Understand Hubspot Marketing Contacts Billing

Hubspot uses a marketing contacts model that lets you decide which records can be marketed to and which stay non-marketing, helping you manage your subscription costs while keeping your full database available for sales and service.

This guide explains how marketing contacts billing works, how contacts are counted, and how to manage status changes so you stay in control of your Hubspot bill.

How Hubspot Marketing Contacts Work

In eligible Hubspot subscriptions, every contact record has a status of either marketing or non-marketing. You can store up to your contract contact tier without extra charge, but only marketing contacts count toward your paid marketing contact limit.

• Marketing contacts: can receive marketing emails, be targeted in ads, and used in other marketing tools.
• Non-marketing contacts: can still be used for CRM, sales, tickets, and reporting, but cannot receive marketing communications.

You can change a contact’s status based on consent, engagement, or your internal rules. Understanding when changes affect billing is critical to controlling costs.

Hubspot Contact Limits and Billing Tiers

Your Hubspot subscription includes a marketing contact tier. This is the maximum number of marketing contacts you can have without upgrading your plan.

Key points about limits and tiers:

• The tier is defined in your contract and visible in your account billing settings.
• You can store more total contacts than your tier as long as the extra contacts are non-marketing.
• If you exceed your tier in marketing contacts, Hubspot automatically moves you to the next tier on your next billing date.

Billing is based on the highest number of marketing contacts in your account during a billing period, not just the number at the end of the month.

When Hubspot Counts Marketing Contacts

Hubspot evaluates your contact statuses on a recurring schedule. For most accounts, this happens once per month at the start of the new billing period.

At the beginning of each billing cycle:

1. Hubspot checks your current number of marketing contacts.
2. The highest marketing contact count from the previous cycle is compared to your contractual tier.
3. Your subscription is billed based on this peak number, even if you later switch some contacts back to non-marketing.

This means you need to plan status changes carefully, especially when promoting large campaigns or importing new audiences.

Hubspot Rules for Changing Contact Status

There are specific rules in Hubspot for moving contacts between marketing and non-marketing status.

Setting Contacts as Marketing in Hubspot

You can set contacts as marketing in several ways:

• Manually from an individual contact record.
• In bulk from the contacts index page.
• Via workflows that update contact marketing status.
• Through imports where you define status during upload.

When you convert a non-marketing contact to marketing, the change takes effect immediately for usage purposes, and the contact will count toward your marketing limit at the next billing evaluation.

Setting Contacts as Non-Marketing in Hubspot

You can set a contact as non-marketing using many of the same methods:

• Manual update on the record.
• Bulk update from the contact list view.
• Workflows that set contacts to non-marketing.
• Imports that specify non-marketing status.

However, when you downgrade contacts to non-marketing, Hubspot does not immediately lower your bill. The count used for billing will still be the highest marketing contact number you reached during that cycle.

Billing Scenarios in Hubspot

To apply these concepts, consider a few typical Hubspot billing scenarios.

Example: Temporary Increase in Marketing Contacts

Imagine you promote a seasonal campaign and set 20,000 additional contacts to marketing for one month:

1. Your contract includes 50,000 marketing contacts.
2. During the campaign you reach 65,000 marketing contacts.
3. Hubspot records 65,000 as your peak for that period.

Even if you switch 20,000 back to non-marketing before the end of the month, your next invoice is based on 65,000 marketing contacts, which may move you to the next tier.

Example: Reducing Contacts After an Upgrade

Suppose you exceeded your tier and were automatically upgraded by Hubspot. In the following month, you clean your database and significantly reduce your marketing contacts.

In this case:

• Your next bill still reflects the tier you were upgraded to unless you work with your account manager to adjust your contract at the appropriate time.
• Future billing periods can be lower if your highest contact count stays within a lower tier and you have formally moved down in contract level if applicable.

How to Manage Marketing Contacts in Hubspot

Use a structured process to keep marketing contacts within your planned budget.

Step 1: Review Current Contact Counts

1. Go to your account settings and open the billing or usage section.
2. Check your current marketing contacts, non-marketing contacts, and your contractual tier.
3. Identify how close you are to the next Hubspot tier.

Step 2: Define Marketing Criteria

Set internal rules for when a contact becomes marketing in Hubspot, such as:

• Has explicit email subscription opt-in.
• Has engaged with recent marketing content.
• Is part of a defined target account list.

Apply these rules through lists and workflows so that only valuable, permission-based audiences are marked as marketing.

Step 3: Configure Workflows and Lists

Use automation in Hubspot to control status changes:

• Create active lists for contacts who meet your marketing criteria.
• Build workflows that set contacts in those lists as marketing.
• Build separate workflows to set inactive or unengaged contacts to non-marketing after a defined time period.

Always verify how many records a workflow will affect before turning it on, especially before major campaigns.

Step 4: Monitor Monthly Before Billing

Before each billing cycle in Hubspot:

1. Check your marketing contact count.
2. Decide if you will intentionally go above your current tier for strategic reasons.
3. Clean up unengaged segments to avoid unnecessary tier jumps.

A regular review helps prevent unplanned subscription increases.

Best Practices for Hubspot Marketing Contacts

To stay in control of your marketing budget while using Hubspot effectively:

• Keep non-marketing as the default for new contacts until consent and engagement are clear.
• Run periodic data hygiene projects to remove or downgrade old, unengaged records.
• Document your rules and train your team so everyone understands when to change contact status.
• Use reports to track marketing contact trends over time and anticipate billing changes.

Where to Learn More About Hubspot Billing

For the complete, most up-to-date explanation of how marketing contacts billing works in Hubspot, review the official documentation at Hubspot marketing contacts billing help.

If you need strategic help planning your contact management, segmentation, or CRM setup, you can also consult specialists at Consultevo for tailored implementation guidance.

By understanding how marketing contacts are counted and billed in Hubspot, you can align your campaigns, lists, and workflows with your budget, ensuring that your database supports growth without unexpected costs.

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