HubSpot is a great product. It’s also expensive, heavily feature-gated, and designed for mid-market enterprise — not agencies or SMBs who need SMS, funnels, calendars, and a CRM in one place at a price that doesn’t require a finance meeting to approve.

The migration from HubSpot to GoHighLevel is one of the most common we handle at FulleFlow. It’s also one of the most feared — people worry about losing contact data, breaking automations, or going dark during the transition. This guide explains exactly how to do it right.

Why Businesses Are Leaving HubSpot for GoHighLevel

Factor	HubSpot
Starting price	$800–$1,600/month (Marketing Pro)
SMS built-in	No — third-party add-on required
Funnel builder	No — third-party required
Calendar/booking	Limited
White label	No
SaaS Mode	No
Sub-accounts	No
AI Employee/chatbot	Limited, add-on cost

The cost difference alone drives most migrations. A business on HubSpot Marketing Pro ($800/month) that also needs Calendly ($24/month), Twilio for SMS ($50–200/month), and ClickFunnels ($97/month) is paying $1,000+/month for features GHL bundles for $297/month.

What Transfers from HubSpot to GoHighLevel

What migrates cleanly:

• Contact records (name, email, phone, address, custom properties)
• Company records (mapped to GHL custom fields)
• Deal/opportunity data (mapped to GHL pipeline stages)
• Contact activity notes (via CSV)
• Email lists and segments (recreated as GHL smart lists or tags)
• Email templates (HTML can be recreated in GHL email builder)

What requires rebuilding:

• Workflows and sequences — HubSpot workflows must be manually recreated as GHL workflows (the logic transfers, the configuration doesn’t)
• Landing pages and forms — must be rebuilt in GHL’s funnel/website builder
• Meeting links — replaced by GHL calendars (better)
• Deal pipelines — recreated manually in GHL with the same stage names
• Reports and dashboards — GHL has its own reporting, custom dashboards require setup

Step-by-Step Migration Guide

Step 1: Audit Your HubSpot Account

Before exporting anything, understand what you have. In HubSpot: go to Reports → Dashboards and document your contact count, active deals, active workflows, landing pages, and integrations. Take screenshots of your workflow diagrams — you’ll reference these when rebuilding in GHL.

Identify your most critical automations (the ones that run daily or affect your pipeline) and your highest-traffic landing pages. These get migrated first.

Step 2: Export Your HubSpot Data

Export everything you can:

• Contacts: Contacts → All Contacts → Export → CSV (include all properties)
• Companies: Companies → Export → CSV
• Deals: Deals → Export → CSV
• Activity notes: via API export or a third-party tool like HubSpot Data Export
• Email templates: copy HTML from HubSpot’s template editor

Store all exports in a clearly named folder with today’s date. Don’t delete anything from HubSpot until you’ve confirmed GHL is fully live and stable — typically 2–3 weeks after cutover.

Step 3: Clean Your Contact Data

This step is often skipped and always regretted. Before importing to GHL:

• Remove duplicate contacts (use a deduplication tool or Excel VLOOKUP)
• Standardise phone number format — GHL requires E.164 format (+1XXXXXXXXXX for US)
• Tag segments using a column called ‘GHL Tag’ — this lets you import contacts pre-tagged
• Remove contacts with invalid emails (hard-bounced, unsubscribed, obvious test entries)

A clean import takes longer to prepare but results in a usable CRM from day one. A messy import creates months of cleanup work.

Step 4: Build Your GHL Foundation Before Importing

Set up GHL first — then import contacts into it. The order matters:

• Create your pipeline with the same stage names as your HubSpot deals
• Create all custom fields that exist as HubSpot properties you’re importing
• Create your tag taxonomy before import
• Set up your email sending domain and verify it
• Configure your phone number

If you import contacts before creating custom fields, those data columns are lost.

Step 5: Run a Test Import

Import 50–100 contacts first. Check: are all fields mapped correctly? Are tags applied? Do phone numbers appear in the right format? Are custom field values visible on the contact record?

Fix any mapping issues before running the full import. The test import is disposable — delete those contacts and re-import cleanly once mapping is confirmed.

Step 6: Full Contact Import

Import your full cleaned CSV. After import: spot-check 10–20 random contacts against your HubSpot records. Confirm phone, email, tags, and custom fields are correct for each. Flag any discrepancies and resolve them before proceeding.

Step 7: Rebuild Your Automations in GHL

Open your HubSpot workflow diagram screenshots and recreate each workflow in GHL. GHL’s workflow builder uses the same logic: trigger → conditions → actions. Most HubSpot workflows have a direct equivalent in GHL:

HubSpot Workflow Trigger	GHL Equivalent
Contact form submission	Form submitted trigger
Deal stage change	Opportunity stage changed trigger
Email opened	Email opened trigger
Contact property change	Contact field updated trigger
Meeting booked	Appointment booked trigger
Enrolled in sequence	Add to workflow trigger

Rebuild high-priority workflows first (new lead follow-up, appointment reminders, deal stage notifications). Leave lower-priority nurture sequences until after cutover.

Step 8: Rebuild Landing Pages and Forms

Recreate your HubSpot landing pages in GHL’s funnel builder. If you have many pages, prioritise by traffic volume. For each page: recreate the form fields (matching your GHL custom fields), add the same follow-up automation triggers, and QA test the form submission.

Update your DNS once GHL pages are live so your domain points to GHL instead of HubSpot.

Step 9: Parallel Running Period (1–2 Weeks)

Keep both platforms running simultaneously for 1–2 weeks after GHL is live. New leads enter GHL. Existing active deals are managed in both systems until closed or moved. This gives you a fallback if anything is misconfigured in GHL.

During this period: monitor your GHL automations closely for the first 5–7 days. Check that contacts are tagged correctly, workflows are firing, and no duplicate messages are being sent from both platforms.

Step 10: Decommission HubSpot

Once GHL has been running cleanly for 2 weeks: cancel your HubSpot subscription, export a final backup of all HubSpot data to cold storage, and update any documentation or team guides that reference HubSpot.

KEY TAKEAWAYS ✓  Export everything from HubSpot before starting — contacts, deals, workflows, templates ✓  Clean your contact data (deduplication, phone format) before importing ✓  Set up GHL foundation (custom fields, pipelines, tags) BEFORE importing contacts ✓  Run a 50-contact test import before your full import ✓  Keep both platforms running for 2 weeks after go-live — don’t cancel HubSpot immediately ✓  Rebuild critical automations first; lower-priority nurture sequences can wait ✓  Average migration timeline: 2–4 weeks for a clean, well-planned migration

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does a HubSpot to GoHighLevel migration take?

A small business with under 5,000 contacts and simple automations: 1–2 weeks. A larger business with 20,000+ contacts, complex workflows, and multiple landing pages: 3–5 weeks. The data import itself is fast — the time is in rebuilding workflows and pages.

Will I lose my HubSpot data?

Not if you export before starting. Everything in HubSpot is exportable as CSV. Export all contacts, deals, and activity logs before touching anything. Keep the exports indefinitely as a backup.

Can I keep HubSpot running while setting up GHL?

Yes — and you should. We recommend a 1–2 week parallel period where both systems are live. New leads go into GHL; active deals are closed out in HubSpot before cancellation.

What about my HubSpot integrations?

Review each integration and find the GHL equivalent. Most major tools (Stripe, Facebook, Google, Zapier) integrate natively with GHL. Tools without a native GHL integration can be connected via Zapier or Make.

Do I need a GHL specialist to do this migration?

Small businesses with simple setups can DIY this guide. Larger businesses with complex workflow logic, high contact volumes, or multiple pipelines should use a specialist — the risk of data loss or automation errors is higher and a specialist will do it faster and cleaner.

Want your migration handled for you? FulleFlow handles the full HubSpot to GoHighLevel move — zero downtime, clean data. See how our migration service works.

Want this done for you? Our team can move your HubSpot data into GoHighLevel — contacts, pipelines, and automations — with zero downtime. See our HubSpot to GoHighLevel migration service.

Related

• See HubSpot → GoHighLevel Migration
• GoHighLevel Implementation Service
• Book a Free Migration Call