, you build exactly what you need.
But those cons are real pain points. That "no automatic data enrichment" limitation means you'll be doing a lot more manual data entry. And the enterprise-only pricing? Well, let's talk about that elephant in the room.
How to create and manage Hubspot custom objects
Getting started with custom objects feels straightforward until you realize how many decisions you need to make upfront. The technical process is simple enough - you head to your HubSpot settings, find the objects section, and start building.
But the planning phase is where most people either succeed or create a mess they'll regret later. What properties do you actually need? How will this object relate to your existing data? What naming conventions will make sense to your team six months from now?
Here's a tip that can save you headaches: start small. Create your custom object with just the essential properties and associations. You can always add more later, but removing or restructuring is much more painful once you have data in the system.
The interface feels familiar because HubSpot makes custom objects behave just like their standard ones. Your team won't need to learn a completely new system - they'll just have new types of records to work with. That said, they will need training on when and how to use these new objects properly.
Data quality becomes your responsibility with custom objects. HubSpot won't automatically clean up your data or suggest improvements like it does with standard objects. You'll need clear processes for data entry, regular audits to catch mistakes, and ongoing maintenance to keep everything accurate and useful.
Custom objects across HubSpot's ecosystem
Each HubSpot hub treats custom objects a bit differently, and understanding these differences helps you get the most value from your investment.
The CRM Hub is where custom objects really shine. You can view them directly from related contact or company records, creating a complete picture of your business relationships. Building lists based on custom object data opens up new possibilities for segmentation and targeting that simply weren't possible before.
Marketing Hub gets interesting when you start using custom objects for personalization. Imagine sending emails that reference specific products a customer owns, courses they've completed, or properties they're interested in. The level of personalization becomes much more sophisticated than what you can achieve with standard objects alone.
Your sales team will appreciate having all this context at their fingertips. Instead of asking customers to repeat information about their previous purchases or service history, sales reps can see everything in one place. This context helps them have more meaningful conversations and identify new opportunities.
Service teams can track things like warranties, service contracts, or specialized equipment associated with each customer. This information doesn't fit well in standard ticket objects, but custom objects can capture these relationships perfectly.
How much Hubspot Custom Objects cost
Now for the part that makes many businesses pause - the cost. HubSpot custom objects are locked behind their Enterprise tier, starting at $150/user/month¹. That's $1,500 just if you need it for 10 users. And you'll need to pay a $3,500 fee for the Enterprise onboarding.
The per-seat pricing model makes it even more expensive as your team grows. Adding users doesn't just mean more seats - it means more seats at enterprise pricing levels. For growing businesses, this creates a serious challenge.
That's why many companies find themselves in a frustrating position: they need custom objects to properly manage their data, but they can't justify the enterprise-level investment. It's like needing a screwdriver but being told you have to buy the entire workshop.
But worry not, because Hubspot isn't the only solution.
Skip the Enterprise Price: Meet Zeeg Custom Objects
While HubSpot locks custom objects behind expensive their Enterprise plans, starting at $150/user/month (+ the $3,500 onboarding fee), Zeeg CRM delivers the same functionality at just €30/user/month. You can build unlimited custom objects and create the exact data structure your business needs without the enterprise price shock.
Here's why you should choose Zeeg:
1. Custom Objects Without Limits
- Create unlimited custom objects on every plan - no Enterprise barriers
- Full database flexibility that adapts to your unique business model
- Connect any object to appointments, deals, contacts, or custom data types
2. The only scheduling-first CRM. Unlike traditional CRMs that treat appointments as something secondary, Zeeg connects your custom objects directly to booking workflows. This way you can track your booked meetings on your CRM - all automatically integrated.
3. Much lower pricing. Zeeg offers custom objects from €30/month/user (Scale plan).
Getting custom objects right: Implementation best practices
The difference between custom objects that help and custom objects that hurt usually comes down to planning and discipline. Start by mapping out exactly what you're trying to achieve. What relationships do you need to track? What reports do you want to generate? How will this data flow through your business processes?
Resist the temptation to create custom objects for everything. Each one adds complexity to your system, and complexity without clear benefit just makes life harder for your team. Sometimes custom properties on existing objects really are the better choice, even if custom objects feel more elegant.
Naming conventions become critical when you're creating something from scratch. Your team needs to understand immediately what each object represents and how it relates to everything else. Spend time getting the names right - changing them later creates confusion and potential data issues.
Training takes on new importance with custom objects. Your team won't have any intuition about when to use these new record types or how to keep the data clean. Clear documentation, hands-on training, and regular check-ins help ensure everyone understands the new system.
Data auditing becomes a regular necessity rather than an occasional task. Without HubSpot's automatic data enrichment and cleanup features, you need to actively monitor data quality. Set up regular reviews to catch inconsistencies, duplicates, and incomplete records before they become bigger problems.
Making the decision that fits your business
Custom objects can be transformative when used appropriately, but they're not magic solutions to every CRM challenge. The key question isn't whether custom objects are good or bad - it's whether they're right for your specific situation and budget.
If your business has genuinely unique data that doesn't fit standard CRM patterns, and you need to track complex relationships between different types of information, custom objects might be worth the investment. But if you can achieve your goals with custom properties on standard objects, that's often the smarter choice.
The total cost consideration extends beyond just software licensing. Implementation time, team training, ongoing maintenance, and system complexity all factor into the real cost of custom objects. For many businesses, HubSpot's enterprise pricing puts custom objects firmly out of reach.
That's exactly why alternatives like Zeeg CRM have found their place in the market. You get the custom object functionality you need without the enterprise price tag, allowing you to build the exact data structure your business requires while keeping your budget under control.
Remember, the goal isn't to have the most sophisticated CRM setup in your industry. It's to have one that actually helps your business operate more effectively and grow sustainably. Sometimes that means custom objects, sometimes it means simpler solutions, but it always means choosing tools that fit your reality rather than your aspirations.
Sources (last checked on Sepember 8, 2025): HubSpot pricing page
