# HubSpot Content Hub to Payload migration > How to migrate from HubSpot Content Hub to Payload, with a side-by-side comparison and FAQs. --- ## Source: HubSpot Content Hub - **Type:** headless - **Official site:** https://www.hubspot.com/products/content - **Pricing:** https://www.hubspot.com/pricing/content - **Last reviewed:** 2026-07-28 ## Key advantages HubSpot Content Hub (formerly CMS Hub) is designed so business users can update pages, run campaigns, and push content without ever Slacking a developer at 9 p.m. It’s genuinely simple to implement, the drag-and-drop editor behaves, and the CRM integration does all the heavy lifting, from personalization to lead capture to automated follow-ups. The Content Hub rebrand bolted Breeze AI onto all of it: Content Remix repurposes one piece of content into emails, social posts, and landing pages, and there’s built-in podcast and video hosting now too. You barely need a dev unless you’re trying to make something unusually fancy, because HubSpot’s whole pitch is: "Let marketing ship it themselves." But if you do want to build something more complex or need help figuring out where HubSpot fits into your stack, reach out. We can help you avoid unnecessary and very expensive upgrades, weird theme restrictions, and the classic "why is this locked behind Enterprise?" surprise. ### Intuitive drag-and-drop interface Non-technical teams can update pages, layouts, and content without ever pinging a developer. The editor is straightforward, visual, and fast, making day-to-day site changes painless. ### Deep CRM integration Forms, leads, emails, CTAs, and all of it connect back to HubSpot’s CRM automatically. This gives teams real personalisation power and a unified view of how users move from visitor to lead to customer. ### Built-in SEO tools and analytics HubSpot flags issues, suggests improvements, and provides performance insights without extra tools. It’s practical for teams who want clear SEO direction baked directly into the CMS. ### Secure cloud hosting with SSL/CDN Hosting, security patches, SSL, and updates are all handled by HubSpot. Sites stay fast and secure without anyone babysitting servers or worrying about downtime. ### AI content tools with Content Remix Breeze AI is baked into the editor. Content Remix repurposes existing pages and posts into new formats, and the AI writer handles first drafts. Useful for small teams that publish across several channels. ### Live WYSIWYG previews Changes can be reviewed in real time before publishing, which reduces mistakes and makes approvals easier. What you see in the editor actually matches what goes live ## Key pain points HubSpot Content Hub has its perks, but you practically need a Mr. Moneybags subscription to keep the lights on. Pricing shoots up the moment you add seats, automations, or anything remotely "enterprise," and you can only hope the pricing team doesn’t wake up one day and charge the equivalent of a beach-facing villa. It’s also not winning any awards for flexibility. Deep customization is limited, the theme system is rigid, and you’re stuck learning HubL, a proprietary template language that no one dreams about using. The plugin ecosystem is tiny compared to WordPress, so advanced requirements usually mean custom builds, workarounds, or giving up. And yes, parts of the system can feel slow and clunky when you least expect it. If you’re okay with the trade-offs, great. If not, you know where to find us. ### Expensive pricing structure HubSpot gets pricey really fast with every new seat, feature, or automation. It ends up feeling like a fresh subscription to financial pain. ### Limited customization flexibility The theme system is rigid, and anything beyond surface-level edits usually needs a developer. "Drag-and-drop" has limits… and you’ll hit them quickly. ### Smaller theme and plugin ecosystem Compared to WordPress or open-source giants, HubSpot’s marketplace feels tiny with fewer prebuilt solutions and more custom work. ### Proprietary HubL language Say hello to HubL, HubSpot’s own templating language. It works… but only in HubSpot. Enjoy the vendor lock-in. ### Platform lock-in Once you're in, getting out feels like moving out of a house with 14 years of hoarded junk. Migration isn’t fun. ### E-commerce limitations Content Hub can run landing pages and lead funnels, but full-scale eCommerce? Not its game and definitely not its strength. ## Target: Payload - **Type:** headless - **Official site:** https://payloadcms.com - **Pricing:** https://payloadcms.com/enterprise - **Last reviewed:** 2026-07-28 ## Key advantages Payload is genuinely strong tech. It’s fast, open-source, developer-first, and perfect if you want full control over your content model. The Next.js integration is smooth, the admin UI is clean, and it’s one of the more flexible modern CMS options if your team prefers to build things exactly the way you want them. Just know that if you want actual features like visual editing, Vercel Blob storage, image handling, etc, you’ll be paying extra for the privilege. If you’re considering Payload or thinking about migrating into (or out of) it, reach out to us. We can help you figure out whether it’s the right stack or guide you toward a cleaner, saner (Sanity) setup. ### Integration with Next.js applications Payload works natively with Next.js, giving you clean data fetching and a smooth development flow. It removes the usual CMS friction so you can build fast, modern frontends without hacks. ### Fully customizable Everything is configured in code, which means you can tailor the CMS to your exact use case. You define the logic, workflows, and behaviour. ### Supports custom data models You can design any content structure your project needs, from simple documents to complex relational models. This gives you full control over how content is organised and delivered. ### Intuitive admin UI Payload’s admin panel is simple, clean, and fast. Editors can create, update, and manage content without training or digging through confusing menus. ### Custom plugins and APIs You can extend Payload however you like. Build custom fields, integrate external services, or add your own API routes. Perfect for teams that need deeper project-specific functionality. ### Built-in authentication Payload comes with user auth, roles, and access control baked in. No external auth service needed, and you can customise permissions to match your editorial workflow. ## Key pain points Payload’s biggest issue is how quickly it hands you the responsibility baton. Because it leans so heavily on self-hosting, you’re suddenly running databases, managing infra, dealing with scaling, and debugging auth quirks at 11 pm. And since the platform is still maturing, updates can feel unpredictable, and the surrounding ecosystem isn’t quite deep enough yet to soften the landing when something breaks. The recent Figma acquisition didn’t help either. Support has felt a bit lighter, and some priorities clearly shifted, alongside pricing. Payload feels flexible on day one, the moment your project grows you’re either engineering around gaps or paying more than expected. If you're debating whether Payload fits the future of your stack (or you’re already feeling the cracks), we’re always happy to help you plan a cleaner path or a migration that won’t come back to bite you. ### Steep learning curve Payload’s code-first approach means you need solid dev experience to use it effectively. Non-technical teams will struggle, and onboarding takes longer compared to more guided CMSs. ### Smaller ecosystem of plugins There aren’t many ready-made extensions, so you’ll end up building features yourself. This adds development time and increases long-term maintenance. ### Potential performance overhead Because it’s a full JavaScript backend, Payload can get resource-heavy under high traffic. You’ll need to optimise your server setup and monitor performance more closely. ### Gaps in documentation The docs are improving, but there are still missing pieces and unclear sections. New users often have to dig through GitHub issues to find answers. ### Small community The community is growing but still small, so there’s less shared knowledge, fewer tutorials, and slower troubleshooting compared to bigger CMS ecosystems. ### Requires separate hosting Payload doesn’t come with built-in hosting, so you’re responsible for setting up and managing your server. That adds extra cost, extra setup, and extra operational overhead. ## Frequently asked questions ### How much does HubSpot Content Hub actually cost? HubSpot Content Hub (formerly CMS Hub) starts at $20/month per seat on the Starter tier, but that's a teaser price. Most teams end up on Professional ($450/month, which includes 3 core seats) or Enterprise ($1,500/month, 5 core seats) once they need features like custom reporting, smart content, or content approval workflows. Extra seats run $45-$75/month each, and the AI features draw from a monthly credit allowance. The real cost shock comes from the CRM side. HubSpot bundles Content Hub with its marketing tools, and adding seats or automation workflows pushes the bill up fast. We've seen mid-sized companies paying $30,000-$60,000 per year once everything is bundled. That's a lot of money for a platform that still makes you write HubL templates. ### Can you move a HubSpot site to a headless CMS setup? Yes, and we've done it multiple times. The migration typically takes 6-10 weeks depending on how many pages, forms, and CRM integrations are involved. The trickiest parts are replicating HubSpot's form-to-CRM pipeline (which most teams replace with a dedicated form handler plus CRM API integration) and extracting blog content from HubSpot's proprietary format. Design preservation is straightforward if you're rebuilding in a modern framework. We usually rebuild the frontend in Next.js with a headless CMS for content, which gives you better performance and full design control without HubL's limitations. ### Will I lose my HubSpot CRM data if I migrate the CMS? No. HubSpot's CRM is a separate product from Content Hub, and you can keep using it even if you move your website elsewhere. We typically set up the new site to push form submissions directly into HubSpot CRM via their API, so your sales team's workflows stay intact. The only thing you lose is HubSpot's native smart content features (content that changes based on CRM data), but those can be rebuilt with a personalisation layer or server-side logic. Most teams find the trade-off worthwhile because the CMS limitations were holding them back more than smart content was helping. ### What are the main reasons companies leave HubSpot Content Hub? The top three reasons we hear from clients are design limitations, HubL frustration, and pricing escalation. HubSpot's theme system restricts what you can build visually, and the moment you need something custom, you're writing HubL, a templating language that only works inside HubSpot. Developers hate it because it's a dead-end skill. The 2024 rebrand from CMS Hub to Content Hub added AI tools like Content Remix, but the theme system and HubL underneath are unchanged. Then there's cost. Teams start on a reasonable plan, add features over 18 months, and suddenly they're paying enterprise prices for what is still a fairly rigid website builder. Moving to a headless CMS removes all three problems at once.