CRM migration

HubSpot → Salesforce

Move HubSpot contacts, companies, deals, tickets, activities, owners, files, associations, properties, workflows, and integrations into Salesforce with controlled record identity.

Typical timeline20–40 business days90–170 hours active work

Statusneeds review

Source testedHubSpot documentation reviewed 2026-07-19

Destination testedSalesforce documentation reviewed 2026-07-19

Last reviewed2026-07-19

Sources3

Before you migrate

Should you make this move?

Both platforms have a case. Compare what you gain with what you give up before scheduling the cutover.

Current platform

HubSpot

Reasons to stay

CRM, marketing, sales, service, and content tools share one approachable data model
Structured ownership, status, and workflow views improve operational visibility

Reasons to leave

Advanced features become expensive and can lock processes into HubSpot-specific objects
Custom fields, automations, history, and reporting are difficult to reproduce exactly

New platform

Salesforce

What gets better

Extensive CRM customization, ecosystem, reporting, and enterprise governance support complex businesses
Structured ownership, status, and workflow views improve operational visibility

What gets worse

Licensing, implementation, and ongoing administration are expensive and specialized
Custom fields, automations, history, and reporting are difficult to reproduce exactly

Best of the move

Salesforce: Extensive CRM customization, ecosystem, reporting, and enterprise governance support complex businesses. This removes a major source-side concern: Advanced features become expensive and can lock processes into HubSpot-specific objects.

Worst of the move

What you lose: CRM, marketing, sales, service, and content tools share one approachable data model. What you inherit: Licensing, implementation, and ongoing administration are expensive and specialized.

01At a glance

Know the shape of the move.

Transfer outcome12 features audited

Clean0

Partial9

Manual2

Lost1

Mapping route9 of 9 fields have a destination path

SourceHubSpot9 mapped fields

Automatic0

Transform7

Manual2

Unsupported0

DestinationSalesforce9 supported paths

This timeline assumes

Up to 500,000 CRM records, 200 properties, 50 workflows, and 30 integrations
Administrators control both systems and every integration that writes CRM data.
Stable source IDs remain on destination records for reconciliation.
A sandbox or isolated destination pilot is available before production loading.
The migration team records evidence for every blocking verification check.

02Loss matrix

What survives the move.

“Partial” and “manual” are not footnotes. They are work that must be scheduled and verified.

Item	Outcome	Impact	What happens	Mitigation
Record properties and associations	partial	critical	HubSpot can export current values and associations, but Salesforce object and relationship models differ.	Freeze a field dictionary and load parent objects before dependent records.
Activities and engagement history	partial	high	HubSpot record exports do not include every activity; selected reports or APIs are required.	Define the required history and extract it through supported activity exports or APIs.
Workflows, lists, scoring, and automation state	manual	critical	HubSpot automation logic does not execute in Salesforce.	Rebuild approved logic and explicitly disposition records already in progress.
Marketing attribution and reports	lost	high	Historical HubSpot report behavior and attribution models do not become Salesforce reports automatically.	Export signed baseline reports and rebuild only the metrics the business will continue using.
Contacts and leads	partial	critical	Core people records can move, but identifiers, lifecycle models, and duplicates require transformation.	Define stable matching rules and load a representative pilot.
Companies and accounts	partial	critical	Account models, parent relationships, domains, and person-account behavior differ.	Create accounts before dependent records and verify hierarchy.
Deals and opportunities	partial	critical	Pipelines, stages, products, currency, probability, and close semantics need mapping.	Freeze a stage dictionary and reconcile value by pipeline.
Custom properties and fields	partial	high	Names, types, option values, validation, and calculated fields differ.	Create a signed field dictionary before loading records.
Owners, teams, and permissions	manual	critical	Users and access rules do not transfer as data.	Provision destination users first and map inactive owners explicitly.
Associations and hierarchy	partial	critical	Relationships can flatten when stable source IDs are absent or load order is wrong.	Preserve source IDs and load parents before children.
Activities and communication history	partial	high	Calls, meetings, notes, tasks, and emails have different export and import coverage.	Define mandatory history and test each activity type separately.
Files and attachments	partial	high	Record exports may include metadata without transferring every binary.	Export binaries separately and verify record linkage and permissions.

03Field and feature mapping

Where each thing goes.

Source	Destination	Method	Notes
HubSpot contact or lead	Salesforce person record	transform	Preserve source ID and approved match key.
Company or account	Company or account	transform	Load before related people and deals.
Deal or opportunity	Deal or opportunity	transform	Map pipeline, stage, currency, value, and close date.
Custom property or field	Destination property or field	transform	Map type, validation, options, and null behavior.
Owner	Destination owner	manual	Map inactive and deleted users to approved holding owners.
Record association	Destination association	transform	Resolve source IDs after parent load.
Activity	Destination activity	transform	Test each supported activity type.
File or attachment	Destination file association	transform	Copy the binary and preserve access.
Workflow enrollment	Destination automation state	manual	Do not infer in-flight state.

04Before you begin

Make the move recoverable.

Backup procedure

Create the source-of-truth backup

Preserve HubSpot data, configuration, and operating evidence before any destination write.

Export every in-scope HubSpot object, field definition, relationship, activity, file, user, workflow, report, and integration.
Record counts and value totals by object, owner, pipeline, stage, and currency.
Capture schemas, permissions, automation definitions, API clients, and sync direction.
Hash raw exports and transform working copies only.

Proof to capture: A signed manifest reconciles every scoped record class, runtime dependency, export file, count, and hash.

Transformation · SQL or migration workbook

Record identity and field map

Preserve stable identity, types, options, and relationships.

Inventory source values and exceptions.
Define explicit destination mappings.
Reject unmapped critical records.

Proof to capture: Save the input, output, command or tool settings, warnings, and final item counts.

Transformation · ETL script and destination importer

Dependency-ordered load files

Load owners and parents before dependent records.

Normalize encoding, dates, identifiers, and blanks.
Run a representative pilot.
Reconcile accepted, rejected, and transformed rows.

Proof to capture: Save the input, output, command or tool settings, warnings, and final item counts.

05Handle with care

The things most likely to hurt.

These are operating limits. Treat every “Stop if” condition as a blocked migration, not a suggestion.

Import

Duplicate or flattened records

criticalpossible likelihood

Counts increase unexpectedly or relationships lose stable IDs.

Consequence: Teams act on conflicting customer records.
Mitigation: Pilot matching and dependency-ordered loads.

Stop if: Duplicate rate or orphan relationships exceed tolerance.

Cutover

Automations write during migration

criticalpossible likelihood

Source and destination workflows update the same business process.

Consequence: Records drift and customers receive incorrect actions.
Mitigation: Freeze writers and enable one integration at a time.

Stop if: An unapproved writer changes migrated data.

Verification

Permissions expose restricted data

criticalpossible likelihood

A pilot user can access records or fields outside their role.

Consequence: Confidential or regulated data is disclosed.
Mitigation: Build and test least-privilege roles before load.

Stop if: Any restricted record is visible to an unauthorized test user.

06Precise timeline

Do the work in this order.

Estimate forUp to 500,000 CRM records, 200 properties, 50 workflows, and 30 integrations

Total elapsed20–40 business days

Active work90–170 hours

BufferAdd time for custom objects, regulated data, multiple pipelines, complex attribution, or large activity history.

Days 1–3Inventory and decisions2–3 days

Days 3–5Backup and reconcile1–3 days

Days 5–12Map and pilot3–8 days

Days 10–20Final delta and switch1–5 days

Days 12–40Observe and close3–10 days

1
Days 1–3 · inventory
Inventory and decisions
6–12 hours active2–3 days elapsedOwner review waiting
- Inventory HubSpot data, features, users, domains, and integrations.
- Approve scope, owners, mappings, and exclusions.
Depends on: HubSpot and Salesforce administrator access
Stop / go checkpoint
Export?
Go when: Every critical item has an owner and disposition.
Stop when: Consent, billing, access, or system ownership is unclear.
2
Days 3–5 · backup
Backup and reconcile
5–10 hours active1–3 days elapsedExport processing waiting
- Create immutable exports and configuration evidence.
- Reconcile counts, totals, and hashes.
Depends on: Approved inventory
Stop / go checkpoint
Transform?
Go when: Source totals and export manifests agree.
Stop when: Any critical dataset or configuration is absent.
3
Days 5–12 · pilot
Map and pilot
10–35 hours active3–8 days elapsedDestination processing and review waiting
- Configure Salesforce and transform representative data.
- Run a pilot containing normal records and every critical edge case.
Depends on: Verified backup
Stop / go checkpoint
Scale?
Go when: Pilot mappings, behavior, access, and evidence pass.
Stop when: Any critical check fails or produces unexplained variance.
4
Days 10–20 · cutover
Final delta and switch
5–25 hours active1–5 days elapsedDNS, import, or sync propagation waiting
- Freeze production writes in HubSpot.
- Apply the final delta, switch ownership, and run blocking checks.
Depends on: Passed pilot and approved rollback
Stop / go checkpoint
Open production?
Go when: Counts reconcile and one destination system owns production.
Stop when: A source writer remains active or a blocking check fails.
5
Days 12–40 · observe
Observe and close
3–18 hours active3–10 days elapsedOperating-cycle evidence waiting
- Monitor one complete operating cycle.
- Sign the verification report and close rollback only after stability.
Depends on: Verified cutover
Stop / go checkpoint
Close rollback?
Go when: No trigger occurs during the agreed observation period.
Stop when: Data, access, delivery, routing, or business results regress.

07The point of change

Cut over with a way back.

Go live

Cutover

Make Salesforce the only production system without losing the final HubSpot delta.

Recommended window: A low-volume weekday morning with platform, data, DNS, and business owners available.

Freeze production writes and scheduled actions in HubSpot.
Export, transform, and reconcile the final delta.
Apply the approved delta to Salesforce.
Switch domains, forms, integrations, sending, or sync ownership as applicable.
Run every blocking verification check and keep the source intact.

Proof to capture: Salesforce owns production, totals reconcile, and every blocking check has durable evidence.

Return to safety

Rollback

Return production ownership to HubSpot without losing destination-era changes.

Deadline: Within seven days and before source data, plans, credentials, domains, or billing are changed.

Stop new writes and scheduled actions in Salesforce.
Restore the prior HubSpot routing, forms, integrations, sending, or sync ownership.
Export the Salesforce post-cutover delta.
Review and apply safe destination-era changes to HubSpot.
Run the same blocking checks against the restored source.

Proof to capture: HubSpot again owns production with current data and no duplicate destination action.

Rollback immediately when

Unexplained critical count or value variance
Missing or exposed critical data
Duplicate production action
Failed access, routing, delivery, or integration check
A critical feature has no safe destination replacement

08Verification report

Prove the migration worked.

Every blocking check must pass. Capture the evidence before cleanup begins.

ID	Check	Method	Expected result	Evidence
`V-01`Blocking	Object reconciliation	Compare source, staged, accepted, rejected, and destination counts.	Every record is accounted for.	Count ledger.
`V-02`Blocking	Duplicate control	Run approved match rules and inspect samples.	Duplicate and merge rates remain within tolerance.	Identity report.
`V-03`Blocking	Value parity	Compare stratified records across every critical type.	Critical values, options, nulls, dates, and currency match.	Field comparison.
`V-04`Blocking	Association integrity	Query parent, child, and many-to-many samples.	No unexplained orphan or flattened relationship.	Relationship report.
`V-05`Blocking	History coverage	Compare each required activity type.	Approved history is present and correctly owned.	Activity matrix.
`V-06`Blocking	Role and field security	Test representative users.	Least-privilege access matches the signed matrix.	Access evidence.
`V-07`Blocking	Business paths	Run controlled records through every approved branch.	One correct action path with no source duplicate.	Automation log.
`V-08`Blocking	Integration ownership	Inspect writers, API clients, webhooks, and scheduled jobs.	Salesforce is the authoritative CRM.	Integration registry.

09Post-migration cleanup

Remove the scaffolding safely.

Safe after: One complete operating cycle, at least seven stable days, and owner sign-off on every blocking check.

Create final HubSpot exports and archive verification evidence.
Revoke temporary credentials, API keys, webhooks, and elevated roles.
Remove obsolete embeds, forms, jobs, integrations, and DNS records.
Keep the source intact through the approved retention window.
Cancel paid plans only after billing, legal, and recovery review.
Schedule the next Salesforce backup, access, and migration-playbook review.

Sources and maintenance

Built to be reviewed.

Tested 2026-07-19. Next scheduled review: 2026-10-19.

HubSpot: export recordsAccessed 2026-07-19
Salesforce: Data Import WizardAccessed 2026-07-19
HubSpot: connect HubSpot and SalesforceAccessed 2026-07-19

Know the shape of the move.

This timeline assumes

What survives the move.

Where each thing goes.

Make the move recoverable.

Create the source-of-truth backup

Record identity and field map

Dependency-ordered load files

The things most likely to hurt.

Duplicate or flattened records

Automations write during migration

Permissions expose restricted data

Do the work in this order.

Inventory and decisions

Export?

Backup and reconcile

Transform?

Map and pilot

Scale?

Final delta and switch

Open production?

Observe and close

Close rollback?

Cut over with a way back.

Cutover

Rollback

Prove the migration worked.

Remove the scaffolding safely.

Built to be reviewed.