Migrate from HubSpot to Attio with a clean data model and a predictable cutover
We help teams move from HubSpot to Attio when they want a faster, more flexible CRM. We handle export, schema, and cutover, and we’ll flag the real tradeoffs early: workflows, sequences, reporting, files, and email history.
Paying more, using less.
Why teams move off HubSpot
HubSpot has a massive marketplace, a huge user base, and it isn't going anywhere. The teams that come to us have a consistent set of reasons for leaving anyway.
- The pricing treadmill. Every feature you need seems to live on the next tier up. Specific reporting, certain automation triggers, additional users: always gated behind the next plan. Teams end up paying enterprise prices for what should have been standard functionality.
- The APIs. This is direct experience, not hearsay. HubSpot's APIs are painful to work with. Inconsistent patterns, surprising limitations, endpoints that don't match the experience of users in the forum. Attio is API-first with consistent, well-documented endpoints that cover nearly everything. For anyone building integrations, the difference is significant.
- The bloat tax. Since HubSpot launched in 2006, it’s expanded into a broad customer platform. That breadth is a strength, but for teams who mainly need a CRM plus a few core workflows, the extra surface area can add real overhead costs.
The full picture
What the migration involves
HubSpot migrations can get complex because of workflows and integrations, but the underlying data model usually maps more cleanly than people expect.
| What's different | How we handle it | |
|---|---|---|
| Email & Calendar Caveats | What's different HubSpot tracks email through connected inboxes with varying capabilities by plan. Attio's inbox and calendar sync pulls existing history when users connect, including backfill. | How we handle it Active employees' email history will reappear once they connect their inbox (Attio backfills prior correspondence automatically). The risk is departed employees: if someone has left and their mailbox is disconnected or no longer exists, that email history won't come back. To preserve some continuity, we typically export interaction metadata into Attio as notes (or, if preferred, a custom “Activity” object). |
| Companies Direct mapping | What's different HubSpot can automatically associate contacts with companies by matching the domain in a contact’s email address to a company’s domain. Attio similarly creates or matches a company based on a person’s email domain, and company domains are the unique identifier for companies in Attio (which prevents duplicates). | How we handle it Custom properties come over as attributes. Attio's domain-based deduplication and auto-enrichment handle things HubSpot required manual upkeep or third-party tools for. |
| People Direct mapping | What's different HubSpot Contact records include Lifecycle stage (and many teams use Lead status) as standard properties. In Attio, those typically map to custom attributes or list membership. Attio also enriches person records; if you need a person linked to multiple companies, that’s modeled with relationship attributes (including many-to-many where needed). | How we handle it Properties come over as attributes. Lifecycle tracking translates to status attributes or list membership in Attio. |
| Deals Direct mapping | What's different Both platforms support deal records with pipeline stages, values, and associated contacts/companies. Multiple pipelines are supported on both. | How we handle it Stages, values, and associations all translate cleanly. |
| Notes & Tasks Direct mapping | What's different HubSpot logs notes, tasks, and activities on contact and company records. Attio uses notes and tasks with record associations, and the activity stream captures email and calendar data from connected accounts. | How we handle it For the migration process, we typically attach multi-person notes to the company as the canonical record and include participants in the body. We also add metadata (for example, the original creator name) into the note text, because Attio does not allow you to assign a "creator" of the note. The original created date is preserved during the migration. |
| Enrichment Caveats | What's different HubSpot enrichment varies by tier: some plans include basic company insights, but most teams supplement with third-party tools (ZoomInfo, Clearbit, Apollo). Attio provides native enrichment on People and Companies that stays updated, and is extendable via marketplace apps or custom integrations. | How we handle it We generally don’t migrate enrichment fields from third-party tools, since those values go stale once they’re no longer connected to the source. Instead, we rely on Attio’s built-in enrichment to repopulate the baseline fields, then reconnect whatever enrichment providers you plan to keep long-term (e.g., Apollo, Clay, People Data Labs) so the data stays current and maintainable. |
| Files Caveats | What's different HubSpot has a centralized file manager for uploaded assets. In Attio, the Files tab is designed for uploads and synced cloud-storage folders (Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox, Box) linked to records. Our recommendation is to link a source folder to each record and transition ongoing file management there. | How we handle it We extract files, organize by company in your file storage, and link from Attio using native storage integrations. HubSpot's export tools make this straightforward. |
| Workflows & Sequences Caveats | What's different HubSpot includes both Workflows and Sequences (depending on subscription). Attio also includes Workflows and native Sequences. Attio uses workspace credits for workflows, sequences, and AI features. | How we handle it We typically use the migration as an opportunity to audit and clean up unnecessary workflows. Once that process is complete, workflows need to be manually rebuilt in Attio (there is no API for this.) For sequences, many teams choose to keep a dedicated outbound tool if they rely on features unavailable in Attio’s sequencing model. |
| Marketing Features Unavailable | What's different HubSpot includes email marketing, landing pages, forms, blog hosting, and ad management. Attio has no equivalent (it's a CRM, not a marketing platform.) | How we handle it Teams that move typically keep a dedicated email tool (Mailchimp, Loops, or even Hubspot) and connect it to Attio. If marketing automation is central to your stack, plan for a separate tool from day one. For form submissions, we typically recommend Fillout over Typeform due to cost and feature parity. |
| Reporting Caveats | What's different HubSpot offers dashboards and reports with tier-based capabilities, including the custom report builder on Professional/Enterprise tiers. More advanced report types (e.g., Insight, Funnel, Historical values) are available, but it’s not a full BI layer. Attio's native reporting is functional but basic (single-metric charts, no scheduled email delivery, and reports are only visible to users with a seat.) | How we handle it For day-to-day visibility, Attio views and dashboards cover most needs. For advanced reporting (multi-axis, scheduled, external stakeholders), we recommend a data warehouse and dedicated BI tool. |
Repeatable, automated, low-risk.
Our HubSpot to Attio migration playbook
We run migrations with a standardized playbook backed by robust internal tooling. That's how we keep timelines short while staying rigorous about data integrity, verification, and cutover.
A few things to understand up front:
- We upsert using HubSpot's legacy IDs. Imports are keyed on HubSpot record IDs, not Attio identifiers like email or domain. This preserves relationships, lets us run multiple passes without creating duplicates, and makes completeness checks deterministic. This isn’t something you can reliably achieve with one-off CSV imports, especially when you need multi-pass upserts across multiple objects while preserving relationships and validating completeness end-to-end.
- We merge at the end. Merging records removes legacy IDs. If we merge early, we lose our upsert keys and our ability to verify that the final import is complete. Our sequence is: import everything, confirm coverage, then merge.
- The first import is intentionally "static." We bring over all data and validate structure, but we don't wire up file linking, reporting, or integrations yet because the workspace is still evolving and we'd end up redoing that work.
Planning note: we recommend starting at least 60 days before your HubSpot renewal/termination date. That gives enough time to migrate, train, and stabilize before you have to give notice.
The migration workflow
1. Attribute audit
We pull fields and custom properties from HubSpot and produce a spreadsheet with type, location, and sample values. You decide what stays and what gets retired.
2. Schema creation and static import
We build the Attio schema and run a full static import. If you have a lot of custom objects or complex associations, this is where the modeling decisions happen.
3. Configuration, training, and feedback
We set up the workspace (lists, views, reports) and the integrations required for day one, then train the team. The team connects inboxes/calendars (email history starts syncing/backfilling), and we help them configure email-sharing preferences (metadata only, subject line + metadata, or full access).
4. Final cutover
We schedule a short blackout window (often Sunday), run a fresh HubSpot export, and upsert into Attio to capture all changes since the static import. Legacy IDs remain intact so we can verify completeness across objects.
5. Deduplication and merge
After we confirm the final import, we dedupe and merge records, clean up edge cases, and finalize the workspace. At that point, Attio becomes the source of truth.
6. Phase two (optional)
The integrations, automations, and reporting that weren't required for day one. Workflow rebuilds often land here, along with any advanced reporting setup. Most teams run Attio for a few weeks before scoping this, and we can support it ongoing if it's useful.
Timeline: typically 2–4 weeks from kickoff to go-live. Schema design, workflow rebuilds, and client feedback are where the time goes.
Ready to migrate?
Book a 30-minute discovery call and we'll sanity-check your schema, flag the data risks, and outline a cutover plan.