HubSpot to Zoho CRM Migration: Step by Step

Many growing businesses start on HubSpot and later move their CRM to Zoho, often to bring sales into the same suite as finance, support and operations, or to gain more room for customisation. Zoho CRM includes a built-in migration route for HubSpot that moves core records through HubSpot's API, which makes the data move itself far simpler than a file-based export. A successful HubSpot to Zoho CRM migration still needs planning around it: preparing data, understanding what the built-in migration covers and what it does not, handling custom objects and properties, rebuilding automation, reconnecting integrations and checking the results. This guide walks through each step, with a worked migration plan.

How Zoho's HubSpot migration works

According to Zoho's help article on migrating from HubSpot, the migration runs through APIs using your HubSpot instance URL and an API token. In outline:

1. In HubSpot, create a private app (Settings > Account Setup > Integrations > Private Apps) with read scopes for contacts, companies, deals, owners, quotes and line items, plus e-commerce, and generate its token
2. In Zoho CRM, as an administrator, go to Setup > Data Administration > Import and choose HubSpot on the Data Migration page
3. Enter the instance URL and token, then start the migration
4. The migration runs in the background, and Zoho notifies you by pop-up and email when it completes

The help article also notes some limits worth planning around: you can undo or rerun the migration only three times; only the first ten tags per record migrate, each up to 25 characters; the migration pauses if more than 5,000 records in a module are skipped, letting you discard or continue; and Zoho CRM does not support custom modules in API migrations.

What maps where

Zoho's article lists the supported module mappings, including:

HubSpotZoho CRMCompaniesAccountsContactsContactsDealsDealsTasksTasksMeetingsEventsCallsCallsNotesNotesOwnersUsersProductsProductsQuotes and line itemsQuotes with quoted items

It also lists the standard fields mapped for each module, such as company name, phone, website, industry and billing address for accounts, and deal name, amount, close date, stage and owner for deals. Review that table against the fields your team actually uses before you migrate, and note anything your HubSpot account relies on that is not listed.

Prepare before you migrate

• Clean up in HubSpot first: merge duplicate contacts and companies, archive dead records and standardise key values
• Set up Zoho CRM users so owners can be matched, and configure modules, fields, layouts and deal stages
• Decide how HubSpot deal pipelines and stages will map to Zoho CRM stages and, if needed, multiple pipelines
• Review tags, since only the first ten per record migrate and each is limited to 25 characters
• Identify custom objects and important custom properties, and plan separate handling for them
• List workflows, sequences, forms and integrations that will need rebuilding or reconnecting

Handling what the built-in migration does not cover

Because custom modules are not supported in API migrations, HubSpot custom objects need another route. A common approach is to export them, or read them through HubSpot's API, and load them into custom modules in Zoho CRM using imports or Zoho's APIs, linking them to migrated records by stored IDs. Treat any important data outside the documented mapping the same way: confirm in a test whether it arrives, and if not, plan a supplementary load.

Automation is configuration, not data. HubSpot workflows, sequences and lead scoring must be redesigned using Zoho CRM's workflow rules, Blueprints, assignment rules and other features. Forms on your website must be replaced or repointed, and integrations connected to HubSpot must be reconnected to Zoho CRM.

Plan the cutover

Choose a quiet period, tell users when HubSpot will become read-only, and freeze changes from that moment so nothing is entered in the old system after the final run. Decide how long HubSpot stays available for reference and when the subscription ends, and export anything you must retain before access closes.

Test, then migrate for real

Use the limited undo and rerun allowance carefully. Where possible, run a trial in a separate test environment first, check the results, adjust configuration and mapping, and only then run the production migration. After each run, review Import History (Setup > Data Administration > Import > Import History), compare record counts per module with HubSpot, and spot-check records, owners, associations between contacts, companies and deals, and activity history.

Worked example: a HubSpot to Zoho CRM migration plan

Suppose a marketing agency with 30 users moves from HubSpot to Zoho CRM. It has 22,000 contacts, 6,000 companies, 3,500 deals in two pipelines, a custom "retainers" object and a dozen workflows. Its plan:

StepApproachClean-up in HubSpotMerge duplicate companies; archive contacts with no activity in five yearsZoho configurationUsers created; two deal layouts and stage sets matching HubSpot pipelines; custom "Retainers" module createdTagsRecords with more than ten tags reviewed; tags consolidated to the ten most usefulTrial migrationRun in a test account; counts and associations checked; stage mapping adjustedProduction migrationBuilt-in HubSpot migration for standard modulesRetainersExported from HubSpot and imported into the custom module, matched to accounts by company domain, with unmatched records reviewed by handAutomationWorkflows rebuilt as Zoho workflow rules and an assignment rule; nurture sequences moved to the agency's email marketing toolForms and integrationsWebsite forms replaced with Zoho web forms; accounting and calendar integrations reconnectedVerificationImport History reviewed; counts reconciled per module; each account manager checks five of their clients

The agency schedules the production run for a Friday evening, freezes changes in HubSpot from that point and keeps HubSpot read-only for a month for reference. The details are this agency's choices, shown to illustrate the approach.

Common mistakes

• Running the production migration first and using up undo and rerun attempts
• Not creating users and fields in Zoho before migrating
• Forgetting custom objects, which the API migration does not cover
• Assuming workflows and forms move with the data
• Skipping clean-up, so duplicates arrive in Zoho
• No reconciliation after the run

For the general phases of any migration, our CRM data migration checklist applies here too. If you are coming from Salesforce instead, see our guide to Salesforce to Zoho CRM migration.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Zoho CRM have a HubSpot migration tool?

Yes. Zoho CRM's Data Migration page includes HubSpot, which migrates data through HubSpot's API using your instance URL and a private app token.

What data does the HubSpot to Zoho CRM migration move?

Zoho documents mappings for companies, contacts, deals, tasks, meetings, calls, notes, owners, products, quotes and line items. Custom modules are not supported in API migrations.

Can I undo a HubSpot to Zoho CRM migration?

Yes, from Import History, but Zoho states that you can undo or rerun the migration only three times, so test first.

Will HubSpot workflows move to Zoho CRM?

No. Workflows, sequences and similar automation must be redesigned with Zoho CRM's own automation features.

Move from HubSpot with confidence

We plan and run HubSpot to Zoho CRM migrations, including custom objects, automation and integrations. See our Zoho CRM implementation services, or talk to us about your migration.

About the Author

Manav Sharma is the founder of Insyrge and a CRM solutions architect. He works across Zoho, Salesforce, HubSpot, Odoo and more, designing the CRM setups, integrations and automations that keep sales and operations teams working from the same data.