GoHighLevel vs HubSpot for Australian service businesses and agencies

Is this really a like for like comparison?

No. GoHighLevel is an agency platform that bundles CRM, messaging, funnels, bookings and reviews for many client accounts; HubSpot is a CRM suite for one business’s marketing, sales and service teams. They overlap in the middle, which is why Australian trades, clinics and agencies end up comparing them.

We use HighLevel in our own businesses, so some of what follows comes from running it rather than only from the documentation. We are not a partner or reseller of either vendor. Prices are from each vendor’s pricing page at the time of writing (8 November 2026).

	GoHighLevel (HighLevel)	HubSpot
Unit of pricing	Agency account; unlimited users and contacts	Seat; contact tiers on marketing
Entry plan	Starter $97 a month, up to 3 sub accounts	Sales Hub Starter from US$7 a seat a month (new customer discount shown)
Mid plan	Unlimited $297 a month, unlimited sub accounts, white label desktop app	Sales Hub Professional US$90 a seat a month annually, plus US$1,500 onboarding
Usage charges	Phone numbers, SMS, email, premium AI on top	Mostly included; AI uses bundled HubSpot Credits
Strengths	SMS, calls, bookings, reviews, funnels, snapshots	Email marketing, reporting, data model, integrations
Australian hosting	Not stated in its Australian FAQ	Australian data centre listed

How do the pricing models play out?

HighLevel is cheaper for teams and agencies with many users; HubSpot is cheaper only at the very small end or when its free and Starter tiers are enough. HighLevel’s page shows no currency selector, so confirm the billing currency at checkout. HubSpot’s page states its prices are in US dollars.

Two illustrative cases, licence costs only, year one:

Scenario	HighLevel	HubSpot
A 10 person service business, one account	Starter: $97 × 12 = $1,164, plus usage	Sales Hub Professional: US$90 × 10 × 12 + US$1,500 = US$12,300
An agency with 15 client accounts	Unlimited: $297 × 12 = $3,564 for all 15, plus usage (rebillable)	Each client needs its own HubSpot portal and seats, paid by the client

The HighLevel figures look tiny until usage arrives. A business sending thousands of texts and running AI on its inbound calls can spend more on usage than on the plan. On the Unlimited and $497 plans you can rebill usage to clients, often with a markup, which is the core of the agency model. HighLevel’s page labels the $497 plan “Founder” on the plan card and “Pro” in its FAQ; either way, it adds SaaS mode for reselling the platform under your own brand.

What do SMS and calling involve in Australia?

On either platform, Australian SMS now comes with three layers of rules: number verification, sender ID registration and Spam Act consent. Getting any of them wrong stops messages or exposes the business to penalties.

1. Number verification. HighLevel’s help centre says every Australian local number must be linked to an approved Regulatory Bundle, with a deadline of 1 July 2026, after which unlinked numbers stop sending and receiving with no grace period. The bundle must be a Business bundle created in the client’s sub account with the client’s company details, not the agency’s. It needs an ASIC extract or ABN registration, proof of a street address, a website or verified social profile, and photo ID for an authorised representative.
2. Sender ID registration. ACMA’s SMS Sender ID Register applies from 1 July 2026: texts that show an organisation’s name instead of a number need that branded sender ID registered.
3. Spam Act consent. ACMA’s guidance says you need consent before sending marketing messages, must identify yourself and include contact details, and must offer an unsubscribe option honoured within 5 working days. You also carry the burden of proving consent, so keep a record of who agreed, when and how.

HubSpot handles email consent and subscription types well, but SMS usually runs through a connected provider, so check that opt outs flow back to the contact. Our guide to sending business SMS in Australia covers the register and consent design in detail.

What do clients actually own under white labelling?

Under a white labelled HighLevel setup, the client usually uses the platform, while the agency holds the account. HighLevel lets agencies white label the desktop web app on the Unlimited plan and sell a branded mobile app as an add on, so the client may never see the HighLevel name.

That is convenient until the relationship ends. Before signing, a client should get written answers to these questions:

• Who is the account holder for the sub account, phone numbers and sending domains?
• Can the client export contacts, conversation history, pipelines and consent records, and in what format?
• Who owns the snapshot (the reusable template of workflows, funnels and calendars) built for them?
• What happens to the numbers registered under the client’s Regulatory Bundle if they move?

HubSpot is simpler here: the business normally holds its own portal and grants the agency access.

How do reporting and automation compare?

HighLevel’s workflows are broad and fast to build; HubSpot’s reporting, data model and sales tooling go deeper. HighLevel shines at missed call text back, appointment reminders, review requests and nurture sequences for local businesses, and snapshots let an agency deploy a proven setup to a new client in minutes.

HubSpot is stronger when you need custom properties that behave consistently, attribution across channels, sales sequences, forecasting and dashboards that a finance or sales manager trusts. Its integration marketplace is also much larger. If your automations span several tools, our n8n vs Make vs Zapier guide compares the connectors that sit between them.

Where does the data live?

HubSpot lists an Australian data centre; HighLevel’s Australian FAQ does not state an Australian storage location. HubSpot’s data hosting FAQ says its infrastructure runs on AWS in the US, Canada, Australia and Germany, with accounts assigned by sign up location and paid accounts able to move. It also notes that apps, partners, sub processors and support staff may process data elsewhere.

HighLevel’s Australian data and privacy FAQ describes AES 256 encryption at rest, TLS 1.2 or higher in transit, daily backups and a 72 hour breach notification term in its data processing agreement. It does not say the data sits in Australia. For clinics or any business holding health information, that gap needs a decision, recorded in your privacy policy and risk register, before patient details go into either platform.

When should you move off either one?

Move when the platform has become your operations system rather than your marketing and sales system. Signs:

• You track jobs, bookings, compliance records or service history in custom fields that were never designed for it.
• Staff export to spreadsheets every week to get the reports they need.
• Workflows are so tangled that nobody will change them.
• A contract, regulator or client requires data to stay onshore.

The move does not have to be all at once. A common pattern keeps HighLevel or HubSpot for messaging and marketing and builds the operational core as a custom system connected by API. Our custom CRM cost guide shows when that pays off, and software for marketing agencies covers the agency side.

Which should you choose?

Choose by how your customers reach you and who will run the system. A short guide:

1. A trade, clinic or local service business that lives on calls, texts, bookings and reviews: HighLevel, set up with a verified Australian number and a registered sender ID.
2. An agency managing many small clients who want one branded tool: HighLevel Unlimited, with written terms on data export and number ownership.
3. A business that sells through content, email and a defined sales pipeline: HubSpot, starting on Starter and moving up only when a feature is needed.
4. A team with health or other sensitive data that must stay onshore: HubSpot in its Australian data centre, or a custom system, after a privacy assessment.
5. A business whose CRM is really running jobs or compliance work: keep messaging on either platform and build the operational core separately.

How AWLabs helps

We start with a 15 minute Development Consult to understand what your messaging, pipeline and reporting need to do. If HighLevel or HubSpot set up properly is the answer, we will tell you, even though that means no build. Where integration or custom software is justified, a paid Discovery Audit maps the workflows and data, and a fixed price Schedule of Work sets out three options: The Minimum, The Recommended and The Complete. Senior engineers lead every build, working Sydney business hours. See workflow automation and API development.