How to move from Pipedrive to HubSpot without losing deals

You do not lose deals in a move like this because the data vanishes. You lose them because they land in HubSpot with no contact, no company, or in the wrong stage. To avoid that, build your pipelines in HubSpot first, give every deal its own ID, test with a small batch, and only then switch the team over. Keep Pipedrive as a backup until the numbers match.

Here is the order that works.

1. Clean up in Pipedrive first

Merge duplicate people and organizations. Decide what you will not bring. One migration guide uses deals closed before 2020 as its example of what to leave behind. You can pick your own cutoff. Less noise in means less to check later.

2. Export each record type on its own

Pipedrive lets you export deals, people, organizations, activities and notes, as XLSX or CSV. Three things to know:

• Only global admins can export by data type.
• Activities, notes and files tied to deals and contacts are exported separately.
• Notes come out as HTML or plain text. The export page does not mention emails.

Save dated copies and do not change them. If something goes wrong, this is your way back. Do not cancel Pipedrive yet.

3. Build your pipelines in HubSpot before you import a single deal

A new deal in a HubSpot import needs a deal name, a pipeline and a deal stage. HubSpot says the pipeline and stage must match options that already exist in your account, and the stage must belong to that pipeline. If they do not exist, the deal cannot land where you want it.

Custom pipelines need a Starter, Professional or Enterprise plan. HubSpot's default pipeline has seven stages: Appointment scheduled (20%), Qualified to buy (40%), Presentation scheduled (60%), Decision maker bought-in (80%), Contract sent (90%), Closed won (100%) and Closed lost (0%). You can rename, add and reorder stages.

Map every Pipedrive stage to one HubSpot stage in a sheet. Do not rely on similar names. Give the won and lost stages the right probability. HubSpot says Won and Lost are closed stages, and setting them correctly is what lets reports count your deals properly.

4. Add a Pipedrive ID to every deal

Create a custom deal property such as "Pipedrive Deal ID" and fill it from your export. HubSpot says to include a unique identifier in your import so records are matched and not duplicated. A custom property that requires unique values works as that identifier.

For contacts, HubSpot can use email. For companies, it can use the company domain name.

5. Keep the links between deals, people and companies

This is where deals get orphaned. HubSpot says if you leave out the identifiers, "the import will create duplicate records instead of associating each to the same record."

You have two ways to do it:

• One file: each row holds the deal ID plus the contact and company identifiers.
• Two files: the files share a common column that connects the records.

To link one deal to several contacts, repeat the deal's ID in one row for each contact.

6. Run a small test first

Import a small batch and check three things: the stage, the owner, and the links to the contact and company. The migration guide from step 1 suggests test runs of about 500 to 2,000 records. Fix the mapping, then run the full import. HubSpot's limits are unlikely to get in your way. On paid plans a file can hold up to 1,048,576 rows and be up to 512 MB.

7. Freeze Pipedrive, switch, and check again

The same guide advises freezing structural changes in Pipedrive 48 to 72 hours before the switch, and doing the final move at a quiet time. Check the numbers on day one and again after a week. Compare open deals, total amount and count by stage against your export.

What does not come across

Plan for these before you start:

• Email and call history. That migration guide also says native Pipedrive CSV exports do not include engagement history. Some third-party tools can sync some of it.
• Custom fields and pipelines. You rebuild them in HubSpot by hand.
• Reports. Pipedrive reports do not move over one to one. Plan to rebuild them.
• Multi-select fields. These may not convert cleanly.

How long it takes

That guide gives 2 to 3 weeks for a simple setup under 10,000 records, and 4 to 12 weeks for 20,000 to 200,000 records. These are one firm's estimates, not a study. Your own number depends on how clean the data is.

Our view

When a CRM fails, the usual cause is that nobody keeps it up. A clean move gives you a clean start, but only if someone owns the pipeline after the switch. We think the owner should be able to see the whole pipeline in one place without asking anyone. After go-live, check that every open deal has an owner, a stage and a next step.

Who can do this for you

You can do a small move yourself with the steps above. For a bigger one, use a migration tool or a CRM partner. Ask any of them three questions: how do you keep deals linked to their contacts and companies, what happens to email history, and who checks the numbers after the switch?

FAQ

Can I import deals from Pipedrive into HubSpot with a CSV?

Yes. Each new deal needs a deal name, a pipeline and a deal stage, and the pipeline and stage must already exist in HubSpot. Include identifiers so deals link to the right contacts and companies.

Do I need to import contacts and companies before deals?

HubSpot's import guide does not set a required order. It describes two methods: one file with identifiers for each record type in every row, or two files that share a common column.

Will my Pipedrive emails and call history move to HubSpot?

Not with a native CSV export. Pipedrive's export page lists notes and activities, but does not mention emails. Some third-party tools sync part of the history.

How long does a Pipedrive to HubSpot migration take?

One guide estimates 2 to 3 weeks for simple setups under 10,000 records and 4 to 12 weeks for 20,000 to 200,000 records.